Keith navigated me and within half an hour we were driving onto the island using the same road we'd travelled on last year. Of course, we'd left the dog-eared Anna Maria Island map back at the villa, but we somehow found our way to the Rod and Reel Pier, somewhere I'd wanted to go, especially to try their Blackened Grouper sandwich. We parked the car in the tiny car park and walked onto the pier but the restaurant upstairs wouldn't let us just have a coffee and the small bar downstairs wasn't open until 10am so it wasn't the most successful of visits!
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| The Rod and Reel Pier |
We decided to head for the Anna Maria Island City Pier a bit further down the coast and parked the car exactly where we'd left it last year. We walked onto the beach and dipped our toes into the lukewarm water, gazing at the gorgeous views and feeling the intense heat, even this early in the day.
As the City Pier was still a way off, we drove down to it and into a small car park opposite (managing to avoid the smelly dead fish as we got out of the car). We spotted Two Scoops, an ice-cream parlour opposite and which I'd read about on Trip Advisor. It was beautifully cool inside and the ice-cream was delicious with 32 flavours to choose from! I was originally going to have a coffee but I was tempted by the ice-cream and I'm glad I did! We all sat and enjoyed being cool and looking at all the different merchandise for sale, including tee-shirts and mixes for cocktails. I think we'll definitely be back!
After eating our fill, we went onto the pier and watched people fish. In the distance we could see the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and I wondered whether I'd ever get to drive over it! There's a restaurant on the pier and we decided that before the holiday was over we'd return and have lunch there. I'm determined to get that sandwich!
As it was very, very hot we decided to head back to the cool of the car and explore a bit more of the island. Sophie was going to go into the sea for a dip but she spotted some huge jellyfish and rapidly changed her mind! Last year when we came here, the beach was undergoing regeneration and now it looked beautiful with banked up white sand stretching all the way up to Bean Point.
We drove back down the length of the island and I commented about the lack of views as there seem to be houses crammed onto every inch of the coastline. I think to properly get a feel for this laid back place you would have to stay at one of the many beachfront houses and walk along the shoreline as there were very few parking spaces.
We drove off the island and back to Bradenton, crossing one of the drawbridges that opened to let a boat with a tall mast through. There were lots of people on the water in boats and jet-skis and I thought it must be a wonderful life living nearby with all this on their doorstep.
Before we headed back to the villa we went on the lookout for restaurants for tonight. Sophie had seen a sign for a Longhorn Steak House but it must have been a fair way up the I-75 as she'd seen the advertising hoarding before we'd got to the Villa office on Friday. We did find an Applebees and a Mexican restaurant not far away and when we got back to the villa and Googled the Longhorn Steak House we found one about ten minutes away from us! Thank goodness for Google!
We spent the afternoon by the pool, but refreshing it most certainly isn't as it's like getting into a warm bath! It's wonderful to step back into the cool of the house after the heat outside and the overhead fans also help keep us chilled!
The mad males in our family decided to walk to a nearby 7-11 in the late afternoon. It's a two minute drive away but Mikey wanted to go and buy something from the shop there, and not wanting him to go alone, Keith went with him.
When they both got back they were drenched in sweat so although Keith had already had a shower, it was back to the bathroom for him before we all headed out in the evening to the Longhorn Steak House.
On Friday when we'd just arrived and were looking for somewhere to eat, we were literally seconds from this area full of shops and restaurants! I'd done a U-turn just before a junction onto the SR 41, which funnily enough, runs all the way down to the Keys and is a road we're thinking of coming home on, rather than the I-75.
The restaurant was only half full and the family before us were asked to wait so we prepared ourselves for a delay as well. It didn't matter as the restaurant has a lovely bar, but the front of house woman gave us four menus and told us to follow her to a table.
Keith was gasping for a beer but our drinks order took ages to arrive, which was a sign of things to come. Sophie and I ordered the same starter - spicy chicken bites - while the boys shared an appetiser of Firecracker Chicken wraps. Sophie received hers but I never did get mine, although there were enough to share so I was pretty glad! Our main courses, all steaks, took an age to arrive, even though the restaurant still remained half full and there seemed to be plenty of staff about.
My steak was delicious though, and came with mashed potato and broccoli! Yippeee! Keith had ordered green beans but these never materialised either so there was definitely a breakdown in service tonight!
Mikey and I decided to have a dessert - his choice was the chocolate lava cake and I went for an innocent sounding apple pie, only it turned out to be huge! I left half of it - never have I left so much food as I have this holiday so far!
When we emerged into the sultry night air, the sky in front of us was lit up with sheet lightening. It was very dramatic and the next thing, to add to the slight sense of danger, we heard a cacophony of sirens and a huge Fire truck appeared and drove into the group of buildings next door. We still don't know whether the lightening had set fire to something or whether the incident was unconnected to the lightening but it was very dramatic!
Back home it was time for a vodka and tonic (I'd been on sparkling water all night) and more lightening shows!
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