Things to Do in Safety Harbor

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Well, I needed a getaway.  I was in Dallas for almost six weeks and was starting to go stir crazy!  While I was hopeful to sneak in an international hiking trip, I just couldn’t get an affordable one organized in a short time, so I retraced my steps to Safety Harbor, Florida.

In 2022, during my jaunt around the southeast, and mostly Florida, I made a brief visit to Safety Harbor.  I intended to stay a few days, but the warm March temperatures for me and Annie in VANgo coupled with horses coming back into my life, curtailed our adventures.  I guess that’s the beauty of having a mobile home, or more specifically a Sprinter in my case…you can come and go.

So, we left, but I always thought I’d like to visit the area again.  Fast forwarding to January in 2024, I visited again.  This time on a girls’ trip with three friends from the south of Florida joining me.  Ironically, it was not too hot.  In fact, it was ridiculously cold! 

I had so much fun fishing in Loreto and kayaking in the Everglades, I had hoped to include both activities in Safety Harbor, while also exploring the cute downtown, tasting the local cuisine, soaking in the history, enjoying the arts and more.  Though the weather kept us off the water, at least it was warmer than Texas, and we found plenty of other things to do in Safety Harbor and the Tampa Bay Area.

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Where to Stay in Safety Harbor

After a way too early in the morning flight, I arrived at the Safety Harbor Hotel & Spa around 10 am on the Saturday of the annual marathon that runs directly in front of the hotel and ends behind it on the bay.  I recommend avoiding arriving before noon on the third Saturday of January!

The marathon is held annually, thus each year, the road is blocked off for runners, and getting to the hotel proved difficult!  That said, if you are a runner, joining the 3^rd Friday festival, running this Saturday race, and exploring the area would make for a fun weekend getaway in Safety Harbor.

Anyway, I was most grateful for an early check-in at the Safety Harbor Hotel & Spa.  The original hotel was established on this site in 1924 and featured healing waters.  Safety Harbor Hotel & Spa still utilizes these waters. 

It holds a variety of gym classes, has an indoor and outdoor pool, two jacuzzies, a lap pool, a sauna and steam room and offers several spa treatments.  While the hotel is a bit outdated, it is conveniently located at the end of Main Street and overlooks the small Safety Harbor fishing pier and beach on Tampa Bay.  As a result, it is a great place to stay in Safety Harbor.

Places to Eat in Safety Harbor

With Safety Harbor Hotel & Spa being at the end of Main Street, when my friend Page arrived, just in time for lunch, we took a walk through the cute downtown full of cafes and boutiques.  Over the weekend, we ate at many restaurants in Safety Harbor, and wished we could have tried some more.  Foodies would love the choices in this small city of 17,000.

Breakfast in Safety Harbor

A list of the restaurants in Safety Harbor we tried and enjoyed include the following:

Bassano Cheesecake:  While it is known for its cheesecake, their breakfast is fantastic.  I had the “I’ll Have What He’s Having.”  I told them they should have used “She’s”.  My eggs on sliced avocado topped with sauteed garlic spinach was excellent.  Page’s “Basic Breakfast was too. The restaurant, with room for about five tables, is draped in Christmas decorations until Valentine’s Day and comes with a friendly dog named Hazel. 

HavenHouse Eatery and Coffee Bar:  HavenHouse took a long time for us to find.  We saw the sign on Main Street, but a keybox hangs on the doors to the downstairs space making it look permanently closed.  We couldn’t understand how it could be closed with its average 4.9-star review on Google. 

We finally realized it has an upstairs corner location.  The crisp, clean décor makes the atmosphere of this coffee shop inviting.  I really liked the space, and the “Executive Avocado Toast” topped with eggs and pickled onions was delicious.  I wasn’t too fond of getting my food in a to go container, but in all, it was enjoyable with its screened in, open air space.

Maggies Cafe and Smoothies: This café is located across the street from Bassano Cheesecake.  Maggies offers several bowls, smoothies, as well as bacon and eggs.  Based on all the containers lined up on their bar, it looked like they had a very good lunch take out business too.

Lunch and Dinner Options in Safety Harbor

The Tides: Our first stop for lunch in Safety Harbor was at The Tides Seafood Market and Provisions.  What a great choice!  As you might guess, it features a charming food and fish market as well as a small restaurant seating area.  While the seating area lacked décor, the food and service made up for it.  Page loved her grouper sandwich, and my grilled veggies were excellent.

