Why buy when you can settle into a charming island rental as if it were your own home? People love to spend part of winter on Anna Maria Island. Many who fall in love with this beautiful island immediately buy one of the small homes, fix it up, then spend part of the year here when it gets cold everywhere else. But in the current economic conditions, it could make a lot more sense to take a close look at staying in one of the island rental properties that are available and postpone buying anything.
An island rental is often just a home somebody else bought when they fell in love with Anna Maria Island. Maybe they bought it a little too quickly. Then rising property taxes, or financial problems from other sources led the owner to need to rent the property to help defray the cost. Many of the island rental properties have been beautifully improved, with all the amenities of a tropical retreat. A spacious interior with nice finishes and tropical furnishings often opens out to a private swimming pool and beautiful island landscaping. It doesn’t take long to settle into such a place and feel at home.
With seven miles of continuous Gulf of Mexico beaches, Anna Maria Island is a beachwalker’s paradise. Whether one walks at sunset or at dawn, the beauty is breath-taking, and ever-changing. Not only does the light change as the day progresses, but also as the weather changes. The wide-open horizon offers a vista in which every cloud for miles around can be seen.
Aside from the West Coast of the United States, there are no other places in the United States where one can watch the sun set over a body of water as large as the Gulf of Mexico. And not every Gulf barrier island has as terrific an aspect from which to view the sun set as Anna Maria Island. Perhaps even more stunning than the sun setting over the Gulf is the view of the full moonrise just before dawn.
In addition to the differences in light, there are many differences in how people can choose to walk the beach. It can be a solitary time for contemplation, or a social time for a good conversation with a friend. It can be a brisk walk or an easy stroll. Barefoot, wading, and walking slowly or with shoes on, avoiding the gentle rise and retreat of foam on the beach. Some walkers are focused on shells. Others are focused on birds. Some run to the beat of a different drum.
The longer I live on Anna Maria, the more I appreciate the brown pelicans that live here year-round. At first glance, they seem so much less beautiful than their large white cousins who migrate here in winter and therefore are less “common.” But there are some very special things about the brown pelican and we are lucky to have them in Florida and on the island. I believe they are very sensitive to environmental degradation, so their presence is not only a joy, but also a reassuring sign.
Brown pelicans have a wing span of about 84 inches, compared to the 108 inch wingspan of the American White Pelican. One of the most surprising things to witness is a brown pelican feeding by diving from the air. There is a big splash, as the bill enters the water to catch a fish and the body of the bird continues a little farther so the bird lands, twisting over its bill, so it ends up facing the opposite direction from that in which it was going. If one looks at it at this point, it’s often difficult to figure out what one is looking at. The head may still be down in the water and body still twisted. The impression is simply that something very large is partly submerged and partly visible. It often takes me awhile to realize it’s just a brown pelican fishing.
It doesn’t get any easier than this. There is no need to travel or even go outside to do some bird watching on Anna Maria Island. In fact, at my house, sometimes the herons watch me at least as much as I watch them. As you can see from the photo, binoculars are not necessary to get a great close-up look at a great blue heron.
Anna Maria Island is a bird sanctuary. In recent years, important nesting of several species, including lesser terns, has taken place on the island shores near Bean Point. The area has been roped off so people won’t accidentally step on the birds, which are hard to see when they are nesting in the sand.
Growing flowers year round is so easy on Anna Maria Island that, even without a highly qualified landscape expert, nursery, or landscaping service, it’s still possible to enjoy blossoms throughout the year. As somebody who has very limited interest in spending the day doing the work of a landscaper, I have found some plants that give color in the yard with almost no effort, and almost no fertilizer or extra watering.
The bougainvillea that was already on our property has continued to provide color throughout the year, with almost no care. Every once in awhile, a caterpillar of some sort eats some of the leaves. I used to spray pesticide when this happened, but more recently I haven’t worried about it, and the plant seems to survive and periodically bloom, even with no treatment. Having grown bougainvillea years ago as a house plant, I already knew that they prefer to dry out between waterings, and I’m very glad to oblige by letting only the natural rainfall water the plant. Even during droughts, I have not watered our bougainvillea. I have fertilized it several times in the course of ten years, watering it then to soak the minerals into the ground. The blossoms on the plant come and go, and it’s particularly beautiful in mid winter, in cooler temperatures, as seen in the photo.
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