Between soccer games and working late, band practice and volunteering, it dawned on me that between all the busyness of life our family hadn’t sat down for a meal together in weeks, let alone enjoyed each other’s company. We had a bad case of fam-nesia, forgetting what it was like to all be in one room at the same time. I knew the only chance we had for a cure was a vacation, and the miracle arrived when our family discovered lesser-known Anna Maria Island in the Bradenton Area of Florida. Anna Maria Island encompasses a beautiful 7 mile stretch of white-sand beaches between the Gulf of Mexico and the mainland of Florida, that we checked into for a week of sun and sand therapy
We immediately fell in love with beachside Seaside Beach Resort, an Anna Maria Island Resorts property, providing us with a perfect private patio, a large shared deck, and classic wooden lounge chairs with comfy cushions right on the beach, just steps away from our room. We are a family of explorers, and while we enjoyed the much-needed rest each morning, by mid-afternoon we found ourselves out exploring. We loved riding the free Anna Maria Island Trolley, checking out the sights all the way from the City Pier to Coquina Beach (where we actually saw a loggerhead turtle crossing the beach).
We sat down together for each meal and devoured delicious seafood. In fact, we visited 3 of the 4 Anna Maria Oyster Bar locations, where the boys gave the staff a run for their money with their consumption of all-you-can-eat shrimp! But our favorite adventure was at TreeUmph! Adventure Course. It was an adventure through the trees with 10-football fields worth of terrain and 5 intense challenges that took the better part of a day to complete. The course provided a special comradery between the friendly and encouraging staff and every individual on the course. We felt like we had been lifelong friends with the families around us as we cheered each other on and were rewarded with great swings, ziplines, and high fives. Plus, it made us feel a little better about eating all those shrimps with the great workout we received! Anna Maria Island, you provided more than a cure for our fam-nesia but a miracle indeed!