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Old 3 Mar 18, 09:34 PM  
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smithlane
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The BIG Florida Return - 29th August 2017 Day 14

Day 14

I woke up naturally at 6.45 which was really handy as I wanted to watch the sun rise and as an added bonus it wasn't raining. Yay!
Jim was still fast asleep so I took the small stroll towards the dock on the bay side and this is what greeted me

Absolutely stunning









I walked back to Mum and Dad's apartment as I knew they would be awake and I didn't want them to miss it.
Back to the bay and they were just as wowed as I was





Jim and the kids were still asleep and no sign of life from the Leans so mum and I decided to go for an explore.

We headed south towards Bridge Street.
It was such a beautiful morning, finally . It took about 15 minutes to walk there.
Bridge Street is such a quaint and quirky place. A real mix of independent shops, cafes, a creperie, a couple of bars and an estate agent.

















We stopped for a drink in Back Alley Treasures and had a quick look around the back where they had a small shop.









Walked over the road and had a look in Bridge Street Bazaar that sold pretty much everything you could ever want. I had a good nosy around making a mental list of everything I would definitely be coming back for











There was a miniature golf course called The Fish Hole next door, we thought we may play tonight.







We would be back to Bridge Street later on as we were going on a sunset boat tour.
By the time we got back to the Tortuga everyone was up and in the pool.

Jim wanted to go out for breakfast but no one else did so I went with him up to Gulf Drive Cafe which is literally next door to where we had drinks last night.





I just had a Diet Coke but Jim had a sausage and egg bagel and a coffee. He said it was very good.
Once back at the Inn we had an hour in the pool before getting ready to go to the beach.

Sean and I shared this delish Key Lime Pie that we had bought yesterday from Publix



We decided to try out the north end of the island at Bean Point.
Took about 15 minutes to get there, the Sat Nav took us down a residential road but we could see a walkway leading to the beach.
With all my planning that I did what I didn't do was research this beach at all. I didn't realise it had no shade or anywhere to get a drink.

It was a stunning beach though







This house was for sale, it doesn't look it from the photo but it was humungous!

My future house



We asked some locals where the nearest place was and they said the SandBar about a 15 minute walk down the beach. Now that place I had heard of
Mum and Dad walked whilst the rest of us took the cars as we had all our bags and body boards.
We found it easily and parked down the side street.
By this point we were a bit hot and sweaty so sat down to get a drink and a bite to eat. Mum and Dad arrived at exactly the same time as us.

We were just going to have a snack but opted for a full lunch as we wouldn't have time for dinner later before the boat trip.
I went with the Bali Chicken Sandwich and Diet Coke, Jim the Toulouse Sausage in a hoagie roll, Hope just wanted fries and Sam spaghetti in tomato sauce.
We sat right on the sand, it was bliss

Looking out of the window at the sub zero snowy weather outside I would give anything to be teleported back there
The food was lovely and tasted very fresh!



The kids were itching to get in the sea by now so we paid up, $60 including tip.

We got straight into the sea with our body boards.
It truly feels like you're doing a work out riding the waves. Mine and Helens legs were killing us
We spent a couple of hours just messing around in the water or playing frisbee on the sand. We really were beginning to regret only booking 3 nights here. Especially as our first day had been a bit of a wash out with the rain.
Mum found a lovely spot on a bench under some trees so she was happy reading a book and Dad sat inside the SandBar with a drink happy with the air con.

We were feeling a little burnt by now so called it a day.
Straight back to the Tortuga where we spent a bit more time by the pool before starting to get ready at about 5.

Lets take a moment to admire my lovely Suburban



Jim's lovely Mustang



Met back up with everyone out the front by 6.15pm











We took a slow walk down to Bridge Street and checked in at Paradise Boat Tours. The cost for 3 adults and one child was $117.70, they then give you the option to add a tip. I went with 15% as we hadn't actually been on it yet which I found slightly odd . $17.66 for the tip.

We quickly grabbed some soft drinks from the bar next door and made our way onto the boat.
Got introduced to our captain Mike and First Mate Jessica. They gave us some background info on themselves. Mike was born and raised on Anna Maria and left the corporate world after 20 years to work there taking out the boat tours multiple times a day. Sounds bliss right?

Life goals

















We started out by going up the bay towards the north Bridge passing some stunning houses including this one that's owned by the CEO of Coca Cola. It's 64,000 square feet. He only lives in it 2 months of the year . What a waste. I'm thinking as I contribute heavily to his share prices with my daily intake of Diet Coke he should rent it out at a reduced cost for us



We were all on Dolphin watch but nothing we could see.
We headed back down towards Cortez and Longboat Key. Still no dolphins and just to top it off no bloody sunset either. These clouds had come in from nowhere. Typical

















We went around Jewfish Key where Capt Mike told us about the 6 houses on the island. The only way on and off is by boat.
There are 2 houses up for sale at the moment but at $1.25 and $1.75 million I think I'll have to pass









He showed us this Polynesian style rental home that comes complete with boat, basketball court and zip line. This comes in between $6-10K a week to rent. Bargain



We thought we spotted something in the water so got a bit closer and waited. We waited and waited but whatever it was wasn't going to show its face again.
We started heading back now a bit gutted to have not seen any dolphins or a sunset but we had still had a really lovely time learning lots about this beautiful area.











