Anna Maria Island Information

Festival

If you are on or close to Anna Maria Island for the weekend of April 16th, 17th or 18th then the Real Florida Festival is a must visit.  It is the first ALL Anna Maria Island event of it’s kind.   That is Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria City are all participating in the extravaganza event.  The festival idea was that of Business entrepreneur David Teitelbaum of Island Real Estate of Anna Maria Island and Anna Maria Island Resorts.   The Anna Maria Island chamber of commerce is facilitating the three day all island event.

The highlights of the Real Florida Festival include but are not limited to…

Friday April 16th - Holmes Beach Founders day with arts, crafts, music, drink and plenty of food choices – Visit the Friday events page for more information.

Saturday April 17th - Continuation of the Holmes Beach Founder day with a skate park competition.  In the evening a parrot head dance at the Anna Maria Island Community Center – Visit the Saturday events page for more information.

Sunday April 18th – Bradenton Beach Bridge Street Beach to Bay Eco Day – live music, bands, food, drink, kayak

Anna Maria Chamber of Commerce

festival, shopping and much much more – Visit the Sunday events page for more information.

Just a reminder, this event is being held to further ensure our Anna Maria Island Trolley stays FREE.  The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce looks forward to seeing you all three days on Anna Maria Island.  Please visit the Real Florida Festival website for more information or visit the save the trolley website for additional information on how to help SAVE the TROLLEY.

Let’s face it, we all love holidays.  Who doesn’t love Easter Sunday?  Candy, treats, searching for a basket of goodies.  Well if you are visiting Anna Maria Island lunch or dinner on Easter can be down right tough.  The Publix supermarket is closed most of the day so there is no where on the island to get groceries.  Fear no more – below is a more recent list of restaurant’s that were open Easter Sunday.  After all, who wants to do dishes on a holiday?  I sure don’t!

Anna Maria Island Holiday Dining

RESTAURANT INFORMATION

Beach Bistro – Dinner only – Holmes Beach
Specialize in Gulf Front elegant dining

Beach House – Lunch & Dinner – Bradenton Beach
Gulf Front dining – casual Anna Maria dining

Da Giorgio – Dinner only – Holmes Beach
Italian elegant dining with live music

Euphemia Haye – Dinner only – Longboat Key
Elegant dining with more dessert than you can imagine

Moveable Feast – Lunch & Dinner – Holmes Beach
Casual dining

Paradise Cafe – Lunch only – Holmes Beach
Order and dine in or take it out

Rod & Reel Pier – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner – Anna Maria
Very casual Bay front dining

Holiday Treats

Sandbar – Lunch and Dinner – Anna Maria City
Casual Gulf Front dining

Sign of the Mermaid – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner – Anna Maria
Elegant dining with award winning desserts

Sunhouse – Late Lunch, Dinner – Bradenton Beach
Specialize in Floribean cuisine with Gulf Views

Waterfront – Lunch and Dinner – Anna Maria City
Bay View elegant dining and reservations suggested

OTHER STORES OPEN

Albertson’s Supermarket – Bradenton, Fl

Sweetbay Supermarket – Bradenton, Fl

Walgreens – Bradenton, Fl – Open 24 hours

There are plenty of restaurants on Anna Maria Island who claim to have the best pie on Anna Maria Island but the Sign of the Mermaid never fails to impress me.  Definitely continue to test Key Lime pies in all of Anna Maria Island’s restaurants, after all testing is all the fun!

Key Lime Pie

Sign of the Mermaid is located up in Anna Maria City on the East side of Gulf Drive.  If Key Lime pie is not your cup of tea then no worries.  Sign of the Mermaid offers Chocolate Silk Pie, Chocolate truffle peanut butter pie, Chocolate peanut pie and finally, Gold Coast Key Lime pie along with an occasional daily special.  All the sweets are available with 24 hours notice.  For a quick sweet just stop in as they have plenty of other choices in their dessert case.

Don’t forget that the Sign of the Mermaid offers great entree’s with lots of great fresh seafood choices.  Visit the Island Real Estate Anna Maria Island Sign of the Mermaid post for more information.

Lastly, if you love baking or eating pies, below you can find the award winning Key Lime recipe courtesy of News 13, Roy De Jesus.   For more information on the story visit Tampabay New 13.

What You’ll Need for your Key Lime Pie:

* 1¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
* ⅓ cup granulated sugar
* ½ cup melted butter
* 6 egg yolks (whites reserved for meringue)
* 1½ cans sweetened condensed milk (14 oz. cans)
* ¾ cup plus 1 oz. key lime juice
* 6 egg whites
* ¾ cup granulated sugar

Let’s Bake!

First, preheat the oven 325 degrees.

