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Travel Adventures
By Joyce Rauch
The island is made up of three small cities; Anna Maria in the north, Holmes Beach in the center to Bradenton Beach in the south. Running the 8 mile length of the island is the Manatee Trolley. Passage on the open-air trolley is free, making it a convenient as well as economical form of transportation for your island vacation.
The closet airport is Sarasota but I found Tampa International to have more competitive airfares and it is a very easy drive to the island.
We stayed at the Cedar Cove Resort, which I highly recommend. Their compound is made up of 2 bedroom, 1 bedroom and efficiencie bungalows. Although it is an older property all bungalows are upgraded, very neat and clean. Their beach area is a great place to relax in a swing, take a nap in a lounge chair or watch magnificent sunsets. The staff goes out of their way to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable.
If you like seafood then this is the place to visit. One of best is the Starfish Company which offers a seafood market and a dockside restaurant. You place your order at the bar and then find a picnic table which you may have to share with others and wait for your white box to be delivered to your table. Almost all of their seafood is harvested by Florida Commercial Fishermen. It doesn't get much fresher or better then this.
Not only do to you have many miles of beautiful beach to enjoy
there are many other activities on or near Anna Maria Island. My favorite was the Manatee Viewing Center
near Apollo Beach. Because of the warm water near the Tampa Electric plant the Manatees gather in numbers up to 300.
The center also features an Environmental Education Building where you'll get a chance to learn about the manatee's
biological characteristics and habitat.
All in all I had a great vacation and hope to return to this area soon.