Where to go for 20th anniversary?

[PeterPan]

Ok, this is fun. I'm looking for ideas for somewhere to go for our 20th anniversary. It would probably be with a 9yo autistic tagalong, honestly, so it doesn't have to be terribly romantic. Dh doesn't like Disney, so scratch that. I tried. :D  

 

So far over the years we've done and loved:

 

Arizona (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Hoover Dam)

Oregon (drove the coast, saw whales, did caves and redwoods, mail boat ride)

New York (Niagara, St. Lawrence Seaway, Finger Lakes, balloon ride)

Alaska (2 weeks in an rv driving around, fishing, hiking)

 

He's already been to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore multiple times.

 

What's left? Commonalities in all those things are outdoors, trees, pretty stuff, places to walk. We don't drink. We're kind of boring actually. We just like to eat and see things and have adventure, preferably involving motors or something where we don't have to work too hard.

 

Probably in the country, but maybe not? I don't know. I wasn't really putting a specific pricepoint on it yet either. I was more going to start with ideas and then see what we can make happen. Timeframe doesn't have to be picky either. Any time between maybe June and late October would probably work.

 

Any suggestions? They can be a little wild. It's fun to think about, even if we don't do them. Where would you go?

 

[KungFuPanda]

Have you done D.C.?  Lots of outdoor options, but plenty of indoor things to do if the weather doesn't cooperate.

[Liz CA]

A guided kayak tour?

You could probably pick a couple of rivers...

 

Lighthouse tour on the West or East Coast

Historic sites in Nova Scotia or other parts of Canada

Hike parts of the Oregon trail

Take scenic Hwy 1 along the coastline from Northern CA to Southern CA

 

[hellen]

Rhode Island, Boston, and Acadia National Park. Maine is lovely. You could just go as far as Portland if you didn't want to drive as far. Newport to Portland is just over a 3 hour drive with Boston in between.

 

Traverse City, Michigan is also very nice.

 

Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC because the south is missing from your list. Don't go in the summer.

[Ottakee]

I was thinking Traverse City, MI and then Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinaw Island, etc. The dunes are magnificent and Mackinaw Island only allows horse drawn vehicles, no cars. You can bike around the island, kayak, etc.

[LifeLovePassion]

The north shore of lake Superior in MN is lovely with many great hiking spots and outdoor activities available.

[milovany]

We went to the New England coast last September for our 25th and it was just lovely.  We drove into the mountains of New Hampshire one day, spent some days just lazing around on the beach (our Airbnb was just across the street from the beach access point), and did a city day with private boat tour of Saco Bay in Portland, ME one day. 

[Lady Florida.]

If you tossed the idea of Disney, but are not against coming to Florida in general I suggest St. Augustine. There is a lot to do for all ages yet it has a romantic feel. Dh and I went there for our honeymoon and have gone back for a few of our anniversaries. We also took ds when he was 10 and again when he was 19. He loved as a kid and as an adult. 

 

There is a lot to see and do, and you can also go over to the beach side and find things to do there as well.

 

You can stay in a bed and breakfast (though they don't all allow children so you'll want to check) or in a regular hotel. 

 

https://www.visitstaugustine.com/

 

http://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/cities/st-augustine.html

 

http://www.oldcity.com/

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g34599-St_Augustine_Florida-Vacations.html

Edited March 6, 2018 by Lady Florida.

[AK_Mom4]

How about a vacation rental on Maui? Near the beach for swimming, but you have an apartment with a kitchen so are not eating out every meal in case that helps with the 9yo.

 

Whales, fish, rays, snorkeling, volcanos, hiking, biking, boat tours. Boogie boards, sand, great food.

[sassenach]

It sounds like national parks could be your thing.

 

Utah- the mighty 5

California- Yosemite, or a coastal tour?

[Farrar]

If you want to leave the country, you could do Iceland. I mean, everyone is there these days, but that doesn't mean you can't be too. It's super easy - everything is tours, everything is geared toward the tourist economy. Stunning geysers, waterfalls, giant gaps in the land that you realize is plate tectonics at work. Cheap to get there, moderate to tour, expensive to eat and buy anything at all, though the food is amazing.

