Amelia Island is a 4 hour drive to Charleston. That pretty well kills a day.
Haven’t been there but the Kiawah Island golf resort might fit your bill.
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Wise choice on removing OBX unless you really want a long drive in the middle of the trip. We regularly vacation at OBX, so for future reference thought I would share a basic run down of OBX.
It is a long stretch and each area is a little different. Starting from northern end -
Corova - remote, requires ORV (Off Road Vehicle), but you may see wild horses on the beach
Corolla/Duck/Southern Shores - more preppy beachy, if you are there don’t miss Duck Donuts
Kitty Hawk/Nags Head - typical beachy, more densely populated, little bit more touristy than some other areas (where you’ll find the one outlet mall), where Wright Brothers Memorial and Jockey’s Ridge are located, closest to Manteo (Elizabethan Gardens, Lost Colony)
Hatteras Island (HI) (Rodanthe, Salvo, Waves, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, Hatteras) - National Seashore, beautiful beaches, not very densely populated, wildlife, shipwrecks, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, ORV areas, watersports on sound side (paddle boards, kayaks, windsurfing), surfing on ocean side, relaxed, peaceful; HI is our personal favorite part of OBX, but short-term rental options are limited (kind of place you rent a beach house for the week vs stay at a hotel); we especially like Avon
Ocracoke - only accessible by ferry, small, historical, pirates (makes a nice day trip from HI, car ferry ride is about 40 minutes)
One tip - the east facing beaches (Corova to Buxton) tend to have more rough surf and can be anywhere from enjoyable wave floating/jumping to knock you over depending on the day, this is where you see the surfers; the island turns at Buxton and from Buxton-Frisco-Hatteras the south facing beaches tend to be more calm in general. Waves is called Waves for a reason and I have had the washing machine experience there where after being tumbled about the waves spit me out on the beach (and that was back in the days when I was a strong swimmer).
In case anyone else is curious, I think OBX, certainly HI, has actually seen an uptick in activity once they got past the initial shut-down last Spring.
Uncrowded beaches in a pandemic. 
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Thanks - that video looks like what I want out of the island portion of our vacation! How big is the Omni, and is it on the water? We usually don’t like to stay at chain hotels, but are looking for a resort on the water, so if that fits the bill I’ll definitely check it out.
Thanks! I will check it out.
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Thanks, what a GREAT summary of OBX, and I will keep it for future reference.
The plantation is large. Omni purchased it several years ago but it used to be an independent resort. It was not developed by Omni and definitely does not feel like a chain. Omni runs the hotel. It is on the beach. There are lots of condos to rent also both beach and marsh front. There are also houses. You can rent those through Omni (search Omni villas) or thru a rental agency. If you go on the Omni site it will have a gallery that shows you the resort.
If you rent thru Omni you will have access to the hotel pool but each condo has its own uncrowded pool so not necessary.
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I just looked at their gallery and it is 90% hotel. If you go on their Instagram there are some more pictures of the marsh and the beach etc.