safer vacation options? Is there such a thing now??

[Dmmetler]

Usually we spend several weeks in the summer away from home, between vacations and conferences. This year, well, we haven't done that, and all of us are starting to get a bit frayed around the edges and would like a break, and DH has vacation that he needs to use or else he will lose it at the end of the calendar year. But, what options exist that would actually be reasonably safe, but still be a change of pace? I can't handle camping unless it it cabin or camper camping-I won't be able to walk the next day if I sleep on too hard of a surface, and I am extremely heat sensitive, so air conditioning in most climates is required to be available at least part of the time, so tent camping is out.  We tend to like museums, science centers, nature centers, parks and trails, botanic gardens, etc, but I need to alternate a day with a lot of walking with a day with very little.  I prefer to do a house or cabin rental to a hotel normally, and even more so now. We're in TN, so some states/cities don't want to let us in-and it would probably need to be somewhere that we could drive in one straight shot, and hopefully not need to stop on the way, and could stop once there, get groceries, and settle in. Any suggestions??

[mommyoffive]

I don't know what the numbers are in tn.  It sounds like they are not good.   For me it would take into account the numbers in my area and how I feel about covid.  If you are one of the people packed at a 4th of July party on the beach then I think you would go anywhere.   In my state numbers were lowish and steady.   I was throwing around the idea of a rv vacation or renting an Airbnb in a more remote area.  Only a few hours away from home so we would not have to stop  .  But now are cases are double so, no go.  We are sick of being home too.  We normally travel a lot. 

I would not be comfortable with museums or anything inside.   I couldn't even do a zoo .   I wouldn need a very spaced out beach or open area.    But that is my comfort level. 

I would also want to be pretty close to home incase one of us gets sick.

 

[kristin0713]

So DH and I were just talking about this.  We have a timeshare and often exchange for Marriott units.  They are spacious and have a full kitchen and it is always so quiet.  We could totally do a vacation in one of those, or another timeshare unit, without feeling like we are with a bunch of people.  But what else would we do on vacation?  We love to eat out and that's not happening.  Amusement parks, museums, shopping, historical sites...no.  I feel like if we went away, we would just be bored in another place and I would still have to cook everything and it would be extra work to make it fun.  Maybe a beach vacation?  But not if the beach is crowded.  So really, I have no idea.  It doesn't appeal to us right now to try to go away until life is somewhat normal again. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Vacation rental in a remote location? You could air it out and do a wipe down when you arrive... If you could find an empty beach or some quiet hiking trails, it would be great.

[prairiewindmomma]

Fwiw, we are at the beach often. There is always a strong ocean breeze and we go to remote places so no crowding. We are just careful to bring all of our food and bring very good masks for when we use the beach bathroom. It’s a well ventilated (open window grate) one-person.

[domestic_engineer]

Saint Louis?  It has a botanical center and free zoo. 
 

north Georgia?  (Ive never been there)
 

find another boardie to swap houses?!?

Edited July 7, 2020 by domestic_engineer

[katilac]

I would circle a 4-hour driving radius and then see what cities within that radius have at least two completely outdoor options for recreation that we would enjoy, along with a decent range of takeout. Then I would just pick the city where I found the most spacious and fabulous rental, with a lovely yard and swimming pool. I would just go ahead and do my groceries at home and pack ice chests. 

I would put most of my energy into finding a super cool rental, bc that may be where you wind up spending most of your time. It's just impossible to gauge the Covid situation much in advance or know how locals are about protocols. I've seen fun things like indoor swings, pool tables, video games including both systems and arcade style, all kinds of things. 

If the cost was less than our usual vacation, I'd consider adding some luxuries. Maybe some really high-end food if we're cooking: premium steak, unusual desserts, items we haven't tried. If you've been eyeing and expensive board game or even a gaming system, maybe now is the time to buy it and break it in on vacation. Or some new supplies for a hobby. 

I'd probably be skipping museums, but you might look for outdoor sculpture gardens. 

