My wife and I blindly made reservations to stay at Resort 66 using our Blue-Green points and were surprised at how wonderful it was. The resort is located on the North side of the island which was away from some of the hustle and bustle south of us. The room was very clean and was quite comfortable for our week long stay. We found out that if you head to this area, the third and fourth week of September are outstanding times to go. This is because the summer rush is over and the locals are back from their vacations(which they seem to take the first two weeks of the month). Since the room are equiped with full kitchens, we were able to visit the local fish markets to purchase some fresh fish for our meals. We found a nice one on 123rd street south of Cortez.
A great drive is to head down Manatee to Palma Sol Drive and head south towards Cortez. On the right side of the road will be a park(Rose Park, I believe) where you can pull in the circle driveway and walk out on the fishing dock. While we were there, four dolphins swam up by us to check us out. If you go down Palma Sol drive a little further, there will be a park on the left side of the road that surrounds a stream that heads into the bay. When we pulled in this park, we sat down and watched 4 manatee playing in the stream.
A great place to eat on Anna Maria Island is the Sandbar on the north side of the island. We ate there twice and enjoyed both meals. One more thing, since it doesn't seem to rain on the island, I would recommend renting a convertible. We did and loved it.
