Family Vacation Ideas - On a Budget
Cooperstown, NY and vicinity
In Spring 2005, we took a trip with our 7 year old son to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. It was a great trip! It was about a 4 hour drive to our hotel; however we stopped halfway for lunch.
We stayed at the Best Western Cobleskill Inn (about 45 miles east of Cooperstown), because they had an indoor pool and their own bowling alley. The Best Western was nice, clean and conveniently located. There was a Wal-Mart and a Price Chopper Grocery store nearby, as well as a Dunkin' Donuts and a Burger King. The pool was nice, the bowling was fun, and the hotel restaurant wasn't bad (however service was slow, especially at breakfast time).
There are two ways to get to Cooperstown from Cobleskill. The ride is very scenic if you do not take the main highway. Our son was impressed with the many farms, cows, and haystacks.
Cooperstown is a restored town with late-19th century buildings. There are many shops selling sports memorabilia, and most of the restaurants have a baseball theme, and cute baseball-related names. On the weekend we visited, it seemed that 90% of the visitors were fellow Red Sox fans!
The Hall of Fame has a museum section - dim lighting with many glass display cases showing the evolution of baseball through the ages. You will see information and memorabilia related to your favorite players, and will learn about the changes in the sport and in the equipment used over the years. There are also computer-aided trivia displays. Our son got his picture taken next to the Red Sox display, which included Curt Schilling's 'bloody sock'!
Also at the Hall of Fame, of course, is a large room displaying plaques representing all of the players who have been named to the Hall of Fame. This is a large, bright room, with bronze plaques lining the walls. Again, you will see your favorite players here!
The Hall of Fame also includes a theater which shows films (we did not visit the theatre), as well as an extensive gift shop.
Also in Cooperstown, you will find an art museum and a farm museum. We did not visit these, as they were closed on Mondays during April. Please check websites, or travel brochures for dates and hours of operation.
Near our hotel, we visited Howe's Cave. This is a cavern below a mountain. With paid admission, you take an elevator down about 150 feet to the cave below. A guided tour will show you the various geological formations in the cave, including stalactites and stalagmites. There is even a boat ride on the underground river! Our son loved this cave trip! Even in nice weather, you must dress appropriately, as the cave is DAMP and COOL all year round.
Near Howe's Cave, we also visited the Iroquois Indian Museum. The museum displays historical and modern Native American artwork. There is a children's room, and an extensive nature trail. We really enjoyed walking the nature trail, which is quite rustic, with streams which must be crossed by walking on bridges made of tree limbs!
As you can see, we did a lot of fun stuff on this trip, although we only stayed for two nights, and were only several hours from home!
Mystic, Connecticut
In the Summer of 2004 we visited Mystic Connecticut with our 6 year old son.
Only a 2-hour drive from Billerica, it was perfect for a short weekend vacation.
We stayed overnight only one night. We stayed at the Howard Johnson (www.FunTraveler.com) in Mystic, which our son loved because of the indoor pool, and in-room Jacuzzi! Also, there was a Friendly's located right next door, practically in the same parking lot! (Although it can be nice to try new, local restaurants, with a finicky child, it's great to have a familiar stand-by at which to have dinner.)
The first night, we walked (quite a long walk) from the hotel to the Mystic Seaport, and back again. We ate dinner (at Friendly's!), soaked in the Jacuzzi and slept.
In the morning we visited the Mystic aquarium, which we really enjoyed! There were many outdoor exhibits, as well as indoor exhibits and a great sea-lion show where you could see the sea-lions up close!
We then visited Olde Mytick Village, which has many quaint shops, and places to eat. We did not spend a lot of time at the Village, as shopping is not a favorite activity with the men in the family!
Then we went to the Mystic Seaport, which was fantastic! We went on board some old ships, visited some old shipping village businesses, and had lunch at the seaport's only restaurant. Our son loved exploring the old ships! We were lucky as there was a boat show being held that weekend, and while we missed the boat parade, we did get to see some of the antique yachts up close as they were docked along the river. The boat-owners were very friendly and loved showing off their crafts. We went into some museums, enjoyed some great lemonade-flavored slush from a cart, and then relaxed in the cool, dark planetarium show. Then, we headed to the gift-shop, bought some souvenirs and snacks, and drove home that evening.
If we had stayed one more night we probably would have visited downtown Mystic. Maybe we'll do that on our next visit!
Lincoln, New Hampshire
We visited the Lincoln, New Hampshire area in the Summer of 2004 with our 6-year-old son.
As this was a last-minute trip (we booked our room the night before we were to leave!), we stayed at the only place where we could find an available room at a price we were willing to pay. the Franconia Notch Motel. We loved that our room was right on the Pemigewasset River! We could walk down a short path to the river bed, and could hear the rushing water as we drifted off to sleep at night. The owner of the motel is very friendly, and provides free coffee in the office in the morning. We stayed in a motel room, but there are also small cottages - our son would like to go back and stay in a cottage!
We drove into town in the early evening, perused some shops, ate dinner at a pizza shop with a great salad bar, and had ice cream at Bishop's. We loved Bishop's - you can even make your own sundae there. They have pie as well, and you can eat indoors or outside.
