';Adults Only'; Vacation

This was prompted by a post on another forum, but since this one seems to be the ';busiest,'; I thought I%26#39;d throw it out there for fun...

I hate to sound like a real curmudgeon or the original Scrooge or something, but am I the only one who does NOT want to share my vacation with a lot of kids? Some kids are fine; a lot of kids today are not (loud, whiny, spoiled); a whole lot of kids in one place at one time are NEVER fine with me -- I%26#39;m childless by choice and for a good reason: I don%26#39;t care to share my life with kids. I sure as heck don%26#39;t want to share the sole hot tub at a $300/night resort with kids.

Hence, short of taking a ';singles'; cruise or something, how best can one ensure that vacation won%26#39;t become ';spring break central'; or ';kiddie land';??? It seems everything -- from museums to malls -- is geared toward the kid dollar these days. Can I get an ';amen';?

';Adults Only'; Vacation

Obviously avoiding ';school breaks'; used to be the answer but, with breaks all through the year plus year-round school in many places plus parents often not minding pulling kids out of school for trips plus school having become an endless series of school trips (for ';educational purposes';; I see 150 sophomores are bound for Charleston???), it becomes harder to predict. Ask the hotels???

Same with conferences. It%26#39;s probably prudent to see what%26#39;s up...

';Adults Only'; Vacation

Well...yes. But of course Myrtle Beach is a well know ';Family Destination';. My first though would be to go ';off -season'; and go to high-end luxery resorts or hotels. Or to the ';honeymoon'; type resorts.

A lots of places are geared toward kids and familys....because....well maybe thats where the most money comes from.

We have kids and grand-kids. While our trips as a family are fun, we do enjoy our trips alone.

Two questions. Are you looking for a resort type atmosphere or just something comfortable on the beach? Also. What time of year are you looking at for vacation?

We were down there last year during Bike Week in May. Would have to check dates but it was around third week of the month. Few if any small kids where we stayed in NMB. Were a few groups of older teens. High school seniors and college age. None in our building and wasn%26#39;t any problems with them on the beach.

Weather that week is so-so. Few years ago it was very nice during that week. Sunny and warm the whole week. Last May it varied from day to day. Warm and sunny one day and cloudy, cool and windy the next.

We stayed in Cherry Grove at a place called The Oceans. Clean. comfortable. No frills. No kids. Saw ads claiming biggest one bedroom condos in the area. If they%26#39;re all like the one we had I believe it. Several owners live there year-round.

First three floors is parking. Pool is on fourth floor. No hot tub or lazy river. All rooms are oceanfront. Ocean side of building is L-shaped and some rooms might have better view of beach than others.

Our biggest ';like'; of the place is location. Easy two-three block walk to groceries, beach shop and several places to eat. Can go days without moving car.

Other non-kid entertainment might be something along the lines of House Of Blues, Alabama Theater or Legends.

beachlady is correct: Some places (%26amp; some destinatioms) are more ';adult oriented'; %26amp; some outright do not allow children. (I%26#39;d be looking into the adult all-inclusives at warm weather beach destinations.) If not adult only, generally, I agree that the more exclusive (read expensive) they are, the less kids you will see.

Vacationing during normal school months used to be much more foolproof...nowadays I see kids on the beach on schooldays (marine biology field trips? haha) and you never know what days they have off.

I remember staying in MB in the winter %26amp; during the week we had the place to ourself but on some weekends, we were descended on by large groups of very ';energetic'; students; most on sports field trips. It would get deafening in the indoor pool area.

Times are changing...even ';Sin City'; (Las Vegas) is now a major family vacation destination. Atlantic City %26amp; the other gambling meccas are not, and of course nobody under 21 can enter casinos.

Amen !!! I love kids (have two of my own) but if I%26#39;m on vacation with adults only I don%26#39;t want to deal with other people%26#39;s kids, flippers in the hot tub, etc.

If you mean specifically Myrtle Beach...that%26#39;s hard because it is a family destination. But, after Labor Day is perfect. There aren%26#39;t tons of kids (usually just families with toddlers) but the weather is still great. I

My favorite vacation that is totally kid-free is an all-inclusive resort for ';couples only';. I can personally recommend Sandals Negril or Couples Resort in Jamaica. I%26#39;m sure there are many other nice places like that.

Hope I don%26#39;t get any hate mail from this post....

We love kids too, but it is nice to enjoy the peace and quiet of adult company. I agree with the previous posters, that is some good advice, go in the off season - we stayed at Water%26#39;s Edge in Garden City Beach this year the 2nd week in September, it was perfect! There were some well behaved children, but the place was not over run with the little angels. And the restaurants were not crowded.

My husband is in his late 20%26#39;s and I am in my mid 30%26#39;s and I just loved our Myrtle Beach Vacation, lots of fun stuff to do, and hanging out at the pool with ladies and gentlemen that remind me of my Grandparents is what I really enjoyed. Learned of all the great %26#39;early bird%26#39; specials that the seniors like to frequent - they really know how to stretch a dollar!!!! But most of all it was hearing them share their experiences of life that was special!

My husband and I are in Myrtle Beach right now.

We are in the North MB section, and it is very quiet here on the beach. It was cool out yesterday, and will be the rest of the week, but we walked for two hours yesterday on the beach with just shorts and tees on.

The adults at this time of year far out number kids. There certainly are some families here, but very few. Most of the couples are older too. Since I quess at 56 I now fit in that category, it dosen%26#39;t bother me.

Most restaurants are open, while some have closed for whatever reason.

Just stay away from resorts with a lot of kiddie recommendations, and amenities.

The north area of MB - you have nice wide streaches of beach, fewer places on the beach (I think), but you are near just about everything.

I haven%26#39;t gone on the otherside of Arrowhead River to check out that part of Myrtle Beach while walking the beach, so I may be wrong that there is more congestion there.

This is only my second visit to MB, last was in Nov of 2004, it is much quieter than it would be in season.

Perhaps you should stick to ';adult only'; venues. A qualified travel agent could certainly help you with this. It seems that you are setting yourself up for disappointment and infringing on happy families joyful vacations with such a negative attitude.

Ouch...!!! Well, I expected at least ONE accusation of a ';negative attitude'; from an adoring parent... ; / Well-behaved kids are fine, but that term is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Not all adults -- esp. childless-by-choice adults -- find your kids quite as enchanting as you do. Nine times out of ten, when kids are disrupting other (single) people%26#39;s ';joyful vacations,'; it%26#39;s because the parents haven%26#39;t taught them manners and consideration. Thanks for responses.

amen otter!