--Summer Vacation Ideas--
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is for
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ll-inclusives
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Families love one-price-gets all: all the activities you want to try, all the drinks on tap, all the meals your teen wolfs down or your toddler only nibbles at...
Caribbean resorts catering specifically to families have defined "all-inclusive" as hassle-free getaways with a host of services: kids programs for different ages, infant care, teen centers, wonderful watersports (even including scuba for ages 12 and up), multiple restaurants, and pools with slides and waterfalls. Read about Caribbean all-inclusives, and remember: summertime is bargain-time at Caribbean resorts.
Ditto for Mexico resorts: it's summer discount-time. Some resorts offer a more modest array of services than what you might find in the Caribbean; but the trend -- especially in the Riviera Maya-- is toward "upscaling", and in any case you'll typically find at least a kids club for ages 4 to 10 or 12 and some non-motorized watersports.
There are all-inclusive options in the US too: such as Club Med Sandpiperin Florida, Tyler Placein Vermont (pictured above), and Rocking Horse Ranchin NY. All three have a host of activities.
Also: some country inns include all meals and activities. For ex., Earthshine Mountain Lodge, in North Carolina, is has an 1878 farmhouse, luxury log suites, and heated swimming pool; families can help in the blacksmith shop, care for horses, spin wool, press cider, travel back in time to a Cherokee village, take a course in "high ropes" or a treetops zip line, try a climbing wall-- and the price includes it all.
Dude ranches, guest ranches and family farms are often all-inclusive too: check, though, if "meals" include snacking and sipping beyond meal-time.
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*photo courtesy of Tyler Place
