Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Anna Marie Island, FL--yes/no?
A coworker recommended heading here for a weekend getaway. She said its relaxing, white sand beach, little shops, restaurants. Anyone ever been?
Re: Anna Marie Island, FL--yes/no?
Yes! We go for a week every year b/c my parents are snowbirds there and they live there for 3 months a year. It is a great place-long beaches, some small shops, good restaurants and a free trolley that does a loop around the island. We love eating at a place called the Sandbar at sunset. There are some amazing sunsets to see from that beach. It is definitely quiet and relaxing.
You can also go to Longboat Key which is about 20 minutes form Anna Maria and has some nice shops and a small aquarium.
You can fly into Sarasota or Tampa.
We are hoping to do a day trip to Busch Gardens from AMI this year--it is about an hour and half to Tampa.
I am not too familiar with places to stay but I would say you should look into condos/cottages--there are lots of them on the beach. I don't think there are many hotels. Maybe call the chamber of commerce --I think they are really friendly and helpful. They could help you decide which end of the island you want to be on and might have some ideas for a long weekend rental.
Some restaurants recs:
Locals eat at the Rod and Reel--very casual place on the end of a pier. Known for their Grouper sandwich.
Ginny and Janes is the place for morning coffee/muffins. It is quite an electic place--cafe/antique/gift shop
-The Waterfront--a bit higher end--good food
-The Sandbar--on the beach, fun for sunset-outdoor seating-sometimes live music
-The sign of the mermaid-good higher end place
Have fun planning--AMI is a great place for a long weekend!
Check out VRBO for condo and house rentals - if you want more information on where I would stay feel free to PM me! We were just there in Nov. I would add the following restaurants to the list:
-Lazy Lobster, which is down in the Longboat Key area
-Pattygeorge's, also in Longboat
-Anna Maria Island Oyster Bar, off Cortez in Bradenton
We just stayed on Longboat Key for a wedding in Sarasota and I thought it was the perfect location. We were able to go to Sarasota, AMI and St. Armands Circle easily. We rented a waterfront cottage with another couple and it was awesome. We had a private pool/hot tub and a dock that we rented a boat and were able to go back to the house with.
Here is the link to the cottage I rented through vrbo, the owners were great and the house was beautiful. Xceeding Xpectations
Some of our favorite places to visit:
The Ritz Carlton Beach Club on Lido Beach (great tiki bar with live music)
Marina Jack on Sarasota (its right before the bridges to Lido/Longboat)
Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant (we pulled the boat up here and ate on the beach)
The Beach House or the Sandbar on AMI
St Armands Circle has some great shopping & ice cream
It was fun to drive down to Siesta Key for lunch and shopping but its kinda far. SKOB and Blue Smoke were the best restaurants there