Honestly, for the contributors here to be of much help you have to define what "Affordable" means to you. That terms means different things to different people.

If you want to take a driving trip would you be content to stay in basic places like Motel 6 or other budget chains? Doing so will go a long way to making your trip "affordable" and you can probable find that level of accommodation almost anywhere although you might have to compromise a bit on "location" of the motel/hotel in relation to the beach (assuming you want a beach orientation vacation). Same for foods, if you are content with dining in fast food places and the lower priced chain restaurants your destinations are endless.

Also, how far are you willing to travel from Long Island? Figure you can easily drive around 400 to 500 in a typical 8 to 10 hour day of driving. Look at Google Maps or Mapquest and see what areas are within the allotted drive time that you have.

Now for some general places that are within an day's drive of Long Island:

1) The Jersey Shore
2) Mystic Connecticut area
3) Delaware Seashore
4) Virginia Beach
5) Finger Lakes area of NY State
6) Poconos
7) Catskills
8) Parts of Vermont
9) Parts of New Hampshire
10) Cape Cod

Really, the possibilities are endless.

You live on Long Island - with some of the greatest beaches in the world - and you want to go on a driving trip to the midwest to go to the beach? They don't even have an ocean!

Heading anyplace up the coast would be a much better choice - Cape Cod or Maine or?? Or if you want mountains head to the Adirondacks.

And agree that you need to tell us what you consider "affordable".

Cooperstown, NY
New Preston, CT
SpringLake, NJ
West Harwich, Cape Cod, MA
Chatham, C. Cod, MA
Ogunquit, Maine
Madison, CT
Lambertville, NJ-New Hope, PA.
Provincetown, MA
Wellfleet, MA

A friend of my husband's, who was in Vietnam, said St Louis in August was worse than Vietnam. I'm from St Louis - it's beautiful in April, May and Sept, Oct. My bro-in-law got married in St Louis in August - 98 degrees at 10 pm with probably 90% humidity.

If you want beaches and nature - you should consider the Outer Banks of North Carolina. www.outerbanks.org/outerbanks-beaches-parks-and-wildlife/

Thanks everybody for your replies.

My budget for the hotel is around $75 per day as we will spend less time in hotel so we dont wanna pay alot for it. For dining, I will say our daily budget is around $100-120.

I was searching for different places and i got interested in New England. However, I am still open to go to any other place too. ROAMSAROUND and 330EAST, thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely look into them.

Actually we want to go to such a place that if 1 day we spend on a beach, the next day we travel to a natural scenic place and third day to a completely different kind of place. So I have no problem in staying 3 different places in 3 days if they are within 1-2 hrs of drive.

To NYTRAVELER,

Yeah I know, its really funny

Actually we want to DRIVE and explore some new places other than NY during the week while we will probably gonna go to some of the Long Island beach that weekend.

Thanks for ur suggestions too

And thanks KATHIE for ur suggestions too!

lol You're welcome

I vote for mid-coast Maine with a stop in Portland for lunch at Duckfat and maybe a mailboat ride around Casco Bay to get an idea of what it's like to commute from the islands.
Look at the smaller towns for lodging. You can visit Camden but it would be too expensive to stay there. When choosing lodging, consider a place that provides coffee and has a comfortable place for a take-out dinner. Consider stopping at a farmers market for homemade breads and pastries. Brunswick ME has a great market on Fridays. We'll have a lobster lunch but a budget breakfast and dinner.
Travel back to NY via NH's White Mountains (about an hour from Portland ME).
If you travel south to Concord NH and then west to Keene/Brattleboro VT you can then take I91 south thru western MA. Pretty country. Brattleboro VT has a great farmers market on Saturday's with a couple of ethnic food places so it would be a good lunch stop.
Most beaches south of Portland are sandy. North of Portland they tend to be rocky.
We usually camp when we go to Maine but are planning a week at some rustic cottages near Bath. DH booked them. Might be too rustic for some people. If you look hard enough, you can find some nature preserves where you can enjoy a tiny beach with very few other people. Carry bag chairs and picnic supplies in your car. Read posts on Chowhound.com for tips on great places to eat that don't cost a fortune.

If you can find a reasonable airfare to Denver, Colorado - go for it and rent a car and drive around that beautiful state - or the same goes for Salt Lake City and the Canyons of Utah, or Phoenix and getting to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, etc.

Get out West where the scenery is incredible. You can get up to Maine anytime from NY.

Thanks dfrostnh for ur detail reply. It is really helpful and informative. Now I am seriously thinking of visiting that part of New England.

I am thinking to stay close to the beach in Maine (south of Portland because i like sandy beaches) for 2 days and then stay in white mountain area for 2-3 days.

Does anybody know any other interesting place that we may see on our way back to NY?

thanks Tomsd for ur reply. That part of the USA will definitely be my next trip but for now, we just wanna enjoy the last days of summer in some mild weather place. I think these cities might be too warm for august....