Where are you spending your STAYCATION?

[cynt]

So, I have finally wrapped my mind around no planes or cruise vacations this year. Staycation it will be for us this summer while practicing social distancing of course. ROAD TRIP!!  All I see is the movie National Lampoon's Vacation.  One of the funniest craziest stupidest family movies ever!

 

So where are you and your family going to explore on your STAYCATION?

What's your favorite road trip food? 

Where do you have to stop on each family road trip?

 

We've already been to the state park about an hour from our house. Hiked and had a great time in the wilderness. We disconnected from the electronics because both of us working from home has been quite the experience. Next up, we're getting a beach house along the coast.  We're on the beach so we'll enjoy the crashing waves from our patio.  This is the closest thing I could find to a cruise. LOL!!  But YIKES!!! It's more expensive than a week cruise in a balcony cabin for 2.  And I'm not getting free meals, entertainment nor free ice cream.  SIGH!?!?!?  And I have to cook and clean up if we don't dine out breakfast, lunch and dinner each day.  Momma is not happy but you gotta do, what you gotta do.  I've always said cruising was a great value vacation. And that still holds true. 

 

Our favorite road trip food is summer sausage, cheese and crackers.  We never travel without them. O and sunflower seeds and Dr. Pepper if I'm driving.

 

We stop at https://buc-ees.com/. It's like a truck stop for cars on steroids. Best bathrooms ever! Hands down!  Plan to spend an hour there. Just cause.  It's like a Wally World gas station.

 

This is just a fun thread and to help some of us get creative ideas about some STAYCATIONS.  So don't be shy, where are you going on your staycation?  

[Butterbean1000]

In the event of our August 29th cruise being canceled or conditions on board we don't care for, we're going to St Simons Island.  We already have this trip planned "just in case".

[Isasprings]

At my vacation home in Southwest Florida Cape Coral.

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Isasprings

[Host Carolyn]

Okay...............fun topic.......please PLEASE just your plans.....if it gets even slightly into states reopening, covid stats etc it will go.

 

           Staycation thread is a Covid-free, statistic free, negativity free thread !!!!!

           It might not be your ideal alternative to a Carnival cruise but it is someone's...

 

I'm going ....I hope... to Myrtle Beach with my girlfriends end of August for a week...seafood, beachy boozy drinks and lots of sun....

[Tjcalley]

We are in East Central Florida so we have a lot of options. If our December radiance Cruise gets canceled (which I think it will) and we can’t book another cruise we talked about getting an Airbnb in Orlando and going to Disney for the week since we have annual passes. Disney though just came out with a new reservation system so not sure if that will still apply in December. We also talked about getting an Airbnb on the west coast or Panhandle or doing the opposite and going up to Asheville! Either way we are doing something! I need a vacation!

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, cynt said:

So, I have finally wrapped my mind around no planes or cruise vacations this year. Staycation it will be for us this summer while practicing social distancing of course. ROAD TRIP!!  All I see is the movie National Lampoon's Vacation.  One of the funniest craziest stupidest family movies ever!

 

We drive to all of our vacations, including to cruise home ports. Every time we leave for vacations, as soon as we pull out of our driveway, I have "Holiday Road" (from the movie) ready to play on the radio. It's corny, I know, but it puts a smile on my face.

 

We have a cruise in early January, so we're just kind of waiting for that to happen. We did go to a state park not far from us to hike the trail around their lake, but that's only about a mile long, so it's not anything spectacular. There's another park with much better hiking trails, but it was still closed a couple weeks ago and I'm not sure if they've reopened since. Mostly, we're just waiting for Jan. to arrive.

[Joe817]

Thank you cynt for starting this topic!  We've discussed this in the event our cruise gets cancelled. It's out of Galveston on the Dream. Sooooo if it does:

 

1. We're going down to Galveston anyway since it's on the 'ocean', and lots and lots of things to see and do.

2. Going to Colorado; Manitou Springs. Spent many summers there as a kid with my folks. It's beautiful up there.

3. New Orleans. We drove there 3 summers in a row to explore, as both of us are history buffs. Love it. The atmosphere, the history(drove the river road, both ways from NOLA to Baton Rouge and back. Saw every plantation mansion along the route. We both want to go back. 

4. Red River,  New Mexico. It's in the mountains too. Absolutely beautiful. My mom wanted to retire there. We've been there skiing during the ski season. Would go back there in a blink of an eye. 

 

Where ever we decide to go, we will be driving, like O.C. To much stuff to see and do as the miles slide by driving. 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Joe817

[maryandmarge]

Just recently came back from road trip from Ohio to N Topsail Beach, NC.    Had a beach house rental across the street from the ocean and a small canal in the back yard with a dock for grandkids to fish and catch crabs, baby fish, eels, etc. in their small crab pot.   It was fun for them to be able to check the pots to see what we might have caught as the different things checked out our  bait of hot dogs and chicken.  We drove straight thru stopping at drive thru Chik-fil a for lunch and gas stations.    We took most of our groceries with us and spent 95% of our time at the house or walking along the ocean shore.   One night we walked the beach in search of the ghosts crabs that we chased with our flashlights.    We did get take out a couple of times to support the local businesses in N. Topsail.   After retiring the end of February - and then not being able to go anywhere - this was a great escape from what is going on.    

If you are looking for a nice area that isn't all commercialized then check the N. Topsail Beach area.    

Still nothing like being on a cruise ship - but it sure beat sitting at home in Ohio.

 

[Earthworm Jim]

Doesn't the term "staycation" automatically imply you are spending it at home? If you're going on a road trip, it's not a staycation.

 

I think the western National Parks, with wide open spaces perfect for social distancing, will be very popular this year. Maybe less so the most famous ones, like Yosemite and Yellowstone, since they draw big crowds even in a normal year. But some of the less popular ones would be great destinations.

