Need the FOFC Braintrust - Vacation Ideas (Hard!)

[Blackadar]

Vacation ideas? Simple, right? No.

My parents want to take the family on a vacation next summer for about a week. It has to be in summer due to the kid's school year. Finding something everyone can enjoy is the problem. Everyone is on the East Coast. Here are the parties involved:

Group 1 - Me, my wife and my two kids - ages 13 (boy) and almost 4 (girl). All but the youngster love outdoor activities - hiking, whitewater rafting, caverns and so forth. We like cooler weather and hate to sit and swelter. We like little eclectic shops, don't care too much about being pampered. We prefer to eat casual, eat early and don't go out for a ton of nightlife. We're not heavy drinkers. With the 4 year old, we're limited on what we can do. We're not very fussy, but we don't want to sit in some posh resort for a week or sit on a sweltering cruise ship in the Caribbean. Been there, done that, hated it. So we like places like Estes Park, Santa Fe, Chattanooga, Jackson Hole, etc. The only other vacation my wife and I hated was in New Orleans - I hate that place. My son and I got back from a San Fran/Yosemite/Tuolumne River vacation a couple of months ago and loved it - 3 days of good whitewater, 3 days in Yosemite and 3 days in SF eating great food.

Group 2 - My parents. They're in their 70s. They're more limited in what they can do, especially my father - but he still wants to go do something. Whitewater rafting is good because he can sit. Mom's open to anything. They live in FL and don't want to go to Disney in mid-summer (neither do I). They've been all around the world, so they've probably already "done that". Dad doesn't want to go to a major city (I suggested NYC).

Group 3 - My sister and her friend. Polar opposites of us. Want to get up late and stay up late. Like to gamble, see shows, get pampered, sit on a beach and drink. The cruise we didn't like, they loved. Why not? Beaches, pools, nightlife and being pampered...they ate it up. My sis is usually unwilling to compromise. They turned down a vacation to Yellowstone/Tetons because it "wasn't their thing". She said she'd rather stay in Tampa and at the beach.

Yeah. You see the problem. It's nigh impossible. But I bring this to you, the geniuses of FOFC, because if there's a solution, ya'll can probably come up with it.

I was thinking about possibly a cruise to Alaska with some shore excursions or Hawaii, but both are very expensive and require a ton of travel. Other ideas were trying to find some resort in the Rockies, Santa Fe or on one of the Great Lakes, but I have no idea what fits the bill.

Ideas?

Oh, and if you mention something and I knock it down, please don't be offended. I just know about the parties involved and don't want to write any more of a book than I already have.

[Sun Tzu]

You can say that again!

[molson]

Good luck with all that.

[DaddyTorgo]

Somewhere around Tahoe? There's casinoy-nightlife stuff somewhat closeby for your sis and her friend to enjoy nightlife (plus beaches), and plenty of outdoorsy things for the outdoorsy people. Good mix for your parents if they want to relax or do active things.

Renting a house in the summer might be pricey though, that's one downside.

[DaddyTorgo]

Portland Oregon?

Maybe not enough nightlife-ish stuff though...

[Sun Tzu]

Tahoe is nice, so I'll second that. It's only about 90 minutes from here, and we go at least 2-3 times a year. Harrah's has some mediocre casino's, and there's practically endless hiking trails around the Lake. If you're into waterskiing, or you know...wacky stuff like that, Tahoe is all the more better.

If you're not into gambling, or hiking, or watersports...yeah you may want to skip out on Tahoe.

[ozias]

Hell, come to Maine, it's not hot like Florida...lived there for 6 years, and it's the only place I know where you can take a shower and before you have a chance to dry off your sweating.


We have the white water rafting, hiking trails, national parks, the same ocean as Florida, only colder A bunch of great micro breweries that make some of the best beer you can buy.

Your sister can go to a couple of different casinos, or hit the bars in Portland. One casino is in Bangor, couple of hours north of Portland, and the other is in Oxford, and about 35 miles out of Portland.

You can find all sorts of small shops to check out, eat a few lobster, see a lot of great scenery.

Sugarloaf has zip lines for summer recreation, if you wanted to try something like that, and of course skiing in the winter.

There are a lot of covered bridges in Maine and New Hampshire, so if you were to stay in Portland, you would be an hour or so out of NH, and could see a lot of them. NH also have a couple of places for the kids to enjoy, Story Land in Glenn, NH and Santa's Village in Jefferson, NH, that's probably 2.5-3 hours or so out of Portland.

