Where should New Yorkers and Washingtonians meet for a summer weekend?
February 26, 2014 7:17 AM   Subscribe

We have done a long weekend at the Delaware shore with friends for the past few summers, and would like to try a new place. We'd like to go somewhere where we can swim with toddlers and babies (so no rough ocean--the Delaware bay was great for this) and is not too far a drive for either of us.

The DE shore was 4-5 hours for the New Yorkers, so we'd like to shave some time off of that. From previous questions, I found the Westmoreland State Park, which looks awesome and right up our alley, but Google says driving time from NY is 5 hours, and we've got little kids, which means 6-6.5.

--We'd like to rent a house or individual cabins.
--Lakes or swimming pools also okay, ocean not required.
--We are not keen on loading kids into a car and driving to a swimming place, so right on the water is a major plus.

Any ideas?
posted by Ollie to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Jersey shore! Belmar, in particular is lovely!
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:39 AM on February 26, 2014


Cape May!
posted by mareli at 7:44 AM on February 26, 2014 [3 favorites]


Rent a lake house somewhere in Eastern / Central PA? I imagine the Poconos offer plenty of options.
posted by COD at 7:49 AM on February 26, 2014


Response by poster: Thanks for the first two replies! I had been a little nervous about the Jersey Shore, because of rough surf and toddlers. Cape May, of course, is right across the bay from where we were vacationing and so might be good, will research that.
posted by Ollie at 7:50 AM on February 26, 2014


Gifford Pinchot State Park in PA is a good intermediate point with a good-sized state park focused around a recreational lake with cabins etc.

Here's another state park in New Jersey that has cabin rentals and lake swimming, along with some other kid-friendly activities.
posted by drlith at 7:58 AM on February 26, 2014


Seconding Jersey Shore. You can stay on the bay side of Long Beach Island. There are no waves on the bay side - perfect swimming for tiny kids. The ocean side is minutes away if you do feel like waves.
posted by jazh at 10:24 AM on February 26, 2014


Cape May is great and even has several nearby campgrounds with cabins available for rent. Those coming up from DC will probably want to catch the ferry in Lewes - I've never taken it myself but it should save some time not having to drive around the Delaware Bay.
posted by Venadium at 11:02 AM on February 26, 2014


Re: Poconos my family did a week there. The summer season started late, July 4 weekend. Lake was cold.

Re: Jersey shore. My family liked Brigantine.

I'm sure there are lots of suitable places in PA, as well.
posted by SemiSalt at 1:05 PM on February 26, 2014


Since you like to avoid surf, I recommend Long Island Sound - try Groton Long Point, CT, for great house rentals, but there are many other beach towns. Another good spot might be on Narragansett Bay in RI.
posted by Miko at 1:49 PM on February 26, 2014


Jim Thorpe in NE PA.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 6:18 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


When I was a kid, we went to Wildwood in NJ, and again when my kid was 2. Very gentle, shallow beach. I'm not sure about anything other than that, that it is/was a great place for small kids, water-wise.
posted by you must supply a verb at 1:26 AM on February 27, 2014


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