Beach with "beach town" type atmosphere in driving distance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Simons Island Georgia.

PP - Thanks for your recommendation! Anything you call tell me about St. Simons?

Not the PP, but we go each Spring Break and love it. Great restaurants, cute downtown, nice, wide beach, flat for bike riding. We've never been in the summer, so I am not sure crowded or hot it gets, but we love it in March/April. King and Prince is the resort, but there are lots of house rentals, too

[Anonymous]

Block island. Take the ferry from Montauk NY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Block island. Take the ferry from Montauk NY.

Why would you drive to Montauk in driveway he summer to get to Block

Just Drive to New London and take from there.

[Anonymous]

Cape May

[Anonymous]

People, op said her budget is $2500 - that leaves off places like Chatham, Block Island and Martha's Vineyard! Probably Avalon and Stone Harbor, too. Op, I think your instinct to travel south is right - I'm sorry I don't have specific suggestions but I hear the beach towns near Charleston are lovely (Kiawah Island excluded, which is really lovely but expensive).

[Anonymous]

I second Cape May. Quaint little town, lots of restaurants/shops without the noisy boardwalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People, op said her budget is $2500 - that leaves off places like Chatham, Block Island and Martha's Vineyard! Probably Avalon and Stone Harbor, too. Op, I think your instinct to travel south is right - I'm sorry I don't have specific suggestions but I hear the beach towns near Charleston are lovely (Kiawah Island excluded, which is really lovely but expensive).

You can do a rental for $2500/week or less in Chatham (I'm assuming she meant $2500 for lodging, not the whole vacation). South Chatham has tons of rental houses, and there are some small cottages/Capes at that price in other neighborhoods too. It won't be beachfront but very little in Chatham is beachfront.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I second Cape May. Quaint little town, lots of restaurants/shops without the noisy boardwalk.

To me, it wouldn't really seem like a beach town experience without a boardwalk. My family loves to ride bikes on the boardwalk in the morning, spend the late morning and/or afternoon at the beach, and then take an evening stroll along the boardwalk.

We particularly like Ocean City, New Jersey because it is so family friendly, due to the lack of alcohol sales and you can walk to the beach and the boardwalk from most places on the island. We have parked our car and not needed to use it for over a week at a time when we have stayed there.

Cape May is nice and the Victorian architecture is certainly beautiful and well worth seeing, but it would be a bit boring for families with kids. A family would have more to do in a beach town with an old fashioned boardwalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second Cape May. Quaint little town, lots of restaurants/shops without the noisy boardwalk.

To me, it wouldn't really seem like a beach town experience without a boardwalk. My family loves to ride bikes on the boardwalk in the morning, spend the late morning and/or afternoon at the beach, and then take an evening stroll along the boardwalk.

We particularly like Ocean City, New Jersey because it is so family friendly, due to the lack of alcohol sales and you can walk to the beach and the boardwalk from most places on the island. We have parked our car and not needed to use it for over a week at a time when we have stayed there.

Cape May is nice and the Victorian architecture is certainly beautiful and well worth seeing, but it would be a bit boring for families with kids. A family would have more to do in a beach town with an old fashioned boardwalk.

I disagree with this. We have been to Cape May several times, the last being a week with two other families with kids. Had a blast. No boardwalk needed, as they have a little very walkable town where you get everything you would get on a boardwalk.

[Anonymous]

Amelia island/Fernandina Beach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second Cape May. Quaint little town, lots of restaurants/shops without the noisy boardwalk.

To me, it wouldn't really seem like a beach town experience without a boardwalk. My family loves to ride bikes on the boardwalk in the morning, spend the late morning and/or afternoon at the beach, and then take an evening stroll along the boardwalk.

We particularly like Ocean City, New Jersey because it is so family friendly, due to the lack of alcohol sales and you can walk to the beach and the boardwalk from most places on the island. We have parked our car and not needed to use it for over a week at a time when we have stayed there.

Cape May is nice and the Victorian architecture is certainly beautiful and well worth seeing, but it would be a bit boring for families with kids. A family would have more to do in a beach town with an old fashioned boardwalk.

I disagree with this. We have been to Cape May several times, the last being a week with two other families with kids. Had a blast. No boardwalk needed, as they have a little very walkable town where you get everything you would get on a boardwalk.

Different people like different things. I have also been to Cape May several times over a 30+ year period, and while I think it is lovely, I find a lot more for a family with kids to enjoy in OC. Cape May might be fun when my spouse and I are retired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People, op said her budget is $2500 - that leaves off places like Chatham, Block Island and Martha's Vineyard! Probably Avalon and Stone Harbor, too. Op, I think your instinct to travel south is right - I'm sorry I don't have specific suggestions but I hear the beach towns near Charleston are lovely (Kiawah Island excluded, which is really lovely but expensive).

You can do a rental for $2500/week or less in Chatham (I'm assuming she meant $2500 for lodging, not the whole vacation). South Chatham has tons of rental houses, and there are some small cottages/Capes at that price in other neighborhoods too. It won't be beachfront but very little in Chatham is beachfront.

Yes! Op here. The $2,500 budget is for lodging. I'm enjoying everyone's suggestions. Please keep them coming!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second Cape May. Quaint little town, lots of restaurants/shops without the noisy boardwalk.

To me, it wouldn't really seem like a beach town experience without a boardwalk. My family loves to ride bikes on the boardwalk in the morning, spend the late morning and/or afternoon at the beach, and then take an evening stroll along the boardwalk.

We particularly like Ocean City, New Jersey because it is so family friendly, due to the lack of alcohol sales and you can walk to the beach and the boardwalk from most places on the island. We have parked our car and not needed to use it for over a week at a time when we have stayed there.

Cape May is nice and the Victorian architecture is certainly beautiful and well worth seeing, but it would be a bit boring for families with kids. A family would have more to do in a beach town with an old fashioned boardwalk.

I disagree with this. We have been to Cape May several times, the last being a week with two other families with kids. Had a blast. No boardwalk needed, as they have a little very walkable town where you get everything you would get on a boardwalk.

New poster here. I think that Avalon/Stone Harbor is the compromise between OCNJ and Cape May. We stayed in Avalon but spent one day at Wildwood. It was only a 15 minute drive.

Different people like different things. I have also been to Cape May several times over a 30+ year period, and while I think it is lovely, I find a lot more for a family with kids to enjoy in OC. Cape May might be fun when my spouse and I are retired.

[Anonymous]

Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Cute, boardwalk area, a few shops right there but also other shopping nearby and other side trips.

[Anonymous]

Topsail Beach in NC, close to Wilmington. Cute small beach community.