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Not really looking to get away from it all, just a nice beach in North Carolina with great hotel and surrounding restaurant choices...any suggestions? Don't really want to leave the state this trip; i.e. not Myrtle Beach...
I have found that, surprisingly, one of the most commercialized beaches in the state is the stretch of Outer Banks beaches "between the bridges" encmpassing Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. It is too busy for my taste but would work well for what you're looking for. You can get to Nags Head from Raleigh in about 3.5 hours. Even though it is pretty developed, you won't be dealing with nearly the same level of crowds on the beach as you would at Wrightsville or even Atlantic.
We like Carolina Beach. There is a Marriott Courtyard there plus many smaller hotels and lot's of restaurant choices. It has more of a family atmosphere - farmer's market on Saturday mornings, movies by the lake on sunday nights, the aquarium at Fort Fisher, and ferry over to Southport - while also being close enough to hop up to Wilmington for the day.
I think the beaches near Wilmington have a bit of an advantage because Wilmington itself has a great downtown with lots of hotels, restaurants, bars and so forth. So I consider that whole area to be the most developed. There are other beaches south of Cape Fear that are also developed like Ocean Isle, but I consider Wrightsville and Carolina Beach superior.
But Both Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach are RIGHT over the border. You can get to Myrtle faster than you can to some places in NC.
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