Meet me in the Land of Hope and Dreams -DAY 1 - Halfway to Paradise.

[walt4it]

Welcome back

You deserve a medal for the first two days of reading - it has been hard work to type and recall the events too !

If you missed the previous instalment it is here

and if you have missed the whole thing, so far, you can catch up here


DAY 1

We awoke at the Il Lugano Suites Hotel in Fort Lauderdale.
Possibly a case of letting Trip Advisor sway your judgement but what is a couple of miles when you are on holiday.

We had had a wonderful reception to the hotel, the staff were huge on ensuring that you knew you were very welcome.

We awoke on our first Florida morning at a suitably silly o' clock time. We always do so we just get up and go. Except we did not really have anywhere to go. So we enjoyed the view



and looked down too



We also looked into Fort Lauderdale which was in the distance - a distance that was just too detached from the main part of the city.


Not the best call location wise - but hey we were beach front
we were not and this was the biggest bugbear

hotel pic



Just to let anyone know for future reference - there has been a little bit of photoshopping done in the room pic - unless someone has removed the beachfront high rise blocks or they have built another 20 storeys onto this hotel - you wont be seeing the sea
They have changed their website (slightly) since our visit as a few other pics that were highly misleading have disappeared ,hopefully on the feedback we gave in person( not online) as they need not be afraid of being three blocks from the sea



Lovely hotel and a wonderful place to stay but for us we were in the wrong place for us- we knew last night when the JFK ipad directions I had written ( so as to avoid Sat Nav start up wait)ended up with a quick visit to Winn Dixie to ask and I was a block out- after a longer trip from the airport than we had assumed( with a couple of wrong turns in there too)

This Morning

Our walk took us to the beach and in need of some food - we walked and walked and saw very little to inspire and we were in need of some sustenance- we found, by luck rather than judgement a wonderful Italian Deli with some quality coffee and pastries.
If there was ever a true and proper start to a holiday this was it
We sat down and for the first time in months saw each other as a family together without so, so many external distractions.

We refuelled and amended our plans to explore Fort Lauderdale -we could do this at the end as we had a booking in the same hotel for our last night before home - that was exactly a month away

(If you are reading this and wondering how a long stay in the USA pans out - please keep reading - we started at a 10 day Christmas trip and a month seems far too long, what about home?, what about family? and what about all of the other stuff that takes up all of your time when you are not at work? Only time will tell...)

We had the car arrive at the front of the hotel, they do charge for parking, as do many hotels in Fort Lauderdale - the car looked better in the daylight than it did in the Alamo Garage, so it was a start!

We packed up and went, and so begins the whole new adventure

In a car for hours with ONLY the radio

I was missing my Ipod within five minutes of driving!

We headed due West from the East Coast - just like we do so many times in the UK.
Only this time it was not the M62 - it was the wonderfully named Alligator Alley - we did not see any but the experience of driving along a 'fenced in ' highway with similarly protected stop off points was rather interesting!
And just in case the Alligators didn't get you


The urge to press the change channel button on the radio was strong, we visited every genre known to mankind and agreed that maybe we should listen to nothing as it was far more interesting than Sam Smith for the 20th time.
We were heading to a place that we had read about on The Dibb and had found somewhere to rent on Homeaway.
The thread on The Dibb AMI= Paradise - provided us with the urge to explore it further. We had previously done some beach time at St Pete Beach and Clearwater but we were already aware that this would be a little different.

In the first instance - we had booked this for the very first week of the holiday What no theme parks? I hear you call

Planning mistake I hear your mind ticking away - well keep reading

We were headed to Anna Maria Island for the very first time and thinking that Island life would be a bit more costly, we stocked up at the Walmart in Bradenton - it was possibly the most expensive Walmart I have ever been in - premium prices and I can only guess that others make the same assumption.

We found out in the coming days that the prices at Publix on AMI were similar to those in Orlando and still less than the Walmart we had been in. This was a relief as if the prices here were higher than the Orlando area we would have found the cash flow ebb quickly through our fingers.

Our drive came to an end - when we arrived here



Northern end of the Island and the word special does not do it justice.












As always We forgot to take this pics on entry - these were all taken on the day we left ( just in case anyone is observant enough)
First impressions were very very good.


We then headed out to the beach – as experiences go this will remain with us forever, Sand that can only be compared in texture to the moon sand Joe played with a few years ago and the complete lack of others just made it even more special – it was amazing.


Intrepid Explorers !






We walked and walked and headed to the Rod and Reel pier for a look as to what was on offer there - if this is what the next few days was to bring than we were already in holiday heaven.



This place was just stealing our hearts and we had only been on the island a matter of hours.

We ended up going to Harrys Place for tea just $45, for the four of us, with good entertainment too provided a keyboard player/ singer who was actually rather good ( I did stop short of buying his cd for the car though)

We walked back, at which point the pool got the better of us before bed.

Day 2 here

[joanna23]

I can just picture that "hello family" moment at breakfast. Perfect.
I hope you enjoy that relaxing first week feeling (I think I have an inkling that you will!) We've gone for the same this year and have 8 nights before the madness starts. AMI looks amazing xx

[goofysgirl]

A real, whole month - fantastic. The first few days when you are up early, everything is new and you are exploring - such an amazing feeling. Great pic of the boys.

[rebeccarobbins]

Wow, a whole month. Lucky you!
Looks amazing. We had a few hours at AMI a few years back but didn't get chance to explore properly.

[mick]

Anna Maria is such a lovely place

Joan

[Guest]

We loved AMI when we visited last year. I know what you mean about the sand, it was so fine, like icing sugar.

[loobz]

AMI is on my list of places we must visit. Happy to see you relaxing into holiday mood and away from the grumpy place you'd been on your journey over.

[KittyBlackDog]

Sigh... and relax .

Ami looks gorgeous and (warm) moon sand under feet (and not because the dog had brought it back up after digesting it) sounds heavenly (when it's blowing a hoolie, cold and wet here like a fisherman outside).

Great family shot on the pier

[walt4it]

Thank you all so so much - I have loved reading all your comments and yes it was such a relief to put the first couple of days behind us.

Will give you all more details about AMI in upcoming days

[Reetser]

Villa looked great and perfect! I've always felt AMI would be too slow for us so I am looking forward to reading your thoughts!