ISO stateside (usa) couple’s destination

my boyfriend (28m) and i (25f) are looking to plan our first couple’s trip. since it’s the first, ideally we’d like to keep it somewhat budget friendly. we would be flying out of nyc, and want to keep the destination within the states before branching out internationally.

we’d like somewhere with a mix of activities/things to check out and beach availability. trying to plan for sometime in july for about 5 days or so. initially i was considering florida, cali, or possibly south carolina. neither of us have traveled very extensively, so any more experienced input would be awesome :)

not really looking to club or get too heavy into nightlife, somewhere with a good scene to shop, eat, and sightsee, maybe visit a theme park (destination contingent) or a historic area, and spend some time beaching. if possible somewhere where we don’t need to rely on a rental car would be great too, but if necessary we’ll factor that into our budgeting.

any recommendations are much appreciated! thank you for the help in advance :)