Travel Blog: Anna Maria, FL (3)

As 3pm struck on a Friday it was time to leave work early and beat some traffic on the way down to Anna Maria to stay the weekend. Traffic was a bit heavy and slow in some areas, but we made it safely with only one odd traffic incident.

As we rolled into Bradenton we took our turn onto Manatee Ave which is a one way road for a tiny bit towards Holmes Beach. To my surprise pulling onto that road a car was coming towards us going the wrong direction. I was so confused as that car continued to drive the wrong way to the intersection where oncoming cars honked & I watched the car double down and drive against traffic. At that point I lost visuals of the car, but it was so strange.

As we arrived towards our cottage we saw signs of a festival and I got curious and began researching. It didn't take long to figure out we attended on the same weekend as the yearly Bayfest festival - this time visiting on the 24th iteration of it.

So we had a new Saturday plan in the works, but before that day arrived we had to visit our favorite restaurant on the island - The Porch. This place is unlike any other place on the beach and continues to keep the bar high with fresh high quality ingredients.

As I looked at the menu the special stood out as Triple Tail offered any way you wanted. I got it blackened with salsa and boy properly cooked fish prepared the right way is amazing. With a few sangrias it was an excellent dinner to start the weekend mini vacation.

We walked next door to the general store which conveniently also sold ice cream and it wasn't busy for a Friday night. It seems visiting off season has a different vibe to the island than a 3 day weekend or holiday. Other times visiting that store you have a line 10-20 people deep waiting for ice cream. This time we walked in and chatted a bit with the staff member while figuring out which ice cream to get.

With the temperature not in the extreme heat levels - we found walking towards home a far more comfortable experience than our previous visit that hovered in the 90's. Once home we knew we had a busy beach & festival day approaching so went onward to sleep.

As the next morning dawned it was time to head out for a morning workout before the day got started. I was prescribed, via my watch, a tempo workout which means I basically run faster for a bit followed by a shorter break of slower pace. I enjoyed doing a large loop and checking on the other side of the island while training for an 8k. I basically just do the workout the watch says and follow its recommendation each time.

This was early in the day around 7am and I got to see the festival being setup - including some massive music stage. I wasn't sure of the scale of this festival, but seeing it being setup and roads closed down led me to believe it was going to be large.

The day was going to start with the beach so we headed out early to claim some space after getting some donuts. I did finally order the Sriracha special donut and it was nothing special. We dragged out some beach chairs, a cooler and the Sun Ninja down to a perfect spot near the water. Building the Sun Ninja is always an interesting task as you get to channel some inner kid and dig a ton of sand into the product to weigh it down.

With the temperature not being as hot and the water a bit chilly it was tougher on the mental strength to go exploring in the ocean. With a little kid and a few friends with us we were on a timer until the little one needed a nap anyway. So we took advantage of the time with a bit of ocean, snacks and drinks in & out of some shade.

After that we went back to the cottage to visit the pool to grill some hotdogs. It seems reviewing my photos that I dropped the ball on not having a single photo of the beach, pool or grilling experience. Just this random photo of the propane tanks because Propane Ninja was some cool branding for propane. Alyson brought some of my home pickled jalapenos and they were spicy when loaded on top of a hotdog. It was a bit of a scuffed preparation to grill as we had 4 buns, 7 hotdogs, had to buy ketchup/mustard, but had 40~ jalapenos and 20~ pickles. Either way it was a great hotdog and a nice little shade cover to grill near our unit.

Once exhausted with the ocean and pool we went inside to cleanup and prepare to visit the festival where once again I dropped the ball with photographs. Before walking to the festival though we wanted to try out the newly remodeled Sandbar to get some drinks.

We all got frozen drinks and walked out of the restaurant with them to sip on in the shade before walking to the festival. By the time we hit the road closures of the "walking only" part of the festival - we had finished our drinks.

We walked the entire festival front to back and the band at the end of the street was great. A rock band playing all the favorites with a semi-large group of people rocking out with them elevated the experience. It was a fun time and I did end up buying one Halloween/Christmas themed shirt that I'll try and wear as those days near.

As we ended our festival visit we got a table at Harry's for some outdoor music and food/drink. As I reviewed the menu I knew I needed to get a prime rib after a day of sun and drinking. I can't turn down a chance to get a good ole prime rib - it reminds me of my days in Kansas with Outback Steakhouse.

The downside of getting a medium rare steak is this didn't get hot enough for long enough to render all the fat, but it was still delicious. It must be what separates a $40 steak from a $100 steak is the ability to do medium rare and render the fat. Much like the last time I tried it - the side of mushrooms is a large portion. You get a ton of mushrooms, but I'm under belief they could cut the portion size in half and cook them a bit longer to caramelize them and have a better side dish.

After this meal we got ice cream again and when I'm running an 8k next week I'll look back at this vacation weekend for when I'm struggling to keep my pace because I indulged on alcohol & sweets. Walking back in near pure darkness was sketchy when only the car lights illuminate your path. I'm guessing since turtles are everywhere they probably can't light up the streets without doing same damage to the turtles migration patterns.

We watched a bit of football and went to bed to prepare for our last morning. Sunday arrived quickly and a short recovery run was prescribed by my watch which always seems a bit creepy when it knows before I tell it that I didn't sleep much and drank a ton the previous day.

So after a short 2 mile slow run we cleaned up the cottage and went to grab breakfast at the nearby cafe.

I got a veggie burrito and a mimosa which was a perfect way to end the weekend. We probably would have stayed longer, but with such an early breakfast and nothing else really opening till 11am it made it a bit difficult to plan with a 3 hour gap with no place to stay. It was a short quick visit, but we had an action-packed Saturday to make up for it.

We had an easy drive home and got home in time to watch the Chiefs in the NFL, which ended another travel blog of Anna Maria.