Dunedin

Only a 15 minute drive from the popular Clearwater Beach and home to the famous Honeymoon Island is Dunedin, Florida. If you don’t want to sound like a tourist, it is pronounced Dun-e-din and comes from Dùn Èideann which is the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh. Although the city shares its name with Scotland’s capital and has Scottish heritage, don’t expect to see the Scottish culture in the day to day lives of this town.

Dunedin is on the gulf coast but once you are in the charming downtown area, the only beachy appearances are from the seashells glued onto the wine glasses and pillows with crabby quotes in the quaint and overfilled boutiques.  Spend some time wandering through the small downtown (only a few blocks) and pop into the restaurants, shops, and art galleries when you need to take a break from the intense Florida sunshine.

Dunedin is also a good place to grab some lunch or a quiet dinner. The city is filled with a variety of great restaurants including southern BBQ joints with delicious, mouth watering smells wafting into the streets and delis with trendy vegetarian sandwiches. My favorite?  A mom and pop hotdog shop aptly named Hot Dogs on Main. The indoors is small and there is really only room to order, but there are a few tables outdoors with a large fan to keep you cool. They also put out buckets of magazines to keep you entertained. I recommend the picnic dog, which tastes just like a summer picnic loaded with pickles and potato salad. And there is nothing better to wash it down with than an ice-cold root beer.

After lunch, either head back down the streets for some more shopping or check out the Pinellas Trail to work off some of the calories. It is one of the top bike trails in the state, and it currently connects St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs. Another worthy city to visit, Tarpon Springs, is only ~12 miles from here. (Check out the Tarpon Springs blog post here.)