I am dropping my daughter off in New Hampshire in Aug. and I will have 2 weeks to kill. I haven't seen the east coast so I would like some pointers on what to see that won't cost alot. I think renting a cabin ( just for1) on a beach where i can walk or walk into town and look around would be nice. Not a mad house kind of place, relaxing but people to watch and probably not further south than the Carolinas. How long is the drive from Hanover- Carolinas anyway? My guess is 2 days, am I close? Good places to eat that aren't too expensive. Any advice would be nice.
Thanks,
Lori

The trip from Hanover to the Carolinas will be around 14-16 hours. Beach rentals go quickly up and down the East Coast. Definitely start looking now. Beautiful beaches everywhere. The water will certainly get warmer as you head south. Good luck.

Cape Cod's beaches are really nice and there's a lot of interesting towns and nature walks to explore on the Cape. Would save you a lot of driving to the Carolinas!

You don't mention how much you want to spend but a cabin sounds like you might be looking for something not too expensive. I can't think of anywhere reasonable on the beach until you hit the coast of NC. Check out Topsail Beach for reasonably priced beach houses.

If it weren't for the long drive, I'd recommend Hilton Head Island, SC. But in this situation I'd stick with the northern states and spend more time enjoying the beaches instead of locked up in a car. Look up Cape May, NJ. No I'm not from NJ (grew up in VA) but my best friend is, and she goes there every year. NJ gets its share of abuse, but Cape May may be the sleepy beach town that you want. It is a postcard-quaint Victorian-style community fronting three miles of hard-packed, white-sand beach. Long considered one of the best birding sites in the world, Cape May is a stopover for robins and rarer species such as peregrine falcons and northern harriers. There's an asphalt boardwalk and plenty of bikeable back roads through rural farmland and nature refuges, and the beach itself is pounded by two- to three-foot waves. Pedal the town's quiet side streets for glimpses of the 600 houses on the National Historic Register. Or sign up for a guided birding walk with the Cape May Observatory. There are plenty of B&Bs and guest houses -- do a web search.

Outer Cape Cod. Eastham. Wellfleet, Orleans, Truro or Provincetown. Doesn't get any better than that.

Interesting question. Your title is Best Beaches on the East Coast. And you're starting in New Hampshire and you'll consider going as far south as the Carolinas in August and don't want a mad house.

Most NE beaches are going to be crowded at that time of year. The second thing to consider is hurricane season. I know several people who have had to evacuate from vacation hotels until the hurricanes passed around that time of year. I wouldn't prepay. Some other people here might want to comment on their experiences or you can post another question specifically about that.

I don't know where you are coming from or what you are accustomed to but the NE ocean is pretty cool in August. MA, NY and NJ. DE, MD and VA can even be cool for some folks. Have been to beaches in all those places and haven't been extremely impressed. Assateague, VA is a beautiful seashore but not much else in terms of development.Delaware is the best of the bunch I think for the combination of factors you are talking about.

They all have good enough family vacations if you want to sit on the beach with a book, pop in the water to cool off and poke around in tourist towns. Wouldn't call any of them the best beaches on the east coast though.

The water is warmer the further south you go from there of course. NC, SC, GA, FL. Outerbanks of NC, lovely and undeveloped but with more services. SC does have Hilton Head which is more than an ample beach with lots of development around it.

The answer about the best beaches is Florida of course but why drive so far?

I hear what Spunki is saying about Cape May but I find it really crowded at that time of year and not a lot of fun. Beach blanket up against beach blanket.

I think the answer might be MA or NY but not for the beaches per se.

You have me stumped will keep thinking.

kakalena

If you're looking to relax more than swim, try Maine. Some shore towns are over developed, but there is a lot of quiet areas, too. My favorite is Bailey Island, although there is no town to speak of. Brunswick is a great area with near by shore line, rocky but beautiful.

With Maine, you won't spend a lot of time on the road and have more time to enjoy yourself.

I love the Outer Banks in NC but it has gotten expensive, cottages for one are very rare and with gas prices, I'd stay in New England.