 

We also had a trip to Tulum, Mexico that was one of our best and easiest trips - just just south of Cancun. Plenty to do, cheap to get and be there. There are ecoparks and caves and Mayan ruins and swimming in cenotes, and beaches. You can do all inclusive on a beach further toward Cancun or do small and cute and rent a car and just drive around. Fabulous food.

[Farrar]

If you want to stay in the US, you don't seem to have done Bryce and Zion. That's a great trip.

 

DC is always good too, of course, but you don't seem like a city person.

[alisoncooks]

How about Hawaii? Do the outdoorsy stuff, like volcano tours and zip lining and such. Then also the relaxing, beach stuff.

[bibiche]

If you want to leave the country, you could do Iceland. I mean, everyone is there these days, but that doesn't mean you can't be too. It's super easy - everything is tours, everything is geared toward the tourist economy. Stunning geysers, waterfalls, giant gaps in the land that you realize is plate tectonics at work. Cheap to get there, moderate to tour, expensive to eat and buy anything at all, though the food is amazing.

 

We also had a trip to Tulum, Mexico that was one of our best and easiest trips - just just south of Cancun. Plenty to do, cheap to get and be there. There are ecoparks and caves and Mayan ruins and swimming in cenotes, and beaches. You can do all inclusive on a beach further toward Cancun or do small and cute and rent a car and just drive around. Fabulous food.

 

I like both of these ideas. For the second, go now if you want to see Tulum before it turns into the hell that is Cancun. This formerly sleepy little town has changed soooo much in the past 10-15 years, and its trajectory is not promising. :(

[Farrar]

I like both of these ideas. For the second, go now if you want to see Tulum before it turns into the hell that is Cancun. This formerly sleepy little town has changed soooo much in the past 10-15 years, and its trajectory is not promising. :(

 

Yeah, that's a depressing thought, but it'll probably look like the Riviera Maya in a decade, huh? I couldn't believe how isolated and easygoing it was there so close to Cancun.

[MrsMommy]

Rhode Island, Boston, and Acadia National Park. Maine is lovely. You could just go as far as Portland if you didn't want to drive as far. Newport to Portland is just over a 3 hour drive with Boston in between.

 

Traverse City, Michigan is also very nice.

 

Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC because the south is missing from your list. Don't go in the summer.

 

Seconding Charleston. We took a family trip there a few years ago (in the summer...really, don't go in the summer if you can avoid it!), and everything about it was AMAZING.

[rutamattatt]

Mountain cabin in Gatlinburg, TN.

 

Glacier National Park is supposed to be incredible!

 

DH will be married 20 years next spring and I have to say the Iceland idea sounds appealing...

[gardenmom5]

yosemite

banff/canmore - jasper  (I'd actually much rather do banff again before ever going back to yosemite.)

 

seattle area - mt. rainier, puget sound, olympic peninsula, whale watching in the san juans islands, flight museum, boeing tour (things a nine year old aspie would enjoy - but so do adults.).  ocean beaches and mountain trails - and lots of water.

[RkyMtnMom]

What about Glacier NP and then up to Banff, Canada?

We went to both last summer and it was probably the two most beautiful places we have ever been. 

[Mama Geek]

NC VA and/or WV mountains, drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, hike some on the AT, visit Monticello, visit the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, tour some caverns. visit some waterfalls.  If you want more info I can tell about some specific places.

[happypamama]

If we could go anywhere for our twentieth (this summer), I’d opt for back to where we spent our honeymoon, outer banks of North Carolina.

[PeterPan]

Thanks ladies!!! I'm LOVING these ideas. Glacier NP + Banff sounds great, and the Iceland, wow that would be very wow. Kinda different pricepoints, but both stellar suggestions. I had forgotten we've done Biltmore, so you're right that was another good one. And I like the Tulum idea. It would be sort of the where you go on a cruise without taking the cruise. Great suggestion!