[Innisfree]

I can tell you what we're doing. Throughout this pandemic, I've been extremely cautious. Our plans will introduce a small element of risk, but I think they're pretty safe.

Like you, we need decent mattresses and air conditioning. We're going to a state park where we've been many times over the years, which has comfortable, though not luxurious, cabins. The park is two hours from our home, so no stops along the way. We're taking our food, sheets, and towels.

The cabins are being left empty for a day between visitors, in order to protect both the cleaning staff and the next visitors. So, if the Jones family departs Saturday at 10 am, cleaners don't enter until Sunday at 10 am. We're planning to arrive as late as possible that day to check in, to maximize the time between the cleaners and us. We'll go in, open up to let air through, and wipe surfaces first, and we're taking an air filter with a UV light to run.

I've never seen these beaches crowded. I hope that's still true this year, but if they get too busy, we'll hike instead. Numbers on the beach are supposed to be restricted in any case. We always tend to return to our own cabin for the restroom. We can read, play games, eat tasty food. At some point we'll probably get takeout at a local restaurant. I'm planning to take some drives to check out some historic buildings, but we won't be going in museums this trip. Just outside, distanced walking, beaches and a drive or two.

Putting this together is a pain. I'm tired of planning and organizing and cooking. But we'll have fun there, and it'll be worthwhile. We're all looking forward to a change of scenery.

[PeterPan]

A couple suggestions

https://missouri-vacations.com/locations/fort-davidson/  We stayed here. It's very off the grid, like literally we hardly had cell service, and you're surrounded by national forest. You can hike the Elephant Rocks, walk trails, do caverns, etc. We had never been to Missouri before and it's a marvel. They also have a new state park lodge in the southern part of Missouri that is *extremely* careful about covid, with outdoor seating. https://echobluffstatepark.com/accommodations/  We ate there but it's a charming place to stay, with trails to hike and the river to play in. 

More of a drive for you probably, similar idea, with a state park lodge that will be covid compliant and comfortable. https://www.thelodgeatgeneva.com/stay/reservations  There's a small beach, free bikes to ride on trails, etc.

I think you could do a similar thing with any lodging, state park, etc. nearer you.

[mathnerd]

3 hours ago, katilac said:

It's just impossible to gauge the Covid situation much in advance or know how locals are about protocols.

I agree. Because of this, I think that it is not a good idea to plan ahead considering infection rates are growing by the day and the situation regarding quarantine could change as time goes by. A better plan would be to travel to some place close to your home and plan it all in the last minute after checking to see if the situation is right for travel on that week. Take all the food, drinking water and cleaning supplies that you might need so that you don't have to stop anywhere and can reach your destination in one stretch. Also take extra clothing (if you don't want to use washers and driers that are not yours), towels and sheets (in case you don't want to use what is provided).

[Pawz4me]

@dmmetler -- Depending on what part of TN you're in (I'm most familiar with the eastern part) for a safer option I'd consider renting a nice cabin in the mountains somewhere within quick proximity to a great hiking area. I'd try to find a cabin with a nice view, or on a creek/river, with a nice deck area for relaxing. Ideally I'd want a couple of takeout options relatively close by. I normally HATE cooking on vacations (that's no vacation for me), but I'd plan on bringing most of our food with us now. On days between hikes we'd rest and relax, or go on drives to check out scenery. I'm in NC and we're opting to stay home for now. But if we wanted to get away that's what we'd do.

[catz]

We enjoy similar vacations and honestly we are doing nothing in the short to medium term.  My husband took off this week and we are doing some fun stuff at or very close to home.

if we were going to do something, I’d want to rent a cabin somewhere remote with hiking and canoeing.  Hoping for better luck next summer.  

Edited July 7, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[Carrie12345]

We’re normally tent campers, but I’m not comfortable with shared bathrooms/showers right now (which aren’t usually pristine in campgrounds.) I was thinking about trying to find a trailer rental option, but it looks like I may have missed that opportunity at this point.

