Driving around Pittsburgh I kept seeing these sticker on cars that said OBX. Finally one of them was kind enough to include the subtitle, "Outer Banks, NC", and the OBX suddenly made sense. Since then I've heard some really good things about this place. Apparently you can rent huge beach houses (not necessarily ON the beach in our price range) that could sleep all 3 families. And apparently there are quite a few activities in addition to the very nice looking beach. I'm just throwing it out there. For a place that may be fun, driveable, relatively affordable, and perhaps able to be done with kids, it may meet a bunch of criteria for our 3 year "half-vacation" before our next big one in 2012. Check it out.
outerbanks.org