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I am looking to take my 2 children (ages 14 and 19 w/his girlfriend) to NC for a vacation before my oldest goes off to college to have a nice bonding family time. I have been searching for an area and am very undecided and was hoping all of you could help me make a decision on what area would suit us best. There will be 5 of us total.
Currently living right outside Ft Lauderdale, FL and would love to get away from the hustle and have some nice rest and relaxation and beautiful scenery.
I was looking to rent a beach house, but looking at many of them they are so far off the water with many many stairs to get to the water. My 14 yr old is disabled so all those stairs are not really going to be easy for her. Are there any beach homes in any area near Southport that are no so high on Stilts or not such long walks to get to the water? I am not stuck to being close to Southport, but it seems like a quiet and quaint area, (compared to Ft Lauderdale) no?
Also, would love a place that has a beachy small town feel, we would like to do some fishing, quiet beach, walk for some great shells, beautiful sunrises or sunsets, NOT 'super' crowded. I would also love for us to be able to get fresh caught fish locally (in case we do not catch any) and cook every evening some great fresh food from a farmer's market, be able to take the kids to a movie in the park or a drive-in (does anywhere have drive-ins or movies in the park anymore?) nice small places to dine on good healthy casual food, small boutiques, safe to walk at night, etc.. I would like to be away from super heavy city like crowds if possible. A bonus would be able to take the kids to some great historical sites or museums, something to keep them interested if we have a bad beach day.
One thing we do need is to have access to our car, so being in an area where we have only access by ferry is not an option because of my daughter's disability. I would also like to be in an area where things are close in walking distance or short car ride to many of the things I mentioned, if that is even possible.
Last request is an area that is probably priced around 1500-2000 a week. Some of the areas are just insane at 700-800 usd a night, I am going to rent a home not be at a 5 star resort If anyone has any great ideas of an area I should be looking I would appreciate it!
Last request is an area that is probably priced around 1500-2000 a week. Some of the areas are just insane at 700-800 usd a night, I am going to rent a home not be at a 5 star resort If anyone has any great ideas of an area I should be looking I would appreciate it!
I think your best bet would be to look at VRBO® is Vacation Rentals By Owner for Oak Island, NC. It allow you to put in the parameters you are looking for like the number of bedrooms and cost. There's also an option for "handicap access". It turned up a condo in an elevator building at $1200/week, and another condo on the ground floor at $1150/week. There is also a one-story cottage 3 blocks from the beach at $179/night.
Oak Island is the closest beach to Southport. I think you can find what you are looking for.
Thanks for replying! Oak Island has pretty much all the things I am looking for? I am not stuck to Southport if it does not really have that small town beach vibe, along with the things I really want our trip to consist of. I'm not interested in a condo situation, but a single home since there is 5 of us and want to be right there with the beach as close to the door as possible with tons of privacy. I was checking out that site already and was just figuring to ask what areas all meet the things I wanted to have access to and for the perfect ambiance I was also looking at Kure Beach, and Holden Beach, but again having never been to NC I would not know what these areas are like.
Our favourite beach is Sunset Beach. It is the southernmost (and smallest) of the barrier islands. There are tons of homes for rent on this island, but the homes are separated from the beach by protected dunes and sea oats.
From the island, it is a short drive to the small town of Calabash. Calabash has some good restaurants and some small beachy shops. The shrimp boats come into the dock in Calabash around 4-4:30 PM they sell the catch of the day and shrimp right off the boat.
This coastal area is unlike the Florida coast, it is much less commercially developed (except for the mainland golf communities).
If you are looking for quiet, relaxing time at the beach, this might be it, but you have to be, pretty much, into the beach.
Thanks for replying! Oak Island has pretty much all the things I am looking for? I am not stuck to Southport if it does not really have that small town beach vibe, along with the things I really want our trip to consist of.
I don't know if Oak Island will absolutely everything you want, but Southport probably will. Southport is definitely a nice walkable small town where you can find casual restaurants and small shops. Beach restaurants tend to serve fried seafood and barbecue (not the healthiest), but you might like Turtle Island on Oak Island. Southport has a movie theater, and many houses are equiped with DVDs where you can run rented movies. NC beach towns tend to be less developed than Florida, but that sounded like what you want: Oak Island NC Attractions | Margaret Rudd | Local Things To See
I will have to leave it up to you to find housing, as there's a trade-off between price and closeness to the ocean. Perhaps a rental firm rather than VRBO is the way to go. Just google "beach rental Oak Island NC". The Rudd firm allows you to search on handicap accesibility, and they have a couple of houses with no stairs to the beach, eg the Turtle Nest house. BTW, Kure and Holden may be more developed, but I think Kure has more houses on stilts. I think Sunset Beach is a little too undeveloped for you.
Last edited by goldenage1; 05-12-2013 at 08:03 AM..
IF you are not stuck on Southport area, I would strongly suggest one of the beaches on the Crystal Coast (up around Morehead City) I have lived on Oak Island, it is very quiet, but you will find the water at the Crystal Coast much clearer. The water at Oak Island is impacted by the nearby discharge of the Cape Fear River. It is not polluted, but is a bit dingy at times.
We used to take our children to Carolina Beach every summer. My daughter has such good memories that she now takes her family to Carolina Beach every year. We visited Fort Fisher, the aquarium, the USS North Carolina, took boat trips on the water and fishing is a big thing there, but we did not do that. A ferry ride across the water was always in the plans for a ride home. You could stay at Southport and take the ferry across to the things I mentioned. There are many condos along there but there are also hotels that you enter at ground level.
You mentioned quiet and that is what you will get.
The Outer Banks are good too, but I don't know about the handicap requirements. My husband has enjoyed the lighthouses there. And if you are lucky, you might see some wild horses. Maybe you could rent a dune buggy and take the handicapped child on a ride up the Outer Banks. I do know that there are several walkways for sightseeing that are friendly to handicapped people.
Goldenage, thanks! Yes I think Oak Island is close to what we are looking for. It seems that Southport is more the ambiance I wanted, but Oak Island seems close enough for a small drive into town when looking in the google map. I really prefer not to be so far out in the middle of nowhere, but it seems to be on the ocean that is the only way to go in the entire area.
NCN, I think Carolina Beach looks to be from the google maps very much in the middle of nowhere unless it just looks that way? I def want ocean front, but also want to be near some sort of smallish town. To me Southport looks very small town compared to Ft Lauderdale. Anything smaller than a somewhat established town and I think I will be scared at night lol
LLN~ anything has to be better than Ft Lauderdale's yucky dirty beaches
Carolina Beach would be my suggestion. It's cheaper and the locals are much nicer than Wrightsville. Carolina Beach is definitely not in the middle of nowhere. Downtown Wilmington is 20 min away, and Kure Beach is literally down the road from Carolina Beach. A visit to Fort Fisher (there is an aquarium and park) would be fun for you all as well, and an easy five minute car ride if you were staying in Carolina Beach. Plus, Carolina Beach has the boardwalk and a very nice farmer's market. They tend to have more festivals, events, outdoor movie screenings, and access to many shops, restaurants, and markets. Also, the beaches tend to be less crowded.
Thanks to everyone. I decided to rent an ocean front home in Oak Island a few blocks from Ocean Crest Pier. We will be there for 8 days, hopefully all goes well. It looks like the fishing is starting to pick up there and the weather looks to be amazing, not too hot not too cold! Here's to a relaxing vacation of family enjoyment away for the bustle of life! Found a great 3/2 on the ocean for 1950 a week, can't complain there.
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If anyone has any great ideas of an area I should be looking I would appreciate it!
