Anonymous wrote:What about a lake house within driving distance of Chicago or Milwaukee? I started to explore this once, didn't get far because our trip to Chicago got cancelled, but there seem to be some very charming little towns along the Great Lakes.

Or MSP.

Galveston is pretty decent. Many Texans don't love it, but it has been improved a lot over the years. You can fly into Houston (is that a non-stop flight option) and drive to Galveston. If you're going late summer, though, it is so hot it might not even be that enjoyable. It's a quiet beach town and very inexpensive, but has some pretty good restaurants and a cute little area called The Strand for shopping and browsing. You won't find many gigantic beach houses with pools and tons of amenities, but you can rent a small cottage for $1k a week (at least a couple years ago).

That said, I haven't been there since the last hurricane (Ike?) that really damaged or destroyed a lot of homes down there, so I don't know what it's like now. The damage was pretty horrific, and the second row house that we usually rented down there was oceanfront after the storm surge. The downtown area has a seawall, but the lower part of the island does not. There are a couple of nice hotels if you don't want to rent a house, and they are walking distance to restaurants, etc.

The waves in Galveston usually aren't too bad. But sometimes the seaweed can be bad, so check that before you go. The small communities sometimes pick it up, but it's hard to stay on top of.

What about a lake house within driving distance of Chicago or Milwaukee? I started to explore this once, didn't get far because our trip to Chicago got cancelled, but there seem to be some very charming little towns along the Great Lakes.

Anonymous wrote:I would love to go the Gulf Shore or all the way to FL, but we are really trying to keep transit time to a minimum, so nonstop flights and no more than about a 2 hour drive. Doesn't sound like Grand Isle is the ticket though. Are there good beaches along the Texas Gulf shore?

No. The Texas beaches are awful. You could try Biloxi.

- native Texan

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to go the Gulf Shore or all the way to FL, but we are really trying to keep transit time to a minimum, so nonstop flights and no more than about a 2 hour drive. Doesn't sound like Grand Isle is the ticket though. Are there good beaches along the Texas Gulf shore?

Yes, and you can choose between the Gulf side and the bay side.

That sounds perfect. For the time being, we would be seeking a pretty boring beach. My kids at least are happy digging up sand and dumping it on each other, and they are definitely kind of scared of waves. We're trying to ID a location where we can meet every year, or every other year.

Anonymous wrote:I would love to go the Gulf Shore or all the way to FL, but we are really trying to keep transit time to a minimum, so nonstop flights and no more than about a 2 hour drive. Doesn't sound like Grand Isle is the ticket though. Are there good beaches along the Texas Gulf shore?

Yes, and you can choose between the Gulf side and the bay side.

Do a real beach if your friends are coming from Denver.

Or fly to Houston and do the gulf beaches there, been a while but I think Surfside (not sure on name) near Galvaston was good small beach. Nothing to there except the beach though.

Fly to Tampa and do clearwater or siesta key

When?

I would love to go the Gulf Shore or all the way to FL, but we are really trying to keep transit time to a minimum, so nonstop flights and no more than about a 2 hour drive. Doesn't sound like Grand Isle is the ticket though. Are there good beaches along the Texas Gulf shore?

Anonymous wrote:Gulf Shores, AL

+1 or Orange Beach.

Gulf Shores, AL

Trying to find a family-friendly vacation spot to rent a house with dear friends who live in Denver. We're in DC. Collectively, we have four kids under five. New Orleans is a nonstop flight from both our home cities and we're wondering about locales either down by the barrier islands, like Grand Isle, or potentially on Lake Pontchartrain. Anyone familiar with these areas or have other recs???

Grand Isle is 2 hours outside of New Orleans. It's more about fishing and stuff...not really a beach as in white sands, water not clear too close to the mouth of the Mississippi. Pensacola or Destin beaches Florida will be the first good beaches out of New Orleans....3-4 hour drive. Look at flights to Mobile.

Trying to find a family-friendly vacation spot to rent a house with dear friends who live in Denver. We're in DC. Collectively, we have four kids under five. New Orleans is a nonstop flight from both our home cities and we're wondering about locales either down by the barrier islands, like Grand Isle, or potentially on Lake Pontchartrain. Anyone familiar with these areas or have other recs???