Free Vacation Rental Giveaway at Dan’s Florida Condos – Anna Maria Island, FL

Click here to enter!

The wait is over!  We are excited to announce our Week Stay Giveaway at Dan’s Florida Condos, in Anna Maria Island, Florida.   That’s right, a vacation at Dan’s Florida Condos all to yourself, FREE!  Imagine dipping your toes in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico while having some extra cash to take that special someone to a seaside dinner, or poolside Pina Coladas. With just a few clicks you could be on your way to creating lifelong memories with your friends and family and the best part… it’s on our dime.

To enter: Simply follow the steps below.  The winner will be selected at random and will be announced via email on September 1st.  Don’t wait, there’s no purchase necessary to enter so get in on the action today!

1 entry per person permitted but if you share with friends you will be traveling with you can increase your chances if they enter as well!

  1. Take a look at your calendar, fill out the entry form below and let us know which week you prefer.
  2. Want to triple your chances of winning?  Like and Share our Facebook Giveaway Post. Keep the share active until the contest ends and we will drop two more entries into the contest on your behalf.  Earn yet another entry if you tag the friends/family who you will be taking on your free vacation!
  3. Start daydreaming of your getaway in Anna Maria Island!
Free Vacation Rental Giveaway at Dan's Florida Condos - Anna Maria Island, FL

Share our Facebook Giveaway Post to triple your chances of winning. Tag your travel partners and encourage them to enter the giveaway contests as well!

We invite you to like our Facebook Page as well, to be included in future promotions and Island News!

About Dan’s Florida Condos on Anna Maria Island, Florida:

Anna Maria Island, Florida is located on the Gulf of Mexico, just 50 minutes south of Tampa and 20 minutes from Sarasota.  The island offers over seven miles of beaches to explore with award winning beachside resturants and tiki bars. Dan’s Florida Condos are located in Runaway Bay directly across the street from the beach, with private beach access and boasts the largest heated salt water pool on the island! Pair that up with tennis, shuffleboard, pickle ball, and bocce ball courts along with a beautiful fishing pier, you will not have a shortage of activities to enjoy during your stay.  We offer 2br and 1br units equipped with everything from pots and pans to beach chairs and coolers to keep those drinks chilled!

Contest Fine Print:

  • Weekly giveaway includes a Saturday to Saturday stay
  • Non Transferable unless explicitly approved by Dan’s Florida Condos
  • Airfare and Transportation not included
  • Facebook or Instagram are in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Dan’s Florida Condos giveaway
  • If the winner’s preferred week is booked prior to the end of the contest, they will have the option to reschedule their free week within 10 days of being notified as winner

Things to do this Winter on AMI

Merry Christmas Anna Maria Island

There is a lot going on at Dans Florida Condos, and Anna Maria Island this Winter!  Here are some fun things to do and experience this holiday season on Anna Maria Island, Florida. The perfect time to getaway from the cold up north. Let’s hit the beach.

 


WINTERFEST
Saturday, December 9 & 10, 2017
City Hall Field, Holmes Beach
10:00 am – 4:30 pm

Check out Winterfest, a Festival of Fine Arts & Crafts Show held at City Hall Field in Holmes Beach, Florida from 10am to 4:30pm. An amazing event full of entertainment, food and of course arts and crafts for purchase by talented artists from near and far.

This year there are over 80 participants showcasing their works in the 30th Annual Winterfest Festival, Sponsored by the Anna Maria Island Art League. This is a fun family event that features continuous live music on stage Saturday and a large food court offering a variety of food and beverages. Exhibits include various, art, jewelry, historical, and environmental booths.

Be sure to enter the gala raffle of art work donated by festival exhibitors. Proceeds benefit the League’s Scholarship Fund, which provides classes to children and adults.Tickets are $1 each or six for $5 and winners need not be present to win.

Admission and parking are free.

Things to do this Winter on AMI


CHRISTMAS ON BRIDGE STREET
Saturday, December 17, 2017
Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach
4:30 – 8:30 pm

If you missed the Tree Lighting then this event is sure to spread some holiday cheer into your Beach Life. Enjoy listening to live music and holiday choirs while you meander down historic Bridge Street. Featuring the Powell Crosley Dickens Carollers and Storytellers.

To help you with your Christmas shopping there will be a coastal, holiday market with tons of great Christmas ornaments and decorations available for sale. Don’t miss out on the  wreath raffles and silent auction!

Enjoy the delicious hot chocolate bar and other treats as you experience winter on Bridge Street. Keep your eyes out for  a special appearance by Santa.

IT’S FREE!