That would also run you right by Mount Washington, so you could drive up the mountain, do some hiking, see some great views.

Maine is called Vacationland for a reason.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I was thinking Asheville, NC / Highlands / Great Smokies ... right up until you got to your sister.

I got nothing.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I was thinking Asheville, NC / Highlands / Great Smokies ... right up until you got to your sister.

I mean, exactly the same line of thought.

[corbes]

I second the Maine nomination. Saratoga Springs, NY area is worth a thought as well.

[britrock88]

Though your sister could be pampered by doing spa stuff at the Grove Park Inn...?

[CrimsonFox]

vacation ideas that make you hard?

[Blackadar]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I don't think Maine will work - there's simply not enough to do (yeah, I've been there) without spending a lot of hours in the car.

I'll look into Tahoe. That may work. We've already thought about something in the Portland area. Frankly, that would be one of my top picks - whether or not "sis" would go is a different story.

[Logan]

Tell your sister and her "friend" to take their own vacation.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Though your sister could be pampered by doing spa stuff at the Grove Park Inn...?

Excellent point. That place is very nice. Or, if she does end up being out of the mix, I'd definitely look at the Western NC mountains as an option.

[sterlingice]

Crap- I posted a decently long response to what must have been a duplicate thread. I'll throw it in here

Sadly, with those constraints, you've really boxed yourself into a no win situation. No offense, but the easy answer seems to be "you're all too damn picky". If no one's willing to compromise then they can all go on their own vacations. That said, I'll try to come up with what I have since I've done most every US vacation short of Seattle, New England, Vegas, Alaska, and Hawaii.

So let me see if I have your giant stumbling blocks:
-You want outdoors but your sister hates outdoors and your parents only want mild versions of each. One of you is going to have to relax this constraint because it's hard to find any of that.
-You parents have been everywhere. Sorry, mom and dad- if you want a family vacation, you might have to go somewhere else again. Either that or mom and dad have to pick somewhere they haven't and it's their job to politic and have the kids fall in line, regardless of what they want.
-One week is going to be really tough to do Alaska or Hawaii. You're eating up a day minimum each way for travel and if you're spending that much, don't short yourself by only being there 5 days.
-I hate to say it, but your sister is going to be impossible to match up with your other wants. Let her and your parents slug it out and deal with it. That said, I care nothing for those things your sister cares about so I'm a bad gauge of those and my suggestions will be hardest to match up with them just because I don't comprehend what she wants. In short, it's not that I don't understand the problem but being a polar opposite of that, every trip I've been on involves nightlife that she couldn't care less about, short of maybe NYC and Broadway. Our typical evenings away involve going to a baseball game or other sporting event, something outdoors to see nature at night, staying wherever we are (like an amusement park or the DC Mall) until close, or just relaxing after a busy day.
-Minor note: I've only been whitewater rafting once but is that something your parents could do? I don't think I'd take my parents. My sister and I went when we were in our teens and they were 50ish and they wanted nothing to do with it.

Ok, so here's what I see even remotely fits:

DC/Virginia area - there's all the DC stuff you can shake a stick at- museums, landmarks, etc; Virginia Beach, Busch Gardens, and Colonial Wiliamsburg are within 3 hour drives as is a day in Shenandoah for some quality outdoors time; sister gets the city and night life of DC and Virginia Beach but also has to go off the beaten path for stuff they think is boring, parents have to deal with the city part of the time and have probably been there before

Denver/Colorado Springs - Rocky Mountain National Park to the North; Colorado Springs has Pikes Peak Cog Railway (for those who can't hike 14K feet- I know I can't), lots of little downtown-y shops in Manitou Springs, Air Force Academy chapel; Royal Gorge is a bit south of there; Denver has the city and all that a mid-sized city entails without anything really iconic- I dunno Coors brewery, Mount Evans, assorted standard museums and sporting events; I don't see a lot of nightlife for either city: Denver has a downtown and I kindof liked Seven Falls in the evening, cheesy as it is
but if you've done Estes Park, you've probably already seen this

San Fransisco - This was the first thing that came to mind until you said you had just done it. Iconic landmarks: Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz (tour at night is cool), Muir Woods for excellent outdoors activities; Great city both for day and nightlife; Yosemite not too far away and neither is Monterrey with an excellent aquarium. But you just went and I'm sure your parents are been there, done that. In fact, I'm just going to assume that anything I suggest your parents have already done so they can suck it up.

