Vacation Ideas

My wife and I are looking for a 3 day vacation with out 2 toddlers... Driving distance and not the beach

Anybody have any thoughts as we are new to the area

 

You can look West or Southwest towards the mountains of WV or VA (or even PA). There are many nice places to stay in the summer with a variety of activities for all ages. Some places that come to mind are Wintergreen, VA (ski resort SW of Charlottesville), Massanutten (ski Resort just east of Harrisonburg), Canaan Valley, WV (nice area with state parks, two ski resorts, lots of outdoor activities and wildlife), Rocky Gap State Park in western MD, Deep Creek Lake area in far Western MD (lots of different things there), etc..

 

what do you want to do? are you outdorrsy types or metro types? do you want to eat, drink dance and scialize or have quiet time with nature? i can only help with the city stuff:

Manhattan! 4 hours, endless grown up things to do! NY Waterways does a fantastic tour around Manhattan- Greenwich Village- can't say enough about it.

Philly! 2 hours- great city- great food!

DC! if you aren't familiar, georgetown, dupont, adams morgan, there are so many cool restaturants, lounges, clubs- you can always find something new to discover.

 

I am looking for something outdoors to do with the kids, but also where my wife and I can have a nice dinner and bottle of wine.... a few hours drive away. Any more spots people might recommend???

 

ah- thought the post said withOUT kids... Great Wolf Lodge has gotten rave reviews from many, I've never been.

 

If your kids are old enough to ride a bike without training wheels you can take nice trip to Damascus VA and ride down the Virginia Creeper Trail. A van will take you to the top and you coast down nice and slow. There are also a number of good b&b's in the area and a few wineiries.

 

In that case, I think Wintergreen would be good. It's been awhile since I've been there, but they have a great kids day camp if you and your wife want to spend a day alone. I still have the gold glitter macaroni frame my daughter made Love it.

They also had babysitters available for the evenings.

There is also the Greenbriar.

 

Nemacolin is a gorgeous resort, about 3 hours from here in Western PA. It's near Seven Springs. Plenty of outdoor stuff to do (white water rafting, mini golf, hiking, bike trails) as well as adult dining and activities (golf, shooting range, off road driving school).

 

Hershey Park in PA. Very kid friendly, and less than 2 hours away. http://www.hersheypa.com/attractions/hersheypark/index.php

 

Sesame Park near Cherry Hill PA (Philly) will take about 3 hours. I hear it is great there, especially for toddlers who like Sesame Street.

 

Close!

It is actually Sesame Place and it located in Langhorne, Pa.

It is a great place for the kids.

http://www.sesameplace.com/sesame/pa/index.aspx

 

Sesame Place---glorified water park in my opinion. Yes, the kiddies love it but its not a big theme park--that's only a small piece of it. Largest, most fun attractions are water ones.

T8erman is just advocating it because he got flashed by a drunken mom in the Sheraton hotel across the street from Sesame Place that weekend. The experience just colors the whole weekend an a happy glow for him.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa... LOVE the Greenbrier. I haven't been there since I've had kids, but I do recall seeing kids there. If only it was closer. And I had lots of money.

 

Went to Sesame Place this weekend for a day. Our 3 and 5 year olds loved it. It was a great age for them to be there. The shows and parade were wonderful and the kids loved them! Saw Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, Abby Cadabby, Count, etc. Great photo ops. The park was really packed! We went the night before, stayed at the Sheraton across the street, at the park at 9am for a character breakfast and left at 6:30pm. Took 5 hours to get there and 3 to get home. We would definitely go again.

I have to disagree that the park is a glorified water park. I think it is more like 50/50. There is a great roller coaster (3's and up ride with an adult and 5's could ride alone). Much faster then you think and pretty long too. I was a bit disoriented after riding, actually. There are several more rides for the younger set. Again the shows are great. We were there one day and that was enough for the age children we have. There were a few things we were not able to experience yet.

 

My wife and I took this fantistic excursion to Harrisburg, PA a few weeks back. It was great seeing how the others live and even taking part in it. We caught a great flick at the theatre in the mall and even stopped for a Dairy Queen meal on the way out. My wife let me splurge and get the big dopple as they call it. Wonderfull all around. Just 3 hours away.

 

I worked there as a teen. I would not take my kid there unless things have changed A LOT. Back then some of the lifegaurds were not certified, due to a PA law that alows non-cert lifegaurd if the pool is under a certain size. The food issues we had were horrible.

But it may have changed.