<p>I have less than a week to find a vacation location for my husband, our 17-year-old son and me for mid-July. According to my son, hiking and walking tours are boring, but waterfalls are okay. That’s the extent of my guidance from him. He is happy staying home, but my H and I would like a vacation, and we’d like him to join us!</p>
<p>I’ve read the San Francisco ideas on another thread and will explore the possibility.</p>
<p>Stipulations:</p>
<p>Not too hot. My H wants someplace cooler than here (NC).
Not New England (lived there).
Not Pacific Northwest, Montreal or Quebec (recent vacations there).
Not a beach vacation.
U.S. or Canada.
Pretend that money is no object for this purpose. It is, but I’m seeking ideas.
All three of us are competitive athletes, in good health.</p>
<p>Where would you take a 17-year-old on vacation with these stipulations?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your ideas! I am stumped (in part due to lack of feedback on the part of my son)!</p>
<p>Our family with teens is crazy about Kiawah Island, South Carolina. I know it’s a beach vacation for most people, but that’s not what we do there…we kayak, golf, run, bike on the miles of oceanfront, barbecue and play games.<br>
There is a wide range of rentals, from luxury at the Sanctuary to affordable condos. Plus, you could just drive there from North Carolina and not have to add the cost of flights to the budget.</p>
<p>Colorado resorts are wonderful in the summer. Biking, rafting, golfing, climbing, ballooning, arts, music, whatever…
I’d add to this that most of the same attractions are also available in Utah if you can’t find what you want at the first site.</p>
<p>I’d go to Yosemite National Park. Went there this spring and did lots of hiking. It was amazingly beautiful. Stay at the Ahwahnee Lodge if you’re not concerned about budget lodging. You could fly to San Francisco, spent a few days there and then head out to Yosemite.</p>
<p>Niagara Falls is worth seeing- you need to include the Canadian side. You could include many up north places in NY state, include Canadian places for a change from your SE location. Many places to be seen along the way if you have the time to travel by car. You could possibly even let your son do some of the driving. Our son was not the only teen sitting in the car during our side trip from the “Bay area” to see the redwoods at the national park nearby. If you do go to SF consider staying in Berkeley, visiting UC-Berkely there and having great views of the city while using easy public (BART) transportation. Unless your son wants to go to school in CA he is unlikely to see this campus and can add it to his knowledge of different schools (we also saw Stanford- found the campus boring ).</p>
<p>Considering that it’s already June, I would consider Virginia. There’s Virginia Beach, colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, Luray Caverns, the Skyline drive (with hiking/camping/etc.). Mountains, beach, caves, roller coasters, and history. What more could you ask? And you don’t have to fly there, as I think it wouldn’t be a bad drive from SC.</p>
<p>ETA: H and kids thought I was nuts when I said we just had to stop at Luray caverns on a road trip north through Virginia a few years ago (“yeah, mom, ok”). Then they all loved it and couldn’t say enough about how cool it was.</p>
<p>There is an active Alaska cruise option, that uses smaller boats & the people go on kayaks and a lot more strenuous activity than your typical huge cruise ship. My friend is taking her athletic young adult kids & DIL on this. It sounded like a blast, as they are all hikers & kayakers.</p>
<p>Have always had that struggle. We’ve told the kids they can go anywhere in the world they want…every year (we get free airline tickets, always get cheap deals on hotels), they don’t care. Would rather stay home than go on ANOTHER vacation. A question is, not what will he tolerate, but what does he like? What is he interested in?</p>
<p>One of my sons just loves drama. We took him to NYC, went to musicals, took tours. He really enjoyed it, as it was his thing. Other son would not have cared for it much.</p>
<p>I would have advised Maui (amazing waterfalls, body surfing, fantastic snorkling, plenty of water sports), or Atlantis resort (love that water park), snorkling…but you said no beach vacation. Hmmm…</p>
