Most impressive trip on east coast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could you do a few small things instead of one place for a week? Like a few days in Boston, do the Duck Boats, the Aquarium, the Freedom Trail if your kids are into History. Then a day in Newport RI with the mansion tours, or go into NH and go up to Conway in the White Mountains? Pick another New England town as you head back home?

We did something kind of like this. Two days in Boston, then a night in Providence, then 2 days in Newport. We drove and it was one of our favorite family trips in recent memory. Itinerary looked like this.

Boston: saw Shakespeare in the Common, did a kayaking tour, went to a Red Sox game, ate some really good Italian food

Providence: checked out the Brown campus and surrounding neighborhoods, did an evening stroll along the river, stayed in a really nice hotel downtown that was crazy cheap for summer (Providence is pretty quiet in the summer)

Newport: did the Cliff Walk which was probably the highlight of the trip (skipped mansion tours because our kids aren't into that but we did walk the grounds on a couple which was cool), very nice beach day, saw a Newport Gulls game in this fun little stadium downtown. Also Newport has a little trolley/bus system to get around which was great and enabled us to mostly ditch the car.

I loved how low-key it was, none of us had ever been to Providence or Newport before so it felt like a good change of pace, we spent a lot of time outside and did active things but nothing too strenuous or difficult for elementary age kids. Felt like a great balance. Also got great weather and felt like a real break from DC heat despite not venturing that far away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think NYC is always amazing. There's less people and it's not high season in summer there. With kids it's not like you're needing to enjoy the charms of the city v seeing all the activities a big city offers. AC is everywhere as well. As kids, they aren't gonna remember anything adults would - they will only remember the fun

Chicago is another remarkably fun place and it will be high season there. It's such an easy trip from here. Aug has air show on the beach. I wouldn't do UP but I would do Chicago and you do have beach there. That's my hometown so h know it well.

I prefer Wildwood and Jersey shore v OBX personally. I like the food up north

Agree with PP about Boston and NE beaches but Shenandoah is easy too. It depends on how easy you want to make it and your budget. Depends on your family's personality. We are city folks who enjoy the beach but I can't hang out in sand 24/7 for 7 days straight it's just too much sun for me

Agree with Chicago. The Willis Tower sky deck, Field Science Museum, great art museums, Boat tours (River Architecture Tour or Lake Sunset tours). Great outdoor options and fun food. Plus beaches!

Chicago is not East Coast.

It's driveable in a day, so it is responsive to the question.

[Anonymous]

Would you go as far as Montreal? It's kind of fun to be in a place where people speak French, it should be a little less hot, there are things to do (and plenty of nature-type stuff nearby). It does take a long time to drive up there, but you can make stops along the way or detour to Vermont/Lake Champlain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are trying to “impress” your children?

That is sad. How about relax and have fun together?

I think they are trying to sound more impressive when people ask, which is just as stupid.
Explains the Delaware beaches.
I hated this period in life, but my kids freaking loved it there and the big stupid waterslide parks. You can VIP all that stuff to the sad extent possible to make it feel like you're "impressive", OP, but kids love this stuff just like they love Disney and Six Flags. So that's where you go to make the kids happy while they are this age.

This.

I’m a beach person who was born and raised in the dc metro area. While I’ve been to beaches all around the world, I grew up going to the MD/DE beaches at least twice a summer plus a long weekend each year…just like almost everyone I know who was born and raised in the dc metro area.

While I’ve taken my kids to beaches around the world (e.g., we go to the Caribbean at least once a year (and usually twice a year) and they each have their favorite beaches in the Mediterranean having traveled there pretty regularly), I still made a point of taking them to our “local” beaches regularly (which admittedly is easy to do when so many family and friends have places there). The kids still love it (and my oldest is in college).

We’ve also gone to beaches in FL, SC, NC, MA, RI, ME, WA, CA, and both coasts of Canada.

I thought we would love Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, etc. but the kids hated it. One and done was plenty. My spouse’s family grew up going there each summer (old money relatives have summered there in their amazing houses for generations). He warned me that it isn’t as nice as I imagined and that overall it’s pretty boring (which is his assessment of NC beaches as well). I will say this: the people watching in Cape Cod is epic; so many men in tank tops and tattoos acting out in public with booming voices with thick Boston and NY accents! It wasn’t the refined experience I imagined. Quite frankly, it was worse than what posters say about OCMD boardwalk denizens.

Anyway, I appreciate that some parents just aren’t beach people. Or Disney people. Or Minigolf and Go Kart people. But most kids love this stuff, so I’m a bit surprised by parents who only take their kids camping in national parks or to museums in city-based trips. My kids have traveled extensively around the world (including national parks and museums), but they would be disappointed if we didn’t make it to the local beaches at least once a summer. It’s not because it’s the “best” beach in the world. Rather, it’s “our” beach that they’ve gone to since birth, so it’s our “tradition.”

