Spring break ideas

[twinmomma]

Help! I’m looking for ideas for our spring break. It’s the end of April. We are trying to plan something with my parents.

I really, really want to take the kids to Washington, DC. But my parents don’t want to stay in a hotel and all the AirBNBs we find with enough beds are “too expensive” according to my folks. (Who haven’t actually provided me with a price point they’re ok with…)

So I’m just trying to crowd source as many USA options that are good in April as possible so I can scope them out. (Please not Orlando.)

Thank you!

[erbear]

Philadelphia
New York
Charleston
Key West
Asheville
Austin
Niagara Falls (might be cold though)
Sedona / Grand Canyon

[mommyatty]

DC is kind of miserable over Spring Break. The weather is usually good, but cherry blossoms, spring break families, and school trips make it Peak Tourist Season.

Charleston, South Carolina? Or Jamestown, Virginia? Chicago?

[librarychica]

DC was probably the best trio we ever took with our girls and your 3 are a great age for it. Though we did go in November so less crowded. Anyway you could stay out of town a bit? Or I found this place very affordable and it’s a short metro hop to the museums and longer but manageable one to the zoo. It’s an all-suite with kitchens, very apartment like, so maybe your folks would find it acceptable? www.theriverinn.com

Otherwise, Asheville — blue ridge parkway, cute little downtown with things to do — restaurants, playable pinball museum, art galleries and shops, Biltmore, Pisgah national forest with waterfalls ranging from “drive up” to “hike up” plus swimming holes and sliding rock tho it would be cool for that, DuPont state forest with easy trails and famous waterfalls from movies, Emerald Village gem mining and mining museum within 75 minutes. I can recommend specific hikes and rental places.

[mae0111]

Grand Canyon via Phoenix would be great that time of year. DH and I went in March and it was great - super warm in Phoenix but still a bit of snow at the Grand Canyon (but still hikeable).

[dglvrk2]

twinmomma, How far is your family willing to travel? You live on the east coast, right? I'd defer to other east coast WPs for recs if you want to stay closer to home.

I agree with mae0111, that the Gran Canyon would be great. Tucson or Taos, NM could be good options too. I've done Palm Springs for spring break with my family and loved it as well.

[vasc]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn at the Balston metro stop in Arlington when we visited DC over the summer.

If you consider Jamestown, VA, you could also wrap in Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens.

[vasc]

Have you ever been to or considered Hershey, PA?

[madringal]

Orange Beach, AL

[woot16]

Two years ago we went to Seattle for spring break. We did 3.5 days at Suncadia and then 3.5 days in the city. We all had a blast!

[sdlaura]

woot16 we’re thinking of Suncadia for this summer with 3 other families. Do you have any tips?

[twinmomma]

Oct 14, 2023 20:36:52 GMT -5 vasc said:

Have you ever been to or considered Hershey, PA?

So my mom offered up this idea! But DS can’t eat any Hershey candies because of all his food allergies so it seems like a cruel vacation for him.

[twinmomma]

Thanks all! I’m going to do some more research on a lot of these places. Jamestown and colonial Williamsburg could be cool. The kids love all the historical stuff in the Boston area that we’ve done. Grand Canyon is probably too far for this trip, but is definitely somewhere we’d love to go!

[sdlaura]

We went to colonial Williamsburg and Busch gardens when I was a kid and loved it (the Busch gardens part at least). Good idea!

[edwardo123]

We’ve done Myrtle Beach. Mild temperatures, low prices and no crowds make it awesome. We always stay at Marriott Grande Villas.

[soccermama]

We are thinking of doing a cruise with our kids during their spring break in late March. I've only done one cruise ever (pre-kids) so I think it would be fun to try with my kids (hoping I'm right?!

[supertrooper1]

South East Georgia?  St. Simon and Jekyll Islands. Or a little further north to Savannah and Tybee Island.

[twinmomma]

Oct 16, 2023 14:00:19 GMT -5 soccermama said:

We are thinking of doing a cruise with our kids during their spring break in late March. I've only done one cruise ever (pre-kids) so I think it would be fun to try with my kids (hoping I'm right?!

If my girls didn't get carsick on a ride over 45 minutes long, I'd be more open to cruises! I just don't want to end up with miserable, pukey kids for a week on a boat. 

A few coworkers have done them as a family vacation and absolutely loved it though! They had rave reviews of all the activities for kids, etc. 

[rere]

If you are looking at a beach Clearwater, Florida. Nice beach, farther south so warmer, and everything is walkable.

[186momx]

Spring break is tax crunch for us, so we never vacation then. I just feel envious of everyone's trips.

[vasc]

Oct 15, 2023 16:39:53 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

Oct 14, 2023 20:36:52 GMT -5 vasc said:

Have you ever been to or considered Hershey, PA?

So my mom offered up this idea! But DS can’t eat any Hershey candies because of all his food allergies so it seems like a cruel vacation for him.

Can he eat Jolly Ranchers or Twizzlers? They’re Hershey…

[vasc]

Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, TN, are all popular trips regionally for people in my area, including Dollywood.

[traveltheworld]

Oct 16, 2023 14:57:50 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

Oct 16, 2023 14:00:19 GMT -5 soccermama said:

We are thinking of doing a cruise with our kids during their spring break in late March. I've only done one cruise ever (pre-kids) so I think it would be fun to try with my kids (hoping I'm right?!

If my girls didn't get carsick on a ride over 45 minutes long, I'd be more open to cruises! I just don't want to end up with miserable, pukey kids for a week on a boat. 

A few coworkers have done them as a family vacation and absolutely loved it though! They had rave reviews of all the activities for kids, etc. 

Fwiw - DS gets car sick at the 15 minutes mark, so pretty bad. But he has had no problems with cruises. We've been on those ridiculously giant Royal Canadian cruises and my kids love them. Are always asking to go back.

[twinmomma]

Just wanted to come back and update. We were able to find a house in DC that will sleep all of us and is near a metro stop, so we're going for it. The kids are so excited, since this trip got cancelled back in 2020 and they were looking forward to it back then.

Of course, then DH's ex immediately booked a trip to Disney World for DS to one up us. But it is what it is!