New England - We've never done this trip as we keep moving and plans change. Our plan was to spend a week and hit every state north of New York as I have never been and I want to visit all 50 states. It was going to be a couple of days in Boston (Freedom Trail, Fenway Park, and the like), find something to do in Connecticut and Rhode Island- I'm sure there's something in each worth visiting for a few hours anyways: we hadn't gotten that far in planning other than visit a friend who lived in CT at the time; Vermont was going to be a food extravaganza with visits to the Ben and Jerry's factory, a cheese factory, and a maple syrup tree farm; Visit White Mountain in New Hampshire and eat Maine lobster; mix in a bed and breakfast, some leafing (this was going to be in fall), and it sounded like a relaxing trip; I see a plethora of problems for this group, unfortunately- your sister would (again) find it incredibly boring and so might all of you outside of Boston; It's more a fall activity

Vegas - I've never done Vegas but many others can speak to it, I'm sure, and I'm guessing all 3 of your groups already have thoughts about it one way or another- it's an optional part to possibly get your sister onboard if you and your parents are cool with visiting; To get it tolerable for you, you can add on parts of the following trip

New Mexico/Arizona - The Grand Canyon is about a 6 hour drive away from Vegas, as the Google Map flies; You have Phoenix for any city needs and Albuquerque and Santa Fe are both smaller cities with their charms; All sorts of outdoors activities from Saguaro National Park to Painted Desert/Petrified Forest to Carlsbad Caverns to White Sands; There are some oddball sites like Roswell and I really liked the nuclear museum in Los Alamos when I was younger along with the Natural History museum in Albuquerque which has quite a few dinosaurs but I haven't been back to either in 2 decades so this may be through too much of a lens of being a kid; The downsides: It's spread out over a large area so it will take some driving patience; And really, your sister will absolutely hate it

Pacific Northwest - Never been anywhere except Boise and the surrounding environs; Seattle has the Space Needle, lots of mountains, a music scene, and a bunch of rain; Vancouver and/or Portland are supposed to be nice; It hasn't really been popular until the last 20 or so years so maybe your parents haven't been before; It's a shot in the dark and I know nothing about it but it has potential

Caribbean - Again, never been so I'm just blue skying at this point. Could you do a resort there where you'd get to do all the ocean activities you'd want like snorkeling, seeing reefs, watching dolphins, etc while your sister could just stay behind and be pampered?

Ultimately, this brings on a big philosophical question here: if you're in roughly the same location geographically but not doing the same things, is it really a family vacation or is it more like a bunch of unrelated people spatially in the same location like me and that annoying coworker down the hall I don't want to interact with

There's really very few areas where cities and natural beauty converge and you want both while putting it under even more constraints.

SI

[chesapeake]

Hawaii has it all and you have several choices of islands and venues. But it is very expensive.

Wintergreen resort in Virginia has something for everyone. It is more oriented towards your interests than your sister's, but it has a golf course, spa and live music in the evenings.

[Marc Vaughan]

You don't mention a budget - everyone is suggesting something within the US, but if you're flying and paying out for a hotel/resort why not look abroad?

Its more likely to be something 'new' for everyone involved and that might open them up to trying new things ? ....

Depending on budget I'd suggest Italy (particularly Venice) as being a very cool place to visit - theres lots to do both nightlife/relaxing and active there.

Another alternative could be Berne (Switzerland) its a lovely historic city, but has a young population with a fair bit of nightlife ... plus you can literally hike out from the city and into the alps which rocks

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

You don't mention a budget - everyone is suggesting something within the US, but if you're flying and paying out for a hotel/resort why not look abroad?

Its more likely to be something 'new' for everyone involved and that might open them up to trying new things ? ....

Depending on budget I'd suggest Italy (particularly Venice) as being a very cool place to visit - theres lots to do both nightlife/relaxing and active there.

Another alternative could be Berne (Switzerland) its a lovely historic city, but has a young population with a fair bit of nightlife ... plus you can literally hike out from the city and into the alps which rocks

Venice is cool, but only if you like visiting places that look like Italy but are inhabited entirely with overweight Americans.

[sterlingice]

So the San Antonio Riverwalk with a couple of Italian restaurants?

SI

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

So the San Antonio Riverwalk with a couple of Italian restaurants?

SI

And a gelato store.

[JeeberD]

Puerto Rico?

