After a restful night of sleep and a long overdue morning of sleeping in (you know, the three kids and all), Robby and I woke to a beautiful, sunny, Anna Maria morning. We made a pot of coffee in our Tarpon Treehouse kitchen, threw on some lounge clothes, and enjoyed our morning cup of joe in the screened-in porch. I will admit to doing a couple hours of work online but that meant I had less of a mess to come back to the following week. Robby did a little work as well, while we just enjoyed the peaceful tropical retreat that is the entire backyard at the Treehouse. If you didn’t read about our stay at the Tarpon Treehouse in my post “Vacation on Anna Maria Island: Day #1, read it here.

Once we cleared our minds of work and could focus more on getting this vacation in gear, we headed out for a run. I love going for a run on vacation. There’s something calming to me about not knowing what direction I’m headed in and just going with it. Also, I tend to see more around the island because I like to run through all the neighborhoods and take in the views the island has to offer. I absolutely love colorful island homes and I admire every one I run by and dream about what my retirement island home will look like (it will be on the sea, painted in seafoam green, if you were wondering). Anna Maria is so small that I got my 3-mile run in quite easily. It’s safe and traffic is slow-going so running on the island is very easy and enjoyable.

After we cleaned the sweat away by showering in the outdoor shower (who knew an outdoor shower could be such an awesome bonus to a vacation rental home??), we headed out in search of a place to load back up on some necessities. Our travel size toothpaste had managed to wither away to nothing so that was a must! Luckily, the Anna Maria General Store understands that the world has lots of unprepared travelers just like us. The shelves are lined with all of your basic necessities from toothpaste to food to shampoo to alcohol (which, by the way, was not overly priced and honestly not much price difference than the store that Neil took us to before coming on the island (read Day#1’s adventures to hear about Neil). They also serve a variety of sandwiches for lunch and have a selection of bakery type items to stock up on for quick and easy breakfasts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By this time of day, we had ran, worked, and then run errands and therefore were completely starved. I knew we needed some beach time so we headed in that direction and ended up at The Sandbar Restaurant. I’m inclined to say this was my favorite restaurant we went to on the island. We were seated at a table just in the sand. That’s right, I got to eat lunch with my toes in the sand and my eyes watching the waves of the ocean. It was perfecto! I had the fish mahi tacos, which were absolutely amazing. Robby turned me on to fish tacos within the last several years and it’s a great lunchtime meal because they’re filling enough to quench your hunger but also not give you that oh-my-gosh-I-feel-like-I-just-ate-a-horse feeling for the beach! Robby and I both ordered Pina Coladas and were overjoyed that they were the REAL thing; none of that syrupy, slushy, pre-made junk that so many places try to pass off as a drink. They hit the spot for sure, as we all know a tropical vacay is not a tropical vacay without a Pina Colada to sip on. We had wonderful service from a waitress whose name I cannot remember but she did quickly replace my drink when I managed to spill the entire thing all over our table. (Thank you miss!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking straight from our table at The Sandbar to our spot in the sand, we settled in for a couple hours of R & R. We had an appointment for a couples massage at Body Sol that afternoon so we didn’t stay long. And because I want to be sure and get the point across on this topic….. The beach on this day was also absolutely beautiful. Our Day #2 was a Friday and we could tell the weekenders had started heading in, as it was a little more crowded than Thursday. There’s a good mix of vacationers who end up on the beach at Anna Maria. We saw lots of families whose little ones were busy making sandcastles and jumping through the gentle ocean waves. We saw couples who ranged from every age group and we saw groups of young teens out to get their summer suntans in check and wearing the itsy bitsy-est bikinis I’ve ever seen. I am happy to announce that we didn’t have to experience any sorts of annoying beach neighbors blasting awful music and making fools of themselves. Everyone was busy in their groups enjoying their time and keeping to themselves, which makes all the other beach goers happy!

