Story and photos contributed by Lance Roy | Special to the Sun
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Labor Day weekend on Anna Maria Island usually means umbrellas in the sand, music floating from beachside patios and parking lots packed with families hauling coolers to the shoreline.
But this Sunday, the Gulf had other plans. From sunrise onward, the skies seemed to empty without pause, with steady sheets of rain, heavy at times, falling in a rhythm as familiar as waves breaking on the shore.
The downpour softened now and then, even teasing a glimpse of blue sky, but never quite surrendered.
At Manatee Beach, in Holmes Beach, families reluctantly packed up early, darting from the café patio to their cars between bursts of rain. Some stayed put under the overhangs, turning the weather into an excuse for another round of fries or ice cream cones.
County lifeguards kept a watchful eye with yellow flags waving at their towers as lightning offshore turned the Gulf into a look-but-don’t-touch scene.
Further south, the scene was quieter still. At Cortez Beach, in Bradenton Beach, the usual clusters of beachgoers gave way to empty chairs, collapsed tents and only a handful of determined surf fishermen. Among them, a couple recently relocated from Pennsylvania grinned through the drizzle, calling it “a blessing” to live close enough to wet a line whenever the mood struck – rain or shine.
Over at Coquina Beach, at the south end of the Island, families made the best of it, taking shelter under picnic shelters and canopy tents, with their laughter and music competing with the steady patter of raindrops.
A Bradenton Beach police officer described the day as “calm, quiet, almost too easy,” as he monitored light traffic along Gulf Drive South.
Bridge Street merchants noticed the shift too. A burst of shoppers wandered in earlier than usual, ducking away from the storms. While business owners would have preferred sunny skies to cap off ‘summer’ with a final holiday surge, most were thankful for steady support from locals and visitors alike.
And true to the Island spirit, the gray weather couldn’t wash away the sound of live music at the Bridge Tender Inn and the Drift-In, while Island Time Bar & Grill buzzed with the sound of fans watching football and baseball games over cold drinks.
As late afternoon gave way to early evening, the rain let up, the sun came out and many beachgoers found their way to the Gulf shoreline to enjoy their rain-delayed holiday beach time.
In the end, Anna Maria Island proved what locals already know: rain or shine, the Island always finds a way to charm. The skies may have been gloomy, but Anna Maria Island’s holiday spirit never really left the beach.
