Spring Break Inspiration

I know everyone seems to have Spring Break at different times now (didn't they all used to be at the same time?), but ours begins in one week. We are all really looking forward to it. At this point we have one short get-a-way definitely planned, and another one tentatively planned. We tend to do pretty low key, fairly close to home trips for Spring Break. Usually we don't have a lot of time and/or money to work with, so we do the best we can with what we've got. It seems to me a terrible shame not to go anywhere, but sometimes it doesn't work out. Nonetheless I always try to plan something special and fun for the kids.

Most people probably have their Spring Break plans fully organized by now, but just in case you're still looking for someplace to go that's not too far from southeast Michigan, I have done a few posts in the past about vacations that won't break the bank and are close enough to drive to. Some might be more appropriate for summer, but hopefully we'll still have some decent weather for the next few weeks.

Five Ideas For Close-To-Home Summer Vacations   Despite the name, some of these would work well for Spring Break too. In fact, two of them we have done during Spring Break (Hocking Hills and Niagara Falls).

Spring Fever   This post focuses more on Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio.

Spring Is In The Air (Or Not)   We always have fun in Toledo!

O-hi-o, O-hi-o, It's Off to the Zoo We Go, Part I   The African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton, Ohio is a blast! And there are deals to be had right now - don't pay full price!

Part II of O-hi-o, O-hi-o, It's Off to the Zoo We Go   The Toledo Zoo is close to home and we love it (although this visit was definitely not our best!).

Winter Weekend   Wow, we vacation a lot in Ohio! Great Wolf Lodge is a definite hit!

Some other ideas, that I haven't written about in any blog posts:

• Chicago  There's just so much to do! My kids have only been there in the winter (except Mattie, who has never been), so sometime we are going to do this when the weather is nice.
• Grand Rapids  We haven't been there in a few years (again, Mattie has never been), but I'd love to go back. This was on my wish list for last summer, but we didn't make it. Meijer Gardens and the zoo are fabulous, and I've heard that the Children's Museum is really great too.
• Toronto   I haven't been there since I was a kid. It's not that far from home, so I think I need to go back. With or without kids is fine with me.

If you're more in the market for day trips, might I suggest:

• Ann Arbor  Only about an hour from home, this college town offers some cool museums, shops and restaurants. Once we took the train there for the day (we got on in Royal Oak) and walked everywhere. The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum is a good choice for kid-friendly fun, as is the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History.
• Green Field Village / Henry Ford Museum  The village is an outdoors attraction and doesn't open for the season until April 14, but the museum is indoors and open year round. What I love about this place is that there is so much to see and do, and it is so big that even if the parking lot is jammed it generally doesn't feel like it's that crowded once you get in (goes for both the museum and the village). I'm not a huge fan of crowds, so this is important to me.
• Downtown Detroit  Unfortunately budget cuts have not been kind to some of our wonderful attractions this year, but there is still enough to do to keep a family busy for the day. Some of my favorites include taking a walk along the RiverFront, riding the People Mover, walking around Greektown, and visiting the Detroit Institute of Art. My goal this year is to get to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, which I hear really good things about.

Do you have any special plans for Spring Break this year?