Where to start! I would say the #1 thing we were so happy about finding in this well-appointed home was the beach tent identical to the one we have at home. It lets us stay at the beach longer vs. sitting unprotected in the sun. I can’t think of anything that was missing. There were coolers, blue ice in the freezer, bug spray, every kitchen utensil/pot/dinnerware that could possibly be needed, a gas grill, etc. Bozena’s home is so lovely and comfortable. The back yard is wonderful to sit in and we weren’t bothered by bugs. A nice quiet neighborhood but is SO close to lots of things. It’s a great place to be in terms of accessing beaches, restaurants, and other sites to visit.
To be honest, I was worried that I was going to be disappointed that we weren’t staying right on the water. But it was no big deal, it’s a 10 minute drive to the closest beach. The house is so great to stay in, it made up for it and it never even crossed my mind that I felt like I was missing out.
You probably won’t get parking at Crescent Beach. No problem, just keep driving down that road, almost to the end you will see a sign for Turtle Beach, turn right. Plenty of parking and public restrooms. Some days we drove down to Venice to the beach there for a change of pace, it was about 20 minutes or so. I will say that you probably would need to get to any public beach a bit earlier on a weekend day. During the week, it was no problem.
If you need to run out for a quick meal, don’t hesitate to go to Gecko’s, you’ll see it at the corner of Gulf and Tamiami, very close. The food was consistently good and they have outdoor shaded seating. On Monday’s it’s $5 hamburger day!
Bozena texted us to make sure everything was going well and if we needed anything. She is very kind and accommodating, you can tell she takes pride in her home. We will MOST definitely be back, we hated to leave. We’ve stayed in many VRBO rentals and this was by far the nicest and most well stocked home we have rented. Thank you, Bozena!