Sand Key Florida Blog

Our annual July 4th fireworks celebration that commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, will be at 9:45 approximately. The Declaration of Independence began the process of separating the United States (then the colonies) from the Kingdom of Great Britain. After several years of war, the upstart immigrants defeated British troops sent here to quash the rebellion.

This year the legal holiday is accepted to be Friday, July 3rd, but the fireworks will take place on Saturday evening. Hundreds of people from Sand Key will line the boardwalk at The Shoppes of Sand Key to watch the colorful light show from their origination at Coachman Park. You can also see the celebrations from surrounding municipalities in the distance.

This year we may see the new Belleair Bridge become a new vantage point to watch the show.

The Travel and Leisure website has named one of the Sheraton Sand Key’s hotel rooms as number five on their list of Notorious Hotel Rooms.

This dubious award is among other hotel rooms that date back to the days of prohibition, mafia and Howard Hughes. The Sheraton’s award is a little more recent.

In 1980 Jim Bakker, an evangelist with worldwide operations, had an alleged affair with his then secretary Jessica Hahn. The tryst was headlines for months. Room #538 was the location disclosed in subsequent proceedings.

Bakker eventually ended up in prison (for more than an affair) and his empire collapsed. Jessica Hahn became a Playboy model.

For more, you can check out the link above.

And you thought it was calm and quiet on our island!

Sand Key residents who love the beaches think this is the greatest time of the year. June always brings together all the talents Mother Nature has to offer. Here are just a few of the seasonal highlights for the sun worshipers along the beach:

• By June all of the summer birds that migrate are back to their local haunts. The Night Herons, Skimmers, Curlews, Ibis, Egrets and even the occasional Pink Flamingo can be seen along the shores.
• Fishing is at its peak. Snook, redfish, tarpon, jacks, trout and Spanish mackerel can easily be caught along the shoreline.
• On the bay side of Sand Key, you can see the dolphin rounding up bait fish for dinner, the manatee going for their seaweed salad,trout, redfish and snook cruising the shoreline. Even the small sharks that feed on the flashing pilchards are fun to watch.
• Pelicans and seagulls seem to crash the bait schools all day long. Rays can be seen cruising with their twin fins flipping out of the water and schools of mullet muddy the waters as they skip through the air for no apparent reason. Sheepshead, crabs and diving cormorants add to the mixture.

It impossible to be bored this time of year! Try a waterfront dinner. The entertainment is awesome.

July 4th Fireworks - This year’s fireworks celebration will be held at 9:30 PM at Coachman Park. The fireworks display will be preceded with a concert. Gates will open at 4 PM. If you plan to watch from Backwater’s on Sand Key, make reservations early.

July 8-12th Backwater’s Annual Key West Trip - Join the Backwater’s crew for a few days relaxation in the keys including riding the Key West Express boat from Ft. Myers.

August 24th is Backwater’s 9th Anniversary Party - The biggest Sand Key event of the year will include our southern boil from 5 to 7 PM.

Labor Day September 7th - Celebrate on Monday for the long weekend.

Sand Key Triathlon Sept. 13th - The event will start at Sand Key Park. For more information click here.

Annual Backwater’s Trolley Trip September 19th - Visit the beach pubs with the Backwaters crew.

New Belleair Bridge Great - Watch Speed! - The new Belleair Bridge is fantastic, but it may become a speed trap. In the last few days both the Sheriff’s Office and Highway Patrol has been issuing tickets like they were free samples. The bridge makes it easy to go over the 30 miles per hour limit.

Mayor Hibbard at SKCA Meeting Tonight - Sand Key Sailing Center is the place to be at 7 PM when issues between the City of Clearwater and Sand Key will be discussed.

Backwaters Named One of the Top 15 Restaurants by Trip Advisor - The Internet company who solicits reviews from diners about their restaurant experiences when traveling has placed Backwaters on Sand Key in their Top 15 restaurants in Clearwater.

Sand Key Couple Attacked on Clearwater Beach - While the mainstream news seems to ignore things that happen on Clearwater Beach, last Friday night a Sand Key couple were attacked and severely beaten on Clearwater Beach. The motives are unclear, but caution is urged. The couple had been at the South Beach Sports Bar less than a mile from Sand Key. They were both Bayflighted to a hospital in serious condition with head wounds.

The Sand Key Civic Association will host Mayor Frank Hibbard at the June 3, 2009 meeting. The SKCA meets at the Community Sailing Center at 7 PM. The public is invited.

