Best Cheap Vacation You Ever Took

I don't know if it was a "cheap" vacation, but when I was little my family would head to the beach. My parents had a set amount of money and when it was gone we would get in the car and come home. Sometimes we stayed 3 days, sometimes 5. We had the best time. Fortunately, for my family, my husband's work has a trip every year. So eventhough not cheap, we went to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun. It only cost my husband and I $500 for a weeks worth of off-resort activities. Not bad for a trip to Mexico.

When I was a kid my parents use to check into a hotel for a couple days a few miles from the house during August when it was super hot. We kids would be in the pool from the time it opened until it closed. Mom would bring a cooler of food from the house for breakfast and lunch and we'd go out to dinner every night. It was so much fun for we kids and couldn't have been expensive. I live by a pond so my kids went swimming every day; no need for a hotel.

We went to st louis 2 years ago on July 4th Weekend. It was 6 hours out because of time difference. We spent little money and there was enough fun to pack into the weekend.

I second DC is great! Every summer, we head to the Lake Erie islands to South Bass (Put-in-Bay). It has a bad reputation for weekend partying, but during the week it is very family oriented and we just had a lodge for a week and found the campground was totally quiet on the weekend as well. What we do is camp, BUT to make it relaxing, we eat dinners and some lunches out or at the grocery, pick up the burgers to grill. Breakfast is coffee and simply things like muffins, granola bars, cereal. I buy the smallest milk when we land and pick up another daily. The island is small and the grocery is just up the road from the campground. There is also a chocolate/coffee shop within walking/biking distance, as is a golf cart rental. You can't beat $24/night on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie with the fresh air. The lodge we tried last year in comparison had hard-as-a-rock mattresses, if you want to call them that and were $700 for a week. The campsites we usually stay at are non-electric sites, which are nicer than the very small interior electric sites, but I take a very long extension cord, inflate the air mattresses and we carry them in to the tent. The campground is never as crowded, or full, like neighboring Kelley's Island, which is known as the family island. The campground also has kayak and jet ski rentals available, and this past summer, we picked up a $20 inflatable boat for him to paddle around in. He loved it! And since we'd forgotten his life vest, they provided him with one all week at no cost. The beach is a stone beach since that side of the island is very choppy, so be sure to wear the water shoes, flip flops don't cut it, and bring some beach chairs! Excursions to the neighboring islands are available too, as is parasailing which is so much fun. Each year we pick something like this during our 3-4 day trip (we typically go Sun-Weds).

Our next favorite is camping and canoeing at Mohican in Loudonville, OH. There are several campgrounds and we really like River Run. We get the rafts so we can all fit and be comfortable and pull two tubes connected with ropes behind us while canoeing. For about $75-100, canoeing is hands down a treat my kids love! There are lots of little "landings" along the way to get a hot dog, ice cream, and beverage with a potty break (purchase req'd, but that's half the fun anyway).

The last cheap vacation we had was when the kids were little and they didn't know enough to ask for stuff. <smile> But as you say, WAshington DC is a town filled with free stuff - not for the pre-school crowd though, I recall going when my son was 2 and my daughter 5 - it was not so fun. Much better when they were older. ;o)

Every August, we go to Panama City Beach and stay at the Sandpiper Beacon. We usually go the 2nd or 3rd week of August and the price is super low because most schools have started by then so there aren't as many visitors. Our son is only 2 1/2 so we don't have to worry about that yet. We do have friends in the group with kids who start but they usually only have to miss the first day or two. We get a big group (about 12) and share the big room so the price is even lower. We only pay about $250 a couple/family, for the whole week, and we're right on the beach! It's about 12 hours to drive so we leave at bedtime so the kids can sleep the whole way down and then, when they wake up, we're almost to the beach! We drive straight through and just switch driver half-way through. The hotel is great because they let you check in as soon as you get there, even if your room isn't ready, so you can use the pool and beach. We go almost every August.

when i was little my dad would take me and my brother camping for a couple days during the summer. The state park we went to was about an hour away and it only cost $27 a night to rent the camp ground. it rained and our tent flooded every yr before the trip was over but we always had the best time!

I second the Washington DC trip, went to two fantastic zoos, the museum of natural history Please Touch room, and the two Air and Space Museums, my son had a great time at age 3. Maybe when we go back he'll enjoy more of the landmarks!
We also enjoyed Lancaster Pa, not free though. we went to the Christmas Center and went for a buggy ride and stayed at a place that included breakfast and had a petting zoo and playground.