AMI Bridgeport 202 -Beach View Retreat+Resort Pool

Perfect location next to Beach+Restaurants+Bridge Street+Free Trolley with Large Heated Pool!! Relax... Add Bridgeport 203 + 207 + 111 just down the hall! Head out to white powder sand beach. Enjoy a dip in large pool. Watch sunset into sea from the beach or living room or master bedroom or lanai's open-air patio. End perfect day w/ walk across street to BeachHouse Rest. or couple blocks to "Hot spot" Bridge Street dinner!

Perfect location!! Relax, relax, relax. The options are many once you enter the Beach View Retreat. Wake up to the sunrise across the Intercoastal bay on the east side of the complex. Check out the beach, dolphins and fish/tarpon jumping, and diving birds in the Gulf of Mexico through the high-powered binoculars. Head out to the white powder sand of the beach. Return to enjoy a dip or more horizontal time at our condo swimming pool. Watch the sunset into the Gulf of Mexico from the beach, from the home's living room, from the home's master bedroom, or from the home's lanai open-air patio. End the perfect day with a walk across the street to the BeachHouse Waterfront Restaurant or a couple blocks south to the Bridge Street restaurants for dinner.

Florida's best kept secret, Anna Maria Island, features beautiful white sugar sand beaches, older Florida charm, award winning restaurants, year-round golf courses, and pristine shopping all within easy walking and driving distance, or a ride aboard the free 'Anna Maria Island Trolley', which stops near your next vacation destination, the Beach View Retreat. One of the few places in the world where the sunset is regularly applauded, this tiny slice of paradise stretches for 7 miles into the Gulf.

The Beach View Retreat is located in the highly valued Bridgeport Condos. Sightings along the Gulf of Mexico beach and inter-coastal waterway include Manatees, Rays, Dolphins, many kinds of fish, huge Pelicans, Blue Herons, Egrets, Osprey, Terns, Gulls, and other amazing creatures. Some people even get married at the beach area and stay in the home with family! Common sites along the beach areas include Sea Turtle nests and bird nesting sanctuaries during special times of the year.

“Anna Maria Island’s Hot Spot” is now Historic Bridge Street on Bradenton Beach, the southernmost city of Anna Maria Island. Bridge Street, where the original wooden bridge was the only means of access to the island, where a beautiful fishing pier is in its place today, leading to an active street where you can Shop~Dine~Play from beach to bay. Bridge Street offers a walkable community with spectacular water views from the both the pier and the gulf beach and only a couple blocks from Beach View Retreat.

The Beach View Retreat offers everything you need for your beach stay! Just bring your food, clothing and toiletries. Beach chairs, beach umbrella, and beach toys for the kids are available in our garage level storage room including beach chairs and toys. Dishes, pots, pans, linens and towels are all provided - just bring your swimsuit and enjoy! The Beach View Retreat features a master bedroom having an en-suite bathroom with large closet and a guest bedroom with its own bathroom. Additionally, there is a LazyBoy sleeper sofa in the family room. Other amenities to perfect your stay include:

• Covered Lanai/Patio with nearly 180-degree direct beach views
• Living Room picture window with nearly 180-degree Gulf of Mexico views
• Pool with large Sun Shelf and many Sitting Shelf's
• Elevator access or stairwell access for handicap access at your convenience
• High Speed Wireless Internet service with 120 MB+ per second download speeds + 12 MB per second upload speeds
• Cable on the high definition flat screen TV
• New Trane air conditioning unit
• Keurig K55 Programmable Coffee Cup Maker
• 1,060 square feet living space
• 2 Car Parking Spaces
• 2 Televisions
• 2 Bathrooms
• Washer & Dryer
• Grill on lanai/patio

In less than 2 minutes, you will be spending your day on the beach, or venture out a bit further and hang out fishing in one of the many great spots nearby. Sightings along the Gulf of Mexico beach and inter-coastal waterway include Manatees, Rays, Dolphins, many kinds of fish, a wide variety of birds, and other amazing creatures. Common sights along the beach areas include Sea Turtle nests and bird nesting sanctuaries during special times of the year. Once in a while, you’ll come across a Gulf-side wedding!

While some prefer the isolation of the nearby beaches, others opt toward more people at the public beaches. If that is your desire, venture to Coquina Beach at the south end of Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria Island, or Manatee County Beach at the west end of Manatee Avenue in Holmes Beach, or Anna Maria Pier at the east end of Pine Avenue for the intercoastal/Tampa Bay access. Anna Maria Pier is a special place where many times you can see fish, rays, dolphins, and manatees swimming underneath you as well as fish from the dock and have a nice meal or an ice cream cone at Two Scoops Ice Cream Shop. (The Pier is currently under repair, Winter 2017.)

