Hoping to take my family of four (kids 12 & 15) to the beach for a long-overdue vacation. I've been out of work the last three years so we haven't had the money to do anything extra.

I have enough airline miles to get us where we need to go. We will be departing from the Dallas area and really don't want to spend all day flying somewhere. My wishes for a perfect trip:

A condo, house or hotel that had two bedrooms to separate the parents from the kids. I'd rather not get two hotel rooms unless necessary. A pool is nice when the water is rough or when we just want to relax.

A great beach with water we can play in. We've had two bad experiences with Destin and Gulf Shores due to riptides, rough water and jellyfish. I realize that we probably just had bad luck but we would really love to be less tense regarding the safety of our kids.

Sightseeing is not a big requirement. We would rather hang out at the beach and then go out to dinner so that we can maximize the time we spend with each other. It's been a hard few years and we need to experience some good times together.

Accommodations wise, cleanliness, safety and AC are a must. I'm not looking for someplace cheap but not the Ritz Carlton either. Where we stay is not as important as trying to get a handle on where to go at this point.

I realize that late July is not ideal but that is our only option. It will probably be 100 degrees (or more) in Dallas that time of year and hopefully our vacation spot will be at least 10 degrees cooler. More is better.

Thank you in advance for any direction that you can give me.

If you want something a little cooler than Florida, go for somewhere like St. Simons Island. There are B&Bs as well as hotel/motels all around the area. Another thought is even farther north, to the Chincoteague beaches of Virginia.

Of course, if you want to stay close to home, I'm sure you know about the entire Galveston area and its beaches. However, summer can bring jellyfish to almost any beach area along the Gulf. That's why I'm suggesting something a bit farther north and cooler too.

For a great inland vacation with a beach on a beautiful huge freshwater lake, try the Watts Bar Resort in Tennessee, or any number of other very nice places along the chain of TVA lakes. Personally, I like them better than the salt-water beaches, and the scenery around many of them is magnificent. Good luck.

Thank you! I'm going to check-out St. Simons and Virginia based upon your suggestion.

Gibbster, alot of folks on the Caribbean/Latin America board love the Akumal area of Mexico, about an hour south of Cancun. There are beautiful beachfront villas to rent, at very affordable prices. If you do a search on the Fodor's Carib/L.A. boards, for Akumal, you will find more information. I think Playa del Carmen and Cancun may be more built up than you'd like.

For a complete get-away-from-it-all location, would you consider the Out Island of the Bahamas? In particular, Eleuthera (where you'd rent a beachfront villa and an old jalopy for tooling around) or Abacos, especially Elbow Cay, which has a bit of shopping, dining, and is centered around boating. We went and rented a 16 foot powerboat for the week - snorkeled and fished and explored - your kids would love this, but it is a bit more expensive...

Here are two places we've stayed:

Eleuthera:
http://www.pinksandbeach.net/

Hopetown, Elbow Cay, Abaco:
http://www.hopetown.com/balihaicottage/

P.S. If these are out of your price range, keep searching on Eleuthera...there are some real bargains to be found there, villawise. Have a great vacation!

With kids that age, I'd suggest the St. Pete beaches. There's plenty to do for them, and plenty for you if you want a nice museum or some shopping. Busch Gardens and Adventure Island will be in full swing. Check out the Alden Resort or the Bonaire in St. Pete for suites. In Treasure Island, try the Best Western Sea Castle Suites.

Also on the Florida gulf coast check out Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Anna Maria, Lido Key, Ft. Myers Beach, Captiva, Sanibel.