Summer 2025 US Vacation destination for extended family

August 24, 2024 3:38 PM

Looking for a vacation destination that can accommodate 18 people in a multigenerational family - 80 year old grandparents, 4 Gen X siblings with spouses, and 8 grandkids ranging in age from 8 to 18.

Looking for something in the US as grandparents have mobility issues and overseas travel would be difficult. A place with condos/villas/houses would be better than hotel rooms, as we want the entire group to be able to gather together for meals and general hanging out in one location. Some of the grandchildren are LGBTQ+, including transgender, so definitely need to avoid Florida or other states with anti-trans laws. In terms of activities, beaches, mountains, and national parks have all been suggested. Cruises and camping have been vetoed by various factions :) Budget is on the higher end but not ultra-luxury.

posted by Mallenroh to Travel & Transportation (14 answers total)

San Diego might be decent depending on what you want to do. There's the Zoo and Wild Animal Park, plus if you rent a place on the beach people can hang out there.
posted by Art_Pot at 4:20 PM on August 24

I am doing this with my extended family (similar size, similar requirements) in Summer 2025 with a lake house near Bend, OR. Hiking, lighter watersports stuff, board games.
posted by supercres at 4:42 PM on August 24

As a kid I did this with my extended family at Sunriver in Oregon. Suncadia in Washington is similar (didn’t do this with extended family but felt it could work.)

This summer my family (13 people ranging from 3yo to 75yo, with more little kids than your group) did this at the Club Med in Quebec province, which is all inclusive. The food was quite good and there was mountain biking and hiking organized by the resort and good places for us to hang out together. We wanted checkin childcare and not to deal with meal planning so it did the trick. (Previously we did a Cancun resort - it was so big and the food was so-so.)
posted by vunder at 5:06 PM on August 24

I recommend the Great Lakes. Try the Upper Peninsula or Holland, Michigan.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:59 PM on August 24

The Outer Banks, in North Carolina. It's a National Seashore, so not as crowded as other places, and if some of the family absolutely wants to be completely alone on a beach, it's fairly easy. You could find a single, beach front house for that many people fairly easily, which would allow the older folks to make it to the beach with some help, but if they can't even do that, they could still sit on the deck and watch the ocean and socialize. Fishing (pier, beach, sound, charter boat) for those who are interested. Lots of opportunities for family meals and mixing. A bit hard to get to from a flights perspective...Raleigh-Durham maybe the closest, plus a car rental?

For 2025, the end of the year here would be the latest I'd wait to try to get a house that size right on the ocean.

Plus, at some point depressingly close to us in time the Outer Banks will be underwater? So, see them while you can?
posted by AbelMelveny at 6:14 PM on August 24

Ocean City, New Jersey! You could rent a house and spend your days on the beach and boardwalk.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:09 PM on August 24

Look for ski villages/resorts. Off-season, it’s often cheaper (or at least easier) to find lodging, and you can get a few villas in one complex. I’d look at Vermont and Colorado.
posted by lunasol at 8:41 PM on August 24

Colorado.
Breckenridge, Estes Park, Glenwood Springs, are good areas to scout for starters.
posted by artdrectr at 11:20 PM on August 24

A combination of swimmably-warm beaches and mountains and national parks in one destination might be tricky, but somewhere like coastal Rhode Island or Massachusetts could work if you were willing to drive a bit around the region:

- Cape Cod National Seashore has excellent beaches and is itself a national park with interesting programming (kayaking, nature walks, that kind of thing) and a wonderful bike trail system

- the Massachusetts and Rhode Island state beaches are also very good (the youngest swimmers would appreciate the calm waters of Sand Hill Cove, near Narragansett in Rhode Island)

- there are a lot of really interesting indigenous, colonial, industrial, maritime, naval and immigration-related historical sites all over the region that might be new to many of you if you’re looking for a rainy-day activity or if some people want to skip a day at the beach

- if anyone doesn’t want to drive or fly from home but would happily do Amtrak, there are Amtrak stations in Westerly, Kingston, and Providence, RI, as well as the three stations in or near Boston (Route 128, Back Bay and Boston South Station); you also have Boston’s MBTA commuter rail system extending radially out from Boston south past Providence, and by May 2025 down toward the Massachusetts south coast cities of New Bedford and Fall River; the system heads west and north of Boston as well