As we hadn't had a very successful boat tour they offered us another go for free to use within a year which was very kind of them.

We were all a bit peckish so went on the hunt for something to eat. The restaurants down Bridge Street all seemed quite loud with live music so we headed back towards the Tortuga to The Wicked Cantina. It started raining on the way so we made a mad dash for it getting soaked in the process. It was freezing in there but luckily we had a bought cardies or jackets with us.

This is a Mexican restaurant with loads on offer.
I went for chicken fajitas and a strawberry daiquiri, Jim a cheeseburger burrito and Corona, Hope a cheeseburger and Diet Coke and Sam a chicken burger and lemonade.
Food was lovely but very filling, Jim helped me finish it!
Sorry no photo but you know what a chicken fajita looks like right?

For some reason they couldn't do separate cheques for parties over 10 people whereas everywhere else it was no problem . Thought it was because of the tip but when we got the bill it wasn't added, very strange.
Did it the old fashioned way of adding it up individually. It took a while and thank god for having a calculator on our phones . Ours came to $90 including a 20% tip.
Our server was actually one of the girls from The Tortuga Inn who had checked us in, she was really lovely so deserved the full tip.

There was a bar a couple of doors up called Johnny Knockers so naturally the men wanted to go for a drink in there
Mum said she would go back with the kids as she was quite tired whilst the rest of us went for a drink.
Turned out it would be a very quick drink as it was a real locals bar and I for one didn't feel massively comfortable so literally stayed for one before walking back

Like a broken record we were straight to bed once in
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Edited at 10:58 PM.
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Old 4 Mar 18, 09:42 AM  
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WileyCoyote
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Sunrise looks so beautiful. Shame you didn't see the sunset but still looked a lovely trip. What a fab day of sun and sea. It does look such a dreamy place. Nice holiday pads there too .. And cheap ! Omg how much ?

Liking the cocktails from yesterday and today, great way to finish off the days.
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Old 4 Mar 18, 06:44 PM  
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The key lime pie looked yummy. More house shopping, I don't blame you.

The boat trip looked fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy it in the photos. What a lovely place Anna Maria is.
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Old 5 Mar 18, 08:09 AM  
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Lovely day, great pics on the boat tour, shame you didn't get to see any dolphins
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Old 5 Mar 18, 12:56 PM  
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smithlane
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Originally Posted by WileyCoyote View Post
Sunrise looks so beautiful. Shame you didn't see the sunset but still looked a lovely trip. What a fab day of sun and sea. It does look such a dreamy place. Nice holiday pads there too .. And cheap ! Omg how much ?

Liking the cocktails from yesterday and today, great way to finish off the days.
One of the first things I would do if I won the Lotto is buy a place out there. Ill let you know if I do
The cocktails were so good!
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Old 5 Mar 18, 12:58 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
The key lime pie looked yummy. More house shopping, I don't blame you.

The boat trip looked fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy it in the photos. What a lovely place Anna Maria is.
Key Lime Pie is my absolute favourite, I could eat it daily!
Even though we didn't see any dolphins or a sunset we all had a great time
AMI has got such a different vibe to it, it was so nice to slow the pace down
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Old 5 Mar 18, 12:59 PM  
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Originally Posted by yellowrose78 View Post
Lovely day, great pics on the boat tour, shame you didn't get to see any dolphins
It was a shame but we still had a great day thankfully
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Old 7 Mar 18, 12:06 AM  
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Great day Alicia! The Gulf Drive cafe looks idyllic on the beach

Key lime pie for breakfast... only on holiday right?

Shame about the sunset, can you use the vouchers this year?

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Old 7 Mar 18, 09:48 AM  
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Originally Posted by mouselover22 View Post
Great day Alicia! The Gulf Drive cafe looks idyllic on the beach

Key lime pie for breakfast... only on holiday right?

Shame about the sunset, can you use the vouchers this year?

The Gulf Drive Café is in the ideal location, and what made it better was by the beach being practically empty!
If my waste allowed it, I would eat Key Lime Pie everyday for breakfast
It was a real shame but yes I emailed Paradise Boat Tours a few weeks back enquiring about going again and they said it was no problem at all which is great service from them
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Old 15 Mar 18, 03:54 PM  
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A lovely day and it definitely looks a lot better with the sun shining than grey skies!
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