sanibella

We had a long weekend planned with some friends but the friends' plans changes and now we are on our own. We are willing to drive 5-ish hours and are looking for a fun place for our family to go for a long (4 day) weekend. We have three young children (2,4,6) who enjoy travelling but would want something for everyone to do. Any ideas for us? We would love an all inclusive kind of place such as Blackberry Farms, but maybe something a little more family friendly?

musicfan

Not certain of the distance, but St. Louis is probably about 5 hours from Nashville...not exactly all-inclusive, and I don't know what Blackberry Farms is, but St. Louis is a very family-friendly place to visit. If it sounds like a possibility, post back and I (and others) will give additional info.

cd

Were it me, with the age of your children, I would head to the beach. There are so many to choose from: Ocean Isle SC, Holden, SC, Carolina SC, Topsail, Beach SC. Someplace oceanfront with a pool.

starrs

1) They may be too young for this, but I've always wanted to do a houseboat vacation on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. It would be your own all-inclusive.

2) I think Blackberry Farms has a less expensive sister property - but I can't think of the name.

3) I'm not a big fan of Pigeon Forge, but I LOVE taking kids to Dollywood. A much better experience IMO than Disney World, Six Flags, Busch Gardens, etc in the summer. Smaller park. A LOT cooler. Very nicely maintained and a lot of fun for kids. If you decide to go that route, maybe a cabin rental. Another poster recommends Oak Haven resort a lot. They have a pool and very nice rental cabins -
http://www.oakhavenresort.com/cabins.../cabin105.html

padams421

Your kids are a good age for Pigeon Forge but that's about as far from Blackberry Farm as it gets. Five hours south gets you to Atlanta. What about a long weekend exploring the Aquarium, the Children's Museum, Centennial Park, Stone Mountain, Botanical Garden (has a Children's garden), perhaps a Braves game, etc.?

If you are willing to go a bit farther into Georgia, look at Serenbe (kind of a more family friendly Blackberry Farm) or Callaway Gardens.

BetsyinKY

I think Blackberry Farm's sister property is Dancing Bear Lodge in Townsend, TN, which also opens you up to a day at Dollywood and/or activities in the GSMNP.

starrs

Thanks Betsy!

Here's the link - http://www.dancingbearlodge.com/

sanibella, one last praise for Dollywood for kids. Dancing Bear would be the perfect combo.

sanibella

I knew you all would come through big. These are excellent suggestions. I'm headed to do my research and will let you know what we decide. We had a super fun 4 day weekend in Atlanta last summer doing exactly as padams said. It is worth a repeat if nothing else works out, so I do appreciate the reminder. Having that kind of fun in a city new to us would be ideal--St Louis might be fun so I will look into that, and another friend of mine mentioned Memphis where we have ironically never been. We might be headed to the gulf beaches in later June if the oil stays away, but I was open to going to a SC beach although I had no idea where to go, so I am thankful for those suggestions as well. I had not even considered Calloway, Serenbe, nor Dancing Bear, so I am headed to do my research and will get back with you on what I decide! Thank you, thank you.

sanibella

Oh. My. Gooodness. We have fallen in love with Serenbe. Unfortunately they are completely booked for a wedding BUT we actually booked a weekend trip there later in the summer! Dancing Bear was tempting but the only accommocations available were a little too rustic for us, so we are now considering Callaway or another lodge/inn concept that we found called the Ridges Resort in North Georgia. Thank you Fodorites for your wonderful suggestions! We now have TWO weekends to look forward to...

starrs

That sounds great!

If you are considering the Ridges resort, you may want to look into a rental of a home on Lake Burton or Lake Rabun in NE Georgia. I'll send you a link to a good rental company if you're interested.

sanibella

Starrs, I'm interested. The front desk at Ridges Resort is very frustrating to deal with, to say the least. No one will book our reservation! They keep referring me to someone else who is never at work. We've almost decided on Callaway, although if I find something in the north GA mountains that would be ideal.

starrs

Here's one option -
http://www.brasstownvalley.com/

starrs

Here's the rental agency -
http://rabunrentals.com/index.html

That don't have that many lake rentals, but lots of other options. A couple are condos at resorts with pools.

Definitely not all inclusive, but if you go that route I can offer plenty of restaurant suggestions.

About an hour up the road is a train option, with Lone Ranger and Thomas and Friends special events -
http://www.gsmr.com/reservations/excursions.php

sanibella

Love Brasstown Valley. Great service. They are technically booked one of the nights we want to stay there but they are trying to work out something out for us with one of their "sell outs." If anyone reads this thread in the future, I'd go with them over the Ridges in a heart beat! There's got to be a reason why they are booked and the Ridges has plenty of availability...well, other than the fact that I can't seem to get the Ridges to book anything for me. Anyway, we have done the train excursions before, very cute.

I'm settled on this brasstown valley, unless they can't work out availabilty, and in that case we are headed to Callaway. Thank you all so much for these suggestions!

sanibella

Loved, loved, loved Brasstown Valley -- and the area in general. Property was exactly what we were hoping--not too manicured, all natural but very, very beautiful. Family friendly and even though the whole place was booked out and two large events were going on, nothing seemed crowded or stretched. We rode horses, had a hayride, played in the pool, played golf, hiked and just had fun family time. Off property we rode jet skis and visited fun world for a movie and fun games when it rained. We were only gone a few days but it felt like a week. Thanks for the perfect recommendation for this quick getaway.

cd

sanibella, thanks for the report. I guess that gives me another destination to put on my list. Glad you had a great time!

starrs

So glad it was a good trip! Thanks for reporting back.