Clearwater Beach Florida has wonderful white sand beaches and spectacular sunsets, but it’s also the perfect place to visit if you love art and craft beverages.
Craft Beer in Clearwater
The St. Pete/Clearwater Craft Beer Trail runs from Tarpon Springs to St. Pete, about an hour’s drive, from end to end. If you don’t want to rent a car or grab an Uber, Badfins Food + Brew is a short walking distance from the beach and has 34 beers on tap including several local Florida brews.
If you’re craving fall flavors, try 3 Daughters Brewing Key Lime Cider, a Florida apple cider made with semi-sweet apples and key lime juice, the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Big Storm Brewing Co. from Clearwater, FL makes a Key Lime Shandy. This beer is bursting with citrus from the key lime puree, making it refreshing and easy to drink with a 4.5% abv.
Funky Buddha from Oakland Park, FL makes a German-style wheat beer with aromas of bananas, citrus, and cloves, the perfect for beer for Oktoberfest. South Beach Brewing Company brews a Brunch Beer, a Strawberry Orange Mimosa beer brewed with 100% Florida orange juice and electrolytes for hydration. Big Top Brewing Company from Sarasota, FL. makes a fruity and refreshing Ringermaster Raspberry Berliner using hundreds of pounds of fresh raspberries and a hint if lemon.
Crafty Cocktails
After you had fun in the sun, keep it casual and walk over to Sandbar at the Opal Sands Resort for beachside bites and cocktails. Signature handcrafted drinks include Skinny Blueberry Lemonade (Stoli Blueberry Vodka, muddled blueberries, fresh-squeezed lemons, organic agave and a splash of soda), Bali Blossom (Bacardi Grapefruit Rum, fresh strawberries, basil, cold pressed eureka lemon juice and 100% agave nectar) and the House Specialty, the Beachside Mary (Tito’s Handmade Vodka, premium imported San Marzano tomatoes, pure squeezed lemon and celery juices, balsamic vinegar, freshly grated horseradish, grey Celtic sea salt and spices, rimmed with Old Bay, garnished with pepper jack cheese, “filthy” red piri piri pepper-stuffed olives, celery and a colossal shrimp.) Pair your drink with some beachside bites including salads, tacos, and burgers.
Salute-worthy Sangria
Columbia Restaurant is family owned and operated for over 114 years and has a comprehensive menu packed with authentic Spanish-Cuban cuisine. Columbia is know for tableside treats including the 1905 salad made with Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, lemon, and Parmesan cheese and homemade sangria with CR Generations Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon or CR Generations Sauvignon Blanc along with Torres Brandy and fresh citrus juices. They also make a Sangria de Cava, a sparkling white wine sangria made with Jaume Serra Cristalino Spanish Cava, Torres Brandy, Torres Magdala Orange Liqueur, and fresh citrus juices.
Artsy Accommodations
The Opal Sands Resort on Clearwater Beach, is a modern and luxurious hotel with 230 rooms with a panoramic view of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Opal Sands Resort commissioned Floridian artists to design beautiful works of art for the hotel. Christopher Still, a renowned painter from Tarpon Springs, FL has original pieces and collaborative works at the Opal Sands Resort as well as the beautiful Sand Pearl. Mark Aeling and Carrie Jadus, Duncan McClellan, Mariel Bass, and Arnold Ruiz also have works on display.
Carrie Jadus, Mark Aeling, and Christopher Still created the Gulf Spirit, an oversized metal sculpture on display at the entrance of the Sea-Guini, a coastal inspired restaurant inside the Opal Sands Resort that serves up sea-to-table cuisine. At Florida seafood restaurants, grouper is always a regional speciality, making it a fabulous focal point above the sea-sational Sea-Guini restaurant. However, seafood isn’t the only thing on the menu. Sea-Guini also makes homemade pasta, and brick oven pizza, and other Italian specialities that are sure to wet your appetite.
Surreal Exhibitions
Beat the heat and head to the The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Even though you can see The Persistence of Memory at MOMA in NYC, The Dali Museum displays the largest collection from this surrealist, aside from Europe, including The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory which also has the iconic “melting clocks.”
Other noteworthy works of art include Portrait of My Sister, Lincoln in Dalivision, and Lobster Telephone.
Portrait of My Sister
Portrait of My Sister, looks like a playing card. It shows women didn’t have the same freedom of men and limited choices were open for women.
Lincoln in Dalivision
Lincoln in Dalivision is like a large magic art picture. Stand back and look closely or snap a photo and the picture will look like Abraham Lincoln. Download The Dali Museum App as AR (Augmented Reality) technology explains Dalí’s masterworks, bringing his complex canvases to life. If AR isn’t your thing, dosants are also available for guided tours .
Lobster Telephone
Salvador Dali was a shameless self-promoter. He would go to restaurants asking for a grilled lobster and was outraged when he wasn’t served a Lobster Telephone. Before Lady Gaga wore her iconic meat dress, Dali created a multimedia experience called Dream of Venus where live nude models wore outfits made of fresh seafood.
Plan a trip to Clearwater Beach Florida and trade in your fall leaves for palm trees as you take in the craft, culture, and coastlines.
