Wednesday December 21st 2016

Today was the first official day of winter. Appropriately the day started foggy, progressed to cloudy and late in the afternoon the sun broke through. The wind was out of the northeast providing an additional level of chill. Once the sun broke through shortly before sunset the temperature peaked around 70.

It was hard to get started today. It was as if the clouds sucked all the energy out of me. Late in the morning I got in the car and headed west. After passing through the center of Bradenton and over a draw bridge, I ended up at the gulf coast on Anna Maria Island. I turned north toward the mouth of Tampa Bay.

A Blue Heron holding his head close to his body to stay warm.

Anna Maria Island and the town by the same name have many older single family homes and small businesses. The area along the gulf coast has vacation rentals, single family homes and few newer condominium type buildings. I think it is more laid back than some of the areas further south.

Sunshine Skyway bridge across Tampa Bay about 8 miles from Anna Maria Island.

I stopped near the northern end on the eastern shore of the island near the Anna Maria Pier. The water was rough and the wind was blowing in off the bay. I wasn’t dressed to stay long. Despite the haze, it was possible to see the Sunshine Skyway bridge crossing the bay from St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg skyline.

My journey continued to the south. I stopped at a couple of gulf beaches on Anna Maria island. They were very poorly populated today. I only saw a couple of sets of bathers. The cloud cover and the wind made the beaches unremarkable at best. A nice sunny day at low tide or a nice sunset would heighten the experience greatly.

As I continued south onto Long Boat Key the population became more high scale. Golf Courses and gated communities became the norm. Access to the gulf was not obvious. I continued south until I could return to the east over the bridge into downtown Sarasota. The traffic quickly thickened and my progress was slowed as I made my way back to the campground.

I think the campground has finally filled for the Christmas holiday season. The park was full last weekend, but during the week a site here and there was available every night. Late this afternoon there was a steady stream of arriving campers. I’ll take a walk through the park to check things out tomorrow.