Anna Maria Island Beaches are Beautiful!

Same old same old, visitors to Anna Maria Island continue to enjoy our oil free beaches.  I was just out to the beach and it was 90 degrees plus and was a perfect day.  A strong breeze coming from the North kept us cool as I built a sandcastle with my son.  Family visited recently as well and agreed, the sand on Anna Maria Island is white, soft and gorgeous. 

For our German friends visit our German Anna Maria Island Informational page.  It is full of tips, ideas for things to do, places to eat, places to shop and lots lots more.  Schedule your last minute trip today!  Anna Maria Island is open for business and Island Real Estate is waiting to answer any questions you have about Anna Maria Island Accommodations or things to do 7 days a week.  Give us a call!  877 778 6066

Sarasota – Lakewood Ranch outdoor Polo Club

If you are visiting Anna Maria Island from December until April and don’t have much to do on a Sunday then you

 should head out to Lakewood Ranch and enjoy a few hours of being outdoors and take in a polo match.  The Polo Club facility is over 130 acres with 9 outdoor polo fields and a covered open air pavilion with open air stadium seating.  When I visited a polo match there was just one match going which was plenty of fun.   If you click the aerial picture to the right you will see the Sunday field and once you get close on University the drive in is pretty obvious where to go and where to park.

The polo club allows for facility rentals and has a gift shop as well.  Most bring pets, lawn chairs, some snacks and beverages while sitting out on the field and watching the horse action.  If you arrive soon enough you can back your car up to pretty close to the field and tailgate while watching the polo match.  The match lasts about 2 hours in all but the play is really for 6 chukkers for seven minutes each.  If you are wondering what a chukker is, a hook, goal, etc then learn the lingo before your visit.  You can sound like a pro and then admit you visited their website.

The outdoor area allows for children to run and play.  During the polo match “half-time” they request everyone’s help to walk out on the playing field and stomp down the divots.  It is neat to walk out on the actual field and participate with everyone else stomping down the divots created by the polo match.  When I visited there was a hay ride during divot stomping that filled up the open time for younger children.   Of course the polo matches are pet friendly and a perfect spot to bring a pet.  Dogs are required to be on a leash at all times.

The Sarasota Polo club is a quick 30 minute ride off Anna Maria Island.   They do have a few special events around the holidays so check the Polo Club website for additional information.  Tickets are around $10 for each person and visiting the club on a Sunday polo match is a great activity for the entire family.  There are a few vendors there offering kettle corn and a few other items and you can contact an event coordinator to supply catering and/or beverages.

Sarasota – Lakewood Ranch Polo Club
8201 Polo Club Lane
Sarasota, Fl 34240
(941) 907-0000

Top Ten things to do with Pets on Anna Maria Island

I am married to a veterinary technician.  Dogs, cats, birds, snakes, lizards and lots of other pets are all part of the family.  So why leave your pet behind when Island Real Estate has so many pet friendly properties.  Let’s get down to business….the best spots to take Fido, the family pet while visiting Anna Maria Island.   Unfortunately, Anna Maria Island does not have any pet friendly beaches but there are plenty of other options.  By the way, not sure if this is the exact order but they are all great things to do!

#10 – Take a walk up in Anna Maria City with an easy to tie up leash.  So many places to visit and so many businesses that are excited to see your pets.  Just walk Pine Avenue or Rudy’s and string them up.  Rudy’s actually has a dog paw wall where you can measure the height of your pet(s).   Last time I was at Rudy’s sub shop they had a dish of water outside.  Don’t forget Ginney and Janie’s, they are pet friendly inside last I was there.

#9 – Go up to Bayfront park in Anna Maria City and enjoy a picnic while you enjoy the bay.  If you have children they can have fun on the playground as well. Grab a sandwich for a quick fun afternoon.

#8 – Go take a walk at Robinson’s preserve.  The park has a wonderful tower that has gorgeous views of the Tampa Bay.  There are miles and miles of walk way’s with pet friendly bag stands as well as paved walkways as well for roller bladers.

#7 – Go to the causeway and let your pet enjoy the beach and the water.  The causeway is the beach you see traveling to Anna Maria Island on Manatee avenue or State Route 64.  It is only about 1/4 of a mile from 75th Street on the mainland of Bradenton, Fl.  Just a short 5 minute drive of Anna Maria.  If you want to grab Google maps type in Anna Maria Island in and move the map East until you see Palma Sola Bay.  That is the spot where pets can play in the water.

