FALL 2012: It's here and presents many wonderful suggestions. The air is comfortable; as most kids are back in school the crowds have diminished and many resorts have cut their rates to off season.

This is a mirror copy of the main eastcoast vacation site at http://eastcoastvacation.biz/. If this catches your attention, please visit the main site for much more information.

NORTH EAST: Fall Foilage will be a major attraction, starting up in VT and moving south. While there's not as much foilage in the Cape Cod area, it's a wonderful time to visit. See CAPE COD on the left or Click here. While there, a quick trip into BOSTON provides a great vacation with culture and history.

MID ATLANIC AREA: We could think of the Jersey shore, but on south and as we have stressed before, Williamsburg remains a constant favorite. History, golf, access to the beach at Va Beach. Hotels are nice for amenities such as room service, spas, etc. but if you are still family vacationing, there's tons of condos for rent.

NEAR SOUTH AREA: and we tink of the gloires of Myrtle Beach, Charleston, and the entire barrier island area.  Charleston is best thought of possibly for the history, touring the plantations, but as we get to the Myrtle Beach Area, one can not help but think "golf". Again, the crowds are gone and as the temerperature moderates, one can play all day without having to vacate the links by noon due to heat. Check it out in detail. Check out Golf Information central to the left.

While moving toward the south, don't forget Savannah. Still plenty of golf, but also history, great tours, and some wonderful seafood and other delicacies. Think about one of the islands like Tybee to experience beaches, etc.

FAR SOUTH on the East Coast: We'd define this as starting at the Fl line, and while we've featured it again, as we've been going there for over15 years, we still love and recommend Ameila Island just across the  Ga border and before you get to Jacksonville.   Jacksonsville, if you continue is a very hustling, bustling, busy town. Not known so much for its vacation destination, there's still plenty to see and do. Military buffs will find bases to visit, and if elgible, plenty of military accomodations as so much of the PCS season is over.

Just a little south of JAX one encounters the fantastic St Augustine, well worth a couple of days at least.. or more. Don't forget the winery.   Moving south you come to I-4 leading you directly to ORLANDO and "the attractions", but that's not truly an east coast vacation. While Orlando as a city offers much, the main thing is the attractions such as Disney, Universal, and Seaworld.

If you stay on I-95 (US 1 provides a bit more interesting drive if ou are not in a hurry), you come to two places: Daytona  and Daytona Beach and again, it's IDEAL to visit this time of year. Heat is down and so are the crowds. But you drive under an overpass marked "PGA Blvd". What would this suggest?  Naturaly! Think Golf.

Now it's getting warmer! Water is still great and surf it up. Another hour drive south to the signs for Cocoa Beach and this is the location of the world famous RonJOn surf shop, and the reason: Many people still say the surfing at this site is some of the best on the east coast.

Going a little further south, plan a stop in Miami and visit Vizcaya if you have not all ready done so.  But before  you get there, stop at West Palm Beach and see the "railroad museum" which is nothing about the railroad at all. It's also known as the Flagler Museum and again.. it's not a museum but the house Henry built for is wife (and himself). If you are staying over a weekend and have a large budget, plan to take in the Sunday brunch at the breakers!  For most of us, it's a once in a lifetime experience. But then keep going to the Vixcaya.. and see this link: (http://www.vizcayamuseum.org/  ). You'll think you ended up in Italy.. and it's very inexpensive.

Then truck on down to the Keys. Key Largo is first and has some great seafood and scuba diving as well as spectacular sunsets.. and you don't have to go all the way down to Key West.. but even that and the museums, including the shipwrecks are worth it. Enjoy!

Again, this is an extract of the main east coast vacation site at http://eastcoastvacation.biz/

Be sure and visit it for much more information on East Coast Vacations.

 

East Coast Vacations: NC SC State Line and Great new ideas near Myrtle Beach

A great idea and place for those wanting a day drive or less from about any place on or near the east coast.. including inland as far as Pittsburgh. We know, because we have done it!  And we discovered it almost by accident. (tell you about that near the end after you read what you want to know for a great east coast vacation!)

