Anna Maria Island Things to Do: A Totally Green Experience
When you’re enjoying your Anna Maria Island family vacation, don’t forget to take time away from the beaches to discover all the restaurants and shopping at the popular attraction of Historic Green Village! This is a truly unique experience that you will tell all your friends about. Historic Green Village is a special place with a great story behind it. So pack up the beach gear, grab the kids and go walk this famous retail development that includes shops, eateries and historic buildings that you can spend the entire day at!
The village is designed to use little electricity and to impact the environment in the least possible way. Even water usage is taken into account, making Historic Green Village a truly environmentally-conscious project that any like-minded people will love to visit and support.
A Quick History of Historic Green Village
What makes this village so unique?
Well, for starters, it’s only one of 100 such developments in the world! It is a Platinum LEED, Net Zero Energy development that combines history with technology. It draws power from solar panels, recycles thousands of gallons of rainwater, saves energy through super-insulated buildings and keeps buildings cool by dumping heat into groundwater. This all means that the Village draws only on Florida’s resources to power itself–sun, rain and groundwater. How’s that for green?
The site also preserves history with four buildings over 100 years old — buildings that housed important people in the island’s history: The Sears Cottage, The Pillsbury Home, The Rosedale Cottage and Thelma by the Sea.
The Historic Green Village was established by a couple who vacationed on the island, fell in love with it as so many do, and sold their business to build their lives on Anna Maria Island. It is their major contribution and continues to attract many visitors to the island each year, boosting the local tourism industry.
A Day at Historic Green Village
Enter the Village from Pine Avenue (after enjoying free parking if you’re driven to the area) and you’ll immediately see one of the historic buildings on the site that are over 100 years old: Sears Cottage.
Stroll through the quaint village and you’ll find an art gallery, gift shops, a general store, an outfitters store selling outdoor equipment and a grocery store.
Hungry? There’s a deli, cafe and the delicious Hometown Desserts, filled with homemade desserts and specialty cakes (a whopping 81% of reviews on TripAdvisor rate this shop as Excellent!).
You’ll also find Beach Bums, a leading rental store on the island that rents bikes, kayaks, paddleboards, golf carts, sail boats, beach supplies and more.
So, walk, eat, shop and maybe rent a couple of bikes so the family can enjoy a quick trip around the Village. A day at the Historic Green Village is one that will be filled with fun activities that can be a highlight of family vacations to Anna Maria Island!
Is it any small wonder that 29 of 31 TripAdvisor reviews of Historic Green Village rate it Excellent or Very Good? As many former visitors will recommend, put Historic Green Village at the top of your list of Anna Maria Island things to do!
