Definitely the right choice to head to the Gulf side. Clearwater Beach, along with the recommendations above - all very nice choices. From personal experience, Clearwater Beach seems to meet your criteria - clean, with parking, and food options. We really love it there. Something we always liked about Clearwater Beach (and others in this thread might be similar) is they have chairs sitting on the beach for rent - and the cost isn't terrible. As a tourist, we've had times we need to stop and buy chairs to use for the day at the beach. These places provide them. Enjoy!