Need suggestions for a 50th anniversary vacation

In My Humble Opinion
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Mom and Pop Athena are going to be celebrating their 50th anniversary this spring. My siblings and I have been talking about doing something pretty major for them to celebrate, and on top of the list is sending them somewhere on vacation.

Problem is that my father can be a real pill. Grumpy, pissy, and ungrateful. That said, I know he likes to travel, if it’s the right place.

Mom is pretty much happy doing anything. Given that, she does like some thing better than other things, so I do want to make sure there’s at least a couple sights/activities that are geared specifically for her.

Our first thought was a cruise to Alaska. They’ve mentioned this in the past, but I recently spoke to an aunt, who told me that she’d talked about this very subject with them and my Dad was unenthusiastic. :rolleyes: OK, scratch that. It was on the expensive side anyway.

They’ve been to Washington DC in the past few years, so that’s out, too. Otherwise it would be high on the list.

Same Aunt mentioned Baltimore. My first thought was “Baltimore?!? Who the heck vacations in Baltimore?” She said there was a navy pier there that was right up my Dad’s alley and other historical stuff. Can anyone expand?

Another thought was finding an island somewhere on the east coast - something with shopping/activities for my Mom but also with a historical aspect. Dunno what that might be, though.

We (my brothers and I) have also discussed renting a house somewhere where all of us would join them. Not sure if this would work out or not, but if anyone has any ideas about that I’d love to hear them.

They’re both in reasonable health, but my Dad has had one ankle fused, so walking/standing for long periods is difficult. He can, however, be on his feet for an hour or so.

Dad likes:

  • history, especially American history
  • old trucks
  • some nature stuff. He enjoyed seeing the mountains when he visited Colorado for example.
  • History museums
  • good meals in nice restaurants, but doesn’t like overly fancy food, places, or ethnic cuising. IE: a good unpretentious steak place is great. But for the love of God, don’t put a sauce on that steak!

Dad doesn’t like:

  • hot weather
  • beaches
  • shopping
  • theater or shows
  • just about everything else not on the “likes” list

Mom likes:

  • museums
  • good meal. She’s more adventerous than he is when it comes to eating, but nothing too crazy
  • cooking
  • historical stuff, but not to the extent my Dad does
  • shopping

Mom dislikes:

  • my father when he’s being difficult
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One more thing: anyplace overseas is out. Dad has expounded heavily on many occasions how he has no desire to go anyplace out of the country. That said, Canada would probably be OK. He enjoyed Toronto when he visited.

Mexico, Europe, heck even Hawaii is out.

God, he’s such a pain in the ass to deal with when you’re trying to do something nice for him!

3

For my grandparents 50th anniversary, I bought them a huge box filled with the following: golden delicious apples, Gold Medal flower, Gold Bond powder, golden raisins, Rold Gold pretzels, a CD of “golden oldies”, etc.

Maybe a vacation to the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas?

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Niagara Falls? There’s got to be other stuff nearby that would interest both of them. Plus, that’s such an old timer’s romantic destination. We would have sent my in-laws there, but my MIL is afraid to fly.

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Philly’s nice – lots of historical stuff like, yanno, the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and stuff – wonderful art museums, the Franklin Institute (a science and technology museum), lots of good restaurants, etc. Trucks, not so much – but there are a couple of historic ships down at the waterfront. There’s an aquarium across the river in Camden. Amish country is an hour’s drive, if they’d enjoy seeing folks in buggies and buying quilts.

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Thanks for the replies.

Casinos are out. I don’t think either of them enjoy gambling.

Niagara Falls: I’m pretty sure they went there on their Honeymoon. Would be kind of cool as a retro trip. Is there much there beyond the falls, though? We’d like at least a week long trip.

Philadelphia: Interesting. I think they’d like the historical aspect, and I can see my Dad getting very interested in the whole Amish thing (he grew up very simply, and seeing people do stuff the old fashioned way is of interest to him.) Definitely a contender.

I forgot to mention that we’ve discussed Boston as well. I’m a little hesitant about the big city aspect, though. I’d like to find someplace where they could rely on cabs rather than having to rent a car and navigate through bad traffic in a big town (we live in a very small town, and big city driving is difficult for them.)

Keep 'em coming.

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Boston also has the T, their subway system. I haven’t been there in years, but I remember it being very easy to navigate the city using the T. It didn’t have that “big city” feel either, the way Manhattan, for example, does.

If you do go for something like Boston, see if they destination city has tourist cards similar to a Go->Boston card. They’ll save money on attractions, and maybe your folks would try something they ordinarilly wouldn’t have simply because they’re saving the money. Even if you don’t buy one, there might be some ideas for little day trips in the brochures.

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For getting around town, there are plenty of cabs – also a tourist bus called (and I apologize for this in advance) the Philly Phlash, which (if I have this right) you can pay a flat fee and then hop on and off all day – it goes from the historic district out to the museum area, etc. It’s possible that runs only during Tourist Season – when would their trip be? There are also horse-drawn carriages around Old City (historic district). They’d probably want to rent a car to go out to Amish country, and/or to Gettysburg, which is another hour or so further west, but it’s pretty straightforward highway driving.

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Fort McHenry. I’m a Brit and even I got shivers down my spine hearing and watching the Star Spangled Banner presentation. (30 years ago, admittedly)

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I was thinking along the lines of Casey1505 that for their golden anniversary, a “gold” themed vacation would be appropriate. How about San Francisco? Golden Gate Bridge, near plenty of historical Gold Rush sites. Awesome nature nearby, and only about a 3-hour drive to Yosemite National Park to boot (and about 5 to Sequoia NP, if they like really long drives). Weather pretty uniformly mild. Excellent selection of museums and restaurants.

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Ooops, forgot to mention, California is out for personal reasons…

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Charleston SC? Might be a bit warm, depending on the time of year. Certainly has the history aspect covered.

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Nix the Camden aquarium. It’s in a bad neighorhood and from what I’ve been told is not worth the visit. You want to see an aquarium, go to Baltimore inner harbor. The rest is accurate. It’s also a rather short trip to go to Valley Forge, same general direction as Amish country.

How about colonial Williamsburg? Reconstructed town from the time of the Revolutionary War.