<p>So I second Colorado resort (whitewater rafting, biking, general outdoors stuff) or definitely Alaska cruise. If he’s still 17, he can partake of teen activites, and of course the worst thing about vacation is being stuck with the parents all the time! HImom is usually right.</p>
<p>1) San Francisco/ Yosemite. Doubt you’ll get a room at the ahwannee, you might check Tenaya lodge at southern edge of park</p>
<p>2) Hawaii big island. Does snorkeling count as beach vacation ? Nothing in the world quite compares to swimming with sea turtles and spinner dolphins.</p>
<p>I would second those suggestions for Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Alaska. Loved, loved, loved Alaska - we did this fly-in to Brooks Lodge to see the grizzlies, and it’s something we all still talk about. (It may be too late to arrange that now, but if you could, I swear it’s a great memory. The flight alone is pretty unforgettable.)</p>
<p>Also, the UP of Michigan or the areas around Sleeping Bear Dunes (Michigan) are pretty great this time of year.</p>
<p>Skokalode, we’re in NC too. My young adult S spent a month training for his job in San Diego. He thought San Diego was really cool. My brother and his wife also just returned from a trip to S.D and had nothing but great things to say about it. </p>
<p>Does your S enjoy history? We are headed to Gettysburg next week with a stopover at Harper’s Ferry (WV)… history, Appalachian Trail,biking. We’ve made reservations at an outdoor adventure center to do a zipline tour with rope bridge challenges etc. between the zip lines. At the adventure center, there’s also tubing,whitewater tubing and white water rafting plus the dreaded hiking! After that, we’ve rented a cottage on Maryland’s Eastern Shore for a few relaxing days of crabbing,fishing,swimming,canoeing.</p>
<p>Do agree with the San Fran, Yosemite or Yellowstone ideas. </p>
<p>You don’t say if you like or want to try scuba…if so, I would recommend Bonaire in the Caribbean. It’s 80 all year round and really not very hot in the summer. You can get your certification in under a week (no classroom in the US). </p>
<p>Our favorite resort is BelMar, they have a full kitchen, so you can prepare your own meals. We often have breakfast & lunch in & dinner out.</p>
<p>Agree with Yosemite /SF posts, we did this as a family. Fly into SFO, spend a couple days seeing SF, Muir Woods, Reyes Point National Pk,Golden Gate Bridge, etc. Then drive over to Yosemite.
You’ll have to rent a house/cabin outside the Park unless you get lucky. Most in- park rooms rent 9 mos. - 1 yr. ahead for July. HIke the the Panorama Trail. Take bus up to Glacier Point ( <em>WOW</em>) then hike down for 10 miles. You will pass 3 or 4 waterfalls,
many dangerous if you get too close. Pack a lunch, it will be a memorable day!!
Take the John Muir TRail the last leg… not the Mist TRail - its about 2000 steps and a knee killer at the end of a 10 mile hike. Your son will be talking about it for a long time, our kids still do. ( they were 9 and 11)</p>
<p>Thanks, guys! This is great! I got up this morning and came straight to the computer to find all these great ideas!</p>
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<p>Yes, you have hit the nail on the head. I invited him to pick the place, tried to find out what he is interested in . . . I appreciate your understanding!</p>
<p>Further info (I just thought of)–</p>
<p>I can’t do a cruise; I’m claustrophic. Truly, it would do me in.</p>
<p>We have 7 days, not the usual week plus two weekends, because he has a tournament the first weekend (so vacation will be Monday - Sunday).</p>
<p>We actually love active beach vacations (and Kiawah is great; we also like Hilton Head), but we have done that for about 15 years, so we are looking for something different.</p>
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<p>See how educational CC is! I had no idea! This is a strong candidate!</p>
<p>Check out Groupon Getaways. Narrows down some choices, variety of venue types (hotels, spas, lodges, resorts - you name it) and some good prices.</p>
<p>Lots of the ideas I had have already been mentioned. Here’s one we were seriously considering. A few airlines (Air Canada and Luftansa, IIRC) are offering $800ish round trip flights to Paris from Atlanta!! Not sure if others like Delta are matching, but its an incredible deal!! You can drive or fly to Atl and take the flights from the brand spanking new international concourse. And parking is right in front of the concourse (at least shot term is, not sure about long term).</p>