Prices continued to fall on the Florida Sun Coast, but with interest rates at a historic low, deals were getting done and a Realtor was once again able to have a double latte at the Beach Cafe on Anna Maria Island. After grabbing a lunch with my buddy Bob, I showed him a place where he could take his girlfriend to watch the sun set, and get an "all you can eat Pancake" breakfast if he got her up early the next morning. Bob, who works on Longboat, had never really taken the time to explore our northern neighbor island, Anna Maria. Anna Maria is one island, but with three distinct towns. And each of those towns has a distinct personality.
At the top of the island is the City of Anna Maria - they have their own Mayor, but police service is contracted out to the Manatee County Sheriff. The entire island is served by a West Manatee Fire District. Anna Maria, the city, is very residential and arguably the "high end" real estate on the island.
The middle of the island is Holmes Beach. Holmes Beach has the Manatee County Library branch and a quite impressive City Hall in it's main business district. It is solidly middle class and sports lots of visitor facilities along the shoreline, and decent marina space along the Inter-coastal Waterway which separates the island from mainland Manatee County. Holmes Beach also has three gas stations, and all are ten cents a gallon below the solitary station on Longboat Key.
The south end of the island is Bradenton Beach. Like Holmes Beach, it has its own Mayor and Police Chief (and minimal police forces). Bradenton Beach's business district is along Bridge Street, where there is no longer a bridge. The bridge is somewhat north of Bridge Street, where Cortez Avenue comes from the mainland. The fishing village of Cortez is at the land side of the bridge, and they have a great Fishing Festival every year, plus a small fishing fleet embarks from there each morning. The far south end of Bradenton Beach is Coquina State Park, where the holidays find crowded beaches and the occasional Hispanic gang fight and shooting gallery. Don't worry - nobody dies, as the gangs haven't learned to shoot straight. The presence of this large park attracting the weekend swimmers, sun bathers and gang bangers give this town a distinctly working class tourist appeal.
So, in order to leave Lucky Longboat (called that because we've not had a hurricane impact us for some eighty years), we must either go north to the Cortez Bridge on Anna Maria, or go south to reach the mainland via City Island, St. Armand's Circle on Lido Key, then Bird Key, and finally the high bridge into Sarasota. Isolation has its disadvantages living on Longboat "behind the gates", but our new home here is lovely and on one blessed level - no more stairs to climb. However, if I wanted to climb stairs, that property pictured above would be my first choice. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to look like a buff 20 something lifeguard. In my dreams, and only in my dreams.
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