Fenwick

Kiawah.

Sea Island.

I'd go out to Weirs Beach, New Hampshire. Maybe farther than you want to go, but it's very beautiful and calm in the off season.

Nagshead. Stayed in a hotel there once, oceanfront, nice room. Rates should be reasonable as Sept is out of season. Enough stuff open for eating and whatever else. not sure where to recommend eating as it has been a while.

Southport, NC is nice too. Quiet, quaint. Small town. Lots open still. couple seafood restaurants along the waterfront in Southport. Fishy Fishy Cafe or Provisions.

Thanks! I have never been to any of those, but Chincoteague is definitely on my list of places to go some day, so will check them all out.

Rehoboth and Lewes would both be fine. Quite a bit is open, but it's fairly quiet in the offseason. Maybe Boardwalk Plaza?

You want to make sure enough things are open in the off season. I like Rehoboth -- there are still places open but the boardwalk stuff is closed. You can get a condo rental facing the ocean (forget the name ... something of the sea) that has a balcony so you can sit out and watch the ocean. In off season it would probably be $99 a night.

Sorry about your unhappy anniversary.

A low key beach may be found at chincoteague/ assateague which is a national park. Very natural, small town environment particularly in the off season. That said the food scene there is not spectacular gourmet as in DC. There are a few good seafood places - you can check yelp and tripadvisor. Bill's restaurant is nice.

Hope your trip goes well.

I have an anniversary of an unhappy event coming up in late September and would like to go to a beach somewhere, alone, and just sit and reflect, relax, and eat some good seafood. I don't want to spend a ton of money, and can only be gone a couple of days. Any suggestions? Thanks.