I need to find a beachfront vacation rental in the south shore
(outside of boston ma -- towns like hull, cohasset, scituate.  problem
is, i can only find expensive listings for minimum a week.  i am
looking for the nights of September 13 & 14 and don't want to spend
more than $500.  there will be 7 people.

Hi, 

You just make the season in terms of prices. The lower rates start on
September 15th. You may find that there are vacancies due to it being
so late in the season. If that's the case, I've found most owners are
more than willing to make exceptions to get a couple of extra days
rent.

http://www.visit-plymouth.com/Plymbeachcottage.htm is a cottage that
rents for $1200 - $1800 per week, but advertises some weekend rentals
in the off season. You may just fit into their idea of off season.

CyberRentals - http://www2.cyberrentals.com/ has two rentals that are
in your area and price range.
CyberRentals Identifier: Mach2PLYM, GatPLYM
Rates are quoted weekly but you will probably be able to get the rate
you want if the places are free for those days.

http://weneedavacation.com/Cape/JustoffCapeVacationRentals.htm#Plymouth
lists several large properties - again the listings are weekly, but if
the house is not rented they may be willing to rent it for two days.

http://www.absentinnkeeper.com/pages/rentals.htm
also rents by the week, but there are several large properties with
low weekly rates.

There is a bed and breakfast - Mulberry Bed and Breakfast
http://www.virtualcities.com/ons/ma/z/maza8010.htm
with three rooms that may just be in your price range.

search terms: vacation rentals South Shore Massachusetts

You may also have luck searching by just the town. I didn't find
anything but hotels and B7Bs for the other towns you mentioned, but if
none of the ones listed above pan out, it might be worth a look. A
search for: Plymouth MA turned up "Destination Plymouth"
http://www.visit-plymouth.com/ with four rental listings at:
http://www.visit-plymouth.com/rentals.htm

I am pretty sure that at least one of the weekly rentals would be
willing to set you up for your Friday to Saturday stay.

Good luck and have a great mini-vacation!

bcguide

I think you're going to have a hard time finding anything....  rentals
tend to be by the week, and even worse for you, they're usually
Saturday->Saturday, so if you want Friday and Saturday night you're
overlapping two weeks.

I know the Cape better than the South Shore, so perhaps somebody will
be able to think of something for you, though....

--David