[Saint Greg]

I've been doing some weekend trips. I went down to Galveston the past two weekends. I'm saving my vacation time for cruises. Actually I couldn't take any now if I wanted. Pretty sure I heard we can't take vacation time for 90 days after returning from furlough. I'm about 35 into that. But yeah if you're interested in Galveston keep an eye on my blog the next few mondays. I'm covering cheap hotels, a museum, and a lot of bars.

 

I feel like the karate kid should be practicing crane kicks on a stump down there.

 

 

 

IMG_0602.MOV

Edited June 18, 2020 by Saint Greg

[siestakeys04]

I’m not going anywhere this year just work on home projects and wait to decorate for the holidays 

[beachbum53]

Our favorite place to go for a land-based vacation is Hilton Head Island (South Carolina). We always go in late September. We typically make our reservation about 9 or 10 months ahead so that we can get the condo we want. Our last cruise was this past March, just a couple of weeks before everything started shutting down. Our next cruise isn't until Nov. 2021. So, at least we've got HHI to look forward to in the meantime.

[13cheermom]

Since we own a vacation home in North Myrtle Beach, I consider it our home away from home. We’ve owned this home for 22 years and have enjoyed using it every year in between cruising. However this year it has been a true blessing to have a place to go and get away safely!

[Joe817]

I'm loving this thread! Please keep it up! And if you all have any pictures you'd like to post, we'd love to see them!

[TNcruising02]

I've got a cruise planned for September.  If it doesn't sail, we may visit relatives in another state.

We also have a road trip planned to Destin, Florida and will stay in a condo on the beach in August.  We like to leave early in the morning for road trips. Several other family members are going at the same time. I have a metal detector that I am going to bring, so that should be fun.

 

 

 

[James4me]

Staying right here in our backyard 

[Joe817]

11 minutes ago, James4me said:

Staying right here in our backyard 

Not fair, you creep!     Just kidding!  You all are fortunate as you have an island oasis right in your own backyard

[ctkathchick]

1 hour ago, 13cheermom said:

Since we own a vacation home in North Myrtle Beach, I consider it our home away from home. We’ve owned this home for 22 years and have enjoyed using it every year in between cruising. However this year it has been a true blessing to have a place to go and get away safely!

We love North Myrtle Beach we used to go there every April. We would stay at The Ashworth every year. Ahhhh I miss going there you are so blessed,

 

[James4me]

4 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Not fair, you creep!     Just kidding!  You all are fortunate as you have an island oasis right in your own backyard

HAHAHAHA!  Yes we are fortunate.  It’s a beautiful pool, so we’ll just save some money enjoying what we have, bbq’s with fiends with beer, margaritas, steak and shrimp on the grill 🌴.  Who needs a Havana retreat anyway.  (I do but I’ll wait due to this 😷).

[Joe817]

8 minutes ago, James4me said:

HAHAHAHA!  Yes we are fortunate.  It’s a beautiful pool, so we’ll just save some money enjoying what we have, bbq’s with fiends with beer, margaritas, steak and shrimp on the grill 🌴.  Who needs a Havana retreat anyway.  (I do but I’ll wait due to this 😷).

Well hell! I have the exact same thing, except for your beautiful pool. But fajitas are more common than steak. Everything else....es lo mismo. Salud! 🥂

[firemanbobswife]

Heading to Cozumel next month. I'm not confident in our December cruise so mom and I are going to go somewhere while we can. Really looking forward to it. We love it there!

[joeyancho]

So far we have taken a road trip to Bryce Canyon Utah. A spectacular Adventure. We have taken the grandson camping up in the mountains in our pop up camper. This past weekend we took a road trip to the Grand Canyon. On the way home we stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns. It's on old Route 66 and it is really something to see.

Edited June 18, 2020 by joeyancho

[vicky3vicky]

We live in a tiny mountain village in Southern Colorado. We actually live in the mountains on the side of a mountain [with goats and chickens and bee hives] We have been here a little over 3 years and I am still incredulous that we are living in a "Christmas postcard. Since Covid, we have purchased an acre of land next to ours and have been doing some work there. We have also been building a raised patio behind our house. Tons of work with leveling, retaining walls, stairs, and dragging tons of building supplies up the mountain to our work site. Bobby and I are both old with serious health issues, so this was heavy-duty work for us. So, no cruise this year [a cruise would have been less expensive!] but we are starting our "rest of the summer STAYCATION" next week. Just relaxing on our new patio, sipping drinks, throwing food on the grill for dinner, playing with our chickens and goats and dogs, [ and not worrying about them, as I always do when on a cruise] laughing when the hummingbirds stop for a drink from my hat with the hummingbird feeder on it, and just chillaxing. 

 

I am SO excited to go on a cruise again, but for now it doesn't get much better than this. 

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

Doesn't the term "staycation" automatically imply you are spending it at home? If you're going on a road trip, it's not a staycation.

 

You are correct Jim.  The majority of the posts on this thread do not discuss staycations, rather alternative vacations instead of cruising.  

However, the best post of the thread so far is the one below by James4me, whose SoCal backyard looks awesome and would be a fabulous place for a staycation.

 

4 hours ago, James4me said:

Staying right here in our backyard 

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by SNJCruisers

[pe4all]

We have done several parks/hiking trails here on Long Island.  We try to walk 5-7 miles a day.   Our "major" trips - a cruise (March), trip to Disneyworld (May), trip to Galapagos (July) - all were cancelled.  We can't even risk going to our FLL condo (which we use for long holiday weekends) because of quarantine rules on New Yorkers going to Florida and the spike of cases in FLL.  Hoping things ease up in July, and we take the chance and fly to Florida.