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We're looking for a laid-back area on the Gulf Coast of Florida with a good beach and some family-type stuff to do. We'd like to be somewhere between Tampa and Sarasota where it's not too built up, casual atmosphere and dining, biking, mini golf, and a bar or two on the beach!
Does anyone have any thoughts on:
Indian Rocks beach area
Siesta Key
Anna Maria Island
Gasparilla Island
Dunedin/Caladesi Beach
We've never been to this side of the state and are at a complete loss about it, but it was snowing again yesterday and I'm ready to start shooting holes in my freezer!

We love St Pete Beach, and have stayed at the Tradewinds many times and we love it. We signed up for their program, and as a frequent guest get better rates, and emails on deals. Recently they sent us an email saying they have reduced rates, so depending on when you're going, you might get a great deal. Of the two resorts that Tradewinds has, we prefer the Sandpiper, as it's right next to a couple of beachbars that have live music.
http://www.tradewindsresort.com/

As great as St Pete is, if you're looking for a sleepy little town, try Gulfport, a few miles away (10 minute drive) from St Pete Beach. Gulfport has great restaurants and bars, and a few bed & breakfasts. We have family that lives there and eventually look forward to moving there. Back Fin Blue http://www.backfinbluecafe.com/and Habana Cafe http://www.habanacafe-usa.com/are both excellent restaurants, and as for bars, our favorite is O'Maddy's http://www.omaddys.com/, a real fun place to waste away and have a few boatdrinks. A bonus is a BNer actually works there (Kimmyphin). On our last trip, I was in the area 10 days and spent at least an hour there on 8 of them...absolutely love that place!
Another great place in Gulfport is Peg's Cantina http://www.pegscantina.com/, a Mexican restaurant/brewpub. Great food, and even better beer!
The great thing about Gulfport is it's quiet, has a public beach, you can walk (stagger) to everything, they have a great Farmers market on Tuesdays, you can rent bikes or kayaks and take kayak tours, and you're close to Tampa, St Pete, St Pete Beach, and even the Navigator Grill is only 45 minutes south. Here's the town's website http://gulfportflorida.us/ We think Gulfport is one of the best kept secrets in Florida, and it's why we can't wait til we become one of the locals.
Good Luckand have phun, where ever you decide to go!!!

AMI, for sure. Laid back, great beach, no high-rises, non-commercial.

We have a timeshare in Longboat Key. We love the whole area really. LK is central, quiet, laid back and a bike path all the way to Anna Marie Island. Our place has bikes there for use. Really fun. This area might just be what you are looking for.
We love AMI. There are some great places to eat on the water. Beach House and Rod and Reel come to mind right away as there are others. Can't remember the name of the beach but they serve all you can eat pancakes and sausage in the morning right on the beach. Every evening they serve something different. Very casual.

What we like about the area is there is something for everyone. Sarasota has St Armands Circle, with great food and local artists shops and great shopping in general.
A fun day trip is Venice and look for shark teeth. We found some small ones. Kids had fun sifting the sand for them. Oh wait, we all did.

Here's a link for the beaches of the area. We are looking to rent our week in June 2011. After all this reflecting on past vacations maybe I need to go.
Let me know if you need more info.

http://www.findsarasota.com/BeachInfoPa ... a%20Island

My vote is Boca Grande all the way. This is the town on Gasparilla island. Hoot was filmed on the island and many of Buffett's fishing buddy's are locals of the island.

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. It looks like the winner is Anna Maria Island - with possible day trips to Venice and the Clearwater Beach area. Everyone made their areas sound so good that it was hard to choose! We're definately hoping to hit O'Maddy's, C-Dawg and if we do I'll say "Hi" to Kimmyphin.
Cdudley: our main worry with Gasparilla is that we saw several sites that kept referring to "old money", "millionaires", etc. While we love Jimmy, we're definately not in the same financial league that he is!
We're going to rent a funky lime green house named "Parrot Eyes" that any self-respecting parrothead would feel at home in! We can't wait - it makes living through this snow so much easier when I know I'll be in Door County, WI in about 2 1/2 weeks, AMI the first week of May and AT THE JB CONCERT AT ALPINE VALLEY ON JUNE 26TH! Whooo Hooo - it's going to be a great spring and early summer!!! Thanks again for your help everyone.

Looks nice!!.
I'll be 2 blocks from there in two weeks!!!
I'll check out the pool temperature for you.

Thanks Max! Hey, have a great time - I can't wait to be there!

Have a great time. Update us on restaurants, etc. I think we might just go next year. We haven't been there for a while.

