Vacation in mid-west

[MoeJoe]

My hubby and I are in need of an idea for a place to go for a short (ie a week or less) get away trip. I live in northeast Ohio, but can drive up to abt 4-5 hrs. The main catch is that I have a 3 month old too!
We like outdoor stuff- but cant be too much bec of the baby. We are not very crazy abt shopping or museums...
TIA

[Clarity]

Gosh, that leaves a lot of possibilites. NEO is about 5 hrs to everything. You can reach Baltimore, D.C. and Philly in the 4.5 to 5.5 hrs range. Chicago is about 6hrs, I'd say. For closer diversions, what about Sugar Creek? Columbus? We just went to Lancaster Co., PA last week and that was a nice diversion.
I'll try to think of more but I gotta run here for a sec.

[SnuggleBuggles]

What about a beach on Lake Michigan?

You can do lots of outdoor stuff with a 3m old! Just buy a few good baby carriers and off you go. :) What hold ups do you foresee? Maybe we can offer some help on those since it seems like you would prefer more of a trip like that than visiting a city.

Beth

[KrisM]

A beach would work. A 3 month old can do a lot. Carriers are great. DS2 went up Sleeping Bear Sand Dune last year at about 4 weeks old.

[MoeJoe]

Thanks for the ideas ladies. I thought that under a year old can't be in the sun? Is that not true? Besides, we don't really want to go to a beach. We like hiking and I do have a wrap and pod, so it can work. But, do you have any recommedations for hiking areas with shade?
I actually wanted to go to Sleeping Bear Sand Dune, but I think it may be a bit too far. I wanted to go there last year too, but ended up not bec. it was too far a drive.
I dont particularly want to visit a city, as SnuggleBuggles guessed. If we go anywhere it'll probably be to Chicago, but both hubby and I have been there a number of times.
Hubby wants to go to Niagra Falls, but I've been there twice and told him that if we are to go again, then lets at least wait till the baby is old enough to enjoy it!
So, do you have any nice places that you've gone to with babies?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Never heard the under 1 in the sun thing. I think that it's fine, especially if you keep baby covered from the sun as best as you can as well as keeping baby well hydrated if it is hot.

How about Deep Creek, Maryland? I think it falls into your radius for driving. They have houses you can rent and then lots of things to do on and around the lake.

Sleeping Bear is a nice destination. We have family in Traverse City so we have stayed there a few times. There were a lot of fun day trips from there, including Sleeping Bear.

Beth

[infomama]

How about Presque Isle State Park http://www.etnextras.com/PresqueIsle/
If you want to go to MI I suggest South Haven...we had a great time there. http://www.southhaven.org/content.cfm?m=44&id=44&CFID=94563&CFTOKEN=b4f13761f8b1db2b-674211C5-A3A1-BEA8-934E1D715DA8B9C2

[Clarity]

Hmm..no city, no beach. Yes to hiking, but not for too long b/c of the baby. What about the Poconos? http://www.800poconos.com/things-to-do/.
Have you considered Charlottesville, Virginia? It's about 5hrs away as well. There's just tons of things to do nearby and it is not a big city. We took dd1 there when she was 15 months old so much older than your dd, but I would absolutely take a baby there. You can hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains, visit Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. Stroll the University of Virginia campus. Hang out in the downtown mall, etc.
We took her to Annapolis last year and that was fun too. There's really a lot of great places within a 5 hr. drive. Can you give us more ideas of what you really want to be able to do while on vacation?

[MontrealMum]

When you say midwest and vacation together my mind immediately jumps to beach, so I'm not much more help beyond that :(

Are you sure it has to be the Midwest? Because most of the hike-able Midwest (and I mean mountains when I use the word hike) is well beyond your 4-5 hrs. requirement. Like Porquipine Mtn. in the UP. Or camping on Isle Royale - not sure I'd want to go there with a small baby though!

What about the Finger Lakes region? Or the Adirondacks (those might be a bit further than 5 hrs - we always turn up before then so I'm not quite sure). Or going south into the mtns in Tenn./Ky/Ohio?

[MoeJoe]

I really appreciate all the ideas!
I'd rather not go east, bec. whenever we go anywhere we usually go that way- I have family in NY...
We sort of decided to go up into MI bec. I want to visit my bro and his family in Detroit. So, we were thinking of spending a weekend there, then driving west to Sleeping Bear on Sunday or so. And maybe I'll check out South Haven bec. I think it is near it. Then we'll stop in Detroit again on the way back to break up the driving a bit.
I'm gonna keep in mind the other ideas for future trips, though!
Thanks!

