Good beaches near Maryland to buy a vacation home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

If you’re going to drive that far you might as well just get a place in the Hamptons. Hamptons beaches are nicer than the Outer Banks and you can do day trips to NYC on the LIRR.

NYC-DC can easily be 4 hours alone in the summer on I-95. NYC-Hamptons can be another 3-4 hours with traffic via the LIE. And Hamptons homes are easily 2-4x the cost of Duck.

What a dumb idea.

You can get to the Hamptons in 5 1/2 hours from McLean and Bethesda. I do it all the time.

It’s also on a commuter rail to connects you to NYC, not a hour and a half drive through a gauntlet of redneck bric a brac from Virginia Beach.

The beaches are also much, much nicer and the town’s are much, much nicer. Treat yourself.

[Anonymous]

Following this thread. We have a family beach house on the Cape that will probably be sold in the next few years; live in MoCo but have literally never been to local beaches. We want to find a new summer place in the next few years and don't know where to begin. The Cape has amazing lakes and ponds, not sure if there is anywhere closer that can provide that same charm...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

If you’re going to drive that far you might as well just get a place in the Hamptons. Hamptons beaches are nicer than the Outer Banks and you can do day trips to NYC on the LIRR.

NYC-DC can easily be 4 hours alone in the summer on I-95. NYC-Hamptons can be another 3-4 hours with traffic via the LIE. And Hamptons homes are easily 2-4x the cost of Duck.

What a dumb idea.

I used to take train to DC every Friday. I ran into a richer older couple once or twice. They lived in DC near Union Station. She take Amtrak to BWI, then there is a plane to Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) where she kept her car all summer then drive the last 40 miles to her house in Southampton.

There is also a Bulltet train to the Hamptons. The Long Island Railroad runs a Bullet train as runs straight to hamptons and has reserved seating in summers. If loaded that Acela to Penn Station NYC and switch to LIRR Bullet train. A lot of Hamptons NYers, buy houses walking distance a LIRR Train Station so they leave their car out there or summer.

I am not loaded by my friends and I rented one summer in Hampton Bays two blocks from Train station and was super easy. A few years later we rented out in South Hampton walking distance a Hamton Jittney spot. Half the house had no cars and no need once there as we has more than enought cars. I had a old Jeep converible I left out there all summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

If you’re going to drive that far you might as well just get a place in the Hamptons. Hamptons beaches are nicer than the Outer Banks and you can do day trips to NYC on the LIRR.

NYC-DC can easily be 4 hours alone in the summer on I-95. NYC-Hamptons can be another 3-4 hours with traffic via the LIE. And Hamptons homes are easily 2-4x the cost of Duck.

What a dumb idea.

I used to take train to DC every Friday. I ran into a richer older couple once or twice. They lived in DC near Union Station. She take Amtrak to BWI, then there is a plane to Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) where she kept her car all summer then drive the last 40 miles to her house in Southampton.

There is also a Bulltet train to the Hamptons. The Long Island Railroad runs a Bullet train as runs straight to hamptons and has reserved seating in summers. If loaded that Acela to Penn Station NYC and switch to LIRR Bullet train. A lot of Hamptons NYers, buy houses walking distance a LIRR Train Station so they leave their car out there or summer.

I am not loaded by my friends and I rented one summer in Hampton Bays two blocks from Train station and was super easy. A few years later we rented out in South Hampton walking distance a Hamton Jittney spot. Half the house had no cars and no need once there as we has more than enought cars. I had a old Jeep converible I left out there all summer

Wait what?

There are no bullet trains on the LIRR - seriously no idea what you are even trying to refer to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

If you’re going to drive that far you might as well just get a place in the Hamptons. Hamptons beaches are nicer than the Outer Banks and you can do day trips to NYC on the LIRR.

NYC-DC can easily be 4 hours alone in the summer on I-95. NYC-Hamptons can be another 3-4 hours with traffic via the LIE. And Hamptons homes are easily 2-4x the cost of Duck.

What a dumb idea.

I used to take train to DC every Friday. I ran into a richer older couple once or twice. They lived in DC near Union Station. She take Amtrak to BWI, then there is a plane to Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) where she kept her car all summer then drive the last 40 miles to her house in Southampton.

There is also a Bulltet train to the Hamptons. The Long Island Railroad runs a Bullet train as runs straight to hamptons and has reserved seating in summers. If loaded that Acela to Penn Station NYC and switch to LIRR Bullet train. A lot of Hamptons NYers, buy houses walking distance a LIRR Train Station so they leave their car out there or summer.

I am not loaded by my friends and I rented one summer in Hampton Bays two blocks from Train station and was super easy. A few years later we rented out in South Hampton walking distance a Hamton Jittney spot. Half the house had no cars and no need once there as we has more than enought cars. I had a old Jeep converible I left out there all summer

Wait what?

There are no bullet trains on the LIRR - seriously no idea what you are even trying to refer to?