FinnsU.P. wrote:Thanks so much everyone for your replies. It looks like the winner is Anna Maria Island - with possible day trips to Venice and the Clearwater Beach area. Everyone made their areas sound so good that it was hard to choose! We're definately hoping to hit O'Maddy's, C-Dawg and if we do I'll say "Hi" to Kimmyphin.
Cdudley: our main worry with Gasparilla is that we saw several sites that kept referring to "old money", "millionaires", etc. While we love Jimmy, we're definately not in the same financial league that he is!
We're going to rent a funky lime green house named "Parrot Eyes" that any self-respecting parrothead would feel at home in! We can't wait - it makes living through this snow so much easier when I know I'll be in Door County, WI in about 2 1/2 weeks, AMI the first week of May and AT THE JB CONCERT AT ALPINE VALLEY ON JUNE 26TH! Whooo Hooo - it's going to be a great spring and early summer!!! Thanks again for your help everyone.

Enjoy your trip!!!!

Thanks, C-Dawg. You all are great! Speaking of retiring on the west coast - my husband and I were just talking about how it's a good time to buy in Florida and whether it'd be worth buying something to rent out for the next 15 years if we fall in love with AMI. If the economy rebounds well, it could be a good investment even if we decide not to live down there someday.

FinnsU.P. wrote:Thanks, C-Dawg. You all are great! Speaking of retiring on the west coast - my husband and I were just talking about how it's a good time to buy in Florida and whether it'd be worth buying something to rent out for the next 15 years if we fall in love with AMI. If the economy rebounds well, it could be a good investment even if we decide not to live down there someday.

We just came back from a way too short visit.......LOVED IT.......ALL of it! Can't wait to go back. I would love to find a place to rent out for the next 5-10 years or maybe if hubby could get a transfer.......

We loved Siesta Key and Venice and Sarasota......AMI and Boca Grande need to explored next....

Carolinadreamin' wrote:

FinnsU.P. wrote:Thanks, C-Dawg. You all are great! Speaking of retiring on the west coast - my husband and I were just talking about how it's a good time to buy in Florida and whether it'd be worth buying something to rent out for the next 15 years if we fall in love with AMI. If the economy rebounds well, it could be a good investment even if we decide not to live down there someday.

We just came back from a way too short visit.......LOVED IT.......ALL of it! Can't wait to go back. I would love to find a place to rent out for the next 5-10 years or maybe if hubby could get a transfer.......

We loved Siesta Key and Venice and Sarasota......AMI and Boca Grande need to explored next....

Next time you are on Venice Beach, walk south down the beach about 5 miles, you'll be on Manasota Beach, right by my house, its a "real" laid back, natural beach, no truck in raked sand, just don't tell too many

Ambition At Bay wrote:

Carolinadreamin' wrote:

FinnsU.P. wrote:Thanks, C-Dawg. You all are great! Speaking of retiring on the west coast - my husband and I were just talking about how it's a good time to buy in Florida and whether it'd be worth buying something to rent out for the next 15 years if we fall in love with AMI. If the economy rebounds well, it could be a good investment even if we decide not to live down there someday.

We just came back from a way too short visit.......LOVED IT.......ALL of it! Can't wait to go back. I would love to find a place to rent out for the next 5-10 years or maybe if hubby could get a transfer.......

We loved Siesta Key and Venice and Sarasota......AMI and Boca Grande need to explored next....

Next time you are on Venice Beach, walk south down the beach about 5 miles, you'll be on Manasota Beach, right by my house, its a "real" laid back, natural beach, no truck in raked sand, just don't tell too many

Ha - love it Ambition! Sounds worth the walk. Will I find a margarita at the end?!! I'll keep quiet about your place - I know how you feel. It's a real bear where I live during the late fall through April but our summers are the best. Usually 75 - 85, beautiful clean sand beach on clear (but very cold) Lake Superior. Best part is - no crowds!!!

Sorry I just saw this - I live in Sarasota (and happen to be a Realtor LOL). You chose a great spot in Anna Maria - it's beautiful. Be sure to go to the Beach House for your sunsets - right on the beach, boat drinks served to you and live entertainment. Also, go to the end of the pier for sunsets - there is usually an artist there playing and you can watch the sunset over the Sunshine Skyway bridge

One Saturday you might want to head south about an hour to the Nav-A-Gator - ALWAYS good trop rock music played there as well. Just check their schedule

Thanks for the suggestions! Do you happen to know anything about the vacation rentals in that area? I can't remember the name of the company we're going thru, but the name of the house is Parrot Eyes on Bradeton Beach. I'm getting very worried that it won't be clean or be bug infested or something. We're having a lot of trouble getting this trip to come together and that would just be the end all. Keeping my fingers crossed.................!

I don't know the house but that area is mainly vacation rentals - but I'm sure it will be just fine. If not, you have the property managers number and worst case scenario you just call them

FinnsU.P. wrote:Thanks for the suggestions! Do you happen to know anything about the vacation rentals in that area? I can't remember the name of the company we're going thru, but the name of the house is Parrot Eyes on Bradeton Beach. I'm getting very worried that it won't be clean or be bug infested or something. We're having a lot of trouble getting this trip to come together and that would just be the end all. Keeping my fingers crossed.................!