Points of difference: Bradenton and Anna Maria Island
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Florida’s west coast offers a host of unusual and rewarding experiences. Toes-in-the-sand dining and adventures on the water: Anna Maria Island and Bradenton, halfway down the west coast of Florida, offers a compendium of indulgence in alluring natural surroundings. Yet this is a location with roots – as you discover at the area’s own 19th-century fishing village, Cortez.
![[Dusk direction: A sign on Anna Maria Island]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/14/FreeSunsets.jpg)
“There is never a dull day in this community – the fish house will keep you hopping.” So says Karen Bell of A P Bell Fish Co, the family firm that she now runs. The warm waters of the west coast of Florida have long provided a rich harvest of seafood – which tempted her ancestors from North Carolina in the late 19th century. And today, the fishing industry is thriving.
![[On the waterfront: The view from Bridge Street Pier, Anna Maria Island]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/14/newFile-3.jpg)
“When people drop by to visit, especially at the fish houses, and they see what we do, they’re always amazed because it does seem more like just a tourist destination, but there’s a lot of work going on here too. “We literally ship seafood throughout the world.”.
![[Turtle necks: Simon Calder (right) beside an Anna Maria Island mural]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/14/TurtlePlusSimonCalder.jpg)
Fortunately, some of the marine dividend stays around to supply the many local restaurants – the closest of which is just a stone crab’s throw from Karen Bell’s fish house. At the Star Fish Company Market & Restaurant, the sea-to-table options include blackened grouper served with cheese grits – preceded in my case by stone crab chowder, which is served in season only, from October to April. Demand for a table in the sun is so strong you may have to wait in line; the motto here is “no hurries, no worries”.
![[Place in the sun: Karen Bell, chief executive of A P Bell Fish Co]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/14/KarenBell.jpg)
