Saturday

3) 8 A.M. Get Up … No so Fast

Sweet Brewnette in nearby Madeira Beach is a retro coffee shop/restaurant that serves nitro cold-brewed coffee. The eclectic cafe (chandeliers and local art coexist nicely) offers smoothies, waffles and veggie scrambles for breakfast lovers. Expect to pay about $8 for breakfast. (Consider returning for lunch fare like the Amalfi Love salad, with arugula, Parmesan, grapes, basil, pine nuts and lemon vinaigrette, or the $7 Caprese grilled cheese, with tomato, garlic and basil pesto with a three-cheese blend on grilled Cuban bread.)



4) 10 A.M. A Bit of Everything

Grab the kids and set your GPS to nearby John’s Pass Village and Boardwalk, a Rubik’s Cube of restaurants, bars, confectioneries and trinket merchants. In between the T-shirt/flip-flop shops are real gems like the Spice and Tea Exchange and Treehouse Puppets & Treasures. Book a trip to watch dolphins or throw out a line to fish. If time allows, grab some fresh-as-it-gets seafood at Walt’z Fish Shak (open at noon Saturdays); Walt’z sells fresh catch of the season. Expect to pay from $15 to $35.

5) 1:30 P.M. Time Travel

The Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, in the heart of Pass-A-Grille at the very tip of the main barrier island, is one of those finds that thrill history buffs. Here, in what was the first church in this small coastal hamlet — the property was saved in the late 1950s by the social editor and preservationist Joan Haley, who left the church to Pinellas County to be used as an island museum — are exhibits highlighting life in the early development of the area’s beach communities. Read about Silas Dent, the hermit of Cabbage Key, or peruse old postcards, World War II exhibits and photos from the early 1900s. The museum’s store offers books on local lore as well as a collection of sea-themed children’s books, jewelry and free brochures on local sea life and attractions. Grab one for the walking tour, up next.

A local band, at Jimmy B’s Beach Bar in the Beachcomber Beach Resort Hotel. Credit Zack Wittman for The New York Times



6) 4 P.M. Walking Tour

The community of Pass-A-Grille is recognized as a National Register Historic District and is thought to be named for the 18th-century “grilleurs” who dried fish on the beach. The self-guided walking tour includes some of the town’s earliest buildings, many still functioning in this community, including a home once used for U.S.O. dances during World War II. If biking is more your style, head over to nearby Merry Pier to rent bikes ($8 per hour, $25 for the day); be sure to cruise Eighth Avenue, believed to be one of the tiniest Main Streets in America and seriously charming. Or stay and fish: The pier rents fishing tackle.

7) 6 P.M. Eat Like a Local

Sea Critters Cafe is a rustic, relaxed, fun-but-no-nonsense seafood restaurant on the water that local residents love not only because the food is fantastic but also because those who can prove they live here pay less. Follow your cocktail (say, a tiramisù martini) with blackened grouper, sweet potato fries and French green beans ($23.99). Or opt for the mother lode called the seafood broil: lobster tail, snow crab legs, clams, mussels and shrimp ($27.99).

8) 9 P.M. Boogie Nights

Consistently topping the area’s list of “best beach bars” is Jimmy B’s Beach Bar at the Beachcomber Beach Resort Hotel in St. Pete Beach. The sprawling outdoor space with scattered bars and a dance floor overlooks the Gulf. You can dance, snack on crowd favorites like blackened shrimp tacos ($13) or coconut shrimp with sweet chile sauce ($13). If tropical drinks are on the itinerary, go in for the two-fisted Rum Runner with light and dark rum, blackberry brandy, banana liqueur, pineapple juice and grenadine ($8.95). Make no mistake, this is a party bar — but one with style, and not just of the thatched kind. Music is bouncy enough to get the crowd on its feet without causing tinnitus. Strike out on the sand for a pub crawl to neighboring bars, the Sand Bar Beach Bar at the Guy Harvey Outpost or the Toasted Monkey. Take note of the long boardwalk jutting out from Jimmy B’s; it will be a much-needed landmark heading back. Then let the savory smoked fish spread ($10) from Jimmy B’s get you home full and happy.