Sand Key Florida Blog

This is a busy time of the year for the Sand key area. Here are a few dates to keep your days and nights full of things to do.

• October 10th - Columbus Day
• October 14th - Annual Clearwater Jazz Holiday starts at Coachman Park - Four Day Event
• October 15th - Stone Crab Season Starts
• October 21-23rd - Various Stone Crab Festivals at the Beach - Backwaters will have stone crabs if you want to beat the crowds.
• October 31st - Halloween
• October 29-30th - John’s Pass Seafood Festival

The big boys are in town! September 30th-October 2nd the roar you hear will be the engines of the boats

Big boats, big speeds, big action.

entered into the Super Boat Racing series. Based at Coachman Park, these 180 MPH monsters will be racing Saturday and Sunday in our near shore waters along Clearwater Beach. You can watch these speed demons from Pier 60 or along the shore. The four mile course runs north and south from the Pier 60 Area.

For complete information visit Clearwater Offshore Boat Racing.

The SKCA holds their monthly meeting on Wednesday October 5th. The meeting is scheduled for 7 PM with refreshments beginning at 6:30 prior to the meeting. Meets are held at the Community Sailing Center. All residents are invited to attend.

For the last several years, Backwaters has participated in a national program to end childhood hunger in America. Across the country major restaurants are donating a portion of their sales to this program. All next week, anytime you visit Backwaters on Sand Key, a portion of your dining dollars will go to this program.

Some of the national partners sponsoring this program include American Express, The Food Network,  USA Today and The National Restaurant Association.

For more information, visit the Dine Out America website.

Help Feed Hungry Children in America

The next few weeks will be busy on and around Sand Key. Here are a few of the notable events:

• September 16th - Backwaters Trolley Trip
• September 13th - Sand Key Civic Association Hurricane Preparedness Meeting, Community Sailing Center, 6 PM
• September 18 - 24th - Dine Out America - Feed Hungry Children in America Annual Fund Raiser - Backwaters and National Partners
• September 30th-October 2nd - Clearwater Offshore Boat Racing
• October 10th - Columbus day
• October 15th - Stone Crab Season Opens
• October 14th - Clearwater Jazz Holiday

Old Southern Boil

On Wednesday, August 24th, Backwater’s will be celebrating their 11th anniversary with a southern boil on the deck. Chefs Mark and Damien will be cooking shrimp, clams, mussels, sausage, corn on the cob, red potatoes, corn bread and much more from 5 to 7 PM. Chef Mark will also have his annual Anniversary Seafood Bisque made only once a year.

This complimentary feast is Backwater’s way of thanking regular customers for their loyal patronage. The years fly by when you are meeting new friends daily. We know of no other restaurant that does anything like this for their guests.

It’s a fun night for locals and regular guests to see each other all together at one time. Get to Backwater’s early and stay late. There are people who fly in from all across the country just to enjoy this treat before coming back for the winter. See you Wednesday!

If you live on one of the upper floors of the condo buildings on Sand Key, you have probably seen the glow of lights from an object about 15 miles offshore for the last year or two. That was the Fisherman’s Paradise barge that was being converted into a luxury hotel opening sometime in September.

We have watched the slow progression of painting, re-furbishing and construction on numerous fishing excursions since 2009. With everything from a heliport to docking, the plan is to host devoted fishermen for overnight stays to fish the middle grounds. The middle grounds is a fisherman’s mecca for just about every offshore species.

The Fisherman’s Paradise will include a restaurant, bars, limited gambling, plus hotel rooms and charter boats for fishing trips. It is expensive, but may worth the effort for a relaxing adventure for a couple days offshore. The sights, water creatures and opportunities to see a whole new world of marine life is unlimited in the deeper waters of the Gulf.

For more complete information, click here.

Manatees bask in the sun behind Maggie Mae's

Last Friday the seven Manatees below decided to make the grass flats behind Maggie Mae’s their playground. For about 30 minutes they basked in the sun, chewed on some of the seagrass and made a spectacle for a crowd of people who gathered to watch.

It is not unusual to see a manatee or two, but rarely do they get up in the shallow water and lounge around in this location.

It’s a great time of year for all mammals, sea life and fish to be seen from the boardwalk. Last night we saw a couple of small sharks feeding on the pods of bait fish.

Very quietly, Maggie Mae’s Sand Key opened for dinner a couple of weeks ago. The dinner hours are 4 to 8 PM, seven days a week.  Maggie’s, of course, has their own twist on classic comfort food. For instance the Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf has all of the ingredients a cheeseburger would have in it or on it.

One great menu item is the Bourbon Sticky Wings. They are delicious! The Roast Turkey Dinner is the second most popular dish so far, followed by the Country Fried Steak. Of course, all of Maggie’s popular sandwiches are on the menu.

The best thing is…… NOTHING ON THE MENU IS OVER $8! You can’t cook at home for that amount. See you at Maggie Mae’s Waterfront, 1261 Gulf Blvd., 7AM to 8 PM.

The Maggie’s Bluff’s location will keep their normal hours of 7 AM to 2:30 PM.

Sand Key Park will be the site of the Morton Plant Triathlon Sunday morning beginning at 5:30 AM. Based on the course and plans published, there should be minimal disruption to traffic during the 13 mile bike ride from the park across the Clearwater Memorial Bridge through Belleair and returning to the park across the Belleair Bridge.

For complete course information and full schedule, click here.