grannylinda

We will be celebrating our 40th anniversary and are looking for suggestions as to some place special to go in April. We love to walk the beaches, hike, enjoy wildlife, watching the birds etc. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We have been to Ft Myers Beach, FL and love to walk the miles of beaches available and would love to find beaches similar to this.

nyer

Sounds like a nice trip plan, but Maine in April will be pretty unpleasant. Massachusetts would not be much better for what you are hoping to do. I'm sure people here can make suggestions for Florida or South Carolina

Lookin_Glass

If you could wait a month, Maine with the southern hard sand beaches and rocky coast would be a great place to stay. April is just too early in the season, unless you go late April/May in which you will get the first hint of spring colors which can be lovely. I think off season hiking and wildlife in Maine would be amazing. Push your dates a bit forward and you will have a home run of your wish list. Include a stop in Portland for some great restaurant scene and lovely ocean side parks.

Otherwise early April, I;d head south.

elvis100

Hmm You have nice trip plan..great! You can go St. Lucia an island of Saint Vincent..pleasant weather, beautiful scenic beauty!

LindainOhio

The Beaches of 30A on the panhandle of Florida are the prettiest beaches I have seen in the US and would be nice in April. Easter next year is April 21st. I would avoid the last 2 weeks of April. You would probably get the best deals after the first week of May.

We also have enjoyed Sanibel by Fort Myers and this year, for the first time, Anna Maria Island. I think you would enjoy any of these beaches.

Gretchen

The beaches outside of Charleston would be nice. Wild Dunes. And you would have Charleston to also enjoy. You might be there during one of their home tour times.
Seabrook or Kiawah would be spectacular also.

suewoo

The weather in Charleston in April is stunning and the gardens will all be in bloom. It's a popular time to visit, so you may want to book early.

Deb15July

Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island is lovely. Weather should be good in April but I would suggest early in the month to avoid spring breakers.

rizzo0904

I'd choose sc. Florida will be busy with school vacationers. New England will be wet and cool.

SusanMargaret

What about Sanibel or Captiva? Great beaches and wildlife. Could be very hot in April, though.

grannylinda

Thanks to all of you for your ideas, now we just have to make up our minds as to where to go.

thurstonbb

We love Hutchinson Island on the east coast of Florida. Great beach walking and not all built up. There are a lot of other great areas but you have to keep in mind spring break time lasts for weeks as schools break at different times.

thurstonbb

We love Maine and actually own in York Harbor, very southern Maine. BUT....April is certainly not prime time there as far as weather goes. Unless you can go later, like end of May/June, I would head south.

nlg

We love Hilton Head and go there several times a year. The beach is great for walking and bike riding. There are also many miles of bike paths if you enjoy riding. There are also many birds and turtles for watching. We have found many great seafood restaurants to try.

Gretchen

People who love HH LOVE it. I am not one of those. It is a huge sterile subdivision with exactly the same architecture everywhere that is near the sea in some places. it has little real "panache" to it. Actually, change that to "soul". A developer's dream come true.
Sorry, but for an anniversary, I would really like a bit of "soul". Just my opinion.
There are MANY places to "walk the beaches", etc. without sacrificing.

Deb15July

I agree with Gretchen...HH is not my favorite. It all depends on what vibe you are looking for.

OO

I saw your post on SPI and am not a fan of that in early April. It's a magnet for the spring break college crowd. And if you enjoy quiet, I wouldn't go to San Antonio during Fiesta either!

There have been lots of good suggestions here. Someone mentioned Charleston, and I'll toss in Savannah. A week's time would be perfect with a few days in each city. It's a couple hours easy drive between the two and both are romantic locations. That will be azalea season for both cities, and as such you have to make reservations early, but the beauty at that time of year is just incredible, with masses of azaleas blooming in all the squares in Savannah, and all around Charleston. These are city destinations (more like small towns in reality), but there are beaches close to both. Savannah has Tybee Island with its hard packed sand easy for walking. I'm not a huge Tybee fan, but the north end is OK. Charleston has several beach towns near it, again with the same hard lacked sand you find in Tybee. These are NOT the gorgeous FL beaches tho! Anyway, it's a beautiful time of year there from a temperature standpoint and the spring blooms, but too, both cities are very romantic. In both I would stay in their historic districts for the full experience. We lived in Savannah for 4 years and loved it for its gorgeous squares, but Charleston was our getaway with its terrific restaurants, better shopping (antiquing along King St), and equally beautiful (in a different way) historic district.

If you are set on beaches, then I'd look for someplace in FL. There are plenty that do not get the spring break college students, tho of course early April is high season simply because that's about the best month for FL...warm but not hot, water temp has just warmed up to swimming temp (St. Pete Beach south), little to no rain. Reservations need to be made early. I'd look around Sarasota, and/or funky little Anna Maria Island, Naples (more expensive but I love it there), or Sanibel Island. If you've been to Ft Myers Beach, you know it is loose sand (and gorgeous all along this stretch), but if you walk along the waters edge it's easy walking, especially as the tide recedes.

I wouldn't settle yet for the TX Coast...there are other, better options IMHO!

irishswampyankee

Actually, Easter 2013 is March 31, not Apr 21.

grannylinda

We just did Savannah and HH in April of this year so was looking for something different. I'm even going back to Savannah with some girlfriends in early May and we plan to go to Charleston in 2014. Had thought about the keys but there wouldn't really be nice sandy beaches for walking on.