you need to come up north some. up to north myrtle and up into the southeastern nc beaches if you peace and quiet. sunset is as laid back as any beach in the carolinas and only a short drive to other more exciting places.
We always have stayed in North Myrtle (usually the Windy Hill section but also Cresent Beach too). Even still the traffic was a nightmare. I remember one year Bossman met me and took me to breakfast and we went for a drive across the NC State Line to a beach (can't remember the name of it, but went across a big bridge to get to it) and he was telling me how it was wiped out during Hurricane Hazel I think back in the day...it wasn't too far from his house...
That was the day he pulled up to pick me up at the condo in a little white Chevrolet Cavalier that he could barely fit into and had his Inspectors Badge, which was as big as the dang center console, laying in the middle between the seats. I guess he was a funeral home inspector according to his obituary but for some reason I thought he was with the Dept of Revenue....
Have just kinda gotten hooked on Gulf Shores because it's actually an easier drive...straight shot down I65 and only about 8 hours...and it's a much slower pace.
Actually this summer I'm taking my girls and we are driving to West Palm Beach and hopping on a ship and spending a night on the ship, four nights in the Bahamas and then a night on the ship home. We're gonna stay somewhere down in South Beach on the day before we leave so they can visit the high end shops and maybe spot a celeb or two and eat somewhere like Prime 112...