Friday 8th May

[22:10]

We'd umm'd and arr'd about what to do today. Return to Clearwater, hire a boat, parasail (!). In the end we decided to try out a recommendation from the woman who did our hire car. She said we just had to visit Anna Maria Island if we were on the Gulf Coast. So we checked TomTom and headed off south.

On the way we had to cross over the massive Skyway Bridge. This bridge is ideally named as is appears you are driving up into the sky as you cross over it.

Like the QE2 bridge over the Thames, this bridge is also a toll bridge. Unlike the QE2, this bridge only costs $1 to cross it.

The trip in total was just over a hour. When we arrived in Anna Maria, the location of a recommended beach (Bean Point) was not apparant as there were few signs about. So instead, we stopped at a place called Bayfront Park. This is a small beach area with some associated amenities (parking, showers, toilets) all nearby. The beach looks out over a part of the Gulf. On the opposite side of the water, you can just see the Skyway bridge on the horizon.

To say this beach was nice is an understatement! It's probably as close to a tropical beach as anything we've ever been on. The water was warm and really clear. Pelicans and Ibis birds flew about and ran along the beach, looking for food at the water's edge. Fish, although scarce in the shallows, could be seen moving about in shoals near one of the piers. I even caught a fleeting glimpse of a dolphin far out to sea. Sadly I didn't have a chance to photograph that event!

This is also the first place where I've seen parrots in the wild!

The best part of the beach was that, although the temperature was in the low 90's again, the onshore breeze and the warm water kept you much cooler that you'd expect. You certainly felt the heat when you walked back to the road to get something from the car. We took along our cold bag that managed to keep our drinks to a reasonable temperature - although even that succumbed to the heat in the end.

We were on the beach / in the water for a couple of hours. Finally, to stop ourselves pruning up too much, we walked down to one of the piers that a lot of fishermen were using. This was what was referred to as a "Historic Pier" on a sign at the beach end. Sadly, "Historic" and "Pier" are not two words that go well together in my books. The pier is totally wooden and without anything to stop you falling into the sea if you got too close to the edge. As I was carrying my (non-waterproof) camera, I kept well away from the edge! Mind you, the beach was very shallow, so I could well have fallen in and just waded back to the beach again - but I didn't want to take the chance.

Finally, it was time to return to the hotel. We left at just after 5pm, arriving home a hour later. After a quick cleanup, we walked a couple of blocks down the road to a nearby italian restaurant. They made us a lovely pizza. Mmmmmm.