Julie

My fiance and I are potentially interested in trying to rent a small vacation home (reasonably-priced, but w/out being rustic) somewhere along the east coast, and preferrably waterfront. We are not interested in a unit within a complex--ideally we'd like to be somewhere that is not within close distance of other houses. The perfect location would be near enough to a small city or town to have a decent selection of restaurants, groceries, etc, nearby. We'd prefer somewhere in the mid-atlantic region, southern New England, or perhaps in North Carolina, but we definitely want to stay away from overly touristy areas. Close proximity to hiking/biking trails would also be ideal. Does anyone have suggstions for where we might look? I'm not sure where to begin. Thanks

outer

Parts of the Outer Banks of NC would fit your needs.

xxx

Smith Mountain Lake in southwest Virginia is a very nice area if you're willing to consider lakeside as opposed to oceanside. Lots of nice cottages or houseboats available for rent.

George

Outer probably has the best suggestion. The Outer Banks off-season starts around mid-September. There is no cheap ocean/waterfront on the east coast from N Carolina north. Much, if not most, of the area you desire uses a shoulder season into the fall, and there's no precipitous rate-drop after Labor Day.

That said, the five of us (3 generations) have rented an oceanfront 3-BR detached house for the 3rd week in Sept., on the S. side of Nags Head. First-time there for us. And it was half the summer price.

xxx

Smith Mountain Lake? Try Beaufort North or South Carolina (both states have quaint waterfront towns named Beaufort).

Ann

Try Long Beach, North Carolina. It's in the southern part of the state, very near South Carolina.

Theresa

I just returned from a Rhode Island trip. There are some nice houses (without being huge and grandio) on Block Island and also in Jamestown and Newport.

Theresa

diane

You might like the Deep Creek Lake area of western Maryland. It's a large lake with lots of shorelione, and it's in a wooded, mountainous area with lots of hiking nearby. They also ski there in the winter.

cd

Julie
The Outer Banks is quite nice. Nags Head is more crowded but as you drive south toward Ocacoke it becomes less crowded. Long Beach, as suggested above, is very nice. Whether in Long Beach or Outer Banks, select a home(on stilts) directly on the beach with a wooden walkway from your back porch to the beach. I say this because sometimes there are sand dunes between your rental and the water. If interested any search engine will give you websites of realtors who handle the properties.

vealover

My first and foremost suggestion is Hilton Head, SC. It's got pretty much everything you require. I would also vehemently suggest you stay in Sea Pines Plantation. It's the priciest, but it's also the most well maintained. The bike trails are nice and smooth, there's no litter to be seen, the beach is pretty private compared to places like Myrtle, Va. Beach, etc. If you rent a house on the beach, it's usually very private. There's lots of golfing, wonderful outlet shopping, about 20 mins. away, and very good seafood. If you're interested, check out Island rentals. We've rented from them about 10 times and the properties are always as described and always clean, etc. And on the rare occasion that something was wrong, they came and fixed it immediately. I just adore Hilton Head. Oh, and there's a nature preserve in Sea Pines as well.

sam

There's a lovely little town on the Delmarva peninsula called Onancock. It's great and it's about 1&1/2 hours from Ocean City and it's also near Chincoteague and Assateague (wild ponies). Nice, very nice.

Ken

How does one "vehemently suggest" something?