Kid- and baby-friendly vacation - summer

[Huntindog1]

Check out Holiday World in Southern Indiana, there is also Lincoln State Park and a Federal Historical site of his boyhood homesite with a Museum. The Outdoor Drama Theater of Abe Lincolns life at the State Park is a must see. My kids loved it. Holiday World is highly rated for its one of a kind Water Park. Holiday World is located in Santa Clause Indiana , no joke. There are some nice walking caves to check out also if you like caves.

 

[Ktm300]

A few years ago we went to Tennessee for vacation and rented a houseboat on Dale Hollow Lake from East Port Marina. Beautiful area. Great folks at the marina.

 

[Ashful]

Got the wife cornered last night. We have a long history of conversations like:

me: "Do you want to go out for dinner?"
her: "Sure"
me: "Where do you want to go?"
her: "Any place you like."
me: "How about [restaurant A]?"
her: "Well, any place except there."
me: "Okay, how about [restaurant B]?"
her: "No, not there. It's always [insert excuse]."
me: "Okay, how about [restaurant C]?"
her: "Why would you want to go there?"
(me walking away)
her: "Where are you going?"

Vacation plans usually go the same way. However, after throwing out enough suggestions over the last few days (most of the above included), I got it narrowed down. She wants some place with a full inclusive resort. Beach destination preferred, and a resort with a pool (due to the small kids) is a requirement. Chesapeake, southern RI, Virginia Beach are all very possible destinations, providing we can find a resort as described.

A buddy of mine used to tell me he wished he were gay, because men are so much easier to live with. I'm beginning to see his point.

 

[Bobbin]

I don't know if you are interested in "attractions" or just hanging out and relaxing. Grew up in the Mount Washington Valley of NH. Has some fun things that littles would enjoy (Storyland!). You could rent a cottage lakeside in towns south of MWV and play in the water all day long (spent my summers that way and it was great). And play cards/checkers/board games at night. NH in the summertime is as close to paradise as it gets.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

3. S. Kingston, Narrangansett beach, etc - this area is a bit more "jersey like" in terms of the beach and mostly coastal lowlands.

Narrow River last summer, where it hits the open water at Narragansett beach. Beautiful area, but with little ones in tow, they may get bored, IMO....
Plus, there's no fish in the river, I've confirmed this.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

I don't know if you are interested in "attractions" or just hanging out and relaxing. Grew up in the Mount Washington Valley of NH. Has some fun things that littles would enjoy (Storyland!). You could rent a cottage lakeside in towns south of MWV and play in the water all day long (spent my summers that way and it was great). And play cards/checkers/board games at night. NH in the summertime is as close to paradise as it gets.

http://www.storylandnh.com/
http://www.santasvillage.com/
https://www.thecog.com/
http://www.whalestalewaterpark.net/
http://weirsbeach.com/
http://mtwashingtonautoroad.com/
http://www.hamptonbeach.org/


Lots to do and see in NH. The area is really coming back around as people seem to be vacationing close to home. Many of my friends have brought their kids up specifically for story land and Santa's village. I've never been to either, but everyone I know that's gone hasn't had anything bad to say, and I guess the kids always enjoy it.

Lots of little cottage and cabin rentals, as well as condos galore. Some will sit on a stretch of river with a swimming hole, some pools, one in North Conway has the whole indoor water park going on.

It'd be a heck of a drive for you though (think it's 6-7 hours, my buddy's family lives in Philly, he's driven and flown direct out of Manchester NH). See you're considering tropical though. In NH in mid summer it can be blazing sun and 95 degrees all week, or it can be 50 and showers all week. Living up here, I've seen many a upset traveler sitting in a bar drinking away their washed out vacation.

June 14-22nd is motorcycle week up here. I've seen that really mess with the occasional traveler as well. Nothing like you, your family, and 200 rowdy bikers eating dinner together. It's my ideal week up here, but not so much for others....

 

[Ktm300]

Joful I think our wives drink from the same water supply

 

[Ktm300]

Joful I think our wives drink from the same water supply

It's the reason beer was invented.

 

[webbie]

Full inclusive...that's a whole 'nother thing..........

Time for Club Med......Dominican Republic (Punta Cana) was really nice when we went with our son. We even enjoyed the "Apple" vacation we once took out of Philly to Costa-Rica. You can do a couple days in the clouds (rain forest) and then a couple at the beach.

