Anna Maria Island

We haven't been to the ocean since our trip to Hawaii. Cara wasn't even two years old so she doesn't remember the amazing beaches and the fun of playing in the waves. We decided to make room for a trip to the ocean in our summer plans. A friend recommended Anna Maria Island (AMI) as one of her favorite beach locations in Florida. Since the highlight of every trip is always swimming in the hotel pool no matter what other fun things we've done, we thought it would be extra awesome to rent a house with a pool. I was also a little concerned about the possibility of our beach dreams being rained out and the ocean being too rough for the kids. A private backyard pool made for a good back-up plan. It definitely didn't disappoint! Most mornings the kids were in the pool before breakfast. All of us appreciated cooling down in the afternoon in the pool and most nights were spent floating in the pool, stargazing. We spent most days at beautiful Holmes Beach just a five minute walk from the house we rented. We did explore the small 7 mile island and had our best beach-combing success on Coquina Beach. We loved the calm, clear, shallow waters on this beach at the south end of the island though I was a little nervous as I had read most shark sightings near AMI were at the south tip in Longboat Key just a stones throw from where we were swimming and shelling. We loved the fish and chips at the Rod and Reel Pier on the Tampa Bay side of the island and caught our best view of several manatees at the pier. Every evening we went down to the water to walk the beach and watch the breathtaking sunsets (my favorite part!). We were all incredibly grateful for our time together on AMI in spite of our sunburns and multi-stop flights that made for long travel days.

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