Vacation with 2-Year-old

I took my kids to Virginia Beach last year and we loved it. My son was 2.5 and my daughter was 4 mos. My son was a little afraid of the waves (they might have been loud to him?) and was afraid of the sand at first - but he is sensitive to a lot of things too. He was in the sand by the end of the week. Norfolk Zoo is great and is a short drive from the beach. We also drove to the south shore, or "Back Bay" as they call it, and visited those beaches. We took the kids on a hike through the beautiful marsh lands, a very short drive just north of the main beach - my son loved seeing the swamp and the animals we saw on the trail. Virginia Beach Aquarium was awesome - my son loved that as well. We went out in the ocean for dolphin watching and we also saw dolphins while walking on the VB pier. Near the pier there is a small amusement park which has many kiddie rides and my son loved it! Taking walks on the boardwalk is always nice. Have fun if you go!

We had a great time in Edisto, SC. Quiet, lots of beach houses, the beach wasn't crowded, and part of Edisto is along an inlet so the waves are much softer so my son can play in the water without fear of undertow, getting knocked over, etc.

I've also heard great things about Lakeside, OH. Cute community, lots of home owners mixed with vacationers, on Lake Erie. I have friends that spend a week there every summer.

P.
www.BabysitEsae.com

Hi S.,

My husband, son, and I just went on a mini vacation to Lake Erie. My son had a blast and it was well within his napping/car-traveling capabilities. Here is a summary of our trip:
*Dublin to Mansfield (1 hour) to visit Malabar State Farm Park. (This was a little dull out of season, but I've heard good things about it during Spring/Summer times.) We had dinner at the Farm Inn which was nice. Then we spent the night in Mansfield.
There are some other things to do in Mansfield if you want to make it more than 1/2 day thing.
*Mansfield to Port Clinton (1.5 hours). We stayed in Port Clinton at the Lake Erie Islands Resort. There are lots of things to do there (more during the summer). We went to the Marblehead Lighthouse where my son enjoyed climbing on, through, and around big piles of rock. We also went to the beach at the state park (there are several beaches to choose from). His favorite activity--by far--was the African Safari Wildlife Park. He also very much enjoyed Train-O-Rama (an indoor model train exhibit), but it was incredibly hard for him as it is a hands-off only exhibit. During the summer, there is also a dinosaur place--though the name of it escapes me now, and the Lagoon Deer Park.

This was a super easy drive and there were plenty of things to do up there.

Good luck planning. I hope you have a great time!
Julia

We took our 2 year old little boy to Philly this summer. We spent 2 days at Sesame Place which is a Sesame St. theme park. He loved it and the place is geared toward kids that age. I would recommend going early in the season though. we went in May and it was deserted. We rarely had to wait in lines, but a friend went in August and said it was very crowded. We also spent a day at the Please Touch Museum in Philly. Very toddler friendly.
I would also strongly recommend a beach vacation for kids that age. It is so relaxing and my sons played in the sand and the water for hours each day. They never seemed to tire of it.
Have fun!

Sesame Place in Philadelphia would be nice for him.

We are huge fans of Pigeon Forge/Gatlainburg, TN. We just took our daughter there (one month shy of her 2nd birthday) and she loved it. We took her to the aquarium. She loved it. We played about a million rounds of mini-golf. She loved that too. There are cool museums you could take him to like Guiness World Record museum and Ripley's Believe it or Not. You could go hiking on the trails. We also took my daughter a week ago to the local carnival as it came through town. She got on the super tall slide, fun house & merry-go-round. She loved those things too so I can imagine your son would enjoy those types of activities as well. There are tons of those things down there & Dolly Wood which is like a Kings Island or Cedar Point. From Cincinnati, it's about 4 1/2-5 hour car ride. Wherever you choose to go, I hope your family has a GREAT time!

Hi S.,

At the time of our vacation, my oldest was a little over 2 years and my youngest was a little over 1. We went to the Kings Mill Resort in Williamsburg, VA and it was awesome. It is next to Busch Gardens, which has a lot for little ones. They have a Sesame Street playland there if your little guy is into that. You can sign up to have breakfast with Elmo and friends...my daughter went nuts for that. They also have a waterpark close by...but it may be closed now. They have an indoor pool, playground, ice cream parlor, etc. at the resort. It was great. The rooms were amazing...they had a kitchen, etc. I highly recommend it.

L.