This is a free  event but also a great shopping experience so be sure to bring your wallet and cross some gifts off on your Christmas list.

Don’t forget there is plenty of shopping throughout Anna Maria Island so be sure to visit Holmes Beach and Anna Maria villages for more coastal treats and holiday treasures.

Things to do this Winter on AMI
Merry Christmas Anna Maria Island


MOTE AQUARIUM SNOW CAMP FOR KIDS
Select days from December 27, 2017 – January 5, 2018
Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach
4:30 – 8:30 pm

Kids can spend some or all of their winter break at Mote Camp. Campers will explore marine life  during this winter themed camp. Join Mote Aquarium for all 6 days or pick your favorite one. The Winter Camp is open to all students currently enrolled in 1st – 5th grade. Camp hours run from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm. 

Mote Marine Aquarium Winter Break Camps, encourage participation in the water for part of the morning, weather-permitting so come prepared with towels, water gear and a change of clothes.

Camps are $45 for non-members and $38 for member; sign up for 3 or more days and receive a 10% discount. This registration fee includes all materials, visits to the aquarium and mammal center, and snack. Please note: camps will not run if minimum number is not met. A notice will go out the week prior to camp should this happen.

Contact for more information:  Email camps@mote.org​ or call 941.388.4441 ext. 348  

Things to do this Winter on AMI


New Years Eve
December 31st, 2017

Unfortunately, the New Year’s Fireworks that are normally celebrated on the beach at The Beach House Restaurant will not take place again this year.  They have cancelled this celebration in order to keep all migrating and nesting shorebirds safe and out of harms way. We support The Beach House and the entire Chiles Group of restaurants in their endeavours to keep Anna Maria Island wildlife thriving for years to come. 

You can still enjoy New Year’s celebrations in Many of the local restaurants and bars open on the island. There’s no place better to be!

Things to do this Winter on AMI
Anna Maria Island FireWorks Sunset

– Content courtesy of the Islander

*Please note – Dans Florida Condos posts blogs of local
establishments and events periodically, for the intended benefit
of our guests and visitors of Anna Maria Island. We do not
receive advertisement commissions or other compensation from
these posts. These recommendations are either experienced
firsthand by us, or via reputable friends and partners on the
Island. This ensures we are informing our guests of the “best of
the best” that the Anna Maria Island and the surrounding areas
have to offer.

*The content of this blog is not to be copied, adapted or shared
without the written consent of Dans Florida Condos.

 

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile makes Pitstop on AMI

OscarMayer Wiener Mobile Visits Anna Maria Island

Meat the hot-doggers.

Elise “Cheddar Cheese” Johnson and Dominic “Dijon Dom” Ricci are two of 12 people who can drive the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile — with the rare exception of Jay Leno, who took the modified Chevy truck for a spin and a story earlier this year for his TV series on motor vehicles, “Jay Leno’s Garage.”

And it was Johnson and Ricci who chose to beach the larger-than-life hot dog and stay at the Cedar Cove Resort in Holmes Beach between marketing events Dec. 5-10 in Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton, North Port, Fort Myers and Sarasota.

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile makes Pitstop on AMI
OscarMayer Wiener Mobile

“A lot of people have been stopping by and taking pictures,” Johnson said about her stay on Anna Maria Island.  “It always makes somebody’s day,” she added.

Johnson and her fellow hot-doggers are among an elite few, including Oscar Mayer’s president, who can speak on behalf of the company. They interviewed, sang the jingle and “cut the mustard” to get the job the first year out of college, Ricci added. Johnson graduated from the University of Texas-Austin and Ricci from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

They attended a two-week Hot Dog High with the 10 other drivers and then took to the road for a yearlong stint at the wheel of the Wienermobile for the Kraft Heinz-owned company, now headquartered in Chicago. A 2015 merger closed the Oscar Mayer plant in Madison, Wisconsin, consolidated operations and moved the headquarters to the Aon Building in Chicago’s Loop.

German immigrant Oscar F. Mayer started a meat market with his brother, Gottfried, first in Detroit and then in the 1880s on the north side of Chicago. His nephew Carl G. Mayer created the first Weinermobile in 1936. About every 10-15 years, Ricci said, the company changes the vehicle design.

Ricci and Johnson see a bright future in marketing with the parent company, as teachers or wherever they want to use their people skills after finishing their tour of 15 Southeast states in June 2018. They have oodles of transferable skills, they say. “We’re basically running a PR firm, the 12 of us and the CEO,” Johnson said, with six months and 25,000 miles under her belt.

