The Traveling Wellburys

A note from Morgan: This is the Traveling Wellburys very first guest blog, written by my very own mother, Lynn. She is a passionate writer and nature photographer, and always seems to find beauty in the little things. I hope you enjoy what she has written as much as I do.

The Traveling Wellburys is a travel, adventure, and photography blog created by my daughter, Morgan.  Morgan and her fiancé, Jake, have been avid travelers for the past few years.  They have traveled multiple states in the U.S. and have been on a great adventure in South America since last August.  While I have not traveled near as extensively as Morgan and Jake, I have been able to visit a few beautiful places in my life, and most recently, I took my youngest daughter, Carly, on a trip to Anna Maria Island, Florida.  Typically, our mother-daughter trips include Morgan, but since she is currently in Peru, it was not possible for her to join us.  Although we missed her, we made some precious memories and found a little more than the pristine beach life we came for.

• Just a Few Gratuitous Recommendations 
• Enough About the Food
• Kevin and His Winged Companions
• Jesus Was Sitting at the Bus Station
• Counting Our Blessings
• Our Gratitude for Anna Maria Island

Before heading to Anna Maria, I followed a Facebook page called Anna Maria Island Life to get tips and advice for vacationing on the island.  It is a great resource to get ideas about lodging, transportation, tourist activities, and dining.  I highly recommend it.  I felt like I had a pretty good plan as we headed off on our trip.  Carly’s main objective as an 18-year-old was to get a tan and eat some great food, and I was excited to bring a book, sketchbook and journal, and my camera.  I love my creative time and am very inspired by nature.  We were ready to relax and renew and share some mother-daughter bonding time.  

Since this is a travel blog, you’re probably expecting some travel advice.  Initially, that was my whole intention, but I’m a deep thinker and a passionate writer.  What I am saying is, you’re getting more than you bargained for here, but we’ll start with the advice.

Just a Few Gratuitous Recommendations 

Anna Maria Island is made up of three small cities: Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach, and Anna Maria.  We visited all three areas, but we stayed in Bradenton Beach on the south end of the island at Tortuga Beach Resort, and we could not have been happier with our accommodations.  We spent a lot of time at the gorgeous pool area and at the adjacent beach (just across the road). Tortuga supplies their guests with beach chairs, towels, and umbrellas, so there was really no need to leave their private beach area.  However, we did visit Manatee Beach one day just to compare, and we quickly decided there was no reason to venture off to any of the other beaches on the island.  Tortuga’s beach area was much less crowded and provided the same pristine sand and beautiful Gulf waters as the remaining seven miles of beach that stretched the island.  I personally enjoyed walking over to the beach to read and write from my chair, snap photos, and watch dolphins and magnificent sunsets.  There is a special kind of tranquility, a quiet calm, an almost magical feeling, as you watch the sky turn red and the silhouettes of other beach goers taking in the surf or sitting on the sand to experience the masterpiece God sends to end the day.  

Second to the beach, the main attraction on the island is honestly the food.  There are no fast food or chain restaurants on the island.  It’s refreshing to see so many locally owned restaurants and shops.  My top pick was an old-world, authentic Italian eatery called Vinny’s Italian Kitchen. Vinny’s offers only take-out meals, so it is good to order in advance if possible.  “A native from Italy, Chef Vincenzo prepares all dishes in his kitchen by hand, just like his mother and grandmother before him,” as it reads on the take-out menu.  We had the Queen Margherita Pizza, a rustic thin crust pizza with pizza sauce, tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, spices, and extra virgin olive oil.  Mamma Mia was it good!

Running neck-in-neck with Vinny’s was The Ugly Grouper, where we split an order of Grouper Tacos.  Wow!  Blackened grouper in their specialty cheese fan shells with cabbage, fresh salsa and a secret sauce with just the right amount of kick.  There is nothing ugly about these grouper tacos!  Paired with a frozen watermelon libation, it was perfection on a hot, July day.  

