Top 10 Family Summer Vacation Destinations

Although the evil winter is doing it's best to stay as long as possible, the bequtiful, warm, and joyous time of summer is fast approaching. The kids are off of school for 3 months, the das are long and beautiful, and everybody is happy. But what will you do with all the spare time? Most people tend to go on vacation. Spending a week or two away from home, work, and the day to day hassle of things is perfect for any family, plus it gives you a chance to spend time with your family. Because of my extreme love for vacations and family bonding I have compiled a list of the top family vacation spots. Enjoy.

Cancun, Mexico - When you typically think of Cancun, you probably think of a honeymoon or a crazy spring break party. This may be the case sometimes but in the summer, Cancun is one of the top family destinations for a fun and relaxing vacation. Families can enjoy numerous atractions like a Wet 'n Wild waterpark, swimming with dolphins, pirate cruises, Xcaret Park, and even tours of the ancient Mayan ruins.

Aruba - Aruba is probably one of the best places to go if you have kids for one main reason: Tons of things are free! Arub has Island-wide perks for families like kids under 12 get free daily brekfast, play for free and even get to stay for free. Kids under 12 can also enjoy free snorkeling, dinners, and a free sail/snorkle cruise. With so much free stuff, it almost sounds too good to be true.

Nassau, Bahamas - Nassau has something for each and every member of your family no matter what age. There is gambling and golf for the parents, water sports like jet skis, water skiing, wake boarding, surfing, and others for the older kids, creative and fun programs like Camp Junkanoo at Raddison Cable Beach and the Discovery Chanel Camp at Atlanti Paradise Island for the younger kids. And when you are all done with that, you all as a family can go to one of the many beautiful beaches to relax.

Wyndham Hotels - Although the Wyndham Hotels are not an actual geographic location, they do have 6 hotels throughout the Carribean with fun for the whole family. Some features include the wacky SpongeBob Summer Splash Parties with SpongeBob games like family limbo and jellyfish tossing(note: no real jelly fish are used and none were harmed in the playing of this game; I love animals). Kids under 12 also get free daily breakfast. Any hotel you choose will prove to be fantastic fun for the whole family.

Jamaica - Jamaica isn't just one of the best places for family vacations, but also for anyone looking to take a vacation. There are many different things to do in Jamaica like go to one of the many beaches, climb beautiful watrerfalls, swim with dolphins, and tour the many shops and bazaars.

Turks and Caicos - This tiny island with it's crystal clear waters and white-sand beaches is a perfect getaway for the whole family. The island has venues for teens, a spa for the parents, and nightly entertainment for the whole family. Turks and Caicos also offers events like fishing, whale watching and even sports the third largest coral reef in the world.

Oahu, Hawaii - Hawaii offers some of the best family vacations in the world. Specifically in Oahu there are things like sand castle competitions and lei making crafts for kids as well as various beaches that provide fun for the whole family. Also, with all of the resorts at Oahu, kids under 18 stay for free, which makes these affordable hotels even more affordable.

Williamsburg, Virginia - Although it is not a tropic paradise, Williamsburg offers amazing fun for the whole family. Williamsburg offers the Bush Gardens amusement park as well as the water park Water County USA. There are also a few beaces in Virginia, namely Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg offers a walk through Colonial Williamsburg, a village set up just as it was in Colonial times.

Grand Cayman Islands, Bahamas - The Grand Cayman Islands are some of the most beautiful places to visit, especially for a vacation. There are tons of things to do on the islands like take a catamaran ride in the ocean, jet ski, swim, take a pirate cruise, visit the beautiful beaches or even set on an excursion to a perfectly preserved coral reef where you can swim/snorkle around and view the reef and even swim and feed hundreds of friendly stingrays! The Grand Cayman Islands are a perfect place for the whole family.

Orlando, Florida - Orlando is the Holy Land of family vacations. Orlando has a total of four Walt Disney Themed Parks including Disneyworld and the Animal Kingdom as well as the Disney Resort. In addition to the Disney Parks are two Universal Themed parks, Sea world, and Discover Cove. With so much to do you will never have a dull moment.

So there you are, ten wonderful locations to take the brood this summer. With all the resorts, beaches, theme parks, and attractions, you will definitley have a great time no matter where you go.

Magellan Maestro 3200 Portable GPS

Maps are becoming a thing of the past with the recent upgrade to a GPS, or Global Positioning System. GPS's are the easiest and fastest way to get from point A to point B.When they first came out most GPS devices were slow and unresponsive. Nowadays, everybody is moving so fast that only the quickest GPS will cut it.

Magellan is one of the better known GPS makers on the market today. They offer a quality product that offers good speed and uo-to-date information. The Magellan Maestro 3200 lives up to the Magellan name with ease.

