AMI Beach + Gulf View Retreat - Dog-friendly

75 5-star ratings Beach-view Bridgeport condo says it all! Perfect location next to Beach+Restaurants+Bridge Street+Free Trolley with Large Pool!! Relax... Add Bridgeport 202 + 207 just down the hall! Head out to white powder sand beach. Enjoy a dip in large pool. Watch sunset into sea from the beach or living room or master bedroom or lanai's open-air patio. End perfect day w/ walk across street to BeachHouse Rest. or couple blocks to Hot spot Bridge Street dinner!

The Beach + Gulf View Retreat is located in the highly valued Bridgeport Condos. Sightings along the Gulf of Mexico beach and inter-coastal waterway include Manatees, Rays, Dolphins, many kinds of fish, huge Pelicans, Blue Herons, Egrets, Osprey, Terns, Gulls, and other amazing creatures. Some people even get married at the beach area and stay in the home with family! Common sites along the beach areas include Sea Turtle nests and bird nesting sanctuaries during special times of the year.

“Anna Maria Island’s Hot Spot” is now Historic Bridge Street on Bradenton Beach, the southernmost city of Anna Maria Island. Bridge Street, where the original wooden bridge was the only means of access to the island, where a beautiful fishing pier is in its place today, leading to an active street where you can Shop~Dine~Play from beach to bay. Bridge Street offers a walkable community with spectacular water views from the both the pier and the gulf beach and only a couple blocks from Beach + Gulf View Retreat.

The Beach + Gulf View Retreat offers everything you need for your beach stay! Just bring your food, clothing and toiletries. Beach chairs, beach umbrella, and beach toys for the kids are available in our garage level storage room including beach chairs and toys. Dishes, pots, pans, linens and towels are all provided - just bring your swimsuit and enjoy! The Beach + Gulf View Retreat features a master bedroom having an en-suite bathroom with large closet and a guest bedroom with its own bathroom. Additionally, there is a LazyBoy sleeper sofa in the family room. Other amenities to perfect your stay include:

• Covered Lanai/Patio with nearly 180-degree direct beach views

• Living Room picture window with nearly 180-degree Gulf of Mexico views

• Grocery cart for easy carrying from car to elevator and up to home

• Garbage bag drop right around corner from home

• Elevator access or stairwell access for handicap access at your convenience

• High-Speed Wireless Internet service with 120 MB+ per second download speeds + 12 MB per second upload speeds

• Cable on the high definition LED flat-screen TV

• New Trane air conditioning unit

• Keurig K55 Programmable Coffee Cup Maker

• 1,060 square feet living space

• 2 Car Parking Spaces

• 2 Televisions

• 2 Bathrooms

• Washer & Dryer

• Electric Grill available

In less than 2 minutes, you will be spending your day on the beach, 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. Common sights along the beach areas include Sea Turtle nests and bird nesting sanctuaries during special times of the year. Once in a while, you’ll come across a Gulf-side wedding!

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. By timing it right (usually 7 pm), you can enjoy sea creature (fish, eel, and shark) feeding by the owner while enjoying 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.

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).

Eco tours and on the Gulf and Intercoastal via boats, kayaks and jet skis are always nice. The Ringling Museum in Sarasota is great.

The Regina is a sugar barge that sunk just off our beach 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 Regina is 10th Florida Shipwreck Underwater Archaeological Preserve.

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.

Our kids love going to the Bridge Street Pier or taking the free trolley just outside the door 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... The Trolley stops every 20 minutes from about 6 am to 10 pm.

Come enjoy the unbelievable location of the Beach View Retreat near corner of Gulf & Cortez!

The whole home is yours. You will have a great time including sitting on the covered patio listening to the waves of the Gulf of Mexico lapping up on the beach.

The best way to find our home is through your GPS system or an online map system. The address of the home is:

Beach View Retreat
501 Gulf Drive North
Suite 207
Bradenton Beach, FL 34217

Park in the marked space to the right of the elevator to the stairwell attached to the west building side closest to the beach and Gulf Drive.

Walk up stairs or take the elevator to the top floor to Suite 207 in the southwest corner of the building.

There are two main bridges across from the mainland to Anna Maria Island. Cortez Bridge is on Cortez Rd right next to the home. Manatee Avenue is the other bridge but two miles north of the home so once you get across the bridge, turn left = south on Gulf Drive to 501 Gulf Drive North at the corner of Cortez Rd. As most key islands in southwest Florida, the island is very narrow east to west so the main road going north to south is Gulf Dr.

Please use only 2 parking spaces. One dedicated parking space for Suite 207 on the west side of the building next to Gulf Drive. There may be one other parking space with the parking hanger near the swimming pool. For that space, only park in a space that is NOT marked with a designated number, which are committed to that home owner. Remember that the second space is First Come, First Serve. Thanks!!

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.

Please consider bringing more family/friends to our 14 Florida Beach Homes or 8 Colorado Mountain Lodges or 4 Tennessee Lake/Country Homes on either Vrbo or the other primary platform. The number at the start are the # folks who can stay there:

Anna Maria Island Salt Life!

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