My partner and I are looking for a six-night vacation away from land-locked Indianapolis and thought we'd go east as the crow flies to Virginia or thereabouts. We have about 1,000 dollars total to spend on gas, hotel, meals and other recreation. We're interested in the beach, good food, cute shops and maybe other attractions. Our main goal is to relax. We're not into bar-hopping. We are two women. We thought we'd try hotwire for a cheap hotel. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Beach vacation ideas due east of Indianapolis?
Recent Activity
View all United States activity »
- 1 hotel in carmel or monterey
- 2 Las vegas hotels--can't make up my mind, help!
- 3 Marcola?
- 4 One day in NYC
- 5 Cast Party at Birdland Monday nights
- 6 Cape Cod, Nuntucket or Martha's Vineyard
- 7 Chicago Architectural Tours
- 8
Updates from Hanalei
- 9 Best Art Museum to visit for first time visitors to DC
- 10 Going to Dodge City, Kansas
- 11 Columbus food !
- 12 Hotels in New Orleans
- 13 Reasonably priced seafood/steak restaurant near the strip in Las Vegas?
- 14 A trip to east coast vs a trip to Hawaii
- 15 10 day Hawaii Vacations
- 16 San Francisco - Exploratorium
- 17
New York, New York...my kind of town
- 18 Logan Express
- 19 Great Beach's
- 20 Charleston, SC and Wild Dunes
- 21 National Parks?
- 22 Death Valley in November
- 23 Hotels in NYC 26th-29th August (2013)
- 24 Blue ridge parkway
- 25 Minnesota State Fair



(I should add that we don't want to go to Michigan. Been there, done that ...)
I wouldn't go due east but southeast. I think you could be at the NC coast in about 11 hours.
Look around Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach/Kure Beach.
Depends on the time of year whether your budget will handle it.
There are the lakes down around Knoxville. No surf, but big water.
East "as the crow flies" looks more like NJ than VA. What about Cape May? (Not remotely like Jersey Shore!) Also the eastern part of Long Island, NY - but not sure that would fit in your budget...
How about the Outer Banks? You can check Trip Advisor for budget hotels. We like Nags Head, south Nags Head, no matter where you stay, driving down and taking the free ferry over to Ocracoke is a fun day. You could also check vrbo.com
You can get a condo/apartment in Ocean City, NJ for <$900/week (or some places charge by the night and will give you 6 nights). We like to use Berger Realty but check other companies to.
There is a beach, boardwalk, and lots of shops and restaurants; you can cook for yourself and save money on meals -- just load the pantry into the car when you set out. Ocean City is a dry town -- no bars, no booze in restaurants, but ok to bring bottled alcohol into your rooms. No partying to speak of -- it is nothing like the tv show.
You could save money on lodging by staying on the mainland, say in Somers Point, NJ. There are small hotels, some with kitchenettes, for <$100/night. The drawback is you'd have to drive to the beach/boardwalk and search for parking each day, instead of walking. But parking should be ok if you get there early enough, and there are public beachhouses with showers and lockers.
Wildwood, NJ, south of OC, might have more choices for less expensive (small) apartments. There is more of a college student vibe than OC, but plenty for non-bar hoppers to enjoy.
Cape May is more a B&B type of place, with no boardwalk and no partying to speak of. I'm not sure you could manage it with your budget, but it might be worth checking.
Chincoteague Island, VA - http://www.chincoteague.com/
november_moon had a great trip report!