Mayor Hibbard will be at the meeting as part of the City Dialog Committee’s report on the progress of creating ongoing discussion with the City of Clearwater about matters affecting Sand Key. Other agenda items include a report on the Jolley Trolley and other committee reports.

One issue at hand is the county’s consideration of allowing alcohol sales at Sand Key Park.

Just a little before 6 AM this morning traffic started flowing across the main structure of the Belleair Bridge. The opening was done with little fanfare except for one news truck filming a brief story.

In a preview tour of the bridge, I discovered a new view of the area from a perch well above the intercoasal waterway. The scene from the middle of the span is spectacular!

The bridge is far from complete, but they are running ahead of schedule which is unique with many projects of this size. Take a cruise across the bridge. The view is worth leaving the island!

By now everyone has heard about the “5 to 8″ foot shark that reportedly bit a man from Orlando on Clearwater Beach. The pictures show a man with a couple of bandages on his foot (although his video said his leg). The man said he was swimming close to Pier 60. He also refused medical attention at the scene.

There is no doubt that sharks 8 feet long and bigger roam the waters around our shores. As a long time fisherman, I have seen them many times. There is also the potential for someone to be bitten by a shark at any time, but you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning according to statistics.

My experience says that an 8 foot shark doesn’t play games. They don’t grab hold of something and not leave a big reminder they were there. The chances that an 8 foot shark or one even close to that size didt’t leave a gaping wound that needed many stitches is highly unlikely. Their teeth are long, sharp and curved backward to hold onto their prey. Any cursory examination of a bite could potentially determine if it was a shark (there are many other fish that bite!). Closer scrutiny may tell the size of the shark and even the species.

This story needs a few more details by reporters who aren’t so quick to report anything.

Finally we have narrowed down the key issue with the proposed new “boutique” hotel proposed for the Cabana Club sight on Sand Key. The owners of the property, Legg-Mason, have been approved for the construction of the new hotel including a 165 seat restaurant. Legg-Mason is also remodeling the Belleview Biltmore Hotel across the bay.

The new hotel is supposed to have 36 rooms, plus the restaurant. However, there will only be 56 parking spots. Someone must have enough common sense to figure out that a 165 seat restaurant, plus 38 hotel rooms and all the staff it will take to run the operation will need more than 56 places to park!

A group of residents (members of SON) is appealing the City’s approval to the 6th District Court of Appeals. The arguments will be heard in front of a 3 judge panel. The issue is the city’s failure to follow their own requirements which would require 113 parking spaces according to news sources.

The current restaurant and bar runs out of parking. On many occasions the staff uses the public park north of the Cabana Club for additional parking. That isn’t what the park is there for - it’s public land being used for commercial purposes. Does the City think a commercial operation should use a public park to solve their parking problems?

While our informal poll suggests most residents are not opposed to the overall project, they are opposed to the obvious parking limitations. There will be a spill-over parking issue that will affect residents if they allow the structure to be built with so few parking spots. Again the City doesn’t seem to understand that staff, customers, hotel guests, visitors and suppliers will need more than 56 places to park vehicles. Seems like good old common sense was lost in the shuffle.

It is sad that it takes a three judge Court of Appeals to right another blind spot on the city’s development push. We, the public, seem to always pay for lack of foresight. Should we list the projects that we have had to re-think in the last five or six years?

The Sand Key Blog was intended to keep you informed of food trends as well as news from local sources. Running our restaurants makes it necessary to keep up with trends and price tendencies for all commodities. In the last year, there hasn’t been much good news on the prices of major food categories.

This morning we received the price commodity reports for the coming weeks. For the first time in at least a year literally every category is at least steady, but most are trending down. Beef, pork, dairy, poultry and even corn were down and/or steady. The lone exception is winter wheat.

What does this mean? Despite the sticker shock at grocery stores, prices will be coming down. Eventually demand and competitive pressure will force prices lower. Exceptionally low prices will be seen on eggs, pork and seafood. Some of these trends are getting in the range of early 2008 levels.

Why are prices falling so quickly? Part of the reason is seasonal and part is demand. As costs shot up and the economy weakened, people started to eat differently. Demand went down for many items. As inventories built up, pricing came down. Farmers and food processors can only wait so long before they need operating capital which means they need to sell their product for what the market will bear.

This is good news for consumers. Lower prices will spur more buying, which means more production that leads to more jobs and up he whole consumer spending spiral.