Great food and great shopping top off everyone's list of vacation activities. Whether you're looking for a small souvenir or a major purchase; a quick family breakfast or an elegant evening for two, Florida's Beach offers only one option: SPLURGE!

   There are more than 78 major shopping centers and modern malls. A variety of quaint, waterfront villages offer antiques, boutiques, one-of-a-kind shops and items created by local artists. Unique settings for shopping and dining are found at Johnís Pass Village in Madeira Beach, Corey Avenue in St. Pete Beach, Silas Bayside Market in St. Pete Beach and along the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs.

   The area offers more than 2,200 restaurants. You can enjoy fresh seafood in restaurants offering fine linens and china, to those serving on picnic tables with plastic utensils--some of both offering fabulous water views and outdoor dining on either the beach or Intracoastal Waterway. The area is best known for incredibly fresh, yet reasonably priced seafood including excellent shrimp, grouper, red snapper and a myriad of other fish caught nearby in the Gulf of Mexico. If you are lucky enough to be here between October 15 and May 15, famous Florida Stone Crabs and Florida Lobster are area favorites.

   Dramatic Gulf sunsets provide a colorful prelude to nightlife which ranges from celebrity entertainment, ballet, opera, symphony performances, and Broadway shows to comedy, music and dancing at numerous area nightclubs and lounges.