The apartment is perfectly set up for beach, pool, and/or dock
activities: the building, an attractive well-maintained modern 30-unit
complex, sits on the Intracoastal Waterway, into which we have a long
dock for fishing, sunbathing, or just watching the sun come up. The
beach is across a two-lane street, down a private path. The pool and
the large hot tub are in the yard on that side of the building, along
with a sunbathing area that gets light almost all day long, morning
until afternoon. Between the pools and the sunbathing pad is an
outdoor barbecue and a picnic shelter.
We own a private pathway to the Gulf beaches, across the street from
the building: you can see it from our balcony, just 150 feet away. The
Gulf of Mexico is warm, huge, and beautiful, and the beach itself is
wide and goes for miles in both directions, perfect for morning walks,
sunning, or strolls along the water as the sun sets.
Basically, the small Quiet Waters complex is on a long, thin island
called a “key”, accessible from the mainland by numerous bridges. What
this means is that we have BOTH kinds of water --- Intracoastal, with
a private dock, and Gulf of Mexico, with a private path to the beach
--- yet no one is going to be “partying” in your backyard at two in
the morning, so you have access to the beach, yet still have privacy
when you want it. You can hear the waves crashing on the beach, and
see them a little bit, too, from our balcony -- but for a better view
just go there, or take the elevator to the fifth floor common area at
around sunset, and meet whoever else is toasting the sunset -- usually
one or two other couples.
We have owned our unit in Quiet Waters since 1988, and think it offers
the best of both worlds. I was a reporter on the St. Petersburg (FL)
Times in the 1970’s, and I know the area well; I used to cover Indian
Shores, as well as other nearby towns. It is friendly, convenient,
safe, and very beautiful. Unlike some of the other resort beach
developments in Florida, it has not gone completely “high-rise”: most
buildings are, like ours, only five stories or so tall, and you can
even find some of the small cottages and motels common in Florida in
the 1950’s.
In terms of the apartment, we have used this as our own vacation home
for nearly 20 years, ands we update it regularly; most recently (2005)
we had the living/dining area re-done in Italian tile, and it is quite
luxurious. The living room furniture is about 15 years old, and is
very comfortable. The kitchen is original --- 1982 -- but quite bright
and attractive, with a very nice new stainless steel refrigerator, and
it works very well, according to my wife, who is an absolutely superb
Northern Italian (and other styles) cook. It is equipped with a
dishwasher, disposal, microwave, orange juicer, toaster, coffee maker,
and so on, with a full complement of utensils and cutlery. The master
bedroom is huge and has a new rug, and a very comfortable queen size
bed, its own master bathroom, and a walk-in closet. The apartment
itself is definitely larger than other condos you might otherwise rent
at this price. There is a second, smaller bedroom with two twin beds,
and a second bath as well. The apartment is decorated with original
art as well as some interesting prints.
The dining area, with a table and four matching chairs, is adjacent to
the living room area, which is equipped with a color TV and DVD
player. The bedroom has a TV and VCR. There are a number of
inexpensive movie rental outfits on the beach, plus a Blockbuster
Video Store on Ulmerton Road in Largo not far away, or you can watch
cable TV, which is available in the living room or the master bedroom.
There is central heat and air, of course, and a washer and dryer are
in the utility closet inside our unit.  Maid service is provided at
the end of your stay, and can be had during the stay as well upon
request. There is no telephone: everyone has cell phones these days,
and the phone used to get constant unsolicited sales calls at all
hours, so I turned it off.
The Intracoastal Waterway is literally our back yard. You get to it on
the dockpath through the lush mangrove swamp beyond the pool area, to
the well-maintained private dock. It is idyllic, in some ways even
more so than the beach, if you care to fish, watch the dolphins and
manatees that regularly come to play, or just watch the sunrise. Our
apartment, unit F2, is actually located on the third floor --- it's
the second occupied floor, as there is parking underneath the building
on the ground floor, as well as in the roomy lot also on the property.
Our unit is on the Southwest corner of the elevator-equipped Quiet
Waters building. Due to the design of Quiet Waters, our unit shares no
