Anna Maria Island

Today I have a few photos to share of the Pier at Anna Marie Island Florida. The weather here in the Tampa area is absolutely amazing right now!  My friend and I ended up driving there yesterday. Just walking around in perfect weather with the beautiful sky and water was amazing. It is easy to get used to a lot of the natural beauty here but yesterday really wowed me.  The above photo is of the end of the Pier where there is a restaurant and people fish.

  I love catching people unaware like this. Also red shirts always look amazing next to the water here!

While walking the pier we observed some men fishing with nets, I had never actually seen this done before!

  The water is so clear and relatively shallow here that you can see when a group of fish are about to pass by. They simply wait and toss the nets.  I do not know much about fish. One man said they were salmon, another mullet. They all looked the same to me!  I had mixed feelings about it though. Yes it was interesting to watch but when they bring the fish up they let them simply flop around on the pier which to me seems cruel. I don't like to watch anything suffer.  I suppose it is either this or be eaten by a bigger fish!

  This last photo was my favorite of the day, the angle and the texture of the wood make it very interesting.

One reason for driving out this way also is that I get to pass by my favorite frozen custard place, 

Sweetberries on Manatee avenue near Bradenton. It is so good! It is an old fashioned kind of place and also has great sandwiches. Wish I had thought to take a photo of it. My favorite is vanilla custard with Blackberries mixed in. Tasted even better on such a beautiful day!

Stephanie