In terms of distance - are you prepared to drive x hours, short flight, train ride x hours etc? To help understand what to suggest.
Maybe something like this? I don’t know if there is a track closer to you.
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That made me think of this (in the northwest corner of Connecticut). They have 1 day courses teaching you how to become a eacecar driver:
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I was going to suggest that. They have a defensive driver course a number of people I know have taken…and they said it was fun… but also very very helpful.
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Winter Guided Fat Biking Adventure In Old Quebec and beyond Customized Fat Bike Group Activities in Quebec City - Tuque & bicycle expériences inc.
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OP did say that any trip would likely not happen until May or June…
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I really like the idea of experiences instead of more stuff, and even more, the thought of “giving with warm hands, not cold.”
We are taking our kids and their SOs to Grand Cayman in lieu of physical Christmas presents this year, and hopefully it will work out well and we will do similar trips in future years.
It’s a real gift to us when the (adult) kids use their vacation time with the parents, so we are really happy they were willing.
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We live in Upstate NY. Probably within a 6-8 hour drive max to keep costs reasonable.
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So are you saying that flying, or train trips are out of your price range? There are some terrific suggestions here, but many are going to be costly for a whole family.
If you want to drive and are in upstate NY, I think Quebec City would be interesting. Or Montreal.
I think Newport would be fun…the mansions are terrific, and the cliff walk is beautiful. Great restaurants as well. Tennis hall of fame. Probably something for everyone.
If you like food, what about going to the culinary institute in Hyde Park. See if you could arrange reservations at a couple of their restaurants. Hyde Park is also interesting…Eleanor Roosevelt’s place. And a nice drive to other areas nearby for the day.
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Philadelphia (and nearby-ish Lancaster county) are often overlooked destinations but the former is a great colonial-based city with a lot of historic interest (if you go, I advise watching the movie 1776 first) and Lancaster county gives a view into a very different way of life, due to the large concentration of Amish families who live there (and who run some of the commercial/tourist destinations). Plus it’s very pretty countryside!
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If you go to PA, we stayed at a lovely PA Dutch air BnB that was a working farm with a stream, free rowboat and tractor that the farmer took us all out on and even let S drive it a little. That was a cool experience for us.
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Montreal is a great place, it is probably as close to a European city as you will see this side of the Atlantic. Friend of mine claims that a great way to do it is take Amtrak to Montreal.
In the summer, you could look into taking a family trip on a canal boat on the Erie Canal, there are day trips or they have weekend excursions too.
There is the adirondack railroad, which is a scenic line that goes through like 69 miles of adirondack scenery. They also offer packages where you take the train then go canoing or kayaking (I have never done it, but I have heard from rail nuts it is a great trip).
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Do you have a link for that? It’s definitely something I would like to know more about!
Basically, I’m trying to think of an activity/adventure that is fun for the whole family, a car drive away, and limited to no more than one or two overnights. We also go on a week long trip as a family in the summer. Two years ago we did an overnight and tickets to an iconic show everyone wanted to see. Last year we did 2 nights in the Adirondacks and went on a white water rafting trip one of the days. Nothing crazy expensive, and not longer than a night or two. We live along the canal, so as lovely as it is, it’s not terribly exciting for the college students/young adults. We’ve been many, many times to the Adirondacks, including rafting, kayaking, etc. We’ve been to Rhode Island/Newport, and go to the Cape regularly, so those don’t work. I’m focusing mostly on an “adventure” of some kind with an overnight or two surrounding it. I’d love to do Quebec for a couple of nights, but have to look more into costs, travel distance, etc. Not sure how expensive it would be. The key is to experience something as a family that none of us has done before.
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There is a fairly inexpensive train from Montreal to Quebec, if that helps at all!
If you do chose Quebec, I would definitely recommend staying inside the walled old city— so charming — rather the “outside” areas.
We are very budget conscious travelers and found lodging that was quite reasonable inside the walls , although it was over a decade ago.
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That helps alot. Sounds like you are an adventurous/outdoorsy bunch so slow paced museums or similar will not be your bag! Also sounds like best to keep the trip focused on ONE main thing - not necessary to have a spot with multiple things to do since it’s just a couple of days. And sounds like keeping it largely to the NE makes sense.
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If you go to Quebec City, you can go to Montmorency Falls. It’s only 15 min away from downtown/Old Quebec. Sounds like you’d have a car, but it was an easy (public) bus ride away. If you go during warmer months, you can zip line and possibly rock climb. It looks like the climbing part was closed last summer, but I also linked the trip advisor that shows some pics of that. We were there a week too late for the zip lining, or I would have definitely done that!
In general, I thought Quebec City was relatively cheap. By FAR, the most expensive part for us were the flights. There was no easy way from our city. It cost $2500 for 2 people, economy seats! And had 2 layovers. I told H next time I would drive the 16 hours. But we only had a long weekend. And you wouldn’t have the plane fare.
And FYI the park itself is free, if you don’t want to zipline or rock climb.
Edit - I just realized the pictures were of a place in sweden. I’ll see if I can’t find the Quebec ones. It looks very similar!
This is it. Some of the reviews have pics Fun via Ferrata - Review of Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, Quebec City, Quebec - Tripadvisor
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YES! You hit the nail on the head. I should have been more specific originally.
A couple more options:
Hang gliding or paragliding lesson in Charlestown, NH? https://flymorningside.kittyhawk.com/
Look for a rock climbing experience in the Gunks (Shawangunk Ridge) in NY or in Rumney Rocks (NH), the latter of which is only about 1h20m from Charlestown?
Or maybe do an active day of sailing a schooner from Gloucester, MA? https://www.schooneradventure.org/
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Camden Snow Bowl Toboggan Chute