I stayed in Parrish,Florida for over a year in 89' while building a prison at Myakkah City. Parrish is just outside of Bradenton.The beaches are great and plenty of them down the barrier islands,good saltwater fishing off the bridge over Tampa Bay,good fishing in the Manatee River and Myakkah river near the state park,and nice bass in the lake near Parrish,I can't remember the name this minute.
Like was said previously,Busch Gardens is nice,Orlando is not that far to drive,I used to fly into Orlando and drive a rental all over Florida on vacation.Plenty of things to do in Orlando,most of the Kissimmee chain of lakes has great fishing and boating.Some great seafood can be found around the coast,if you don't mind driving you can cross country to Okeechobe or south to the Everglades.Usually it's more of a vacation if you relax and do as little as possible instead of my have to see everything,exhausted vacations.