I'm too exhausted to know where to vacation.

January 10, 2012 12:10 PM

Where should my family with 2 toddlers travel for week-long vacation in June based out of the Mid-Atlantic?

I will have a 1.5 year old and ~4.0 year old by June. We have a week or so off. I have a bunch of frequent flier miles. I can spend maybe $2k additional on the week including car rental/lodging. In past years we've gone to Austin, TX; Portland, ME; Gold Coast (Halifax area) of Nova Scotia; and east side of Prince Edward Island. Leaving out of DC area.

We like small quirky, kid-friendly towns in drivable distance to fun stuff, eg, museums, beaches, parks, shops crammed with random stuff, and food carts/great cheaper eats. Slower pace, where we go on one "outing" per day between nap times and chill out in a house/condo from a HomeAway rental and eat takeaway or very early dinners. I am thinking about Montreal or Jacksonville but really would love some more ideas from MeFites.

I am most interested in places that are nonstop flights! (Or <7 h drive) I'm not opposed to international if it is not overly stressful. If you need more details to help guide me please let me know.

posted by rabidsegue to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total)

We took our toddler to Key West with us last year at the end of May. She had a remarkably good time at the beaches and playgrounds. We rented a house from VRBO and were walking distance from the beach. She enjoyed walking around with all the people, too. It was near the end of the season when we were there; pretty low key. I imagine June would be as well. Plenty of beaches parks, shops, and great eats. She loved to go to the marina and look at the boats; loved the ice cream shops; loved the lizards and birds. It was pretty awesome. We flew to Miami and drove into the Keys - you could stop at any number of them if you didn't want to get all the way to key west. Now I want to go back.
posted by dpx.mfx at 12:16 PM on January 10, 2012

Place we've gone and enjoyed with the kids: Outer Banks in NC, Bahamas, random island in Georgia (Saint Simon's Island), Cape Cod in MA.
posted by chickenmagazine at 12:25 PM on January 10, 2012

In terms of relaxing with young kids, it's hard to beat the Franklyn D Resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica...mainly because you have a personal nanny for the duration of your stay included in the price. We were a little dubious about this, but the nanny was fantastic with our (then) 2-year old, and we ended up being completely comfortable leaving her to look after him while we read, swam, whatever. She can also accompany you for meals if you like. If you look on TripAdvisor, it appears most others have had a similar experience.

It's a small resort, so you are never far away from the little ones. The nannies are also available to babysit after hours for a shamefully low hourly rate.

It's not a super-luxury resort by any means, but everything was clean and comfortable. And for an all-inclusive, the food was pretty good too.
posted by alexfw at 12:38 PM on January 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

San Diego. Rent an apartment or house at mission beach, on the bay side not the ocean side (quieter). Walk out to the beach, short drive to the zoo or Sea World. Drive to legoland, or the rest fo san diego, which has tons of fun neighborhoods. Looks like there are direct flights too!

I took my two kids for a long weekend there with friends last fall (2yr old and 4 yr old), we rented a house on mission bay and had a whale of a time. As you describe, you can take it easy in the beach house, have a slow breakfast and walk out to the beach, or be home for naps. But you are within easy reach of tons of fun things to do.
posted by Joh at 12:57 PM on January 10, 2012