mike03

We are visting AMI for the first time, staying at Bungalow Beach and looking for some "must dos"... touristy stuff:
-sunset sails, waterfront dining/drinking, shopping and other touristy excursions. What would the "experts" reccommend for this near 50 couple?

Maggi

Mike, you are in for a treat! My sister and I stayed at BB in November. (We are of similar age.) If you are interested, you can read my detailed trip report "Sarasota/Anna Maria Island Trip Report" posted on 12/9/03. Click on my name (above) and scroll to that date.

Here are a few websites you may be interested in:

Restaurant map of whole area:
http://www.2fla.com/rest.htm

Two places to eat I can personally recommend are the
Beach Bistro:
http://www.beachbistro.com/Homepage.html

and the more affordable Sandbar Restaurant:
http://www.sandbar-restaurant.com/
(Don't miss this one! Go early to get a beachfront table for sunset.)

A deli I wish we had discovered earlier in our visit is across the street and a short distance to the right as you leave the property. We got a great carryout dinner and enjoyed it on our beachfront porch as the sun was setting. It hands down beat out any dining experience we had the whole trip.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens:
http://www.selby.org/

John Ringling Museum
http://www.ringling.org/

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
http://www.vanwezel.org/

Sarasota Opera
http://www.sarasotaopera.org/

Hope the weather is perfect for you! If it is, you will probably not be able to tear yourself away to do any of the above

alliegator

The Sandbar Restaurant near the northern end of the Island is a must. Great place for a sunset dinner. Kinda pricey but wonderful food.

Also you can spend a day and head south to St Armands Circle. Nice shopping district and more food! An hour away (NE) is St. Pete where there are the Devil Rays for Baseball and plenty of museums.

Have fun it's beautiful there. My entire family will be vacationing there in August.

OliveOyl

If you do want a day away from the beach and make the drive up to St Pete, the Dali Museum is always very enjoyable, but even better right now is the Chihuly exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St Pete (until May 30). It is FABULOUS!

OliveOyl

Should add too...I love the Sandbar. The food isn't fabulous, it's ok, but what a location!!! We are headed there for lunch today in fact...our daughter is visiting from AZ, she's been there before with us and this return visit is by special request.

Here's another vote for Selby Gardens too! The orchids are exquiste (and more than a few of them have made it from their garden shop to my home--I'm such a sucker for them).

Maggi

Olive, I love Dale Chihuly's installations. (He did the glass ceiling at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.) We were able to see an exhibit of his in Grand Rapids, Michigan last year. Mike, if you like this type of art, it certainly is worth the effort to see it.
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/15/We...he_glass.shtml

adeewebstr

I second all of the above information. You might also want to check out Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota - they have a web site. Captain Kim, out of Cortez which is just off the island, does boat rides of various sorts - you might want to check that out (she has a website - think it comes up under Bradenton Chamber of Commerce, but just do a search). I've not been out with her, but I've heard good things about her operation. While you are in Cortez a very basic (picnic tables on a dock in back of a retail/commerical fish market - Cortez has been a fishing village for a LONG time) and very good place to eat is the Star Fish Company. If you like smoked fish and it's available, try smoked mullet - a local fish. Captain Kim's boat is at that dock. You might want to consider a trip out to Egmont Key, which you can only get to by boat. If you go to St. Armand's, you might want to try the Columbia Restaurant for their Cuban food (Cuban sandwhich, black beans and rice, and bean soup are some of my favorites). We also enjoy Mr. Bones (barbecued ribs and Indian-ish food) and the Old Hamburg Schneitzel House (think I got that right) on Anna Maria. Have fun! Your coming at a great time of year, most of the winter people have gone home (so it's not as crowded) and the weather is beautiful. Almost forgot - if you want to visit the oldest manatee in captivity - I think Snooty turns 53 this year - go to the south Florida Museum in downtown Bradenton. If it's near cocktail time, the Twin Dolphin (a couple blocks from the museum) has a great riverfront outdoor bar! Are you flying down? If so, and you are flying into Tampa, take 275 south through St. Pete and stop at the Crab Trap - it's on your right just after you get off the Skyway Bridge. Their 3 crab soup is fabulous, plus they have things like alligator and frog legs (and more "normal" seafood).