And travel traditions matter to kids.

Gosh yes. Kids don't want to go to national parks. They want to go on water slides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are trying to “impress” your children?

That is sad. How about relax and have fun together?

I think they are trying to sound more impressive when people ask, which is just as stupid.
Explains the Delaware beaches.
I hated this period in life, but my kids freaking loved it there and the big stupid waterslide parks. You can VIP all that stuff to the sad extent possible to make it feel like you're "impressive", OP, but kids love this stuff just like they love Disney and Six Flags. So that's where you go to make the kids happy while they are this age.

This.

I’m a beach person who was born and raised in the dc metro area. While I’ve been to beaches all around the world, I grew up going to the MD/DE beaches at least twice a summer plus a long weekend each year…just like almost everyone I know who was born and raised in the dc metro area.

While I’ve taken my kids to beaches around the world (e.g., we go to the Caribbean at least once a year (and usually twice a year) and they each have their favorite beaches in the Mediterranean having traveled there pretty regularly), I still made a point of taking them to our “local” beaches regularly (which admittedly is easy to do when so many family and friends have places there). The kids still love it (and my oldest is in college).

We’ve also gone to beaches in FL, SC, NC, MA, RI, ME, WA, CA, and both coasts of Canada.

I thought we would love Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, etc. but the kids hated it. One and done was plenty. My spouse’s family grew up going there each summer (old money relatives have summered there in their amazing houses for generations). He warned me that it isn’t as nice as I imagined and that overall it’s pretty boring (which is his assessment of NC beaches as well). I will say this: the people watching in Cape Cod is epic; so many men in tank tops and tattoos acting out in public with booming voices with thick Boston and NY accents! It wasn’t the refined experience I imagined. Quite frankly, it was worse than what posters say about OCMD boardwalk denizens.

Anyway, I appreciate that some parents just aren’t beach people. Or Disney people. Or Minigolf and Go Kart people. But most kids love this stuff, so I’m a bit surprised by parents who only take their kids camping in national parks or to museums in city-based trips. My kids have traveled extensively around the world (including national parks and museums), but they would be disappointed if we didn’t make it to the local beaches at least once a summer. It’s not because it’s the “best” beach in the world. Rather, it’s “our” beach that they’ve gone to since birth, so it’s our “tradition.”

And travel traditions matter to kids.

Gosh yes. Kids don't want to go to national parks. They want to go on water slides.

Rubbish. My kids' favorite ever trip was to the Badlands and Custer State Park in SD. They find beaches boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Op here. Are NC mountains much different feeling than Shenandoah/Appalachians? We have spent a lot of time camping in this area so looking for something different.

Used to live in (well, right outside) Boston but never went out to Cape Cod. Statue of Liberty would be pretty neat, I've never been there, and my younger kid loves ferries....

It's the same mountain range but the highest peaks on the eastern seaboard. Yes, it's quite different.

[Anonymous]

Kennebunk , Maine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are trying to “impress” your children?

That is sad. How about relax and have fun together?

I think they are trying to sound more impressive when people ask, which is just as stupid.
Explains the Delaware beaches.
I hated this period in life, but my kids freaking loved it there and the big stupid waterslide parks. You can VIP all that stuff to the sad extent possible to make it feel like you're "impressive", OP, but kids love this stuff just like they love Disney and Six Flags. So that's where you go to make the kids happy while they are this age.

This.

I’m a beach person who was born and raised in the dc metro area. While I’ve been to beaches all around the world, I grew up going to the MD/DE beaches at least twice a summer plus a long weekend each year…just like almost everyone I know who was born and raised in the dc metro area.

While I’ve taken my kids to beaches around the world (e.g., we go to the Caribbean at least once a year (and usually twice a year) and they each have their favorite beaches in the Mediterranean having traveled there pretty regularly), I still made a point of taking them to our “local” beaches regularly (which admittedly is easy to do when so many family and friends have places there). The kids still love it (and my oldest is in college).

We’ve also gone to beaches in FL, SC, NC, MA, RI, ME, WA, CA, and both coasts of Canada.

I thought we would love Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, etc. but the kids hated it. One and done was plenty. My spouse’s family grew up going there each summer (old money relatives have summered there in their amazing houses for generations). He warned me that it isn’t as nice as I imagined and that overall it’s pretty boring (which is his assessment of NC beaches as well). I will say this: the people watching in Cape Cod is epic; so many men in tank tops and tattoos acting out in public with booming voices with thick Boston and NY accents! It wasn’t the refined experience I imagined. Quite frankly, it was worse than what posters say about OCMD boardwalk denizens.

