GRISWOLDDAD
Parenting, Entertainment, and Travel Tips
Things to Do Only In
Certain Towns
Many fun activities don't tour, like festivals, corn mazes, sporting events, Zoos, and theme parks. However, you probably have many versions of those type events near your geographic area. For those, see "Things to Do Near or In Any Town." For some though, there is no alternative. To be a part of the fun, you must be willing to take a trip! Those are the things that this page is dedicated to. As I come across Regional Specialties like that, I will add them to this page. Most of these fun-filled events also show up under their state in the Family Travel pages, but since they are not at those states all year long, I feel they deserve special notice here.
Florida
Swimming with Manatees
When people talk about swimming with manatees, they probably mean they did it in Clearwater, Florida. The tour companies take people out throughout the year, but the best times are in winter and early spring.
Illinois
Metropolis
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s the yearly Superman Celebration! For four days every June, since 1979, people flock to Metropolis to celebrate truth, justice, and the American way all dressed as the Man of Steel. They’re trying to break the record for largest gathering of people dressed as Superman (currently held by Cumbria, UK at 867). Plus, you can hang out with hundreds of other supermen, take a picture with Metropolis’ Superman statue, watch Superman cartoons in the park, see the Super Museum (filled with Superman memorabilia), and be declared honorary citizens of the town by the mayor.
Louisiana
With the famous Mardi Gras celebration during the weeks up to and including Fat Tuesday, keep in mind, even though New Orleans has made an effort to make Mardi Gras more family friendly…the later it gets…and the further down Bourbon Street you go, it isn’t family friendly at all. If you’re there with kids, stick to the parades on Canal Street and don’t go down Bourbon after dark. Seriously, too many blocks down Bourbon, and the leather chaps come out, with no pants underneath! Get a peak at what’s going on at Bourbon Street right now by looking at their cam. Your kids will be happy with Canal Street though, the parades are a lot of fun, filled with music, good food, extravagant floats, and even more extravagant costumes and masks! If I haven’t emphasized enough for you to be aware that Bourbon Street has ADULT themes, alcohol is sold on the sidewalks, people are flashing for beads, some of those extravagant costumes…on Bourbon…are just paint and NO clothes, and there are plenty of “dancing” establishments. So, know your kid and what they AND you are comfortable with before proceeding.
New York
New York City is the home of two of the biggest celebrations televised each year, the Macy's Day Parade at Thanksgiving and the New Year's Eve Ball Drop in Times Square. Anyone reading this, I would love to hear tips and tricks on how to visit and see these things yet have fun. I've heard horror stories that people wear diapers so they can stand there the whole day...because if you move from your spot to go to the bathroom, you've lost any hope of making it back to your spot! Many have told me they were glad they did it once, but they'd never do it again because they really didn't have any fun at all. To them, the whole experience was a letdown and a headache. I have had someone tell me the best way is to get a hotel in the path of the parade or near the Ball Drop and that the hotels block off space for their customers, but I'd love to hear more details!
Halloween Celebration at Sleepy Hollow
There's a live telling of Washington Irving's classic, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in the Old Dutch Church. Horseman's Hollow is a fantastic haunted trail...but a bit scary for the smaller kids. Then, there's the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze. Think of the elaborate Christmas light displays which you pay to drive through. NOW, imagine that instead of Christmas lights, you have glowing Jack-O-Lanterns, and you'll get an idea of what the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze is...and how cool and amazing it is to see that many Jack-O-Lanterns all at once. Many of them are put together to form shapes like dinosaurs, spiders, and skeletons!
North Carolina
Each year, for one weekend only in October, Autumn at OZ takes its guests on a nostalgic stroll down the yellow brick road to see all the loveable and not so loveable characters from Wizard of Oz in person.
Great Pumpkin Train or Polar Express
In the Great Smoky Mountains, The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad offers special seasonal family fun. In October, they have the Peanuts themed "Peanuts Pumpkin Patch Express" where they take you to see the Great Pumpkin, and in December, they have the "Polar Express" which recreates numerous aspects of the children's story including meeting Santa and getting one of the bells.