birder

Lucky you! Anna Maria Island is wonderful. Here are some things I would make sure I would do:

-- get up early, have a walk on the beach and eat breakfast at the beachfront restaurant (run by the parks) on Manatee Beach (? I am forgetting the name I think, but it's a large concession-stand type restaurant, good breakfast and cheap!).

-- spend time on St. Armand's circle and have lunch at Columbia's

-- go to Fort Desoto park (straight up 75th street west)

-- Ringling Brothers Art Museum and home (in Sarasota)

-- I personally love Leverrocks off Manatee Ave but I know some people don't. We also like the Seafood Shack, great shrimp.

-- just generally relax on the beach!

adeewebstr

Birder - the breakfast place you're talking about is at the public beach where Manatee Ave/State Road 64 deadends on the island (as opposed to Coquina Beach at the south end of the island) - great recommendation!

MSS

Hi Mike,

We are a same age couple staying at Bungalow Beach in July. Please post a trip report when you get back! This will be our first time there, also. I have gotten some great tips here and plan on checking out most of them. Maggi's trip report gave me a lot of tips that I couldn't get in any brochure's.

2 Must sees for us are the Ringling Museum, (It was just featured on our local channel here in Cleveland), and the botanical gardens. We also would like to see the Mote Marine Lab if time permits and maybe take in a show, and St. Armands Circle.

I know we will run out of time as my top priority is the beach, restaurants, and finding the perfect margarita.

Also, someone mentioned Egmont Key? What is on the island?

Have a great trip.

cdt

For sailing excursions, check out www.schoonerfranciscrow.com. They have a schooner and a catamaran and they're docked in Cortez, just across the bridge from Anna Maria. We took a daysail on the cat which circumnavigated Anna Maria Island. I believe they also have sunset sails and an Egmont Key trip.

You can also take a boat to Egmont from Fort DeSoto Park, which is a bit of a drive - N to St. Pete, then west and south.

I suspect the deli recommended by an earlier poster is Beach City Market & Grille - one of the most extensive takeout menus I've ever seen.

viking

Egmont Key is the jewel of the coast. Remote and off beaten path enough to preserve pristine beauty (most paradisical beaches) yet one of the most historic sites around (sprawling ruins of military base abandoned a century ago).

I'm only familiar with the cat access from St Pete Beach, the hoovercraft from St Pete, and the very very rare special visitation festival about 1 day every other year from Ft DeSoto.

Maggi

Bingo, cdt! Beach City Market it is. Here's a review if anyone is interested: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradent...ng/6910953.htm

Jayne11159

Another vote for the South Florida Museum. Actually Snooty turns 56 this year! It's an amazing museum for a small town. It recently underwent a 7 million renovation--just went to the opening of the new lobby and even that was incredible. It's a good rainy day option.

We like the Bridge Tender restaurant at the end of Bridge St. (Bradenton Beach). IMO it's better than the restaurant a little farther out on the pier.

There's a very nice little restaurant in a book shop--Chapters on the Island (on Marina Drive). A couple of the Piers have restaurants; it's fun to eat and watch the fishermen, or just take a stroll. Be sure that you sit outside on the deck for the sunset at the Sandbar.

4279JACKIE

I hope you will do a trip report when you return. We would love to spend a month there but very expensive during peak season. Have a great time.

Tandoori_Girl

A bit of trivia -- I believe the Sandbar is still owned by the sons of Lawton Chiles, Florida's now deceased former governor and US Senator, nicknamed Walking Lawton for his campaign to walk the state to drum up voters. Chiles was from Lakeland, and for a long time so was about everyone from out or town who had a beach house on Anna Maria.