FMD Day 4 Anna Maria Labor Day

[Alyson]

Sunday 3rd September Labor Day - in more ways than one!

Anna Maria Island

Sunny 93 degrees

I get up at 5.30am I have had a fitful nights sleep dreaming over and over again about Laura been in Labour

I call her but there is no reply so I text telling her about my dream and asking if shes ok.

Her reply is a photo of our new grandson Jacob born at 5.40am weighing a healthy 8lbs 4oz. She was only in labour for 80 minutes she’s fine and he's fine and they are almost ready to go home




I have a cry and wake Michael to give him his first birthday present, we are both over the moon and giddy After all you can’t get a better birthday present than a grandson!

After sharing a muffin and coffee go for a lovely walk on the beach before it gets too hot and busy, after all its `Labor day so its going to get crazy.

We leave for Ellenton (SP) outlets which open at 10am its an outdoor mall and soon after opening its getting busy we are selective about the shops we go in as neither one of us likes traipsing around. I bagged some fantastic bargains in the Lacoste shop two lovely cardigans for work each costing only $30 reduced from $175




I picked up some Jeans from Tommy for $35 and Michael bought a few things from Ralph Lauren.

We leave at about 11.30am and head home to have Turkey Sandwiches for lunch whilst watching all the people on the beach, its boiling hot out there I really dont know how people can stand it all day. we face time with Laura and get to see Jacob hes gorgeous and hes got loads of black hair, he looks exactly like his big sister Grace when she was born.

A dip in the ocean is whats needed after lunch. Its a party atmosphere in the water, people are chatting whilst using surf boards as make shift bars to rest the alcohol on that they aren't allowed to drink on the beach. The police are on quad bikes checking for alcohol about every 15 minutes

The sea is calm and clear in fact it feels more like a lagoon than the ocean, its lovely and warm too, we spend a good hour playing out in the water.
On the way back to our apartment we meet our neighbours again and spend some time chatting with them, they tell us that the apartment we are in was foreclosed and is due for sale by the bank in October its expected to go cheap at around 500K

After showers we head out to start celebrating, we have a drink at the beach side cafe whilst waiting for the free Trolley bus to take us to Bridge street.




There are some quirky little bars along this street and we stop at a few one of them is a shop that sells local arts and crafts as we as wine tasting and coffees etc, it turns out the owners are from Liverpool and have been there for a year, we had a lovely chat before calling in at Rotten Ralphs - take my advice always sit outside, it smells like a transport cafe, really fatty, we almost left until Michael saw the outside seating.

We shared some popcorn chicken, Michael had a beer and I had a water, bargain $11




Next we visited a little tiki bar right on the water and the bartender made me a rum runner cocktail I have never had one before and it was delicious but strong, so I drank two glasses of water alongside it. We watched an old guy and his dog, finish their drinks then get in their boat to sail home, man and dog in perfect harmony, what and idyllic life!



Cont/d ...

[Alyson]

We ended up in a bar that was on the road where the trolley stops, cant remember the name though, they had a singer on and we had a couple of rum and cokes whilst seeing the sun go down and listening to the singer, I think we even joined in






We took the trolley home, the sun was down and the beach was emptying so we got a couple of towels a bottle of champagne and sat on the beach watching the stars come out, it was ridiculously romantic and we toasted Michaels birthday and Jacobs birth





A perfect way to end a perfect day!

[coombsyl]

What a perfect day - I loved reading about it xxx

[Dan's Mum]

Lovely photo's - Jacob is gorgeous!

xx

[shirley]

What a lovely birthday pressie!

[Pussycat Doll]

Fantastic day! Pussycat

[scotsprincess]

Great day

Lovely pics

[lovedisney]

What a wonderful day congratulations

[disneylover]

Ooh thats brought back so many memories. I loved our time at AMI and would love to go again. I love the bridge st area we had a couple of 'late' nights at the Bridge Tender Inn.

[Guest]

Congratulations ! Jacob is adorable - and what a fab trip report !