We travelled with our almost 3 year old girl to Ocean City Maryland. We rented a house for a week and I highly recommend renting a place or staying in a suite. You'll all be much happier. We were able to go to the pool, and we went to the beach. We spent one evening on the boardwalk, and also went to Assateague Island, where the horses are located.
We went to Pittsburgh this summer with our 3 year old and 9 month old and went to the zoo and Children's museum. We were in a small hotel room and learned that the house was a good idea, or least something with 2 rooms. We went for a long weekend.

Sesame Place in Pennsylvania is AWESOME! We took our 4 and 5 yr old (then 3 and 4) there in summer 08. Your little one would love it!! GOOD LUCK!

We're doing a trip to PA next year too! We're going to Idlewild. It's an amusement park just for kids and it's not too bad for adults either! Tons of stuff for kids your sons age. I've also heard Sesame Place is awesome and the Pittsburgh zoo. Kennywood is in that area too. Lots of cool stuff no too far away!

I just came back from a long week vacation with my 18 month old. We went ti a state park (barkcamp) where we rented a camper cabin. It had electricity a fridge and a two burner stove. It was very affordable. My daughter ran all over and walked some trails. You could do something similar that has other sites close.
The wilds that someone else mentioned is close by as well. They also have beaches but as it was cold we did not go there.
They have some parks near Cleveland and there is tons to fo there including the zoo.

Pittsburgh has an awesome and a great kids museum. We went there when my daughter was 2 and she loved both!

There are some great state parks here. My kids love Salt Fork and there is a great outdoor zoo near there called THe Wilds. It is like going on a Jurassic park adventure. They drive you around the park in shuttles and you go from one area to another. It was rather cool and safe.

Hi S.,

I think that was about the age when we started taking our oldest son to Kennywood amusement park in Pittsburgh. It's a great park and has lots of rides for kids in kiddieland. Some other rides you can take him on if he's with an adult (eg the regular merrygoround).

Someone mentioned Mansfield, I think they have a big merry-go-round there; Sandusky also has the carousel museum if you are into that.

Look into Geneva on the Lake here in Ashtabula County. It's a family friendly resort type are, you can stay in a motel or a cottage, go to the beach, walk up and down the main street and check out the shops (souvenirs, doughnuts, ice cream/candy, game arcade, etc), mini golf, adventure zone (he might be a little young to do the things there by himself, like paddle boats, but maybe with you).

Or look into a state park with a beach and hiking trailsand just chill out for a week. My brother and I loved Lake Hope when we were small.

Have fun

K. Z.

My kids loved Chicago. We took them when they were 10 and 4 (about 4 years agao) and they have been asking to go back every since. We drove and got a hotel downtown so we could take the bus to all of the museums and atractions downtown and around the city. They have city passes that allow you to pay one price and see different things for the number of days you are there. The hotel (The Seneca Hotel) had a kitchen so we went to the grocery store (right down the street or since you are driving, you can bring your own)and got snacks and drinks and stuff for a quick breakfast if we didn't want or have time to go out and the kids really loved that. It was a two room hotel room so the kids had a TV in the "living room" and we had to TV in the bedroom. The only down size was that the bathrooms were small but that is because it was an older hotel, but the rooms had been renovated and were very nice. The Navy Pier is cool and the beach is right downtown too. If you go around the 4th of July it is the Tast of Chicago so it is rather crowded but lots of things to do.

Indianapolis has a great zoo, a nationally-rated children's museum, and the Brick Yard which has tours and lots of fast cars.

There is a Sesame Street theme park and Hersey park and the Crayola Museum!! Those are just a few things for that age group and I'm sure they all have websites you can check out!!

Considering our weather here it's kind of suprising but Ohio/PA have quite a number of highly rated Children's amusement parks. There's Idlewild in PA- voted #2 children's park nationwide. We went there June of 2008 but son was not quite 2 and my older son was 3 1/2 and they had a blast. It is not crowded like a Cedar Point or Disney and they could ride like I don't know 75% of the rides. They also had a waterpark but the weather didn't cooperate while we were there. There is also Sesame Place and Dutch Wonderland, Waldamere and several others. Kings Island and Cedar Point also have nice Children's park areas. There's a website if you look up Golden Ticket Amusement parks - they rate the different parks and different areas within. Almost all the parks have other stuff within the same area to see/add to your trip as well - Good Luck and have fun!

Toledo Zoo is great. Especially now that they opened the new part for kids. Check out their website, you'll get a lot more information and look at the pictures yourself! What we did this summer was driving to Dayton for Boonshoft Museum, and then drive up north to Toledo Zoo and African Safari Wildlife Park. If you have more time than we did, you can consider the theme park nearby, or even go to Cleveland and then go south to come back.