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Local Anna Maria Island Wedding Merchants are presenting the 2nd Annual Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce Wedding Festival.
If you are already aware of this wedding event, please take note that the original scheduled dates have changed!
When is the Anna Maria Island Wedding Festival?
The next wedding festival being held on Anna Maria Island will be January 25th, from 11 am - 6 pm.
If you frequent the Anna Maria Island Life blog then you know that Fun and More Baby, Bike and Beach Vacation Supply Rentals has expanded their vacation supply rental service to include not only Anna Maria Island, but now Longboat Key and Siesta Key as well.
Fun and More Rentals also has their own Baby, Bike and Beach Vacation Rental Blog.
Continue reading "Vacation Beach, Baby and Water Sport Rentals" »
It's my day off folks, it's nearly Christmas, and I just wanted to do something for the Anna Maria Island Life blog that was Fun. It's all fun of course, what I mean though is that I wanted to do something that serves no real purpose other than it is Fun to do... and Fun to look at.
What I came up with was turtles, which is one more reason to Love Anna Maria Island.
Last Updated: December 20th, 2008.
If you frequent the Anna Maria Island Life blog then you probably already know that Fun and More Baby, Bike and Beach Supply Rentals has expanded their vacation supply rental service to include not only Anna Maria Island, but now Longboat Key and Siesta Key as well.
Fun and More Rentals also has their own Baby, Bike and Beach Vacation Rental Blog.
We have travelled to the Gulf Coast of Florida many, many times, and Yes, Anna Maria Island is a part of a group of great Florida Keys.
Florida Keys
If you don't know, Keys are basically islands. The Florida Keys are a chain of small coral and limestone islands and reefs extending about 241 km (150 mi) in a southwestward arc from south of Miami to Key West. The Florida Keys are popular tourist resorts noted for their fishing and tropical vegetation.
Anna Maria Island
Anna Maria Island is not part of the "Florida Keys". Anna Maria Island is on the west coast of Florida and is part of a string of islands which include Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Lido Key and Casey Key.
Anna Maria Island has a lot to see and there is lots to do. There are great beaches and all kinds of water sports. You can even rent your watersport equipment locally. Anna Maria Island is home to unbelievable art and music talent, and of course it offers world class dinning.
By mid October, construction was well under way on the first two buildings approved in the Pine Avenue Restoration Project.
Work on the project began early in September. Read Work on Pine Avenue Project Begins.
To the right, you will see that Pine Avenue Restoration LLC has opened a construction and real estate office on the southeast corner of Crescent Street and Pine Avenue.
Buildings in the Pine Avenue Restoration are being constructed of a hollow Styrofoam-like building material that locks together like Lego blocks. Once the walls are up, concrete is poured into the cavities of the blocks.
Continue reading "Plans For Phase Two of Pine Avenue Restoration on Drawing Board " »
Last Updated December 16th, 2008.
That was the headline on September the 7th, as a group of Anna Maria City residents and local developers were busy working to preserve that Old Florida look and feel, as they plan for the future of Anna Maria Island.
Anna Maria resident, Jane Coleman, said the Anna Maria Island community's charm won her over, but when she noticed "For Sale" signs popping up and down along Pine Avenue, she worried that big development could move in.
"I've seen these incredible little villages before, and I've seen them go both ways," Coleman said. "I've seen them lost forever in such a way they are lost forever, the character's lost forever and you can never get it back."
Like so many of the local residents here, we ended up on Anna Maria Island by fluke. One day we're packing our bags to go on vacation, the next thing you know we're packing our bags, and all our belongings, to move to Anna Maria.
It is impossible to not fall in love with the charm and Old Florida atmosphere of Anna Maria Island. There is something about this place that is just different. Different than anywhere else on this planet.
I just hope that us little people who live here and so appreciate the pristine, beautiful, back-to-nature community... can continue to resist high rises and fast food.
Perhaps someone can put Anna Maria Island on the historic register or endangered species list before mega condos destroy the brimming with wildlife shorelines.
Continue reading "Falling In Love With The Old Florida Charm Of Anna Maria Island " »
By mid July of this year, the Pine Avenue Restoration Project had secured a second site plan approval from the Anna Maria Planning and Zoning Board.
Continue reading "Pine Avenue's Second Site Plan Approved" »
Our entire family has been visiting Anna Maria Island for decades now and you guys have hit the nail on the head! It definitely IS the "Old Florida" charm!
Check out ANNA MARIA BEACH COTTAGES for a place to stay while visiting Anna Maria Island. There are also plenty of fine beach resorts, hotels and vacation rentals.
Visit Anna Maria Island and you will love the atmosphere so much you want to return year after year.
This tropic island paradise has that affect on visitors. If you are looking to feel the past spirit of the "old island" days then Anna Maria is a real charmer.
Welcome to Anna Maria Island Life, and the story behind the Pine Avenue Restoration Project.
Recently, we have been publishing posts that outline the story behind the Pine Avenue Development in Anna Maria, and this particular post brings us to March 5th of this year, when it was reported in local media that the official site plan for the first building in phase one of the Pine Avenue Restoration project had been submitted to the city of Anna Maria for approval.
The post card image above is an artist rendition of Anna Maria's Pine Ave. back in the 40's.
Now that's very cool indeed!
Anna Maria Island is a quiet little island without the highrises.