If you're in the mood to tour around the rest of the island, catch the free trolley around the corner and it will take you to any of the beaches, restaurants, shops or grocery stores along Gulf Drive anywhere on Anna Maria Island. Take the trolley to the old historic Bridge Street area of Bradenton Beach to enjoy the Key West style restaurants and shops. If you enjoy painting or photography, the sunsets are among the best in the world.

Enjoy live music nightly and dinner at Manatee Public. By timing it right (usually 7pm), you can enjoy sea creature (fish, eel, and shark) feeding by the owner while enjoying Ice Cream at Holy Cow Ice Cream.

A lovely sunrise can be enjoyed along the Coquina Baywalk. Bean Point and Coquina Beach are great beaches to visit along with Sunset Park next to our home.

Just across the Cortez bridge on the south side of the island, is the old school Florida fishing village of Cortez, where restaurants have excellent seafood and some have live music. Swordfish Grill is our favorite on the dock.

We have 3 favorites for breakfasts: 1) Rod & Reel Pier, 2) Ginny's & Jane E's, and 3) The Donut Experiment (fun for the kids but not completely filling).

Eco tours and on the Gulf and Intercoastal via boats, kayaks and jet skis are always nice. The Ringling Museum in Sarasota is great.

The Regina is a sugar barge that sunk just off our beach during a storm in 1940. It is in about 20 feet of water just 150 feet or so off the beach. It is marked with a buoy. The Regina is 10th Florida Shipwreck Underwater Archaeological Preserve.

There is a small reef of rocks about 150 feet northwest from the Sunset Park Beach directly west of our home. I like to swim out to it and then dive down 8-10 feet to see colorful fish like the striped Sheepshead, etc.

Our kids love going to the Bridge Street Pier or taking the free trolley just outside the door up to Anna Maria Pier and looking for fish in the water (especially in the morning to early afternoon when you can see well through the clear water), talking to the fisherman, and eating at the restaurant or getting ice cream at Two Scoops. The Blueberry Pie ice cream is my favorite... The Trolley stops every 20 minutes from about 6am to 10pm.

Come enjoy the unbelievable location of the Beach View Retreat!

In case you would like to look at the Beach View Retreat on G-Earth or another mapping program, it’s physical street address is:

Beach View Retreat
501 Gulf Dr N Suite #202
Bradenton Beach, FL 34217
(corner of Gulf Drive & Cortez Road)

The whole home is yours. You will have a great time including sitting on the covered patio listening to the waves of the Gulf of Mexico lapping up on the beach.

The best way to find our home is through your GPS system or an online map system. The address of the home is:

Beach View Retreat
501 Gulf Drive North
Suite 202
Bradenton Beach, FL 34217

Park next to the stairwell attached to the west building side closest to the beach and Gulf Drive. Our primary parking spot is the one right next to the stairwell for easy access to the condo.

Walk up stairs or take the elevator across the parking lot to the top floor to Suite 202 in the northwest corner of the building.

There are two main bridges across from the mainland to Anna Maria Island. Cortez Bridge is on Cortez Rd right next to the home. Manatee Avenue is the other bridge but two miles north of the home so once you get across the bridge, turn left = south on Gulf Drive to 501 Gulf Drive North at the corner of Cortez Rd. As most key islands in southwest Florida, the island is very narrow east to west so the main road going north to south is Gulf Dr.

Please use only 2 parking spaces. One dedicated parking space for Suite 202 is next to the stairs on the west side of the building next to Gulf Drive. There may be one other parking space with the parking hanger near the swimming pool. For that space, only park in a space that is NOT marked with a designated number, which are committed to that home owner. Remember that the second space is "First Come, First Serve." Thanks!!

Husband and wife couple Rex & Michele are happy to offer help throughout your stay. Feel free to contact us by text, email, or phone and we will help out.

For your planning, here is a list of things to consider doing on Anna Maria Island:

Almost every sunset at the beach over the Gulf of Mexico is great, especially when there are some clouds, which make fascinating views.

Beach-combing, walking or jogging along the white sand beach is awesome or bike rides around the neighborhoods.

Coquina Baywalk across from Coquina Beach is real nice to watch the sunrise or anytime. Bean Point and Coquina Beach are great beaches to visit along with Sunset Park next to home. Another favorite beach is White Avenue next to 81st Street in Holmes Beach.

Hike or kayak at Hernando DeSoto National Memorial Park, Robinson Preserve or Neal Preserve.

Take Captain Kim's boat out to the mangrove islands and explore the life inside the sand of a sandbar.

Eco tours and on the Gulf and Intercoastal via boats, jet skis, and kayaks are always nice.

Shopping with the stars and rich people next to Sarasota at St. Armands Circle - just drive or bike south from AMI across bridge to Long Boat Key all the way to the end and then across the bridge to the roundabout with lots of statues.

Ringling Museum in Sarasota is great.