To prepare the crust, mix crumbs, sugar and butter until well blended, and press into a 10-inch pie pan, sprayed well with non-stick spray.

These are not baked beforehand. They bake along with the filling.

Next, the filling: Separate eggs, reserving the egg whites.

Mix yolks and sweetened condensed milk well in a stainless steel bowl. Add key lime juice, mix until blended. Pour filling into crust.

Bake in preheated 325-degree oven for 6 minutes, until pie is slightly set up. Remove from oven and set aside, and leave oven on for meringue.

To make the meringue: With stand-up or hand mixer, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add sugar slowly and beat until glossy, and whites hold their shape.

Spread meringue evenly over pie, making sure it touches the edges of the pie pan. Return to oven for 5 minutes until meringue peaks brown. Be careful not to overcook.

Remove from oven and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Headlines for Anna Maria Island

For the last year I have been sounding like a broken record. Anna Maria Island continues to make headlines in major newspapers and publications. New York Times, USA Today, Southern Living, Island’s and lots more. The latest positive press that Anna Maria Island has received is in the Boston Globe.

The Boston Globe just wrote a feature on great places to visit in Florida. They based the article on asking Floridians where Bostonians should visit? Orlando, Key West, Miami, and you guessed it, Anna Maria Island. It’s amazing that such a small island with only 6000 properties is mentioned in the same breath as Orlando. Awesome!!

Below you can find a portion of the article in the Boston Globe by Patricia Borns.

Retreat to Anna Maria Island
“If you came to visit me, I’d take you straight to the beach,’’ says Rhea Chiles, Florida’s former first lady. For her and her late husband, Lawton – known as “Walkin’ Lawton’’ for his gubernatorial campaign walk from Pensacola to Key West – Anna Maria was a haven from political life. “This place transcends thought and words,’’ Chiles says of the island, 3 miles long by a quarter-mile wide

Logo Boston Globe

(www.annamariaislandchamber.org). “It’s still one wide, noncommercialized beach. Go to the Sandbar Restaurant, order the wasabi-encrusted salmon, and wiggle your feet in the sand.’’ Chiles’s Studio at Gulf and Pine serves as artistic and intellectual salon (www.studioatgulfandpine.com). “We have one small thread of a bridge leading to mainland Sarasota,’’ she says, but visitors seldom take it. “They come for the beach experience. It’s a feeling there’s no place you’d rather be.’’

Anna Maria Island 2010 Wedding Festival

If you are a bride to be or think someone is about to pop the question soon then visiting the 2010 Anna Maria Island wedding festival is a must visit.  The wedding festival is on Sunday February 28th from 11AM to 6 PM.  It takes part all across Anna Maria Island.  There are many wedding stations that have several vendors at each location to help you plan your wedding.  Florists, limo services, venues, catering, clothing, you name it!

Registration is at the Anna Maria Island Chamber of commerce and if you pre-registered then it is $7 per person or at the door $10.  Just visit the Anna Maria Island Chamber of commerce for the exact address and if you are hungry visit the BeachHouse for a pre-event brunch.

There is over $10,000 in prizes that will be given away at the end of the event.  Fantastic prize baskets, weekend packages, lots of prizes that any bride to be would love to have.  For more information visit the Anna Maria wedding festival information website.

Anna Maria Island is located in the county of Manatee.  Manatee County is one of the largest physical counties in Florida although the population does not correlate.  Manatee county is recognized nationally for its strong medical and

Bradenton and Manatee Information

educational resources.  Manatee county offers a wide diversity of home choices.  Gulf Front, boating, golf course, country club, single family, condominiums as well of lots of other choices in finding the perfect home makes Manatee county a great place to live.  Some of the more popular communities in Manatee county are Terra Ceia Bay which is in Palmetto, University Park which offers the high life county club style living, plenty of newer communities can be found in NorthWest Bradenton, plenty of gorgeous historical homes along the Manatee river and of course the beach cities that can be found on Anna Maria Island;  Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria City.  One additional community that needs mentioning is Lakewood Ranch.  Lakewood Ranch is an award winning Master planned 8500 acre community that has successfully incorporated both commercial and residential development.  Seven villages have been developed to combine recreational facilities, restaurants, arts and educational establishments.

Estimates on the population of the Manatee County are as follows:
1995          -     233,000
2000          -     264,000
2005          -     300,000
2008          -     330,000
2013          -     370,000  (Estimated)

Population by City  (2008 Estimates)
Anna Maria City     -  1,829
Bradenton                -  53,500
Bradenton Beach  -  1,553
Holmes Beach        -  5,017
Palmetto                  -  14,284
Unincorporated    – 251,000

G.T. Bray Santa

If you have never visited Anna Maria Island around Christmas you need to give it a try, Why?

