Ok. I'm VERY biased because I LOVE where I live. I think everybody should move here...it's AWESOME!!
I live in Charleston, SC. Our house is 3 miles from the beach. There is ALWAYS something going on here. All our friends have boats. We take your kids to the beach all the time. It's great! The downtown area is on the water, and they have boat shows on the water, an open air marketplace, ghost tours, carriage rides, rooftop restaurants, free outdoor concerts...the list goes on and on!! We even have a "Polar Bear Swim" on New Year's Day, and everybody runs and jumps in the freezing ocean. Then drinks beers after on the beach. There are lots of restaurants and bars on the beach. It's wonderful. This past 4th of July, we watched the fireworks over the water and had a little picnic on the beach with friends. The weather is great too. It is above 70 degrees about 9 months out of the year. Can't complain. Only drawback is there's lots of tourists here between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but that's only 3 months of the year...not too bad.