Anna Maria Island, Fl – Family Christmas

It has been a couple of weeks since my last blog update. We have been very busy with a new relocation and a vacation thrown in for good measure. After having gone this long without typing my thoughts and searching for some good photos, I have found that I miss the updates. Miss the composing of these short essays.

Well, I’m back now and will try to get caught up on the prior few weeks. Going back to mid-December, our three kids all flew down to our base camp near Anna Maria Island, Florida, just south of Tampa on the gulf coast. We had been looking forward to their arrival and spending three days with them just hanging out and enjoying the great weather.

Our Kids

Bryan (our oldest and from DC) was the first to arrive flying into Tampa and renting a car. He drove down to have dinner with us after a late check in at the BridgeWalk hotel located right on Bridge Street and the center of the action in this small town.

Bryan is an computer systems engineer and works for a consulting company for the government. I think that he still enjoys the big city hectic life that is the way of Washington DC. His lovely wife, Jennifer, could not make this trip down. We certainly missed her.

The next day our middle child, Ross, flew in along with our daughter Audrey. They flew Allegiant and into the small airport located near Clearwater. I was there to greet them on arrival and transport back to our island over the massive bridge.

Ross has had his own business since his college graduation from VT and is now planning to migrate into a semi-retirement phase and enjoy a slower pace. He is looking at possible small RV travel or sailing. Will have to see what he decides.

Audrey, our youngest, is taking college classes while working. That can be challenging for sure. I know as that is how I earned my Finance degree. A full time job while taking two classes a semester at Indiana University. Back during the Bob Knight era! Audrey is still working through a major choice.

Moose Lodge

The Anna Maria Moose Lodge is said to be the busiest location. And I can see why. Located directly on the gulf of Mexico, they have huge windows looking out to the bluegreen waters. And an upstairs balcony bar as well.

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Walking the Beach

Our family did a few of these long walks and managed to get our feet wet in the surprisingly cool waters.

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Other Activities

We visited several small shops, coffee shops, ice cream shops, and several restaurants to help bolster the local economy. Also, a huge thank you to my brother-in-law Tom and his wife Ginny for hosting all of us a few times at their beautiful condo on the water.

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Wrap Up

It has been great to see our youngsters again this year. We just saw them all back in October as we made our way through Virginia and on the way south. It was very nice to eat some great seafood meals and visit for the three days.

My next blog up is a wrap up for our month of December in Cortez Florida, before we cruised across the entire state over the Atlantic Ocean side. All the locals tell us that when the snowbirds arrive en mass, (Jan 1st) that traffic becomes a nightmare at certain times of the day getting onto the island and stays that way until the snow thaws Up North. That is our cue to head east!

Take care and God Bless.