Kid- and baby-friendly vacation - summer

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Ashful

Ashful

Minister of Fire
Mar 7, 2012
19,974
Philadelphia
Looking for ideas for a family vacation, mid-summer. Traveling with us will be a 5 year old boy and 1 year old girl. I like the idea of places that include some provision for child care, to at least cover mid-afternoon nap time for the infant (toddler, by then), but my wife refuses to use any day care at a vacation destination. So, places where we could let the toddle nap poolside (etc.) might be better.

I found a bunch of places that look great... in Florida. Unfortunately, nothing is less appealing to me than Florida mid-summer (mom owns a place in Naples, can go there in February... not summer). I favor New England (Martha's Vineyard), but my wife doesn't think it's great for kids. We're real close to the Jersey shore points, but have never looked into renting a house, etc. Also, cooking in doesn't appeal to us, we would prefer to eat out / resort.

Ideas? We have taken precisely ONE vacation longer than 4 days in the last 15 years, so we're very bad at planning / really have no idea where to start. Flying is an option (actually sometimes easier than driving very far with kids), but wife already ruled out Jamaica, Carribean, etc. Thinking Bermuda might be a good option? Outer banks? Virginia beach?
 
My inlaws used to take my daughter with them to the Jersey Beaches, didn't seem to bother them, and didn't complain that she was bored or anything. And my daughter was a handful! Not so sure about two, though.
If you have to take the youngsters, I think the enjoyment will only be in making sure the kiddies have fun (boardwalk, rides, etc.) Anywhere you go, make sure you have a fold up stroller and lots of paper towels. FWIW, Ocean City New Jersey is (was?) a nice family oriented place.
 
The time of year isn't great for most of these, but we did many a Club Med with kids - they have "kid's club" - some of them specialize in them. It's much more than day-care, more like a club and the staff is highly trained. Club Med is rumored to take only 1 out of each 2,000 applicants for such jobs.

Of course, the 1 year old doesn't really care about where you go (IMHO).

If it's a roll-your-own, the Cape is a great place to consider. We are partial to southern RI, because it's closer and has less in terms of tourists and more in terms of eateries, culture, etc. - all packed into a small area.

Having went to the Jersey shore my entire life, I really enjoy RI and the differences - hills, rocks, trees, etc. as well as more of a maritime history (and all history).

In the end you have to look at the various sites and pics and see what appeals to you.
Here are some newport area photos:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102396692873967945001/albums/5180229595917759169
 
Thanks, guys! We did spend a couple days in Newport once, and had a great time, but couldn't find much of a beach! Much more in the way of wharfs than beaches, at least in town. I thought it was very cool, but also insanely expensive. Maybe I need to check towns in RI outside of Newport, though. For the record, Mystic was one of my favorite destinations as a kid. Gotta wait until my kids are a little older, to take them back there, though.

I spent every summer of my childhood at the Jersey shore (LBI), and know it well. We still make a pilgramage to Ocean City for one or two nights each summer, to stay with family. Aside from the obvious problem of being a dry town, it's always a good time! Unfortunately, my wife is down on the Jersey shore, for some reason. She was too spoiled, as a kid. She does make one good point, though, in that Jersey has become very expensive for what you get. If I can go to Bermuda or Croatia for what it costs to rent a nicer place at the Jersey shore, I won't be visiting Jersey!
 
There is always Ocean City Maryland...;)
And if you go around July 4, there is the pony swim at Assategue Island
 
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Question becomes how much time you spend on the beach vs. other things.

Newport is not cheap - but weekly house rentals aren't bad. We have a place in Portsmouth, north on the same island....

Best "jersey type" beach on the island is second beach - it's over a mile long. 3rd beach is on a cove instead of directly on the ocean so it's more kid-friendly (no waves). You are correct about NJ - the prices are sky-high!

Now you see why we always took vacation in late September....even took the kids out of school.

The daylight pics below are mostly 2nd beach - the eve one is 3rd beach (in a cove).
3rddrone.jpg 2nd3.jpg 2nd2.jpg 2nd.jpg
 
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Yeah, young family, first vacation (other than taking the 4 year old to Disney last year), so no idea how we'll spend our time. Toddler complicates things...

Me? I just fly to Greece or Croatia (I go to Europe frequently for work...), but the wife is not so adventurous, particularly with kids in tow. She seems to be thinking some place that has both beach and pool, since poolside at a resort can sometimes be easier with kids.
 
