Beach, rides for family ISO long weekend

Your suggestions would be appreciated in accomplishing a get-away in June/July:

1) a MD beach or boardwalk area that has rides and/or sufficient diversions for children, ages 6-8

2) safe and reasonably quiet enough to sleep at night for a family with small children

3) able to rent for 3 nights (can%26#39;t stay a whole week)

Thanks for any ideas!

Beach, rides for family ISO long weekend

There are only two options in Maryland if you%26#39;re looking for an ocean beach.

The shoreline of Maryland consists entirely of two beaches: Ocean City, which is totally commercial, and Assateague, a national and state park which is without any commerce whatsoever.

Given the choice of the two, it looks like you%26#39;ll be headed for OC. Lots of hotels that will rent to you for 3 nights, not just weekly condos. Look to the northern end of town for a ';quieter'; experience at night, with plenty to do for the kids (albeit further from the Boardwalk attractions).

http://www.ococean.com

If you%26#39;re looking for more variety in beach options, the Delaware coast has five beaches (Fenwick Island, Bethany, Dewey, Rehoboth, Lewes), each with its own ';personality.';

Beach, rides for family ISO long weekend

tubman, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

There are also inland beaches up and down the bay. If you would like to get absorbed inhistory or Chesapeake bay life, this is the place to go. Point Lookout State Park at the South end of St. Mary%26#39;s county is a public owned beach area at the mouth of the Potomac river, there are also several beach areas in Calvert County.

Point Lookout is the former site of a confederate war camp and has a Lighthouse at the Southern most part of the county and a museum with activities for children. Point Lookout is only a short distance to Historic St. Mary%26#39;s City and a replica of the Dove that offers tours and rides on occasion. St. Mary%26#39;s County is loaded with the old and the new with Historic sites dotted throughout the landscape. Piney Point Lighthouse with it%26#39;s museum on the St. Mary%26#39;s side and the operational Cove Point Lighthouse on the Calvert side are two examples.

Also nearby is Solomon%26#39;s Island is maybe one of the better places to stay with children. There are lots of activities in a fairly short driving distance. You can go hunting for shark%26#39;s teeth at Calvert Cliff%26#39;s State Park, enjoy some great crab cakes at Stoney%26#39;s on Broomes Island, or visit the Calvert Marine Museum that caters to children and teaches about the bay and the life of the watermen and the boatbuilders who settled in the area.

In between St. Mary%26#39;s City and Solomon%26#39;s is the town of Lexington Park Maryland which is home to the Patuxent River Air Museum where the family can learn about the early days of Navy flight including the local Navy test Pilot%26#39;s schools ties to the early days of NASA to the modern day Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

All of the things I mentioned are within 30-45 minutes driving time so ideally somewhere in the middle where you can access them all is best. There are numerous hotels in the area of Solomon%26#39;s, California and Lexington Park areas and I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the rates you find.

Best of luck!

P.S. You might also check out the North Beach Area in Northern Calvert/Anne Arundel County. I haven%26#39;t been there since before the hurricane came through so don%26#39;t know what has been rebuilt since then. They also had amusement park and boardwalk atmosthere. To me the area was reminicent of Coney Island or old Atlantic City.

beauty