Imagine if you could turn back the clock for a simpler kind of beach vacation. One in which wide strips of white sand, curling blue-green breakers, and unhurried walks on weathered piers dominate your days. Where affordable mom-and-pop motels, rental cottages, and restaurants thrive among a bare minimum of condos, with nary a fastfood light in sight. Where families play volleyball before gaggles of gulls, and an all-you-can-eat pancake joint sits smack-dab on the beach.

 That vacation could easily be on Florida's Anna Maria Island. A timeless quality permeates this 7mile-long barrier island, glistening like balm on the southern lip of Tampa Bay. Reached by two bridges from the mainland at Bradenton, it was first developed as a humble resort in the early 1900s by - how's this for wholesome  - the father of the Fig Newton. A century of thankfully slow growth later, the island's villages -Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, and Bradenton Beach - sport endearingly low-key personalities.

 Shell hunters pluck unbroken sand dollars from sparsely populated beaches. Anglers cast from the surf and from three vintage bay-side piers. Adventurers ski, sail, canoe, windsurf, and scuba dive.

 After dining on fresh seafood but before turning in, many admire the sunset from a favorite spot, perhaps a breezy bench at Coquina Beach Park or the high knoll in Leffis Key Nature Preserve. Take heart, nostalgic friends. Although you can't truly travel back in time, you can still go to Anna Maria Island, kick off your shoes, and pretend.

 For more see "The Answer is Anna Maria" on page 27. 

By JOE RADA

 PHOTOGRAPHY BEN VAN HOOK