5-7 day Family Vacation (5 & 3yo boys) - where do we go?

Ok here's the stage. Live in SE Tennessee. Planning a late May 2020 family vacation. Boys will be 5 and 3 at the time. We were originally in the market for a small pop up camper and doing a 2 week long camping trip up north ending in Bar Harbor, ME... finding the right pop up (size, weight, cost, condition) we'd be comfortable towing behind the minivan has proven difficult, so we're thinking of flying somewhere instead.

This would be more for sights and views, etc. rather than amusement park hunting. So what says the beeb, where have y'all gone with smaller children and what do we do? Here's my rough ideas of locations so far:

- West - Northern CA, Washington, Oregon area (redwoods, coastline, Yosemite)
- Colorado?
- Keep up North in mind and head up to Maine (Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park?)

Go!

 

Go see the mouse.

 

Should have mentioned that... We're not going to see the mouse yet.. The year after next is mouse time...

 

Leave the boys at grandparents and go to Vegas.

 

If you do the NE trip, do a flight into Boston, spend a couple days there and hit some of the sights, New England Aquarium and Museum of Science should be entertaining for the kids.

As far as Maine goes, not terribly entertaining for kids that young, looking at trees and mountains and lighthouses and rocky coastlines won’t hold their attention for long. May is still a little too chilly up there to do a camping/beach type trip IMHO. If later in the season is an option, the Maine Lobster Festival is held the first weekend in August in my hometown, and the climate is much better for hitting beaches or camping.

 

When our boys were that age all they cared about was jumping in the water at the beach/pool/splash park etc. Actually, our youngest was obsessed with trains so we did a few rides like the Blue Ridge railway. However, the most fun generally happened at whatever water spot we ended up at.

 

Are you thinking city stuff or outdoorsy stuff?

The best city type vacation we had when our daughter was that age was to St Louis. There is lots of stuff to do but it's not intense and expensive like New York or LA. If I were taking kids that age to a city now I'd go to Chicago and stay downtown on the river. You can walk everywhere. The museums are amazing. Kids love the Shed Aquarium. You can get a good deal on a hotel with Hotwire.

If you're willing to fly to Washington/Oregon for outdoor stuff I'd consider SE Alaska. It's not much more effort to get to Ketchikan or Sitka. Really, you can have an unbelievable time in Anchorage and flights are often not expensive at all. Anchorage is starting to push the limits on a 5-7 day trip but I have still done it. The Mat Su Valley, in my opinion, is the most beautiful place on earth.

 

If Washington, that is a good time to visit. We have mountains, desert, rugged coastline, beaches, deep water fishing, lots of outdoor stuff. you can run the coast from Vancouver BC to Northern California over a couple of days and see great sights, or you can depart Seattle, point East, and get to Montana in a few days while seeing incredibly diverse terrain.

Or sunny So Cal for surf and whatnot.

 

Outdoorsy stuff mainly, although know they'll be somewhat limited on what they can handle hiking wise, etc...

Great ideas and the other post above with some museums and aquariums is great too. Thanks

 

Also when I was a kid we did a camping trip to the White Mountains, there were a bunch of tourist trap kids friendly places like Santa’s Village and Santa Land, and some cave hike as well which may be a little much for a 3yr old. Don’t recall what time of year it was but remember waking up in a tent shivering and there being frost outside.

 

Another good choice for outdoors stuff without the serious travel is the Michigan UP. It is remote and fun with plenty of water stuff too. Any kid would get a kick out of driving across the Mackinac bridge.

 

Wally World.

 

We live in Denver with a four year old girl. Tent camp a few times a year in the mountains. Daughter is very capable of 2 mile hikes though gets cranky at the end. Many options for camp locations including Rocky Mtn National Park, state parks, 10th Mtn division huts or national forest land. Except for forest land, you’ll want to make reservations 6 months ahead of time for better spots.

You can also rent trail or road bikes if you want to ride while here.

 

If going to Washington consider the San Juan islands. Our kids were older but we enjoyed taking the ferry everwhere. Need your passports to go to Vancouver island.

 

Yellowstone.

 

Boss did a similar trip this summer. I think they did 3-4 national parks in few weeks. He said Yellowstone was really impressive.

If you do Colorado, I’d avoid Denver. Crowded as shit and it’s an hour to any good hiking or mountain biking. The city is pretty millennial-infested at this point. I love Colorado, but Denver is meh.

If you want a cheaper trip that will be way less crowded, head to the Black Hills in South Dakota. Spearfish is an awesome town, and I really liked Rapid City. Deadwood could be fun as it’s pretty much just a Western cosplay town. The people are absurdly nice and there’s quite a bit to do and not a ton of people. You can rent a nice cabin and a side-by-side and have a blast. Some of the nicest motorcycle roads I’ve seen, too. I’d move up there if there was a race track close by and I could find a decent job.

 

There are some very accessible trails to see the redwoods around Santa Cruz. They're not the super monsters, but they're huge and impressive for a east coast transplant who never saw anything like it. Head to downtown Santa Cruz and the pier for the amusement park. Work your way down the coast to Seaside and go whale watching. Keep going down to Monterey and see the aquarium. Big Sur is a little further down if you want to keep going. Yosemite isn't far either if you want to book a stay in the hotel.

 

This is all good stuff to start searching and discussing with the wife.. Keep it coming!!

 

@dtalbott makes a valid point.

 

3 and 5 are too young to remember a lot of it, I took mine at that age age to the Mouse. I suggest big, grand, expansive to leave impressions on them - the Upper Peninsula is a good start with the Bridge and the canal with 1000 foot ships. Beautiful scenery but can still be a bit chilly then.

Hit some children's museums/stuff on way Columbus OH has COSI and Indianapolis' Children's Museum is incredible. Avoid Rocky's and other real mountains - you don't want to carry them at altitude and you will. Pre-teen or teens better for tha .

As stated before, water parks or hotels with pools will always make them happy....