[KrisM]

I really appreciate all the ideas!
I'd rather not go east, bec. whenever we go anywhere we usually go that way- I have family in NY...
We sort of decided to go up into MI bec. I want to visit my bro and his family in Detroit. So, we were thinking of spending a weekend there, then driving west to Sleeping Bear on Sunday or so. And maybe I'll check out South Haven bec. I think it is near it. Then we'll stop in Detroit again on the way back to break up the driving a bit.
I'm gonna keep in mind the other ideas for future trips, though!
Thanks!

We just did Sleeping Bear a couple weeks ago. Plenty of sunscreen and you'll be fine. We've done it the past 3 years with lots of little ones and everyone likes it.

Traverse City has a great bike path. Not exactly hiking, but not bad.

North of Detroit in Lake Orion, is Bald Mountain and there is some hiking there. http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/Details.aspx?type=SPRK&id=435

There are other parks in Metro Detroit: http://www.metroparks.com/

[MontrealMum]

Sleeping Bear and South Haven are nowhere near each other. At best, they're 3hrs. apart, but my guess is it's more like 4. If you want to do South Haven and major dunes, you could go to Warren Dunes State Park which is down that way, near St. Joseph. Warren Dunes State Park (http://www.michigandnr.com/ParksandTrails/Details.aspx?id=504&type=SPRK) It's not Sleeping Bear, but it's still pretty big. Otherwise, you could drive to Sleeping Bear, and then check out the Traverse area for accomodations. Be warned: it is THE most popular spot in the state and VERY busy. It can be quite hard to find a place to stay, much less drive thru the downtown to get to the beach. Other beachfront communities close to Sleeping Bear which have accomodations and style themselves as tourist destinations are Ludington and Manistee.

Here's an example of Harbor Village in Manistee which rents condos and townhouses: http://www.harborvillagemanistee.com/rentals.php Ludington has similar places, but is slightly further south along the lake. TC is full of places like that, but you'd want to book now. The other direction (E) from TC and Sleeping Bear is Harbor Springs, which is also fairly popular and more pricey. It's on Little Traverse Bay (TC is on Grand Traverse Bay) There are lots of other little vacation towns all along, so I'd check out: Michigan dot Org (http://www.michigan.org/Default.aspx?m=0&NRC=TM_GG&NRX=TM6214&WT.srch=1&gclid=CJzNuP3i0JsCFRJM5QodCmN-KQ)

Nowhere near either destination you mentioned, about halfway up the Lake Michigan coastline is PJ Hoffmaster State Park (near Muskegon) which also has an extensive trail system. Hoffmaster (http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/slp/79Hoffmaster/index.htm)


I think the recs about babies and sun is that you shouldn't expose them to too many of the chemicals in sunscreen under the age of 12mos. We took DS out last summer (under 12 mos) and just used CA Baby sunscreen, hats, sometimes the UV protective stroller shield for the stroller, or kept to the shade.

[MoeJoe]

Sleeping Bear and South Haven are nowhere near each other.
Nowhere near either destination you mentioned, about halfway up the Lake Michigan coastline is PJ Hoffmaster State Park (near Muskegon) which also has an extensive trail system. Hoffmaster (http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/slp/79Hoffmaster/index.htm)


I think the recs about babies and sun is that you shouldn't expose them to too many of the chemicals in sunscreen under the age of 12mos. We took DS out last summer (under 12 mos) and just used CA Baby sunscreen, hats, sometimes the UV protective stroller shield for the stroller, or kept to the shade.

Sorry, I was actually thinking of Grand Haven. I don't know about either of the places, just came across it on a map last week and remembered the name vaguely...
I had read that about the sunscreen, but I figure the best way not to overdo it- is stay out of the sun as much as possible.


And thanks for more ideas in MI.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Take a stop off at Glen Harbor and go to the Cherry Republic. They have a yummy cafe and lots of cherry goodies on sample/ on sale. http://www.cherryrepublic.com/

Beth

[Wife_and_mommy]

When I was up in MI a few years ago, I saw some really nice bed and breakfasts. If you're into those that would be a fun activity. Won't be doable in the foreseeable future as your DC grows into toddlerhood. :)