I have no links to give, but there are cottages on the Maine coast in towns like Kennebunkport and Old Orchard Beach.
Summer is really short up there, so don't wait until late August!

We went to a place called Perkins Cove, which was the town where the episodes of MURDER SHE WROTE were filmed and supposed to have been Cabot Cove. I was enchanted with the place. Here is one of the photos I took while there:

No sandy beaches here, but lots of rocky shoreline and Canada is right next door, you might say.

We had friends that had cabins on the Salmon River in Stanley Idaho. We used to go visit them and we always got our own little cabin. they had kitchenets bedrooms and a bath. The one we usually stayed in had a small sleeping loft and the rest was on the main floor.

The lady that bought our last house said she was going to make the shed I used into a guest cottage. There was water really close as in feet in the well house. The septic was quite a way away so not sure how she was going to handle that part. Was very private up there so and tree would do. LOL

Chris

Nice picture

Another table guy. Just registered today.

LOL ML NOW I get it. Was looking for the tables.. DOH I needed more sleep.

I found this enchanting spot when I was looking at Gypsy Wagons:

Gypsy Camp at Night

Here is a link that might be useful: Scott's DowntoEarthCottages

Ahh, Mama, I am making some connections here. When I was a child, spending summers in the country with aunts/uncles in Winston County AL, every week or so a peddlar would come around selling all sorts of stuff. Snuff, tobacco, rolling papers, cherry bombs, needles, pins, flour, seed packets.

I made the connection to that mechanically powered truck and the Victorian showman's carriage as shown in the book, SHED CHIC by Sally Coulthard. In England I think they were peddlars wagons, or caravans for early moving vacation spots. Gypsys and such I guess is where they came from, but such adaptable objects! I wish I could show a picture of the illustrations in the book. Log cabins, lofts, natural timbers and such are in other illustrations. People are so imaginative.

The nice thing about having such a spot in your own property, you have no limits on when to use it. Or how.

Our favorite place to stay when we visit our 'dirt' in SC is Table Rock State Park. Several of the cabins there are true log cabins built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Hand hewn logs and granite fireplaces; all very rustic. They are complete, having kitchens and heat/A/C, and in the off-season can be had for $48 a night. I have pictures somewhere- I'll have to dig them up.

If you want to find interesting places to go on vacation, try VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) it's sort of a clearing house for people with property to rent, and it runs the gamut from regular commercial hotels to funky little vacation cottages in far-flung places.

moccasinlanding, what a lovely memory. I have always loved gypsy/peddlars wagons--I think the first one I saw was in the Wizard of OZ.

My grandmother had a 'Blair' man who came door-to-door selling flavorings and other kitchen necessities, a 'Raleigh' man who sold salves, and of course, an 'Avon Lady.' I don't know if people sold those products door-to-door in other parts of the country, but a visit from a peddlar's wagon would have been so much more exciting!

LOL, this is definitely a SMALL SPACE that you can take with you on vacation:

Here is a link that might be useful: Different kind of gypsy caravan

I have vacationed in the Outer Banks my whole life. The last 10-15 years has seen tons of development and thousands of big pushy 10br/elevator/theater room/whatever beach palaces built, I've stayed in a few in the years when we've had big family groups go down, but my heart belongs to the old Hatteras style "beach box" houses. We have rented this cottage twice, it's right in the center of the historic village area of Corolla, the most northern of the OBX beaches before the paved roads end. It's called 'Corolla Cottage' and dates back to 1876.

This year we are renting 'Toad Hall' - it's on the same street. We leave in 3 weeks so no good inside pics yet. These were taken and sent to me by a very nice retired couple I met on an OBX chat board - they live a few blocks away.

This is standing on the front porch looking back up the driveway, I love being under the live oaks.

I'd say it's pretty private, here it is from the road!

This is looking from the top of the driveway towards the beach ...

... and looking the other way. That little shopping center has a tiny grocery grocery store, an ice cream shop and Corolla Pizza. A guy usually sets up a stand in the parking lot and sells fresh produce and shrimp out of a cooler. The Corolla lighthouse is one block over. We park the car for a week!!

There are shacks you can rent in Cape Cod National seashore (Truro/Provincetown area). No plumbing, no electric, no crowds. I want to add my name to the waiting list which is, like, 7 years long....

If you have a yen for a Florida vacation, but dislike the 'Disney Syndrome', check out Anna Maria Island. Old Florida at it's best, with nothing but old (or old-styled) cottages with tin roofs. High-rises aren't even allowed there. The best way to get around is bike, and they rent them there. So relaxing, it's physically painful to leave! Again, VRBO will find you a cottage to rent. You fly in and out of Tampa.

Tourant, I love the Outer Banks...my cousin founded a restaurant in KDH, ran it for years (Chili Peppers). My brother vacations there regularly, down on the southern tip. Loves it (I would too, if I could get away). And your cottage is adorable.

Several of Ohio's State Parks have old style cabins for rent (including Hocking Hills and Salt Fork, both outside Columbus). Hunting cabins near ME's Baxter State Park are also rustic and quiet.

Although personally, unless I'm hankering for an ocean vacation, I prefer my backpack & a trail map :-)

I'm not sure if anyone will be in NYC but below is a link for a hotel I'd love to stay in!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Jane Hotel

FlGargoyle, thanks for the VRBO link. I will check it out.
We have that house in Massachusetts, of course, which some might consider a nice place to get away and in New England not far from Boston. Many residents work in the city, in fact.

But our experience loaning it out to a couple was less than ideal, so we are very reluctant to take a chance on something bad happening.

But we did stay in a glorious 3 story home about a block off the beach in Virginia Beach. They had a whole book for us to take heed of, and in order to get our deposit back, everything had to go back in the proper spot, according to photos of every drawer in the kitchen identifying each item, and the linen closet, and the beach chairs and boogie boards and such. Very smart they were about running such a rental space. Whether that is common way that rentals keep track of possessions in VaBeach, I do not know. But it made it easy for the home to be ready for the next set of vacationers--who were lined up at the office waiting for the keys when we dropped our keys off at the end of our week.

BTW, the kitchen was on the TOP floor. So was the living room with a huge TV and stereo. In short, all the expensive appliances were above flood level. The ground floor was constructed in what we call "breakaway walls," so that only the ground floor might be damaged by hurricane surges. No carpet, just cement floors, and they were painted like beach sand, with crabs and shells and seaoats and green sea water all around the two bedrooms and a bath down there. It was a lovely home, fully equipped, and had a gorgeous outdoor shower which I fell in love with.