Favorite Vacation Ever... - Sour Lake,TX

Can I have two?
As a kid - Mammoth Cave, KY. It was really, really awesome!
As a grown up with kids - North Myrtle Beach. We stayed at the very end of the strip, in Cherry Grove. We shared the beach with about 20 other people. The kids could run and play without us being terrified someone would snatch them. We brought up pop up canopy out in the morning and stayed all day. Went inside the condo for lunch and naps and then back outside till dark. The kids didn't want to do anything else other than play! It was amazing, relaxing and cannot wait to go back this summer!

So far, both Disney Cruises we have been on - most recently, we did a 15-night Disney Cruise to Hawaii, followed by 5 days at Disneyland! That will be tough to beat!

My aunt wanted the kids and I to ride the train down to stay with her and my uncle. She talked about it often. But, she passed away, and he bought us tickets to honor her wishes.

We rode the Pacific Starlight Amtrak from Redding, CA to San Luis Obispo. It was a long ride, but we had our own sleeper car, including shower and bathroom. With a sleeper car, all meals and drinks (except alcohol) are included EXCEPT for the nightly wine and cheese tasting. We just had an absolute blast. We spent a couple weeks and got back on the train at Santa Barbara. The views were just simply amazing. We met some really, really nice people, the food was great. They had a game car, a theatre car, an observation car.....
It really was the trip of a lifetime and my kids have such great memories of it. It was really an experience!

one of our favorite things to do on vacation is to let each kid pick something that they see along the route. one year on the way home from florida the kids picked a corvette museum (indiana) a really cool kids museum (somewhere in tennesee around chatanooga) and the biggest flea market I have ever seen on the kentucky / illinois border.

another trip we decided spur of the moment to drive to hot springs arkansas. they loved it.

two years ago my son then 7 and i took both grandmas on a road trip for a week.we live just south of milwaukee, wi. so our first stop was st louis and hte arch and then we headed into MO and went to see my brother in law in ava, MO..we also saw laura inglass wilder's home! heading back we stayed alittle bit south of st louis and went to Lampert's home of the throwed roll(my son still talks about that place) and we went to springfield,IL. my son is a big history buff.. so we did all the Lincoln stuff. and then headed thru amish country and over to see my aunt in momence,IL and came home. it was a great vacation. both mom's still talk about that trip too!!

My favorite vacation was Oregon. Rented a vehicle and drove around the outskirts. Stayed one night at Timberland Lodge. Snow in June it was awesome. Cabin in Mt. Batchelor. That place had every temperature. I went from snow one day to a desert the next. Stopped for cherries on the side of the road. Now my 11 year old is in roller coasters so we are at Universal's studios. I want to see the jackrabbits in Texs one day. I hear they are the size of a medium size dog.

Drowsy Water Dude Ranch in Granby Colorado. It was by far the best vacation ever. Kids loved it. Made lifelong friends there. It is a family owned ranch with no more than 50 guests at the max. We loved it so much, we went back again.

Maui, wish I was there right now!!!!! Swimming, exploring, surfing, volcanos, rain forests.....any of the islands are good. I've been to them all and have loved every minute. You can stay at a resort or condo. I prefer the condo with kids.

Kauai!! (Hawaii) IMO, the most special Hawaiian Island.

Our best and cheapest vacation to date was a road trip from MI to TX.

We stopped in Indianapolis. Stayed at a hotel who had rooms that were converted railroad cars. Did the Children's Museum and the Indianapolis Zoo

Then we stopped at Branson MO and did the whole tourist thing. Rode the duck boats, went to lambert's (the restaurant that threw rolls at you- made it more fun because we saw them featured in food network)

Stayed in TX for 3 days. Visited Dinosaur Valley. My girls loved the watering hole with the fossilized dinosaur footprints

On the way back, we stopped for 2 days at St Louis, MO. Hit the ZOO and visited the City Museum. By far the best playground ever. It had secret passages, metal mazes that take you stories above ground linked to 2 real planes. It had a dragon's lair dimly lit with secret passages a well. Even us parents had fun.

