If you’re not a native of Clearwater Beach, Florida the first thing you will notice when you step off the plane is the light. Golden sunshine framed in a glowing platinum blue unlike any other. The moment you step into it she will seduce you like the eyes of a languid Caribbean beauty whispering your name. Her ocean breezes and white sands will wrap around you like a blanket of joy. People smile more in Clearwater. This is truly one of America’s treasures to be experienced.
The beaches are lined with hotels but they are open to anyone. Take a stroll down any beach and you’re sure to find an open bar and grille or vendor to fulfill your every desire. Markedly absent is a sense of tackiness however. This is not a tourist trap littered with vacationers and spring breakers. Clearwater is filled with natives with a vested interest in their home. There is a definite, perceivable culture that personifies this place.
My time in Clearwater was an epiphany of a sort. Living in the north can harden you. The long, cold winters can age you and callous your senses. Until you’ve experienced those lavish coastal winds washing over you like a sensuous wave from heaven, holding a cold, sweating glass in your hand while pure, white sand dances around your feet then, my friend, you have not yet experienced all that life has to offer.
What also make this place different is it’s age. This is not a thrown together business venture or a development boom. While it has it’s share of development, Clearwater has a long history and you will see this when strolling through some of it’s neighborhoods. Nearby St. Petersburg is rich with history and culture dating back to the 19th century.
Clearwater doesn’t get the press that New Orleans receives. It has managed to avoid disasters like Katrina in recent years. That said it now looks down the barrel of a gun named BP. So far it has escaped the devastation it’s western Gulf neighbors are now enduring. But it’s time could be running out. It sickens me to think that this slice of heaven may soon be damaged beyond repair.
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One of my favourite things about Clearwater, actually is that while it’s not a tourist trap at the moment, it certainly used to be. So, hanging out in Clearwater, you see all these classic old Fifties hotels that are still kept up and aging beach combers that are trapped happily in the Sixties. Parts of St. Pete are like that as well.
This thing’s gonna do some damage, but don’t discount how much drilling (and necessarily, spilling) has been done since 1932 when we started drilling in the Southern shores. It will be costly and may run businesses underground. But the town will come back.
I’m hoping so man. This is a great place. The “captain” is an old friend of mine from up here that moved down there 17 years ago. He knows all the cool places to go and see so I saw the best of it down there.
I can’t even imagine what those beaches could end up looking like. I’m sick at the thought.