So today is our last full day on Anna Maria Island. I slept really well and woke at 6am. Lay on til 6:15 then dressed, made my coffee, and slipped out to watch the sunrise at the bay again.
This is the most peaceful place and time, and I'm so going to miss it when we leave. The sunsets are beautiful but so are the sunrises, and they have the added bonus of being a pretty solitary affair.
There's hardly anyone around so you can only hear the birds and the waves as the sun comes rolling up. Just bliss.
I sat and thought about how this was likely my last sunrise as being due out at 10am I will need to organise everyone so probably won't have time. We will see.
And anyway, if this was the last island sunrise I was going to have then she saved the best for last.
this wee guy was here again to keep me company this morning. he's here every morning. He's the same bird that's in the sunrise photo from day 2. The islanders call him Larry!
Home for coffee. Kevin and Kieran were up getting ready for their walk and Caitlin had decided to join them, hoping to see the manta rays and dolphins we had seen yesterday.
Off they went and I agreed to catch them on the beach for the second leg of their walk.
Had some breakfast, got all suncreamed up and Beastie protection on. Which now takes a while given I'm wearing every chemical known to man, and drying in between layers. So worth it though. Still no new bites! Then I walked straight up to Bean Point.
Lovely. So quiet, then after a while a few families started arriving to set up for the day, it was now 8:30am.
K,K & C appeared after I'd been sitting about 20 minutes but had seen no rays, poor Caitlin.
We continued round to the Rod n Reel
we stepped onto the pier hoping to see dolphins and after less than 5 minutes Caitlin said she might head back to the villa. I laughed and said she wasn't very patient if that's as long as she was willing to wait! She laughed and said 'I know!'
I think maybe that's a symptom of this modern 'everything on demand' life. The younger generation are losing the skill of patiently waiting for the things in life that just don't work like that!
The other thing I've noticed is when we are in the car as we drive through the island. All 3 are looking on their phones and only look up if you point something out. So they then have no idea if you later try to describe where something is, because they didn't see any of the landmarks you make reference to.
Anyway, Caitlin was sufficiently rewarded for staying when within another 5 minutes up popped a dorsel fin. Yay!
They were much less active than yesterday, and we think there were only 2 today, but at least Caitlin got to see them after making the effort to get up so early and go for the walk.
Would've been such a shame not to see any when she didn't get to see any rays either.
we headed back to the villa. The rest of the day was spent just lazing round the pool enjoying the sun.
Everyone just pottered about eating when they wanted to so no effort required from me
It was absolutely scorching today.
We discovered a wee live crab in our pool. I think a bird must've dropped it as I can't see how else it could have got there overnight.
The boys rescued it and took a trip back to the beach to release him.
I had brought a wee echo dot with us as I really miss not having easy access to whatever music I fancy.
I had this as the side of the pool and today was Jimmy Buffet time.
I was twisting away in marguaritaville right enough!
Then I switched it up to 90s dance music. Great fun! We just chilled and played the day away.
Caitlin checks the weather for us each day and said it was supposed to thunder and lightning around 3 or 4 o'clock.
since it was now teatime and I had done nothing about dinner, or packing up to move out, I wondered if this might force me into action. Something would have to!
Sure enough at 5pm it suddenly started getting darker and the clouds just rolled right in.
We scrabbled about putting all the pool stuff away in the lockup and just made it upstairs into the house when the heavens opened!
So we got on with the packing
Then I pulled together dinner using up everything we had left in the villa - chicken Caesar salad, omelette, chips, hotdogs
then the rest of the key lime pie for afters. And yes, the publix one is lush
Then we settled in front Harry Potter with the rain still pelting down outside, and the thunder and lightning going on.
Just goes to show how lucky we have been with the weather this week!