South Carolina or other Southern States suggestions
 

My wife and I are from Scotland and have been to US about a dozen times on holiday including NY City several times Boston and Cape Cod , California ( San Francisco and Santa Monica) and Florida twice . Thinking of going next time somewhere different , possible two centre holiday travelling between destinations probably by car but maybe flying if distance is big. Beach resort in South Carolina has always appealed esp one within easy reach of decent sized City to visit . Southern States in general appeal to me and I am a big fan of blues music so may even try to include a couple of nights in New Orleons (quite a distance away I know )
Our main interests are relaxing in a nice beach resort ( watersports a bonus ) shopping and sightseeing esp in Cities.
Any suggestions would be welcome , no definate dates as yet but as my next 3 holidays are Thailand (November) Austria (skiing January) and Maldives (Feb) . I think my next vacation after that will be back to the States. (Just realised we have been rather good to ourselves holiday wise recently ! )
We have enjoyed all the Cities in US we have visited esp NY and loved Cape Cod (Chatham).
We are both age 54 and budget not a problem within reason. Usually go to 4 or 5 star hotels. Best times of year to go would also be appreciated .

You may want to try exploring the South Carolina Low Country and Georgia's Coastal Empire. You could start in Charleston, SC and drive down the coast and end your trip in Savannah, Georgia. That would give you 2 mid-sized cities on each end of the trip and you could choose a beach resort area in between the two. There is lots of interesting history throughout the area.

Flying into Charleston and out of Savannah would be easy and you could rent a car, it's about a 2 hour drive between the two cities. Or you could do it in reverse, fly into Savannah and out of Charleston.

Thanks for your quick reply , that certainly sound like what I had in mind . Perhaps leave New Orleons for another vacation. Saw on another thread Kiawah island mentioned . Spoke to someone at work recently who had lived , worked and holidayed in US quite a lot and she mentioned some Island in South Carolina which she said was about the nicest place she had ever been ? does that sound like Kiawah ?

I have just been looking on the web and see Kiawah Island is described as a golf and beach resort . I dont play much golf , dont mind there being golf courses there but would hope it was not the overwhelmingly no. 1 activity in area or we may feel a bit out of things . I see it is good for tennis and kayaking which I enjoy but dont do too much of on holiday as it means leaving my wife on her own.

Could be. Kiawah is a beautiful, gated beach community. There are many nice coastal islands in SC. I like Kiawah a lot, but if it's your first visit to Charleston you might want to stay in the Historic District so you can easily access all the things that make Charleston special.

Just been looking at Weatherbase , May June or September look like good times to go . My wife and I like it hot . Coming from Scotland we get enough of mild/cool summers and want some heat on holiday . My wife though San Francisco was too cold in August ! Having said that we usually go to New York in December but that is mainly for Christmas shopping and the holiday atmosphere so a different kind of holiday.
As you can see i'm just starting to formulate ideas . This area is not marketed much in the UK so is relatively unknown compared with say Florida or New York

Right. We're not Florida or New York, and that's fine with me.

May, and June are great. September can be hot at the beginning of the month. It's also the high hurricane season. We haven't had to evacuate since 1998, but you never know. If you choose September, get trip insurance.

Take a look at this link:
http://www.charlestoncvb.com/visitors/

and let me know if you have questions. I live just outside of Charleston and I'm happy to help.

I will back up suewoo's comment about hurricanes. I live in the Hilton Head Island area (maybe that was the island your friend mentioned) and September is always a month to watch out for here when it comes to hurricanes.

If you perfer to have more peace of mind with the weather I'd say late April, May or early June would be a great time of year. Our hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30th with August & September being the more active months for storms.

We enjoyed our visit to Kiawah in May and it is very close to Charleston.

If you are interested in visiting New Orleans, you could go to the Panhandle beaches of Florida. Destin is too crowded for me but we do enjoy the Beaches of 30A outside of Destin. We stayed in the beachfront cottages at Seaside but Sandestin is a large resort that is closer to Destin.

Waterside has a hotel that is right next door to Seaside that looks very nice--it's not a resort though. Great beaches, great restaurants, a bike path. It is very nice to visit this area in the spring

The Carolinas are fine for May through mid-June and late-September through late-October. You may not like the high-summer heat in the Carolinas that dominates from mid-June to late-September. Most Carolina hurricanes take place in August and September but are not confined to those two months.

My family has been to Kiawah several times. None of us play golf (or tennis, or kayak). :) There is a golf course on the island, but it doesn't dominate if that's not your thing. The beach is great - not sparkling blue water like the Caribbean, but long, wide and flat. There's a development near the entrance to the island with a grocery store, several restaurants, a bank or two, etc.

The potential downside, depending on your preferences, is that there's not much to "do." It's not like Myrtle Beach or Destin, with lots of shops and restaurants right there. When we go, we usually stock up on groceries and cook simple meals most of the time, eating out a few times during the week.

Downtown Charleston is about 45 minutes away, so if the main goal is to see Charleston, Kiawah may not be a good choice for you (or you may want to add some nights in the historic district before or after).

As far as the weather - the water will be warmer in September, but I would also suggest trip insurance if you go that route. If you go before Memorial Day (last weekend in May) or after Labor Day (first weekend in September), you might get better rates on the beach part of your trip, since it will be "off season." You could do Charleston -> Kiawah -> Savannah -> New Orleans - that'd be a very nice trip.

I think I'd play your trip another way. I could fly into New Orleans the first weekend in May and catch the last weekend of Jazz Fest. Sounds like it is right up your alley. Spend a few days in New Orleans and then fly to either Charleston or Savannah and then split up your week between the two cities and the beach.

You might want to take a look at my trip report where we went to Charleston and Savannah; click on my name to find it. But I can't help you with resorts.

Go to Charleston and do your beach trip to Wild Dunes very nearby. You can do day trips to other places, or travel up the coast to Georgetown and Pawley's Island.
But there is PLENTY to do at Charleston.

You mentioned that you're open to driving between a couple destinations. I would suggest Wilmington, NC as a consideration, as there are beautiful beaches [Carolina Beach, Kurre Beach] great restaurants, intimate theatre options, a charming historic district, and lovely laid back riverfront walk. From Wilmington, it is a three and a half hr. drive to Charleston, which comes with a great deal of history and charm, and further south from there, Savannah is another two hr. drive.

Thanks for or your replies . Certainly gives me a better idea . I had not even thought about hurricanes so that is useful info .