Anna Maria Island

A few days after Thanksgiving, after eating all our leftovers and emerging from our turkey coma, we packed our bags and headed down to the beach for a few days of sunshine and Florida fun. We tried a new (to us) location this time - Anna Maria Island - which we've heard wonderful things about. We rented a charming little bungalow, right off the beach, with a heated pool out back and plenty of lizards running around the yard to keep the littles entertained. The waves were cold, but the sunshine was warm, the sand was so soft, the tidepools were teeming, the seafood was savory and the light was absolutely Lovely (with a capital L). Plus, the beaches were nearly deserted and we felt like we owned miles of white sandy stretches. Basically, the whole place was a photographer's dream, so it's no surprise that I took a million photos. I had a very hard time narrowing it down to less than 100 to post today! 

Every morning we'd take the kids to the beach at low tide to check out all the fun creatures in the tidepools. We found all kinds of crabs, sea slugs, conch, sharks teeth, hermit crabs, puffer fish, whelk, minnows, snails and every type of shell imaginable. We watched pods of dolphins swim by, skipped sand dollars, chased seagulls, fed heron, fished off the beach (caught a shark!), made sandcastles, found buried treasure, collected shells and just splashed in the waves. Evenings were also lovely, with some of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen. It was a really wonderful little getaway and someplace I'd love to go back to and explore a bit more. 

Until we meet again, I'll be dreaming of the islands...