Where did you go spring break, how did it go?

[Anonymous]

We did four nights in NYC. Loved it. DH is from the area but we hadn't stayed downtown in four years. So much has changed and DD (6) loved it. We drove since Amtrak was back to high prices and mostly sold out. Weather was beautiful. Spring in NYC is a revelation! Did the natural history museum (absolutely blown away) and Central Park on one day, High Line/Little Island and lunching in the village on another, Circle Line boat tour around the island on the last day. A little bit of driving and visiting family in Brooklyn. Still so much to uncover!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Florida.
We spent half the week in Key Largo which we liked a lot but it really was more expensive than I would have predicted. I booked a few months ago so maybe that was too late to get deals. Also apparently spring is windy season so you often can’t get out to the coral reefs? We snorkeled biscayne NP (through the non profit Biscsyne institute—highly recommend) which was great even though we couldn’t get to the reef.

Now in Fort Lauderdale and despite the area looking nice to me when I researched it, it seems kind of trashy. Most of the restaurants seem to be advertising very cheap booze and the stores are selling t shirts that mostly have jokes about how much one drinks or women’s body parts. I’m not really knowledgeable about Florida so probably did not pick the best place for us. It’s raining today so will head to the movies and hoping tomorrow we can ride bikes along the beach and maybe hunt for shells or something. Or just get drunk, I guess.

We are on our way to Key Largo. I booked in the fall, and I don’t think there were any deals in the Keys this year for SB. Or at least I didn’t find them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida.
We spent half the week in Key Largo which we liked a lot but it really was more expensive than I would have predicted. I booked a few months ago so maybe that was too late to get deals. Also apparently spring is windy season so you often can’t get out to the coral reefs? We snorkeled biscayne NP (through the non profit Biscsyne institute—highly recommend) which was great even though we couldn’t get to the reef.

Now in Fort Lauderdale and despite the area looking nice to me when I researched it, it seems kind of trashy. Most of the restaurants seem to be advertising very cheap booze and the stores are selling t shirts that mostly have jokes about how much one drinks or women’s body parts. I’m not really knowledgeable about Florida so probably did not pick the best place for us. It’s raining today so will head to the movies and hoping tomorrow we can ride bikes along the beach and maybe hunt for shells or something. Or just get drunk, I guess.

We are on our way to Key Largo. I booked in the fall, and I don’t think there were any deals in the Keys this year for SB. Or at least I didn’t find them.

We paid close to 1000/night for a ocean view room so when I said “deals” I just meant reasonable. The first couple places I checked were already booked in January so we ended up at the Hilton baker’s cay … it was lovely and the balcony view was as nice as I’ve had anywhere but I really winced at the price. But even this marriot in a fairly down market area of fort laurerdale with a view of the parking lot booked in Ianuary was over 500/night so I guess that’s just what Florida costs now for SB? Makes disney seem more of a bargain where at least I get giraffes outside my window for these prices!
Maybe the prices are better on the gulf side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did four nights in NYC. Loved it. DH is from the area but we hadn't stayed downtown in four years. So much has changed and DD (6) loved it. We drove since Amtrak was back to high prices and mostly sold out. Weather was beautiful. Spring in NYC is a revelation! Did the natural history museum (absolutely blown away) and Central Park on one day, High Line/Little Island and lunching in the village on another, Circle Line boat tour around the island on the last day. A little bit of driving and visiting family in Brooklyn. Still so much to uncover!

Can you recommend your hotel, and also is that where you parked your car? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

3 nights in Norfolk. It went well and for two of the days it was sunny with daytime highs in the upper 70s, low 80s while in NoVA it was rainy and in the 50s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mexico with elementary age kids- wonderful and easy, flew United with no glitches or delays. Easy customs. Service at destination top notch. Finally a truly relaxed post covid vacation! We’ve traveled a lot during covid but have mostly done VRBO - so a resort felt so nice.

Which resort?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to Sedona too. WAs packed but loved it so much going back in July. Great hiking. Should be less people in the dead of summer.
Heading to Europe this summer and dreading the paperwork leaving and coming back.

Yeah Europe is just not in the cards for us this year . The hassle of getting in, the worry of getting back out if you hit an asymptomatic positive … maybe 2023.

The paperwork for getting in to Europe is a nothingburger in many cases (If you’re vaccinated).

Coming back isn’t that hard unless you test positive. Which happens, but there are ways to mitigate the risks. I’ve been 2, now 3, times during the (later half) pandemic and never had a problem

[Anonymous]

Similar to the NYC poster, we did four nights in Philadelphia. From the area but hadn't stayed in Center City with kids before. Weather was beautiful, so we walked around quite a bit and saw the sights (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (great tour by Ranger Mike!), etc.). We also spent a day at the Franklin Institute (kids loved!) and saw the Harry Potter exhibit. The rest of the time was spent visiting family. Nice, easy trip, which was all I could handle planning this year with young kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to Sedona too. WAs packed but loved it so much going back in July. Great hiking. Should be less people in the dead of summer.
Heading to Europe this summer and dreading the paperwork leaving and coming back.

Yeah Europe is just not in the cards for us this year . The hassle of getting in, the worry of getting back out if you hit an asymptomatic positive … maybe 2023.

The paperwork for getting in to Europe is a nothingburger in many cases (If you’re vaccinated).

