The only time I pack food is when we’re all going to stay at a campground, where the whole point (for me) is to cook in the outdoors. And even then, I’ll only bring the stuff I’m unlikely to find at the local Piggly Wiggly or whatnot or that I would need to buy in larger quantities than I need (like oil, although I’ve seen small, maybe 8 oz or 4 oz. I can’t remember how bit it was.) The meat, vegetables, etc., I’ll buy there.
Coincidentally, my wife and I will be spending this coming week at a seaside motel with a kitchenette in the room.
We won’t take anything in the car with us other than some tea as I’m not sure I’d be able to find it at the coast. Once we get there we’ll go to a proper grocery store and get breakfast and lunch supplies: cold cereal, bagels, cream cheese, milk, sandwich ingredients, and various similar sundries. Cooking in such a small “kitchen” can be a PITA so we’ll see what we have to work with before buying stuff for dinner. If all we have is a microwave we’ll likely eat out or do takeout for dinner each night. If we have a proper stove and oven we’ll cook our dinners in the room.
This is our usual method and it hasn’t let us down yet.
I notice I didn’t see anything about fresh fish for dinner!
I was going to say I never pack food & might buy stuff locally but then remembered that I do a few festivals a year where someone else brings everything we eat; I contribute $ toward it & bring my big cooler for drinks. Walt will bring a large propane griddle to cook group breakfasts on
From the OP, who’s not yet come back to grace the thread with more wisdom:
Are you driving, flying, or yachting to get there?
My own approach to vacationing in general is to plan almost nothing. Hell some days I leave home for the airport not knowing which flight to which destination I’ll be on. Which is a very much outlier situation I admit.
For nearly 20 years, we spent three weeks in Barbados every winter. Never brought any food (except I brought 21 days worth of tea bags for myself). We had a complete kitchen and just bought food at a nearby supermarket. We always had our main meal at lunch at a local restaurant. After spending the rest of the day at the beach, we were too tired to go out and had small pickup meals that required no prep (sanwiches and the like). Breakfast was very like at home; no prep. One thing I did no was bake bread. Bajan bread was really pretty dreadful. Especially for someone used to homemade bread. I didn’t spend any time on it. Mixed up a loose water, yeast, salt, and flour dough in the evening, let it rise overnight and add most flour and knead a bit and bake in the morning.
If I’m driving then I’m definitely bring a few snacks and beverages, fruit. Whatever is in my kitchen cupboards, fridge. A small sackful to eat or not to eat.
The kitchenettes are for heating easy convenience foods. Popcorn, ramen noodles, slice and bake cookies ,reheat restaurant leftovers.
We’re driving about 3 1/2 hours - to Ocean City, MD. Most places will be closed, especially Tues-Fri, and there are some restaurants open, but not a lot. However, the hotel has an indoor pool and 2 hot tubs and we have an oceanfront room where we can veg with a view!
I booked the full-breakfast-included rate, which leaves us lunch and supper to figure out. But lately, we tend to have a good-sized meal in early afternoon, then maybe a bowl of cereal later. So we’ll plan on one meal out, or maybe delivered, and we’ll nosh on whatever miscellany I dump in the cooler - cheese, ham, maybe egg salad, and sodas - plus crackers, chips, pretzels, microwave popcorn, fruit.
The idea of starting our mini-vacation by grocery shopping just doesn’t appeal to me. Our getaway is us-time, and us don’t go shopping. 
Especially when I have all that stuff in the fridge or pantry and our cooler has wheels!
Now, if we fly somewhere, that’s a different story. I’m not packing groceries.
When we did our annual gaming gathering in the Dells that I mentioned earlier, it was a similar-length drive for us. One of the things that my wife (who was part of the group) would do was prepare a couple of group meals ahead of time: soup, casseroles, etc., and bring them along in a cooler. We’d throw those in the fridge when we got to the condo, and then heat them up for some of the dinners.
Nope, not on a vacation. The kitchen can be used only for reheating leftovers.
Good thought - I’ve got some pulled pork bagged and frozen - that would be an easy meal. I might even break down and buy some buns to go with us!
And in the ski chalets I’ve seen crockpots a bubbling away in the shared spaces waiting on the groups to return. Though that was last century. When it snowed.
I usually bring a pound of pasta, parmesan cheese, olive oil and a cheese grater for cacio e pepe. If feeling it, maybe a tin or three of anchovies and san Marzano tomatoes. Easy dinners for when I don’t feel like going out.
For a road trip like that, we might bring a cooler of food.
I just organized my auxiliary freezer and along with pulled pork, I found a zip bag of frozen veggie soup. Methinks both will go with us. I should probably start a list…
If i the gear to do it, i pack breakfast, or more often, buy breakfast foods locally at a supermarket. I sometimes buy cheap cereal bowls locally, too.
I don’t prepare my own lunch or dinner when I’m on vacation.
When I was away this summer, I went to the supermarket & grabbed a box of cereal & a container of milk (which I did pay for). I then went over to the salad bar area & grabbed a waxed/paper/cardboard bowl & a plastic spoon, for free. Didn’t need to buy a package of stuff when I only needed one.
Pro tip: When dining on roller dogs at the convenience market, if the pile of condiments doesn’t outweigh the bun & meat, you’re leaving a lot of zero-cost calories behind.
My family only stayed at a place like that a few times; I would even go so far as to say one of the locations had a galley kitchen rather than a kitchenette. We didn’t use the space at all, aside from storing ice cream in the freezer or making coffee with the pot Mom always insists on packing. Not only did my parents not want to bother with cooking and cleaning while on vacation, I recall some hesitation in using the provided cookware. It looked ok; worn, but clean.
When i visited Hawaii i did cook a breadfruit in the kitchenette. But that’s because “eating breadfruit” was on my bucket list, and i didn’t see it at any restaurants. That was part of the “holiday entertainment”, not trying to save money or time.