Summer mornings a special time at Manatee beaches

Summer has arrived, and Manatee County residents and tourists alike know that the sun cranks up to its roasting temperature by 10 a.m.

But some have learned that one way of getting the drop on Manatee County’s hot summers is to sneak out at sunrise and walk the beaches while the air is fresh and cool.

The “early morning summer beachwalkers,” with their “explorer” mentality, are also some of the more interesting people you might meet.

Following in Ponce’s footprints

Every year since the mid-1980s, seven sisters and their families have come to Anna Maria Island for a weeklong vacation for the Fourth of July.

This year, the gathering is more than 50 people.

But when all 50 were invited to a 6:30 a.m. walk Sunday on the Manatee County Public Beach, only four said “yes.”

The four on Sunday seemed to walk the footprint-less beach with the pride of knowing they were adventurers, like Ponce de Leon, the first Spanish explorer to arrive in Florida, in 1513.

The four were among first humans on the beach on July 2, 2017.

So, what was it like?

“Heaven,” said Penny Lee, from St. Petersburg.

“Paradise,” said Lee’s sister, Bonnie Futch from Plant City.

“Quiet and still,” said Futch’s sister, Wendy McLeod of St. Augustine.

The fourth member of the group, Gustavo Perez-Poveda from Miami, who is married to a sister named Darolyn, just couldn’t stop smiling.

“Darolyn isn’t walking because she broke her foot,” Lee said.

“We’re the diehards,” Futch said.

“It’s very nice,” McLeod said. “A lot of times you see dolphins.”

“Serene,” Futch added.

The families are staying in the Blue Water Beach Club and White Sands Beach Resort, as well as a few rental houses.

One sister, Jan Nelson, is from Bradenton.

“Others will walk later,” McLeod said of the 50.

“We got here Saturday and some of them aren’t recovered,” Lee added.

Walking into the sunrise

Patricia Bond, a member of Suncoast Camera Club Bradenton, which meets at 6:30 p.m. the second Thursday of every month at H2u, 6670 Cortez Road W., Bradenton, comes to the beach every morning she thinks there will be a pretty sunrise.

On Sunday, Bond stood facing the surf with her tripod and Canon Rebel digital camera and moaned: “I came to photograph the puffy clouds over the Gulf and, of course, they didn’t light up. The sky has kind of disappeared. Wait. Look at that! Always look behind you!”

The sky to the east was on fire with color, and she almost missed it.

Bond clicked away with her back to the Gulf of Mexico and said, “That is the picture of the day I think, wow, OK!”

With that, she packed up her stuff and walked right into the sunrise.

Lithia girls love the beach

Rebecca Lawrence, 19, from Lithia, a town in Hillsborough County, grew up coming to the Manatee County Public Beach. She is always drawn back to it and, on Sunday, introduced her friend, Hannah Hamilton, 19, to its morning pleasures.

“It’s the perfect beach for families,” Lawrence said. “I love coming here.”

“It’s really peaceful and relaxing,” Hamilton said.

Motown beach walkers

Les West and his granddaughter, Annabelle Donovan, 9, hit the beach at sunrise. But they are from Detroit, the city that makes things that move, so they didn’t mind getting cranked up early.

“Nice and peaceful,” West said when asked to describe the early morning walk.

“It feels really nice until you get into the waves, then it gets rocky,” Annabelle said.

West and Annabelle, who are staying at the Umbrella Beach Resort, were finished with their walk by about 7:10 a.m. and strolled over to the Anna Maria Island Beach Cafe. They had 20 minutes to wait for the first pancakes to come off the griddle, but they didn’t mind the wait, they said.

“We’ll just take it easy,” West said with a relaxed smile.

This story was originally published July 2, 2017 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Summer mornings a special time at Manatee beaches."