Silver Surf Hotel
An Island Hideaway
50 Laid back Florida Style accommodations
Private white sand beach
Heated Pool
Scooter, bicycle, wave runner& boat rentals

Complimentary beach chairs& umbrellas
Breathtaking sunsets

I made reservations for our 'day away' on-line and you just never know what to expect -- just ask my sister, Rachel, about our trip to Key West a couple years ago. How was I to know that the 3 star rating in Key West meant you were slummin' it! (I guess you would call it that since there were little ants crawling around the bedside table which seemed to be attached to our bed. And other issues -- you could barely turn around in the room let alone in the bathroom! We have laughed over that many times! We moved the next day -- paid more but had a MUCH better time!)

So ... I made reservations for Elaine and me with some trepidation. We were pleasantly surprised -- the room was clean -- no bugs -- had a refrigerator, coffee pot with coffee -- but you had to pay for ice! Yup, the ice machine was outside and due to others who might want to 'borrow' some ice, you actually had to pay a quarter for some ice. I filled our ice container which lasted into the evening. I thought I might get some more but due some interesting 'residents' in a room across from ours, I decided not to venture to the ice machine in the dark. Quite frankly, I'm not sure that the area was even lit. They did tell me at the front desk that the office closes at 6:30pm -- but handed me a note with emergency numbers. And ... there was a $35 lost key fee -- and it would be more if you got locked out late at night because someone would have to drive an hour to get there to let you back in. I asked for two keys! I figured one of us would be responsible enough to have a key on us at all times! We did -- actually, Elaine just added it to her key ring -- fortunately, I remembered to ask her for it this morning when we left -- I might have been charged the $35 and I would have paid the extra in gas to return the key!

Oh ... but, I have to share this. They had no rooms with 2 double beds so I asked for a king sized bed. Sure .. no problem. Paid for it and got confirmation number. "You have Room 204", the gal told us. So, we hauled our lugagge (okay, so it wasn't much since it was an overnight stay) up the stairs -- right! We took the elevator and as we passed the window to get to the door, I thought ... well, that's the smallest king sized bed I have ever seen. I left Elaine there and I went back to the office. That is not a king sized bed ..... Really? It says here it is a king room. Well, it's not. "Okay, so here is the keys for Room 206. I know that is a king sized room." Back I go -- so happy we finally are going to get to this room and check it out. Pass the window -- yikes, it is the same sized bed. Okay, this is a little ridiculous. Go back down to the office. That is NOT a king sized bed. She insisted it was. I insisted it wasn't. Her comment, "Well, if it isn't a king, it's the largest bed we have." Now come on ... I have a king sized bed at home and it is definitely bigger than this bed. The gal was kind but getting a little annoyed. She showed me the printout from the computer (the computer knows best, right?) which clearly indicated that 206 was a king room. I assured her it wasn't.

The gal who oversees housekeeping (probably the only one who does it around here since I didn't see many guests -- it's still off season -- that's why we are here -- rates are down) said she would check it out. Through radio static, I hear, "Room 206 is a queen but Room 205 is a king." Are you sure??? The gal at the desk said she would need to check to see if it is available. I'm pretty sure it is since there are no cars in the lot ... not even in the sheltered parking area. She said we could take our pick of parking places. She found out that 205 was available and told me to make sure I changed the info she had given me to Room 205 (after she had already told me to change it to 206.) Okay -- I hadn't changed it yet and actually never did.

It was a quiet night except for the guys who were staying across from us. It appeared that they were workers from New Jersey although they spoke Spanish. (I guess that is pretty normal though.) Elaine and I decided to make sure we kept our curtains drawn lest they think that these 'old ladies' were trying to 'reach out and touch' ... and that was surely NOT the case. Although Jim had given us instructions we were not to get too wild on our adventure. Wonder why he would say that. (We are quite the well behaved ladies for the most part -- unless our kids are around and then we turn into silly teenagers at times.) We decided not to do the scooter thing -- I'm afraid that everyone on the road would have run for cover when we came through!

Having said all that, we actually had a great time. We took in local fare when it came to meals -- we found a quaint little Italian restaurant on Anna Maria Island -- DiGiorgio's. What a delightful place -- one server but she handled it all very well. Both Elaine and I had "Agnolotti Di Magro" which is homemade agnolotti stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese served in an Alfredo sauce. It was awesome to say the least. And the lunch of clam chowder from Shells was some of the best clam chowder I have ever tasted. This morning, we finished with breakfast on the beach at a small cafe just south of our hotel. We could quickly tell that it was a favorite of locals as the gal serving us could call people arriving by name!

So, all in all, it was a great time. Would I go back to this place? I'm not sure -- it was a nice place to go to just unwind .. did we venture to the beach? Why? I was too tired and the beach is just 2 miles from my house -- it's not going anywhere so I can visit it any time I want to. And maybe the fact that it was sort of a cloudy, gloomy day squashed our desire to do the beach thing.

Enough for my day away ... thanks, Elaine, for taking time out of your busy schedule for a friend ... it was a very relaxing time!