New Mexico
The world's largest hot air balloon festival takes place in Albuquerque, and it is a site to behold. Roughly 750 balloons take off during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. There are so many it is overwhelming. Some are traditionally shaped, others have fun, unique shapes, such as one shaped like Darth Vader's head, one shaped like a cow, and another shaped like the pig version of Spider-Man aka Spider-Pig! It's lots of fun, a tent thoroughfare of vendors springs up to sell food and souvenirs, and a couple of bouncy houses are brought in for the kids. Be sure to see the "glows" while you're there, which is when they have ascensions during the early morning before sunrise or evening after sunset. It's beautiful to see the balloons lit up by their fires. Beware, though, it can be VERY cold in New Mexico in October. When we went, it was about 32 degrees during the morning glow.
Ohio
Cincinnati - Every year, at the end of the summer on labor day, Cincinnati holds a hunger fundraiser in the form of an adorable “Rubber Duck Regatta.” 150,000 rubber ducks race a quarter mile down the Ohio River. This tradition has raised millions of dollars for the homeless and hungry. The rubber ducks are sold for $5 a piece to anyone wanting to enter the race. The winning duck gets their person a new car! Also…there’s a randomly selected $1,000,000 duck. If IT crosses the finish line first, the winner gets a new car AND $1,000,000.
Pouring Ducks by Game Fundraising
Vermont
Danville
This is the home of one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. Honestly, I know corn mazes are all over the place, but not like this: The Great Vermont Corn Maze. The owner is what made this one so different. He doesn’t just accept money from you and let you go on your merry little way…Nope. This retired psychologist actively “stalks” you through the maze. He has internal maze paths just for him, blocked off to everyone else, and “knows where everyone is pretty much all the time.” It’s like it’s one big psychological study with this guy! If you put an “X” on the ground to mark where you’ve been, he erases it and puts your mark somewhere else to really confuse you. When I went, I tried to be smart and do the maze defeating method used in the mythological story about the minotaur and the labyrinth in which you put your right hand on a wall and always do right turns, the way that keeps your hand on the wall. You will go down dead ends, but you will NOT go in loops. I tried that…and got completely lost. My wife and my friend’s girlfriend abandoned me and my friend and went their own way. They were out long before us, and the owner had to come help us out… I said, “but I did the minotaur trick.” The owner smiled and said, “you mean the right hand thing? Yeah, I didn’t want that to work. So I put in bridges. Every time you crossed a bridge, you missed a right turn which stopped that trick from working.” I was defeated by the evil genius, but it was great! The picture below is from his website.
West Virginia
Whitewater rafting is an extremely fun activity to do while in West Virginia. People typically raft the New River and Gauley River…but, during the 6 weekends after labor day each year, they open the dam for what they call “Gauley Season.” For those 6 weeks, the Gauley is the 5th best rafting river in the world, 2nd best in the US with Class III, Class IV, and even Class V rafting. The river can be split to do just the Upper Gauley (the harder part), the lower Gauley (a little easier), or make a day of it and do the whole thing. If you do the whole thing, there’s a total of 6 Class V’s and a lot of Class IV’s and III’s.
Idaho is also known for its Whitewater rafting!
Wisconsin
Apostle Islands
In the winter, IF it’s cold enough, Lake Superior freezes over, and you can walk out onto the Great Lake to the ice filled caves. You can marvel at the ice formations, stalactites, and frozen waterfalls. You can even slip and slide your way in and out of the ice caves to get an inside view. It’s a bit of a hike o get to the caves, so if you have little ones, bring a sled so that you can pull them along.
Wyoming
Cheyenne
Cheyenne’s Frontier days, every July, is the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and western celebration. In the mornings, they have pancake breakfasts for all takers where the pancake batter is "mixed in a cement truck" so there’s enough for everyone. There are parades, rodeos, concerts, a frontier town, an Indian village, a carnival with rides, and gunfights in the street!