"Outerbanks of NC, lovely and undeveloped but with more services"

Yes. In 1980.

I agree you may be best off going further north. There will be some places not SO mobbed as areas further south and I think you would have a better chance of finding accommodations for one

In the NY/NJ area most beach houses are only for large famillies or groups and typically rent by the month or season. One area that might be an option without going too far south is Sag Harbor on Long Island. There are a couple of neighborhoods that have small, modest cottages for rent, and while the immediate beaches are bay only the drive to the ocean beaches is not too long. Natrually they'll be mobbed on weekends - but the weekdays should be fine. Also, you can take the CT/Long Island ferry - so the trip doesn;t require going all the way around through the city. That area of LI also has a lot of other things to do if you don;t want to/can't beach every day - wineries, Montauk Point, colonical historical areas etc.

Let me second Topsail Beach, NC as a fine place for a relaxing beach vacation. An oceanfront beach house for August can be had for as low as $ 1200 but $ 1450 is more realistic and you ought to act fast. Most of the island's realtors lower the rent a bit for the last two weeks of August as school is beginning for most families. The best rental agencies on Topsail Island are Ward's, Century 21 and Bryson's. You might be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the restaurants on Topsail. Though the traditional Carolina fried seafood and chicken restaurants are plentiful (eg. Breezeway), there are three New South cooking establishments which serve excellent food- Latitude 34, Beauchaine's II and Soundside. There's also a fine Italian restaurant called Pallotti's. Topsail is a 7 hour drive from Washington DC, 11 hours from New York so, what, 15 hours from Hanover, NH., so you'll have to take two days to get there. I think you will find it worth your while.

My guess is that logistics will finally determine your choice, but let me respond anyway, first by saying that getting both a beautiful beach and a town within walking distance is almost impossible -- if the town's that close, the beach isn't going to be spectacular. I wouldn't worry about hurricanes (other than to stay alert) -- just think of the probabilities involved, since it would have to be exactly that week in exactly that location.

Going north to south: Maine's coast is largely rocky until you get to the very southern end of it -- beautiful scenery, tiny beaches surrounded by rocks, frigid water. Would be my choice given your itinerary but will take a little work, probably with some realtors, to find your dream cabin. I love the Southport area and the Camden area.

The Cape is my heart's home although I don't get there often -- beaches on the "inside" of the arm are flatter, warmer if tide comes in over heated sands in the afternoon, can be built up. Beaches on the "outside" of the arm are more spectacular but finding rentals are trickier and expensive. You really can't walk to most of the towns, but they're quaint. Provincetown is an "event" like Key West -- interesting but you'll prefer staying south of there.

You might consider the Islands (Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard) because you might find what you want there, but it'll cost you more than a year's tuition IF you can even find anything at this point.

Long Island is built-up until you get to the very end, where you'll have to sell your entire family into slavery to afford it. Beautiful out there, though.

New Jersey's coast is, for some reason, a little grittier and sometimes even muddier in places, and usually very crowded. You don't generally go there for the scenery, although there are stretches that are ok, and Cape May is an interesting old Victorian town right on the beach. Atlantic City is Las Vegas east.

Maryland-Delaware share some popular beach towns and the common wisdom is that you want to stick to Rehoboth or Bethany Beach unless you want either the college crowd or the boardwalk-bumpercar kind of town, and even then, you may find it too crowded -- you don't go there for scenery. But at least the water's warmer there.

In VA, Chincoteague/Assateague is a nice area with some protected area, but development is encroaching and if you want to see what development means, cross the Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Virginia Beach, where you start to get to high-rise development.

North Carolina has an enormously long sea coast and some of it is beautiful; but from the Va. border to Duck it's all cookie-cutter McMansions that may or may not require an RV to get to. Duck is older but now built-up a fair amount; the shopping areas are the familiar collection of resort-town shoppee-poos, but the beach is nice.

The Kitty-Hawk/Nags Head area is an outstanding example of how not to develop a beach area -- a nightmare, IMHO, of pizza joints, yupscale restaurants, water parks (whah???), etc. But just south of there the National Seashore begins, and it's one of the prettiest stretches of shore in the country.

