ya oughta check this place out

Friday both the girls were spending the night away, I told the wife to pack a bag that would fit on her bike. I took off early (believe that?) and packed a bag myself. Kickstands up at 5pm.

Off we went down through the backwoods headed to Anna Maria. Was a nice ride, sun was shining, weather was warm and the sky was blue. Heading into Anna Maria Island from Bradenton there are several little islands along the causeway, folks were lined up there with their boats and jet skis and grills. Bastards, I want a boat. But, we were on the bikes so that's okay...

Got us a room at Club Bamboo, last time we were here it was an Econo Lodge, now it's all condos that are rented by the night or the week. It was a helluva lot nicer than last time. I had packed a bottle of Reisling but forgot the corkscrew, luckily there was a Circle K next door and they had a few. After a few glasses we went to Sharkey's for dinner.

From the outside it kinda looks like a sportsbar kinda place but on the inside it's a pretty damned nice place. The wife had Onion Crusted Grouper, I opted for a nice shark steak, Mako, grilled with BBQ sauce. Needless to say it was gooood. A couple of cocktails later we opted for dessert in a box and wandered back to the hotel.

Cool thing about the beach on the west coast, the sunset. Here's a quick version.

Saturday we played tourist. Spent some time talking with the new management of Club Bamboo, really nice folks. Rob, the chief in charge, wanted us to come back again and offered a buy two nights get one free in the summer so we've got a gulf side suite reserved for late July.

We both rode my bike down to Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach, a couple of blocks of souvenier shops, clothing and jewelry stores. Had lunch at the Bridgetender, damned good burgers and I must add some excellent customer service, nice folks. Here's the view from the patio, really made that burger enjoyable.

A sign in one of the gift shops caught my eye - "If you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough."

We ran into a woman and her little girl headed for the ice cream place and she chatted us up. Told us of several places we needed to see so it's a good thing we're going back. She also clued us in on a cool little riverside bar in Ellenton called Woody's River Roo. Stopped there on the way home for a couple of Coronas and then finished a few more off poolside at home.

Damn, nice weekend. Ya know, I should take some time off more often.