Amazing, awesome, incredible!

Holmes Beach, Ana Maria Island, Monday Night

I am sad to be leaving Pasa Tiempo. Just as I am getting settled, it is time to go. I am also sorry not to be able to say goodbye to Lotta, the manager. But Ivone, the owner is in the office and has kindly printed out a whole load of changes to my itinerary. I need someone to get a grip on things. I am being double booked all over the place and it's getting me pretty stressed. The trouble is that pieces of paper are flying through the ether to and from London and, by the time I get to see them, the decision makers across the pond are fast asleep. It's one of the frustrations of time zones, but it's also the first time in almost thirty years of travel writing that I have left home without every i dotted and t crossed.
I'm also a bit agitated because my American bank hasn't managed to get my ATM card to me and my cash dollars are running low. The US is proving to be pretty pricey, especially eating out. But I am cheered when I discover a branch of the Fifth Third Bank just a couple of miles from my hotel and Mark Christnacht, the manager, rings my branch in Michigan, arranges for me to get more cash without the required piece of plastic and for a card to be ordered for delivery when I get to Naples. Fingers crossed.
After yesterday's trip to a State Park, today I am visiting a park run by an individual county. Fort de Soto Park is in Pinellas County. The drive is, once again, pretty bloody awful and there's nothing to write home about at all. Just concrete, traffic and advertising signs.
As I approach the Park, things brighten up, with some VERY expensive looking properties on either side of the road.
I call at what looks like an impressive campsite to get directions to the main office, where I am to meet my host for the day, park supervisor, Jim Wilson.
He scoops me up in his four wheel drive and takes me on what he calls his 'Readers' Digest' tour.
Well, if I was impressed by Caladesi, I am absolutely and utterly overwhelmed by Fort de Soto. It truly has everything. Over 1100 acres of beautifully maintained park, 6 miles of beaches, a fort dating from 1898, with huge mortars to protect the entrance to Tampa Bay, and unlimited parking. It needs it. More than three million folk come here each year and I can see why.
Jim, who first came here in 1975, is justifiably proud of the improvements that have been done over the years. with just 32 staff, half of what used to be here, Fort de Soto has something for everyone. Nature, bike, canoe, cycle and wheelchair accessible trails, one of the biggest boat launching areas in the entire United States, where 30 craft can be launched simultaneously, and much more besides. So enormous is the place, that it's entirely possible to find your own little part of paradise, up to two miles from the nearest car park. Jim's got a great team of volunteers, without whom it wouldn't be able to operate. Amazingly, there is no entrance charge, something Jim is very keen to preserve. A local sales tax, 'A Penny for Pinellas', helps to fund special projects.
On holiday weekends, Jim is thinking more about the 40 tons of rubbish that will have to be removed, rather than the visitor numbers.
Incredibly, when the county bought the land for just 18,000 dollars in the 1930's, there were many who balked at the extravagance of it all. How farsighted they are now seen to be.
With 315 species of birds, Fort de Soto is one of the US's havens for twitchers. Jim even stands under a pine tree trying to show me a Great Horned Owl, but the enormous bird remains stubbornly hidden.
We have in Norfolk some outstanding caravan and camping grounds, but even my friend Michael Timewell at Kelling Heath would marvel at the facilities at Fort de Soto. Over 230 very spacious pitches, many with direct access to the shoreline, and all equipped with water and electric hook ups. People with tents can be pitched next door to a million dollar Provost recreational vehicle. From just over $33 per night, it's no surprise that people are not allowed to stay for more than two weeks at a time. It is, without doubt, the most incredible camp site I have ever seen. With a 72% year round occupancy, the camping area contributes $2.5 million annually, almost single handedly paying for the entire running costs of the park.
Jim shows me the 5.5 mile long Sunshine Skyway bridge, the world's longest bridge with a suspended central span. In 1980, 35 people were killed when the ship, Summit Venture, collided with the bridge, causing a bus and six cars to fall 150 feet. Most of the old bridge was demolished, but parts have been retained as a fishing pier.
An hour after leaving Fort de Soto, I cross the bridge heading south, again hating the traffic with a passion.
The final nine miles from Bradenton to Ana Maria Island is truly horrid. An endless line of motor vehicles and traffic lights. Absolutely ghastly.
But I am much cheered by the astonishing Casa Costiera apartment, which is to be my home for the next three nights. When I tell you that the master bathroom has a his and hers shower, PLUS a enormous jacuzzi bath, you get the picture. The wardrobe is almost drive through, rather than walk in. The bedroom has, of course, full length patio doors onto an enormous terrace overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. This is unbelievable luxury in a location to die for and I suspect I will gasp when I hear the going rental rate. There's space for six but so far I have not persuaded anyone to join me. I am touched that Jessica and Michelle from the local tourist office have thought to welcome me. Michelle pops by with a little welcome goodie bag and Jessica calls to say hi and fix up a breakfast meeting tomorrow. Now that is how I expect a tourist board to be. Gold star!
An hour later, I stand on the terrace to watch the sun going down in a cloudless Floridian sky. The sunset is everything a Gulf of Mexico sunset is cracked up to be.
It really has been an amazing day.