New mandatory Electronic System Travel Authorization for foreign travelers

Last year Congress enacted legislation to expand the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The new law required that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) develop an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to gather biographic information from nationals of the soon-to-be 34 VWP countries traveling to the U.S. in advance of their visit.

ESTA will become mandatory for all VWP travelers beginning January 12, 2009. Information required through ESTA mirrors the data travelers already submit through the I-94W paper form currently filled out upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry; however, it simplifies the process by allowing visitors to complete the form online prior to arrival.

Question and Answers about the program

The following countries are currently part of the Electronic System Travel Authorization program…

Andorra	France	Luxembourg	Singapore
Austria	Germany	Monaco	Slovenia
Australia	Iceland	Netherlands	Spain
Belgium	Ireland	New Zealand	Sweden
Brunei	Italy	Norway	Switzerland
Denmark	Japan	Portugal	United Kingdom
Finland	Liechtenstein	San Marino

St. Petersburg Times Forum offers wonderful venue for Anna Maria, Florida

The St. Petersburg Times Forum is the permanent host to the Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey team as well as the Tampa Bay Storm football team.  The Forum offers Anna Maria Island residents and visitors big time entertainment.  At the time of this writing the St. Pete Forum is hosting many big name entertainers.  Neil Diamond, Wiggles, AC/DC, Celine Dion, and Dane Cook the comedian.

The St. Pete Times Forum has a fantastic interactive Seating diagram that allows you to see the view you can expect when choosing your seats.  130, 101, 102 and 117, 116, and 115 are first level and in the middle of the Forum.

The Forum has several ATM’s.  There are two Tampa General Hospital first aid offices in the forum.  Smoking is not permitted inside although there are several outside areas provided.  Disabled seating can be purchased at (813) 301-6536.  The Forum restricts Alcohol, food or beverages, bottles, cans, laser pointers, large banners or signs, chains, fireworks, weapons, and no video or audio recording devices.  Be careful, if your camera has video recording capabilities you may be required to make a long trek back to your vehicle to deposit your camera.

There are plenty of food choices at the Forum however expect to eat for twice what you would at Mcdonalds for similar eats.  Hamburgers, Chicken Nuggets, Pizza, ice cream, peanuts, cotton candy, french fries, hot dogs, just about anything you can imagine.

The Forum website has great directions but in case you need directions from Anna Maria Island: travel along Route 64 East to RESIDENTIAL State Route 41 North (The Non-Business Route).  Take 275 South and move on to I-75 North to Tampa, Florida.  Off of I-75, take State Route 618 also known as Crosstown West until Exit #7.  Take Exit 7 which is known as Downtown West exit and follow the exit loop.  There is a parking lot to your immediate left once the exit ramp ends.  Turn left on East Bell Street and Park.  Parking at the time of this article is $8.

St. Petersburg Times Forum
401 Channelside Drive
St. Petersburg, Fl, 33602
(813) 301-2500 For Entertainment tickets
(813) 301-6600 For Sports tickets

Tampa Bay Hockey is great big city sports entertainment

Tampa Bay Lightning offers wonderful “big city” sports entertainment for Anna Maria Island residents and visitors.   Tampa, Florida entertainment starts in early October and regular season games end in Mid-April.  Post season games typically last until late May, early June.  The drive from Anna Maria via East of Tampa is about a 1 hour drive and West of Tampa is about 1 hour and twenty minutes.

Specific directions from Anna Maria Island are as follows:  take Route 64 East to Route 41 North (The Non-Business Route).  Pick up 275 South and then take I-75 North to Tampa.  Take State Route 618 also known as Crosstown West until Exit #7.  Take Exit 7 which is the Downtown West exit and follow the exit loop.  There is a parking lot to your immediate left once the exit ramp ends.  Turn left on East Bell Street and Park.  Parking at the time of this article is $8.  The exact address of the St. Petersburg Times Forum is 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa, Fl, 33602.

There is plenty of food to choose at the Tampa Bay Lighteing hockey games.  Westshore pizza has good pizza but I would skip the philly cheesesteak.  I absolutely love Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  They give you a bag of fries that is large enough to feed two big guys or a family of four.  Their burgers are fantastic.  Of course there are peanuts, beer, soda, pretzels, cotton candy, chicken fingers and fries, hot dogs, etc.  Yes there is a place that sells salads on the first level where Five Guys Burgers and Fries can be found.

If you go to a hockey game give yourself about 1.5 hours to make the normal 7:30 PM starting games.  They have lots of games with give-aways so plan accordingly if you the give away is a must have.  Be ready for a late night.  Normally we get back to Anna Maria Island at about 11:30 PM.

