Odinne,

The first thing I'd say is... measure your inseam again. 26" inseam really?

'cause I'm 5'1 with short legs and my legs are 2-3 inches longer than yours.

If you really do have that short of legs... I don't know if you want a road or a hybrid or a mountain bike - but you can look at the 24" bikes instead of 26" bikes. You can also look at 650c wheel bikes instead of 700c bikes... Smaller wheels'll get you a lower top tube to straddle. With 650 wheels you're starting to talk about rarer bikes that you may not find for $300 or less... 24" bikes you'll find at any of the box stores.

I know there's a nice bike path along the beaches in Santa Monica, etc. .. maybe you can go practice on that.