Where in the U.S. to take 13-year old granddaughter for Spring Break?
 

We are early 60's grandparents with only one granddaughter who turns 13 in March, and for her birthday we want to take her on a trip for her spring break from school in early April. By way of background, she lives in Ohio and we live in Massachusetts. She is an only child and our only grandchild. My husband has chronic pain, due to a back problem and a knee replacement that he has had numerous complications from, so he is limited in mobility in terms of walking for long distances and sitting for long periods of time which makes traveling and a "go-go" vacation a challenge. Given these constraints, we would appreciate your recommendations for where to go for spring break with our granddaughter that would be fun and manageable for all of us. We want her to be entertained and yet not exhaust ourselves. We also want to spend some quality time with her and not compete with the typical spring break venues where she might be so into wanting to spend time with kids her age that there might be conflict of interest with spending time with us. Thanks in advance for any help you can give us.

I would start by having her give a list of several ideas that she would enjoy. Then pick the one that works best for your physical restrictions. It would be difficult to predict what any specific 13 yr old would enjoy without asking her.

Washington DC.

Another thought is the Florida Keyes. You could see the Everglades. The Everglades have a tram that takes you on a 20 mile trip or so thru the Everglades. Somewhat of an adventure, but I always thought would be one of the greatest trips someone that was impaired could do.

San Francisco is nice place to visit. San Diego might fit the bill too.

Frommers has a book(sorry Fodors) that is called
100 Places To Take Your Kid Before They Grow UP
It has a ton of good ideas.

After seeing Montereybob


It made me think of San Francisco again, but then adding a few days of the coast and visiting Monterey area there. Go as far south as The Hearst Castle. The Castle is one of those 100 spots in the book I mentioned. The Aquarium in Monterey is too. So 3 days or so on the coast and another 3 days or so in San Fran would be a great trip.

Or, if you could just wait until summer. Yellowstone National Park/Grand Tetons/Jackson Wyoming. You don't have to hike at all to see the Park. We are huge national park fans and we normally hike 20-30 miles over a weekend at them. However, when we visited Yellowstone for 4 days we never hiked at all. Yes we did walk a bit, but really you can see a ton in your car and with very little walking effort a ton more. If I had only one place to take my kid it would be Yellowstone and it would beat out Disney easily.

Disney cruise is another option, but she would be tempted there to be around other kids her age.

Totally depends on her interests - but definitely avoid Disney or any amusement park if you don;t want to be in hell.

I think a cruise may be the best option due to your husbands mobility issues. Yes, there would be other kids her age, but you would be able to spend time together every day. I wouldn't do a ship that has tons of kids like Disney.
I can think of many great places to take a13 year old,(my son is 12) but everything I come up with is lots of walking, hiking, and driving.

Does she have interests of her own that you could build on. Our 13 year old is a rider.
Introducing her to museum going (in small doses) if she doesn't do that at home.
Has she "done" Boston with you all already?
Charleston? It is small, interesting, good food, accessible. The Hunley submarine I think is going on display more now.
We sort of need to know what she might like.
Not a doctor, but could your husband get a shot of cortisone for his pain problems. My sister in law had intractable bursitis pain and would get an injection before taking her grands on trips. I am planning on doing the same thing.

Sorry for the tardy response, but health issues came up again to distract me. I appreciate all the great suggestions, and will look into them, especially the Frommers book.

I'll try to answer things brought up in your posts to help clarify.

First thing we did was ask our granddaughter for ideas of where she'd like to go, and all she has come up with is the Bahamas, because that is where some of her friends are going, and Hawaii, but we are trying to avoid such a long flight. As to her interests, she is a cheerleader and tumbler and completely boy crazy, likes contemporary (to her) music, and loves the beach.

Unfortunately, it is complicated, but hubby's knee problem can't be solved by a cortisone injection.

We can't postpone till summer because we are providing child care for spring break while our daughter is traveling on business.

We were thinking about Florida, so I appreciate the Everglades idea since I wouldn't have thought of that. Her great-grandmother has recently moved to FL so we thought we might work in a visit to see her and we used to live in FL and loved Busch Gardens.

Beyond that we are open to suggestions of things to do in FL and any other trips you come up with.

Thanks everyone!

If you are interested in Florida, I've really enjoyed going to the forts. However, walking around them may be difficult for your husband.

I also would recommend Morrison Springs and (even more so) Ponce de Leon Springs. They are about an hours drive away from Pensacola, Florida. At Ponce de Leon, there are picnic tables and pavilions plus your granddaughter can swim in the spring pool they have there! It is cold and BEAUTIFUL! My daughter loved it and enjoyed spending a little bit of time with other kids/teenagers. We camped at Ft. Pickens in Pensacola and drove over to the springs.

Look up Florida State Parks! They are numerous and all offer exciting sights! Take advantage of our country's natural beauties!

Welcome to Fodors mrsmorrow14. You probably didn't notice the dates but the thread is four years old. (the 13 yo granddaughter is on her way to University by now ;) )