Where to go on vacation for a family of 14?

[LisaNJ25]

If you decide to go to the outer banks just dont wait till end of August/September. Even with travel insurance plenty of up lost money with hurricane irene

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We had a family reunion in St Joseph, MI. Beautiful little town. Great donut shop in the outskirts and a trip to the sand dunes is a must! It is on Lake, MI. We were there 4th of July and they had fireworks. I thought he Lake water was cold as probably all the tourist. Very full beach with just a few brave souls swimming.

Worth a google to see if they have any fairs or festivals that yOur trip could be planned around. Hotel price was on the low side when we went. Our group was at least about 30.

We were able to make a full weekend of it. Not sure of it were longer bow that would have worked.

Good luck planning!

 

[lucigo]

Have you considered a cruise? I'm sure there must be a cruise port within 10 hours of you.

 

[happygirl]

Branson would be a good choice. Lots of family fun activites

 

[kimberlym322]

Have you considered a cruise? I'm sure there must be a cruise port within 10 hours of you.

Yes there is...there is one in Baltimore MD.

To do a trip like that You need to think about a lot of stuff. First are you just coming up with ideas of what is out there and letting everyone pick or is it that they are putting you in charge of it??? Have you thought about maybe looking into some place in the middle of Ohio? Why not take a map and figure out a spot in Ohio and say that is the starting point (because ya'll live in diffrent parts) and figure out what 10 hours is from the starting point and tell the kids what is within this circle that you would want to do for a vacation. Looking at the map for me I would say somewhere in MD, DE, VA, WVA, some of PA, some of NY, Kentucky, Indiana, and some of michigan would be what is about 10 hours from you. I would also say do you want to eat out the whole time you are on vacation, if yes then it would be cheaper to rent a motel/hotel....if you want to cook each night then a rental house would be better. I would say just do a web chat and eveyone talk about it, unless you all could get together to talk about it.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun no matter where ya'll make the choice to go to. Good Luck.

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

I third, fourth, and fifth vote for the Lake Michigan area. Every year a few times we go to Traverse City to visit my partner's family. It is absolutely beautiful on Lake Michigan. There are a few different hotels to stay at in particular at Traverse City, or even a state park for camping if that is of any interest.

Even if you don't stay in Traverse City but go stay in one of the areas along Lake Michigan you will love it. Lighthouses galore! I love it up there! If it wasn't so far away from our family here we would move there in heartbeat. The first time I stepped onto a Lake Michigan beach I was in heaven!

 

[cjnix29]

another vote for Lake Michigan area!! So many places up in Northern Michigan...Sleeping Bear Dunes is fantastic. You could head up to Mackinac , there are fantastic little coastal towns. There is a lot to do if you want to do it, or you could relax and look at that beautiful lake. We are from Ohio, and even before we moved here, we would spend some time every summer in Northern Michigan. It's really beautiful!

 

[minnierocks]

If you are wanting to do the beach, then Virginia Beach is the closest to Ohio. It takes us a little over 9 hours to get there from NE Ohio. Virginia Beach is very family friendly and the boardwalk will ensure that everyone is entertained. There is the beach for those who want to relax, shopping/activities on the boardwalk for those who want to be active. Norfolk, Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and other "day trip" places are close if there is an activity that one or more of the families want to do. North Myrtle beach would be my second choice. It is a little further (13 hours) but there is plenty to do and it was a nice beach. I personally think that beach vacations or a cruise will work best for large groups because you can all stay together but there is plenty to do on your own.
If you are open to other places, then Michigan, Kentucky, West Virgina, and New York all have some great lake locations where you could all rent a cabin and stay together. If you want a theme park, then Cedar Point or Kings Island are right here in Ohio.

 

[LadyBeBop]

If you want a theme park, then Cedar Point or Kings Island are right here in Ohio.

Don't know if anyone in your group is from the Cincinnati area, but there's lots to do here besides Kings Island. We have a great zoo and aquarium (pretty close, but in different states ). You can take in a Reds game. The Air Force Museum is in neighboring Dayton.

 

[kayrosek]

Love St. Louis or how about Branson? Though I'm not sure how much driving time that would be. There is tons to do in Branson and we love Table Rock Lake. We have stayed at a resort called Tribesman that had a few big houses they rent out.

 

[mrudman]

Thanks again for all the wonderful ideas!!

Definitely going to have to google some of the places mentioned (St. Louis, Sleeping Bear dunes, Branson, etc.


As far as staying in Ohio, that's kinda out.. older brother lives in Dayton area, so we've done that area a lot.. younger brother lives in Toledo area.. and we've been to Cedar Point/Put-in-bay/etc too many times to count.. we live in Akron area, so have done eastern Lake Erie area too many times to count also.

Looking for something entirely new and different..

We actually all went on a cruise together last summer for my parent's 40th anniversary (alaska), and my mom is planning another one for their 45th, so another cruise at this point is probably out.. trying to stay somewhat budget this time around.

As far as upper michigan/sleeping bear area... what attractions are in that area? Sounds nice and relaxing, and beautiful, but afraid the kids might get bored after a few days (we'd probably be staying about a week wherever we go).

Skimmed over info on St. Louis.. would've never crossed my mind in a million yrs to go there, but really looks neat.. and lots of great places I think the kids would love, as well as lots of places that sound interesting for the adults.

I'm gonna throw those 2 places out to the rest of the family to get their input.. open to any other ideas also.

Thanks again for all the help!