Where to go in the middle of the country with a big group?

[BabyBearsMom]

DH's grandparents are turning 80 next summer and we are planning to do a big family reunion. There will be a minimum of 20 adults and 4 kids but could be as many as 22 adults and 7 kids. The family is split with about half on the east coast and half on the west coast, so we are thinking about doing the reunion someplace central. We would like to do it on a body of water. And we would like to rent a bunch of houses rather than staying in a resort. Any recommendations on where to look? I am thinking somewhere in Michigan, although I have never been. MIL brought up Branson... please help me find some place else, I really don't want to go to Branson!

ETA: All of the children will be under 3 years old on the trip, so something baby friendly would be good.

[arivecchi]

I will be going to Saugatuck Michigan in Sept and can let you know how I like it when I do, but it is three hours from O'hare (probably less from Midway), right on Lake Michigan and is supposed to be really fun and artsy. One of the beaches in the town is supposed to be fab. PM me if you want more info!

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-...ieqP1hBtWhpYMA

http://www.saugatuck.com/index.asp

Door County in WI is also supposed to be really fun and picturesque, but it is about 4-5 hours from Chicago.

[BabyBearsMom]

Thanks, A! I hope you have a great time in Saugutuck. I am adding it to my list of places to check. I forgot to add that it would be great to be within a reasonable drive from a major airport. Almost all of us are flying out of major cities, and those of us with kiddos would prefer direct flights, of course.

[arivecchi]

If you are looking at O'hare - most good beach towns are at least 2-4 hours away from the city. The nice thing is though, it should be easy for everyone to find direct flights to O'hare and it should not cost an arm and a leg!

[BabyBearsMom]

2 to 4 hour is a fine drive for us. O'Hare would be a good airport for everyone, I think.

[geochick]

Wisconsin Dells
http://www.wisdells.com/

[hillview]

This might be crazy but depending on time of year you can get great deals in Vegas with great hotel/pool situations for the kids.

[BabyBearsMom]

This might be crazy but depending on time of year you can get great deals in Vegas with great hotel/pool situations for the kids.

Vegas would be awesome...but it might be too awesome for my DH I am pretty sure if we went to Vegas, he would be off at a poker table all day leaving me with DD and even worse I would be with MIL without my DH buffer.

I will check out the Dells!

[AnnieW625]

Seriously first thing I thought of was Branson! I think I would do Wisconsin. I have only been to La Crosse so no input on the rest of the state, but people here seem to like the Dells or Door County.

[echoesofspring]

I think Michigan would be lovely, but just to put in a plug for Branson, if you haven't been there before you might be pleasantly surprised. In all seriousness, I went kicking and screaming there for a family reunion/50 wedding anniversary about 15 years ago and had more fun than I had planned to (I was surly young adult at the time). We stayed in rental cottages on Tablerock Lake, spent most of time on the lake. We did have a boat....I'm sure there are rentals.

I don't remember toddler activities per se, but we did have a little one (he was probably about 1) with us. Fwiw, the branson walmart had the largest selection of organic produce i had ever seen. I also remember that we were able to rent a restaurant/banquet facility close by for the anniversary dinner, a bunch of folks came to that beyond just the immediate family that was vacationing together.