My May fact finding trip to Raleigh is off. My hubby's business trip can't be moved and at the recommendation of the folks here on this board, I don't want to be there during the college graduations. So, next possible time for us both to be able to visit is the first week in July. Since that's our regular vacation week, we thought we'd spend 2-3 days in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill to check it out and then do the vacation part of the trip on the coast. From my research thus far I'd love to visit the Outer Banks. We are looking for quiet relaxation, beaches and wildlife, so I'm thinking a couple of days in Corolla. Since it's so expensive, 2 nights is all we'll be able to afford. My question is where else should we look at for our last 2 nights before driving back to Raleigh to fly home? I was researching New Bern and was interested in visiting Tryon Palace, but would we be within easy driving distance to other nice beaches/coastal areas. Or should we stay in the Morehead area. Also, we're trying to use some of my husbands Hilton Honors points for our hotel stays which further complicates things.....

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide!

I hope you like heat and humidity. I've about given up on going to fireworks shows here because I'm drenched in sweat by the end of the show (around 10:30 pm).

I think the Raliegh 7/4 fireworks show is at the fairgrounds. In Durham, probably at Wallace Wade Stadium (Duke football stadium) or at the Durham Bulls stadium. Chapel Hill hasn't had fireworks for a couple of years. At first it was do to renovations at Kenan Stadium (UNC football stadium) then a budget.

Corolla to New Bern would involve driving on a lot of backroads. I'm sure it can be done, but you might want to think about a beach on the "Crystal Coast". Beaufort is charming, B&B, no big-box store place. The museum there is the repository of artifacts from Blackbeard's ship, The Queen Anne's Revenge.

For a quick trip to the coast, most people in the Triangle head down I-40 to Wilmington area. Wilmington has the Battleship North Carolina and some lovely gardens

Just reading over my answer and I think I might have confused you some.

Beaches from the Triangle area are either going east on Highway 64, highway 70, or I-40 from Raleigh. The outerbanks (Corolla thru Ocracoke) are on the 64 route, The "Crystal coast" is on the 70 route (Beaufort trough around Emerald Isle) and I-40 for Kure (pronounced like Marie Curie) south to Myrtle Beach.

People usually pick desinations based on one of the highways.

New Bern is on highway 70 and is a lovely town. Tryon Palace is a great place to visit. It was the original governor's mansion during the colonial era. However, New Bern isn't the beach. It is on a river but doesn't have sandy shores. Morehead City is on the sound and in Morehead City you can cross a bridge over to the barrier island towns like Atlantic Beach. Ft. Macon (I think that's the name, it's at the end of the island, if you miss it, you're in the ocean) is also another place worth visiting.

If I were you, after sweltering in the Triangle, I would head down highway 70 to Beaufort and visit Morehead City, Atlantic Beach. On the way back I would stop in New Bern.

I agree with ncgrrl's advice. The Outer Banks / Corolla area is lovely, but the travel from Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill is across the top of the state, on Hwy. 64 (read two-lane most of the way...) through some not especially attractive towns and scenery. If I remember correctly, it takes 5 hours or so from Chapel Hill, my alma mater. Going towards the southern beaches is much more efficient, time-wise. From Raleigh, you can be in Wilmington in about 2.5 hours on I-40. Just north of Wilmington (20 or so miles) is a collection of beaches on Topsail Island. It's pretty undeveloped (only a few condo complexes), quiet, some good restaurants, and nice beaches to walk, relax on, and search for shells. My family has been going to North Topsail for years. This area is Hurricane Central, however, most of the hurricane activity has been in August and September. New Bern is about 1 hour away, and is a charming town to visit. Enjoy NC!

Thanks ncgrrl for all the info - you also gave me many great ideas for the Raleigh area in my original post a couple of weeks ago.

I do like the heat, it's the humidity that's the killer. Even though we're from Boston, we get our fair share of heat and humidity during our summers. However, our waters are still pretty darn chilly in July and Aug, so I might take a quick dip, but that's about it!

As I mentioned, with our fact finding trip to Raleigh being out for May, I'm trying to combine that with a few days of r&r and thought that somewhere on the NC coast would be a great choice. We figure we'll fly down on July 5th, stay in the Raleigh area for 3 days or so to get a feel for the area (and see if I like it enough for us to consider relocating) and then use the rest of the time relaxing; we'd fly back home on July 13th.

Of course it's hard to tell by looking at road maps how long it 'really' takes to get to a particular destination (i.e. the Outer Banks).

I was steering away from Wilmington only because I figured that would be a very busy area. We really are looking for peace and quiet away from crowds and congestion (we live in that every day up here!).

Thanks Sugarplum - I'll look into the Topsail area as well. Where we have a limited amount of time and we are on vacation, I don't want to spend the whole time driving! The NC coast is so large, it's been really difficult to pick an area to focus on visiting.

Originally we thought we could stay in Corolla for 5 or 6 nights, but it's too expensive, that's why my husband said maybe a few days there and then a few days further south, but if the beaches and surrounding towns are just as lovely further south, I'll look into that. Especially since we'll be driving back to Raleigh to fly out on Sunday, July 13th.

Thanks again for all of your help. Appreciate it!

The joys of living in a college include students leaving for the summer. So if Chapel Hill is a possibility of a relocation site, take it into consideration when visiting.

Chapel Hill is about 1/5th the size of Raleigh and about the same number of college students so the students are more noticed. If you move to Raleigh and are not affiliated with any of the schools, I wouldn't want to live too close to NCSU. Brent Road is known for its back to school party at the end of August. The everyday residents are sick and tired of the party and are doing their best to get rid of the partiers, but once a party is known, it is hard to kill off.

For the relaxing beach vacation, Topsail is a good choice. You might want to look at Holden Beach too. It's mostly 1960's home (not mansions) and very family oriented. I would think any of the rental agents could help with your preferences. Outside of Wilmington there isn't much nightlife on the southern coast.

Yes, ncgrrl, having lived in Boston my entire life in and around a university/college concentrated area, it does indeed pose certain challenges during certain times of the year. Even in the outskirts, certain areas here are full of rentals occupied by students where you would not want to be. So, yes, we realize in our tour of the Raleigh/Durham area to take that into consideration. Of course much of it depends on where my husband and I would end up working. He's a technical sales engineer and I'm an hr consultant, so pretty much any industry is a possibility. Unfortunately your economy is about as bad as ours right now, so we know it may be a while before the economy picks up for all of us.

We'll be in Raleigh from July 5th for 3 days. Probably do a lot of driving to see the entire area and check out the neighborhoods to see what area peaks our interest the most. Also need to find out where the best healthcare facilities would be located.

Then the remaining 5 days to be spent relaxing! OK, now I believe we will scratch the Outer Banks - in looking at the map closer and seeing your post as well as Sugarplum's, I'm looking further into Morehead and the New Bern area and the Wilmington area. So if we stayed in Wilmington, how easy is it to get to the beach, and is there public parking? Same deal with staying in Morehead City or New Bern, how easy would it be for us to get to the beach and which ones in both areas do you recommend? We're thinking we should stay in one spot for those remaining 5 nights before driving back to Raleigh to fly home. Again, a quiet beach location, historical sites (i.e. Tryon Palace) and gardens would be of interest to us.

We're trying to use my hubby's Hilton Honors points for staying in a hotel and the Hampton Inn and Suites/Wrightsville beach looks pretty nice. I know it's not on the beach, so that's why I'm asking about proximity to the beaches and availability to the public.

Thanks again for all of your help!! Much appreciated!