We have 3 lids, teens/young adults now.Living in Maine, our time to vaca was april, but not always school vaca week.. I agree with Webbie, we took the kids out of school when it worked best for us. No harm done.

We've driven to Fla 3 times, at least. Maybe 4? Every one of my kids can still hold off going to the bathroom with the best of them. Majority of the time, only stopped and went to the bathroom when we needed gas. 400 miles was the rule. It wasn't torture, they did very well. And I agree Fla in the summer? Not me.

Flew to aruba once, only had two kids then, 2 1/2 and a 1yr old. Generally kids did very well, but we kept very mindful of others around us on the plane. Went well, but too long getting to vaca.

We've driven to the outer banks a couple of time. I liked it there alot. You can find rental house, for us those work the best. Good sized, all set up. It should be a quick drive for you guys.

No matter where we went, just had to see the sights at an easy pace. Or, just stay at the resort or house. We usually did sight seeing one day/or disney, and the next was a pool or beach day. Rotated it that way worked for us.
 
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Also, kids and naps? I too was not crazy about leaving my kids with people I did not know. We napped when they napped. A few times we brought an older niece or nephew with us. We paid their way in exchange for a little babysitting, which might have been a couple of dinner dates. Plus, it gave us another family member to hang out with.
 
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flyingcow said:
Also, kids and naps? I too was not crazy about leaving my kids with people I did not know. We napped when they napped. A few times we brought an older niece or nephew with us. We paid their way in exchange for a little babysitting, which might have been a couple of dinner dates. Plus, it gave us another family member to hang out with.
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I shall be very happy to volunteer to the OP to go along as part-time babysitter. Free vacation, free naps...oh, yeah.:)
 
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Cruise. Lots of activities for the kids w/o humping around a ton of toys and strollers and such, no cooking and usually have nice excursions. Nova Scotia is one I want to do.
 
Yeah, I did a Disney cruise with the 'rents as a kid, and thought it was great. Unfortunately, the constant news stories of norovirus affecting cruise ships makes it a no-go for the wife, who was already not a fan of the crowded cruise ship idea. No way, no how. Not unless hell freezes over.

Been researching Bermuda some more. That might be the ticket. Probably more $$ than I wanted to spend, but we've done so few vacations over the years, that it's time we do some catching up.
 
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jatoxico said:
Cruise. Lots of activities for the kids w/o humping around a ton of toys and strollers and such, no cooking and usually have nice excursions. Nova Scotia is one I want to do.
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I'd wait a week or two, I have a feeling Nova Scotia is going to get clobbered with this storm rolling just off our eastern coast:cool:
 
Howdy Joful...

Interesting question. Over here I think we are the reverse of you guys... other than the fact I get shipped off to Asia for work a lot its my wife who is the more adventurous traveler of us. She just has to take a big vacation every year. Its usually my job to take all her ideas and make one fit into the budget situation and my work schedule ;)

I think we are less adventurous than some in that we didn't like the idea of taking infants toddlers on long plane rides (though I know people who have, my work buddy took his one year old to India and my wifes best friend took their baby to Australia - both 18+ hour flights). Also, our one attempt to have the kids in a hotel room was not fun. So now we look at condos/rental houses and driving.

Another factor is that my wife and I both get bored of endless days on the beach. We need activities. I like at least one or two down/relax days but that's it. My wife wouldn't do any relax days at all if it weren't for me.

So this is what we have done /will do...


Last year (kids 2 yo) we took the family to Bar Harbor/Mount Desert Island. My MIL was retiring that summer and to celebrate she rented a large 3 bedroom house on the shore up there for the entire extended family including us the kids and my wifes sister. We used the house as base and got to see Bar Harbor, Acadia national park, go sea kayaking, and all kinds of other activities. A couple days 'grandma' watched the kids so my wife and I could get out. Having the house meant there was always a home base to take the kids back for naps if they got cranky and we didn't have to deal with kids in our bedroom. It was probably the best vacation we have had in years but would be an insane drive for you (12 hr+ ??)

This year our thinking is to rent one of the Condos at Bretton Woods resort in NH. Same as last year it gives us a home base with the kids and we will take them to the Storyland kids amusement park up there but then there are lots of adult activities such as hiking, biking, the cog railroad, the alpine slide, my wife can go shopping in North Conway, etc.. And we get to use the pools and all the athletic facilities of Bretton Woods/ Mt Washington hotel. (Again this would be too much of a drive for you just an idea...)

