2019 Summer Vacation Reviews: where did you go, recommendations, don’t s
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Anonymous
Strange, we were there in early July and don't recall mosquitoes--maybe we saw one or two, but that's it? None of us got bitten--however, the places we stayed all had A/C (rental house and hotel). |
Anonymous
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For vacation, we went to the Bay Area (SF, Berkeley/Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, Monterey). It was awesome!
I also went to Lisbon for work and it was glorious. Perfect weather, beautiful city, delicious food. I would definitely recommend it. |
Anonymous
Oh great! We were planning to wait until our kids were teens to do a similar trip, but maybe we will go sooner. |
Anonymous
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We went to Normandy and Paris with our two college aged kids. We actually met our DC over there, who was studying abroad in another French city (Lyon) - we stayed a few days in the city before departing for Normandy.
Overall the trip was really nice, but I think that there were some things that we could've done differently for our own benefit. I think that we were a little too ambitious in that amount of driving (and things) that we thought we could do in the period of time we were there. Between driving between all the cities and driving all over Normandy to see the various D-Day sites (one of the main reasons why we went there), we were all exhausted by the time we got to Paris and ended up being too tired to fully take advantage of the city in the 3 days we were there. We also were unfortunately in Paris during peak tourist season (late July), so it was uncomfortably crowded and crazy and really detracted from the enjoyable of it all. If I could do things differently, I would probably save Paris for another trip and spend the majority of our time in Normandy. Normandy was spectacular and absolutely stunning - and very relaxing. We stayed at a beautiful farm hotel in a seaside village. I could've spent days exploring the food, cider, countryside, seaside, and villages of the region. Would highly recommend. The D-Day beaches and museums were really good too. |
Anonymous
It's definitely a thing, but sharks are also prevalent all along the east coast, especially North Carolina. Just because it is not publicized, doesn't mean it is not happening other places. The truth about sharks would be a devastating blow to the NC tourism industry: "It's a porpoise! It's a dolphin!" Not always. In Cape Cod, there are specific, concentrated areas of sharks that correspond to where the seals are. It is that simple. |
Anonymous
About 26 hours from the East Coast (not DC). Snorkeling was fabulous! There has been a ton of bleaching, but the reef is the size of Japan, so there are still absolutely beautiful areas. |
Anonymous
There are no real highways or good roads, so to go anywhere on the island, you’re driving for an hour, and sights are all spread out. Bali is breathtakingly beautiful, but if I went again, I would choose one area and resign myself to only doing/seeing things in that area. |
Anonymous
Can you say more about the Gili Islands? What does it take to get there and how worth it did it feel? Thanks. -NP |
Anonymous
“Concentrated”? https://www.capecodtimes.com/great-white-sharks-map 
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Anonymous
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We had a wedding in Madison, WI (at the end of July) and then decided to extend our trip and check out some of the other stuff within driving distance. Kids are 9 and 5.
We flew into Chicago Midway airport on Southwest (so much more pleasant than dealing with the monster that is O'Hare, plus it's closer to downtown). We had two full days in Chicago - LOVED it. It's glorious in the summer. DH and I have both been several times but never with children. They enjoyed Navy Pier, the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, the stores on Michigan Avenue, Lincoln Park Zoo, and Millenium Park. Willis Tower Sky Deck was cool but the wait was ridiculous. We then drove to Madison and spent a week there. Madison itself is cool- loved the Farmer's Market, took a tour of the state capitol, Henry Vilas Zoo, and the Children's Museum. We stayed right by State Street which was great. Beer and cheese curds on the terrace watching the sunset- delightful. The day trips we took from Madison were: Devil's Lake State Park (FANTASTIC hiking, beautiful scenery), Wisconsin Dells (did the Noah's Ark water park...unsurprisingly WI Dells are tacky but the kids loved it), and Lake Geneva (cute town, but crowded...) Flew out of Madison on a direct Delta flight to DCA. I'm not sure I'd do this trip if I didn't otherwise have a reason to be in Southern WI/Northern IL, but we enjoyed ourselves! |
Anonymous
Gili T was one of my favorite places on the trip! You can get there from either Bali or Lombok by fastboat. So first you have to get to one of those two places, which is obviously involved. There was amazing snorkeling, swimming, and lots of food options. No cars on the island so you get around by foot, bike, or horse-drawn cart. It was so relaxing I didn’t want to leave. Kind of a young spot—most people seemed 20s/30s, hippie backpacker types. Not a lot of families. Interesting fact: there are no police on the island! But it seemed very safe. I don’t know that there’s a ton of super upscale accommodation, if that’s important to you. We were in a “treehouse” Airbnb with a private pool, which was pretty nice. I would 100% go back if I were in the area—it was amazingly relaxing and the locals were genuinely friendly and helpful. |
Anonymous
Can you share where you were specifically and what you did for activities with the kids besides the beach? |
Anonymous
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We rented a house in Aix-en-Provence which was fantastic, and did day trips to the beaches (Bandol, Sanary, Cassis to see calanques), Nîmes for the Roman arena, Avignon, Les Baux and others. It was fantastic.
There were some mosquitoes when we ate dinner outside but they have good repellant there and a fan helped ward them off. Good luck finding a house with air conditioning, they’re practically nonexistent. I love the giant shutters and method of keeping the house cool during the day. |
Anonymous
We did the Rogue through OARS (camping) this summer and it was fantastic! Is there anything cool to see on those long drives in Washington/Idaho? |
Anonymous
The trip we did included kids from ages 6 through 11. It was great fun for all of them, |