We did a road trip that included Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Milwaukee. Had a fantastic time

Anonymous wrote:We prioritized European vacations for family reasons and while we've had great experiences I realize that my kids have seen none of the country beyond the northeast and Florida. I am open to truly anything in the US, what would you recommend for a roughly week-long summer trip with two older teenagers? Can drive or fly from DC area. Thank you.

Have you been to Tampa or St. Augustine?

Outside of Florida, some other places that are lovely are Asheville, North Carolina, and the Shenandoah Valley.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pigeon Forge

Myrtle Beach and Branson, Missouri too

+1 lol

Crested Butte, wildflower capital of the world. A lot to do with teens if they would horseback ride, white water rafting, hiking or mountain bike. Great downtown that’s safe that they can walk around by themselves.

If you call it "San Fran" I stop listening to everything you say.

San fran, muir woods, yosemite.

Sedona, grand canyon, antelope canyon

Gary, Indiana

If they haven’t seen much of the U.S., I don’t know why you’d do lesser known. For summer, I would say either:
1) Yellowstone, grand Tetons and Jackson
Or
2) California — San Fran, Monterrey or Yosemite, Santa Barbara and/or LA. Alternatively from San Francisco you could head north to those parks, wine country and up to Seattle.
I might be concerned about California wildfires this year because there was so little snow though.

Another more off kilter idea would be Chicago and go north into Wisconsin—Milwaukee, Appleton etc. there are some fun festivals and the weather is typically nice in the summer. You could even keep going and loop around the lake to Michigan’s upper peninsula and mackinaw island.

If it weren’t summer, I’d say New Orleans or Arizona or something like that.

Anonymous wrote:Pigeon Forge

Myrtle Beach and Branson, Missouri too

what do they like to do? we just came back from Oregon coast, crater lake, mt hood trip. beautiful out there.

None of these are really lesser known but:

1) Colorado- you can hit the great sand dunes and RMNP and see two wildly different ecosystems. Lots of white water rafting/adventure activities for kids
2) Seattle/ San Juan islands. Sea kayak with orcas, hike in WA
3) Acadia (assuming that by “the northeast” you mean like NY and Boston).
4) UT National parks
5) Glacier National park

So many more… but these are all pretty common

Pigeon Forge

National parks out west

Why do they have to be "lesser known"? Lesser known than what?

We prioritized European vacations for family reasons and while we've had great experiences I realize that my kids have seen none of the country beyond the northeast and Florida. I am open to truly anything in the US, what would you recommend for a roughly week-long summer trip with two older teenagers? Can drive or fly from DC area. Thank you.