We would like to take the kids to Disney at some point, but I want to wait till they are big enough to do most of the rides.
 
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Cool, thanks for the info, Jeremy. We actually scrambled to do Disney last year, when my wife was pregnant with our second, since we wanted to get the older one down there. We knew it would be at least 3 - 4 years before we'd be able to go back, with a new baby. He was 3.5 years at the time, and he really had a blast. He was much more into seeing the characters and the fireworks, and the electric light parade, than he was into the rides. But that was just as fun for us. He still did all of the easier rides (Dumbo, carousel, Small World, Pirates of the Carribean, etc.). He got to be on screen at the Monsters Inc. show, which was pretty cool. I would not take a kid much younger than 3 or 3-1/2, though, as they probably don't know the characters well enough (at least mine didn't, prior to us cramming on the plane ride down) to really appreciate it. Ours knew all the classics (Mickey, Pluto, Donald, Goofy), but didn't know ANY of the newer stuff (Little Mermaid onward).

I presented my idea of Bermuda to the wife last night, who has been there a few times, and really likes the island. She said she'd rather wait until the kids were old enough to appreciate it, before spending that kind of money. So, she came back around and suggested my original idea of heading to one of the northern beaches. I passed along some of webbie's comments about southern RI, and she seems to be coming around on that, so we'll start looking into that a bit more.

webbie said:
We are partial to southern RI, because it's closer and has less in terms of tourists and more in terms of eateries, culture, etc. - all packed into a small area.

Having went to the Jersey shore my entire life, I really enjoy RI and the differences - hills, rocks, trees, etc. as well as more of a maritime history (and all history).
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So... any specific recommendations, webbie?
 
We spent many a summer at Cape May and loved them. Have you looked at Myrtle Beach? There are miles of amusements for families and kids.
 
Never been to Cape May, but you're not the first to recommend it, begreen. Maybe I should give it a look. I've heard it's become very expensive, as with any of the nicer shore points.

Never looked at Myrtle Beach, either! Will check it out.
 
Chesapeake. Lots of reasonable rentals,good food,swimming and low key atmosphere. Check out Elk River and Sasafrass River areas. Close to home too.
 
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That's a good idea! Now I need a plan to disassociate the Chesapeake from my sailboat racing, in my wife's mind!
 
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Joful said:
So... any specific recommendations, webbie?
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Depends on your style.....if you have a full week, I'd say rent a house or a condo. The prices aren't too high....

Choices are:
1. Newport/Middletown/Portsmouth - they are on the island. Nothing is too far away.....
2. Jamestown - that little island in the middle of the bay. It's really a neat place.
3. S. Kingston, Narrangansett beach, etc - this area is a bit more "jersey like" in terms of the beach and mostly coastal lowlands.

I always try to imagine what I want to do each day.....and gauge where I stay based on that. For example, if you like to ride your bike or walk long distances, there are places more suited toward that.

Distances are short, though, in the whole area. I am in central Portsmouth yet can ride my bike to Newport.

There are playgrounds everywhere as well as some beaches, parks, waterfronts, etc.
Ft. Adams and Brenton Point parks are pretty amazing- for picnics, kite flying, walking, watching sail and other boats, etc...

Rentals are not extremely expensive (IMHO).....Here are some plucked from craigslist:
http://providence.craigslist.org/vac/4390135317.html
(super location)
http://providence.craigslist.org/vac/4391303412.html
(bigger house)
Homewood suites just opened a new place with 1 and 2 bedroom suites - nice digs, but central location in the typical commercial area (still only 5 minutes from many other places)

If you want to dine out a lot, Jamestown or Newport (any of the 3 towns) are probably better.

If we are around that week, you get the offer for free sailboat rides, etc.....plus some guidance on where to hang out.
These vineyards are right near us...they have jazz and tasting (can't compete with CA. obviously) in a nice setting.
http://www.greenvale.com/

Hope that helps.....
 
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I grew up on the island Craig is talking about. The Middletown beaches are the way to go. Sachuest/second beach got the good stuff. Third beach is mellow and good for kids. Norman bird sanctuary has a nice program for kids.
The Tennessee mountains have a lot to offer summer visitors. Pigeon Forge gatlinburg area. Dollywood is fun. Our side of the Smokies ain't too shabby either
 
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