Our 5 All-Time Favorite Family Vacations
A lot of people don’t believe in vacations. They feel like they’re wasting time. They hate to spend the money. They like their own refrigerator! With six children, we figured out a way.
Here are our “all-time favorite places” we went in 37 years of raising kids:
1) Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina/Virginia
We love it. From Cherokee, North Carolina to Front Royal, Virginia (counting the Shenandoah Parkway) it’s over 600 miles of breathtaking fun. You ride on a manicured highway along the “ridge” up to almost 6000 feet with gorgeous dogwoods in the spring and valleys of color in the fall.
There are creeks, waterfalls, rock slides, campgrounds, trails, and wildlife. Take about 150 miles a day and stop at all the overlooks.
2) Lake Powell, Utah
This may be the “all time favorite.” My sister and her husband rented a huge houseboat on this lake in Utah made by a dam. It goes back into hundreds of miles of canyons with crystal clear water and uninhabited wilderness.
We jet skied, jumped off cliffs, bass fished, look at magnificent stars at night, built fires, and just got lost for 5 days. A long drive but well worth it…especially if you weren’t paying!
3) Silverton, Colorado
Colorado is just amazing. The San Juan Cristo mountains in the southwest are our favorite. We brought motorbikes and rode across snow-covered mountain passes in July. We fished for trout in the mountain lakes. We just got lost out in the middle of nowhere.
You will not find an ugly spot in Colorado. From Rocky Mountain National Park (hang on to your stomach) to Vail, Aspen, and Breckenridge, it’s got our vote for one of the prettiest states in America.
4) Nova Scotia, Canada
Like crazy people, we drove through Boston to Maine to Nova Scotia. Our kids wanted to see the “Anne (with an “e”) of Green Gables” island and we got so much more!
Our favorite place was a small hamlet called “Meat Cove.” It is the furthest point East in North America (where the sun rises first!). We stayed on a cliff that had a mountain on one side and a 1000 foot waterfall on the other side.
We saw whales from that cliff, beautiful drives through enchanted forests, and Alexander Graham Bell’s home where he invented the telephone. “Once-in-a-lifetime.”
5) Destin, Florida
We’ve been a ton of places in Florida but we always come back to Destin. It’s quaint, the water is emerald green and crystal clear (usually), and the sand looks like sugar.
Destin has the restaurants, shopping, golfing, and waterspouts we like in a pristine environment. Hint: Our favorite time was September (since we home-schooled this was possible).
Go ahead, MAKE MEMORIES. Save up your money, plan it well, and bring your family to America. If you don’t have much money, camp like we did. It doesn’t get any better than wieners, fires, and s'mores.
Love it.
“Where is your all-time favorite family vacation spot?” Please share in the comments!
Not sure how to teach your children the Bible? We raised our six children with the Word of God and this is how we did it. READ POST HERE
