Tag Archives: Beach

August 16, 2010 · 3:17 am

Little Gasparilla Island

If you have never heard of Little Gasparilla Island, then there is a reason for that…the residents keep it a secret. As summer vacation is coming to a close, Kelly and I decided that it would be fun to take the kids to the beach for a week for one last getaway before school starts. It was through a recommendation of a friend that we ended up here at Hideaway Bay.

The island is in Charlotte County and located just north of Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande. The only way to get to the island is by ferry which runs only a few times a day, something that we weren’t really aware of when we arrived.

We got up in the morning, loaded the cars, and drove on down. The drive only took two hours so the trip wasn’t to long and it wasn’t to short. When we got to Placida Kelly had to pick up the rental key and we thought it best to buy groceries sooner rather than later. When we got to the unloading area, we were surprised to discover that the ferry was due to pick up at 2pm (8 minutes away) and then again at 5pm. Not wanting to miss the ferry we went into overdrive to get the cars unloaded and parked across the street. When the ferry arrived a few of the people who got off helped us get on.

Now there are no cars on the island, just golf carts and wagons so I am sure that you can picture how much stuff is needed for 2 adults and 6 kids for one week, including the groceries… We were lucky that a man aboard the ferry offered to help us get our things to the condo with his golf cart.

Whewww….. I’d like to think that all of this occurred because of perfect execution…but really it was just luck.

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Filed under Little Gasparilla Island

Tagged as Beach, Boat, Summer, Vacation

July 17, 2010 · 11:41 pm

AMI – Anna Maria Island

Last night right before we went to sleep Andy and I decided that today we would get up early and drive down to Anna Maria Island for our beach outing. Usually, we will go to St. Pete beach or over to Honeymoon Island…but today we were longing for the feeling of vacation, which is what we have when we travel the extra 15-20 minutes.

Today the weather was perfect. For July it was surprisingly just warm versus the unbearable hot that you would expect it to be. We set up the easy shade and just let the boys run. For lunch we walked down to the Sandbar on the northwestern tip of the island, the blackened grouper was delicious. After lunch we walked back, moved the easy shade into the water, and just watched the boys play for hours. We were all relaxed and ended up staying hours longer than normal and got home right around dinner time.

We are all sun-kissed and happy.

Dunedin Causeway

While mom and dad are away…the little monkey’s play!

Courtney (Matty’s nanny and my friend) agreed to watch both of our boys this summer until August when they both will go to school; and boy does she have her hands full. She is always coming up with fun new things to do with them and new places to take them. This week, she took them to the Clearwater Aquarium, the Dunedin Causeway, and the airport to see the planes. At the Aquarium Davy got to learn all about a dolphin who was injured, lost his tail, and the rescuers built it a mechanical tail so that it can swim… He even got to touch the mechanical tail. At the beach the boys played in the sand, water, and had a picnic. At the airport, there is a new observation deck so she took them to watch the planes take-off and land. Lucky boys they are….