Just in time for Memorial Day:
Yesterday, coastal expert Dr. Stephen Leatherman — better known as "Dr. Beach" — named Caladesi Island State Park as America's Top Beach for 2008.
If you've ever taken a trip out there, you know exactly why: The sand is white and powdery and the water is a perfect blue-green. There are plenty of kayak trails, a lush mangrove forest and tons of birds. Best of all, there are no roads and, by extension, cars. In fact, you have to take a boat to get there.
Fort DeSoto, a frequent Best of the Bay winner, won this award in 2005.
I'm sure the Pinellas County tourism authority is having a party right now. And I hate to poop in their punchbowl, but there are some troubled waters on Florida's west coast.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.