Clearwater Beach Sundown Friday Paddle

My wife and my college roommate are both from Clearwater. You can say C-dub is my adopted Florida home town. We try to get over here twice a month if we can. We got out of work early on Friday and made it to the beach by 3:30. Much to our surprise the Gulf was flat. I expected it to be pretty choppy since there is a storm out in the gulf. I also expected it to be cloudy since it was much of the day in O-town. However, we had a perfect sunset and paddle conditions. I am not spoiled by Florida quite yet, and I often pinch myself for the good fortune of having a perfect 72 degree beach afternoon while my family is freezing in Texas and covered in snow in Chicago-land.

My body was exhausted from the week of training and 5 a.m. wake up calls, but I couldn't resist paddling .65 miles south to Pier 60 from our location on north beach near the Palm Pavilion. Erica took some amazing photos as she strolled the beach and I tried not to fall in. Although the Gulf was pretty flat the swell of the Gulf still made it much more difficult compared to my usual lake paddles. We watched the Sun go down and i posed for some unbelievable photos in the sideshow below. We finished the perfect Friday afternoon and evening by meeting the Edwalls (Erica's parents) at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill and enjoyed natures color display as it fleeted to dusk. I rewarded my self with a Caribbean Grouper Sandwich, fruit, and a Shocktop. It doesn't get much better than an afternoon like this.
http://frenchysonline.com/ (Best Grouper Sandwich I have had in FL. I have tried dozens and nothing still tops this. Also, they will ship stone crab anywhere in the country! Season is not that much longer, get on it)