We love the uncrowded beach, Duffys, watching the sunsets at the Sandbar with a glass of wine and so much more. Great food at the Sign of the Mermaid and love Ginny's and Jane E's for a quick bite in the morning.
We always stay in an Anna Maria beach cottage because we like the "old Florida" atmosphere, the proximity to the beach, having a late afternoon dip in the pool and a full kitchen.
With all the attention Anna Maria Island has been getting on the Web, we need to work extra hard to keep AMI our own little secret.
Submitted by Unkown Fan of Anna Maria Island.
It was December 19th, 2007, that the Pine Avenue restoration proposal moved significantly closer to fruition.
It was reported that day, that developer Michael Coleman had closed the first targeted property needed for phase one of the Pine Avenue development. It was also reported that the city commission’s office decided to zone six lots on North Bay Boulevard ROR instead of commercial.
The zoning of those six properties represents a huge step forward for the Pine Avenue Restoration Project.
Continue reading "Pine Avenue Phase One Development Properties and Funding Now in Place " »
"Supporters of the Pine Avenue restoration project are putting their money where their mouths are."
That was the lead-in to the Anna Maria local news headlines on August 8th, 2007, when already, support for the newly proposed Pine Avenue restoration development was building.
"We’ve had wonderful response with our fund raising," said Michael Coleman. Coleman said about half of the $10 million needed had been raised from a disparate group of investors, but then declined to name them.
Coleman previously had in place, contracts on 21 lots on Pine Avenue, where he envisioned a series of buildings that would be used for offices or retail shops on the ground level with one living floor above — a use that was envisioned by Anna Maria City when the district was set aside for residential/office/retail (ROR) use in the 1992 comprehensive plan.
Continue reading "Support Builds for Pine Avenue Development Project " »
One of the most memorable things about visiting Anna Maria Island is the food.
There are so many great restaurants to eat at, and it's been far too long since we last dedicated a post to the gastronomical pleasures available to those visiting this Gulf Island Paradise called Anna Maria Island.
I'm sure you'll agree that, no matter where you spend your vacation, discovering great places to eat lunch and dinner can be exciting, healthy and memorable.
Sure your Anna Maria vacation rental may have come with a fully equipped kitchen, but why waste your vacation time cooking and doing dishes when there are so many Anna Maria Island restaurants that offer amazing food and a fantastic atmosphere.
Continue reading "Where To Eat: Restaurants, Cafes and Grills" »
Everyone on Anna Maria Island should know what the Pine Avenue restoration project is. It has been in the news now for some time, and construction is well underway.
Because it is such an important project for the city of Anna Maria, and Anna Maria Island as a whole, we've decided to follow the Pine Avenue restoration story in a series of posts.
We begin our story back in mid 2007, when a man with a vision took that vision to Anna Maria city commissioners and began winning support for what now is known as the Pine Avenue Restoration Project.
This artist’s rendering is of a sample business/residential structure proposed in a renovation project for Pine Avenue in Anna Maria. The drawing was done by local architect Gene Aubry and would be built at the corner of Crescent and Pine.
If you ask your typical Florida vacationer what it is that attracts them to the Gulf coast, most will tell you its the beaches.
Lets face it, when people visit the Gulf Coast of Florida, they are most likely headed to the beach... lol.
If its a Florida Gulf coast beach you're after, you've got several prime locations from which to choose. The islands just off the coast of Sarasota and Bradenton have beaches that are hard to beat.
Siesta Key has been rated as one of the top ten beaches in the nation.
Longboat Key and Lido Key are also well known and very popular as beach vacation destinations.
Then there is the all time favorite of course, Anna Maria Island. But my favorite is Anna Maria Island.
If you and your family love beach vacations, you're going to want to visit Anna Maria Island after reading about my recent family vacation experience to Anna Maria Island and Sarasota, on the west coast of Florida... right on the Gulf of Mexico ;-)
We all like to travel, in fact I live for it. The whole family is always looking forward to that next vacation experience.
We've just returned from a short trip to the beach. Beaches that is, on Anna Maria Island. A good friend of the family loaned us their Anna Maria Island vacation rental... a condo on the beach.
People that have never been to Anna Maria Island sometimes say, "Sure, Anna Maria Island might be a great place to spend a vacation, but would you really want to live there?"
Well, the answer is an affirmative Yes. Anna Maria Island is more than just one more Florida vacation destination with nice beaches and lots to do and see. Anna Maria is a genuine, quality, Old Florida community... and an awesome place to live.
This Gulf coast Florida community, Anna Maria Island, is surrounded by some of the most beautiful beaches and boating in the world today... a true "tropical island paradise" where many visit to escape the cold up north... while other live year round.
Continue reading "Vacation Destination and a Real Florida Island Community" »
Lido Key
The island is know for it's sandy beaches seasonal nightclub scene. Lido Key is also home to South Lido Park, which has a beach and a woodland trail.
Lido Key is connected to the mainland by the John Ringling Causeway.
This cool anna maria island storm pic isn't one of ours, but it is awesome. It came up in an Anna Maria Island related Google search and was just too good to pass up.
The caption read, "Rod and Reel Pier and Restaurant under the dark skies and above the rough waters."
It is a great photo of the Rod & Reel Pier and an equally great photo of Anna Maria Island.
Although the photographer remained unknown, it said the photo was taken with a a 1/2 second shutter and aperture of f/2.8 on an inexpensive Kodak P850... and no post processing was done.
If you've been there on a stormy day, that looks about right ;-)
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