HOLMES BEACH – Janice Freeman had a lot of well-wishers last Friday as she sat at a table in the corner of Skinny's. She had a right to be the center of attention because it was her 94th birthday.

Her daughter, Jan, who runs the popular hamburger spot across the street from Manatee Public Beach, had Publix fix two birthday cakes for her. One looked like a hamburger and the other like a cheeseburger.

In addition to celebrating 94 years, she will have an anniversary soon to celebrate. It was almost 60 years ago when she and her husband, Carl, drove to Florida from Illinois to look at the business opportunities the Sunshine State had to offer. Those business opportunities had to be in restaurants, as both his and her parents had backgrounds in food.

They started their search on the east coast of Florida and didn't like it and then somebody gave them advice.

"Go to the other coast and check out a place called Anna Maria Island," she said. "We did and we fell in love with it immediately."

They built the little shack that still stands and added a second floor living area later. Grandma Skinny, as she is known, still goes up and down the stairs, and she still has a devilish smile when she talked about her past and her family.

At one point, they just served burgers, soda and ice cream. The only other place to get ice cream on the Island, according to her, was Webb's Drug Store, which went out of business years ago. Their refreshments increased after the Budweiser distributor visited one day and told them people would enjoy beer and wine with their food.

Also at one time, the parking lot was paved and they called the restaurant the Mid-Island Drive-In, but the sun made the blacktop too hot so they took it out and put in gravel.

They moved to Florida after opening the restaurant, but they moved back to Illinois after finding out their main source of income, a restaurant up there, needed more hands-on attention. They leased the Island facility to somebody who wanted to call it Duffy's, and it remained that until a few years ago when they decided to move back here permanently. At that point, owner Pat Geyer and her daughters found a new location and moved Duffy's and the Freemans reopened their restaurant and called it Skinny's.

Jan said she regrets not talking with Pat Geyer before she died a couple of years ago. She said she didn't know Geyer was ill.

Grandma Skinny's daughter, Jan, now runs the restaurant and the regulars poured in last week to wish the matriarch a happy birthday. She hasn't slowed down much, although she no longer drives. She had some advice for living a long life.

"Aside from an unexpected illness, the way you live determines whether you live a long life," she said. "The more you're around people, the more you tend to see that."