They run express trains to the Hamptons only in summer, for the weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

Agree. It's just too far. We had a house in Solomon's and I cannot imagine trying to manage a house from that far away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

They make sense for the uber wealthy families that can fly private there and back to avoid the drive. We know a number who do it so they can summer on the Hamptons, Vineyard, or Nantucket. But that’s not a normal thing for the average UMC / working rich DC family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP did you look at the north end of Ocean City? It’s a lot quieter than midtown or down by the boardwalk. There are some quiet neighborhoods on the bay that are still walking distance to the beach. We can’t hear the highway at all from our place. We drive north to DE to eat and shop a lot more often than we drive south. But occasionally we go down by the inlet where there are a couple of good restaurants.

I wouldn’t call Bethany quiet and not crowded, at least not on summer weekends. The downtown area is packed. But it is family friendly. There are a million teens everywhere because parents feel it is safe for them to walk around, which is nice for them.

This right here, northern OC is different and much quieter, we have a place there too, bayside, and drive into Delaware often.

What’s your budget?
I’d consider northern OC , Fenwick or Bethany

Good luck on your search!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

Duck and Corolla are filled with DC area families (which is somewhat of a drawback ☺️). It is 3 hrs to Rehoboth, 4.5 hrs to Duck (both drives can be much worse on a Saturday in summer - we always try to come and go on Fri or even better a Thurs night). You can hire a property manager if you won’t get to your house for awhile or need it checked on after a storm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deep Creek Lake has beaches

And its full of poo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

I agree if you don’t love driving or can afford to fly every weekend.

We have a place near St Michaels. We generally swim in our pool rather than the Bay, but it is beautiful, peaceful, and has good cycling and kayaking. Best of all it is only 90 minutes from town if you have some flexibility and avoid high traffic times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

Duck and Corolla are filled with DC area families (which is somewhat of a drawback ☺️). It is 3 hrs to Rehoboth, 4.5 hrs to Duck (both drives can be much worse on a Saturday in summer - we always try to come and go on Fri or even better a Thurs night). You can hire a property manager if you won’t get to your house for awhile or need it checked on after a storm.

You're comparing DC>Rehoboth with some traffic to DC>Duck with no traffic.

DC to Rehoboth is usually around 2.5 hours without major traffic. I've made the drive several times very early in the morning with no traffic in 2 hours and 5-10 minutes. DC to Duck is 4.5 hours also during very off hours with zero traffic. It would take much longer heading there on a Friday afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

Duck and Corolla are filled with DC area families (which is somewhat of a drawback ☺️). It is 3 hrs to Rehoboth, 4.5 hrs to Duck (both drives can be much worse on a Saturday in summer - we always try to come and go on Fri or even better a Thurs night). You can hire a property manager if you won’t get to your house for awhile or need it checked on after a storm.

You're comparing DC>Rehoboth with some traffic to DC>Duck with no traffic.

DC to Rehoboth is usually around 2.5 hours without major traffic. I've made the drive several times very early in the morning with no traffic in 2 hours and 5-10 minutes. DC to Duck is 4.5 hours also during very off hours with zero traffic. It would take much longer heading there on a Friday afternoon.

That’s fine, I haven’t done the Rehoboth drive as often. And it’s also fine if OP doesn’t want to look in the OBX, of course My response was meant to the comments saying that the OBX is too far for a second home for people in the DC region, which I don’t agree with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered Duck, NC? It is 4.5 hr drive if you time it right, which if you owned a place (so aren’t subject to the Sat-Sat rental hours), you could do. I think the beaches are so much nicer and quieter there than DE. Also, town of Duck is small but cute. Before the haters come in, it is definitely a quieter scene than DE, no boardwalk, mini golf, less restaurants. But the beaches are quiet and nice, the area is great for biking, the sound is fun for paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., and there are a handful decent to good restaurants, plenty of options for ice cream, coffee, etc.

Neither Duck nor the Hamptons makes sense for a DC-based family. They're both too far.

Duck and Corolla are filled with DC area families (which is somewhat of a drawback ☺️). It is 3 hrs to Rehoboth, 4.5 hrs to Duck (both drives can be much worse on a Saturday in summer - we always try to come and go on Fri or even better a Thurs night). You can hire a property manager if you won’t get to your house for awhile or need it checked on after a storm.

You're comparing DC>Rehoboth with some traffic to DC>Duck with no traffic.

DC to Rehoboth is usually around 2.5 hours without major traffic. I've made the drive several times very early in the morning with no traffic in 2 hours and 5-10 minutes. DC to Duck is 4.5 hours also during very off hours with zero traffic. It would take much longer heading there on a Friday afternoon.

That’s fine, I haven’t done the Rehoboth drive as often. And it’s also fine if OP doesn’t want to look in the OBX, of course My response was meant to the comments saying that the OBX is too far for a second home for people in the DC region, which I don’t agree with.

It is too far because lots of people with houses at DE beaches like us use it as a weekend getaway which is great. It takes us 2 and 1/2 hours door to door to get to Bethany.

We travel to Caribbean in winter. That’s when it’s best for beaches. International in spring/summer.
There is nothing need to deal with any summer traffic to DE beaches. And if we decide to go down in summer, don’t go on Friday or Saturdays

What people are here don’t get is that the wealthier crowd don’t use their DE house as a beach house. The draw is it is close for a weekend house especially in spring and fall which is the best time at DE beaches.

No one is doing a weekend getaway to OBX. Plus there is nothing to do down there. Lastly, the 95 corridor in the summer is terrible because thousands of people are going south on vacation, much more than DE beaches.