 

Thanks!!!  :)

[PeterPan]

nt

Edited March 8, 2018 by PeterPan

[gardenmom5]

Ok, I'm back. Tell me more about Banff. What are the things you really like to do there? Is it kind of redundant to do that after Glacier NP? It looks gorgeous and would totally be up his alley. I'm looking at the flights, and 5 hours or international on a plane with ds sounds grueling. I think he'd find it stressful. I think getting to the central US might be easier.

 

Is that area (Glacier, Banff) someplace where we could drive an RV? When we did Alaska, we flew in and rented an RV. That was nice because we had continuity. Are the roads winding and not good for that? Oregon had lots of winding roads, oy. I don't know, just throwing that out there. I'm seeing beautiful places to stay (Banff Springs Hotel?) on google, but an RV could work too. Any opinions on that? Maybe if we went with a *small* RV?

 

Are the caves good there? We love doing caves. And is there a good time of year? Low crowds, able to see things, etc. We could be pretty flexible. Is there a point where the weather turns and it's actually too late? We don't ski and wouldn't want to get caught in anything wintery.

 

we went in june.  it was gorgeous.

if you can swing it - do the parkway up to jasper.  you can go out on the glaciers in a buggy. (yes - even in summer.)  there are hotsprings in various areas. LOTS of wildlife.  we saw two grizzlies in the wild - in two completely different places.

chairlifts to the top of a number of different mts.  there is a new visitor center at the one in banff.  lots of dall sheep around.  we also did lake louise.  they fence it so you can wander around -  that was one of the places we saw a grizzly.   they tag males females on opposite ears, so it's easy to differentiate.

 

we also did the lake tour - that was interesting.

 

there's a very old natural history museum in banff- the woodwork was amazing. some of the taxidermy animals are 100 years old.

[PeterPan]

Ooo, that all sounds really good! I'm looking at them online right now. So you're saying you'd do Banff and skip Glacier? I'm trying to map it out and they look like they're 4-5 hours apart driving.

 

Banff to Jasper, it says 16m. Is that miles? How is that in real time to drive? It looks like 93 is the parkway you're talking about. Is that one of those mountain parkways that takes hours to drive that distance? And it's scenic?

 

How did you actually get to these places? Drive in or fly in? And where did you stay?

 

Ok, it's looking cheaper for me to fly to Tulum than Calgary... The flights are about the same amount of time, all long. In fact, Tulum is shorter. 

 

Well fun, thanks! I'll keep looking into it. :)

Edited March 8, 2018 by PeterPan

[Farrar]

Ok, it's looking cheaper for me to fly to Tulum than Calgary... The flights are about the same amount of time, all long. In fact, Tulum is shorter. 

 

Well fun, thanks! I'll keep looking into it. :)

 

Flights to Cancun are often super cheap. Customs is so easy going (slight pain coming back). If you rent a car, you have a lot of freedom to drive around and explore all around Cancun. If you stay all inclusive somewhere north of Tulum, then you'd probably not want a car - you'd eat there, take tours from there, chill on the beach mostly there. But if you stay in Tulum on the beach at an independent place, then a car will let you get into town and eat cheap, super yummy stuff, as well as explore smaller cenotes (natural swimming holes). We took several hourlong road trips to get to some of the Mayan ruins and it was nice to have a car. No clue how much a tour to get to Ek Balam would be, but our drive was cheap and the entrance was cheap. The expensive things we did were Rio Secreto, which is an underground cave system, and one of the ecoparks - I forget which one - but it worked out okay. The kids had a good time there, and the food was included so we ate like crazy unlike all the resort people. And it has snorkeling and zip lines and cliff jumps and a giant playground area and stuff like that. Food in town is really good and really cheap... but food on the beach isn't crazy expensive if you approach it with an American price mindset and it's also insanely good. We all ate at Hartwood, and it was definitely a memorable dining experience.

 

The place we stayed was Piedra Escondida - no air conditioning and limited electricity in the daytime, but good wifi all the time, amazing food, great little beach area to itself, just a few rooms, and really nice staff who were kind to my kids.