#6) - Go visit Sarasota amd St. Armand’s circle.  The Circle in Sarasota is a fantastic shopping area with clothing,

 jewelry, artwork, etc.  Lots of great local gifts and trinkets to grab.  In addition, lots of ice cream shops and restaurants with outdoor seating that allow you to sit outside with your pet and grab a bite to eat.  If shopping is your passion then try Red Barn Flea market in Bradenton as well.  Much of the flea market is outside and there are some indoor areas however sorry, not absolutely sure they allow pets.  Here is a video of the Red Barn Flea market.

#5) – Go visit the Sarasota Bay and water park, Bay Front park.  There is a great park over by Marina Jack’s.  I am sorry we do not yet have a blog on this but hope to write one soon.  While there go grab a special treat for your pet in downtown Sarasota.  Grab a snack at Max’s dog bakery on main street in Sarasota.   Walk up and down main street window shopping, maybe even grab yourself a snack then stop in at Max’s dog bakery for a treat!

#4) - Fort Desoto Park in St. Petersburgh.  There is a very large dog park that allows for dogs to swim in the Ocean.

#3)  Just bringing your pet on vacation is a big treat.  Grab one of Island Real Estate’s pet friendly properties with a pool and let us know a pet will be using the pool during your reservation.  Many of our pool properties can be pre-arranged to be cleaned twice during your stay for no extra charge!  Island Real Estate’s vacation rental website allows you to search for only pet friendly vacation rentals!  They have made the process easy!  

#2)  Visit Lakewood ranch and take in a Polo match.   Horses and lots of spectators taking in the Polo action.  Polo matches are open to the public on Sunday’s and they typically start matches in December and they go until April.  The kids can take a hay ride on one of the breaks and your pet will love you for it.  Get out in the sunshine on their over 140 acres and spend some time outside where the entire family including your pet will create memories for a lifetime.   Check out the polo match video below.

#1)  Drum roll…. All dogs love to run and play take them to GT. Bray Park in Bradenton, Florida.  This is a fenced in park where dogs can run and have fun with lots of other dogs.  Of course you need to have a mild mannered dog as there are lots of dogs inside the area.

Oil Spill Visitor update and Tropical Depression Bonnie

Last night Tropical Depression Bonnie flew by on Anna Maria Island.  Frankly it was not much an event here, we see harder rains with most normal rain storms.  While I am not sure when the peak occurred I drove home around 6:45 PM EST last night which had to be close to the peak and it was sprinkling.  I am on the bay side of Anna Maria Island and our office is more in the middle of the island and not much happened yesterday except a little rain. 

This morning it looks like the sun is already peaking through at 7:30 AM and our Anna Maria Island Beaches are ready for visitors.  If you are lucky enough to be visiting Anna Maria Island today it looks like it is going to be a clear day at the beach!   Of course our normal late day shower is forecasted but come out and enjoy the beaches of Anna Maria !

I hope this update helped as a few comments revolved around concerns with Bonnie on the oil spill or their upcoming vacation.  We are in the clear, come out and enjoy Anna Maria Island.  If you delayed your plans to come to Anna Maria then visit our vacation rental accommodation website or call Saturday or Sunday 877 778 6066.  We have a few properties left for the next 3-7 nights.  Don’t forget our short stay special’s page which could help with a quick get-away.

 Thanks goes out to Troy Morgan for the great Aerial photo above. 

Join us on Facebook!

Columbia Restaurant on St. Armand’s circle, Sarasota

 The Columbia restaurant is mainstay in Sarasota as well as Tampa.  If you are looking for fine dining with some shopping before or after the Columbia on St. Armand’s circle is a great choice.  They serve elegant dinners and lunches all year around.  Located on St. Armand’s circle the restaurant makes for a great day trip from Anna Maria Island.  Grab a lunch at the Columbia, walk around and go Shopping on St. Armand’s circle and pick up an ice cream as a mid afternoon snack.

The Columbia restaurantoriginally started in the Tampa area and you can find the Columbia in Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater and several other Florida locations.  As soon as you walk up to the restaurant you feel a positive vibe.  There is limited seating outside of about 25-30 seats with at least 100 inside.  The elegant restaurant has a large interior bar and the exterior is made to feel like an extension of the interior.

Anna Maria Island June 27th visitor oil update

No changes on Anna Maria Island.  No oil, no tar balls, just beautiful white sandy beaches.  Yesterday Anna Maria Island saw hundreds of people hit our beaches to announce their protest against oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.   Our local newspaper constructed a story on the oil protest.