There are a ton of Christmas activities all around the area. Santa comes in on a helicopter at G.T. Bray Park. Downtown Bradenton brings in snow to go sledding. Holmes Beach plaza on Marina Drive has a Christmas bash where shops serve free appetizers and the children of Anna Maria Island dance under a snow machine.

Not enough? Vacation rental accommodations in early December are more than 50% off compared to high season rates. The weather is sunny and beautiful. The only white we have is the sand on our gorgeous beaches. While I write this the entire East coast is in a blizzard that will average one foot of snow fall!

Lastly, who does not like a good parade? Every year the Anna Maria Island privateers put on a Christmas parade. Beads, candy and party favors are all thrown during the parade. It is fabulous fun for all!

So what are you doing? Call Island Real Estate today and book next year’s holiday season. Island Real Estate has more than 175 hand picked rentals with more than 25 high luxury vacation rentals. More than anyone on Anna Maria Island!

Have a great winter and a wonderful holiday season! Thanks to Michael for the great video below.

Sorry Anna Maria Island 2010 Spring visitors, looks like you won’t have use of the public pier at the Holmes Beach

Public Pier Tear Down

public beach. That’s ok we have several on Anna Maria Island, Florida. Just swing up to the Anna Maria City public pier or the Rod and Reel pier. Oops, don’t forget about the pier at the end of Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach, Anna Maria Island, FL.

I have to admit there is not much Holmes Beach or Manatee County could have done to delay the construction of the pier. Some heavy waves made the pier unsafe and soon there after the pier was scheduled to be replaced. Sure we had our normal banter regarding how long the pier should be but the commisioners of Holmes Beach and Manatee County quickly worked through those details and early December 2009 the pier began to get ripped down.

Unfortunately the tear down has seen some unexpected delays. The temporary debris bridge the back hoe operator created to get out to the last piece of the pier gave way and much to the operators surprise he found himself and his backhoe pictured here in the salt water of the Gulf of Mexico. It has been about 1 week and have not seen any progress on ripping down the rest of the pier?

Holmes Beach Pier

So, not to worry Spring 2010 visitors, grab our free trolley up to Anna Maria City and try out a new pier! We will have a new and improved pier for your visit in 2011! Have a fantastic holiday season.

Looking for additional Anna Maria Island property information?

If you are on or near Anna Maria Island December 12th, 2009 you should come out to Gulf Drive and enjoy the Christmas Privateer parade. Everyone has a blast and more importantly there is lots of candy! Usually as much candy as your child can eat since there are lots of business floats throwing candy.

The parade begins at the Anna Maria City Bay Front park and ends at Coquina park in Bradenton Beach, Fl. The parade travels East on Pine Avenue, South on Gulf Drive, on to Marina Drive/Palm Drive to Gulf Drive, then a quick trip along East Bay Drive on to Gulf Drive where it finally ends in Bradenton Beach. The parade travels almost the entire length of Anna Maria Island.

If you are traveling from Tampa, Sarasota or Bradenton I would suggest parking at Coquina or the Manatee public beaches. These are easy access points and easier to get off the island just after the parade. It takes Anna Maria Island about 1 hour to get traffic back to normal.

If you are planning to spend a few more hours on Anna Maria Island then stop in at Island Real Estate where we have plenty of free maps as well as Anna Maria Island Real Estate for sale packets. They understand if you are not in the immediate market and just looking. Make sure you visit one of Anna Maria Island’s great restaurants and get a bite to eat for lunch or maybe even an early dinner.

Details of the Anna Maria Island Parade… Starts at 10 AM finished around 11:15 AM and it’s on December 12th, 2009. See a few photos below for past Christmas Parades.

Pravateer's Christmas

Privateer Ship during the Christmas Parade

Island Real Estate

Island real Estate in the Christmas Parade

The Rod and Reel restaurant is located in Anna Maria City, Anna Maria Island Florida. The restaurant sits out on the end of the most Northern Pier on Anna Maria Island. It is extremely quiet and the Rod & Reel is typically a top 3 foodie choice for visitors and locals alike. The great food, great views and reasonable prices make a must stop.

The restaurant is on the second floor and provides indoor and outdoor seating. In the high season it can get pretty busy and waiting an hour for a seat is fairly common place. The great thing about waiting is that you stop by the bar on the first floor, grab a beverage and sit on the pier people, fish, dolphin, bay and manatee watching. It is great to get the strong bay breeze coming to shore while you catch up with friends and family.

The Rod & Reel serves breakfast, lunches, and dinners. For lunch their are plenty of sandwiches and for dinner lots of fish and specials. You never can go wrong with Grouper. For more Anna Maria Island Information visit Island Real Estate’s attractions website and view the video below.