Things To Do With Kids: To The Beach!!

Thank goodness!  It's spring break time.  I don't know about you, but we are ready for a vacation in the Christy household.  We've had a ton of changes and a lot of stress since our last vaca; I assume we are just like everyone else.  This time we are going to the beach with my folks.....can't wait.

So here is my suggestion to you.  To The Beach!!  I can almost hear your thoughts...your inner cynic seeping through time and cyberspace.  You say, "Chase, the beach is forever away.  We don't have money or plans to go all the way to [insert ocean-front destination of choice]".  This is where I stop your affront to my creativity.

Throw your family in the car and visit one of our many fresh-water beach locations throughout the continental U.S. (or anywhere else in the world for that matter).  Because of the proximity of lakes, rivers, and creeks to our homes, you can make a weekend or extended weekend out of it, and there are about a zillion things you can do depending on your chosen destination.  Hike, fish, kayak, run, drink coffee, camp, just to drop a few ideas on you.

As I mention occasionally, I live in central Indiana, USA.  When people around here talk about going to the beach, one can assume they mean to take a vacation to Florida or South Carolina.  There are a lot of great things about going south in the Spring - namely the weather.  The downside is the distance.  It's expensive and takes a lot of time to get down there and back.  We're dropping about 1200 bucks on travel alone for our trip.

We central and south hoosiers forget that we are a Great Lakes state.  Lake Michigan is just a few hours north, enabling the diligent family leader to take his crew on a quick get away for a fraction of the cost of going down to the South.  It might not be warm enough to swim in the water, but there are fewer sharks.  Plus, there are some neat cultural opportunities around lake towns, especially if you get off the beaten path a bit.  I don't know about you, but I HATE feeling like I'm in a tourist coral.  Going to Orlando majorly weirds me out.

Any place worth its salt (pun intended) as a tourist location will have tourism info out there.  I found this great site on Michigan Beach Towns.   Here's some info. on Colorado River tourism.  Here is a cool lake in California.  I won't insult your intelligence.  I know you can perform your own Google searches.

Even if you already have a great Spring Break trip planned, put this one in your back pocket for a weekend in the future.  Remember, when it comes to traveling, you don't have to go big or go home.  Sometimes a small, lower-priced trip is a great change of pace.