Priceline Hotel: Family vacation June 30 - July 6

[Jailbreak]

My family (2 adults and 3 kids -- but youngest is 6 and can sleep as the extra person in one double bed) will be in Chicago from June 26 to July 6, staying at Embassy Suites the first 4 nights and then needing a good location for a family vacation for the next 6 nights. We can rent a car from June 30 - July 6, when we fly back to Texas.

I know this is a broad question, but not knowing Chicago very well I am not certain where we should be looking -- free parking would be nice if we have the car, water activities/nice outdoor pool are always a favorite.

Any ideas or suggestions out there?

[Romelle]

It is a little over a 3 hour drive, but the Wisconsin Dells is a great place for families. About an hour away is Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters (Spring Green, WI).

Romelle

[Jailbreak]

Thanks, Romlle. Looks like it's hard to find discounted rooms in the Dells, but does anyone happen to know of any?

Thanks again.

[AaronJB]

A few notes:

- The Dells is great - I went there tons of times as a kid and it's still very similar. It's great, old-fashioned fun - waterparks, arcades, mini golf, rides, wacky sights. It's sort of like if an Amusement Park ate a small town. There's new sights/waterparks/etc since I was a kid, but the vibe of the place and a lot of the sights are exactly the same. The Dells is cheap during the off-season, but unfortunately once the Summer starts, prices ramp up considerably. You could consider staying in Madison (which has a lot to see in itself) and making the trip (about 45-60 minutes or so each way) - Madison would likely be much cheaper hotel wise. Devil's Lake is an absolutely beautiful State Park in-between Madison and the Dells, and is well worth stopping at. Cave of the Mounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Mounds) is also near Madison.

Lake Geneva is a beautiful resort town about an hour from Chicago, but hotels there are ridiculous and some of the family-friendly activities (there used to be a great old-school arcade that closed) are no longer. There is a Nestle Factory nearby, but unfortunately it's not open for tours. There is a Six Flags in Gurnee, which is only about 30 minutes North of Chicago, and you could stay in the 'burbs.

Door County is about 3.5 hours away from Chicago - that's a series of small towns on a Peninsula along the lake. It's extremely beautiful, extremely quaint (there are no large chains allowed) and while there are some family-friendly activities (The Farm in Sturgeon Bay is great, among other things), it's more of a mix of quiet beauty and family-friendly (it's Maine in Wisconsin), whereas the Dells is family-friendly and can be crowded in the Summer.

There are few (only two are really coming to mind) hotels downtown with outdoor pools. There are more in the burbs, but the majority of hotels in the area have indoor pools.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Romelle]

Door County (AaronJB mentioned it)is particularly famous for its fruit - cherries, apples, and others. Fruit stands, restaurants and shops carry fresh, frozen, dried, etc. Made into wonderful pies and cobblers and wines and jellies and such. Grocery stores in my MN area will brag about a product as "from Door County".

Check it out here.

Romelle

[AaronJB]

Yep - there are a lot of local markets where you can get jams and other local goodies, and I haven't had one thing that wasn't pretty exceptional. The cherry jams are pretty amazing, and there's always Al Johnsons, where you can eat while goats walk around on the roof. There are a number of towns on the door, and it's really quite a peaceful, beautiful area. Long Grove, which is a really cute, quaint town right outside of Chicago, is sort of a "preview" of what Door County is like.

http://www.aljohnsons.com/

The only issue with Door County is that there are no chain hotels on the Door, and no HOTWIRE or PRICELINE. The various resorts on the door really have control over the area. There are no chain hotels or really chain anything on Door County, which is part of the charm - everything is local. Again, Door County would be mildly/moderately family-friendly, but a lot of charm and peace/quiet (it does get busy at times in the Summer, but not like the Dells.) The Dells would be very family friendly (it has everything a kid would want), but it can definitely get crazy in the Summer - and the reason for that is because there's really nothing else like it in the Midwest.

The best bet for Door County would be to stay in Sturgeon Bay, which is at the base of the area, and have that as the starting point to explore the area. There are some PRICELINE/HOTWIRE options there.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.