The Sandwich on Main:  This establishment has a menu full of tasty sandwiches.  It also offers quiche and soup.  It was hard to pick from all the options on this popular eatery’s menu.  I finally went with the turkey bacon club with bacon jam.  It’s kind of hard to go wrong with bacon in the name twice.  We all liked our choices as well as the busy atmosphere at The Sandwich on Main.

Marker 39 Floribbean: As the name suggests, this restaurant features modern Florida Fusion Cuisine with Caribbean, Cuban and Latin American influence.  The quaint house is located a block off Main Street.  During the cold weather and football playoffs, it was a quiet night, for which we were grateful. The flavors of our dishes, which included mahi mahi and soft-shell crab, were lovely. As with many restaurants in Safety Harbor, its hours are limited, so plan accordingly for the nights Marker 39 Floribbean is open.

Water Oak Grill: Located on the corner of Main and 2^nd Ave.  The words “seafood and steak bar” at the end of its name makes it sound fancy, but the restaurant is a popular local place with an extensive menu.  They also offer a great happy hour.  We ended up at Water Oak Grill early one night before our ghost tour.

The Kitchen Bar and Bistro: As with Marker 39 Floribbean, The Kitchen is just off the Main Strip.  It was also quiet while competing with the NFL playoff games which were being shown at The Tiki Tavern and Bar Fly Safety Harbor.  The service at the Kitchen, though slow, was super friendly.  I really thought the waitress was the owner, she cared so much.  The Saganaki cheese was so good, we ordered a second one!

Other restaurants that came recommended by locals but did not fit into our three-day weekend were Parts of Paris and Southern Fresh for dinner as well as Café Vino Tinto for breakfast.

Safety Harbor is really getting popular with the foodies, and while the town is a bit quiet on Mondays and Tuesdays in January, it comes alive on the weekends and during baseball spring training. Below is a list of things to do.

Things to Do in Safety Harbor

Stroll Down Main Street

Safety Harbor features a cute downtown.  Most all the restaurants and boutiques stand on Main Street.  Along with the specialty stores and eateries are historic buildings.  Signs markers provide the history of the town and buildings. Don’t miss The Hotel Frances, one of the few buildings that survived the 1917 fire which occurred just months after the City of Safety Harbor was incorporated.  It features a lovely gift shop and is also known to be haunted.

Search for Spirits

Speaking of haunted, it is said that much of Safety Harbor is haunted due to construction of the streets with bones and shells from the Tocobaga Tribe midden and temple mounds.  Cynthia, the owner of Silent Slayer Ghost Tours, is deeply connected with the spirit world.  Not only is she a tour guide, but also, she is a certified paranormal investigator. She offers a few ghost tours.

The tour we joined meets at Gigglewaters and slowly makes its way down Main Street while stopping at several of the historic buildings.  It ends in the park while talking to spirits through a variety of equipment.  Spirit believer or not, it’s a fun and quirky thing to do in Safety Harbor.

Admire the Art

Another quirky thing to do in Safety Harbor is to visit SHAMc, the Safety Harbor Arts & Music Center.  A colorful home acts as the center which displays local art and holds small music concerts.  It’s hard to miss its pink elephant mascot.

In addition to the center, the director’s home is also decorated very eclectically with bowling balls, plexiglass, signs, beads, bright paint and more.  Take the quarter mile walk through the neighborhood to see the entertaining house known as Whimzeyland.

Also, don’t miss Syd Entel Galleries on Main Street which features contemporary fine art, hand blown glass, and jewelry.

Take a Side Trip to St. Petersburg

You also might take a side trip to St. Petersburg to enjoy some art at the Dali Museum.  I wanted to visit this museum a few years ago when I was on a road trip in Florida, but NASCAR was holding an event which made it difficult to get around town in VANgo.

This time, the Tampa Boat Show was taking place, but it did not interfere with the museum parking.  The museum, founded in 1982, is home to the largest collection of Dali’s work outside of his native country.  St. Petersburg attracted the collection of 1,300 pieces, rumored to be worth thirty-five million, with a State of Florida art appropriation in the amount of two-million dollars.

Once displayed in a redeveloped marine warehouse, the collection which has earned 3 stars in Michelin’s Green Guide is now protected in a 60,000 square foot space with 18-inch-thick concrete walls designed to withstand a category five hurricane!