There are a few towns that used to be quaint and nicely isolated between Nags Head and Hatteras, but the McMansions have begun to pop-up down there, too.

So I'll end with my favorite area south of Truro/Wellfleet/Orleans, MA: Ocracoke Island. It's still mostly unspoiled (and beaches are therefore mostly unguarded), and/but there are no houses directly on the beach to keep it that way. But you can walk or bike everywhere. It's just VERY far from NH - whether you drive via Norfolk-Nags Head - Hatteras, or via I-95 out to New Bern to the Cedar Island ferry.

Check out Block Island, RI!

Everything on the east coast will be expensive and crowded in August.

The ideal you are trying to find has already been rented.

I wouldn't worry about hurricanes because they can and do hit anywhere on the east coast, Gulf of Mexico, blah, blah, blah.

I would try VRBO.com for the best deals.

Good luck and agree with previous posters that you should probably stay in the north east to avoid a long drive. Good luck!

Topsail Beach, NC is NEVER crowded and reservations can be had. As your are probably dropping your kid off in late August, reservations might actually be pretty easy to arrange. Topsail Beach is the sort of beach that you can set your chairs up on the beach, drink a beer and read a book and not be within forty yards of anyone else.

Topsail and Block Island are both great suggestions. Are you still there "pnltybox7"?

Cassandra: It was interesting to read your analyis of the entire East Coast. Most of it was the opposite of my opinion of those areas so I enjoyed it with a chuckle.
Thereforenltybox7 I hope you realize that we all have different perpectives on the Coast so you will have to read all suggestions with that in mind.

The best beaches on the east coast in August or on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Full variety of beaches and ocean from pounding Atlantic surf to mellower Nantucket sound. Historic towns, no traffic lights, no fast food--everything a beach vacation should be.

Pnlty:

Like Spunk I'd suggest Cape May, NJ. It is a town that has a Victorian touch. After visiting this beachtown you could take your car onto the Cape May/Lewes Ferry to Lewes, DE, which is about 3 miles north of Rehoboth Beach. I'd suggest visiting Rehoboth. It has a small boardwalk, and on Rehoboth Avenue there is a substantial shopping area that is fun to walk. There are also outlet shops on Route 1 (no sales tax in DE). I'd say my fav shop is the Sea Shell Shop about 4 blocks from the beach on Rehoboth Ave. or there is one on Route 1. I'd suggest Grotto Pizza for a good breakfast which is about 1-2 blocks from the boardwalk. If you want to enjoy any good beach time avoid Rehoboth Beach itself (except for say 7 a.m. -10 a.m., when the crowds are to heavy) and go to the parks ($5/day charge). Cape Henlopen is quite beautiful with its pines around a sandy surface, there is another state park you could go to between Rehoboth and Bethany that is so uncrowded it is surprising. When visiting Cape Henlopen in August we (Mom and I) viewed some porpoises off the coast. I'd also suggest going inland a little, about a mile or two inland if you go in August there is a wonderful selection of produce. People have roadside vegetable/fruit stands and sell delicious watermelons, berries, corn, the list goes on.

Even with all the comments here to jog my memory I can't think of a perfect solution for you. I can't think of anyplace in the Carolinas that would merit the drive. There are lots of good places but not exactly what you are looking for.

obyxgirl - You're right about the Outerbanks being developed per se. I was referring to some undeveloped areas that pnltybox7 might find there ie Cape Hatteras National Seashore. (Not Nags head etc.) Should have been more specific.

GoTravel - Again I was thinking about North Carolina, the Outerbanks, in reference to the hurricane evacuations, not the entire east coast. Sorry I wasn't more specific there either. Know three couples who took vacations there at that time of year (right before school starts) and were evacuated. They buy travel insurance now. Not blah, blah, blah when you've paid thousands of dollars for a rental and then you sit inland in another hotel (which you also pay for) waiting to return to vacation.

I've never been to Block Island RI

Good luck Lori!

Kakalena