Coming back isn’t that hard unless you test positive. Which happens, but there are ways to mitigate the risks. I’ve been 2, now 3, times during the (later half) pandemic and never had a problem

That’s cool. It’s not something I want to deal with - that poster whose husband got stuck in Portugal and they lost 3 days dealing with airlines and she had to fly back with the kids is like my worst case scenario for travel. We’re going to wait until maybe no testing required at all!

[Anonymous]

3 nights at Kingsmill in Williamsburg. Resort seemed only half-full but we liked that. Great weather. Indoor pool was small for the size of the property. Few masks seen. I recommend the cruise on the schooner out of Yorktown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to Sedona too. WAs packed but loved it so much going back in July. Great hiking. Should be less people in the dead of summer.
Heading to Europe this summer and dreading the paperwork leaving and coming back.

Yeah Europe is just not in the cards for us this year . The hassle of getting in, the worry of getting back out if you hit an asymptomatic positive … maybe 2023.

The paperwork for getting in to Europe is a nothingburger in many cases (If you’re vaccinated).

Coming back isn’t that hard unless you test positive. Which happens, but there are ways to mitigate the risks. I’ve been 2, now 3, times during the (later half) pandemic and never had a problem

That’s cool. It’s not something I want to deal with - that poster whose husband got stuck in Portugal and they lost 3 days dealing with airlines and she had to fly back with the kids is like my worst case scenario for travel. We’re going to wait until maybe no testing required at all!

I'm that Portugal poster. I just spent about three hours over four days working with Chase Sapphire Reserve Ultimate Rewards trying to apply a travel credit for a flight to NYC to new booking. My son and I both ended up getting COVID, though it's unclear whether we got it from DH or from school. So I had to cancel a trip to visit family in Brooklyn that was planned for the week after Portugal. In other words, the butterfly effect continues. And Chase just couldn't take care of a simple booking, getting it wrong pretty much every step of the way. The new trip is to meet up with DH's family in Lake Tahoe in August, including meeting the newest member of his family who just turned one. And my DH is so turned off from travel he's ready to just not go anywhere ever as it's not worth the struggle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to Sedona too. WAs packed but loved it so much going back in July. Great hiking. Should be less people in the dead of summer.
Heading to Europe this summer and dreading the paperwork leaving and coming back.

Yeah Europe is just not in the cards for us this year . The hassle of getting in, the worry of getting back out if you hit an asymptomatic positive … maybe 2023.

The paperwork for getting in to Europe is a nothingburger in many cases (If you’re vaccinated).

Coming back isn’t that hard unless you test positive. Which happens, but there are ways to mitigate the risks. I’ve been 2, now 3, times during the (later half) pandemic and never had a problem

That’s cool. It’s not something I want to deal with - that poster whose husband got stuck in Portugal and they lost 3 days dealing with airlines and she had to fly back with the kids is like my worst case scenario for travel. We’re going to wait until maybe no testing required at all!

I get that but your post implied that the paperwork was the issue — fear of testing positive and getting stuck seems to be the actual issue. Which is fair.

I know people who tested positive (also in Portugal) and it was, indeed, a headache. But it’s also not a particularly high probability event, especially if you’ve recently had omicron or levels are low where you’re going/starting.

[Anonymous]

Kiawah Island. We have gone for the last few years. We flew this time which was easy all things considered and rented a car. We have always driven in the past. Three kids aged 7-14. Weather was lovely— we all sat on beach, played games on beach and kids swam in ocean second half of week (which was warmer than first half). Rented bikes. Night Heron pools are heated and we spent a lot of time there. It’s not cheap for what’s not considered peak season but it was great for us. Relaxing and quiet but with enough to keep the kids busy. Needed reservations (a few weeks out) for dinner but we took what we could get and even squeezed in lunch at Ocean Course which is beautiful setting (and setting for some of the scenes filled in TV show Outer Banks which my oldest daughter thought was cool). Looks like a fitness center is being added for next year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to Sedona too. WAs packed but loved it so much going back in July. Great hiking. Should be less people in the dead of summer.
Heading to Europe this summer and dreading the paperwork leaving and coming back.

Yeah Europe is just not in the cards for us this year . The hassle of getting in, the worry of getting back out if you hit an asymptomatic positive … maybe 2023.

The paperwork for getting in to Europe is a nothingburger in many cases (If you’re vaccinated).

Coming back isn’t that hard unless you test positive. Which happens, but there are ways to mitigate the risks. I’ve been 2, now 3, times during the (later half) pandemic and never had a problem

That’s cool. It’s not something I want to deal with - that poster whose husband got stuck in Portugal and they lost 3 days dealing with airlines and she had to fly back with the kids is like my worst case scenario for travel. We’re going to wait until maybe no testing required at all!

I get that but your post implied that the paperwork was the issue — fear of testing positive and getting stuck seems to be the actual issue. Which is fair.

I know people who tested positive (also in Portugal) and it was, indeed, a headache. But it’s also not a particularly high probability event, especially if you’ve recently had omicron or levels are low where you’re going/starting.

I literally said “if you test and hit an asymptomatic positive” about leaving lol. I don’t care about paperwork. I care about being stuck or having to rearrange travel last minute because someone is positive for Covid like the Portugal pp dealt with

[Anonymous]

Turks and Caicos direct non stop from Dulles. Five nights cost nearly $11,000 for me and teen. Stayed at Seven Stars. It was lovely. Rented a car. Drive around. Day trip to north Caicos.