Help me do family April vacation travel
February 28, 2022 3:04 PM Subscribe
We're in Boston and really need a vacation. Lots of folks I know have flown off to warm places recently and I am so envious. Maybe we can find a place to go in April? Special snowflake things inside.
We're mostly tired from insane work hours/weeks and working from home and hardly leaving our house for two years. We have a nine year old who is in school so we must abide by school vacation week, sadly. It's the 3rd week in April. We just want to go somewhere and relax outside in the sun, swim, and eat good food.
These are the things we're looking for:
We're mostly tired from insane work hours/weeks and working from home and hardly leaving our house for two years. We have a nine year old who is in school so we must abide by school vacation week, sadly. It's the 3rd week in April. We just want to go somewhere and relax outside in the sun, swim, and eat good food.
These are the things we're looking for:
- A direct flight from Boston, less than 4 hours if possible.
- US-only. Kid doesn't have a passport yet.
- On the ocean and it is warm enough to swim.
- Walkable to restaurants and activities--not having to drive around would be amazing.
- Queer-family-friendly. .
Puerto Rico juuuust squeezes into your boundaries and doesn't require a passport for US citizens. A hair under 4 hours flight time away from Boston, the ocean will be around 80F and swimmable, and when Mr. Kouti and I went, we did not bother renting a car. We did ziplining via our hotel and they bussed us out to the site, but this was pre-pandemic.
My understanding is that it is queer-family-friendly but I'm cishet so will defer to others' more relevant experience.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:23 PM on February 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
My understanding is that it is queer-family-friendly but I'm cishet so will defer to others' more relevant experience.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:23 PM on February 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Port Aransas on Mustang Island is pretty walkable. However, you'd have to drive from Corpus Christi Airport (which takes 45-60 minutes).
posted by neushoorn at 3:35 PM on February 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by neushoorn at 3:35 PM on February 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
So, is the question, "Can I fly to Boston on a four-hour-max direct flight in the US to a warm place that isn't Florida?"
Here are direct flights from Boston. You can get to LA or San Diego, but that's going to be about six hours or so (a little more in one direction and a little less in the other), and ... I don't know, does the Pacific get warm that far south? So I think you will want to stick to the east coast.
You could look at some places in the Caribbean: Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. There are direct flights to San Juan and St. Thomas that are pretty close to four hours.
In Florida, you can look at Key West, Tampa, Sarasota, and a few other spots. Key West sounds nice, doesn't it? Not exactly all about the beaches, but definitely walkable.
posted by bluedaisy at 4:08 PM on February 28, 2022
Here are direct flights from Boston. You can get to LA or San Diego, but that's going to be about six hours or so (a little more in one direction and a little less in the other), and ... I don't know, does the Pacific get warm that far south? So I think you will want to stick to the east coast.
You could look at some places in the Caribbean: Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. There are direct flights to San Juan and St. Thomas that are pretty close to four hours.
In Florida, you can look at Key West, Tampa, Sarasota, and a few other spots. Key West sounds nice, doesn't it? Not exactly all about the beaches, but definitely walkable.
posted by bluedaisy at 4:08 PM on February 28, 2022
I'll third San Juan, PR. Stay in the Ocean Park neighborhood, and you'll be walking distance to an awesome beach and more bars and restaurants than you can count. Old San Juan will be a $12 Uber away. We spent a week in December without a rental car. If you want to explore the island you'll want a car, but if you plan to stay in San Juan you are better off without the car. There are multiple blog posts from our 3 trips with more info. I can't speak to the queer friendliness except to say there were gay couples on the beach with us, they looked perfectly comfortable, and I didn't see anybody giving them any reason to not be comfortable.