[Familia]

41 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

@dmmetler -- Depending on what part of TN you're in (I'm most familiar with the eastern part) for a safer option I'd consider renting a nice cabin in the mountains somewhere within quick proximity to a great hiking area. I'd try to find a cabin with a nice view, or on a creek/river, with a nice deck area for relaxing. Ideally I'd want a couple of takeout options relatively close by. I normally HATE cooking on vacations (that's no vacation for me), but I'd plan on bringing most of our food with us now. On days between hikes we'd rest and relax, or go on drives to check out scenery...

You described our upcoming trip perfectly!  I generally don’t like cooking on vacations either, but DH smoked a pork butt a month ago that I froze for this trip, and we’re taking shrimp to sauté another night to top spaghetti Alfredo.  Easy meals with salad & berries.  We’re looking forward to a few restaurant patios like we enjoyed on a recent business trip.  
The boys will go zip lining & they’re masking up for a museum they don’t want to miss. I’ve got a hike picked out for all of us. We’ve had a farm emergency, so our daughter must stay home - I’ll miss her company while relaxing at the cabin, but I just started two books. Along with the crochet I have going, I’ll be occupied happily - we’re pretty boring, so more boring elsewhere suits us haha. Opportunities to play cards & pool with our young adults over  snacks & brews in the evenings are rare times indeed, so that’ll be fun.

[Laura Corin]

We aren't going on holiday this year. We'd rather reduce our stress by enjoying local options where we can choose how much contact we have with the world more easily.

[medawyn]

We just cancelled a vacation in August that would have probably been safe, but did involve visiting at risk grandparents.  We have to plan something, however, because our house has been undergoing massive renovations (started in January) and we’re reaching a point where contractors have to be *in* our space.  There are a few items we would probably need to be out of the house for anyway, but at this point I’d rather have all of us out of the house for work to get done, give it a few days, and then come back and clean.

For us, I think AirBnb type homes - mountains or less popular beach areas.  I’m going to try to precook and plan easy meals to reduce my workload.  But honestly the change of scenery and the change in responsibilities of “house” will be welcome.

[Pam in CT]

18 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

We aren't going on holiday this year. We'd rather reduce our stress by enjoying local options where we can choose how much contact we have with the world more easily.

Us either, big sigh. 

If I did anything, it would be the nicely appointed rental in the woods on a lake, with kayaks and hiking nearby.  That would be a nice change of pace whose risks I think we could manage.  And I would do that, if we could figure a way to have my mother join us.  But her independent senior living residence has a (very solid: I appreciate that) protocol in place which would require that she quarantine in her apartment -- not even coming out for her daily walks -- for 14 full days if she were to spend an overnight out of the facility.  And she's decided that tradeoff is not worth it to her.  So we camped out in an RV once in her residence parking lot so as to have a couple IRL masked visits with her, and we'll do that again.

But honestly, unless my mother comes on anything longer term and further flung than that... the amount of effort it would take to organize all the food and all the planning for a nice rental in the woods -- without checking out roadside attractions on the way, without popping into whatever quirky museums or nature centers are at the destination, without tasting local food in local restaurants -- just thinking about it exhausts me.  The effort involved in the suddenly-more-constrained logistics of our daily lives is already wearing me down; having to plan and pack for a more constrained set of logistics just doesn't seem worth it.

Sigh.  We really LOVE to travel. 

[PeterPan]

38 minutes ago, Happymomof1 said:

We went to a park with our RV and fished and cooked on the campfire a month or so ago.  In August, we are taking the RV to take our daughter to college from Texas to Indiana.  We are staying at a state park there in her college town for the weekend and then stopping at a different one for 4 nights on the way home to celebrate our 30th anniversary a month late.  I feel safe in our own RV.  We will hike in both state parks.  Right now, they don't look to be crowded. 

I have a family member working in the rv industry and they said sales are going CRAZY right now. I wouldn't bet on the parks not being crowded. I mean, they're big places, but that's what everyone is doing.