Anyway, I appreciate that some parents just aren’t beach people. Or Disney people. Or Minigolf and Go Kart people. But most kids love this stuff, so I’m a bit surprised by parents who only take their kids camping in national parks or to museums in city-based trips. My kids have traveled extensively around the world (including national parks and museums), but they would be disappointed if we didn’t make it to the local beaches at least once a summer. It’s not because it’s the “best” beach in the world. Rather, it’s “our” beach that they’ve gone to since birth, so it’s our “tradition.”

And travel traditions matter to kids.

Gosh yes. Kids don't want to go to national parks. They want to go on water slides.

Well, kids and parents both have to enjoy the trip, and *parents* want great scenery and something new. We're already doing the travel tradition of visiting grandparents for a week, which is the kids' favorite destination. We're more northern mountain people who moved to the DC area, so it's not a tradition for us the way it sounds like it is for people who grow up going every year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to check out a beach in DE (spouse is not an Ocean City fan), but don't knock other people loving national parks and museums! Plus "water slides" are not at the beach per se, they're another thing with typically steep admission fees. National parks, camping, and visiting museums with a reciprocal membership are more "budget" trips, which matters to a lot of folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you go as far as Montreal? It's kind of fun to be in a place where people speak French, it should be a little less hot, there are things to do (and plenty of nature-type stuff nearby). It does take a long time to drive up there, but you can make stops along the way or detour to Vermont/Lake Champlain?

Montreal might be a little far for under a week but this would be an awesome road trip! It looks like there's a castle on an island in the Thousand Islands Canadian side, too....

[Anonymous]

OP, this isn't going to be a "most impressive" recommendation unless you have a bigger budget than you intimated and can fly. Then I'd recommend Californian or the Canadian Rockies, But we have had a blast with our kids in the Lancaster area: it's within easy driving distance and full of kid friendly attractions like train and toy museums, the Pennsylvania Dutch "tourist" attractions as well as the PA Dutch lifestyle which flavors the area (farms, buggies, markets), open air history museums, factory tours (Turkey Hill ice cream, pretzels, etc), Hershey with its chocolate world tour, the trolley, and the Hershey Museum, a huge car museum, the amusement parks (Hershey Park or Dutch Wonderland, mini-golf. Maybe it doesn't fit some people's "instagram worthy" criteria, but you can rent a place and spread out, come "home" every night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this isn't going to be a "most impressive" recommendation unless you have a bigger budget than you intimated and can fly. Then I'd recommend Californian or the Canadian Rockies, But we have had a blast with our kids in the Lancaster area: it's within easy driving distance and full of kid friendly attractions like train and toy museums, the Pennsylvania Dutch "tourist" attractions as well as the PA Dutch lifestyle which flavors the area (farms, buggies, markets), open air history museums, factory tours (Turkey Hill ice cream, pretzels, etc), Hershey with its chocolate world tour, the trolley, and the Hershey Museum, a huge car museum, the amusement parks (Hershey Park or Dutch Wonderland, mini-golf. Maybe it doesn't fit some people's "instagram worthy" criteria, but you can rent a place and spread out, come "home" every night.

Thanks. Honestly what I really wanted was to go to Olympic or Alaska, but I don't think it's wise this year (spending most of our vacation time on grandparents, and one parent is a fed at risk of RIF so trying to keep spending down). That's where "impressive" is coming from - I'm missing big mountains and dramatic coasts. This does sound like a really fun close trip while the kids are young, though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are trying to “impress” your children?

That is sad. How about relax and have fun together?

I think they are trying to sound more impressive when people ask, which is just as stupid.
Explains the Delaware beaches.
I hated this period in life, but my kids freaking loved it there and the big stupid waterslide parks. You can VIP all that stuff to the sad extent possible to make it feel like you're "impressive", OP, but kids love this stuff just like they love Disney and Six Flags. So that's where you go to make the kids happy while they are this age.

This.

I’m a beach person who was born and raised in the dc metro area. While I’ve been to beaches all around the world, I grew up going to the MD/DE beaches at least twice a summer plus a long weekend each year…just like almost everyone I know who was born and raised in the dc metro area.

While I’ve taken my kids to beaches around the world (e.g., we go to the Caribbean at least once a year (and usually twice a year) and they each have their favorite beaches in the Mediterranean having traveled there pretty regularly), I still made a point of taking them to our “local” beaches regularly (which admittedly is easy to do when so many family and friends have places there). The kids still love it (and my oldest is in college).

We’ve also gone to beaches in FL, SC, NC, MA, RI, ME, WA, CA, and both coasts of Canada.

