Breakfast at the Tiki Hut, Anna Maria Island

Sparky had heard that there can be lots of dolphins seen around Anna Maria Island's piers, about 30 minutes from our house. It was a free fishing day, so we thought there might be LOTS of action both from the fishermen and the dolphins hoping to snag something. Off we went to Anna Maria Island....The first pier is sort of a historical one, but part of it has been shut down due to a restaurant failure and some remodeling issues. Some fishermen still come out to the pier part that's open and they fish...It's a beautiful setting, early in the morning.....We saw one dolphin in the distance....

We went to a larger pier next....The Anna Maria Island Pier...It has a working restaurant on the premises, and the prices were very reasonable. We were too busy looking for dolphins and talking to fishermen to stop and eat there today, but we'll try it another day....Did we see dolphins? Yep! One going down....

And one coming up....

Always interesting things to see and hear on the fishing pier...Not sure what these folks are looking for, but there's SOMETHING down there catching their eye.

If you're lucky, you might hear the latest fishing yarn of the one that got away...Or the one that gave you a fight...Eldy talked to a young man who had caught a small shark last night. The guy was somewhat wasted, wasn't watching what he was doing, and the shark promptly latched onto his wrist and bit him! The guy's friends had to pull the shark off his arm, leaving bloody bite marks.

As it was, walking around the pier, if you are not fishing, you gotta watch out for the arm back, ready- to-cast-swing from all these people fishing. Wonder if they ever hook somebody behind them? Everybody seemed to be careful today, on not hooking a really BIG catch, like Sparky!

reflections from the restaurant window, a safer place to stand!

By this time we were getting hungry..We thought we would eat at the Gulf Drive Cafe...It's totally tiki huts! A big giant one for a big seating area, another big one for the bar, and then individual ones out on the beach. What a setting!

You can eat inside the restaurant, on the boardwalk beside the restaurant, or on the beach. Naturally, we picked the beach....it was GREAT! Food was nothing out of the ordinary, but VERY reasonable prices for breakfast considering the setting. Most places we would have paid double for what we got and for being right out on the beach, your toes in the sand.

We watched the divers out a ways in the water, looking for the remains of a sugar boat down below in the waters...jet skis, paddle boarders, and the birds....

A beautiful morning, a beautiful day...and Sparky got to see her dolphins...And Eldo got to see some bikinis...Although not as many as he would have liked.   :-)