Recommend Cold, Awesome Places for a Vacation

October 8, 2010 1:53 PM

I'm going to be starting a little sabbatical from work around Thanksgiving time, and we want to take a vacation trip to kick it off. It'll be approaching winter, and I've always been fascinated by the idea of cold northern oceanfront places with fantastic storms and windswept beaches. Something like the setting of The Ghost Writer, beautiful and austere landscape, cozy house right on the water. Can anyone recommend a town or place to look, maybe pacific northwest or new england? My experience with VRBO-style rentals in California has been good, and dog-friendly would be a big plus.
posted by migurski to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)

Best answer: Bar harbor Maine, I love that place and you probably can get a great rental with the tourist season over. I absolutely LOVE that town.
posted by handbanana at 2:01 PM on October 8, 2010

Forks Washington, although I don't know if it qualifies as 'cold'.
posted by goethean at 2:04 PM on October 8, 2010

Best answer: The Mendocino coast in Northern CA will offer you something like that. No snow, but it'll be quite chilly. There are tons of listings on VRBO.
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:08 PM on October 8, 2010

There are places on the Oregon Coast that could fit the bill. Not cold cold, but raw and rainy and windy etc. Manzanita and Yachats are the two towns that spring to mind as probably being close to what you're looking for.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:51 PM on October 8, 2010

Best answer: Bar Harbor, Maine + Acadia National Park.

Repeat: Bar Harbor, Maine + Acadia National Park.

....and now that you mention it, what a great idea, hmmm ..........
posted by SuzB at 2:53 PM on October 8, 2010

Cape Cod? There's some beautiful places on the Cape.
posted by floweredfish at 2:53 PM on October 8, 2010

Purely for rugged beauty, I would recommend Garibaldi, Nehalem, or Manzanita, Oregon (all on the coast). A dog-friendly VRBO shouldn't be hard to find.
posted by Knowyournuts at 3:19 PM on October 8, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for all the ideas, there are some great ones in here! I hadn't really thought of the closer-to-home spots like Mendocino because I've mostly been inland, but that seems quite accessible. Bar Harbor looks fascinating, off to research that now...
posted by migurski at 3:49 PM on October 8, 2010

I really love Oceanside, Oregon.

There's at least one motel.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:05 PM on October 8, 2010

By the way, I love Bar Harbor, but you won't get high surf there, not like you'd get on the Pacific coast. Prevailing wind is from the west, and the Atlantic saves all its surf for Europe.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:07 PM on October 8, 2010

Though it's not oceanfront, I've always wanted to vacation somewhere around the Great Lakes in the winter, like Thunder Bay or similar.
posted by rhizome at 7:25 PM on October 8, 2010

Best answer: I hadn't really thought of the closer-to-home spots like Mendocino

Consider it! We often rent a place at Sea Ranch (we use this rental agency, and have for years and years.. Most rentals have outdoor hot tubs, and indoors, either a fireplace or wood stove. There is very little to do there - walk on the bluffs, stare at the ocean, cook a meal with groceries bought in Gualala. Stargaze.

One of my favorite places on the planet.
posted by rtha at 8:55 PM on October 8, 2010