Tampa Bay's Gulf Beaches follows the fascinating development of the beach strip along the Gulf of Mexico, from Pass-a-Grille to Clearwater Beach, from its early settlement in the late 1800s until its blossoming as a tourist haven after World War II. This famous beach strip is the pride of residents and a premier destination for beach lovers worldwide with its miles of white sand and glorious sunsets. History shows that just a century ago the strip was largely a vast wilderness visited primarily by fishermen and a few adventurous bathers and sightseers. Over the years, curiosity gradually gave way to an abiding affinity for these beautiful beaches and towns that sprang up along the shore. Through vintage postcards and photos, a diverse group of people and places are shown as they actually appeared-sportsmen and their "catches;" bathers whose attire evolved from bloomers and formal dress to one-piece bathing suits; the early "swing" and rickety wooden bridges; rustic frame hotels giving way to modern motels; the "downtown" areas of Indian Rocks Beach, Pass-a-Grille, Madeira Beach, and Clearwater Beach; plus casinos, bathhouses, waterslides, a Grand Hotel, and much more.

In the years following World War II, Tampa Bay's barrier island beaches were transformed from a sparsely populated strip to a booming vacation destination. Following the war's end, fond memories of beachside training exercises amid sand and sea attracted thousands of former G.I.s and their families to the area for vacation. This sudden outbreak of tourism caught the attention of developers, who quickly converted the lonely stretches of beach into a vacationer's paradise, complete with snazzy motels offering the latest amenities. Once home to fishermen and well-to-do winter vacationers, the area's gulf beaches became a popular getaway for newly prosperous middle-class families, anxious to put war-weary years behind them.

The pace of redevelopment has accelerated in recent years along Tampa Bays gulf beaches, leaving tourists and residents alike in awe. This volume provides a glimpse at the beaches as they were and as they are today, and opens a whole new window to view the development that both enhances and threatens the barrier islands. Author R. Wayne Ayers and photographer Nancy Ayers, residents of Belleair Beach, are actively involved in chronicling and preserving the areas past.

A fully updated and expanded edition of this ever-popular guidebook. Visit vibrant cities, charming hometowns, nature preserves, wilderness areas and the famous white-sand beaches of Florida's Gulf shore. The book covers all of Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg and north to Withlacoochee State Forest, and south to Sanibel Island, Naples and Everglades National Park. Canoeing the Everglades, fishing on Marco Island, biking in Boca Grande, diving with manatees in Crystal River, sailing along St. Pete Beach, theater-going in Sarasota, shopping the sponge markets of Greek-flavored Tarpon Springs, exploring.