Son turns 21 next summer, and I long ago promised we'd take a celebratory trip together. Vegas seems like a natural, but he's luke warm to that (wonder why ). MLB's all-star game is at Yankee Stadium, but I didn't look further than the one site that showed bleacher seats at $1,000 each. He likes sports, but isn't into camping. I'm thinking 3 - 4 nights from Portland, OR. Any ideas??

Come to San Diego!
Hang at the beach & boogie board, go to a Padres game, eat fish tacos and some Marg's, day trip to Catalina Island or stay over one night..lots to do here and he would love it!

Maybe he'd like to go all the way to NYC? What is he interested in? Would he like going to the East Coast? If that's too far for 3-4 nights, San Diego is a good suggestion. Palm Springs, L.A., Santa Barbara, S.F. . . Lots of options. Post more about his preferences to get better recommendations.
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I'd skip anything like Palm Springs unless you want to play golf -- it's not that "interesting" for a 21-year old.

If I were in your shoes, I'd go to a big city (NY, Chicago, LA, San Diego, San Francisco) where there's lots to do/see/eat/buy, INCLUDING sports (you could see a couple of baseball games in any of the above cities (even in San Diego, you could go to Petco and drive up to Anaheim or Dodger Stadium).

Start a baseball stadium tradition. See how many ballparks/games you can see in allotted time - plenty of options on West Coast. Keep track and even though he is 21 that does not mean you can never travel together again - you can set a goal of going to all of the ballparks.

My husband and I took a trip to Boston this year and loved it. We went to see a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, and it was great to see the stadium and the enthusiasm of all the fans. There's also great Italian food and fresh seafood, whale watching, amazing history - it could be a fun trip for you. If your son likes sports, I don't think you could do much better than Boston.

Thanks all! I'm starting to like the idea of a baseball centered trip. We've already been to most of the west coast parks, but except Camden Yards, he's not seen any on the east coast. Neither of us has ever been to San Diego, though. So the beach, fish tacos, and margarita's are sounding pretty good, too. Hmmm.....

NYC is fantastic for a 21 year old. You don;t have to do the All Star game - but come another week. If you look at the schedules carefully you can find a week when both the Yankees and the Mets are in town (on different days naturally - unless they're playing each other - another fortune for tickets).

Plus all the other touristy and sports things there are to do.

NYC or Chicago.

Hooters

June 21, Fairbanks... Midnight Sun baseball game - the 103rd anniversary.

Then drive down to Denali and take the all-day bus into Wonder Lake and back out.

Baseball, bears, white nights, and some okay bars if you or he have any interest in that part of Americana.

Now there's a thought, Gardyloo. Thanks! In the early 80's, I played golf in Fairbanks at what was then the northernmost course in the world. Might be fun to relive that experience, too. But Alaska would be more of a hard sell to my wife and daughter; they'd want to come along.

The reason I suggested west coast is you stated 3-4 days - you would use up half of that time flying to east coast.

Boston as a city is great - but Red Sox tickets will be impossible to get except at premium price from broker (2-3x face value). You could do NYC and check off 2 ballparks in one trip.

You could do upper midWest and see 2 teams in Chicago, possibly head to another city as well - Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, even St. Louis should be an easy flight.

MLB schedules are out now - so make sure you coordinate dates/places. That will be harder than you think if you are doing multiple parks.

Tell him you will buy him a legal beer in each ballpark and take a photo of it.

(If you say you are vacationing to include Detroit, no chance wife and dtr will want to go)

If you do a baseball trip with multiple cities, it is tough to plan and you need to do it now with all schedules out. I am in process of booking 1 with both stadiums in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. I found the one week this season that you can do those in that order and still see the cities. Plan ahead. The other extended baseball trip I did was Pittsburgh, Cincy, Detroit and Toronto. If you both love baseball, these trips can be a lot of fun. If you plan on going to Fenway, you need to plan ahead and try to get tickets the day they go on sale, which still does not guarantee you tickets or use an online broker and pay $$$.

Chicago is a wonderful place to go. You could do all the baseball and then there is so much nightlife for your son to take in. It is my favorite American city. (But I haven't been to Portland!)

Do something adventurous.
Hike the Grand Canyon
Raft the Grand Canyon
Go Canyoneering (this is great!!)
Fishing in Alaska, plus a ton of other stuff to do in Alaska.
Zion National Park- Hike Narrows and Angels Landing

I like Spirobulldog's suggestions.
There's nothing like a little adventure together to bring some bonding.
The Zion adventures are fantastic (the Narrows, Angel's Landing), and you wouldn't have to camp!

There are some terrific guided canyoneering adventures - we did one in Escalante. But there are many other areas, too, for example Vermillion Cliffs. I'm sure others have suggestions.

San Diego or San Francisco/ Monterey bay combo trip. Plenty of outdoor activities to choose from. I would avoid Palm Springs in the summer.

If you chose the NY baseball option, how about adding a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.