common walls with any other unit, and is therefore very quiet and
private. The Southwestern exposure of our apartment gives you
excellent light and beautiful sunsets. The balcony is accessible from
either the living room or the master bedroom. It is a no-smoking unit
except for the balcony.
The town of Indian Shores is located on the West Coast of Florida not
far from Tampa/St. Petersburg, about eight miles south down the
Florida west Coast from Clearwater. If you fly in to Tampa (or drive
down, through Tampa) take I-275 south from Tampa, and go across Tampa
Bay to the exit for Route 688; then head west on Route 688 until it
ends at the Gulf of Mexico. Turn left onto Gulf Boulevard and proceed
for about a mile to Quiet Waters, at 19931 Gulf Boulevard, on your left.
My favorite item is the large heated whirlpool/hot tub, which you can
see in the photographs of the swimming area. I basically get in the
hot tub, and stay there….
You can also walk to a number of good, inexpensive restaurants, such
as "The Pub", about two blocks North of our building and on the same
side of the street, with entertainment (piano sing along, which has a
quite large following, actually, indoors, plus a very pleasant outdoor
"tiki bar). It is a real Florida bar: occasional celebrities and/or
lowlifes of both sexes show up, but that's a part of Florida. I
wouldn't be surprised if Ernest Hemingway showed up: he’d feel right
at home at the outdoor "Tiki" bar. Certainly, I have enjoyed its
slow-paced pleasures -- and haven't had to drive home. In short, you
can have a very pleasant "Florida" evening without getting into your car.
The best restaurant in the region, in my opinion, is PJ's Oyster
House, about a mile north of our condo, on 688 before you head across
to the mainland after turning right from Gulf Boulevard. It is famous
and deservedly so, and very reasonable (it is an unusual place, as you
will see when you try it). Crabby Bill's on Gulf just shy 688 is also
good again, now that it's original owner has taken it back over from
the chain that bought it from him a few years ago, but has gone up on
prices a bit (although still reasonable).
There is a truly first-rate Italian restaurants, not cheap, but good
for a special evening out. It is called  Gallace's and is about ½ mile
north of our condo, on Gulf Boulevard on the right as you head North.
To the south a mile or so is The Salt Rock Grille, expensive and with
good (but not great) food, and terrific tables on the Intracoastal
Waterway.
Indeed, I could make a living writing about the restaurants in the
area. Some are spectacular, and even the most expensive are cheap by
Boston, Washington or New York standards. There is plenty to do in the
area, including lots of putt-putt golf, the Largo Municipal Golf
Course (and a dozen others) for regular golf; the Salvador Dali museum
which I definitely recommend, the Suncoast Bird Sanctuary (where
injured birds are cared for, right down the beach on the south border
of Indian Shores and which is popular with kids and adults), and Johns
Pass Village in Madeira Beach (about 4-5 miles south down Gulf
Boulevard) which is a tacky tourist place that kids love (but avoid
the restaurants -- they are truly wretched).
Tarpon Springs (an old Greek fishing village) about 30 miles and 90
minutes (it's slow traffic on a mostly two-lane road) up the Coast is
also pretty tacky but a slightly higher class of tack, and all the
Greek restaurants are terrific.
Of course, at our condo there is always fishing, swimming, sunning,
and sailing. Check in is normally after 3 p.m. on your day of arrival,
and check out before 10 a.m. on the day of departure. However, there
are bathrooms and an outside shower downstairs by the pool area, so if
you arrive in town before 3 p.m., or have travel departures later than
10 a.m. and therefore have extra time before you have to actually
leave, you can still use the beach or pools as you wish -- it's like
having an extra day at the beach. Our rentals are usually Saturday
through Saturday. My family has enjoyed this spot for more nearly 20
years now, and I imagine your family will enjoy it as well.  As you
can probably tell, I enjoy sharing our place with other people,
because it is truly wonderful. If you like, please call me with any
questions. I run a small foundation (the National Corridors
Initiative, a rail infrastructure advocacy
group, or you can just “Google” my name and find out about us) and my
life is pretty hectic, but I will return your call if you get my
voicemail. Have a great time!

Sincerely,

Jim RePass

See above.

Florida has it all -- see above.

September-December 22, 2007
$695/week
$2795/month

December 22, 2007-April 2008
$895/week
$3195/month


Plus Tax, Cleaning and Security applied to all rates above