We're planning to on vacation for about a week this summer, and are looking for some ideas of places to go (ie: places you've already been, and can vouch for ;-)) There are a few requirements, however: 1. Within continental USA or southern Canada 2. A beach nearby 3. Not especially expensive (ie: NYC/LA prices) 4. Fun stuff to do! All help is greatly appreciated.
FYI, if you're going to Canada, I think you'll need a passport now thanks to some dumb rule by the US government. Not sure if that's a problem for you or not, but I'd hate to see you get to Canada and not be allowed in. But if you want a beach, somewhere in Florida would be your best bet.
On personal experience: Williamsburg, VA. I've been there plenty of times and if you like history, amusement parks (Busch Gardens), water parks (Water Country USA) and plenty more, then that is your best bet, imo. Links: http://www.gowilliamsburg.com/attractions/index.php? http://www.history.org/ http://www.williamsburg.com/ http://www.buschgardens.com/ http://www.watercountryusa.com/wc/
If you're looking for a beach, and inexpensive, you may want to look into Osage Beach/Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. It's a giant lake, with beaches, and there's plenty of shit to do. It's a common getaway location for Missourians (I've only been once though) It's definitely going to be cheaper than any major city, and a lot quieter as well, probably more relaxing than some other large tourist attraction like Fort Meyers or Long Beach or something. The only major downsides are that if you're the type of person that likes to see museums and crap like that, you're shit out of luck, and the other downside is that, if you're flying, you need to fly into St. Louis and then drive 3 hours across the middle of fucking nowhere, Missouri.
Orlando, FL Daytona to the east, Tampa to the west and all the parks and what not to do while there. Every day could be a different adventure. There are also bunches of lakes if you want to go fishing or do some other water sports.
I would definitely say Cape Cod, Mass. My absolute favorite place to go. At this point, if you guys wanted to rent a beach house, that would be really difficult to find seeing as people book a year ahead of time, but you could probably stay at a hotel nearby or even on the beach. Perfect if you want a nice, relaxing vacation on the beach, and if you like seafood. Last year we stayed in East Sandwich. It was beautiful. Man, I wanna go...