She also praised their Anna Maria Island hangout Dec. 8 while visiting The Islander office and greeting folks interested in the Wienermobile. “It’s so peaceful. I think it’s the best-kept secret,” Johnson said about the island. “I’ll be taking my family back here,” she added.

And, as Ricci and Johnson would say, the puns are many, so we’ll ketchup then. With relish.

In the meantime, put a little mustard on that dog.

“Oh, I’d love to be an Oscar Mayer wiener. That is what I’d truly like to be. Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener, everyone would be in love with me.” It’s a jingle everyone a certain age will not forget.

-Article Courtesy of the Islander

*Please note – Dans Florida Condos posts blogs of local
establishments and events periodically, for the intended benefit
of our guests and visitors of Anna Maria Island. We do not
receive advertisement commissions or other compensation from
these posts. These recommendations are either experienced
firsthand by us, or via reputable friends and partners on the
Island. This ensures we are informing our guests of the “best of
the best” that the Anna Maria Island and the surrounding areas
have to offer.

*The content of this blog is not to be copied, adapted or shared
without the written consent of Dans Florida Condos.

Tour de Turtles – The Islands Fastest but Slowest Race!

Anna Maria Island - Turtle Nesting and Race

Tour de Turtles – The Islands Fastest but Slowest Race!

It may not have been the fastest race in history, but Anna Maria Island won the marathon with loggerhead Eliza Ann.

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring and the Sea Turtle Conservancy placed a tracking device on a sea turtle June 19 after it nested at Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, then released the turtle to the Gulf of Mexico early June 20. That tracker showed the path taken by the sea turtle as she nested twice more and journeyed on her three-month migration.

This was the first confirmation of multiple nesting by a mature female loggerhead on the island.

The turtle was named Eliza Ann for the Sea Turtle Conservancy event, Tour de Turtles, which ended Nov. 1. The Waterline Resort and Marina, in Holmes Beach, featuring Eliza Ann’s Coastal Kitchen restaurant, sponsored AMITW in the event.

As part of the tour, 20 sea turtles were tagged and released from beaches in Costa Rica, Panama, Nevis and Florida. The turtles then competed in a “marathon,” a competition for which turtle swims the most miles during the three-month “race.”

Tour de Turtles - The Islands Fastest but Slowest Race!
Anna Maria Island – Turtle Nesting and Race

Pictured Above – Eliza Ann traveled 1,693 miles to win first place in the marathon, which tracked distance covered through Nov. 1 by the tagged sea turtles. The runner-up, a loggerhead named Cruz, traveled 1,583 miles after it was tagged July 29 near the Disney Vero Beach Resort, south of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Melbourne Beach.

The migration was tracked using satellite telemetry. Every time Eliza Ann raised her head above water, the antenna on her tracker sent a signal, letting conservancy research scientists know her location.

The tracking device showed Eliza Ann coming ashore four times and nesting three times during the season, which runs through Oct. 31.

Following nesting, the tracker showed the turtle traveled to the Bahamas to forage and, as of Nov. 1, was in the water north of Cuba.

Additionally, the data received from the turtles’ transmitters allowed researchers to determine the number of dives taken during a 24-hour period, the duration of the most recent dive, and the water temperature of the location, according to Lexie Beach, Sea Turtle Conservancy communications coordinator.

Following nesting and placement of a satellite tracking device atop her carapace June 20, Eliza Ann, a 300-pound-plus loggerhead, crawls back to the Gulf of Mexico. The device, placed by Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and the Sea Turtle Conservancy, tracked Eliza Ann’s travels for the Tour de Turtles — a marathon for sea turtles. See page 26 for more. Islander Photo: ChrisAnn Silver Esformes

“To adequately protect sea turtles in all their habitats, we must learn more about their migratory patterns, their behavior at sea, where their marine habitats are located, how the turtles use these different habitats and the migration routes turtles travel between habitats,” Beach said.

Since the tour is over, this data becomes available to researchers around the world and also is being used as part of Sea Turtle Conservancy research scientist Dan Evans’ doctoral thesis.

Turtle watch participated in the tour in 2015 with a loggerhead named Amie, but the turtle’s satellite tag fell off shortly after the race began and it was disqualified.

– Article Courtesy of The Islander

*Please note – Dans Florida Condos posts blogs of local
establishments and events periodically, for the intended benefit
of our guests and visitors of Anna Maria Island. We do not
receive advertisement commissions or other compensation from
these posts. These recommendations are either experienced
firsthand by us, or via reputable friends and partners on the
Island. This ensures we are informing our guests of the “best of
the best” that the Anna Maria Island and the surrounding areas
have to offer.

*The content of this blog is not to be copied, adapted or shared
without the written consent of Dans Florida Condos.