9 hours ago, mathnerd said:

Take all the food, drinking water and cleaning supplies that you might need so that you don't have to stop anywhere and can reach your destination in one stretch.

Fwiw, this might be unnecessary complexity. I've done several trips now since covid started, including one just this weekend. You can do curbside delivery for anything you forget, including at grocery stores, Target, Walmart. Most rest areas are pretty well ventilated, open, and just of moderate traffic. There are typically just a few people, some in masks, some not. If it concerns you, wear your mask or get a Happy Mask to get some extra personal protection. Even in fast food, like using McDonalds for a pit stop and food, typically there's almost no one inside if they're even open. The locales I was in this trip required masks inside, so I don't know that I went inside ANY business. The most I went inside was a rest area and a gas station, mc donalds for the bathroom, and those like I said were just deserted. I ordered groceries ahead, used curbside delivery for a water order, all kinds of things. It's just so easy right now.

[Pawz4me]

We have an RV, and have owned and extensively traveled in one since 2007. I know it's going against what passes for common wisdom, but ours will stay parked for the foreseeable future. It would be okay going to a nearby state park or private campground for a couple of nights, but I wouldn't travel any distance. And the state parks are insanely crowded, so even that isn't a good idea IMO.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Pawz4me

[Innisfree]

I do have a significant reservation about traveling this year, even the way we're doing it. This didn't occur to me until after we made our reservation, though, so we're committed at this point. And that's the problem.

Everyone in the family wants to go *so much.* 

And the reservation is made, so we'll lose money if we cancel.

 But: what if someone came down with a low-grade, niggling sort of symptom or two, before the trip? Nothing major, nothing that would even spur us to get tested ordinarily, just the stuff that lets Covid get mistaken for allergies and fly under the radar.

I'm concerned that fear of missing the trip creates an incentive to unconsciously ignore small symptoms and go ahead, when we should be staying home.

Not that I'm aware of anyone doing that; it just creates the incentive. We've talked about it.

All the other families traveling will be subject to the same, totally unconscious incentive. So, more motivation not to relax my guard while we're away. And, I mean, that stinks, because relaxing is the whole idea.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Innisfree

[Jaybee]

I'd love to get a cabin at a state park in the mountains. The ones I'm familiar with are usually spaced out fairly well. Then I'd take a good supply of nutritious but easy to prepare foods, leaving the take-out option for a couple of meals. Good books, games, walks, campfires, etc. Of course, that may not be too different from what a lot of people are doing at home these days.  😕 Since I am still working, it sounds wonderful to me! Especially if I'm where we could get in some swimming/kayaking as well.

[mommyoffive]

54 minutes ago, Innisfree said:

I do have a significant reservation about traveling this year, even the way we're doing it. This didn't occur to me until after we made our reservation, though, so we're committed at this point. And that's the problem.

Everyone in the family wants to go *so much.* 

And the reservation is made, so we'll lose money if we cancel.

 But: what if someone came down with a low-grade, niggling sort of symptom or two, before the trip? Nothing major, nothing that would even spur us to get tested ordinarily, just the stuff that lets Covid get mistaken for allergies and fly under the radar.

I'm concerned that fear of missing the trip creates an incentive to unconsciously ignore small symptoms and go ahead, when we should be staying home.

Not that I'm aware of anyone doing that; it just creates the incentive. We've talked about it.

All the other families traveling will be subject to the same, totally unconscious incentive. So, more motivation not to relax my guard while we're away. And, I mean, that stinks, because relaxing is the whole idea.

This  is one of the things that stopped me too.  And if you made the choice to stay home then you would lose the money.   Plus with restrictions changing so much it just seems like a bad idea.  If you get that house on the beach and the close the beach.    

We have state parks 5 mons from our house so we are hitting places with nobody with little trips there.   Dh went 4 times yesterday, taking different kids every time for something special.   

We are spending more money on our house when that money would normally be going to travel.   And we are saving up for a vacation when things are safer.  I would also feel guilty going on a vacation when our department of health is telling people not to.  

