Liz and Ben do Anna Maria Island 2026

We started to tidy up the apartment as we will sadly be leaving here on Sunday morning. It was hot and sunny as usual so I did a bit of sun bathing and Ben did some early fishing, catching around 20 pin head and trout fish.. After lunch we went and had our last 'double scoop' ice cream where we met an English family who had just flown from England and called in here on their way to Orlando. They seemed impressed with Anna Maria Island. We then went and did some last minute shopping. Whilst Ben was doing a bit more fishing, our neghbour Diane from next door appeared and wanted to know when we were leaving.  We had quite a long chat about everything, when Diane said my unattended fishing rod was heading for the water!!  I quickly grabbed it and eventually landed a fighting catfish.  Unfortunately for the catfish it had swallowed the hook and despite my best efforts I was unable to extract it - best not to describe subsequent actions!   We have arranged golf for to...

Our penultimate round of golf was played at Manatee County this afternoon. When we arrived at the first tee there was a 2 ball in front of us and no one else about. We noticed after we teed off that there was another couple waiting. When we got to the 5th hole, the two ball in front of us were being let through by a six ball group of men. We were behind them when the starter came along in his buggy and said that he was going to hold us back as they were so busy they had to let the 6 ball go together. We would just have to wait behind them. We were then joined by the couple behind us, Dale and Kathy, from Ohio. It turned out that Kathy was a good golfer but Dale sent his ball in any direction into the trees and water. The 6 ball eventually let us through so we didn't have anyone in front of us and then we finished the round quite quickly. When we arrived at the 3rd hole par 3, there were 4 men in the water manually looking for lost balls.  I casually advised them that we had seen a ...

Our AVIS hire car arrangement booked with BA was for 4 weeks, so today we had to go to Tampa airport, hand in the car we had been using and collect a new one. The car exchange went without any problems but the traffic was very busy both going and coming. We decided to go and visit the sunken gardens in St Petesburg on the way. The gardens were purchased in 1911 when it was a marshy sinkhole. Three generations of the family turned the land into a well known attraction with tropical palms, orchids, flamingos, parrots, koi carp and waterfalls. When we had walked around the gardens we were sitting on a seat and a squirrel jumped on me and tried to read the brochure I was looking at. It must have thought I had some food! We then went on toTampa airport and arrived home having exchanged the car by about 7.30pm. Not sure if this is a black bee?? Flamingo doing some pruning! and more flamingos One of many Geckos basking in the sun Mum in her 'garden hat' Koi carp Kookaberra Macaws Orch...

Another round of golf at Manatee County golf course in the sunshine although there was more breeze today. We were joined by Phil who we instantly recognised as being English. It turned out he was a retired RAF Vulcan pilot who lives near Lincoln but spends 4 or 5 months each year in his house near Manatee golf club. His wife also plays golf but can't at the moment because of a wrist injury. His golf wasn't very good but he said he didn't play in competitions back in England because of this. Ben and I both played better than him. We are beginning to get to know the course and where to try and send our shots. It is a nice course with some hazards, which we have learnt to try and avoid and some good holes as well. We saw a number of different birds - the wild live is laways interesting. Roseate Spoonbill Crackle Stork in a tree - we think!!

We have had a quiet day today. It was hot and sunny with very little wind. We must have caught up with all the vitamin D which we didn't get in England over the winter. We went for a short walk this afternoon and drooled at the very expensive 'gin palaces', all of which appeared to be being fettled, I suppose ready for summer cruising.  Liz fancied this one - circa $5,000,000!! The boat from the house opposite leaving for an afternoon cruise

Ben had some success at last with his fishing this morning as he caught a sea trout which we should be able to eat tomorrow evening. We played golf again this afternoon at Buffalo Creek as Ben has a meeting tomorrow. We started off playing with a young man, Josh, who was accompanied by his 9 year old daughter, Sienna. She did not play and by the time we got to the twelfth hole he had to stop as he said she was getting bored. It was a very slow round as we had to wait on nearly every shot. While waiting we saw some interesting wild life. We saw 2 cranes which were showing off their mating dances. They ended up 'kissing' which involved  clattering their beaks together. We also saw a very large alligator basking by the side of a lake. It kept it's eye on us and looked as if it could rise up on to it's feet and run at us if he wanted to. Just as we were finishing the 18th a woodpecker flew from the ground to a tree and was tapping away at the bark. We didn't finish our ...