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I am banging my head against the wall trying to figure out the details of a house hunting trip in the North Raleigh area. The dates are fixed: Oct 14 - Oct 19.
My 4 children, my husband + my in-laws (grandma & grandpa) need a place to stay. We thought about 2 - 3 hotel rooms, but that adds up so quickly for 5 nights.
My husband suggested a vacation rental near Wrightsville Beach, and we could leave the kids with the grandparents and make a couple of day trips into Raleigh for the househunting.
What is the weather like in Wrightsville Beach in mid-October? Could the kids play in the sand at the beach? No expectations of swimming or sun, but is any outdoor time realistic?
Where can 8 people stay if we choose to stay in Raleigh?
What could the grandparents take the kids to do in Raleigh for a mini vacation type activities if we do stay in Raleigh?
Kids ages are 1 - 5.
Budget for lodging is hopefully around $1,000 total for 4 adults / 4 kids / 5 nights.
Since the real focus of the trip is house-hunting, and that can be stressful, I would suggest you stay in the Raleigh area, and maybe let the folks take the kids to the beach on a day trip on a nice day.
The kids will be surely able to play in the sand, and get their feet wet. Maybe swim. You might be surprised at how warm the water is.
Other than that, how old are the kids, i.e., to know what activities will appeal to them?
I am banging my head against the wall trying to figure out the details of a house hunting trip in the North Raleigh area. The dates are fixed: Oct 14 - Oct 19.
My 4 children, my husband + my in-laws (grandma & grandpa) need a place to stay. We thought about 2 - 3 hotel rooms, but that adds up so quickly for 5 nights.
My husband suggested a vacation rental near Wrightsville Beach, and we could leave the kids with the grandparents and make a couple of day trips into Raleigh for the househunting.
What is the weather like in Wrightsville Beach in mid-October? Could the kids play in the sand at the beach? No expectations of swimming or sun, but is any outdoor time realistic?
Where can 8 people stay if we choose to stay in Raleigh?
What could the grandparents take the kids to do in Raleigh for a mini vacation type activities if we do stay in Raleigh?
Kids ages are 1 - 5.
Budget for lodging is hopefully around $1,000 total for 4 adults / 4 kids / 5 nights.
Perfect timing for the NC State Fair the kids in Raleigh, plenty of fried twinkies and snickers to tempt them with It's on from the 14..
When I had family with young children in town at this time last we year we went to Ganyard Hill Farm: Old-fashioned fun in Durham, NC and the kids had a great time. There are corn mazes, a pumpkin patch, hayrides etc. It would be very easy for the grandparents to take them there for a few hours.
What could the grandparents take the kids to do in Raleigh for a mini vacation type activities if we do stay in Raleigh?
Kids ages are 1 - 5.
This will be the least of your worries. We can easily find you 2+ places to take the kids each day during your time here. Museums, parks, short day trips, etc. I have 2 children (1.5 and 5) and we've done it all . .. .
We came for a house hunting trip with our dau, SIL and 3 14 m.o. triplets last Sept. We rented a 2 bedroom suite from Homewood Suites which had a small kitchen and the two bedrooms and baths were divided by the living room where our trio slept in pack n plays. Your four could use sleeping bags on the floor of the living room. They had continental breakfast included in room package and we saved money on other meals by cooking in sometimes. This was in Cary but there is probably one in Raleigh as well. I don't recall the price off hand but it was very reasonable. Good luck!
I would reiterate, maybe a day trip to the beach, and focus on house hunting. As you also said, lots of stuff to do to occupy kiddos for a few days here.
Why would you subect yourselves to 4 hours round trip of driving on a given day before you did any local driving/house hunting?
I put 750 miles on a rental car in 3 days and never left Wake County on my first scouting trip here.
Not sure about a vacation home? But what about finding a hotel via Priceline? Or Hotels.com? or AAA (if you have a membership)?
In the past I've used the bidding for travel website to get a ballpark what rates folks are getting then used Priceline to bid on rooms.
When we were here last March for my husbands job interview we got a 3-star hotel for $40/night in Durham near Duke Univ. (taxes bump the final price a little, but not too bad).
Most hotels have 'fridges in the room, so toss some granola bars, milk/cereal and a few other staples in a cooler and you can at least do breakfast & snacks in the room which would save you on food.
Check restaurants.com to see if you can snag any discounts on meals if you are eating out when here.
For your folks/kids -- again check w/AAA for discounts. They often offer discounts on admission to museums, parks, etc. But sometimes you have to print out the offer ahead of time (you can't get it walk up at the door).
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