It often gets a bad rep on DCUM but Myrtle Beach fits your bill. Plenty of things to do aside from the beach, thousands of restaurants to choose from, easy to navigate, can fly there in a couple hours. Plenty of hotels with kitchens on the beach or off. Aquariums, science centers, bounce places, top golf, wax museums, water parks, go carts, arcades, shopping, libraries, parks, fishing, hiking, boating, haunted houses, malls, escape rooms, camping, shows, etc etc. Fairly easy to navigate but traffic is high during summer. Off peak season you can get to 1000 good places in under 10 minutes. Just don’t walk anywhere downtown alone after the turn off the Ferris wheel lights, usually 9-10 pm, if you need to be out that late then go to Broadway or Barefoot Landing. Only downside is it can get pricey to do a lot of activities for that many people. Stop at visitors centers, get coupon books inking, look for 1/2 price days, evening specials, early bird restaurant specials, etc. I’d probably drive to save money and spend more money on fun, I’d rent a car if you fly or plan to Uber everywhere.

I'd just rent a house or condo at the beach. You can get to NJ or DE within 5 hours drive.
New England sounds lovely but also would require more logistics.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly. I'd leave them all home and do a girls trip. Vacation is expensive and pto is precious to spend catering to inflexible people.

I would do this, but also, I wouldn't come back. They sound like a nightmare. Don't shack up with anyone else and have more kids though, you may be partly responsible.

To ideas:
Acadia - loved that. Rented and Air bnb. Lots of hiking, kayaking, swimming. It was fantastic. Flew to Portland and drove the rest of the way.
Lake Placid - rented an Air bnb. Loads to do - Winter Olympics museum, bob sledding experience, ski jump experience, hiking, kayaking, ropes course (via ferrata) and more