baoze

I am traveling with my husband and brother to Chapell Hill, NC to attend a wedding at the beg of August. We decided to spend a few days on the beach while we are there. We only have 3 nights total, so it should not be farther than 3 hours away.

Here is what we are looking for:
- Beautiful beach with option to boogie board
- No boardwalk, no commercialism
- Nice restaurants, maybe a beach bar or two
- An area with character, historic

My friend recommended Wrightsville Beach, but I am having a hard time finding accomodation there on short notice. It would be nice to have a suite, so that we can have separate sleeping quarters. I found one in our budget at the Hilton Garden Inn outside of Wilmington, which is 2 miles from the beach. But I am worried that we will always have the car problem there.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for beaches and/or accomodations?

Thank you so much!

Gretchen

Wrightsville would be the place, and yes, it is hard to find short term accomodation in August. Look at Kure.
You may have found what is available.

GeorgeW

Topsail Beach, NC. Right down Route 40 thru Route 17. Call Ward Realty or Century 21 or look at their web sites.

ncgrrl

Wrightsville is a great suggestion. I think there is a Holiday Inn Sunspree and the Blockade Runner as the big hotels. In Wilmington, there are a good number of hotels, but most are not on the water. You might want to look at Southport or Brunswick County if Wrightsville doesn't work out.

Do you have your Chapel Hill hotel? The beginning of August is when students start returning (those with apartments). Traffic is a bit crazy the weekends the students move back to town.

Congratulations to the happy couple.

cmcfong

Shell Island is a suite accomodation at Wrightsville. I understand the Blockade Runner is closing to be reopened as some kind of condo or fractional share.

Be sure and do a search on Wilmington on this site. There are some great restaurants in the area and a lovely historic downtown section.

Enjoy your visit and welcome to North Carolina!

Gretchen

I would have also suggested Sunspree but I sort of read "our budget" to mean maybe not.
I wonder if there aren't some motels at Kure Beach--and what is the next one down.
Even Ocean Isle wouldn't be too far--motels there.

cmcfong

Actually I prefer the Sunspree, too, but there was a mention of wanting suites.

HKP

Have gone to Surf Suites for many years -- you'll either have to have someone sleep in the living room (sofa bed) or rent two rooms, but all have nice kitchenette and a balcony with view of ocean. Best restaurant for crab cakes and sunset watching is right next door (they have tables on dock in good weather -- watch the sunrise). They book up fast, but maybe you can grab your 3 nights.

http://www.thesurfsuites.com/

I much prefer it to the gigantic but moldy-oldy Blockade Runner.

cfc

Shhh, HKP, don't want anyone else to know about that place, nor the Oceanic....

baoze

Thank you all for your responses. Apologies for not writing earlier, but I just recently moved to China (!) and am still trying to settle in while I do our vacation planning!

Ok, so I am currently running searches on Kure, Topsail, and Surf Suites on Wrightsville Beach. I will collect information/prices and compare. Will we find nice restaurants or places to get a drink in the evenings in all? What about boogie boarding? This is hard, as I have no clue about the beaches down there! Thanks so much for your help!!!

ps- Thanks for the heads up on the traffic - we do have accomodations in Chapell Hill and will be driving during the week, so I am hoping that it won't be so bad!

Gretchen

The beaches at Wilmington are among the best for surfing so you should be covered there. And there are MAnY good places to eat and drink.

Gretchen

I should add "surfing in NC". We aren't Hawaii here!!

cmcfong

China? That's fantastic.

Some restaurant suggestions:
NOFO for lunch
PortLand Grille-dinner
Jerry's-dinner

Have a great time!