Discover the charms of 'old' and 'new' Florida

"No way! I hate Florida!" my lady friend exclaimed after I had the temerity to suggest Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island for a relaxing winter getaway.

No surprise there.

For all too many of us, Florida memories are rife with crowded beaches, even more crowded (and far too perky) theme parks, overdeveloped cities and suburbs, horrific traffic and entirely too much pastel.

"Well, you'll just have to trust me on this one," I finally told my mate. "This place is different."

That was six years ago. We've been back four times and can't wait to go again.

The sublime beaches, ocean sunsets, lush vegetation, grouper sandwiches and cracked stone crab are alluring, to be sure. But a bigger part of the appeal is that this narrow strip of land offers up the best of "both" Floridas.

Longboat Key is the "new" Florida, with chi-chi shops, ritzy hotels and condos and upscale restaurants. If Boca Raton or a luxury liner is your cup of tropical Joe, this place is for you.

Anna Maria Island, next door, is the "old" Florida -- its restaurants, stores and lodgings more rustic and laid-back than on its tony neighbor to the south.

We like 'em both. But we love the fact that at either end of this 20-mile sliver, the "other" Florida is within easy driving or biking distance, with the cities of Bradenton and Sarasota also close by and Tampa-St. Petersburg only an hour's drive away.

That kind of easy access makes Longboat Key/Anna Maria Island a fabulous destination for baseball's spring training. The Pittsburgh Pirates play their Grapefruit League games at a wonderfully refurbished old-style ballpark in Bradenton, the Cincinnati Reds at a sterile newer facility in Sarasota and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at St. Pete's venerable Al Lang Stadium.

It's possible to catch the Minnesota Twins at least once a week at one of those parks, or you can make the 1 1/2-hour trek down to Fort Myers.

The games start around March 1. Tickets cost half as much and are easy to get unless the Yankees or Red Sox are in town.

Parking and concession lines are more manageable (although there are occasional "senior moments" among the employees). The players are much more available for autographs; last year I saw Alex Rodriguez signing for kids for nigh onto an hour, silencing the rubes who had been jeering him for his stratospheric salary.

And, of course, that giant orb in the sky is almost always glistening down on the proceedings.

Oh, and it's almost more fun to head to the teams' nearby training facilities and watch the players work out, beginning in mid- February, or to catch the minor leaguers doing drills and playing games throughout March.

That's how I first stumbled across the islands, as a home base for a baseball fanatic every March.

But over the years, I worked in more and more days at the beach. Now the sun and sand and lazy-hazy-crazy atmosphere at the north end of Longboat and all over Anna Maria Island beckon us throughout our winters.

No matter the time of year, the pace is the same: languid. As a friend once noted, "It just feels so remote, you almost have no other way to go but laid-back."

Even as it laps gently at the shore, the Gulf of Mexico seems boundless. Everyone moves slowly. Maybe one person in 100 is jogging rather than strolling along the sand or sidewalks. The 25-mile-per- hour speed-limit signs in Anna Maria are almost unnecessary.

This is a place for watching and feeding birds, for strolling and biking, for reading and lollygagging at the beach.

It's not a place for to-do lists.

Rather, it's a place to rent a car (convertibles strongly recommended) or a bike and just go where the wheels, or your feet, take you. Stop in at places that look appealing. Or don't.

If you feel moderately active, go fishing off Longboat Pass, the bridge that connects the two islands. On a typically sunny day, it offers a view that will make you beam. If you feel more active, rent a boat or go parasailing or jet-skiing or windsurfing.

By all means, leave your watch at home. When the sun starts getting low in the sky, head west; you're never far from a beach.

But you don't need all this advice from me. Once you get to this glorious isle, where relaxation is truly contagious, you'll know what to do.

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