Revisiting Anna Maria Island

 

FLASHBACK

In December of 2002, we decided to celebrate Christmas in Florida for a change of pace.  We spent a week in one of our timeshare resorts on Anna Maria Island, and the boys had a blast.

 

 

 

 

 

After the completion of the Monaco Rally at Lazydays, we moved down to Lake Pleasant RV Resort in Bradenton for the remainder of February.  It’s a nice park, but the first few days we were here were really windy and kindof chilly, so we didn’t get out too much other than a few walks around the campground.

Friday, though, was a beautiful day – sunny and 70 degrees – so we took a drive out to Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria Island.

Crossing the bridge to the island, we could see out into the Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first stop was at Bradenton Beach at the south end of the island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were plenty of people enjoying this sunny day at the beach, but with the water temperature of the Gulf at 55 degrees, there weren’t many in the water!  Bryce said it was really cold!

 

 

The seagulls weren’t even brave enough to get in the water!

 

 

Across the street from the beach is Bridge Street,

where there are resorts, shops and restaurants . . . and even a small RV Park, before the street ends at the City Pier.

 

 

 

We walked along the pier,

and watched the pelicans as they dove into the water to catch fish,

 

although some of them just hung out waiting for scraps to fall into the water.

One unique characteristic of the Bradenton Beach Pier is the old clock tower.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great day to be at the beach or on the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at “Joe’s Homemade Ice Cream” for a cone before getting back in the car to head to the north end of the island.  We could have ridden on the free trolley, but Bryce wanted to take the car.  13 years ago, all he wanted to do was ride the trolley – it was the highlight of our stay on the island!

We passed by the timeshare resort that we had stayed at 13 years ago – it’s still there – and the catholic church where we went to Christmas mass.

The rest of the island seemed more populated than we remembered . . . but I guess a lot changes in 13 years!

We reached the northern point of the island, and the Anna Maria City Pier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the fishing deck at the end of the pier we had a clear view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

 

The Anna Maria City Pier has a restaurant and bar, and there was a guy out there playing guitar and singing.  He was pretty good, too.

 

Some people were fishing from the pier, and others were just sitting and enjoying the view and the music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we walked back to the parking lot, we could see where the beach had eroded from the high winds and surf the previous few days.

After our afternoon of exploring, we decided to head back to the rV Resort before traffic got too crazy – one stop first . . . Bryce had to see what this Donut Experiment was all about!

They were closed, though . . . so I guess we’ll never know!