Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My inlaws have a place in Sea Colony so we go a few times per year. It is getting so crowded. The few decent food options have insane waits. I am not eager to return.

There were staffing issues everywhere this summer, so that was a huge contributor to this, just FYI.

Staffing issues + more people using their condos and houses than usual because they wanted to drive rather than fly on vacation. I expect this problem will resolve if we ever get to a real post-pandemic phase. I keep thinking food truck operators could make a huge killing around there though.

Because of the lack of supply by the time we started seriously looking, our extended family rented a house in Oak Island NC via Airbnb. We were all pleasantly surprised. First-timers in those parts, but have done OBX (Corolla) many times, as well as Cape May, Avalon, Rehoboth.

Had folks from DC, NJ, and elsewhere (some flew into Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, both relatively close). It was a much more pleasant drive than Corolla. Was ideal for us. Had plenty of wide open beach to spread out and a house set back from adjacent homes. We are content taking turns cooking, and enjoy hanging out in the house/private pool/beach, so don’t need a commercial corridor or boardwalk entertainment. Easy access to grocery options and farm stands, as well as decent takeout in nearby Southport.

Most agreed we’d seriously consider returning there in the future.

Anonymous wrote:You are overpaying to share a house. That alone sounds like such a thing experience. I cannot be social for a week. Embrace your actual budget and rent a condo. More for the money and your own space. Have groceries delivered. Or, look into time share rentals. Lots of space and convenience of a hotel. Sharing a house for a week sounds horrific. I don’t care where it is.

+1

A freaking men.

Anonymous wrote:My inlaws have a place in Sea Colony so we go a few times per year. It is getting so crowded. The few decent food options have insane waits. I am not eager to return.

There were staffing issues everywhere this summer, so that was a huge contributor to this, just FYI.

What is with all the anti-beach people? Or maybe it's just 1-2 people who keep posting the same stuff everywhere. I've noticed that somebody has written "people think it's a boardwalk or OBX" in at least 3-4 different threads here. Give it a break. If you don't like beach vacations, don't go on one. Lots of other people do love them.

I don't enjoy things like Comic-Con so I don't go.

You are overpaying to share a house. That alone sounds like such a thing experience. I cannot be social for a week. Embrace your actual budget and rent a condo. More for the money and your own space. Have groceries delivered. Or, look into time share rentals. Lots of space and convenience of a hotel. Sharing a house for a week sounds horrific. I don’t care where it is.

We stayed at a smaller but completely renovated house ocean front in Emerald Isle. It was overrun with “palmetto bugs” (I.e. cockroaches) at night but otherwise clean. Also had no power in half of the house when we showed up. There wasn’t much they could do because we didn’t want them spraying while we were there with little kids and a puppy, so we just put our food in the fridge. It was a great house otherwise. We had great difficulty finding food with no excessive wait times and many restaurants didn’t even answer the phone when you called to place an order. We didn’t want to eat inside with unvaccinated kids and NO ONE was eating a mask inside establishments there. So that was a hassle. I also don’t love having to cook a ton so I was pretty annoyed at having to scrounge for meals daily, but the staffing shortage is a serious problem in these beach towns. We did a couple of excursions including a remote island with wild horses and great seashells and had a lovely time despite the issues. My grandmother and aunt stayed with us which was nice since we had not seen them much in the last year. I don’t know if I’ll go back to EI or not, but the beaches are equivalent or better to OBX and it’s somewhat easier to access. It was very uncrowded except for restaurants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to oc, Bethany and Rehoboth this summer. I’m just over it. I might go to Avalon next summer, but really, I just want to be at a resort on a beach.

try The Reeds in Stone Harbor.

https://www.reedsatshelterhaven.com/

This looks AMAZING! Thank you!

It looks bayside…on the bridge…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to oc, Bethany and Rehoboth this summer. I’m just over it. I might go to Avalon next summer, but really, I just want to be at a resort on a beach.

try The Reeds in Stone Harbor.

https://www.reedsatshelterhaven.com/

This looks AMAZING! Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to oc, Bethany and Rehoboth this summer. I’m just over it. I might go to Avalon next summer, but really, I just want to be at a resort on a beach.

This is how I feel too. Nothing against the mid Atlantic beaches - the beaches themselves are fine, I just don’t want to do the “rent a house and go grocery shopping” thing any more. The packing and unpacking etc it’s all just exhausting. And not cheap! Our half of the house we split with our friends was $3500 before food or anything else.

I get this; it sometimes feels like a relocation rather than a vacation. And it is expensive for the quality of house you get. But I hate staying in a hotel with kids.

+1

Most of the beach houses in OBX are disgusting. We have been renting 30 years, and have yet to be in a "nice" one - in spite of what we pay!

My inlaws have a place in Sea Colony so we go a few times per year. It is getting so crowded. The few decent food options have insane waits. I am not eager to return.