When it was time to wrap it up at the beach, we gathered our things and biked back to the Treehouse to get cleaned up before turning back around and heading over to Body Sol Spa and Wellness. I’m not sure when this ritual started, but a number of vacations ago, Robby had this amazing idea to get a couples massage. Since then, we always feel a little compelled to pamper ourselves. I mean, we are on vacation and all, right?? It was quiet as a mouse when we got there and after filling out our “never-been-here-before paperwork” they ushered us to the massage room. Typical of every massage spa I’ve ever been to, the lights were dimmed, they had soft, soothing music playing from a secret location that I always look for and never manage to find, and smells that can only be described as what I can expect to smell when I get to Heaven. It’s amazing how quickly an hour can fly by when you’re getting a relaxing rub down but I enjoyed every minute of the 60 that it lasted!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the massage, we felt the need to just lay low for a bit and continue relaxing (are you starting to get the theme of this vacation yet?) and so we walked just a hundred feet to Harry’s Grill. It was hot as could be outside but we took a seat at the outdoor patio because Robby spotted live music right away. We ordered some apps and drinks, of course. Chips and salsa were the ticket for me and Robby ordered hot wings, and both of us topped it off with Corona with limes:-) Harry’s is honestly a little hole in the wall spot that you may miss if you blink driving by. I felt that was some of the charm of it and Robby was just happy to hear some live music! That was the only place we managed to find live music on the island, which was Robby’s biggest complaint at the end of our trip.  It’s also worth noting that the menu looked to be full of good choices but since we couldn’t see the ocean from here, this ended up being our only stop at Harry’s. My salsa was amazing, Robby’s wings were tasty, the beer was cold, and the atmosphere was on point! I actually wish we would have given Harry’s another try during our stay. We’ll getcha next time Harry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On his morning run, Robby somehow managed to wander far, far north, up to Bean Point and said the view was definitely worth the trek. During my early Anna Maria Vacation research, I found that watching the sunset from Bean Point is one of the most highly suggested things to do. Since we were itching to have some more beach time, we loaded up the cooler and got all beach-ready again and rode our bikes up to the north point of the island. I’m not sure I remember seeing a sign that pointed to Bean Point but if you find a beach access, take that and just head north. We walked for what seemed like an incredibly long time but it didn’t matter because I was geeking out about my seashell finds and walking in the ocean the whole way there. When we finally made it all the way to the point, we were just one of maybe 20 people around. By the time the sunset was on the horizon, the place was full of other vacationers, out to enjoy the view. And a view it was! Panoramic sunset views on the horizon of the ocean is not a bad way to end the day. We didn’t do much swimming here though and didn’t notice many others that were either. A local had managed to fill us in on Bean Point being a hot spot for the Tarpon fish at this time of year and therefore, a hot spot for the sharks as well. For the longest time, we watched some pretty impressive diving done by a handful of pelicans! All in all, I’d give Bean Point two thumbs up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the sun had finally set, we hiked back to our bikes and back home to clean up. We decided to try out Rod ‘N Reel Pier for dinner, since, as the name implies, it is on a pier. In the water. Just how I like my dinners. By the time we biked back up north to the pier, we were sweaty messes, Robby was hungry (And not just any hungry but he is the guy on the Snickers commercial when he gets hungry, ya’ll. It’s scary), and it was late for dinner as we pulled up about 9:00pm. There were still quite a few people milling around outside on the boardwalk. I could see well enough inside the restaurant that I could tell it wasn’t busy at this time of night. Great! No waiting!!! Right???……………….. Wrong! When we went inside, nobody acknowledged us for several minutes and then a lady in the corner, smelling her chicken (I’m dead serious. Truly not making this up.) welcomed us and asked how she could help. I asked if diners should seat themselves and that’s when she delivered the stomach-breaking news that they had just closed. I was mildly afraid Robby was going to go postal so I shoved him out the door and we finally made our way through the island back closer to home to The Waterfront. Again. Second night in a row. Here, there was also no waiting line but we were seated out front where we could still people watch and have an evening glass of wine under the dimly light awning. The fried shrimp were semi-sweet and very crunchy and the caesar salad tasted so crisp and delicious with the chunks of freshly grated parmesan. As we sat there winding down the day, our cares of the world just slowly melted away with the end of the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for stories from Day #3!