St. Petersburg Times Forum
Tampa Bay Lightning
401 Channelside Drive
Tampa, Fl, 33602

Drive In Movie Theater – Ruskin, Florida

Yup, perfect late night entertainment can be found at the Ruskin Drive in movie Theatre.  They pride themselves on being family oriented as the manager was quick to inform all at the drive in that shenanigans would not be tolerated.  The movie started at dusk which was around 8:30 PM for the middle of the summer.  They have the old style hang in your window speakers however you can listen in on your car radio also.  We sat outside in front of our vehicle in lawn chairs which was perfect as the night was a comfortable temperature.  Be sure to bring bug spray for mosquitoes as well as tics, etc.  We stopped at a store for some snacks and drinks prior to arriving.  The drive from Anna Maria Island was about 40 minutes so I would not take the trip lightly but it can provide for inexpensive entertainment for hours.  Of course the drive in has a two movie feature and for less than $15 our family was entertained from 8:30 – 1 AM.  There was a 10 minute intermission between films and they show high quality films.  The films we saw, just came out and one was within the first week of being released.  As usual, they had a snack bar that was open for the majority of the night and they served inexpensive 12″ pizza’s, nachos, hot dogs, snacks, drinks, huge pickles, etc.  It was like walking back in time even as compared to Anna Maria Island’s historical environment.  The snack shack is not much to look at but it does the job.  Below are directions from Anna Maria Island…Be careful, bring cash as they take no credit cards or checks.  They allow no RV’s or motorcycles and ask extra large vehicles to sit in the back.  I would estimate they can accommodate about 100 vehicles and we visited on a weeknight and had a great spot without much difficulty.

From the South (Bradenton/Sarasota):
Travel 64 EAST to North on I-75; at the Sun City Center/Ruskin exit, Turn left WEST on CR 674 ,go to US 41 right turn heading north; Pass 19th Ave. Drive-In is on the right side of the road.

Ruskin Family Drive-in
5011 U.S. Hwy 41 North
Ruskin, Fl, 33572
(813) 645-1455

Tampa, Florida International Airport – TIA

You will find flying into Tampa International Airport (TIA) a breeze.  Their state of the art luggage return as well as tram service that gets you to and from the terminals is easy and makes your travel day just a little easier.  TIA is a short 1.25 hours from Anna Maria Island by way of 275 and the Sky Way Bridge. 

TIA
PO BOX 22287
Tampa, Florida, 33662
(813) 870-8700

A list of Airlines that serve TIA are below however this information changes frequently so please check the airline web sites for final confirmation.

Air Canada (888) 247-2262   Website
AirTran Airways (800) 247-8726   Website
Allegiant Air (702) 505-8888   Website
American Airlines (800) 443-7300   Website
British Airways (800) 247-9297   Website
Cayman Airways (800) 422-9626   Website
Continental (800) 525-0280   Website
Delta Airlines (800) 221-1212   Website
JetBlue Airlines (800) 538-2583   Website
Northwest Airlines (800) 225-2525   Website
Midwest Airlines (800) 452-2022   Website
Southwest Airlines (800) 435-9792   Website
Spirit Airlines (800) 772-7117   Website
SunCountry (800) 359-6786   Website
Sunwing (877) 786-9464   Website
United Airlines (800) 241-6522   Website
US Airways (800) 428-4322   Website
WestJet (800) 538-5696   Website

SeaCoast Airlines (727) 507-8582 Website (Charter Service)

Travel to Anna Maria Island

If you need to fly to the area the main choices are the Tampa Airport  or Sarasota Bradenton International airport. The Tampa airport is about 1.25 hrs drive from Anna Maria Island while Sarasota Bradenton International is an estimated 45 minutes from Anna Maria.  Some less conventional airports to fly into are the St Petersburg/Clearwater airport which is about the same distance as the Tampa Airport.  For international flights another alternative is to fly into one of two Orlando airports.  Normally Orlando offers some very competitive airfare and the one way car trip takes about 2 hours in light traffic.  

Click the link for more information on transportation services to Anna Maria Island from the Tampa International Airport or Sarasota/Bradenton Airports.

Traveling to Anna Maria Island by vehicle is always an alternative.  See below for estimated mileage from a few major North American cities…

Montreal, Quebec – 1550 Miles  :  Toronto, Ontario – 1400 Miles
Milwaukee, WI – 1300 Miles       :  Chicago, IL – 1220 Miles
Syracuse, NY – 1325 Miles          :  New York, NY – 1175 Miles
Boston, MA – 1420 Miles             :  Pittsburgh, PA – 1075 Miles
Orlando, FL – 122 Miles               :  Atlanta, GA - 500 Miles

Information on Wireless Internet Hot-Spots on Anna Maria Island