ANNA MARIA ISLAND,
AN OLD FLORIDA FEEL
ARTEMIS ON STANDBY,
A GETAWAY TO SOOTHE THE SOUL
Written by: Kathleen Walls
There’s a strip of a state barrier island that has preserved its real Florida authenticity. No theme parks, highrises or chain stores.
You are surrounded instead by charming shops, general stores, boutiques and cafes.
Anna Maria Island is on Florida’s west coast, sandwiched between St. Petersburg/Tampa and Sarasota on the Gulf of Mexico. The island’s main street, Pine Avenue, is known as the “Greenest Little Main Street in America.”
It’s an island that soothes your soul. It escaped the worst of Hurricane Ian and is waiting for you to visit.
THINGS TO DO AND SEE
Anna Maria Island Historical
Society Museum Complex
If there’s time, start here. Learn how the island it got its name. One version is that in the 1840s a U.S. chart survey team stayed with the Madison Post family in Tampa and
named the island for the then-mayor’s wife, Maria, and her sister, Anna.
The other version is that a 19th century Spanish map shows it as Ana Maria Cay. Maria is the Spanish for Mary, and Mary’s mother is Anna, spelled with just one “n” in Spanish.
The museum houses over 120 years of photos and documents, artifacts donated by islanders. The original city jail built in 1927 is on the property. There were bars on the windows but no glass. Locals dealing with Florida mosquitoes after a night in the clink were careful not to repeat the same mistake, it was said.
Belle Haven, also on the museum property, was built on a pier in 1920, along with a larger home called Lotus Cottage.
Belle Haven functioned as a fish packing plant, rental cottage and bait shop. A storm destroyed the pilings in 1926 and tossed the homes into Tampa Bay. Lotus Cottage was gone but Belle Haven was intact and floating, functioning later as an island home. It was rescued in 2001. It’s furnished today with a feel for early island living.
Pictured left to right: Anna Maria Island Historical Society Museum Complex, Florida’s Maritime Museum, Paradise Boat Tour
Top photos pictured left to right: Anna Maria Island Beach Cafe, Swordfish Grill and Tiki Bar, Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub;
Bottom photos pictured left to right: Anna Maria Oyster Bar, Floriday’s Woodfire Grill and Bar, Compass Hotel Anna Maria Sound
Florida’s Maritime Museum
Being an island, Anna Maria naturally has a colorful water
history. The museum in the nearby village of Cortez tells it.
I’ve never seen so many shells in one place.
One room is particularly relevant. It’s Caught in the Storm: 100
Years of Florida Hurricanes. Informational outdoor signs detail
the various hurricanes as you walk a path leading to the 1890
Braxton Store, once a general store, the local post office and a
steamship wharf. Behind the museum is a Seminole chickee hut.
A small waterway separates the museum from the Cortez
Cultural Center. You may want to watch for wildlife here. I
spotted a beautiful limpkin sitting on the railing.
Paradise Boat Tour
Experience Florida wildlife and waterways of the west
coast. The company guarantees that 95% of its tours include
dolphin sightings, often manatees, rays, a variety of birds
and a good deal of other wildlife. We saw lots of birds,
dolphins near the end of the tour.
Free Anna Marie Island Trolley
On Pine Avenue to explore the shops and dining opportunities.
Ginny and Jane E’s’ Café
Two sisters created the place in a former IGA store. One
collected art and antiques, the other was a farmer. The deep
menu is specialty drinks, breakfast/hot lunch plates, salads,
sandwiches and fresh bakery items. You’ll find an unusual
restaurant atmosphere. But it works. It transported me back
to the 1950s—the food is delightful.
Anna Maria Island Beach Cafe
A must for breakfast. The all-you-can-eat-pancakes are a tradition.
I had the French toast, though my friend said the pancakes
are delicious. You get blueberries or strawberries with the French
toast, so I shared. The egg-dipped toast was perfectly browned
and the fruit topping plus the whipped cream a sweet addition.
We sat outside to enjoy the view from nearby Holmes Beach.
Swordfish Grill and Tiki Bar
In Cortez Fishing Village, a waterfront spot where locals
gather, boaters dock. The seafood is fresh. I suggest
something you seldom find outside the Keys—Bahamian
conch fritters. The outer crust was well seasoned and crisp,
the meat soft and chewy. If you haven’t tried it, conch meat
resembles a chewy oyster. Remoulade sauce accompanies the
fritters. I ordered the oyster sampler, loved each one.
Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub
A cross of a waterfront fishhouse and fine dining on Longboat
Key, has beach dining under softly lighted oak trees or a covered
patio. Lots of seafood, but an interesting dish is the Shogun
Farms pulled pork from wild hogs. The meat is tender and tasty.
Anna Maria Oyster Bar
John and Amanda Horne opened their first oyster bar in 1995.
It became one of Bradenton’s most beloved seafood restaurants,
Anna Maria Oyster Bar. They have four sites now. This one on
Anna Maria Island’s Historic Bridge Street Pier has outside
seating with a view of Tampa Bay. Boaters can dock here.
As the name indicates, oysters are the specialty. There are other
yummy choices, however. I enjoyed the coconut shrimp with a
sweet and spicy apricot horseradish sauce.
Floriday’s Woodfire Grill and Bar
A real Key West feel overlooking Anna Maria
Sound. Live music Friday and Saturday nights.
My favorite is the seafood boil with shrimp, clams, sausage,
mussels, potatoes and corn on the cob. It’s cooked
in an herbed beer broth that added even more flavor.
Desserts are a hard choice between key lime pie and
the P-nut butter chocolate bar. You taste the tartness of
fresh key limes (your mouth should be watering).
Lodging
I stayed at and can recommend Compass Hotel Anna
Maria Sound just across from Floriday’s. It’s a boutique
Margaritaville hotel. Free parking and free breakfast
plus snacks. And a free bookshelf. A bonus here is
Artemis, the friendly pooch greeter. One of the desk
clerks told me, “I have seen guests come in all keyed up
and tense from driving … and when they pet Artemis,
you see them become more relaxed.” FCM
ROUNDUP
Anna Maria Island Historical
Society Museum Complex,
amihs.org, 941-778-0492
Florida’s Maritime Museum,
floridamaritimemuseum.org, 941-708-6120
Shogun Farms, shogunfarms.com
Paradise Boat Tour,
seedolphins.com, 941-465-8624
Ginny and Jane E’s’ Café,
ginnysandjanees.com, 941-778-3170
Anna Maria Island Beach Café,
amibeachcafe.com, 941-778-0784
Swordfish Grill and Tiki Bar,
swordfishgrillcortez.com, 941-798-2035
Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub,
marvistadining.com, 941-383-2391
Anna Maria Oyster Bar,
oysterbar.net, (Bradenton Beach/Bridge
Street Pier) 941-778-2662
Floriday’s Woodfire Grill and Bar,
floridays-annamaria.com, 941-741-8700
Compass Hotel Anna Maria Sound,
compasshotel.com, 941-741-9700
Floriday’s Woodfire Grill and Bar
floridays-annamaria.com, 941-741-8700
Compass Hotel Anna Maria Sound,
compasshotel.com, 941-741-9700
