Close Inexpensive Family Getaway

There are some other Mamasource posts which you might want to read. Go to "Requests and Responses", Travel, Travel destinations, "Seeking Ideas for summer vacations" (3/22/09). It has 26 replies with some that are close and could be done in a short vacation.

Key Lime Cove was disappointing...when we were there, the water park was crowded when we were there and there was only about a gallon of water per person. The rooms were nice, though, and good activities for the kids.

I am going to the KOA website now!

Camping w/ a 2yr PLEASE I found the Springmill Inn in Portage In,Family pac/220.00 then.2nights,pizza,water park tics for 4, and drive inn movie pass. Make own waffles nice heated pool. We made many trips.We packed kids bikes, skate bords,large parking to play. Close to Indiana Dunes.. This I did not like to dangerous to swim because of under tow,and to d--- cold!!!
My fav is Indiana Beach, look it up on line...Fun... Cheap.. good food in park Im from Fla. This is the poor mans Disney. We stay at Victoran Bay Inn. Call Robin see what she has for a fam of 4. a cottage for 12 for 2 nights is 175.00. No park fee to enter. all day pass is 18.00 for water park and rides.. I go for the homemade corndogs!Have fun I am going 6/14 & 15. And 1 week at the end of July. We have 3 teens with lots of friends. This works well for us. C.

Hi,

We actually used Priceline to book an over night to Starved Rock in Utica IL. They have an indoor water park called Great Bear Lodge. Our room was $154+taxes and included 4 tickets to the water park. Most rooms have a fridge and microwave.

Good luck this summer,
L.

I love Michigan. It is inexpensive and there are several places that you can go to have a good time. St. Joseph's Michigan has a lovely beach area, lighthouse, nice eateries and is conveniently located. I usually do a day trip there at the end of the summer, with my kids because they love to hang out at the beach and I get to shop a bit.

South Haven is lovely too. If you go to Michigan, you can coordinate it with, possibly one of their many festivals - blueberry festival is very popular in South Haven. I love the Saugatuck area too but both of these places, on the week-end can be insanely crowded.

Summer homes can be rented or you can camp. There is even a nice Holiday Inn or other hotels in Holland Michigan.
Enjoy.

Indiana beach was always a great inexpensive vacation spot that my family loves to go to. They even have camping which is fairly cheap but a lot of fun! I think there website is www.indianabeach.com if you wanted to find out more about it.

I can't say enough good things about KOA Kampgrounds! They're all over the place, and they have cabins where you can bring your own bedding but use their beds - the 2 room ones have a separation between the double for the parents and 2 sets of bunkbeds for the kids. They are generally clean and there's a picnic bench outside and porch swing, plus the campgrounds have decent pools and many have other kinds of fun stuff to do, depending upon the campground and the season.

They have websites so you can see pictures of the grounds and area attractions, I think it's www.koa.com. Last summer my oldest son was graduating Air Force Basic Training in San Antonio Texas, and we were broke (from throwing him a big party) plus have a little one who was crawling as well as a big girl (soon to be 10). Well I dunno about you but the thought of having my baby crawl on a hotel carpet just grossed me out. But I don't mind normal yard dirt, so we decided to camp. But to haul all our stuff and camping gear was out of the question so we found the KOA cabins and fell in love! It is much cheaper than hotels and an adventure.

I sound like a commercial, but this is the truth. We camped the whole way down to Texas, while we were there (thank Heaven they have A/C in those cabins!) and all the way back up. It was soooo much better than stuffy hotels. The one by Bransen Mo was by far our most favorite - it's right by Route 66, which thrilled my daughter after having watched Cars a bazillion times. Also they're very friendly, there's a clear view of the stars at night as you lay by your campfire! We all vote to go back to that one again sometime.

Have fun!
D.

In Gurnee, up by Six Flags is Key Lime Cove..which seems to be a popular hotel/waterpark area. It's right by Gurnee Mills Mall..That might be an option?