Favorite vacation with young kids

[Anonymous]

Nice! I want to hear about Rome. I'd love to take DS (5) there but we don't know anyone and I assumed it was not a kid friendly city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what time of year?

The best vacations we've had with our child are ones that my parents have been with us. That allows us to do things DC doesn't want to do or can't do and DC gets to spend time with the doting grandparents. And no worries about strange babysitters you've never met and have no references for.

* rented a cottage at a resort in Florida in April (but not Easter); good any age past 6 months
* ski trips out west; better at 5 than at 3;
* my parents' summer place on a lake in the midwest
* our friends' house on the Eastern Shore

I've wanted to try the Homestead but don't have enough vacation time to do everything.

Love your post! I'm a grandmother, and our family has taken similar vacations for years. We all get along really well, and it just works out great!

[Anonymous]

We had a great mini-vacation with the parents & kidling. Rented a beach house for a weekend. It worked out surprisingly well, even though my parents are divorced (the house was split for two families to share anyway).

I hope we have many more of these type of gatherings. It's easier on everyone when we're all on neutral ground!

We (as a couple) were able to sneak off for some fun on our own while the grandparents enjoyed the baby.

[Anonymous]

Children 4 to 10: Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what time of year?

The best vacations we've had with our child are ones that my parents have been with us. That allows us to do things DC doesn't want to do or can't do and DC gets to spend time with the doting grandparents. And no worries about strange babysitters you've never met and have no references for.

* rented a cottage at a resort in Florida in April (but not Easter); good any age past 6 months
* ski trips out west; better at 5 than at 3;
* my parents' summer place on a lake in the midwest
* our friends' house on the Eastern Shore

I've wanted to try the Homestead but don't have enough vacation time to do everything.

Places like the Homestead are great for ages 5-9. They have Kids Club and are happy with it. Another easy spot is Kingsmill in Williamsburg-indoor and outdoor pool, 9 hole golf, attractions, rent a condo. Sea Colony East in Bethany. Ignore the decorating. Downtown is a stroller ride away and there's a drugstore across the street. The outdoor pools littered along the beach are wonderful respites.

[Anonymous]

can the Tweetsie Railroad poster elaborate? I was considering a trip to Blowing Rock, NC (kids are 3 and 5) - is there enough to do in that area for the week (we like to be pretty active).

[Anonymous]

I'm not the OP but we just got back from the Boone, NC area yesterday! I was disappointed by Tweetsie Railroad this time (we've been before). The whole place just felt very rundown and the staff was really lackluster. The cowboys acting out the train robbing scene were so bad that several parents around us were wondering out loud if they were drunk. For $32/person I found myself pretty annoyed at how shabby and half-hearted everything felt. In the past I've found the simple charm of the place great, this time it felt neglected.

That said, Boone/Blowing Rock is a great place to go with kids. It's an easy half-day drive and you can rent a cabin or condo at a reasonable rate. Tubing is inexpensive and something just about anyone can do and enjoy (we like High Mountain Adventures). My 6 and 8 year old love to drift down the river. Right now you can go berry picking (Johnsons Small Fruit has great blueberries and raspberries in kid-friendly fields). Downtown Boone is great for wandering. Drive up to Beech Mtn. and check out the amazing park at Buckeye Rec Center--it's one of the most amazing playgrounds I have ever seen (make sure to stop at Fred's Mercantile while you are there).

[Anonymous]

Hands-down, Marco Island in SW FL is the best place we've gone with our kids. It's enough of an island to feel like vacation but also enough of a "real" city to make things like buying groceries or eating out easy and affordable. If you go outside of season, which is Oct-May, you can get great prices on rental houses, which is always easier with kids. The beaches are gorgeous and the tide is nice and gentle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hands-down, Marco Island in SW FL is the best place we've gone with our kids. It's enough of an island to feel like vacation but also enough of a "real" city to make things like buying groceries or eating out easy and affordable. If you go outside of season, which is Oct-May, you can get great prices on rental houses, which is always easier with kids. The beaches are gorgeous and the tide is nice and gentle.

Can you tell us more about Marco Island? I was thinking about taking a vacation to Sanibel Island and in my research, have often read people saying they prefer Marco Island for families. How are the two different (that is, if you know about Sanibel!) and what makes it so family friendly?

[Anonymous]

I'm the one who posted about Marco Island. Full disclosure: I grew up in the area so when we go it's a trip to see family as much as a vacation. I've been going to both islands all my life and I would agree that Marco is much more family-friendly. The biggest problem with Sanibel is that it offers very limited options. There is only one real supermarket (and the charge accordingly), a handful of places to eat, and nothing to do when the weather doesn't cooperate. Prices on the island are high and it costs money every time you cross the bridge to come back on the island.

