With summer dwindling away and the start of school rapidly approaching, most families have already taken their summer vacation.  A lot of families, including mine, tackle the usual summer vacation of theme parks or the beach.  Fresh off of our beach vacation I started thinking of possible future vacation spots that don’t fit the theme park and beach mold.  Here are some things I came up with:

• A nature type vacation could include a visit to a national park.  Some of the national parks that come to mind are:
  • Yosemite - www.yosemitepark.com
  • Grand Canyon - www.grandcanyon.com
  • Yellowstone - www.yellowstonepark.com
  • Rocky Mountain - www.rocky.mountain.national-park.com
  • Great Smoky Mountains - www.great.smoky.mountains.national-park.com
  • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - www.hawaii.volcanoes.national-park.com
• Depending on the age of your children, a family cruise including your kids might be an option.  Many cruise lines offer family cruises including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Disney Cruise lines.  Check out www.familycruises.com for some great information about family cruises.
• Instead of renting a beach house an option could be to rent a mountain cabin.  Take a look at www.blueridgeonline.com for places and activities that are available throughout Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
• Search www.tripadvisor.com and find a city that your family is interested in.  Research if they have a local zoo, aquarium, children’s museum, or water park.

Filed under: Advice