[Blackadar]

Yeah, it is a bit difficult. My sister is the difficult one. The only place I won't go is New Orleans. Other than that, if everyone wanted to go on a cruise, I'd go. But the only ones who want the cruise are my sister and her friend.

Comments on recent ideas:

Washington DC - We lived there.

Boston - We lived there.

San Fran - Just visited there.

Vegas - Not with kids, not in summer. The folks already said no to this one.

New Mexico - I'd mentioned Santa Fe in my original post. I'd love to go here (again).

Pacific Northwest - Ditto.

Colorado Springs - I'm pushing hard for this one. It appears there's a great resort there (Broadmoor) and there may be enough there for everyone.

Carribean - Did the cruise thing last year to a couple of islands in the Carribean. Doesn't seem to be much interest from either my side or the folks.

Overseas - I suggested this (Italy or Germany). So far it has no traction, but that might change. Still, it would be tough with a 3 1/2 year old in tow.

Another option might be to go during Spring Break. That would open up a few other warm-weather options.

[Glengoyne]

Suck it up and do another cruise. Just because your sister won't compromise, doesn't mean you don't have to.

When it gets hard, give up.

[Glengoyne]

Ok I gotta post... Mrs glen here

I love doing amusement parks and such with the kids, but nothing beats a great massage. That being said, I have always wanted to go to Hershey, PA. They have the amusement park, and a great spa from what I have seen on the travel channel. What about something along that line? It's on the east coast to keep travel costs down, and your parents can run with you and the kids in the park or meet your sister in the spa. I'm sure there are other outdoor activities around that could entertain you once you have done the park.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Ok I gotta post... Mrs glen here

I love doing amusement parks and such with the kids, but nothing beats a great massage. That being said, I have always wanted to go to Hershey, PA. They have the amusement park, and a great spa from what I have seen on the travel channel. What about something along that line? It's on the east coast to keep travel costs down, and your parents can run with you and the kids in the park or meet your sister in the spa. I'm sure there are other outdoor activities around that could entertain you once you have done the park.

Good idea, Mrs. Glen...I'll put it out there for discussion. I last went to Hershey, PA about 35 years ago.

[sabotai]

Just to add to the Hershey idea with your night life loving sister in mind, there is a casino (Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course (horse racing)) ~10 miles north of Hershey. I've never been there so I can't say if it's any good or not, though.

[dawgfan]

Any of the 3 major PNW cities - Vancouver B.C., Seattle, Portland - would probably fit the bill. All are big enough to have nightlife & stuff to do for your sister, but are also close enough drives for lots of outdoor activity (rafting, hiking, sailing). Vancouver is probably the most active city in terms of stuff to do in town, but maybe the complication of crossing the border might not be worth it, I dunno.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Ok I gotta post... Mrs glen here

I love doing amusement parks and such with the kids, but nothing beats a great massage. That being said, I have always wanted to go to Hershey, PA. They have the amusement park, and a great spa from what I have seen on the travel channel. What about something along that line? It's on the east coast to keep travel costs down, and your parents can run with you and the kids in the park or meet your sister in the spa. I'm sure there are other outdoor activities around that could entertain you once you have done the park.

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Good idea, Mrs. Glen...I'll put it out there for discussion. I last went to Hershey, PA about 35 years ago.

We did Hershey a couple years ago...

There are other amusement parks nearby as well, including Dutch Wonderland, which will be geared towards your little one, though your son might get bored there.

Depending how early into the summer you go, the Hershey Bears (Capitals AHL affiliate) may still be playing in the AHL playoffs, if that's more to your sons liking. The arena is at the opposite end of the parking lots of Hershey Park.

Also, Zoo America right near the parks.

[Blackadar]

First, thanks all for the suggestions.

Just to update...turns out that my sister doesn't want to go anywhere, so that freed things up considerably.

I suggested a resort in Colorado Springs (Cheyenne Mountain Resort). It's close enough to a lot of outdoor stuff that Mom and Dad can drive to so that doesn't tire 'em out. But it also has nearby whitewater, big mountains, cog railway, zoo, nice weather and other great stuff for everyone to enjoy during the day. Plus, Mom has never been to Colorado (weird, she's been everywhere else).

It's not so upscale that it's not kid friendly but should be generally good (has decent ratings). The Broadmoor next door is nicer, but doesn't seem worth the extra dough. We could go higher end, but that should be fine - probably get the Presidential Suite.