Tag: anna maria island

FL Sunrise & Sunset 2025 – part 2

by ginnyinshanghai

Let’s close this out………………….

West coast destination was Anna Maria Island. It had been hard hit in 2024 with Hurricanes Milton and Helene. Even though Helene made landfall elsewhere, A.M.I. faced strong winds and storm surges. Many homes experienced 3-4 feet of water and extensive damage to roads and infrastructure occurred. Good news – none of that was evident! Oh yes, some homes hadn’t been rebuilt but many more repairs were complete. Let’s get on with this.

Silver Surf Gulf Beach Resort was the locale of choice. Loved it!

With three separate buildings, we had easy access to parking and would definitely stay here again. Walking in, very nice set up.

One interesting aspect………………a murphy bed. The above photo shows the couch where the murphy bed ultimately lands. After watching a short video, Eric got it ready.

A small kitchenette was part of the set up.

This spot was not directly on the beach but had their own private access to the beach.

While different than the east coast, still pretty. Man – I’m hoping the clouds go away before sundown, otherwise, the sunset is going to be a bust. This was taken around 2pm.

We had some time to kill before sunset so we drove to the end of the island checking out what shops and restaurants still existed. About 20 minutes before sunset, we headed back to our ‘private’ beach. Yep, it is a bit windy.

Here we are patiently (somewhat) waiting to see if this was going to be a bust. The temps were getting a bit cooler.

I was able to catch this boat zipping across the coastline. It was not looking good for seeing the sun.

And then the sun started to peek through along the horizon.

And………………we’re done.

One more thing on tonight’s agenda – dinner at The Sandbar.

Since our last visit, damage from hurricanes changed (destroyed) their building. Seating outside was nice.

Dinner was a variety of items, sharing dip as a starter.

While Adrienne went running the next morning, I got a West coast sunrise.

As we headed home, one last stop was lunch at Tide Tables (same place as the prior day). Loved the fact we could eat outside in the Florida sunshine.

Smoked fish dish and assorted meals was the order for the day. I got the fish tacos – Loved them! Definitely had enough for lunch the next day. 🙂

Thanks to Eric’s planning, one more thing scratched off of my bucket list.

Ginny

FL Sunrise & Sunset 2025 – part 1

by ginnyinshanghai

I had something on my bucket list that still needed to be ‘checked off’. Seeing a Florida sunrise and then heading west to see the Florida sunset.

It was time.

Chosen jump-off points: Melbourne Beach then to Anna Maria Island.

After work, we picked up Adrienne and headed to the East coast. We got there in time to see a sunset on the East coast.

First order of business in Melbourne was dinner – Bunky’s.

Yep, it is a sports bar & grill – but had some good food. TVs surrounded us with a multitude of sporting events to suit everyone’s pleasure.

First up – oysters from the James River, VA. I don’t know if these were exceptionally tasty but they definitely hit the spot. It had been months since we had eaten oysters. They disappeared quickly!

They forgot our fish dip but after a gentle reminder it came out, right before our meal. Regardless, by the end of the night it was gone. We ordered the extra ‘fixings’ of jalapenos, onions and tomatoes.

Selections were:

crab cakes & tator tots (Eric)
fish tacos (Adrienne)
Ahi tuna BLT for myself

I had forgotten how much I liked ahi tuna. The above photo doesn’t do it justice – I ate it all and left fries!

Back to the Melbourne Hilton for a nightcap.

dirty martini, old-fashioned and rose’ wine

My alarm went off…………………..1+ hour before needed. 😦 Sorry about that guys. However, I got a good photo from our room.

My Icelandic sheep made an appearance, patiently waiting for the east coast sunrise.

Eric got a good sequence of the sun rising.

One of my shots is below (Have I mentioned that Eric has a newer and thus better phone for photos?), catching sandpipers busily eating before being overtaken by a breaking wave. One little guy was being left behind.

We checked out, searching for a breakfast spot before heading out. This breakfast stop didn’t look like much from the outside (in a strip mall) but the food was fantastic.

It was well chosen!

Onward to the west coast! We chose the ‘scenic’ route, taking our time. We drove south from Melbourne before heading west.

Driving across the state, we came across a number of agricultural industries. First up were these citrus trees. Too many of the fields looked the photo on the right.

Then we started seeing small trees with this netting. That wasn’t surprising since

‘citrus greening’ is spread by tiny sucking insects and this offers some protection from that.

Until………….we came across this farm that had mile after mile of fenced netting for citrus. Yikes!

The cattle industry is also big in Florida. We came across a few herds during our travels.

Traffic was fairly sparse. We started out on this 4 lane highway going due west…….

……before throttling down to a 2-lane road,

Once we got onto the Florida ridge, it was mostly pine trees and palmettos.

Lunch was right before we crossed over onto the Anna Maria Island.

We chose outside seating at the bar – why not, we’re in Florida. Amazing what the right angle and sun exposure will do for a photo – ha!

All of us ordered grouper. Grilled for myself & Adrienne while Eric ordered the grouper cheeks.

Seems like a good spot for a break in this post. More of the coast-to-coast adventure is coming.

Ginny