Our kids enjoy building sand castles, playing whiffle ball in the beach breeze on the sand along with Frisbee (heavy Frisbee recommended due to wind). If the kids dig their hands into the sand, they can find little water bugs in small shells, etc. but resist the temptation to bring them back to the home as they start stinking as they die. Extra beach toys and souvenirs can be found at Island Bazaar.

Kids love taking the free trolley around the corner up to Anna Maria Pier and looking for fish in the water (especially in the calmer morning to early afternoon when you can see well through the clear water), talking to the fisherman, and eating at the restaurant or getting ice cream at Two Scoops. The Blueberry Pie ice cream is my favorite... Trolley stops by the home every 20 minutes from about 6am to 10pm.

Live music nightly at Manatee Public Beach (greasy food) or at Cortez/Bridge Street restaurants. Ice Cream afterward at Holy Cow Ice Cream is good and if you can time it for 7pm one night, then you see the owners feed the fish, eel, and shark, etc.

We have 4 favorites for breakfasts: 1) Rod & Reel Pier 2) Ginny's & Jane E's 3) Island Creperie and 4) The Donut Experiment.

There is a small reef of rocks about 150 feet northwest from the Sunset Park Beach directly west of our home. I like to swim out to it and then dive down 8-10 feet to see colorful fish like the striped Sheepshead, etc.

The Regina is a sugar barge that sunk off Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island during a storm in 1940. It is in about 20 feet of water just 150 feet or so off the beach. It is marked with a buoy. The wreckage itself is over 200 feet long. It must have carried quite a load of molasses! This wreck is located conveniently across the street from the Sea Kat Dive Shop (formerly Sea Trek) where you can stop and ask for more information about snorkeling / diving the wreck. The wreck itself is located at about 7th Street, just north of the intersection of Gulf Drive and Cortez Road. The dive shop is to your right, across the street. Best diving conditions: several days in a row of calm water, slack tide, full sun.

The top rated restaurant on Anna Maria Island is the Waterfront Restaurant next to Pine Ave in Anna Maria. We also enjoy the BeachHouse Waterfront Restaurant & Bar across the street at Gulf Dr & Cortez Rd just south on the west and the Sandbar Restaurant & Bar at Gulf Dr & Magnolia Ave.

All 3 of those best restaurants are owned by the son of former Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, Ed Chiles.

Other favorite seafood places are off the island across the southern bridge toward Bradenton (Cortez Bridge) in the first little town of Cortez Village. The Starfish Company, Seafood Shack, and Swordfish Grill (excellent fajita shrimp nachos) are all good.

There is also 2 great places for breakfast both in Anna Maria - Ginny's and Jane E's and The Donut Experiment. Both are on the north side of the island near Gulf Dr & Pine Ave. The first is more of a sit down place with cute island-y stuff. The second is a place where you start with a basic donut and pick an icing and topping and make your own. Our kids really enjoy that.

Holy Cow Ice Cream (near the Dollar Store) has great ice cream, a really nice owner (tell him Rex and Michele from Colorado sent you - maybe he'll remember us) and an aquarium with feeding of their fish, sharks, eels at 7pm nightly.

And Two Scoops Ice Cream across from the Anna Maria Pier is excellent, especially while taking a walk along the Anna Maria Pier. You need to try the blueberry pie ice cream, which is my favorite.

Cortez
Seafood Shack
Starfish Company - no waiter so wait in line to order but great food
Swordfish Grill Cortez
Fire and Stone Pizza - all you can eat salad and pizza bar

AMI Manatee Ave
AMI Manatee Beach Cafe - greasy but on beach for kids and sunset and all you can eat and free music every night

Anna Maria
Ginny's and Jane E's Cafe and Coastal Store - if you are up for some sugar, try the creme brulee french toast and the iced cinnamon rolls
The Donut Experiment

In regard to fishing, I recommend the following areas and some of the piers rent poles and sell bait:

Bradenton Beach Pier
Anna Maria Pier
Rod & Reel Pier

In regard to Marina, Fishing Tackle & Bait shops consider the following:

Keyes Marina
5501 Marina Dr, Holmes Beach, FL (PHONE NUMBER HIDDEN)
(URL HIDDEN)

Bradenton Beach Marina

You are always welcome to provide a nice review after your stay .

If you're in the mood to tour around the rest of the island, catch the free trolley around the corner and it will take you to any of the beaches, restaurants, shops or grocery stores along Gulf Drive most anywhere on Anna Maria Island all the way from Coquina Beach at the south end to Pine Avenue and Anna Maria Pier at the north end. Take the trolley one stop down (or stroll along the beach the one mile) to the old historic Bridge Street area of Bradenton Beach to enjoy the Key West style restaurants and shops. If you enjoy painting or photography, the sunsets are among the best in the world.