Best Kids Vacations
Vacation Ideas

The river, practically outside the lodge front door, provides a place for fishing, canoeing and white-river rafting. Golfers will love the three 18-hole courses. During the winter months, you can enjoy great downhill and cross-country skiing.

The Mt. Bachelor ski area is only 18 miles away in the Cascade Mountains. The resort has organized activities for all the kids. There’s a playground with a fun log stockade and fort for them to play on. Nearby is the Oregon High Desert Museum, Lava River Cave Tours and the lava cast trees at the Lava Cast Forest.

I was 10 years old and we took a family cruise. At the age I was at, I did not fully appreciate the beauty of the Bahamas; however, that did not mean the trip was any less of a blast.

Although I was only ten but I was given a credit card. I could only use this on the boat and most of the money went towards Shirley Temples so I could sit among the adults with a frilly drink and soak up the sun.

But the mere fact I could swipe the card myself made this one of the best kids vacations for me. Once arriving to the Bahamas Islands, we were given a day to walk along the beach, and browse the many shops along the coast.

Going to the aquarium to pet the sting rays was great, but the fact that I, to this day, can say I pet a shark (and kept all my limbs doing so!!) is really cool. I know that, being older, I would appreciate a cruise and a day in the Bahamas even more so, but that doesn't take away from how great it was at a young age!

You can swim in the water and see the bottom of the ocean from as far out as you want to go. The water is also very calm so you can easily float on a float or sit in the shallow water. If you want to snorkel you can because there are tropical fish swimming all around.

We stayed in a condo that a resident rents out when they are not there. The condo was right on the edge of the beach and had all the things you want in a hotel including game room, swimming pool, and restricted beach access for condo guests. There was also a snack bar by the pool that you can go to for a snack or lunch if you wanted it.

Neither city has a board walk on the ocean but they feature a lot of tourist type activities such as bungee jumping, miniature golfing, fishing trips, a Ripley's Museum, go carts, and mini carnivals. One really neat activity we did was going to Shell Island. It is a state park that you can go to that has lots of shells and sand dollars washing up on shore. You can walk the shore along the ocean and find all kinds of shells and whole sand dollars.

You can also snorkel along the rocks and see all kinds of tropical fish swimming in schools. The water is about shoulder deep 50 yards out so you can go out and float and see lots of fish. During the tourist season they offer lots of coupon deals that you can take advantage of to save money. There are also Malls and Wal-Marts there that allow you to buy more affordable supplies.

Our condo had a kitchen so we cooked breakfast and sometimes lunch and then ate out at night. That way we could go to the pool during the day or swim in the ocean and still have access to our condo. Then at night we went to the tourist activities and ate at a buffet or a restaurant.

Our kids were older at the time and they also walked to a few of the places that were near to the hotel for some fun on their own. The condo was gated with a guard at the entrance checking for identification so it was pretty safe. We drove and stayed in one hotel on the way down to break up the trip. Our kids loaded up with car activities such as on the go internet, portable DVD’s, and music and they had a great ride. It was by far the most memorable and best kid’s vacations. It was such a success that our kids want to move there.

We stayed at the Tantara Resort which is still there today. I remember how much fun I had going horseback riding, walking along the streets and stopping to play games at different carnival type booths. My aunt bought me a game called a Spirograph and I played with it in our hotel room.

Doing all of these simple little things put a big smile on my face because my immediate family had never taken a vacation before. I learned that a vacation does not have to be exotic or elaborate for a kid to have a ton of fun. After 43 years, I still think of this as one of the best kids vacations ever.

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