I thought we would love Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, etc. but the kids hated it. One and done was plenty. My spouse’s family grew up going there each summer (old money relatives have summered there in their amazing houses for generations). He warned me that it isn’t as nice as I imagined and that overall it’s pretty boring (which is his assessment of NC beaches as well). I will say this: the people watching in Cape Cod is epic; so many men in tank tops and tattoos acting out in public with booming voices with thick Boston and NY accents! It wasn’t the refined experience I imagined. Quite frankly, it was worse than what posters say about OCMD boardwalk denizens.

Anyway, I appreciate that some parents just aren’t beach people. Or Disney people. Or Minigolf and Go Kart people. But most kids love this stuff, so I’m a bit surprised by parents who only take their kids camping in national parks or to museums in city-based trips. My kids have traveled extensively around the world (including national parks and museums), but they would be disappointed if we didn’t make it to the local beaches at least once a summer. It’s not because it’s the “best” beach in the world. Rather, it’s “our” beach that they’ve gone to since birth, so it’s our “tradition.”

And travel traditions matter to kids.

Gosh yes. Kids don't want to go to national parks. They want to go on water slides.

Not op. My kids enjoy water slides and love theme parks, but they also had an amazing time traveling through national parks. White water rafting; kayaking; swimming in lakes; hiking; visiting different sliding rocks; multiple water falls; museums; renting a pontoon boat with tubes; paddle boards; and so on....Kids enjoy a variety of experiences if they're exposed to them. It doesn't mean it always has to be one or the other.

[Anonymous]

if your kids enjoyed the touristy stuff in puerto rico and in niagara falls, they'll love virginia beach, with the ton of stuff to do in addition to the beach. Also, Chattanooga would be paradise for them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are trying to “impress” your children?

That is sad. How about relax and have fun together?

I think they are trying to sound more impressive when people ask, which is just as stupid.
Explains the Delaware beaches.
I hated this period in life, but my kids freaking loved it there and the big stupid waterslide parks. You can VIP all that stuff to the sad extent possible to make it feel like you're "impressive", OP, but kids love this stuff just like they love Disney and Six Flags. So that's where you go to make the kids happy while they are this age.

This.

I’m a beach person who was born and raised in the dc metro area. While I’ve been to beaches all around the world, I grew up going to the MD/DE beaches at least twice a summer plus a long weekend each year…just like almost everyone I know who was born and raised in the dc metro area.

While I’ve taken my kids to beaches around the world (e.g., we go to the Caribbean at least once a year (and usually twice a year) and they each have their favorite beaches in the Mediterranean having traveled there pretty regularly), I still made a point of taking them to our “local” beaches regularly (which admittedly is easy to do when so many family and friends have places there). The kids still love it (and my oldest is in college).

We’ve also gone to beaches in FL, SC, NC, MA, RI, ME, WA, CA, and both coasts of Canada.

I thought we would love Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, etc. but the kids hated it. One and done was plenty. My spouse’s family grew up going there each summer (old money relatives have summered there in their amazing houses for generations). He warned me that it isn’t as nice as I imagined and that overall it’s pretty boring (which is his assessment of NC beaches as well). I will say this: the people watching in Cape Cod is epic; so many men in tank tops and tattoos acting out in public with booming voices with thick Boston and NY accents! It wasn’t the refined experience I imagined. Quite frankly, it was worse than what posters say about OCMD boardwalk denizens.

Anyway, I appreciate that some parents just aren’t beach people. Or Disney people. Or Minigolf and Go Kart people. But most kids love this stuff, so I’m a bit surprised by parents who only take their kids camping in national parks or to museums in city-based trips. My kids have traveled extensively around the world (including national parks and museums), but they would be disappointed if we didn’t make it to the local beaches at least once a summer. It’s not because it’s the “best” beach in the world. Rather, it’s “our” beach that they’ve gone to since birth, so it’s our “tradition.”

And travel traditions matter to kids.

Gosh yes. Kids don't want to go to national parks. They want to go on water slides.

Rubbish. My kids' favorite ever trip was to the Badlands and Custer State Park in SD. They find beaches boring.

What beaches have they visited and what did you do to entertain them?

I’ve yet to meet a kid who doesn’t enjoy boardwalk games, Minigolf, go karts, movies on the beach, glow sticks on the beach, flying kites, kayaking, fishing, etc. plus the beach and pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you go as far as Montreal? It's kind of fun to be in a place where people speak French, it should be a little less hot, there are things to do (and plenty of nature-type stuff nearby). It does take a long time to drive up there, but you can make stops along the way or detour to Vermont/Lake Champlain?

Montreal might be a little far for under a week but this would be an awesome road trip! It looks like there's a castle on an island in the Thousand Islands Canadian side, too....

DP - You can drive to Montreal in one day from the dc metro area. BTDT. We leave at 6am or so and easily arrive in time for dinner.