This summer I would like to take my 14 year old grandson on a trip.( no longer than a week)....I really do not know his interests except for electronic games and soccer as I do not get to see him often. I live in Texas and he lives in Minnesota.

Do you have any ideas....I was thinking of Washington D.C. but will take any suggestions > Thanks for your help.

I think you should ask him if you have not already.

I have asked my grandson and "no special place" I want to find a few locations and than let him make the choice.

Yellowstone -Mid June would be better than July, but July would still be great!

Yosemite for Early to Mid June
I'm thinking Yosemite waterfalls might not be that good this year, since very little snowfall.

Seattle, Mount Rainier, San Juan Islands, Olympic National Park
for Late July

Lassen National Park, Redwoods National Park, a bit of the Coast
Late July or August



Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion, Bryce.
The earier in the summer the better. I don't know that I would do this much later than the 1st week of June.

Gatlinburg, Smoky Mountains are nice in early June.
You could do a couple of days in the Smokies, a couple of days in Gatlinburg. There is Dollywood, ziplines, zorb, rafting, and a lot more. Perhaps see The Biltmore on the Carolina side of the Smoky's.

Consider flying to Anchorage and doing Kenai Fjords, a flyout salmon fishing/bearviewing, perhaps Denali. This would be a more expensive trip, but it is fantastic.

Your DC trip is a good idea as well.

Book the HardRock Resort at Universal Studios in Orlando and have him bring a friend or it could be a long trip...

14 year olds are teeming with hormones and attitude... its likely he is already kicking and screaming about a week with his grandma on vacation... the only way to win him over would be to take him somewhere cool...

Also consider LA/hollywood and along the CA coast...Hawaii is cool and New York could be fun with proper planning...

You have a tall hill to climb, but finding out what he has always wanted to do could solve everything... of course if you choose wrong, or force him, the hill becomes higher to climb in the future... good luck from a former father of teens on vacation...

Has he spent anytime in NYC? That would be my first choice. Then get him a good guide book and let him pick the activities.

I think the key to traveling with teens is keeping them busy and well fed. We did Washington D.C. and NYC for spring break several years ago and it was a nice mix. They also love video games so they had time for that on the train between the cities but were fascinated enough by the lights and activity of Times Square that the games were ignored. They complained about going to a Broadway show but ended up loving Phantom of the Opera. Blue Man Group was a huge hit. We spent many hours in both cities just walking and exploring. Not enough time to see close to everything, but no chance of getting bored.

Have you asked his parents where he might like to go or what his interests are? If you don't get to see him often, it's understandable that you don't know all of his interests (and as interests can change rapidly with mid-teens, it's entirely possible that he's not even interested in electronic games or soccer anymore.)

Even though I live in the D.C. area and think the monuments, memorials and museums are great, I can easily see that some 14-year-olds would feel as if they were on an educational school field trip if they had to spend a week in D.C. If it turns out that your grandson would like to come to D.C., include the International Spy Museum and the Crime and Punishment Museum in your itinerary. They have a lot of cool stuff for mid-teens.

I think Blue Man Group is a great idea. We saw the show when we chaperoned a teen group in Boston. It's a small theater and they loved it. They also liked the laser show at the Museum of Science. Depending on what's playing, the museum might have a great IMAX movie.

You could do a dim sum lunch in Chinatown and get a real Italian sandwich in Boston's North End. There's a great water park near Portsmouth NH but it wouldn't be fun for him to do it without a friend.

From Boston it's about 2-3 hours to NH's White Mountains where you could do ziplining, the Flume, etc.

Adding on to the Boston idea would be a Duck Tour which my teens enjoyed. http://www.bostonducktours.com/

And after the Italian sandwich get a cannoli for desert from Mike's or Modern - we tried both.

Dfrost I had to google the Flume and it is gorgeous. Another place added to my list. Thanks.