Recommendation: Beachfront in VA or MD walking distance to quaint downtown
 

My husband and I would like to take a vacation in September with a 2.5 year old. We had a great time in Rehoboth Beach, DE in May, but want to head for warmer waters this time. We were going to go back to Sandbridge Beach, VA, but my husband is dreading the lack of a walkable "downtown" area, as this can serve as a great passtime for us and bored toddler. We'd love to be in a situation like Rehoboth when we were in a hotel that was a half a block to the beach and also located in the downtown. We live in Philadelphia and would prefer to avoid a plane trip. We're fine with a hotel or a house rental. We'd be grateful for suggestions!

I was gonna say oceanfront in Virginia Beach but "quaint" (and certainly like Rehoboth) it is not.

How much of a "downtown" do you require (I am thinking of an Outer Banks location as I ask this and YES you can drive there if you can drive to below Virginia Beach, and the water in September will still be good and the crowds gone)?

The bored toddler won't REMEMBER any boredom I would hope, Mom.

How about someplace like Chincoteague, VA or maybe St. Michael's, MD?

I don't think St Michaels has a real beach, though it has waterfront and a charming downtown in spades. Ditto Oxford and Easton, otherwise delightful.

But I could be wrong.

Thanks! We loved St. Michaels, but definitely want some beach for this one. I was considering OBX and Chincoteague. I will look into them further.

It's 500 miles plus or minus 30 from Philadelphia to Atlantic Beach NC (8.5 hours). If the ocean is too rough, there is a nice sound on the other side which is protected.
If the weather is good, you can take the Cedar Island ferry over to Ocracoke and come home by way of the Outer Banks.

Debwa, would you mind telling us all the other beaches you have <B>already been to</B> so we are not wasting your time or ours wracking our brains for suggestions only to be told "we've already been there?" This is simply RUDE.

The big problem I see is that you want to go to a beach in MD, DE or VA and yet you expect the water temperature to be warmer than in Rehoboth. It won't. The water termp is going to be about the same unless you go farther south.

I just don't understand this at all, why would you expect the water temp to be different in the same basic area? take a look at this https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/catl.html

So it's going to be in the 70s in September in the entire area. It gets 5-10 degrees warmer if you get to at least NC down to Florida.

Debwa, I don't think you can beat Rehoboth or Dewey or Bethany Beach. Rehoboth just has so much charm with the boardwalk and the town itself. Sept would be a bit quieter and the water might be a bit cold but with the weather you all have been having who can say. Your not rude btw. Ignore that grumpy old man.

I'll just echo, as someone who has been many times to Rehobeth, Bethany, and OBX that there isn't a difference in water temperature going to VA or NC. And Bethany and Rehobeth fit the bill for charming way more than someplace in OBX, but if you want something with at least a little bit of "town" feel, Duck, NC is the popular OBX family beach.

<i>I'll just echo, as someone who has been many times to Rehobeth, Bethany, and OBX that there isn't a difference in water temperature going to VA or NC.hed to it, charming or otherwise.</i>

Agreed.

The charm of the Outer Banks, despite overreaching development remains more about the beach than it does about towns, walkable or otherwise and the entertainment quotient for bored toddlers and/or husbands. If Sandbridge didn't meet your needs, most of the OBX won't either.