SARASOTA

BY DIANE BAIR

SOAK UP THE SUN

SUNBATHE, KAYAK, BIKE, SHOP AND—MOST IMPORTANTLY—LEAVE YOUR STRESS BEHIND ON FLORIDA’S ANNA MARIA ISLAND.

Slip over the causeway from bustling Bradenton to Anna Maria Island, Florida, and you’ll feel like you’ve gone through a time warp—albeit a pretty one, with sparkling turquoise water on both sides of a drawbridge.

Given the view, it won’t be all that bad if the bridge happens to be up when you need to cross. But if you find yourself fuming at the sailboats passing under while you wait, you need a visit to Anna Maria more than you thought. Even by Florida standards, Anna Maria is one mellow island.

There is exactly one high-rise building here, which somehow slipped past the town planners; otherwise, three stories is the limit. Fast-food franchises are few, mom-and-pop-type motels and cottage colonies rule, and stores are bursting with vacation necessities like inflatable alligators and beach towels.

“This island is 40 years behind the times,” says one resort owner. “It’s like the rest of Florida used to be, just beaches, palm trees and pelicans.”

AND, OH, WHAT a beach! The sand is powdery enough to pat on a baby’s bottom, and so pale it resembles snow to those who dangle from a parasail over Manatee Beach and the Gulf of Mexico. While all of the beaches on Anna Maria have different names, they’re all part of the same 27-mile stretch of sand.

Manatee Beach, the busiest, has lifeguards, volleyball and Cafe on the Beach (941-778-0784), where everyone goes for all-you-can-eat pancakes. Coquina Beach, to the south, is the local favorite, named for the tiny coquina shells strewn on the sand. The barbecue grills here make it the go-to beach for a DIY dinner.

Beachfront bungalow-style accommodations offer lounge chairs on the beach, and typically, a motley collection of bikes for borrowing. Just beyond Coquina Beach is Leffis Key, where you can explore tidal lagoons via footbridges and commune with blue crabs, whelks and ragged sea hares at high tide, and fiddler crabs and wading birds at low tide. A free turquoise trolley will take you around the island when it’s time to grab a bite or simply see what else is in the ’hood besides white sand and aqua water.

You can also take to the water for a little sightseeing. Kayaking is booming here, and folks like Shawn Duytschaver of Anna Maria Eco Tours by Native Rentals (www.mysitontopkayak.com) will be happy to set you up with a boat. An Anna Maria native, Duytschaver will guide you into the nooks and crannies of Palma Sola and Sarasota bays, a watery world of crystalline back bays, rich mangrove forests, and large expanses of grass flats and oyster bars. You might get lucky and see a West Indian manatee or an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, and you’ll definitely see bird life: egrets and osprey, white ibises, great blue herons, chunky brown pelicans and Crayola-coral roseate spoonbills.

There’s more local color at Anna Maria Fishing Pier, where folk angle for mullet and bluefish, and everybody else just hangs out to see what happens. Seagulls and pelicans circle above, occasionally making dramatic dives to score fish. Bait and tackle are available at the pier; you supply the luck. There are always little kids hanging out, so the whole scene looks like a Norman Rockwell painting.

Whatever you do, make sure you stop long enough to gaze at the sunset. Anna Maria’s coast faces westward, and watching the sky turn the color of a raspberry smoothie is something of a tradition—one taken so seriously that at The Sun House Restaurant, you’ll receive a drink called a Green Flash, gratis, provided you join in the nightly sing-along of “You Are My Sunshine” as the sun melts into the ocean.

DON’T BE CONCERNED if a little rain—or “liquid sunshine,” as the locals say—starts pouring on your family beach vacation. Just point the car toward Bradenton and take the kids to see Snooty, the oldest West Indian manatee in captivity and star attraction at the Parker Manatee Aquarium, part of the South Florida Museum (www.southfloridamuseum.org).

See Snooty swim underwater in a multilevel glass tank and watch him eat head after head of lettuce. For more thrills, check out the Bishop Planetarium.

A rainy day—or even an hour—is also a dandy excuse to shop. For a major wallet-wallop, or simply some spirited browsing, head south to Longboat Key. Part of Sarasota County, it’s the sophisticated sister to Anna Maria’s small town gal.
High-rise hotels and glossy resorts like The Colony and Longboat Key Club rise up along the ocean, and restaurants like Euphemia Haye wiggle a well-manicured, come-hither finger in your direction.

There’s more shopping at St. Armand’s Circle. Technically, it’s located on Lido Key, but this doesn’t matter much to the casual visitor, who will be wowed by the array of boutiques, shops, galleries and restaurants lining the very posh, palm-lined boulevard of style. More than 150 shops are located here, of the preppy-chic, Nantucket-meets-Palm-Beach genre.

And as friendly and talkative as the helpful boutique owners will be, don’t stay too long. The skies will clear, the semi-tropical sun will break through, and—back on Anna Maria Island—there’s a lounge chair with your name on it.

>AirTran Airways provides daily, low-fare flights to Sarasota/Bradenton. You can get great deals on car rentals with AirTran Airways’ partner, Hertz. Visit www.airtran.com for more info.

WHERE TO STAY AND EAT ON ANNA MARIA ISLAND

STAY

Colorful beachfront bungalows dot the landscape on Anna Maria Island. Most date back a few decades and are outfitted in wicker and pastel, and many have kitchens, so you can eat in for a meal or two. Try the family-friendly, retro-cute Silver Surf Resort (www.silverresorts.com; 800-441-7873).

On the higher end, there’s Tortuga Inn (www.tortugainn.com; 877-867-8842), with two pools and well-turned-out guest rooms and suites that can sleep six people. Both of these are located across the street from the beach, with easy access to the sand.

The island’s only B&B is the charming Harrington House (www.harringtonhouse.com; 941-778-5444) on the Gulf side. The property includes the main inn, a carriage house and two beach houses.

EAT

The breakfast hotspot is Gulf Drive Café (941-778-1919), where the Belgian waffles fly out of the kitchen all day. Even the semi-healthy yogurt parfait is hearty, made with big chunks of fruit and drizzled with honey. Another fun stop is Ginny’s and Jane E’s at the Old IGA (www.annamariacafe.com; 941-778-3170), where you can down breakfast frittatas and coconut smoothies amid a funky gift shop-cum-garden shop.

Come lunchtime, eat outside along the bay with the pleasure boat crowd at Mar-Vista (www.marvista-restaurant.com; 941-383-2391); the salads are awesome, and you can justify the Key Lime pie for dessert.

The colorful Sun House Restaurant (www.thesunhouse.restaurant.com; 941-782-1122) is |a great dinnertime stop; Chef Darrel Mizell’s neo-twists on home-style Southern cooking make it a slam-dunk. (Cinnamon-crusted sea scallops and garlic mashed potatoes, oh my!)