Discovering Clearwater: What To Do

You have just arrived in beautiful Clearwater, Florida.  You've unpacked your bags, put on your sun shades, and are ready for a relaxing vacation.  After hanging around for a few hours, quickly you begin to wonder: what is there to do in Clearwater?

The first and most obvious choice is to go to a Phillies exhibition game at Bright House Networks Field.  Kick back on the berm, or sit right next to the players, and take in a relaxing game.  Bright House Networks Field is a great place to enjoy a game and I will go more in depth about the stadium in a later article.

If the Phillies are on the road or have the day off, you are definitely going to want to find something to occupy your time.  My first suggestion would be to go to the Carpenter Complex to either watch practice or minor league games.

Bright House Networks Field is located in the Carpenter Complex which is basically a collection of various fields.  The Phillies use the Carpenter Complex for their big league team and their minor league teams as well.  When the Phillies hit the road, many of the household names stay back and do light conditioning or practicing at the Carpenter Complex.  Going to a practice is a great way to interact with some of your favorite players.  Probably even more entertaining are the minor league games.  My dad and I went one year to a minor league exhibition and got to see guys like Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Corrasco. The cool thing about the Carpenter Complex is you can park for free and literally walk around for hours taking in Phillies stars of today, and future stars of tomorrow.  Not too many people take advantage of the Phillies' practice facilities, and it's a great way to snag some autographs and meet some of your favorite players.

Clearwater is in a good central location, located in close proximity to other Grapefruit League teams.  To the south, you can go to Pirates Phillies games in Bradenton, and Phillies Orioles games in Sarasota.  To the north, one can travel to Tampa for Phillies Yankees games, and Lakeland to see the Phils take on the Tigers.  Spring training road trips are tons of fun, and allow to see the Phillies in different spring training settings, and also enable you to see different parts of Florida.

If you're not interested in making a road trip, there are still plenty of things to do in Clearwater.  There is Clearwater Beach, where you can relax and swim in the Gulf of Mexico.  There are tons of water activities offered up and along the beach.  Tampa is a relatively short drive away as well.  And if you are really willing to take a drive, Orlando is roughly 2 hours away.

Overall you really can't get too bored in Florida.  With the Carpenter Complex, other Grapefruit League stadiums, and many cities located in close proximity to Florida, you should have an action packed trip.  And when in doubt, you can always just kick back and enjoy the sunshine.