Honorable mention goes to The Bridge Tender Inn on Historic Bridge Street, for their outdoor atmosphere complete with a tiki bar and live music.  Carly was so smitten with their butter and garlic pasta with grilled chicken, we went there twice.

There is so much to see and do on Anna Maria Island.  Bradenton Beach offers Historic Bridge Street, lined with local artisan shops, restaurants and bars, a putt-putt golf venue, and a great, little coffee shop called Back Alley Treasures which Carly deemed as the best coffee shop on the island. Holmes Beach provides shopping areas, including a Publix grocery store and two drug stores.  Anna Maria, on the north end of the island is a little quieter, but also provides local shops and restaurants.  Our favorite place to visit in Anna Maria was Rod & Reel Pier, a quaint, no-frills restaurant that sits directly out on the Gulf of Mexico.  It was the best dinner experience we had. Not because of the awesome view or the good food, but because of the company.  My dear cousin, Jill, drove up from her home in Venice, Florida to join us.  Always remember, it’s a small world in a great big universe.  Reach out.  These are the moments to cherish.  While waiting for a table, we walked around the pier and observed dolphins swimming nearby, a common occurrence, and could see the Tampa skyline in the distance.  The grouper sandwich was simple but nothing to shake a stick at.  For those of you that don’t know why you’d shake a stick at a fish sandwich in the first place, I don’t know either, but it’s a darn good fish sandwich, and I love keeping old sayings alive.

Enough About the Food

My favorite part of Bradenton Beach was the Bridge Street Pier.  As we walked down the pier one rainy evening, we witnessed a magnificent rainbow.  It was astounding to see it completely arc over the bay, over all the boats anchored offshore.  We walked to the end of the pier and were greeted by a fat pelican roosting on the railing.  We were able to walk right up to it and take close-up photos with our phones with the sun setting, casting a golden glow behind it in the distance.  I regretted that I didn’t have my camera in tow that evening, because the opportunities for magical photos were abundant.  But I was prepared the next morning, camera in hand, as we came back for a dolphin cruise with Paradise Boat Tours which embarks from the very same pier. 

Kevin and His Winged Companions

While we were waiting for the boat to arrive, I walked down to the end of the long pier to see if I could spot another pelican.  To my delight, there was not one, but two pelicans, and an egret.  I started to snap some photos, trying not to startle my subjects.  I find myself in my own world when I’m taking nature photos, but I heard a man say, “You can get right up to them. They won’t do anything to you.”  I looked over, and I saw a man fishing.  He smiled at me and told me “You can pet them if you want.  You can rub right down their beaks.” I’m sure he knows this from experience, but I wasn’t quite that brave.  He seemed happy to have their company as he fished from the pier.  We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and as the boat pulled up, he said, “There’s your boat.  I hope you get to see some dolphins.”  

Our cruise was so relaxing and peaceful as we cruised on the Intercoastal Waterway from Bradenton Beach down to Longboat Key.  We were blessed to see mother dolphins with their babies, a couple of manatees, and several species of birds filling the treetops in a mangrove in Sarasota Bay, just past the beautiful sandbar area along Jewfish Key.    

When we returned from our excursion, I looked up to see the friendly fisherman waiting up on the pier.  He was excited to know if we spotted anything.  Carly and I made our way up to him, made formal introductions and found out that Kevin is a retired policeman and bartender from Pearl River, New York.  His contrasting professions caused me to giggle as I thought of the irony.  I didn’t ask him if he ever had to arrest one of his bar patrons.  I asked him what brought him to Anna Maria Island.  He said, “I vacationed on the island for many years before I moved here some 12 or 13; maybe 14 years ago.  I can’t remember.”  I’m sure he knows, but he’s not concerned with time.  He doesn’t need to be.

As we were talking, an egret flew by and landed on the deck below, Kevin told us, “That’s a Great Egret.  They don’t know how to swim, so I feed them. See, they don’t have webbed feet.  I like to throw them a snook because I feel sorry for them.”  

