The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1921-03-09
FLORIDA BEACHES
DESCRIBED BY
EDITOR STONE
Finds Ideal Motor Roads
and Excellent Fishing on
West Coast
(By Arthur F. Stone)

To make myself clear, it will be
necessary to start this letter with 4
short lesson in geography and so |
will begin by saying that st. Peters
burg is the most southern city in
Pinellas county, which is a peninsula
about 50 miles long and less than 10
miles wide On the east and south 5
Tampa Bay and on the west is the
Gulf of Mexico. But you can hardly
see the latter from any place in this
county because of The fringe Of
islands called keys that extend all
over Florida's sea coast. In Pinellas
county the famous beaches of the
west coast are all on these keys and
the latter are connected with the
mainland by long wooden bridges
costing from $4,000 up to $150,000.
AS they are all toll bridges | would
almost prefer a share of stock in any
one of them to part ownership in
the Waterford bridge, particularly in
winter.
As the tide in the Gulf and bays
is about 80 inches the water rarely
reaches the floor timbers except in Il
heavy storm. The bridge from "St.
Pete" to Pass-a-Grille is Il mile long,
while the one from Clearwater to the
beach is twice as long. A company
is now being formed to build a six
mile bridge across Tamna Bay con-
Meeting the two cities of ST. Peters
burg and Tampa. This will have ce-
ment walls on each side and filled
with sand, which is the only kind of
dirt | have yet seen in this state.
With the heavy traffic over these
bridges the upkeep is no small item.
1t is also particularly hard to pre-
vent the planks from becoming loos-
ened. A case is now pending in the
county court where suit has been
brought for $25.C00 for the drowning
of a girl who was in an automobile
with her father crossing one of these
long bridges A board flew up as the
car was crossing, the father lost con-
troll of the machine, and when il
plunged off the bridge into the bay,
his daughter wa drowned.
Pass-a-G Grille is the most famous
beach resort near here and the hotels
and homes are at the southern end Of
long key extending seven miles
north and south. On the Gulf side is
the finest beach on the west coast
where one can go in bathing almost
every day in the year or watch the
surf break on strip of sand six
miles in length. The beach contains
many beautiful shells, but the most
valuable for commercial purposes is
the little mollusk called coquina.
This is smaller than the end of your
finger and buries itself in the sand at
high tide. When the tide is going
out many people will be seen wading
in the warm water and gathering the
mollusks in pals. They are later
washed and boiled for soup and CO.
ouina broth is one of the two famous
dishes at Pass-a-G Grille. 1t has a de-
licious flavor quite like clam broth
and is in great demand at the hotels
and restaurants. The other dish for
which this place is noted is the stone
crab. These crust&cea, as their name
indicates live among the rocks and
arc a great delicacy. Only their claw
are utilized for the table. The flesh
is very sweet and tender and many
people prefer it to Holsters. None Of
the latter are found in these waters,
though there are numerous oyster
beds all alone the coast Pass-a- Grille
is the best place for fishing and the
last time | was on the big Casino
dock saw founders. oruntS. balloon
fish, eoa trout, shccnehcad and red
fish l"rdcd hv the different fsh"r-
men. The red fish was the best of this
(Continucd on Page Two)