We were back in Clearwater Beach in the second week of December with our very good friends Mike and Debbie. This has become an annual trip for us. We hang out, read a lot, play cards, eat at our favorite restaurants Palm Pavilion and Frenchy’s, walk on the beach, and throw down shots of tequila (not too many). Each day at about 5 pm we begin our sunset watching routine, hoping for limited cloud cover and a show better than the one the day before.

Last year at this time, CB had only begun to recover from the devastation of two hurricanes. Hurricane Helene made landfall north of CB near Perry, Florida on September 26, 2024. Its highest sustained wind speed was 140 mph, with, of course, higher gusts. It was the strongest hurricane on record to strike that part of Florida. The storm surge was devastating to CB. A four-foot wall of water flowed down the main street. Residents evacuated, businesses were inundated, and most were closed at least for a short time. On October 9, Hurricane Milton made landfall south of CB near Siesta Key. Fortunately, Milton was only a Category 3 hurricane when it came ashore—it had been a Category 5 two days earlier. We saw many signs of damage when we arrived in early December. The building with the garage doors askew is Palm Pavilion, our favorite restaurant. It was closed for repairs and for the first time since we first traveled there, we did not eat at the Palm.

We were most happy to see our old haunts reopened on this visit. While a few businesses did not reopen, most seemed to be back to full capacity. The tourists are back. Please note the after pictures, post hurricanes, of Palm Pavilion. The Grouper was great and shrimp superb. Of course, we also ate at Frenchy’s, our second favorite restaurant.