My husband and I are planning a vacation for the end of Febuary begining of March we are flexible on the dates still we will be going for 7 days. We are driving there from home (Wisconsin) so travel time needs to be considered. The kids are 6,4 & 1 yes we are crazy lol we took our first vacation to St Louis in August and that went swimmingly so we are really looking forward to this one. We love historical places, museums I am a Gone with the Wind nut I even named my third daughter Scarlett so I would love to see Georgia my children are very well behaved and enjoy museums as well we aren't so much into amusement parks and such we enjoy the simpler things. We really want somewhere warmer which isn't hard since it is like 30 here and below that time of year we are looking for 50 and up. My research says Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, N. Carolina, S. Carolina,and Louisiana are the only ones within a 1000 miles that are that warm. Any suggestions ideas please help Thanks and God Bless

Outer Banks, NC. I think the kids would enjoy the ocean, especially living in Wisc., more than museums.

Save Gone with the Wind for when 1 year old knows what is going on.

Outer Banks will probably be too cold in February to go to the ocean... and I don't think that there is too much else to do there during February/March?? Also I am guessing that 1000 miles from your home doesn't reach the outerbanks?

Can you give us some more parameters? How far into Georgia, NC, etc can you go? Do you want to travel to one place and see it? Or are you open to spending nights in different locales? I live in Atlanta and the weather should be in the 50/60s but sometimes it is colder (and sometimes it could be warmer at that time of the year).

You might consider Charleston, South Carolina - it's beautiful with lots of great old homes and gardens. If your children like museums, they might like touring all the old plantations - Middleton Place is one that I remember especially enjoying. You can also tour the old historic area and take a carriage ride, walk along the waterfront, etc. The beaches in the area are very pretty as well.

If your dates are flexible, the later you push the trip, the better the weather. As you aren't planning to stand in line at Magic Mountain, you don't have to worry about spring break crowds. I second volcanogirl that Charleston clicks your plantation passion. If you happen to catch uncommonly good weather, you could take the kids a short ride N to Myrtle Beach where there is everything kids like to do. The ocean will be too cold for swimming, but most of the hotels have heated pools.

Another thought is D.C. A bit early for fine spring weather, but the best museums in this country are in and around D.C. The Metro lets you park and forget about your car. Kids will love the National Zoo and the Air and Space museum.

I suggested Outer Banks because OP listed states of NC, SC etc. and wanted temps in 50s.

I don't know where is Wisconsin but I would give Atlanta a good hard look.

The new Aquarium is supposed to be fantastic and there are tons of things for kids to do.

My one caveat is that you are taking such a high risk driving at that time because parts of Alabama, Georgia, Miss, NC, SC, and LA can get pretty bad ice storms not that they are common at all.

The closer you get to the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean, the warmer it will be.

The Outerbanks take forever to get to because they are so isolated but they are gorgeous.

We really don't want to deal with the spring breakers if possible. We have talked about going as far as Florida for this vacationso we just want a good place we can enjoy as whole family as I said they really love museums we go all the time and they have an appreciation for them well not the 1 year old but the other two lol. Charleston sounds fun they both want to be astronauts so they would love that. Should we rent a condo or stay in a hotel? any experience with the rental condos/homes is it worth it?

We are open to different locales but would rather pick one if possible as it is less stressful with the baby.We will go farther we just want to have alot of time to vacation and not just driving there however we also considered the Great river road road trip anyone been?

Spring break for many public schools in the northeast begins the week of the 3rd Monday in Fed - President's Day week. Colleges have spring break anytime during March as do many public schools in the rest of the country. You can not avoid spring break by calendar, better to try by location.

I know you keep talking about how much your kids love museums. Charleston is beautiful - but not the place I would recommend with young kids.

As far as lodging, I always think at least a partial kitchen is a great bonus with little kids. Eating out 3 meals/day gets old and expensive very fast with little kids - and no 1-year old, no matter how wonderful in behavior, wants to sit thru 3 restaurant meals/day - that is just pushing your luck.

Yeah obviously the one year old is going to be a handful whereever we go thats why I am considering a condo rental especially since they are superpicky eaters and I would rather spend the money having fun than eating out

Just spent some time on mapquest, using Madison, WI as origination city - just a WI city that popped into my head, but I have no idea where in WI you live.

Weather/distance. It is 20 hours driving time to Tampa - avg Feb/Mar highs about 70 degrees. It is 16 hours or so to places like Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, AL.

Do you want warm weather or museums? Is 70 degrees warm enough? That is average - could be much colder. I would not drive 1000 miles for museums - there must be some much closer than that. Being from Boston, I understand wanting to escape the cold in the winter.

So your first post that wanted places less than 1000 miles that is warm is what presents the first problem.

(Sorry - third response in 10 minutes).

My suggestion, general though it is. Go someplace closer with lots of indoor things to do. Don't stuff the kids in the car for 2 very long driving days each way and hope to find good weather - that leaves you only 3-4 days for fun - you spend longer going to and from than being there.

Problem here is I am totally geography-impaired about what there is to do in the middle of the country. There must be some place under 400 miles away that could be fun, even in winter with kids.

And don't totally count out flying someplace warm. If you take into consideration costs of 4 days on the road driving and perhaps shorten the trip to 4-5 days, you probably would end up spending the same amount of money as a week which included driving hell.

What you have to understand is being in WI in the winter is extremely frigid we will be thrilled with 50 degrees and up I don't want or expect anything more because of the time of year that is why we are going that time. Also we aren't going just for museums we like to sightsee go to the beach i am a photographer and I love outdoor photos.We want to really experience the area as much as we can.

BTW we are in Lake Geneva WI about 60 miles from Chicago and 60 miles from Milwaukee

The road trip is one of the funnest parts for us we stop at all the oddities on the way the kids are used to long car trips and enjoy them because we stop often to enjoy the scenery no planes for me i am deathly afraid of planes

I'm glad that your family finds the getting there a good part of the trip. But now if are looking for "oddities along the way" and stopping frequently, the trip to anyplace warm is still 1000 miles but will take 2 1/2 - 3 days each way in the car. For a 7 day trip, I still do not get it.

That said, since it is your vacation and not mine, I suggest someplace on Gulf Coast. Look into Tampa area - you get both beach, museums, photo ops.

I think your next step should be to Destinations section on Fodors (orange banner on top) and look at various Florida and Gulf Coast locations - see what appeals to you. Then repost thread with title such as "Tampa in Feb with 3 little kids" and you will get specific responses to that area.

it seems to me your best choice is atlanta. according to mapquest under 800 miles in approx 13 hours. you can go to margaret mitchell's house and/or take this tour: http://www.buynashvilletours.com/tou...-the-wind.html

plus loads more to do: http://www.buyatlantatours.com/
no beach but much less driving time.

Avg high Atlanta that time of year is around 60, avg low about 40. Warmer than Wisconsin, but not exactly warm.