Anna Marie Island

After our visit to Gamble Mansion, we decided to take a ride to Anna Marie Island across from the mainland on SR64.  We had been forewarned that there was going to be a huge celebration for Hernando Desoto Day, culminating late afternoon in a parade several miles long that would go through downtown Bradenton.  The traffic was extremely heavy in town and on the beach road.  We turned south and went into Cortez, one of the old fishing villages in Florida where we had stayed a few years ago, and had lunch at a seafood restaurant on the bay.  Thankfully, we were able to skirt most of the traffic heading back.  By the time we got to our RV site, it began raining.  Nice evening to curl up with a good book. Too bad it "rained on their parade!"