Family Reunion Trips
 

I have a family reunion I am planning for next July. It is five families with children ranging from 1 to 11 years of age. Are there any suggested loacations and places to stay for a group of 18 to stay together for a week? We want to do it in the US or Canada. The preference is a house or accomadations that it will be easy for us to hang out. Thanks.

Joe

two things come to my mind...

one is renting a large vacation house (or two) in the outer banks.

anotehr is a resort like Woodloch Pines in PA...a variety of accomodations from basic hotel rooms to upscale golf course homes, so it could fit many budgets/family ages and sizes. there are a lot of activities both indoor and out, so works out for kids/adults of varying ages. food is not gourmet but is plentiful and no one has to shop for it, cook it and clean it up, which is a BIG part of vacationing for me!

I know people who rent adjacent cottages on Cape Cod. You might find similar rentals on Lake Winnipesaukee or Sunapee in New Hampshire. There are vacation real estate agencies that handle cottage rentals. Lake W would be a good location (about an hour from MHT airport), plenty to do, and close to the White Mountains. For the younger kids, a day trip to Storyland in Glenn NH would be a lot of fun. Ski area condos would be another idea but would lack the great waterfront with private beach. Lake Winnisquam is also nice and quieter but not as close to the mountains. The same agency handles cottages on both lakes. If you google vacation cottages + NH, you'll find it. Another place we've driven by is Baypath in Maine. It's a little Victorian cottage community a ways off Rt 1. Unless you make the right turn, you'll never see it. But the water in Maine is cold!

I second the thought of a giant house in the Outer Banks. Our family has reunions every year, we alternate between everyone (ages 0 to 80, up to 32 people) and just the "adult couples" (usually 6-10 adults). When we do the big ones, our favorite location is Outer Banks. The advantage of having one big house - with one giant gathering place, along with a game room for the younger folks - cannot be appreciated enough. That's when the early risers can hang out and chat (and hopefully make breakfast for the rest!)...whereas if you're all in separate cottages, it takes a firm plan to actually congregate together.

The other (second choice) is a cruise. It is more expensive, but you never worry about meals. Since we have a family who loves to cook, this has not been a problem, but if meals are a dreaded issue, and money is not a problem, a cruise can be wonderful.

P.S. If you book OBX before Thanksgiving, you will have many more (affordable!) options than if you wait til after the holidays.

Myrtle Beach!

I am not fortunate enough to be a member of Joan's family or any family that approximates the closeness of hers - the idea of my family in one big house with knives in a common kitchen is a terrifying thought.

I see 2 basic types of travel - all-inclusive type places like a cruise or resort - which is the only thing that would work for my family because we would fight endlessly about food, money, etc. Or big house or house groupings. Evaluate closely whether your family is warm and friendly enough for the latter, especially with babies who might cry or scream at undesirable hours.

From where is everyone arriving?

We are coming in from Philly (3 families), Chicago (my family), and southern Florida.

I do like the idea of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Hilton Head is another location. Makinac Island is another idea. I enjoy Martha's Vinyard but the rest of my family will think the water is too cold. We grew up only going to the beach in the South or in the Carribean. However the huricane season in July rules out the Carribean. we were originally planning Casa de Campo in Dominican Republic which is an all inclusive resort with homes including chefs for the homes.

We did a similar reunion a few years ago on a cruise but it has been done.

What do people think of Montana or Wyoming? We would need to do it as a resort or something with a pampered feel because my family are not the camping types.

Thanks for your feedback,

Joe

We did a small family reunion (two families with kids and grandparents) We rented three condos in the same building on Hilton Head. The water was warm and not too rough. I see that you have young kids and I must say that the outerbanks is fairly rough for the small ones. There can be a big undertow there.
Another suggestion is a big beach house or a few close together. Lower key than Myrtle and close enough for the action would be Sunset beach NC. Ocean at Sunset calm also. Beach vacations are good for families because they are casual and easy. Everyone can roll out of bed and off to the beach. With a large crowd, I would suggest oceanfront or very close so that you aren't schlepping the stuff back and forth all day. Myrtle would also offer condo accomodations.
When we went with my brother, it was easier to have our own condo. His kids were young (several years younger than mine.) They went to bed earlier and woke up earlier. We also spent all day together so it was nice to have our own space for night time. I have stayed in a house before with several families and very little sleeping goes on. The trip we took at the condos was the Hilton Head vacation. Very easy and not too expensive.

