Before you get all lathered up, settle down. I am not volunteering for a pitting. Not that you could find anything to pit me about.
No, we are looking for a mini-vacation destination. Here are the criteria:
We live in OK (not great, just OK) and we want to go somewhere within a day’s drive. It can be a long-ish day but not too long since we have a toddler. I wanted Las Vegas but Mr. Doughnut says Donette has no business in a casino at his age. No sense of adventure, that husband of mine.
Not too expensive. Family-oriented: some stuff for the Donette to enjoy. But since he’s a toddler, it’ll have to be something we mildly enjoy as well since we’ll be doing it, too. But, he’s very well-behaved so he’ll do fine at museums and site-seeing, etc.
We’re planning on about 6-7 days, including travel. Beach? Mountains? Desert? We’re flexible.
So, Dopers, is there anything near you that even remotely qualifies? Let’s hear any and all possible contenders. Thanks!
i live near the smokey mountains. going up there is fun. pack a picnic. enjoy the scenery. there’s one picnic area that i love. i think it’s the chimney’s picnic area (not to be confused with the actual trail though). it’s got a stream running through it with huge rocks. fun to climb on. not recommended for a toddler to do by himself though. if it’s a really hot day he could wade in the water. it’s normally very shallow unless it has just rained. they have little bbq pits and tables all around.
there’s also pigeon forge and gatlinburg which is probably where you would stay. there are plenty of restaraunts and lots of entertainment places. pigeon forge is more family oriented. it has putt putt and go cart places all along the strip. also dollywood… and the waterpark with that. there’s another water park too called ogle’s. dollywood has plenty of things the little one would like. the treehouse is coming to mind. there are also shows like dixie stampede and the comedy barn. haven’t been to them, but i’ve heard they’re good.
just a warning though. traffic throughout the area is horrible. it can take several hours to get down the strip. try to find some of the locals to let you in on some back ways around if you decide to go. also if you want to drink… pigeon forge is dry for the most part. you can only buy beer and winecoolers at the stores, not by the drink. sevierville has beer by the drink and gatlinburg has everything.
if you have anymore questions, let me know. if i can’t answer them i’m sure that i know some one around here that can.
i checked mapquest… i’m not really familiar with OK so i checked from the only two cities i could think of, tulsa and OK city. the route was shorter going through OK city, but that still had it at near 900 miles. if you want to go to the mountains check to see what kind of places the rockies have too. you might find something closer.
i’m just telling you what i know about.
oh, and since you’d probably be traveling through nashville you might want to stop there for a day. it’s a nice place. opryland hotel is beautiful, and there’s also opry mills (although i’m still bitter that they tore down opryland for it though) for shopping. walking around downtown is nice too, but i’m not sure how a toddler would like it. i’m sure there are other things, but i’ll have to ask my boyfriend about it since he grew up there. i only went there to see him, go shopping or see concerts.
i just read over the directions . it says to take exit 407. that’s the long way. instead take exit 388 and follow 441 south. you take 2 right turns, but the signs tell you exactly where and it’s not until you’ve gotten almost all the way down there. it’s about 45 minutes to an hour from the exit. if you take 407 you’d just be back tracking.
there also might be other ways to get there from further east on I40. best thing is to get out a map and look for the best route.
[ol]
[li]Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. Distance from Tulsa: 257 miles. What to do there? Boating, camping, fishing, etc.[/li]
[li]Branson, Missouri. Distance from Tulsa: 227 miles. What to do there? Shows, Family Entertainment, Buffets, Kitschy Shopping.[/li]
[li]Buffalo River, Arkansas. Distance from Tulsa: 180 miles. What to do there? River stuff, camping, outdoors.[/li]
[li]Albuquerque, New Mexico. Distance from Tulsa: 647 miles. What to do there? Ballooning, Biking, Golf, etc.[/li]
[li]Austin, Texas. Distance from Tulsa: 451 miles. What to do there? Music, clubs, plus a lot of other stuff.[/li][/ol]
Thanks so much, guys! Especially Shibboleth for all that extra research. Of those options, I think Austin and Albequerque sound best. Also, what do you know about Taos? We talked about that as an option. I’m so excited to be going somewhere as we haven’t gone on a vacation in 3 years! Anyway, y’all are the best! Thanks for your help!
Taos and Albuquerque are both wonderful destinations, lots to do and very scenic. Taos also boasts quite an artistic community and with everything centered together it’s very easy to spend days just browsing the studios, restaurants and shops.
Guadalupe State Park and Big Bend National Park are also good choices for early in the year when you want to do a bit of hiking. Accomodations are fairly spartan though if that’s a concern.
I heartily second the Lake of the Ozarks, if you like outdoorsy stuff. You can also go canoeing, play some cool miniature golf courses, and there’s probably some fun trails around there too. Though 5-6 days might be just a tad long.
Note that they’re both a pretty long haul from you. For me they would be about 10 hours or so, YMMV. You also didn’t indicate exactly when this trip would occur. Sometimes a nice place in the wrong season is the wrong trip. If you indicate your timing you might get some inputs there. For example, I vaguely recall that Big Bend is not a great midsummer destination because of the heat and the low water, although I might be misremembering.
ShibbOleth did a great job on making recommendations. I’ll comment on which is the worst and which is the best (IMHO).
The worst is Branson. Branson is very commerical (actually that is all it is) and very G-rated. I went there with a church group and it was perfect for that type of experience. If Lawarence Welk***** and Andy Williams are your cup of tea, then Branson is the place to go.
The best is Austin. It is a wonderful place with other great spots like San Antonio within easy one day there-and-back driving. Check out places like Gruene, TX, which is great to visit even if you can’t join in the water sports. Then there is Fredricksburg with more things to do than you can shake a stick at.
San Antonio, of course has the Alamo and the Canals, but if you get a chance check this out:
[ul] [sup]I’ll let you research Austin, yourself[/sup][/ul]
***** I know he’s dead, but I’m sure his ghost is in Branson.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been to Branson once and got horribly carsick between Rogers, AR and there and vomited just on the outskirts of Branson. So, Branson is completely entangled with bile and vomit in my mind. And that was without seeing a show!
Shibboleth, vous-êtes francais? ou canadien? ou quelque chose? Or do you just know a phrase here and there? We will probably be going in June. In July, I’d imagine, Austin/San Antonio would be out…too hot and humid. But don’t you think they’d be OK in June?
No, just American, mostly. Don’t know why I put that. Au votre service would have been more appropriate.
What’s too hot and humid is of course a bit up to you. I just thought that, if you were to go tent camping, for example, with a small child, that hot and humid season may not be the best time for it. But that’s just me. We lived in the Bangkok suburbs for the better part of a year and my kids slept every night without A/C. I’d have never gotten to sleep, as I’m more of a cool weather person (Spring and Fall are my favorite times of the year).
FWIW, I’ve never actually been to any of these places, but I’ve travelled a lot. Several of them I’d love to visit (sounds like about the same ones as you), but I threw Branson out there as an option just because a lot of people obviously do enjoy it, even though I don’t see the appeal. I think I’m a bit of a travel agent at heart. Nowadays most of my travel is international, though, or to Florida or California to visit family.
[sup]I’ll let you research Austin, yourself[/sup][/ul]