Destination Concept:
Club Med - Sandpiper Bay - Port St. Lucie, Florida - This resort set on the St. Lucie River was the first to set the stage for the all-inclusive vacation which builds in tremendous value for your dollar. Built in 1971, the resort is one of the resort chain's oldest but well maintained and boasts the title of being the ONLY all-inclusive resort in the United States.
The all-inclusive price includes lodging, delicious ethnically diverse and healthy buffet meals and drinks, house wine and drinks at the bar, sporting activities and group lessons to meet everyone's needs in tennis, trapeze, volleyball, sailing, golf, yoga and strength training. The resort layout and amenities includes great walking paths and three pools to enjoy throughout your stay. Right now with their Winter Escape sale, you can take a family of four from Denver - including air - for $5,478 (this includes required Club Med membership fees during your stay). For a day off of the resort, Port St. Lucie is close to West Palm Beach and other south Florida destinations for beach time.
Note that this is also a great option for pregnant women as current travel alerts for Zika Virus (mosquito borne virus which has now been linked to birth defects) discourage travel to Central America and some Caribbean destinations.
Planning Concept:
Empower your Kids-Let them Plan It! Provide your kids with some healthy parameters (budget, local or international, air or drive) and let them identify a destination they've been studying in class or heard about via their friend's SnapChat/Instagram stories. It might seem like a chore when you ask them, but if you break it into small tasks and not a day-long planning slog, they will come to you with ideas for further exploration.
On a recent trip to Holland, my kids asked to replace a museum visit with an Escape Room adventure. This was my son's most memorable part of vacation - not because we failed miserably at solving the crime) but because it was his idea, we listened, he researched the venue (family of 4 for $100), and we happily worked together as a family. Vacations can be as stressful as they can be relaxing, so when your kids find amusement that fits the whole family, everyone is happy and leadership skills are built in the interest of a group activity - skills for life!
Activity Concept:
Scavenger Hunt Walk! Spend less time in the car, and discover a new place through local scavenger hunts. Everyone benefits from the exercise and you'll discover many things that lots of tourists won't with these low-cost high discovery activities. In Denver and other cities, you can try this out with Urban Adventure Quest . Try it locally-start at the Capitol building and discover gems down the 16th Street mall and in and out of courtyards and buildings steeped in Denver history.
If you leave town, enhance your City exploration by starting with a stay IN the city (not a suburb) and walk or take transit to sightsee and explore local eateries. New York City, for instance, isn't just for Broadway shows and high-end fashion. There are many great hotel deals in the heart of the City so you can live amongst the stars, but New York's lovely Spring weather (like many of our country's four-season cities) is great for pedestrians. Feel free to explore 2-3 miles any direction on foot, bus or subway and discover the neighborhoods in the REST of the city.
From Greenwich Village to the High Line (abandoned elevated railroad turned public park and trail), Chelsea Pier, and even a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, there are activities to keep you busy and to let you rest, and you'll show your kids how the world looks as a pedestrian in neighborhoods that were originally designed for people, not cars.
The world is full of great places to see and so many ways to discover them! Use your next Spring Break to engage your family in some out-of-the-box activities and off-the-beaten-path places and expand everyone's horizons beyond their everyday.
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