I can't wait to burn all my hotel points and miles.  Someday........

[rebcoola]

We bought a camper it's been something we've thought about for years.   We won't be taking it it any of the big state parks.  But we know plenty of small places that to go and we will just bike, hike, and swim.  Just enjoy a change of scenery.  

[ktgrok]

9 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

@dmmetler -- Depending on what part of TN you're in (I'm most familiar with the eastern part) for a safer option I'd consider renting a nice cabin in the mountains somewhere within quick proximity to a great hiking area. I'd try to find a cabin with a nice view, or on a creek/river, with a nice deck area for relaxing. Ideally I'd want a couple of takeout options relatively close by. I normally HATE cooking on vacations (that's no vacation for me), but I'd plan on bringing most of our food with us now. On days between hikes we'd rest and relax, or go on drives to check out scenery. I'm in NC and we're opting to stay home for now. But if we wanted to get away that's what we'd do.

This is what I'd do. I know I've seen ads for smokey mountain "cabins" that have hot tubs, pool tables, etc. You could pay for an extra day, so have it empty for a day before you go even. Bring cleaning supplies to wipe high touch surfaces. ( I wouldn't worry about couches, or fabric stuff...it dries out too fast for that to be a real issues, but metal appliance handles, microwave buttons, etc I'd clean). 

When you first get there, I'd open all the windows and let it air out as long as you can, while you explore outside, hike a bit, get your wiggles out and stretch after being in the car. Then clean stuff you want to clean. 

Spend a few days hiking, sitting in a hot tub, playing pool, lounging with a good book in the fresh air on the patio/deck, etc. Your DD could hunt for salamanders or birdwatch or make a nature journal. Have a fire, make smores, etc. 

Bring all your own groceries, etc so you are not taking any potential infection from where you are now to a more rural area and spreading it there. Wear a mask if you do have to stop in anywhere for gas, etc. 

[BusyMom5]

The river is less than 10 minutes from our house, so we will try to take the kids a few times a month.   There is a place to look for diamonds in Arkansas that is on our list- it may be a bit too far, but we are considering it.  A PP mentioned Elephant Rocks, but check before you go bc they shut them down earlier- lots of people from STL go there.  We had plans for Disney and several college trips- all cancelled.  I guess we are saving $$, but I agree it's getting boring!  I was really needing a vacation- it's been 4 years since we had one and this year was it!  

[PeterPan]

6 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

A PP mentioned Elephant Rocks, but check before you go bc they shut them down earlier- lots of people from STL go there. 

Oh my, when did that happen? https://mostateparks.com/advisory/88461/park-may-be-temporarily-closed-elephant-rocks-state-park  Oh no, you're right!! So I'm trying to think. We went before the ps got out I think. So it may have gotten crazy since then. They were plenty full when we went, but we still had space. 

Yeah, I'm thinking we'll do more once the ps go back in session.

[katilac]

42 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

 I was really needing a vacation- it's been 4 years since we had one and this year was it!  

Ooh, that would be tough! I'm so glad we took a vacation in September when we normally wouldn't have! It was was our first couples' trip, and I'm sure also the last time we'll be at Disney World for a loooong time, so extra glad!

[Ali in OR]

We're talking about trying to do a day trip somewhere, but be home and sleep in our own beds. It would be nice to go to the coast, We did have a camping reservation in June, but the state park canceled it.

[Nicholas_mom]

Oh I am responding to the OP......We just came back from Asheville, NC.  Check out Mountain Springs Cabins in Candler, NC.  Beautiful, relaxing place.  We stayed in a Yurt (w/AC) but they have cabins and Tiny House, too.   We had our own bathroom (w/lock & key) in a bath house for Yurt customers.  Cabins have bathrooms in cabins.  The SMoky Mtn was pretty crowded, especially in the popular hikes.  But there were many hikes off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, that wasn't crowded.  It was pretty remote and we were not crowded ( we barely saw anyone) at Mountain Springs Cabins place.