Ideas for a summar road trip with 2 tween girls out of MA

So I've decided to take a road trip this summer with my girls since hubby has to work and I happen to be free this summer. We have family in Chicago which my kids never met so I thought it would be a good 'goal' destination.
So far I thought we'd go MA-Niagra Falls - Chicago. Then I'd like to go south but don't know what you recommend? Louisville? St. Louis? The we can can cut across and stop by Williamsburg VA and head norht...

Very early planning stage :-) and I will get my guidebooks etc. But before I start looking at every city I thought I'd check here for your thought what may be of interest.

Oh - and I want to make sure we hit one of the BEST waterparks out there. One or two would be great if they'd be more or less on our way.


Any thoughts ideas and attractions would be appreciated. Tween girls are tough when it comes to pleasing them these days :-) but they like the idea. One of them wants us to go all the way to CA!!!

Thanks
Ela

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

How much time do you have available for your trip?

For waterparks, I think heading up to Wisconsin Dells - the Waterpark Capital of the World - would be perfect for you, about 4 hours from Chicago. Noah's Ark is my personal favorite, and claims to be the largest water park in America.

Kansas City might be a bit far west, but Schlitterbahn is there, and home to the World's Tallest Water Slide.

Cedar Point, west of Cleveland, and Six Flags Great America, north of Chicago, are better known for their roller coasters, but they also have water parks.

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Originally Posted by enowa71

Any thoughts ideas and attractions would be appreciated. Tween girls are tough when it comes to pleasing them these days :-) but they like the idea. One of them wants us to go all the way to CA!!!

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Ela, one of the best ways to please the girls is getting them involved in the planning, and getting them to do some of the research. To be sure that their planning does not go all the way to CA, get out your maps or road atlas, and draw a circle within which they would have to stay.

The more the girls have invested in the trip, the more they will get out of it, while saving you a whole lot of time doing the research.

If you are a member of AAA, get your maps there. Or you might prefer a road atlas such as Rand McNally. (These maps all have lots of attractions marked on them.)

Plan to get the girls to keep a journal of the trip. Each night before bed, get them to record the most memorable moments of that day. Include things such as stubbs from tickets and leave some room for photos. Great to look back on in years to come, and share with their dad when they get home.

Lifey

Getting your daughters to discover the great places between Boston(?) and Chicago on their own would be ideal. Then it's their trip and you're just their driver rather than their parent dragging them to places they'd rather not be. Still, the trick is making sure that they have a chance to discover, 'on their own', what's available. Start with national parks. People tend to think of these as being mostly out west and out in the wilderness, but there are some great ones right along you route including Women's Rights. Cuyahoga Valley. and Indiana Dunes. Also in Cleveland, there's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a world-class Natural History Museum. If they enjoy being on the water, they might like to take a boat ride out to the Bass Islands in western Lake Erie.

As others have noted there are some attractions that, while not on the way to Chicago, aren't that far afield, but I don't think you'd want to add days of driving to get to one or two attractions that your girls hadn't chosen for themselves. And finally, if you don't have them already and there's time before you depart, be sure to get passports for everyone so that you can cross over to the Canadian side of the falls and see places like Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort George.

AZBuck

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am not sure yet how long we'll be gone but I want to get htem engaged as soon as possible. Your ideas are all great- i have one planner and ther other is not (but complaints later LOL!). So we'll be getting the maps and taking it from there. I was thinking 10-14 days? Depends what's happening at home of course :-) That's why I thoguht we may want to come back a different way but it may be too much... And I'm afraid of tornados!!!

How about if the tweens work as a team? One suggests, the other researches and/or plans. Have one of them look through your AAA Tour Books for the areas, too. That's a skill worth learning!


Donna

Keep your radio tuned to weather reports. There is always ample warning of storms which could fuel tornados. I have often heard these warnings on the radio, and made sure I was heading away from the areas mentioned.

Another reason to stay reasonably flexible.

Lifey