What's Your Idea of a Beach Vacation?

We Share our Ideal Beach Vacation with You!

We had been married several years before we conThere are so many fun and exciting destinations to go on vacations. For me a great part of going on vacation is planning the trip. I love to plan where we are going, where to stay and what to see once we have arrived. With all the planning and sight seeing I usually return from vacation in need of a rest. I did not realize how relaxing vacation time can be until we started taking beach vacationssidered beach vacations. We had been to the beach during vacation, but this is different. We had also been to Mexico and had stayed on the water front, but we had included deep sea fishing, horse back riding and sight seeing in our trip. One day our nephew called and asked if we would be interested in sharing a rental home on the Outer Banks. The house could accommodate 5 couples. Each couple would have their own bathroom and deck area and the house was located one block off the beach. We thought that this sounded like fun so we agreed to go. When we started our week we realized that this is how beach vacations are suppose to be.

The house was beautiful and the beach was great. At low tide you could walk for miles and miles and pick up shells. My husband rented equipment and learned how to surf fish. This involved throwing out a line and sitting in a chair to see if you caught anything. We bought some groceries so we could cook if we felt like it and there were close restaurants that we could go to if we did not feel like cooking. In the evenings we played cards, walked the beach and sat out on the decks and listened to music. This was the most relaxing week I had ever spent. On our last night I mentioned that this was the first of many beach vacations that we would be taking. One of the other couples mentioned that they used to do all the sight seeing and other activities on their vacations, but they found that they needed to have time when they just sat and rejuvenated also.

Since this time we have taken many beach vacations as well as sightseeing vacations. We found that if we can plan two weeks a year to do something special we are more apt to allow ourselves to relax one of the weeks. I am hoping that as time and money allows we will be able to increase the amount of time that we spend on our beach vacations. I would love to spend a month each year resting and walking on the beach.

If you'll permit, we'd just like to share a couple of our very favorite East Coast Vacation beach spots.
First, and going from North to South, we love the Calabash, NC area. It's just north of Myrtle Beach and offers both quiet beaches, as well as the opportunity to do some great golfing; get into the hustle of Myrtle Beach if you want to break a day of just rest; site seeing from Wilmington (Battleship, Natl Aquarium).

Moving south a bit; we love Kiawah Island just out of Charleson, SC. The beaches are idylic, and for a day of sight seeing, there's Charleston, the old houses, and plantations.

Now we move down to the Fla line, and the resort at Amelia Island Plantation is tough to top.

Having a daughter living in the Melbourne, Fla area, we have occasion to visit the beaches around  Cocoa Beach. Again, a variety of choices presents itself and there's many homes for rent.

At the far south of our choices, and staying in the theme of East Coast Vacations, one of our all time favorites is McArthur State Park near West Palm Beach. There's no cottages here,  you have to walk a boardwalk to get there, and it's a daytime only beach.. but it's one of the most beautiful and non commercial beaches anywhere. Of course you can find all kinds of commercial facilities and private homes.

In all cases, just be aware of, and try and plan around and away from , the Hurricane Season. Our favorite time, now that the kids are grown.. late fall, just after most kids head back to school; the crowds thin, and rates drop. Water is still warm from  summer (which is why we like it better than spring beach going); some times the air can get a bit cooler.. but often cooler is more comfortable.

You can beach vacation for many years and always have something fresh, or you can return year after year to a favorite spot. There's something for everyone.

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