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Help me with destination for trip with these conditions
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 9:20 am
To those who are advising against flying, you don't know us or our kids. We've done intense road trips before, short time, lots of travel, and still everyone enjoyed, so this time at least the travel will be different and interesting.

I'm looking for ideas for a destination. So far we got Boston, St. Louis, Myrtle Beach, Florida.
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ellacoe




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 9:37 am
Chicago is a short flight, there is kosher food and interesting museums and attractions, and probably easy to find some well priced hotels
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yerushamama




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 9:53 am
DC has the Smithsonian museums - I loved those as a kid! The Inner Harbor in Baltimore is lovely, the aquarium there is wonderful but it may be pricey. Personally, I love taking my kids on train trips which also works for things that aren't too far - maybe look into flying only one way?
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 9:58 am
ellacoe wrote:
Chicago is a short flight, there is kosher food and interesting museums and attractions, and probably easy to find some well priced hotels

Can you tell me more? Will we need to rent a car?
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amother
Plum


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 10:10 am
I almost could've written this.
Other then we have a whole week! (Minus shobbas.)
Im considering taking my kids to Atlanta this summer.
And I would do a vrbo, and uber there.
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ellacoe




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 10:13 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Can you tell me more? Will we need to rent a car?


I am not from Chicago, so I can't give you as many details as a local. There are several good restaurants, Shallots (Meat fancy), Emmas (dairy, family friendly), Milts (Meat, ribs). There is the Science Museum that is family friendly, the Art Institute which is really nice and a bunch of other activities, maybe a baseball game? I think that there are boat rides on the river. A local would be better suited to tell you about renting a car, I have done it both ways, rental car and Uber. It also depends how much the hotel charges for parking vs cost of the car. (and how much uber is to and from the airport).
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 10:14 am
amother [ Plum ] wrote:
I almost could've written this.
Other then we have a whole week! (Minus shobbas.)
Im considering taking my kids to Atlanta this summer.
And I would do a vrbo, and uber there.

I wish we could do more time, but the fact that we're limited to these three days makes it harder. I would consider flying out on Friday morning and be there Shabbos just so that we don't spend half of Sunday traveling, but being away over Shabbos is way more complicated logistically and expensive.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 10:15 am
ellacoe wrote:
I am not from Chicago, so I can't give you as many details as a local. There are several good restaurants, Shallots (Meat fancy), Emmas (dairy, family friendly), Milts (Meat, ribs). There is the Science Museum that is family friendly, the Art Institute which is really nice and a bunch of other activities, maybe a baseball game? I think that there are boat rides on the river. A local would be better suited to tell you about renting a car, I have done it both ways, rental car and Uber. It also depends how much the hotel charges for parking vs cost of the car. (and how much uber is to and from the airport).

Yeah, parking. Twisted Evil That's where they get you!
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amother
White


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 10:32 am
Atlanta has the coke soda factory
It’s not that great and expensive
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 10:49 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
This is for a family trip in the summer. We can leave Motze Shabbos or Sunday and we must be back by Tuesday night. We live in NY (duh, where else?) We've never flown with the kids yet so we want to give them the experience of flying on an airplane. I don't want to spend a lot of money other than the tickets, so I'm looking for a destination with free or cheap attractions and cheap accommodations. We love nature, so camping is an option, but I'm not sure if it makes sense to camp someplace for two nights when we'd need a car rental; it may come out cheaper to stay in a cheap hotel walking distance to attractions or public transport.

My kids are ages toddler to pre-teen but are usually ok with almost anything we do. They look forward to our family trips.

Where should we go?


I took my kids on a Sunday - Tuesday trip to Minnesota. We flew frontier and got 3 tickets for $78 total. It's basically a flying bus but hey at that price....

I would look for flight deals because there are interesting things everywhere. Atlanta and Chicago are likely to have good deals because they are major hubs and the flights aren't too long. Tennessee is amazing and I was once able to get flights for under $100 per person.

You can put your dates into http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ and pick a city. Then click on "nearby airports" and you can add airports up to 2,000 miles away. Select whatever you want and it will tell you what the cheapest options are.

For example, if you wanted to leave July 14, for $140 per person you can fly to Chicago. For $125 per person you can fly to Charlotte. Those flights leaves very early Sunday morning and return Tuesday evening, so you really get almost 3 full days.
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doctorima




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 10:55 am
Chicago is a wonderful destinations, and its attractions are great but not cheap. If cost is a concern, please check admission prices before going there. Also, the downtown hotels near the attractions are really expensive, and if you stay near the Jewish community, you'll either need to rent a car or spend a lot on Ubers.

Atlanta can be a nice short getaway with cheap flights on Southwest or Delta - Coke factory, amazing aquarium (not cheap), minyan, restaurants

In St. Louis your kids will LOVE the City Museum - not free, but can spend all day there, and also go up the Arch the next day

I still think Onset is your best bet if money is a concern.
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 11:46 am
Why don't you look into the cost of chartering a private plane to someplace near a campground?

You can maybe find a driver to take your gear in, then pick you up a couple of days later.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 11:54 am
doctorima wrote:
Chicago is a wonderful destinations, and its attractions are great but not cheap. If cost is a concern, please check admission prices before going there. Also, the downtown hotels near the attractions are really expensive, and if you stay near the Jewish community, you'll either need to rent a car or spend a lot on Ubers.