Kevin, Carly, and I talked about everything from our pets to how he self-cured his Type 2 Diabetes by losing over 170 lbs. by eating right.  Surprisingly though, he does not eat fish. 

It turns out Kevin is a bit of a celebrity.  He is well-known to the people that operate the businesses on the pier and welcoming to anyone that ventures down the walkway.  His picture hangs inside the Paradise Boat Tour office.  Along with fishing information, it says, “Questions?  Look for this friendly guy.  He’s always happy to help.” We didn’t see the sign until Kevin told us about it, but we didn’t have to look for Kevin.  He found us. 

On the cruise, we experienced the beauty of the landscape and habitat of the Anna Maria Island area, and then we were further blessed to witness the equally profound beauty of a man that respects and appreciates and nurtures God’s living creatures; the ones that fly, the ones that swim, and the ones that walk and talk.

Jesus Was Sitting at the Bus Station

Several times throughout the week, we walked from our hotel down to Bridge Street.  It was only about a 20-minute walk, but one day, it was really hot and humid, and we decided to catch the free trolley back to our hotel.  As we approached the bus stop, I noticed a man sitting there with his walker eating a bowl of ice cream.  His clothes were tattered and dirty, and all that he owned was hanging from his walker…two plastic bags and an old sleeping bag.  He asked me for nothing.  He just sat there eating that ice cream with the most contented look on his face.  

I turned to Carly and said, “This is my chance to help someone.”  I honestly felt it was a privilege to do so.  I pulled out a $20 bill, folded it up and walked over to the man.  He turned to me as I told him I’d like to help him.  There was a glimmer of light in his beautiful blue eyes, and he instantly smiled despite the fact there were no teeth in his swollen, blackened gums. At first, he just said, “Thank you,” and I walked back over to Carly.  He then turned to me and said, “Today, I prayed to God that He would send someone to help me, and He did. I hope that God blesses you because you helped me.”  I replied confidently, “He will.”  I know that God always provides for me, and I felt a certainty in answering that way.  Whenever I give, I always receive, whether that comes back to me monetarily or not.  Then, the man made his way over to me and Carly with his walker, and he told us that he was from Indiana.  He said that he once owned his own landscaping business and that he made $60,000 from Spring through September every year.  That is, until he started getting underbid by quote, “Mexican workers.”  He said that he could not sustain his costly equipment for the same wages they were working for, and he lost everything.  With a knowledge that only comes from experience, he said, “Everyone is just a paycheck away from losing it all.”  

I asked his name, and he said, “Gary.”  Gary went on to tell us that he has bone cancer.  Those blue eyes of his, so bracing, welled up with tears as he explained that he decided not to take chemo.  He knows that he is dying, and I could see the fear in his eyes and hear the sadness in his quivering voice.  I assured him that his next life would be free of pain and struggle.  He said, “I’m not an angel. I drink and I smoke.”  I replied from a place of genuine non-judgment, and I said, “None of us are angels, Gary.  Not one of us.”

I asked him if he had family that might be able to help him.  He said that he had only a brother and a sister.  I didn’t push for details, but I asked him if it was pride that was stopping him from asking them for help. He replied, “People are only willing to help you for so long.”

I felt a sadness in my heart that he felt so alone.  I told him that he lived in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and I hoped that was of some consolation to him.  I urged him to get a meal with the money I had given him, and he told me he would be able to get a buffet dinner.  The trolley pulled up, and Gary said he was going to get on it and ride it for a couple of hours to cool off.  The bus driver called out, “Gary, are you getting on?” and lowered the ramp for him and raised him up with his walker.  I was touched that he was acknowledged and treated with love and dignity rather than treated as a nuisance. 

As we sat on the bus behind him, I thought about and was fascinated by the fact that he still holds on to the life that he has here, and how even someone in the direst of straits and the most heartbreaking circumstances would have such a fear of death.  As humans, we seem to have this strong will to live, yet, sometimes, we are held prisoner to exactly what is killing us.  