- further afield, you’ll find the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, Acadia National Park in Maine and essentially the whole of Vermont for a more rural, scenic backdrop and the mountains you’re looking for

- New England’s days are also quite long in summer, so if you live at a lower latitude normally you’ll really be getting a lot of sunlight out of each day

Wherever you go, you may want to look into getting some of the National Park Service’s America the Beautiful passes to provide free entry to any federal lands you might visit — this is a real savings for parking fees at the Cape Cod National Seashore, for example. There are free or discounted passes for lots of different kinds of people, too: seniors, disabled folks, fourth graders, and members of the military and veterans among others.
posted by mdonley at 6:20 AM on August 25

My extended family did this for other 30 years by renting beach houses in Garden City, SC (about 15-20 minutes south of Myrtle Beach). We'd have around 20-30 people each year with many people in each of your age ranges.
posted by mmascolino at 6:36 AM on August 25

Good point above about "swimmably warm". I'll give some CA options, but in Socal, you want September/October for warmest water temps.

Big Bear - town in the mountains on a lake. Boat/kayak/canoe rentals, house rentals. Hiking. Nice cool weather. About maybe 1.5 hours drive from Ontario, CA airport. Water will be cold.
Lake Arrowhead: similar
Lake Tahoe - more upscale town on a bigger more beautiful lake but same general idea.

Also you could look at Newport Beach - Balboa Peninsula in particular. Nice beach, tons of beach rentals, lots of activities (incl. Disneyland, Legoland, Catalina Island, and whale watching within daytrip distance), great food, if you like a "busy beach town" type vibe. It has a bay as well with wave-less beaches for the little ones. 20 minutes from John Wayne Airport (SNA).

For beachless (there is one but too cold/rough to swim), there is the Northern CA coast. Fly into Eureka and get a rental near the Redwood National Parks. Between Eureka and Crescent City. Hiking, cool lush foresty vibe. My friend moved there for awhile with her two kids (teens) during the lockdown and the kids LOVED it. She currently rents her house on AirBnB so there are definitely places available up there. Not much for higher-end restaurant options up there though if that's a priority.
posted by bluesky78987 at 6:41 AM on August 25

I'll second the Michigan idea, and I'll add to it the area around Traverse City. There are plenty of small, warm lakes to swim in and there are plenty of uncrowded beaches on Lake Michigan. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is beautiful and a lot of fun to explore, either via hiking or canoeing/tubing/boating on the rivers. It's also lots of fun for kids — and adults — to try to climb the dunes. Plenty of cute places to shop and good food as well.

Traverse City has an airport with non-stop service to several major cities, so it's not too hard to get to; and it's somewhat more centrally located if people are coming from across the country. You'll need to rent cars to get around the area, though.

This message brought to you by someone who spent many childhood summers in the area and recently revisited the area and was reminded how great it was.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:42 AM on August 25

Seconding the Outer Banks of NC, with one caveat: The later you go into the summer, the more you have to worry about hurricane season. They're rare but if you're unlucky, they can sock you in for serveral days or even force you to leave the island. Upside: There are a ton of houses to rent, many would accommodate your whole group, or you could get two side by side.

Two other ideas: In/near Bar Harbor, Maine, with the gorgeous Acadia National Park right there. There's active stuff for the younger folks, and much/most of the park's amazing sights are accessible by driving for those with mobility issues. It'll be chilly swimming, though, even in summer, if that matters.

One more: A Minnesota friend who's trying to get me to move there shared this story with me the other day, about a family reunion (!) up on the shore of Lake Michigan. Sounds awfully nice. (The gift link appears to have expired but there's free access if you register, or you could pony up $1 and support a great newspaper.)

Oh, on preview, one more. Johnny Assay's post reminded me of this story (gift link, really!) the other day in the WaPo, about how Sauguatuck, MI, has become a LGBTQ-friendly haven. The GF-now-wife and I visited there many years ago and it was really pretty and comfortable. Might be nice for those members of your family. No idea on the rental house scene, though. Just a thought.
posted by martin q blank at 1:00 PM on August 25

A friend of mine just got back from an extended-family vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They stayed together in a big AirBnB in Lead and took day trips to Mt. Rushmore, Wall Drug, Pine Ridge, Sturgis (during the motorcycle rally!), Hot Springs, Wind Cave, The Badlands, and into Wyoming to Devil's Tower. They had a great time and I am very jealous.
posted by Scarf Joint at 11:24 AM on August 26