OK, I live in Marietta, OH and want to plan a beach trip. Simple enough.
When we lived in Washington, DC we pretty much always went to Rehoboth or Ocean City. We did that last year but getting through Washington/Baltimore was a mess and the drive was about 11-12 hours.
Some locals have recommended heading for beaches in the Carolinas. But I know little of such and could use some advice.
We’d like a town with a good boardwalk, mini-golf and so forth. The sort of stuff kids in the single digits would like, if you get me.
I, for one, would like it to not be too expensive and fairly direct to get to and to not take a million hours to drive there.
Just don’t go to the Outer Banks. It’s for adults(and some teens). Pricey these days, but worth it to be away from the boardwalks, mini-golf, etc. You get the idea.
Myrtle Beach has a ton of mini golf and fun stuff for kids, but they call it the Redneck Riviera for a reason. Make sure you don’t go during Biker Week. Or Black Biker Week. Yes, they have segregated Biker Week. Welcome to South Carolina.
We took all 5 kids to Myrtle Beach last year, and while the drive was a bit more than I’d expected (9 hours from northern VA), the kids had a great time, from the 18-year-old down to the 1-year-old. We also found the accommodations quite affordable, and much more luxurious than we ever found in Ocean City. We spent less on a 3-bedroom suite with an ocean view for 5 days than we used to spend for 3 days at an Ocean City motel with one bed and a view of a brick wall and some restaurant’s dumpster.
I would have to disagree with this. We did a couple of days’ worth of the Nag’s Head portion of the Outer Banks, camping in a trailer with three school-age kids, and didn’t have any trouble finding Stuf To Do for little kids. There’s Kitty Hawk, which, although less-than-riveting, still sufficed for an “outing”; a fairly nifty, if small, aquarium; a lighthouse; a long drive down the Banks themselves, and back again; and of course the Atlantic Ocean, which non-blase schoolkids don’t know they are supposed to find boring. And there was actually more Stuf To Do that we didn’t have a time slot for, as we were on the way to somewhere else after a couple of days.
The main downside was the incredible crowdedness of the whole experience, but we just figured, hey, go with the flow, sometimes we visit off-the-beaten-path places that nobody in the world has ever heard of (Mom’s good at finding those ), and sometimes we go for the whole-hog wall-to-wall-t-shirt-shoppes Tourist Experience.
Finding a place to park the car in order to be able to swim in the ocean was the biggest challenge. If you’re going to stay in a motel, pick one that has a beach in easy walking distance, even if it’s across the road, save you having to find a place to park the car.
The secondmost downside was the incredible humidity. Being from the Midwest, we’re accustomed to fairly major humidity levels in June and July, but we weren’t prepared for the 100% humidity you inevitably get when camping 100 feet from saltwater. We wished we had an air conditioner in the trailer, it was that bad. So if you’re going to camp in a trailer, take a couple of big box fans.
I liked the Outer Banks. We stayed in Kill Devil Hills and we were directly across the street from Kitty Hawk (which I found very moving). You can always go for a ride on one of the biplanes or in an open cockpit. And the name “Kill Devil Hills” is good for scaring the kids.
Yeah, but see, the crowds is where the action is, where all the Stuf To Do is. Not a lot of t-shirt shoppes and putt-putt golf down in Ye Olde Scenic Ocracoke.
We spent a fascinating hour in the biggest t-shirt/seashell emporium we could find, gave each kid a $5 limit and turned them loose. yeah baby.
The Wilmington area will be the easiest drive for you I think. Take I77S down to NC52E, then I40E straight to Wilmington. From that area, there are several beaches that are pretty nice to choose from…Wrightsville Beach, Long Beach, Holden Beach, Sunset Beach, Fort Fisher, etc.
I’ll put in a plug for either Nags Head or Wilmington. Do ask specifically about the beach access situation when you book your hotel. With little kids I imagine you’ll want to avoid extra walking and hauling all your stuff. Find some clear space early in the morning a fly a kite.
You get the idea.
), and sometimes we go for the whole-hog wall-to-wall-t-shirt-shoppes Tourist Experience.