I told Gary that I would pray for him, and I do.  I honestly take to heart that Jesus walks among us and could be anyone we meet on the street.  I do believe that we met Jesus that day, and the immeasurable gift that Gary gave to me and to my daughter is far greater than any amount of money that I could have ever given to him.  

I struggled with the decision to tell this story because, ultimately, I believe God wants us to be humble and always give from a place of genuine compassion or love and not for recognition.  In the end though, by sharing this story, using the words that God always gracefully lends me to touch others, I share my gifts on a level that helps more than one man.  

I am 53 years old, and I have never taken the time to really talk to a homeless person.  I have given to people but not nearly enough.  It’s never going to feel like enough.  I am grateful that my daughter, a recent high school graduate that came to Anna Maria Island to get a tan for her sister’s upcoming wedding, came home with so much more than a bronze glow.  I feel certain that this chance meeting with Gary will have a lasting impact on both of us. 

Counting Our Blessings

After hearing about Kevin and Gary, doesn’t all the travel advice seem so insignificant?  Vacations have become so commercialized.  Everyone wants to know where to go, what to do, who has the best this, who has the best that.  I, too, am guilty of spending way too much time planning every time I go on a vacation.  Of course, it pays to check hotel reviews and make sure you are in safe places, but when we focus so much on where our next expensive meal is going to come from while so many others have no choice in the matter and are lucky if they have a meal at all, it kind of puts life into perspective.

Vacations come and go, and money is spent and gone, and as we go back to our comfortable beds that we dearly missed and our friends and loved ones back home, we are thankful that vacations do not last forever.  I’ve often heard and felt it too, “I need a vacation from the vacation.” 

Vacations can be so much more than sight-seeing and expensive meals.  We are all deserving of some occasional extravagance or excessive living.  I think it is all about balance.  Sometimes, you just need to enjoy the decadent desserts and savor the buttery bites of lobster and not feel guilty about it.  God wants us to find and feel joy in our lives, but He also wants us to be kind, to be patient, to be loving, to have empathy and compassion and to find gratitude for our simple blessings whether we are at home or abroad.  As Gary, the once successful, self-made man, put it, “We are all just one paycheck away from losing it all.”  

Our Gratitude for Anna Maria Island

We found everything we were looking for in Anna Maria Island and more.  Carly came home with a great tan, and I found time to be creative and inspired.  I would not be sharing this article without the inspiration that I feel was divinely imparted to me.

I am grateful for quality time spent with my now-adult daughter, for treasured laughter and the quiet moments too.  For the way she comes up out of the pool with one eye open and the other squinting shut just as she always did as a young child, I am forever thankful for how she makes me smile and feel so much love.  We shared picturesque blue skies, brilliant sunsets, magnificent clouds, and sunshine too. I am thankful for the peace I felt watching dolphins and sea-loving birds of all kinds, for the rainbow we saw, the amazing food we ate, sunshine and salty sea air, and for the inspiration I find in God’s gifts of nature and this beautiful world.  We enjoyed creative time together drawing and painting, and this brought us both joy.  With so much to be grateful for, we were blessed even more to find two special humans that made a lasting impression on us both.  There are beautiful souls among us that come in the most surprising of packages… an old man fishing on a pier with a t-shirt that read “Come Together” to a man with dirt embedded so deep in his fingernails that you might imagine him to be worthless.  He is not.  He is loved by God every bit as much as we are.  

The best vacation advice I can give is to enjoy the food, the beautiful sights and sounds, the time spent thrill-seeking or in quiet, restful relaxation.  Whatever it is that brings you joy, do that.  But don’t forget to go with an open mind and a loving heart and humble gratitude for all the gifts you experience. If you do this, you can bring home more than a suitcase of dirty laundry and sandy shells or gift shop souvenirs.  Instead, you just might bring home a renewed spirit, an ability to see the world through God’s eyes, and endless gratitude for a blessed life.

– Lynn

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