Apollo Beach, Florida
 Lots of people confuse Apollo Beach with Gibsonton, a small community just five miles up the road. This is not a good thing for Apollo Beach: Gibsonton was an infamous circus sideshow town, called Showtown USA, where circus sideshow “freaks” wintered. It was just another day at the beach to bump into Lobster Boy, Percilla the Monkey Girl, the Human Blockhead or the Siamese twins, who ran a local fruit stand. Gibsonton also houses the only post office with a counter for dwarves. Because city officials allowed (and still allow) unique circus zoning laws, residents would often awake to find elephants, tigers, bears and colorful circus trailers in their neighbors’ yards. Apollo residents still warn newcomers about it, as rumor has it that some circus performers still do winter in the area.
 Beyond the sideshow up the road, Apollo Beach is a sleepy, older community—but one that’s wiping the sleep from its eyes and waking up. Situated directly on Tampa Bay, Apollo Beach itself is best known for its views of the towering Tampa Electric smokestacks and its 55-miles of navigable canals lined with stately, extravagant homes and lush, tropical landscaping. Apollo Beach residents have excellent access to Tampa Bay and to the Gulf of Mexico. The term “beach” may be a misnomer though, as the shoreline is mostly rocky dredge from years’ of construction projects. However, much habitat reclamation and restoration is now underway so residents and visitors alike may enjoy the unique fishing, shoaling and shark-tooth and fossil-hunting offered in the area.
 Named for the Greek god Apollo who brought warm and sunshine to his subjects each day, Apollo Beach got its start in the 1920s when Paul Dickman decided to design a new community halfway between Tampa and Bradenton. Designs were drawn. Plans were made. But nothing happened until the 1950s, when the slow, tedious construction finally began and, then, due to the nature of the rough, low, rural land, quickly stopped. The then-new community was named “Tampa Beach” in hopes of stealing some of the allure and limelight from its bigger and more well-known neighbor to the north. In 1957, Dickman sold all 5,500 acres of his land; and then major construction began in earnest. The Tampa Bay shoreline was dredged and filled to create sea-walled residential sites, many of which remain standing today.
Homes in Apollo Beach
Apollo Beach Boulevard is the main thoroughfare; it bisects Apollo Beach from north to south. U.S. 41 sits along the eastern border of the city. Older homes, tract housing and some retail and office space fill the west side of 41, while on the east sit large parcels of farmland—much of which has been slated for future development. In fact, if the now 7,500-member community builds-out fully as planned, Apollo Beach will swell to more than 66,000 residents—thus plans are also underway for new infrastructure and shopping facilities to meet the expected future growth, including a new mall set to open in 2009 on the corner of Big Bend Road and I-75 with one million square feet of new stores to rival or exceed the nearest mall—the Westfield Brandon, 20 minutes away. Right now, cattle graze that land as I-75 traffic zooms by.
Apollo Beach is said to be one of the few waterfront areas still left to be developed in Hillsborough County. The average price of a waterfront home is $450,000; a single-family 3/2, while hard to come by, can be found for around $200,000. Starter homes and investment properties are also available; these smaller units begin at around $150,000. MiraBay is an exclusive waterfront community in Apollo Beach. Situated on 750 acres, MiraBay offers homes from the low $200s to $2 million, plus. Plans are to build more than 1,400 new homes, most single-family and some multi-family. The resort features a 135-acre freshwater lagoon and 3.5 miles of saltwater canals with private boat docks. Another popular Apollo Beach community is Covington Park, a six-acre development surrounded by an oak hammock. Covington Park residents enjoy natural ponds, walking trails and an amenity-stocked community center. Also on campus is a 2.3-acre Stone Garden park, and space for a future elementary school. A 4/3 single-family home in Covington Park can be had for $400,000; a 2/1 villa for $170,000.
Apollo Beach Schools
Children in Apollo Beach attend Apollo Beach Elementary, an “A” school, Doby Elementary, Eisenhower Middle and East Bay High schools. East Bay High is considered a career academy; it offers small learning communities that focus on college preparation along with a career theme, preparing students for both employment and college. East Bay currently allows students to study in the Academy of Fine Arts, Academy of Natural Resources, a Professional Services Academy or a School of Communications Technology.
Shopping and Dining in Apollo Beach
U.S. 41, being the main thoroughfare, is also the primary business district serving Apollo Beach. While plenty of suburban-style strip malls and franchises share the road with local fruit and vegetable stands, most people find that they must go elsewhere, to Brandon, Riverview or Tampa, for more expansive dining and shopping options. A new Applebee’s and McDonald’s opened in Apollo Beach in 2007. Local treats include Circles Waterfront Restaurant on Apollo Beach Boulevard, with its rich wooden floors and waterfront bar, as well as the Yanagi Sushi Japanese Restaurant on U.S. 41 N, which serves a wide variety of seafood, both American and sushi-style. East Coast Pizza, just east of I-75 in a small shopping plaza in off Big Bend Road, is rumored to serve up the best-tasting pizza in the entire Tampa Bay area. A 20-minute drive north or south provides shoppers and diners with many more choices.
Leisure and Play in Apollo Beach
What Apollo Beach lacks in dining and shopping, it makes up in opportunities for leisure and fun. Being a community built on the water, Apollo Beach is a haven for lovers of boats, fishing and sunshine. The most popular destination is the public beach – the Apollo Beach Nature Park and Preserve. Visitors enjoy strolls along the rocky shores, fishing and hunting for fossils and sharks-teeth, picnicking, sunbathing and sunset-watching.
Also nearby is the popular Manatee Viewing Center, built by Tampa Electric at its Big Bend Station. More than one million visitors have passed through the Center to see the elusive and endangered manatee: when the water temperature of Tampa Bay dips below 68 degrees, usually in November, the manatees make their appearance and stay through April, when the water warms up again. With free parking and free admission, a visitor’s center and nature walk, the Manatee Viewing Center is a popular tourist destination.
Lesser known but just as enjoyable is the Manatee Arts Festival, a two-day long juried fine arts and crafts show that draws national and international artisans and arts-lovers from everywhere. The festival is held in March of each year.
Apollo Beach is also home to the Apollo Beach Golf Club, “the only Robert Trent Jones Sr. signature golf course on Florida’s west coast,” according to the Club’s Web home. This popular local course offers water features on every hole, and is the first course in Florida to use paspalum grass, a special grass variety that thrives in saltwater
Plans are also underway to provide public access, parking, information kiosks and hiking opportunities at several Apollo Beach nature habitats, including Bullfrog Creek Scrub, Wolf Branch and Noonan Branch.
|