Fly into Liberia in the north - it's very close to both (Apple included everything).

 

[Grisu]

Got the wife cornered last night. We have a long history of conversations like:

me: "Do you want to go out for dinner?"
her: "Sure"
me: "Where do you want to go?"
her: "Any place you like."
me: "How about [restaurant A]?"
her: "Well, any place except there."
me: "Okay, how about [restaurant B]?"
her: "No, not there. It's always [insert excuse]."
me: "Okay, how about [restaurant C]?"
her: "Why would you want to go there?"
(me walking away)
her: "Where are you going?"

A buddy of mine used to tell me he wished he were gay, because men are so much easier to live with. I'm beginning to see his point.

You need this one: (broken link removed to http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~udani/humor/womentalk.html)

Hence:
me: "Do you want to go out for dinner?"
her: "If you really want me to."
me: "Where do you want to go?"
her: "You should know what I like."
me: "How about [restaurant A]?"
her: "Well, I don't like that one."
me: "Okay, how about [restaurant B]?"
her: "No, not there. I had told you I don't like it."
me: "Okay, how about [restaurant C]?"
her: "Have you STILL no clue where I want to go?"

 

[Swedishchef]

I am loving this thread.
Why?
Because I was told we are doing the same thing. I supply the money, she supplies the ideas. 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old.
There are some great ideas here.

I too am going to avoid Florida. Why would I go there to sit in an air conditioned room for a week?

Now I just need to pour over all these ideas and pick one (after the administration of the household google's it enough and votes in favor of one location). We are thinking somewhere in the New England states..I just hope our dollar doesn't tank too badly before I get there!

Andrew

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

southern RI.

 

[Ashful]

Smaller than the southern end of my living room. ;-)

 

[stee6043]

Rewind 12 months and I was doing exactly this for a first family trip in August 2013.

I took the family to Virginia Beach last August. 3 year old and 2 year old in-tow. We flew but in retrospect I think driving would have been fine. We found VA beach to be quite enjoyable. We didn't really have any specific plans while there other than relax and enjoy the days. We got a hotel on the beach, with a pool. We spent time on the beach, walking the boardwalk looking for good places to eat, napped in the hotel, hit the hotel pool, etc and so on. They have a pretty cool kids zone on the south end of the boardwalk. You could easily spend a few hours there a never hear one complaint from the kids.

The only downside to VA Beach - the noise. I read plenty of reviews on the hotel and surrounding area and when people say the Navy F18's are flying over "frequently" they really mean it. From sun up until sun down the jets will fly over the beach two and three at a time every twenty minutes or so. Nice and low. And it is LOUD. LOUD. Quite LOUD. My son and I enjoyed it. But after the 300th jet goes over it's possible you'll start wondering why so many conversations with your significant other are being interrupted on an otherwise relaxing beach day.

I'll throw a wild vacation suggestion your way (I'm sure you'll hate it). Northern Michigan. We only have a few good days of weather here each year but our beaches are hard to beat, anywhere.

http://www.innatbayharbor.com/
http://www.thehomesteadresort.com/

Sleeping Bear Dunes is a kids paradise. After the kids spend a half day climbing sand dunes they will sleep like rocks. Sip on some Michigan microbrew in your lakefront room and you'll see why people actual suffer through the miserable Michigan winters to live here.

Or for the ultimate in relaxing and unplugging (for a price) check out Mackinac Island. No cars allowed. Pricey mid-summer but also about as kid friendly as you can get.

http://www.chippewahotel.com/
https://www.grandhotel.com/


Good luck in your decision making process!

 

[Bobbin]

What a great report, Stee., and we don't have kids! I have always wanted to visit Northern Michigan, I've heard it's spectacularly beautiful and I've never seen the Great Lakes. Mackinack Island is very historic and I've always loved learning about the Gilded Era. I bet foliage season is beautiful. (I'm "out" with the fighters overhead... Colonial Williamsburg is more my style, and would probably be fun for older kids)

Swedish., Mount Washington Valley is beautiful as are the Lakes Region and the Seacoast Area of New Hampshire. Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, Portland, Kennebunkport/Wells/Ogunquit/York Beach in Maine have beautiful sand beaches and cold water. Lots of Canadian visitors and I love to hear French in the air.