posted by COD at 4:18 PM on February 28, 2022
posted by COD at 4:18 PM on February 28, 2022
To follow up on bluedaisy's LA/San Diego suggestions, the average ocean temperature off LA or San Diego is only about 59F in April. People still surf and wade in it, sure, but it's not poolwater warm the way the ocean off Puerto Rico or southern Florida will be. (The US Pacific Coast has much colder ocean temps along its beaches than the US Atlantic Coast because of how ocean water circulates globally.) And the flight west is going to be about 6 hours (coming back east it'll be about 5), assuming you get a direct flight.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 5:27 PM on February 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Pandora Kouti at 5:27 PM on February 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Phoenix has direct flights, a little bit more than your 4 hr limit tho- no beach but lots of cool scenery and outdoor stuff to do. Tempe is near the airport and is typical college town walk-friendly, friendly vibe, etc.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 5:28 PM on February 28, 2022
posted by Tandem Affinity at 5:28 PM on February 28, 2022
Came here to recommend San Juan, specifically Ocean Park. It’s lovely!
But since that’s been covered, there are also some places in Florida that would fit the bill. I have family in Delray Beach and I think that could work well for you. Stay downtown near Atlantic Ave, and you’ll be in walking distance from both the beach and a TON of restaurants with - bonus! - outdoor seating. If you can’t find anything there, many of the towns between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale would probably fit the bill, with walkable downtowns near beaches. I’ve never felt uncomfortable as a visibly queer person either.
posted by lunasol at 6:08 AM on March 1, 2022
But since that’s been covered, there are also some places in Florida that would fit the bill. I have family in Delray Beach and I think that could work well for you. Stay downtown near Atlantic Ave, and you’ll be in walking distance from both the beach and a TON of restaurants with - bonus! - outdoor seating. If you can’t find anything there, many of the towns between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale would probably fit the bill, with walkable downtowns near beaches. I’ve never felt uncomfortable as a visibly queer person either.
posted by lunasol at 6:08 AM on March 1, 2022
Best answer: JetBlue used to have directs from Logan to Jacksonville, if they still do that would put you in easy driving distance of either Amelia Island or St. Augustine, both of which would fit you to a T.
posted by saladin at 7:09 AM on March 1, 2022
posted by saladin at 7:09 AM on March 1, 2022
Best answer: Check to see if Logan airlines have a direct flight to Northwest Beaches International Airport, just north of Panama City, FL. If they do, then you've got plenty of choices along the Gulf of Mexico which has great beaches.
Pensacola is another option near the Gulf which may have direct flights. We stayed at Perdido Key near Pensacola, and the Naval Air Museum nearby was really cool.
posted by TimHare at 9:00 AM on March 1, 2022
Pensacola is another option near the Gulf which may have direct flights. We stayed at Perdido Key near Pensacola, and the Naval Air Museum nearby was really cool.
posted by TimHare at 9:00 AM on March 1, 2022
Response by poster: Puerto Rico! I marked the first mention as "best", but thank you for everyone who suggested it. I totally hadn't thought about it, yet.
Also I wasn't trying to avoid Florida specifically, so I appreciate these recommendations too. I have super limited FL experience and there are so many towns to choose from!
posted by jdl at 9:40 AM on March 1, 2022
Also I wasn't trying to avoid Florida specifically, so I appreciate these recommendations too. I have super limited FL experience and there are so many towns to choose from!
posted by jdl at 9:40 AM on March 1, 2022
Key West is a great option for queer friendly! I've never been there with kids so can't speak to family-friendly per se, but there is definitely good food there! Beaches are ok - I like Fort Zachary Taylor State Park Beach. Here are some ideas for things to do for families: https://familydestinationsguide.com/things-to-do-key-west-kids/
Mallory Square and the sunset celebration are really fun. There are street performers that I think kids would enjoy!
Key West is very walkable.
I also like Puerto Rico!
posted by Shadow Boxer at 5:43 PM on March 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
Mallory Square and the sunset celebration are really fun. There are street performers that I think kids would enjoy!
Key West is very walkable.
I also like Puerto Rico!
posted by Shadow Boxer at 5:43 PM on March 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by eotvos at 3:16 PM on February 28, 2022 [10 favorites]