where do people rent for the (whole) summer in driving or train distance from DC?
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Anonymous
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I have been pining for a summer on Cape Cod with DC, but it's just too far away (and it's not clear we could afford it anyway). Does anyone down here rent on the beach for the entire summer, or do people either own or take shorter vacations? Are there places where you could conceivably spend the whole summer without going out of your mind with boredom, i.e. there's enough within an hour or two to keep you occupied between beaches, small towns, wildlife refuges, bookstores, et cetera.
I'm particularly curious about what our options would be that would allow DH to join us on the weekends either by car or train (so about 3 hours away, realistically). Of course I'd love the ocean, but would like to hear about any other inland destinations, too. And, if you have a sense of the monthly rental price for the places you suggest, please include that. Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
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We summer in Middletown, RI (next to Newport)...DH travels in on Thursday and out Sunday night or Monday morning...with SWA from BWI it takes about 3 hours home to office for him in downtown DC, and Southwest has flights virtually every hour.
Lots of people rent on the Jersey Shore for the summer, that's about 3 hours driving...Depp Creek Lake, Lake Anna, West Virginia mountains. I know one person whose family has a cabin somewhere in central PA. |
Anonymous
| Eastern Shore |
Anonymous
| I wouldn't rule out the Cape. Rentals there tend to be cheaper than beaches near here. We go back and forth in the summer and it's not too bad. There is a bus from Logan to Hyannis for $25 that runs every hour so would work for weekend travel. |
Anonymous
| Bethany Beach? You've got Bethany, Rehoboth, (Dewey) and Ocean City nearby for more entertainment. Or maybe Rehoboth. |
Anonymous
Any specific recommendations for locations with summer-long rentals? I can only find listings for up to three weeks, so I'm probably not looking in the right place. I like the refuge down at Chincoteague but I'm not sure I could see staying there the whole summer (although of course you can drive all over Delmarva once you're there). |
Anonymous
| There's really not that kind of scene here - I guess eastern shore comes closest in that it is an easy drive, on the water, cute towns and outdoorsy activities. One could easily drive back and forth. We know folks who own places there and wife/kids spend the summer there (engaged in sailing camps, etc) while DH comes for long weekends, but I don't know of anyone who rents a place there for a month or so. I think NJ shore would be closest place to what you describe, but it would be 3 plus hours each way for your DH to drive there. |
Anonymous
I agree. Kind of like using summer as a verb. Not really done anymore. |
Anonymous
| OP, are you seriously looking for a summer-long rental for this coming summer, now? Will never happen. We did a summer in Manasquan, NJ but I think we reserved it the November before. |
Anonymous
No, it just occurred to me when I was missing the Cape that I had no idea if people do go anywhere around here for the whole summer. The people we know who go to the beach for the whole summer all own and live in New England (so they can work during the week in Providence, Boston, or NYC if they need/want to). I didn't grow up doing that so I have no idea whether I'd actually enjoy it but I've always fantasized about it. Having the family apart during the week seems like the worst aspect if it's otherwise affordable (although that might be the attraction for some people!). |
Anonymous
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My family used to do it, though not in recent years. I know one person who still does. It is hell for her. Beautiful setting, nice house, but she is lonely and isolated with only the kids and dogs for company week after week (dh comes every couple of weeks for a wknd). They do it because she and her dh think it is ideal for the children. I think you need at least one other mom/friend to make it work and you can't count on finding that everywhere.
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Anonymous
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You guys all know that the DHs left behind in the 95 degree heat of the city are banging the junior staffers, right?
And I say this as a wife of one such biglaw DH. My private shame. Anyway, it's weird to separate the children from their father all summer long, don't you think? Haven't we ... evolved from 1952? |
Anonymous
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I have heard many stories of people doing this in the midwest lake country back in the early to mid 19th century. The father would drive up on the weekends. It sure sounds heavenly to me. Get to really live for a few months out of the year. I've also heard of people doing this in the Adirondacks.
But it was a simpler time when only the father worked, rentals were affordable, and kids weren't involved in so many activities and weren't so connected that they couldn't be away from their friends and their electronics for an entire time. I think to do the same today, you'd want to be near a small town with a library and some cultural events going on. The outdoors simple life is great, but I wouldn't want to raise my kids today without also having them exposed to culture. |
Anonymous
Yes, separating DH and DC is the sticking point. Thus the search for something that would mean only weekday nights apart. I'm 99% sure that DH would only be staying up way too late drinking Mt. Dew, eating frozen pizzas, and playing video games if we weren't here, but of course you can never be completely certain about anything. |
Anonymous
And, I'm sorry that happened to you. It sucks. |