The Maestro sports SiRFstar III technology with an integrated antenna which allows for quick position acquisition. It also has 3.5" QVGA color touch-screen display with an easy-to-use interface and backlighting that makes it easy to see and use. No longer will you be confused with a tricky interface because the Maestro offers an intuitive interface for clear usage. A QuickSpell system intelligently searches and checks spelling when you enter adresses to help you find where you need to go. If you have ever gone somewhere and been stopped by heavy traffic or a construction detour then you know how frustrating it is, especially when you have to back track and start over. Well the Maestro offers SmartDetor which prompts you around heavy or stopped freeway traffic.The interface also allows you to search by address, intersection, or any of up to 1.3 million points of interest. There are also a variety of different ways in which you can view the display. Choose from TrueView, a pop-up view of an upcoming turn, Map view for a 3-D bird's eye view of the map, or just a standard map view. The Maestro also has a night view which automatically adjusts brightness based on time of day. It also has a built-in rechargeable battery which provides up to 3 hours of battery life and also recharges while you drive. And finnally, the Maestro omes with a windshield mount, adhesive disc for dashboard mount, a basic cradel, and a DC power adaptor with software CD-ROM.

Needless to say this GPS looks to be top-of-the-line. It offers clear dorections and an easy-to-use interface which makes traveling easy and fast. The Magellan Maestro 3200 Protable GPS will run you around $95 which is a fair price in the expensive line of GPS devices today.

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Naples, Florida

Just a few weeks ago was my first trip going to Florida where I was going to be doing a lot of the driving. For many people they would rather just sit in the car and relax but for me it is different. I like to be the one in control and to know exactly where I am at and where I am going. Out of the 17 hours that it took to get down to Naples, Florida I drove 14.

We left around 2 p.m. on a Monday afternoon and arrived at my grandparents the following morning around 6:30 a.m. It was long drive going straight through. We were trying to get there as soon as possible. So we made only short stops and to get gas go to the bathroom and back on the road. Out of the whole drive down we made only four stops. It was very worth it once we got there for all the driving we had done.

We would be there about a week. It had been cloudy and rainy in Naples the week before but it was going to be in the 80’s all week which made it very nice and perfect weather. The ocean was still a little chilly at only 60 degrees so it was a little cold to actually get all the way in.

Where my grandparents live you have to be at least 55 to own a house. At times I felt a little out of place being so young. The people there are some of the friendliest people I have ever met though. Between the meeting hall where they hold bingo tournaments and have many dinners set up and the pool outside with the shuffle board tournaments going on it was a very good trip.

It is very different driving down the road seeing palm trees everywhere. I would love to be able to have a palm tree in my front yard. Also the chances of a hurricane hitting and taking everything away there are many people that live down there that have another home in another state and only spend the winter months down in Florida.

The drive home was a little more relaxed. It took a couple more hours than it did for us to get down there to get home. When you leave Naples it takes at least 6 ½ hours to get out of Florida and into Georgia. We ended up stopping and staying the night right before Atlanta, Georgia on the way home which made it a lot easier of a drive.

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Traveling By Air... not this time

I don't mind driving, I actually enjoy it. Every family vacation I'm the designated driver and we usually take my Expedition so that the whole family (Me, my wife, our daughter, and my mother and father) has room to relax and we have plenty of space for luggage and a cooler. It really makes the trip pleasant.... for awhile.

The problem is when we start talking about 12+ hours in the car. My 2 year old daughter does well as long as she is entertained, but 12 hours is a lot for a little one. So, when we decided we'd be making a trip to Cape Corel, Florida this year I jumped online to find airline tickets. We were flexible on dates so I was able to find round trip air fares anywhere from $380 a person, to as low as $160 a person. This excited me, until I did the math... $160 times 5 people (we need a separate seat for my daughter now...)... is still $800. Which isn't bad except when we land: we need a car. A 10 day rental on a decent sized vehicle (which we need to hold all of our luggage), is another $500 or more. That brings the total for the trip to $1,300. That's also assuming we can get each person to only pack 1 suitcase... which is doubtful. Assuming we need 2 or 3 extra pieces of luggage on the plane, that's an extra $100 or so. We're now at $1,400 at least.

So next, I looked into driving. From Middletown, Ohio to Cape Coral, Florida is around 1,100 miles. Assuming gas is at $2.50 a gallon and my truck drinks it at a rate of a gallon every 14 miles... it will cost $392 in gas, round trip. That's $1,000 less than flying. Even considering any incidentals like more stops for meals, etc, we'd still save a fortune.

So... in this rough economy... how can I really justify spending $1,000 more on a trip than I have to? I can't. And that is why this year we will be driving to Florida and using our savings to enjoy activities that we otherwise might not have done.

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