The next day we got up early, had breakfast (just take out from the local McDonald's), and drove to Lost River. (www.findlostriver.com) Our son adored Lost River - he still talks about it and wants to go back! We followed the whole trail, through all the tight caves. It was fascinating! At the end, our son got to 'mine' for 'gemstones'.
We then drove to Clark's Trading Post (www.clarkstradingpost.com), where we visited the shops, had lunch, saw the bears, and visited some attractions. The highlights were the train ride, and the bumper boats (prepare to get wet!) We had some snacks, and then headed home that evening.
Another great Lincoln attraction is the Hobo Railroad. We actually took this ride one year while visiting the Bartlett/Glen area of the White Mountains. it is a must for any family with a train-lover!
Brattleboro, Vermont
We visited Brattleboro, Vermont and surrounding towns in the Summer of 2004 with our 6-year-old son.
We stayed at the Quality Inn, which we enjoyed as there was an indoor pool, a video game room, and free breakfast buffet in the morning! We got a room with a king-sized bed and a pull-out sofa, which turned out to be great! We enjoyed having the 'walking around' room and the sofa to sit on, when our son was not sleeping on it, and having the large comfortable king-sized bed.
In the morning we drove to Bellows Falls, where we rode on the Green Mountain Flyer, a scenic 1930s diesel train ride. Then we drove to Wilmington, where we visited the Adams Family Farm. At the Farm, we fed many animals, saw some demonstrations, and held the kittens. The highlight was a tractor ride, with the Farm patriarch as guide. We learned a lot about the history of Vermont, the Farm, and maple sugaring. We also visited the gift shop and bought some homemade fudge and some souvenirs.
White Mountains, New Hampshire (Bartlett/Glen Area)
When our son was a toddler and pre-school age, we made three trips to the Bartlett/Glen/White Mountains area of New Hampshire. so you can tell we really loved it!
The first year, we visited Story Land (www.storylandnh.com) , which, at the age of 2, our son loved so much that, when it was time to leave he cried, 'Have fun again! Have fun again!' in protest!
The second year, we drove further North, and visited Santa's Village (www.santasvillage.com) , where we went on some great rides, decorated ginger bread cookies, collected elf stamps, and saw the 'big guy' himself - Santa! (Yes, Santa, in August! That was fun!)
The third year, we returned to Story Land, went on the rides that our son was too little for two years earlier, and also visited the Heritage New Hampshire Museum (part of the Story Land complex), which we all enjoyed (www.heritagenh.com ).
We stayed at several different motels on these three trips. I believe our favorite was The Villager Motel in Bartlett. (Visit them at www.villagermotel.com ) It is a 'motel' NOT a 'hotel', but the room was a bit more 'upscale' than the lower-end motels we had stayed at during other visits. They have an outdoor pool, and 'theme' playground.
While in this area, do not miss breakfast at the train-themed restaurant! I cannot remember the name, but it is located near the turn-off for Story Land in Glen. A model train runs around the ceiling, and there is a toy-room waiting area upstairs. The food is good and kids love the train!
There is also a great ice cream parlor on Route 302 in Bartlett, which has a great playground for the kids and delicious ice cream.
One fun aspect of this area, is that you keep running into the same families at the attractions, restaurants, ice cream shops, and your motel! Everyone seems to be traveling with young kids, so it is a friendly atmosphere!
As this area is just North of North Conway, we also rode on the Conway Scenic Railroad, and visited the small model train museum as well. Our son loved both of these attractions. Another train-ride is the Hobo Railroad in Lincoln. A bit further away, but worth the trip for any train-lover!
There are also many shops and outlet malls in the North Conway area, which I personally enjoy visiting!
Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey (Side-trip to Pennsylvania)
We took this 6 hour road trip when our son was not-quite-four and in the midst of potty training! However, it was fun. We stopped to 'go potty' at every rest area on the highway!
We stayed at a national budget-oriented chain hotel, that offered a package plan, and free continental breakfast, and which had an indoor pool. There was also an Appleby's restaurant, and a Cracker Barrel restaurant located conveniently in the hotel's lot.
Our son loved the self-driven safari trip, especially the very funny (and somewhat obnoxious) monkeys. Put simply, the monkeys really appealed to our potty-training pre-schooler - enough said!
In the amusement park, there were plenty of rides in the kiddie area for our son, as well as attractions we could visit as a family. One piece of advice - if you are going to attend one of the outdoor shows, be sure to load up on sunscreen first! There is not a lot of shade at this park, so sunscreen is a good idea anyway.
As a side trip, we drove to Pennsylvania one day, and visited the Crayola Factory and Sesame Place. The Crayola Factory was fun and informative. We got to see how crayons are made! The area in which this is located is a bit run-down, so we did not spend any time in the area aside from the museum itself.
Sesame Place was wonderful! We could easily have spent a full day there, or perhaps even a couple of days. I highly recommend it for families with young children, or with a range of age-groups. There is really something for everyone - water parks, water slides, fountain pools, a 'kiddie' roller coaster that is really quite exciting, Sesame Street parades, and various climbing and motor activities for kids of all ages.