longboat key, siesta key, anna maria
Oct 29th, 2006, 02:40 PM
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longboat key, siesta key, anna maria
My husband and I want to go in march for spring break for a week with our 6 and 3 year old. I can't decide which key/island to stay at. Are any better for families/kids? We are hoping to rent a beachfront property and I definitely want to visit st. armand's a few times. Would Anna Maria or Siesta Key be better with kids? Could we walk to town for dinner or ice cream on those islands? Help appreciated.
Oct 29th, 2006, 03:21 PM
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On Anna Maria Island, it depends on where you stay as to whether you can walk to ice cream, dinner, etc. Certainly at a lot of different lodgings you can, but probably not all. I love Anna Maria Island because the beaches are easily accesible and truly beautiful. The island has a quiet, family feel. I also love Long Boat Key - it's got a much ritzier feel and you probably can't walk to as much. Siesta Key is great and you can walk to St Armands from many places on Siesta Key. So if it were me, I'd pick between Anna Maria Island and Siesta Key.
Oct 29th, 2006, 03:25 PM
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Sorry, mistake in my previous post - I meant you could walk to St. Armands from Lido key as kgk52 mentioned. What I meant to say was that you could walk to restaurants and ice cream from many places on Siesta. But Lido Key is also a nice option, especially if you are interested in St. Armands. I worked on St. Armands for a while in retail and averaged $30/hour during the high season - people drop money like crazy there!
Oct 29th, 2006, 06:15 PM
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Anna Maria is a wonderful place for shelling. Go to Coquina Beach there - it is beautiful with the Australian Pines, sea oats and lots of coquina shells- the tiny little shells that look like multicolored butterflies and many other kinds of shells.
Oct 31st, 2006, 09:24 AM
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Hi ljd05,
We go to Siesta Key every year for the last 6 years running. If you are looking to go over spring break, I would make reservations as soon as possible. You will find many places already not available because people book 1 year in advance. There will be places to stay however it may take you a little while to find one.
As far as Siesta Key is concerned, there are really 2 areas on Siesta Key, 1 area is known as Siesta Key Village. If you look at a map on mapquest, this is the area along Ocean Blvd. This area has lots of shops, restaurants and other stores, like ice cream, etc. The other area is the near the south bridge known as Stickney Point Rd. The accomodations here are typically condos with some high rise condos.
We prefer to stay at a rental house in the Siesta Key Village area for a couple of reasons, 1) no high rise condos. 2) We can walk everywhere, beach, shops, restaurants, sunset, etc. Don't need to car unless we are going to St. Armand's or to Sarasota.
The only thing we tend to give up by staying in the Village area is, many places are not right on the beach. However I would rather be a block or two from the beach and then we typically have a shared swimming pool in the backyard of the rental house.
To give you an idea about accomodations, check out the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce website:
http://www.siestakeychamber.com/
We go to Siesta Key every year for the last 6 years running. If you are looking to go over spring break, I would make reservations as soon as possible. You will find many places already not available because people book 1 year in advance. There will be places to stay however it may take you a little while to find one.
As far as Siesta Key is concerned, there are really 2 areas on Siesta Key, 1 area is known as Siesta Key Village. If you look at a map on mapquest, this is the area along Ocean Blvd. This area has lots of shops, restaurants and other stores, like ice cream, etc. The other area is the near the south bridge known as Stickney Point Rd. The accomodations here are typically condos with some high rise condos.
We prefer to stay at a rental house in the Siesta Key Village area for a couple of reasons, 1) no high rise condos. 2) We can walk everywhere, beach, shops, restaurants, sunset, etc. Don't need to car unless we are going to St. Armand's or to Sarasota.
The only thing we tend to give up by staying in the Village area is, many places are not right on the beach. However I would rather be a block or two from the beach and then we typically have a shared swimming pool in the backyard of the rental house.
To give you an idea about accomodations, check out the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce website:
http://www.siestakeychamber.com/
Nov 2nd, 2006, 02:07 PM
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I put in my vote for Anna Maria Island. Our family has been vacationing there for years since before our children were born and through all of their ages. It is a great place that just is quiet and charming - with all local restaurants, ice cream shops and little boutiques. I have posted this several times, but our family has rented the Beachfront numerous times and Island Sands once through www.annamaria.com. Both of these were on the beach, nicely appointed, with all the comforts of home and nice pool. I'm envious!
Jun 5th, 2017, 11:39 AM
#10
Just to add to info about Anna Maria Island: depending on where you stay, walking to restaurants is possible, including walking down the beach to numerous restaurants. Also, there is a free trolley that goes from one end of the island to the other, with trolley stops every couple of blocks. And, yes, make those reservations soon!
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