Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Acadia National Park in Maine. Take a couple of days to drive up doing a night or two in Boston on the way. Lots of good hiking and beautiful scenic views right here on the East Coast!

I don't think this is going to be all that different feeling than the finger lakes

Maine is seashore. Yes, it's different. There are things to do. We liked Diver Ed's boat, a lumberjack show, the Oceanarium (no lobsters in the Finger Lakes), the Bar at low tide, and whale watching from Bar Harbor. You could take a 3 day Maine Windjammer cruise if you hit the timing right.

Appalachian hiking is similar to Adirondack hiking.

I think caves are cold and a little gross. I haven't been to Mammoth yet, though.

Nashville was fun for a two day weekend, using the Hop On Hop Off Bus.

If you go to Boston, go to the Plimoth heritage village site in Plymouth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not NYC in the summer. It’s hot and smells like balls.

I've been to NYC in August near Labor Day a bunch of times for vacation

There's lots of wow there.

It can be hot but no more than a beach vacation.

I wouldn't walk too close to dumpsters and trash bags, but it's not memorable different from other times of year regarding stenchiness.

Ok, I live in NYC and I love it all year round, but summer is known to be a stinky time in the city, as the garbage rots in the heat. It shouldn’t stop people from coming but it’s important to be realistic.

OK, but I think I am being realistic. Maybe it is that tourists don't spend as much time in stinky areas. The subway is gross but so what.

The Met and other museums, Central Park, Battery Park, Liberty Island, Broadway theater...anything by the water or air conditioned is fine.

I visited Paris in a March when the trash workers had recently been on strike and the media was full of scary pictures of trash mountains. We saw a few of those and skirted some alleys but it was NBD.

A lot of people, especially parents, don't have the luxury of traveling at the exact right time for decades.

Stinky New York can still be amazing.

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.
...

pp here who recommended NC mountains. Yes, very different. Specially if you look at the area closer to the nantahala national forest, casheirs area, and south to SC border. It's pretty amazing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not NYC in the summer. It’s hot and smells like balls.

I've been to NYC in August near Labor Day a bunch of times for vacation

There's lots of wow there.

It can be hot but no more than a beach vacation.

I wouldn't walk too close to dumpsters and trash bags, but it's not memorable different from other times of year regarding stenchiness.

NYC smells like pot and piss in the summer.

If you're thinking of NYC, go to Coney Island for the beach and boardwalk, and Brighton Beach (walk from Coney Island) for really delicious Russian food.

Anonymous wrote:Toronto is great and has an old timey amusement park on Centre Island. You can take a water taxi or the ferry. It’s not too bad of a drive but once there park you car and use the path/train to get everywhere. Go to CN tower and a Blue Jays game.

To add: the dollar works in your favor

Toronto is great and has an old timey amusement park on Centre Island. You can take a water taxi or the ferry. It’s not too bad of a drive but once there park you car and use the path/train to get everywhere. Go to CN tower and a Blue Jays game.

Anonymous wrote:Acadia National Park in Maine. Take a couple of days to drive up doing a night or two in Boston on the way. Lots of good hiking and beautiful scenic views right here on the East Coast!

I don't think this is going to be all that different feeling than the finger lakes

Anonymous wrote:A road trip hitting Pittsburgh and Cleveland could be fun. Each city has enough to occupy kids for 3 days or so.

Ha! We are already doing/have done this (family and friends live in both). But they are fun!

A road trip hitting Pittsburgh and Cleveland could be fun. Each city has enough to occupy kids for 3 days or so.

What about going up to New Hampshire and doing Mount Washington? You can drive up or take a cog railroad.

Boston by the Charles River. We stayed in a hotel next to the MIT campus. Perfect location with great walkability.

Cape Cod in the summer is classic.

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....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not NYC in the summer. It’s hot and smells like balls.

I've been to NYC in August near Labor Day a bunch of times for vacation

There's lots of wow there.

It can be hot but no more than a beach vacation.

I wouldn't walk too close to dumpsters and trash bags, but it's not memorable different from other times of year regarding stenchiness.

Ok, I live in NYC and I love it all year round, but summer is known to be a stinky time in the city, as the garbage rots in the heat. It shouldn’t stop people from coming but it’s important to be realistic.