 

[BEConklin]

Thanks, guys! We did spend a couple days in Newport once, and had a great time, but couldn't find much of a beach! Much more in the way of wharfs than beaches, at least in town. I thought it was very cool, but also insanely expensive. Maybe I need to check towns in RI outside of Newport, though. For the record, Mystic was one of my favorite destinations as a kid. Gotta wait until my kids are a little older, to take them back there, though.

I spent every summer of my childhood at the Jersey shore (LBI), and know it well. We still make a pilgramage to Ocean City for one or two nights each summer, to stay with family. Aside from the obvious problem of being a dry town, it's always a good time! Unfortunately, my wife is down on the Jersey shore, for some reason. She was too spoiled, as a kid. She does make one good point, though, in that Jersey has become very expensive for what you get. If I can go to Bermuda or Croatia for what it costs to rent a nicer place at the Jersey shore, I won't be visiting Jersey!

I was going to mention Rhode Island - and there are some of the nicest beaches you can imagine in that state - but they're all down in what they call "South County" Rhode Island...even though there is no such county. Directly across the bay from Newport is Narragansett and Point Judith. That stretch of coastline from Narr. westwards to the CT border is just one beautiful beach after another. Even in Newport you're within an hour of Mystic, CT...which now has an aquarium that the kids should love. And not far from Mystic there are two world class casinos and a Dinosaur park with life size replicas of T-Rex and other critters. Heading eastwards from Newport you're about an hour from Cape Cod...

Do a google search for vacation rentals in towns like Charlestown, North Kingstown, Scarborough, Point Judith and even Westerly to get an idea of the rates. All are an easy drive from Newport (as long as the traffic isn't too bad)

 

[Bobbin]

The ocean is a lot warmer in RI and CT., too!

 

[mellow]

For a kids resort if you want to get out of PA and get to the beach I would say Ocean City, MD is still a viable place to go. Francis Scott Key is a fun resort for kids: http://www.fskfamily.com/ got all the go kart tracks and water parks in the area if you don't like the ocean.

Me, I prefer Assateague, drive my 4x4 on the beach and hang out with family and friends cooking over a bon fire and fishing for dinner (note, I never do catch much other than a buzz), and you can't beat not having to lug all the kids crap onto the beach. We take a portable tent and a 5 gallon sealable bucket and we have a bathroom for the ladies.

I love Martha's Vineyard, we have family there we can stay with, even then it is expensive, that ferry ride makes me cry having to pay that going back and forth.

 

[Retired Guy]

We have stayed here a couple of times and enjoyed it.
(broken link removed to http://www.roaringbrookranch.com/default.asp)

 

[Ashful]

Hmm... never heard of F.S. Key resort! I am actually a descendant of his, I believe through one of his daughters, although I would have to check the archives to re-trace the exact relation. In any case, I'll definitely check it out.

Martha's Vineyard is one of my favorite places, but you're right about it being expensive. Then again, so is Jersey, anymore!

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Get a sitter for the kids and go to Vegas! Done.

Sure the kids will grow up to resent you once they're old enough to realize why they were locked in aunt Mable's closet for a week breathing moth ball fumes and find out their college tuitions were spent chasing that all elusive 21 on the black jack tables.
But you and the wife will have a great week!

 

[Lake Girl]

I grew up spending my summers on the Ontario side of Lake Erie. The best of everything - sun, water and sand. Boats of all kinds. Bonfires with marshmallow, hot dogs, baked potatoes. For little ones, that is pretty much all you need. A day at an amusement park just added...

We've done some pretty long road trips with our 6 kids. Alabama for my brother's wedding - Huntsville Space Center added to that. Florida - Disney, Cape Canaveral and visiting family in Lakeworth. Something to keep in mind about Disney - space each day spent at one of the theme parks with a day of rest poolside. Children should be 5 or older. Our twins have some good memories but figure they would have enjoyed it better if a bit older (twins were 5).

For surviving the trips, since our kids are water babies, we made sure that accommodations always had a pool. Since they were cooped up all day in a vehicle, they could get that energy out by playing in the pool. Minimal efforts on Mom and Dad's part especially if there was a kiddie pool. We also were ahead of the curve in that we had a portable VHS player with an inverter so they could watch movies on the trip. Books, cards, travel games helped keep everyone entertained. Easier now with all the electronics available....

Most important thing of all - enjoy your time together and take lots of pics