The surprise great east coast vacation destination is (drum roll please).......... CALABASH, N.C.

With a name like that, what can your expectations be? ? ?

Well, they can be first for a laid back, economical, not great crowds location central to

• Terrific beaches
• Wonderful golf
• Fantastic seafood
• Deep Sea fishing
• Major tourist things to do like Riplely Theater, Dolly Parton adventure, more, more more
• Navy base and battleship tour

OK... let's set some ground rules for the selection of Calabash. Essentially these rules or expectations would define a location that would offer diversity in things to do.  If one wants an very focused single point such as beach or boardwalk, then one might want to move a bit farther south to Myrtle Beach

We chose Calabash because we did NOT want the high rises, etc, but instead, we wanted a bit more quiet and seclusion and lower costs. We found this here. You really need to visit their web site to get a feel for this small town. First, there ARE nice beaches locally.  There ARE some great smaller, family owned restaurants. There IS some nice shopping, with a focus in one area a "county type store, a Christmas oriented store" and other  small town places like this. And as to hotels, why stay at a hotel in the area when you can have an entire condo such as the condos available at Calabash.  Actually, that's how we came to find this. We have "points" with a major time share company and we started out really wanting Myrtle Beach, but we found that no accommodations were available.  Being ex military, we knew about Armed Forces Vacation Club offerings, and we turned to this resource.  If you are active or retired military and don't know about it, it's worth while checking out. We did, and while no accommodations were available in Myrtle for the time we wanted them, they suggested Calabash. We reluctantly accepted. And as we got there and stayed, we were totally pleased.

So.. other than having a nice condo which includes pool and the local things, what's the big deal? How do you plan a nice vacation on the North Carolina and South Carolina state line?

First, if you like to golf, you have local golfing right there are Calabash without much of the waiting and  costs of Myrtle Beach, but if your heart is set on Myrtle Beach, your concierge can arrange tee times, transportation, and virtually anything else having to do with golf.

But your family is intent on the beach. You know that you want a place where you might be easily able to change clothes, get into shade, get a cold drink, etc.  You must plan for this unless you have a beach side hotel. This is nice, but expensive and hard to come by, but there are public beaches in the area that offer these amenities. In fact, there's a whole lot of them.  Myrtle Beach per se has few, and if you are a public beach goer, you'll need to do a little research. You can start at this blog site and use the links to Myrtle, or you can use  your favorite search engine. Locally, if you are staying at a Condo resort, your concierge person can guide you. The point is that you have many choices if you are willing to get into your car and travel 15 minutes or so. Ask about parking when you go. This is NOT uncommon along the East Coast. In our area where we live near world famous Cocoa Beach, unless you are staying at a high rise right on the shore, you'll be driving to your beach. Daytona Beach is a fine example.

So, Calabash gives you access to great golf and great beaches. But you want more, so again, from Calabash you are mere minutes drive away from the many Myrtle Beach attractions. One is a  "semin amusement park" that has theatres such as Ripleys, an Imax, and many other attractions. If you are tired of being outdoors and being beat down on by hot sun, or if you have a rainy day, you have these choices. We liked the Dolly Parton Dinner Theater and found it to be a blast.

Time again for a change, and this time looking north and spending about an hour or so in the car, as we head to Wilmington, NC. Again, so much to do in a short day trip or two. History buff? Check out Cape Fear.
Your writer is sorta a military nut and has a fascination for large military ships. Wilmington has one of the few surviving battleships you can tour and you can read about it here.

While there's all kind of military history and aviation history in NC starting with Kitty Hawk, we wanted to limit this posting to a day trip, "out and back" for Calabash, so that's  why you are not being given more links.
But here is one more for this awesome battleship. 

