Oh I get it! I spent 4th of July plus the following weekend at the Jersey shore. It was actually surprisingly cold and windy so I only got my ankles wet, but we walked both on the beach and the boardwalk and saw a few sunsets. I’m not a fan of picnics - sand in my food, sitting on the ground (my back hurts!) or I have to lug around beach chairs. We did have a great time, but we spent most of it playing board games. 
We’ll be with the same group next month at Lake George and while I am sure we’ll spend some time doing water things, it will be mostly games and walking.
Any place with natural water (ie, not a pool) is a vacation for me!
Probably one reason why my trip to Niagara Falls was so amazing.
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I usually do 3 different vacations a year. One is with my extended families - 15+ people. It’s usually at an all inclusive beach resort hotel. We spend a lot of time at a pool or beach, drinking, eating and catching up. Club Med has been a good choice for us because it has a lot of activities - tennis, windsurfing, etc.
I would usually go away with my daughters and their families for a week in Europe. We have been renting an airbnb by a beach town. We would do a bit sightseeing, beach, and pool. With a new GD, we have hired a chef to cook 50% of meals and go out for other meals.
I also do one wine & food trip with a tour group that I have been going with for few years. This year we went to Porto Portugal wine country. Next year will probably be Japan.
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If I were by myself, I would choose urban exploration on foot. I like to learn and to see new places. In my sixties, I feel more vulnerable, so I would not hike in nature alone, and I do not like to eat alone anymore. (When I was young, I had no problem eating out alone.) So if by myself, I would go to museums and historical sites.
If I am with H or the kids, a more likely scenario, we would go on a more pure and exotic exploration vacation. We do best going to a place none of us has ever been and figuring it out together. H is restless and the kind of traveler who must have every minute scheduled, while the kids want to catch up on sleep, so that is a source of tension. Two of our most successful family trips? Galapagos and Iceland.We were out learning and seeing new things every day. Physically active and challenging. Okay, I said I am an old lady and so worry about taking risks alone. If I am with family, I am much braver. I am the one who says “let’s try…”
H and I like to swim and run when we travel, if possible, We do not feel like we have to train, but we do enjoy finding a pool or a park and seeing how it is to engage in these sports while away.
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Maybe you would enjoy coastal Maine or Nova Scotia!
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I’m like a lot of Michiganders who stay in Michigan during the summer. I’m sure Maine and Nova Scotia are great but their seasons are the same as Michigan
It’s the reason we aren’t that interested in Alaska. Because it would mean leaving Michigan when our state shines.
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Another interesting part of the equation - how much time to spend “doing things” and how much to spend “relaxing.”
I tend to want to do more than my husband. For example, when we went to Acadia, I thought we should do one hike in the morning, and then another in the afternoon. He thought we should relax in the afternoon. I want to see more while I’m somewhere, and can relax at home. That said, there are a couple of places I go where I can spend a lot of time relaxing.
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Yeah, but…variety is the spice of life! The smell of the salty air, the fog, the foghorns (you don’t have foghorns in Michigan, do you 
? Or do you ?)
Having said that, I would to make it to the far north of the Lake region…any top suggestions? I’m with you in that I do not like sweltering heat and beaches. I mean, I do like beaches, refreshing, chilly beaches.
We don’t normally vacation in the summer because there is so much to do here near the beach in San Diego. There are also just too many people traveling in the summer months so we prefer the other seasons. Winter for us at this point are many road trips and lots of skiing since we know we won’t keep doing this forever we are enjoying it now. H and I both love exploring cities to learn about history and walking 10 plus miles a day. We love nature and hiking and H is a big photography buff. We are heading to Bermuda in September (hurricane season) to visit H’s family. This will be a more relaxing vacation where we spend lots of time swimming at the beach with the sea turtles and reading books on the sand.
100% relaxing; that’s how we define vacation. The only reason for us to take a break from work was to relax…from work, in a different environment. We didn’t travel to see or do things. I understand that most people view travel differently, but now that we don’t have to take breaks from the insanity of our jobs, we don’t see much benefit to travel.
I’m sure @deb922 will concur, but you definitely DO hear foghorns on the Great Lakes. You know, when there’s fog…
ETA: Google showed me that now some Michigan boaters can operate the U.S. Coast Guard’s new foghorn system whenever they wish.
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I don’t know about the current situation, but my folks had a small cottage just outside of Mackinaw City, Michigan, which is located at tip of the lower peninsula. I spent every summer there as a kid; when I was in college I worked two summers on Mackinac Island. There were fog horns and they were extremely loud.
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