Glacier National Park. Or the Pacific Northwest (anywhere from Northern California up). The downside to both of those is that they involve a fair amount of travel time. But they won't be crazy hot, and they're beautiful and very different from the UK.

I wouldn't bother with cities/historic stuff. I think what sets the US apart is when you do get to experience the vastness of some of our undeveloped areas.

Don't go to the Grand Canyon or Monument Valley in the summer.

There are plenty of gorgeous parks in the West that won't be terribly hot. Yosemite is beautiful. I would ditch the Outer Banks and plan a 2 week trip including San Francisco, the coast north or south of San Francisco, and Yosemite.

Or do Yellowstone. Don't do an RV. You won't be able to park it at some national parks and they're hard to drive.

Yosemite has a lot of beautiful scenery that's easy to get to and would be fine for an older person and young kids.

Watch out for the rip tides at the outer banks

Definitely Yellowstone/Glacier/National Parks.

If you only have one week driving to grand canyon is going to take a good chunk of time on the road. How about Poconos in PA or NYC and Niagara Falls.

New York City or Yellowstone/Jackson Hole

San Francisco and Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Vegas, or Jackson Hole and Tetons/Yellowstone, or Rocky Mountain National Park. New York City is also a good bet and you could do a few days in the Adirondacks to cleanse your palate on the way back.
Americans are kind of embarrassed by Vegas but I was talking to a German fellow who was taking an expensive, fully escorted tour of the US and it is apparently considered a can't miss attraction for folks overseas.
Ask your mom if there's someplace she'd like to go, sometimes older folks know someplace from an American movie that they've always wanted to see.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you decide to stay on the East Coast, I highly recommend splitting the week between Williamsburg and Philadelphia. Both have lots of history and fun stuff for kids (Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Busch Gardens in Williamsburgh and Please Touch Museum and Franklin Institute in Philly).

Stop in Richmond, VA on the way to Williamsburg (VA historical society, VA Museum of Fine Arts both much cooler for kids than they sound, quirky shops in Carytown & a movie at The Byrd, Maymont Park with house tour, stay at The Jefferson if that is in your budget)

If you go to Maymount, don't forget the nature center. They have some cool displays, and we loved the otters at the end.

Anonymous wrote:If you decide to stay on the East Coast, I highly recommend splitting the week between Williamsburg and Philadelphia. Both have lots of history and fun stuff for kids (Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Busch Gardens in Williamsburgh and Please Touch Museum and Franklin Institute in Philly).

Stop in Richmond, VA on the way to Williamsburg (VA historical society, VA Museum of Fine Arts both much cooler for kids than they sound, quirky shops in Carytown & a movie at The Byrd, Maymont Park with house tour, stay at The Jefferson if that is in your budget)

The area around Four Corners in the southwest, including (but not limited to) the Grand Canyon, Arches, the Petrified Forest, Monument Valley and Chaco Canyon is incredible and would be my first choice recommendation. Summertime, however, will be hot as the blazes (but a dry heat!). A few alternatives would be Northern California: San Francisco, Muir Woods, maybe a drive along the coastal highway; the Pacific Northwest, or New England.

If you decide to stay on the East Coast, I highly recommend splitting the week between Williamsburg and Philadelphia. Both have lots of history and fun stuff for kids (Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Busch Gardens in Williamsburgh and Please Touch Museum and Franklin Institute in Philly).

Yeah, a national park or a dude ranch visit.

Parks out west, Yellowstone/Grand Teton, Sequioias, etc. DH has taken his German family there and they really loved it, as a completely different side of the US. Easy to do if you need to drive more than walk.

New York City!

Hi All

I'm from the UK but living in DC for the next two years. This summer, my mum is coming over to stay and I have two weeks booked off from work. We have already booked a beach holiday for the first week (outer banks) and we're in the market for ideas for the our second week. The criteria are as follows;
- not beach as we will be beached out;
- suitable for small kids (our two girls are 6 and 4;
- also suitable for my mum who is pretty spry for her age but can't e.g. do really long walks;
- and something that will show us a totally different part of American.

So what would you recommend? What is your favorite go-to place in the States? We've considered Grand Canynon, or e.g. rent an RV. But I don't wan to choose something without doing research and getting advice from people who know a bit more about the country than we do.

ANY advice would be hugely welcome.

Thanks!