Marco has a large and growing year-round population, with more and more families moving to the island (it's the silver lining to falling house prices, I guess). That means it's a really livable place. When we're there for a week, we never feel like we need to leave the island to accomplish any important task, unlike when we were on Sanibel. Also, the beaches are much easier with kids. The surf is mellower and sand is easier on the feet in Marco. They also have a movie theater (it's also a restaurant, which my kids think is fun), so rain or high heat doesn't leave us stuck in the house.

If you are headed to Marco, here are a few suggestions:

*If you aren't staying at a beachfront hotel, go to the town office and buy a pass to the resident's beach. It's the best beach on the island and totally worth the money. There are two public beaches which are nice, but residents is really amazing.

*Mackle Park is worth the trip alone. There is a spraypark in the center and then two huge play structures, one for toddlers and one for older kids. My 8-year-old still says it's favorite place on earth. There are also shuffleboard courts, basketball courts, and a lake with a walking trail around it. When we are on the island, we go to Mackle at least once a day.

*In addition to the movie theater, there is also a library with a wonderful kids section. Lots of comfy couches and cushions to snuggle up on with a good book. A great place for rainy afternoons.

*Sanibel is a great day trip, so you can still check out the island without staying there. The lighthouse is fun for kids and Ding Darling Nature Center is really interesting for older kids.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! What beach front hotels/resorts do you recommend?

[Anonymous]

Any of the big name hotels on South Collier Blvd. are going to have great beach access and will be any easy walk to shopping and restaurants. If you are going out of season, you should also check out homeaway.com for condo and house rentals. It's the site with the most options on Marco. When you factor in the cost of having a kitchen, it's worth the money. Plus, all of the condo buildings and almost all of the houses have pools.

[Anonymous]

We love renting an RV and "camping" in exotic places like California and Washington State. The relief from the hot weather is well worth the time change- as long as you have time to recover from jet lag. And the combination of outdoors and RV luxuries like refrigerator/gas stove and coffee in the a.m. are great. Costs add up to about the same as a double hotel room, but you have much more autonomy and mobility of course -and it's so fun to drive from beach to beach and cook your own meals with fresh local ingredients.

[Anonymous]

OP Tweetsie poster here.

We went first week of June for the Thomas Tank Engine train ride. The 2 year old son loved the inflatable bouncy thing and slide, but when the temperature hit 90 degrees it became too hot to do much bouncing and he wore out fast. By 11:30 AM he was tired out sweating and snoozing in his stroller. And the heat made him really cranky and irritable.

The high heat might explain lackluster staff from the previous poster. I started feeling lackluster myself after a few hours in the 95-degree heat.

My 3-1/2 year old son loved the Merry-Go-Round and other kiddie rides, especially the go-carts. He liked the train ride and the cowboy skit was ok but this was 9 AM before it got really hot. I can imagine the pain running around in face paint and costume trying to put on a skit in 90-degree heat.

As is usual with amusement parks the food was a bit expensive (better to leave the park and eat elsewhere).

We definitely plan to go again in 2 years. The 2-year old enjoyed it but the 3-1/2 year old enjoyed it more.

We completely missed out on the water park because the kids wore out in the heat, plus, to my consternation, the kids seemed more interested in playing with the little toy police cars we bought them instead of the park attractions.

Made me think "Well shoot, I could have just bought the two police cars ($5 each) and saved the $100 in gas, the $171 for 2-nights at a hotel, and the $90 admission fee for 2 adults and a child over 3 (2 years and under enter free).

Overall it was a successful, fun trip. I thought it was worth it except I think my kids should have been over 4 so as to have the endurance to ride more rides and see more of the park.

Tweetsie isn't big compared to Busch Gardens or Disney World but for a kid it probably seems huge.

[Anonymous]

I haven't been to Marco Island but we did have a great vacation with our toddlers and the grandparents on Captiva, which is where the Sanibel Island chain ends. You can rent an oceanfront condo, or a vacation house with a walkway to the beach and community pool there in October for under $1500 if you look online. There is a wildlife refuge, great shelling, bicycling, the beach is mild and the water is beautiful. We stocked up at the Albertson's in Ft. Myer on the way and never had to leave the island after that. I liked being able to take a stroller to outdoor cafes.
Naples is another option, and Gasparilla Island which is even more remote.