Gulf-views inside home, Pool, duplex, SUP+Kayak+Firepit+Patio+Crows Nest+Grill Pool, Patio, Deck w/ Beach+Gulf Views, BBQ, 1st floor of duplex 175 five-star ratings over all sites! 175 five-star reviews for all vacation rental websites says it all! 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 Gulf 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 Gulf View Retreat, the top floor of a 2-story home, offers everything you need for your beach stay! Beach toys for the kids are available in our outdoor shed. Dishes, pots, pans, linens, and towels are all provided - just bring your swimsuit, toiletries, food, and enjoy! The Gulf View Retreat features a split plan with the master bedroom having its own bathroom and on the other two bedrooms sharing one bath. There is an additional pull out sofa bed in the family room. Granite countertops throughout the unit provide luxury at your fingertips. Other amenities to perfect your stay include: • Open decks with Gulf of Mexico views • New Pool with large Sun Shelf and many Sitting Shelf's • 2 Kayaks • Paddle Board • Fire Pit with lighted Areca Palms and comfortable chairs • Big Yard • Crows Nest third-floor balcony makes enjoying the sunsets and night-time stars an incredible experience • High-Speed Wireless Internet service with 72 MB per second speeds • Cable on the high definition flat-screen TV • New Trane air conditioning unit • 1,660 square feet living space The Gulf View Retreat is the independent second floor of the home, while the first floor can be rented separately through the Pool Side Retreat listing (property # 614098). Each floor is a completely self-sustaining, independent unit with its own BBQ, patio furniture and entryway. Both floors can be combined for family reunions, retreats or multiple family vacations if you contact us, where both floors would include: • Complete privacy for the entire home • Sleeps 18 People • 6 Bedrooms and 2 Sleeper-Sofas in common areas • 12 Beds of differing sizes • 5 Car Parking Spaces • 6 Televisions • 4 Bathrooms • 2,600 square feet • 2 Granite-Countertop Kitchens • 2 Washers & 2 Dryers • 2 Grills • Private Crows Nest third-floor balcony makes enjoying the sunsets and night-time stars an incredible experience • Private New Pool with large Sun Shelf and many Sitting Shelf's • New Fire Pit with lighted Areca Palms and comfortable chairs surrounding it • Open lanai and patio • Big Yard • Wireless Internet service with 20MB per second speeds • 2 New Trane air conditioning units • 1 Paddleboard • 2 Kayaks • And much more... Our home is much easier to navigate than other 3-story homes on Anna Maria Island because our first floor is on the ground level and the second floor is one easy set of stairs. Other homes on the island tend to require climbing multiple flights of stairs up or taking elevators because their homes begin on the second floor and go up to the third floor. If you rent just the Gulf View Retreat, then there are a few 'common' areas for the two floors including the pool, yard, fire-pit, toys and 3rd story 'Crow's Nest' deck. Contact us for a Reunion Retreat where you can rent both floors including the entire house for special occasions. In less than 2 minutes, you will be spending your day on the beach at Sunset Park, 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. Some people even get married at the Sunset Park beach area and stay in our home with family! Common sites along the beach areas include Sea Turtle nests and bird nesting sanctuaries during special times of the year. 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. If you time it right (usually 7pm), you can enjoy sea creature (fish, eel, and shark) feeding and 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. Our kids love taking the free trolley around the corner 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... Trolley stops by the home every 20 minutes from about 6 am to 10 pm. 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). 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 Herb Dolan Park, an easy five block walk on 26th Street North and Avenue A, is an open park area with a terrific view of Sarasota Bay, Anna Maria Sound and Tampa Bay. The Herb Dolan Park features picnic areas, basketball court, playing field, swing set, play structure and a Kayak launch. If you're in the mood to tour around the rest of the island, catch the free trolley out the back door 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 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. After enjoying the beach or park, return home to use one of the two outdoor showers next to the beach toys or the pool to wash the beach sand off and jump in the pool waiting for you. Kick your feet in the water of the heated pool with a special sun shelf for toddlers or adults to sit on with Adirondack-style chairs. The pool, 5 feet deep at its deepest, includes two more sitting shelves on the that are around 18 inches deep. One of those extra sitting shelves on the far end has a soaker spout to massage sore backs. Enjoy the traditional landscaping of Florida with various palm trees of different sizes that increase your privacy including Areca Palms, Queen Palms, Fishtail Palms, and Palmetto Palms. A large Frangipani/Plumeria tree creates beautiful large flower blossom clusters usually in May or June, which smell ideal and are the basis for Hawaiian leis. Relax in the soft green grass of our Zoysia lawn next to the pool tossing a ball or playing a game of Corn Hole or Golf Toss. Head up to the Crow's Nest deck and watch the dolphins swim by in the Gulf of Mexico next to the beach. The Gulf View Retreat is the independent second floor of the home, while the first floor can be rented separately through the Pool-Side Retreat rental listing. Each floor is a completely self-sustaining, independent unit with its own BBQ, patio furniture and entryway. Both floors can be combined for family reunions, retreats or multiple family vacations if you contact us, where both floors would include: Complete privacy for the entire home Sleeps 18 People 6 Bedrooms and 2 Sleeper-Sofas in common areas 12 Beds of differing sizes 5 Car Parking Spaces 5 Televisions 3 Bathrooms 2,600 square feet 2 Granite-Countertop Kitchens 2 Washers & 2 Dryers 2 Grills Private Crows Nest third-floor balcony makes enjoying the sunsets and night-time stars an incredible experience Private New Pool with large Sun Shelf and many Sitting Shelf's New Fire Pit with lighted Areca Palms and comfortable chairs surrounding it Open lanai and patio Big Yard Wireless Internet service with 20MB per second speeds 2 New Trane air conditioning units 1 Paddleboard 2 Kayaks And much more... Our home is much easier to navigate than 3-story duplexes on Anna Maria Island because our first floor is on the ground level and the second floor is one easy set of stairs. Other homes on the island tend to require climbing multiple flights of stairs up or taking elevators because their homes begin on the second floor and go up to the third floor. If you rent just the Gulf View Retreat, then there are a few 'common' areas for the two floors including the pool, yard, fire-pit, toys and 3rd story 'Crow's Nest' deck. Contact us for a Reunion Retreat where you can rent both floors including the entire house for special occasions. 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 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.