We also love Pigeon Forge, TN. Mountains, cabins, horses, white water rafting (ours was the wimpy kind we had a 3 year old then). They also offered zip lining. I always loved the mountains so it was great for me. We went with about 9 families and got a 12 bedroom 12 bath cabin. 9 of the rooms had a king bed and a full size futon and the 3 had 2 sets of queen size bunks which the children enjoyed. It was great because we ( well not me) were able to cook. There were activities for everyone. We didn't necessarily had to hang out with everybody all the time.

My favorite vacation is in my "eco luxury resort" cabin tent w Intex inflatable mattresses while situated on the bluff overlooking Lake Erie at PIB aka Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island, Ohio. The view is breathtaking, very relaxing, yet tons of activities for the kids in the campground and around town. Swim at the campground, fish, sit around the fire and roast marshmallows, rent kayaks, take a little inflatable boat. We bike the island and typically rent a golf cart for a few hours to buzz around. Visit Heineman's Winery and Crystal Cave and Butterfly House, bumper boats, Perry's Monument, jet ski, parasail, ferry over to neighboring Kelley's Island and Middle Bass Island, ride the carousel! Just avoid Thu-Sun when the partiers are there, or avoid town those days. Best part is the ferry ride to and from the mainland from Port Clinton.

Camping in nice climates (CA, CO, Yellowstone, etc.). No TV just family games, cooking on the fire, hiking, swimming, rafting, etc.

My boyfriends nephew is 13 and he and his parents went to Colorado to see the mountains and everybody loved it. When my boyfriend and I went we stayed in Utah and it was so beautiful. We took the amtrak train overnight which is another experience by itself. Something every kid should do sometime. In Utah you can go on rafting trips in the Colorado river and take scenic roads and hikes. You can rent almost any kind of boat you want too.

Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach

It's a toss-up between the Disney Cruise and NYC (talk about different!). We also loved Palm Desert and Laguna Beach in California.

We took our kids just to Crystal Beach each summer. Rented a house for a week and had lots of good food, no tv and just chilled. They are all grown and still insist that we rent a house every summer and go. So the grandchildren are now experiencing it.

we also took them skiing several times in the winter with friends.

As a child, my family didn't have much money so anything we did was a big deal. I LOVED going to the lake with my family (2 brothers, 1 sister) and camping in our grandfather's pop up camper (was in horrible condition, but we never noticed!) We expended our energy during the day in the water & scavenger adventures....I miss those times!! We played games in the evening and just CONNECTED (without cell phones back then too!). It was great!

If your boys are baseball fans...the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York!

As a kid, we did all of our vacations as road trips and saw anything we wanted to along the way. Mom had us do the research (pre-computers, mind you).

My favorite(s) at this age: Washington D.C. (We camped on the drive out, while we were there --a place near an exotic pet farm-- and camped on the way back.) We did all the sites during the day that were free or reduced....for instance one musuem would be free on Tuesdays, another on Thursdays. We saw it all, and did the whole trip including gas for $500 for 4 of us (Mom took the 3 younger kids)....in the mid 80's when gas was also expensive.

Other places we loved: Mackinac Island in MI, Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN

My kids LOVED Bandera. It was a particularly wet year when we went and they swam in the creek, went exploring all over the "resort" property- we were at a private hotel that barely qualified as a resort. We went on a trail ride at one of the local dude ranches. We took day trips to San Antonio- Sea World and The Alamo/Riverwalk. My oldest wants to know when we can go back.

We had fun last summer at Port Aransas down near Corpus Christi. We went on a dolphin watching boat ride. They had another small boat with guys dressed like pirates attack our boat with water guns. All the kids on the boat got water guns and were shooting the pirates. They got soaked. Our captain had a mini cannon and "shot" it at the pirates and they left. Then they pulled up a net with different kinds of fish and shells for the kids to look at and pick up. We got to see lots of dolphins, too.
The rest of the time we spent at the beach. The kids loved it.
Another time we went to Sanibel Island in Florida. It was so laid back and relaxing. Lots of shells!! So much fun. We would love to go back.