Pendleton wasn't a bad place to be as a single guy. Especially the northen camps (Horno, Mateo etc) because it was only 5-10 minutes from San Clemente which is an awesome little beach town. Pendleton is about halfway between LA and SD, only 5 hours from Vegas, right on the beach, big bear is a couple hours away, Lake Havasu, Malibu, PCH, 3 baseball stadiums within an hours drive, good food. Don't know that I'd go out of my way to live there now that I'm married with kids, but if I did I wouldn't complain.
Jacksonville NC gets a bad rap, the town itself isn't a paradise but I live out in the country and absolutely love it. For a married guy you couldn't ask for a better place. Good hunting, outstanding fishing (both fresh and saltwater), not as 'busy' as SoCal (although Jacksonville itself seems a little busy at times, but it's not). I enjoy the slower pace of the south and hospitality, but most of all I enjoy the southern cooking (Texan born and bred).
Quantico wasn't bad but I-95 and all the traffic is horrible.
Pensacola was a dream, loved it!
Corpus was a great place. Good hunting and fishing. Navy owns 7000 acres a few hours north of CC that is open to military for hunting fishing camping, great Mexican food (because it's Texas), only 3 hours from San Antonio.
I'm a firm believer that you can be stationed in an absolute sh!thole and make the best of it.