Ever since I studied Dali’s famous “melting clock” painting in our History of Art and Music in high school, I’ve been a Dali fan.  I’m not exactly sure why.  I like clocks and thought is was weird to show them melted?!?  While the famous Persistence of Memory painting hangs in the MoMA in NYC, the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg features other melted clock paintings and many pieces of art from the Surrealism era.

I particularly liked his double image paintings like Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea.  Up close it appears his naked wife is looking out a window at the sea.  From afar, it looks like the portrait of Abraham Lincoln!

For an extra fee, patrons can visit the dome for a 30-minute AI experience which brings his paintings to life.  While I am not the biggest museum goer, I thoroughly enjoyed a few hours here.

Outdoor Activities in Safety Harbor

So far, I have mostly mentioned indoor activities in Safety Harbor.  That is because it was unseasonably cold for late January, so we spent more time indoors than normal.  That said, there is plenty of outdoor fun to be had in Safety Harbor including hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing and more.

Take a Hike

Having lived in Colorado for 11 years, it is hard to call a stroll along the boardwalk a hike, so perhaps I should say walk.  For a nice morning jaunt, take a walk on the waterfront at the Safety Harbor Hotel & Spa.  Begin at the small marina, stroll up the fishing pier to see what the locals are catching, and then head north to the boardwalk that cuts through the mangroves.  Keep an eye out for birds and manatees.

For a walk or hike longer than a mile, consider driving 15 minutes north to John Chesnut Sr. Park.  The park features extensive boardwalks beneath cypress and moss-covered oak trees.  Though I didn’t spot any gators on my 2.7-mile stroll, Ibis, Anhinga, nearly tame squirrels, and even two deer kept me company on the shaded route.

Ride a Bike

Another nice 92-acre park which is much closer to Safety Harbor is the Phillipe Park.  The oldest park in Pinellas County features majestic shade trees and the largest remaining Native American temple mound in the Tampa Bay area. Phillipe Park is the location of the previous Tocobaga Tribe’s capitol, as a result, the park is listed on the Natioinal Register of Historic Places.

A fun way to visit the park is by bike.  Safety Harbor Resort & Spa rents single-speed bikes for $12 per hour.  Fortunately, with single-speeds, there weren’t too many hills as we cycled past mansions on the west side of the road and Tampa Bay on the east.  A leisurely bike ride from the hotel and through the park with a few stops to soak in the sites takes around one hour.

Go Kayaking

If cycling isn’t your thing, Tocobaga Tours stores their kayaks and paddleboards between the marina and Safety Harbor Hotel.  The company offers ecotours and bioluminescent tours, in addition to simply renting the equipment.  They typically paddle to Phillipe Park, but also will visit some creeks depending on weather. 

Bound and determined to get out on the water, I sported my swimsuit pants and Page’s windbreaker for quite a look!  Unfortunately, the wind prevailed, and I quickly changed to something less whimsical, to avoid any more double takes!

Hook a Fish

Another way to get on the water in Safety Harbor is to take a fishing outing. There are many fishing charters available all over the Tampa Bay area.  Captain Brian Jill operates out of Safety Harbor.  His boat holds two guests, and he uses flies or lures, no bait.  We had our fishing expedition booked in advance, but once again, the windy weather won out, and Captain Jill refunded our money. He was very straight forward and honest.

Root for the Home Team

If water sports aren’t your thing, how about watching baseball. We arrived in Safety Harbor just a month too early for Spring Training.  But definitely catch a Phillies game whose Spring Training takes place in nearby Dunedin from the end of February to the end of March.  The Phillies play in the Grapefruit League at BayCare Ballpark.  Check the Phillies webpage for travel packages, one of which includes the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa.

Safety Harbor’s Market on Main

Prefer arts, crafts, and markets over sports?  The Market on Main is held every Sunday from 10am to 3pm.  The Safety Harbor market features fresh baked bread, sweet treats, glass art, jams, street food, mushroom colonies and more.  I wished I were a local, so I could try growing my own mushrooms!

Third Friday Festival

Staying on the topic of Main Street events, don’t miss the Third Friday Festival.  From 6-10pm on the third Friday of every month, Safety Harbor closes down Main Street to hold an art and music festival. 

Vendors feature items from pet supplies to home décor while the aroma of street food wafts in the air.  Music, with a monthly theme, plays from the gazebo and other corners of downtown.  The festival is a big party that draws crowds from the surrounding areas.

Overall, Safety Harbor affords visitors a variety of things to do for a fun weekend getaway.  ETB

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