OK, either I have the best darn family in the world, or I just have strong opinions. But you can accomplish sleep and reunions! When we plan our reunions, we always make sure there is a separate bedroom for each married couple, and then we match up the kids by sex and age, and they can double up or whatever - kids (under 16) can sleep anywhere in my experience. It is essential that the marrieds have their own bedroom.

We've done Myrtle Beach condo's (actually Litchfield), we've done log cabins in Maggie Valley, and we've done a big house in Sunset Beach, in addition to those mansions in Nags Head. There's too much driving in the mountains (most of our family is from Philly and boy did they complain about their transmission being yanked on those roads!) The problem with condo's, is that the kitchens are not conducive to making meals for large groups. But one fun thing was that we put all the kids (ages 10 to 18) in one of the condo's one year. They loved that - it was very off season and the condo was right next door to the adults.

Since you are thinking of Casa de Campo, you realy should go over to Fodor's Caribbean Board and research Jamaica's Tryall Villas and Round Hill as well as Silver Sands. These villas are first class, come with cook and other staff. They are above my family's budget (mostly because of the airfare) but if you have the bucks, you will be pleased. Here's a link to get you started. Poster Tivertonhouse is excellent - heed his advice!:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34648334

Also, the September issue of Caribbean Travel & Life Magazine (it's the one on newsstands now) has a great article detailing a family reunion in one of these villas.

Have fun!

Harmel's Ranch - near Crested Butte, CO - was perfect for our reunion. (www.harmels.com) There were 30 in our group - 7 families who each had their own cabin. This was especially important for us - to be together but not on top of each other. The cabins are close enough to each other that kids 4 and up can wander easily to visit cousins or grandparents. Mess hall meals were included and delicious. Lots of activites for all ages - horseback riding, river rafting, fishing, playground, even a cookout/hoe-down our last night there. Far and away, the best EXTENDED FAMILY vacation we ever took!!!

The Dallas Morning News Travel Section had an article today about the YMCA of the Rockies doing LOTS of family reunions and really catering to them. They have staff devoted to helping you set it all up, including fun stuff like hay rides and crafts.

I've never stayed there but driven through it. It's a large compound with restaurants, auditoriums, stores, etc. right at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. They have 860 acres with 206 cabins and 475 rooms. The article says that cabins that sleep 8 costs less than $250 and rooms for 4 are less than $100, including meals!! Off season is even less.

They even do a course called Family Reunion University for those who are in charge of their reunion.
There's been a recent thread here with people who have stayed there giving a better description than I can.

There's lots to do in the Estes Park (town) and the national park for all ages and it's only about an hour from Denver.

www.ymcarockies.org

One negative about Montana or Wyoming (and we are headed there next week to go to Yellowstone) is that airfare is very expensive relative to other places one could fly. While there are some resort-type places, accomodations tend to be more basic and rustic, at least around Yellowstone

50 million people visit Orlando each year so that may be the best place to go. In order to minimize your costs, you could rent a house. We rented one a few times and then bought one. Go to www.the-diamond-on-the-island.com and see what you can get for 14 people at a cost of less than $2,000 per week or less than $300 per night for 4 master suites with king-size beds and two additional bedrooms with twin beds. And your own private screened in 14 x 30 pool.

We're looking to do the same thing -- but only for 3 days. We're looking for somewhere in Pennsylvania, Ohio, or maybe even West virginia. We're looking for suggestions if anyone has ever had their reunions in any of these areas. In total, we'll probably have about 42 people ranging in ages from 2 to 78. Thanks, Debi

I just returned from Woodloch Pines and had a fantastic time, despite being very skeptical at first. Lets just say it's like Club Med for families of all ages. We had a lovely cabin overlooking the lake and three deer outside our deck every night at dusk. You are served 3 full meals a day -- not gourmet but good, wholesome, delicious, healthy food. There's no creme brulee, more like fresh pumpkin pie. There is an abundance of activities to keep everyone busy -- from bingo and go karts by day to a free musical or comedy show at night. Everything is extremely clean and you want for nothing. The exercise room and pool area are excellent. They even have Wi-Fi. What I really liked about Woodloch Pines was that it was so "family" oriented and geared towards "togetherness". The family could be grandparents with their children and grandchildren or it could be a young couple with or without children. It's definitely a very different, a very wholesome and very satisfying vacation.

One more thing -- Woodloch Pines is located in Hawley, Pennsylvania, near Port Jervis, about a 2 hour drive from NYC.