Another day trip, or a destination that could be the place to stay by itself for a more focused (but probably more expensive vacation) is Bald Head Island, NC.  This is truly a great place to visit, and the highlite of our visit to Bald Head Island, NC is the visit to the Bald Head Island Lighthouse. Clicking HERE will take you to a virtual tour of "Old Baldy".   As you drive up from Calabash, you'll get there and park your car, then purchase your tickets for the round trip ferry boat ride.. a pleasant 15 minute or so jaunt. While you can buy food at the marina and other places on Bald Head Island, you can also take a cooler with your own sandwiches.  It's easier to buy.   Head for the light house and plan on taking the steps to the top if your endurance and physical condition allows. Be sure and have your camera with either plenty of film or memory space in your digital camera. If you have a telephoto lens, take it.

When you come back down,  you can rent a bike (or bikes) for an island tour. Most of the beaches are on private property, so you don't really come to Bald Head Island for your beach experience.  While touring the island, you may run into a celebrity as many own these million dollar plus homes. Our last interest was to see the vacation home of Bill Cowher as we were Pittsburghers and had heard he was building here. We don't know for sure and "locals" protect the privacy of the owners, so don't have overly high expectations.

Well, this post has gone on long enough, and hopefully if you found this via a search for East Coast Vacations you have been happy with the content. If you go, we hope you are even happier with your experiences and invite you to return to this blog and leave comments.

Mid July and it's hot in Fla!

Mid July "plus" and it's really been hot on the East Coast of Fl. And as this post goes up Jul 23rd,  the 1st threat of a hurricane has come and passed, but it has brought really high tide. We were at the beach today at Cocoa Beach and waves are running 4 ft. Not bad for surfing and the guys at the Ron John surf shop love it. It's kept the life guards really busy however with rip tide currents. Only the most experienced swimmers should be in the water at times like this.  Just to the north in the Daytona Beach area where you're allowed to drive on the beach, I'm sorry to share that a 4 year old toddler ran out from the parking area into the driving area and was killed.

Your East Coast vacation might really be more enjoyed staying a bit farther north where it's not so hot.  As to East Coast golf.. if you're going to do it, get up early and plan to finish by 10AM.

Not much else to add to this one. Would love to have some comments from someone who maybe is having their east coast vacation in Cape Cod or further north.

Summer in full swing Suggestions

 Summer is here and the Atlantic ocean is at a nice temperature for swimming. With the economy still down and so much unemployment, east coast vacation resorts, cottages, and condos are being rented at bargain prices. A east coast beach vacation can be had very inexpensively, particularly if you are open to camping, although the same economy fills the east coast state park campgrounds quickly.

Our first choice, as many years, is and has been the Williamsburg, Va area. Lots to see, but many crowds on July 4th weekend. For inexpensive east coast vacation lodging, check the used time share market and rental. Many people have maintenance fees they can't really afford and are renting cheap.

As to tar balls... the mess has not hit the loop current and the east coast beaches are all nice.

If Williamsburg is not convenient to you and you are a bit farther south, Charleston is a great destination.  Farther south, we can suggest Tybee Island. Savannah also is great.

For full information, accommodation links, etc, please visit our East Coast Vacation main site at http://www.eastcoastvacation.biz/ 

Lastly: If you are Active or Retired Military and planning on FL and don't know about Shades of Green, be sure and get informed about this facility (http://www.shadesofgreen.org)  Military rates for Busch Gardens and other Williamsburg area attractions can also be obtained at the nearby army base.

In ending, as always, your comments and feedback is appreciated.

Fantastic, Best Vacation Bargain I've ever seen! Want to share

Those are some pretty strong words, but as I'm so active on the Internet and almost constantly searching for bargains, I see more than most people I guess.

Today I found this unbelievable vacation site and just want to share it: http://www.greatfamilyvacations.org/


If you take an offer and go, please come back and post a comment so the rest of us will know. I'll book one myself but not until later in the summer.

New: 3500+ Week Long Condo Vacations, $269

Yes.. East Coast vacations of course, but in addition, world wide locations. Due to our other online marketing relationships, we're happy to introduce and bring forward from the LGN Network a brand new offering from this reputable 10 year old company. You'll need to LOG ON HERE, and then click travel at the left; then you should watch the video. Below the video is a link as to how this works. Click it. You can have full information. I don't know of anywhere in the world you can travel and vacation more economically. IF you take advantage of this, please come back and post a comment.