Need "budget" beach vacation?????!!!!!

[radmom]

Ok disfriends..I need your help. I am trying to find a beach area to vacation with my family. I don't have a set area that wanted to go, was thinking Virginia or North Carolina maybe?? What I want is somewhere to just go and relax, no touristy stuff. Does anyone have ideas, any hidden beaches out there. I want to go last week of July. I know I am last minute..that is why I am asking you all!!! Any help is appreciated!!!!!!!!

 

[aceys_h0ney]

The Eastern Shore of VA is very nice. There are some touristy things but much better crowd wise then say VA Beach or Myrtle Beach. The only downside is it is bayside but I lived there for 2 years and loved the calm. There are some really neat things like Chincoteague island to check out. Again it is somewhat touristy but I can say compared to a big tourist location like VA Beach it is subtle. It is a more bed and breakfast type area.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

Here is a nice link describing the Eastern Shore a little better http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?featureid=3 again can't say enough great things about the area.

 

[DebMcDonald]

I absolutely love Myrtle Beach, we have never been in the summer though, we tend to do April or September, but we never do the touristy stuff, get up early enjoy the sun, head off early afternoon for dinner followed my minature golf followed by sunset time on the beach.

We love Marriott Grand Dunes.

 

[Charitycase20]

What about Hatteras Island? In the Outer Banks? My family goes every year and we love the laid back feeling of Hatteras instead of Kill Devil Hills or Nags Head. You might be able to nab a deal with some of the rental agencies this close to the date of travel.

 

[mookie]

Topsail Island, NC. LOVED IT THERE. We just went in May and it was exactly what you are looking for. My kids all said they can't wait to go back...they even said they would rather go there than WDW!!!

 

[abmitch01]

I planned a trip to Myrtle Beach once but we didn't end up going. Renting a condo through VRBO was very reasonable. Many years ago I took the family there and I remember thinking it was a nicely priced vaca, restaurants seemed less expensive than at home and there was lots to do.

 

[owensamo]

Almost any beach in North Carolina will fit the bill - there isn't a lot of hugely touristy areas, just nice stretches of coastline!

We'll be at Sunset Beach in a week and I'm looking forward to it! I've heard Holden Beach and Oak Island are nice as well. We've been to Carolina Beach and Kure beach and they're nice, relaxing beaches - I like Kure because of the Aquarium, and while it's close enough to Carolina Beach to find restaurants, etc. it's not right in the middle of town.

We've also been to Emerald Isle/Atlantic Beach and those are nice beaches as well.

There are *tons* of rental houses and condos along the NC shore, and plenty of hotels, so I'm sure you can find something even now for later in the month. I don't know how cheap it would be, though. We've had some good results in general (not specifically in NC) using vrbo.com, which is vacation rentals directly from the owners.

 

[Mlissa88]

We did a last minute rental of a house in Outer Banks and we got a great deal on a beautiful home for a week in OBX....full kitchen so we made some meals at the house, brought the dry goods with us....we also had a grill at the house so some nights we grilled our dinner rather than dine out...

At first I tried to plan a long weekend trip to NJ shore...but once I looked around a bit I was finding that last minute deals on places that haven't been booked down in OBX were cheaper. We ended up booking a week in an amazing oceanview OBX place with more bedrooms than we could use for less than it would have cost us to stay 4 days in a Oceanside motel room at Wildwood.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

Topsail Island, NC. LOVED IT THERE. We just went in May and it was exactly what you are looking for. My kids all said they can't wait to go back...they even said they would rather go there than WDW!!!

We leave for Topsail in a few short days!!! I can't wait to go back

 

[radmom]

Thanks for all the info, I knew I could count on you guys. I am in the process of searching and seeing what I can find. I am so excited now because I think it may be possible to pull this off. Keep all the suggestions coming!!!
Thanks again, you guys are the best!!!!

 

[mrsklamc]

I so agree with Kure Beach! They have a civil war battlefield there too which we didn't explore. We rented from palmaircottages.com and they were great too. Here's the link to my blog post about it:

http://www.littlemissrandom.com/?p=27

 

[Metsoskil]

Don't know where you are coming from, but we go to Rehoboth Beach in DE every year. Not that expensive, and very laid back. Nice boardwalk, nice beach, but not in-your-face touristy like Ocean City, MD or Virginia Beach.