Atlanta can be a nice short getaway with cheap flights on Southwest or Delta - Coke factory, amazing aquarium (not cheap), minyan, restaurants

In St. Louis your kids will LOVE the City Museum - not free, but can spend all day there, and also go up the Arch the next day

I still think Onset is your best bet if money is a concern.


Where’s onset?
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 1:06 pm
saw50st8 wrote:
I took my kids on a Sunday - Tuesday trip to Minnesota. We flew frontier and got 3 tickets for $78 total. It's basically a flying bus but hey at that price....

I would look for flight deals because there are interesting things everywhere. Atlanta and Chicago are likely to have good deals because they are major hubs and the flights aren't too long. Tennessee is amazing and I was once able to get flights for under $100 per person.

You can put your dates into http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ and pick a city. Then click on "nearby airports" and you can add airports up to 2,000 miles away. Select whatever you want and it will tell you what the cheapest options are.

For example, if you wanted to leave July 14, for $140 per person you can fly to Chicago. For $125 per person you can fly to Charlotte. Those flights leaves very early Sunday morning and return Tuesday evening, so you really get almost 3 full days.

I'm bookmarking this thread because of this post. The link is so useful!
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 1:13 pm
doctorima wrote:
Chicago is a wonderful destinations, and its attractions are great but not cheap. If cost is a concern, please check admission prices before going there. Also, the downtown hotels near the attractions are really expensive, and if you stay near the Jewish community, you'll either need to rent a car or spend a lot on Ubers.

Atlanta can be a nice short getaway with cheap flights on Southwest or Delta - Coke factory, amazing aquarium (not cheap), minyan, restaurants

In St. Louis your kids will LOVE the City Museum - not free, but can spend all day there, and also go up the Arch the next day

I still think Onset is your best bet if money is a concern.

These three options seem to be the best for us. (I will leave Onset for a year that we're not choosing to fly.)

Restaurants aren't really an attraction for us because we're pros at packing up food. In fact, I won't want to spend the little time we have going to and coming from a restaurant. Maybe we'll go one night just for the experience.

I don't need cheap flights. I need cheap lodging and things to do. Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis - which one to choose? Perhaps a summary of things to do in each place could help me decide. My kids tend to find museums boring unless they're interactive.
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amother
Babypink


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 1:43 pm
OP - we did a trip like this a few years ago and it worked out great. I'm not sure why everyone is being so negative about flying. My kids had never flown before and they loved the experience and still talk about it as one of the best vacations ever. Five kids ages 2-13. We flew to Manchester, NH on Southwest, which is a great airline because you can actually pack enough stuff and not worry about getting charged extra, and then rented a minivan and drove to Lincoln. We wrote to Southwest ahead of time and told them one of our high-anxiety kids was nervous about flying for the first time and they let us board first and our son got to meet the pilot, which was such a positive experience for him! We rented a cheap condo from VRBO and did not spend much an activities - mostly we went to parks/playgrounds, had a BBQ, played around the house, etc. It is gorgeous there! Any change of scenery feels like vacation and the plane ride was the entertainment. There is a minyan in Loncoln during the summer and a small kosher grocery store. I highly recommend it.
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doctorima




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 3:27 pm
Chicago - Shedd Aquarium, Wrigley Field Cubs game, Millennium Park and the Bean, Zoo (free except parking), Museum of Science and Industry, Museum of Natural History, Sears/Willis Tower

St. Louis - City Museum (ignore the name, not a museum, the coolest place your kids will ever visit - we've gone 3 times because they love it so much and keep wanting to go back!!), Gateway Arch, amazing botanical garden, Anheuser-Busch beer factory tour plus Clydsdales horses

Atlanta - Coke factory tour, wonderful aquarium, CNN studio tour, College Football Hall of Fame, Stone Mountain

For a short and sweet visit, you don't need tons to do, just a few really quality places that they'll love and remember. I'd be inclined to go for St. Louis or Atlanta, especially since transportation and parking will be so much simpler, but they're all good options.
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cbg




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 3:35 pm
Bar Harbor Maine is beautiful, especially if you like nature. you would need to bring food with you. There is a kosher camping trip in the summer, but I’m not sure when it is.
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amother
Red


 

Post Thu, May 09 2019, 3:54 pm
Denver Co- beautiful place to visit. We did airbnb and the accommodations were really nice.
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amother
OP


 

Post Fri, May 10 2019, 6:40 am
amother [ Babypink ] wrote:
OP - we did a trip like this a few years ago and it worked out great. I'm not sure why everyone is being so negative about flying. My kids had never flown before and they loved the experience and still talk about it as one of the best vacations ever. Five kids ages 2-13. We flew to Manchester, NH on Southwest, which is a great airline because you can actually pack enough stuff and not worry about getting charged extra, and then rented a minivan and drove to Lincoln. We wrote to Southwest ahead of time and told them one of our high-anxiety kids was nervous about flying for the first time and they let us board first and our son got to meet the pilot, which was such a positive experience for him! We rented a cheap condo from VRBO and did not spend much an activities - mostly we went to parks/playgrounds, had a BBQ, played around the house, etc. It is gorgeous there! Any change of scenery feels like vacation and the plane ride was the entertainment. There is a minyan in Loncoln during the summer and a small kosher grocery store. I highly recommend it.

Does Southwest fly directly from any NY/NJ airport to NH?
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