Below is a video that I shot in Bradenton Beach today – June 27th.  I have to apologize I did not have much time today so I grabbed the video camera out of nice cool car and immediately threw it into the heat of the Florida day so you will see a few condensation drops on the lens.  Sorry!  The bottom line, you can still see there is NO oil in Bradenton Beach or Holmes Beach.

Click here for more information on Anna Maria Island Accommodations.

June 25th Anna Maria Island – Children Interviews – No Oil!

Island Real Estate is trying to mix it up a little bit with our videos of the Anna Maria Island Beaches.   No changes to our Anna Maria Island beaches.  As of June 25th the oil is still hundreds of miles from our beaches. 

We wanted to get the perspective of children regarding our white sugar sand.  Not much more to say but take a look at the video below which was shot June 21st, 2010.  Thanks to i-Jack for taking the video and the interviews.  He of course lives and “plays” full-time on beautiful Anna Maria Island.   Always trying to give a local perspective.

June 20th Anna Maria Island Spill visitor update

Same old same old here on Anna Maria Island.  Just gorgeous white beaches with lots of visitors enjoying our Gulf

and Bay coasts.  I apologize and have not had a chance to visit the beach all week however Melinda Bordes has and thought I would post a few of the amazing pictures she shot in Anna Maria City on the Gulf Coast beach.  Melinda a professional Real Estate sales person that specializes in Anna Maria Island real estate and Sunsets got some water shots of a Manatee with visitors to Anna Maria Island.  My wife has had a close encounter with a Manatee but no camera.  Thanks to Melinda we can all dream of such a day!

Click here for the original Manatee and Sunset post by Melinda.  Here is the great Sunset blog that Melinda keeps up so visit her fabulous sunset pictures if you need your “fix” of sunsets. 

Please note these pictures are not for reproduction and use of these pictures or anyother pictures on Island Real Estate’s website with out expressly written consent is strictly prohibited.  Enjoy the pictures and Melinda’s posts and keep in mind these were taken June 20th, 2010.  No OIL HERE!

Anna Maria Island June 18th Oil Spill Update – Video

It has been a week since I have posted a video of the gorgeous Anna Maria Island sugar white sand of our beach.  Nothing has changed on Anna Maria Island.  Still lots of visitors, locals and sea life having fun on the Anna Maria Island clean beaches.  Our beautiful Anna Maria City, Holmes Beach and Bradenton beach Beaches are open for visitors.

You can check Island Real Estate’s Facebook page for another way of catching our Anna Maria Island Beach updates.  See the video below which was taken around Noon, June 18th, 2010.  As always if you have any questions please comment below.

Anna Maria Island Oil Update – Our Beaches are beautiful June 17th

I apologize, I have not made it out to the gorgeous white sugar sand beaches of Anna Maria Island all week to show how wonderful our beaches continue to remain.   So I have no video at this time but will plan to grab some in the next few days.  If you have recently visited Anna Maria Island continue to comment on our post and if you have any pictures or video please share.

The past two nights I have attended Anna Maria Community meetings regarding discussions revolving around our communities readiness in the unlikely event we see oil.  Tonight Anna Maria Island community leaders, politicians, a Dr. at the Mote Marine Laboratory and a life-long commercial fisherman Karen Bell spoke to a large group of individuals at the Anna Maria Community center.  As we all know, our beaches remain open and beautiful with no impact from the BP oil spill.

What remains clear is no one knows for sure what impact will be on the sea life in the Gulf of Mexico.  What is clear is no one knows for sure where oil will wash up.  What is clear is our beautiful white sand beaches of Anna Maria Island remain open and beautiful and for the next several weeks that will continue to be the case.

I will post our meeting minutes from this evening and one resource I have not touched on in the past is the Mote Marine Aquarium.  The Mote Aquarium is a great scientific resource for Gulf Coast updates.  One important resource among many that they provide is daily updates of our Anna Maria Beaches.  That’s right, in the morning and afternoon the Mote Marine laboratory has arranged for lifeguards to report conditions at several beaches in the area.  One of which is Anna Maria Island.   Let me take you through the buttons to hit to get to the page which provides the two daily updates. 

Click Here – Take note of the buttons to the upper left and depress “Southwest”, then depress “Manatee”, you will then see on the right hand map a green bubble on Anna Maria Island.  Click that bubble once and the latest update will be provided.  The update shows the time, date of the last update, rip current, surf height and yes, oil impacts.  Of course we are free of any oil on our beaches.

— Older Entries