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<p>In the summer? Wouldn’t it be hot and humid?</p>
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<p>Yeah, but what’s wrong with hot and humid when you’re at the beach?</p>
<p>I enjoyed SC beaches in the summer. On the other hand, last summer we went to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Arches–which were incredible-- but it was so hot you could not go out and enjoy them after, say 11am. Sunrises and sunsets were lovely, though. (beware, the town, if you can call it that, near Bryce is atrocious.)</p>
<p>Ok, OP, what sounds good to you?</p>
<p>A ski resort! Most of the larger resorts now offer summer experiences such as alpine slides, hiking, mt. bike riding (take your bike up the ski lift, ride down!), rafting, fishing, golfing…. They also offer great shopping and eating. It’s easy to be as active or as inactive as you’d like. Condos are reasonably priced in the summer, so you can have a comfortable home base. Many are close to wilderness areas, such as Jackson Hole (Tetons, Yellowstone) and Sun Valley (Sawtooth Mts), which offer even more activities.</p>
<p>moonchild, thank you so much for the recommendation (#29), I will look into the Jackson Lake Lodge right this moment. Do you have a suggestion of a place to stay near Yellowstone?</p>
<p>If you can, stay inside Yellowstone. They have a good online reservation system but the most desirable ones, Roosevelt and the Old Faithful Inn, get booked far in advance. You can sometimes get lucky and find a cancellation by checking often. The Canyon area is centrally located and usually has openings.</p>
<p>The whole family loved the 2hr horseback ride to a cookout out of the stables near Roosevelt.</p>
<p>EDIT: For anyone considering a Yellowstone trip in the future, the trees from the burned areas are getting tall and the the spectacular views are disappearing, so do not put this trip off.</p>
<p>We did an extended family trip, with pre-schoolers to grandparents, in Hawaii. Beachfront condos on Maui, so little ones and grandparents could take naps, while grade schoolers romped on the beach. Having kitchens was a great thing, allowing cereal in the morning, and some dinners cooked in the condo. We enjoyed snorkeling, cycling and lots of other stuff. People took turns babysitting. I’d love to do this again.</p>
<p>If you haven’t seen the American West that’s where I’d head first. Grand Canyon and Bryce and Yellowstone for sure and whatever else you have time and energy for. You can make an argument for spending enough time to actually hike into the Canyon for example and and spend a few days, or you can just stand on the rim and have your breath taken away without exerting yourself more than that.</p>
<p>If you want to go to Europe - I’d seriously consider Scotland. It’s the one place I’ve been with scenery that rivals the Am. West except it’s all green and not nearly so hot in the summer. </p>
<p>If you like museums - then there’s another whole list of must sees!</p>
<p>
It seems that most of the suggestions, at least in the latter parts of the thread, center on natural beauty and more “rural” type vacations. I’m going to throw a different one into the mix - have you been to New York?</p>
<p>If not, I highly suggest it. There’s no place on Earth that has more “something for everyone” (except of course for your rural, nature lover!). Museums, theater, history, night life, beaches not too far away (and by public transportation), restaurants for every taste & budget, etc., etc. And May, before public schools in the Northeast let out, is perfect for touring NY - lower crowds, beautiful weather.</p>
<p>Bookmarked</p>
<p>Years ago we took a two different western US driving trips. On one we visited Zion, Bryce, Moab, Durango and Telluride Colorado and hit the four corners and Grand Canyon on the way back. The secret to that being you need to leave as early in June as possible to avoid the heat. Moab is a great city for mountain bikingand river rafting.
Another trip was Salt Lake City,Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Sun Valley Idaho.
Adding in a river rafting adventure to the trip would give a national park tour some diversity.
Another great trip was flying into Seattle, renting a minivan and hitting the San Juan Islands, Victoria-Vancouver Island, Vancouver and we added the long drive to banff and Lake Louise and back to Seattle.
Costa Rica is a great out of the country trip.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone else mentioned it, but the Black Hills of South Dakota are wonderful. Mt. Rushmore is there and you are close to the Badlands as well as Devil’s Tower (remember Close Encounters?). My favorite spot is Custer State Park with herds of buffalo and mules all over the place. Jewel Cave and Wind Cave National Parks are there too. There is also a hot spring nearby but I didn’t go there.</p>
<p>We did go to Quebec this last year and it was fantastic and the food was wonderful. Years ago, we went to Prince Edward Island and that was one of our favorite trips with a stop to see the Bay of Fundy.</p>
<p>So many places…</p>
<p>So many amazing suggestions, makes me restless!
I’d say fly into San Francisco, tour the city (including Alcatraz, make your reservations early!), then either head north to wine country and on to Oregon or south through Carmel (on the way Hearst Castle is pretty cool, too) ending up in LA. Amtrak covers a lot of this if you prefer not to rent a car.</p>
<p>How about New Orleans?</p>
<p>We stayed at Jackson Lake Lodge on our 2 week odyssey. It was the most disappointing place. We were given an accessible room, which took up 4+ feet in the bedroom area (gave to bathroom), so the 2 double beds were nearly touching & shoved into the walls. We asked for a rollaway bed (it was on our reservation), however they didn’t have any left, so my son (then 11) ended up sleeping on the floor with the extra blankets as his mattress. </p>
<p>It is also very far north of the hiking and town of Jackson/Jackson Hole. Based on location and what we could see, I would try Signal Mountain resort if we go back:</p>
<p>[Cabins</a> & Lodging at Signal Mountain Lodge](<a href=“http://signalmountainlodge.com/lodging/]Cabins”>http://signalmountainlodge.com/lodging/)</p>
<p>We stayed in Yellowstone - 2-3 nights in the Canyons area. We liked it, as it was centrally located and 1 night in Old Faithful. The latter, because we wanted to do the 8am ranger-led geyser walk.</p>
<p>LOVE New Orleans. Our first trip was during Halloween when D1 was still a baby. We dressed her in her costume & put her in a baby backpack, with her little plastic pumpkin strapped on for treats. Due to crowds, I would avoid it in the few weeks leading up to Mardi Gras and during Jazz Fest. Summer heat & humidty can be brutal.</p>
<p>Second Costa Rica–or Tortola (rent an ocean going sailboat and captain)</p>
<p>Tortola on a sailboat is an awesome trip. We have done several family sailing vacations and they are some of the highlights of our family trips. Seeing the islands from the water is totally different versus seeing from land. On a sailboat you can get to coves that you can’t reach by land. You can snorkel long after all the day boats have gone home.
Tortola BVI is one of the best places to give sailing a try. The distances are close and if you don’t want to cook you can dine out every night on shore.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>With all these vacation ideas…which way are you leaning? Does anything stand out more than the others?</p>
<p>It’s fun and way cheaper to plan other people’s vacations! :D</p>
<p>OP here…I’m loving all these great ideas. Our trip will be a group decision. Lots of super options here. Keep 'em coming! This morning, I was thinking beach; tonight, I’m thinking national parks out West. Who knows what we’ll do!</p>