Memorial Day Weekend 2009 Getaways: Family Travel With Kids

Memorial Day Weekend is the official kick-off to summer and a perfect opportunity for families to spend a long weekend having fun together. From parades to military displays to pool parties, these kid-oriented and family-themed Memorial Day weekend destinations offer activities that both parents and young ones can enjoy.

Austin: The family-friendly Barton Creek Resort near Austin is dedicated to making their kid guests happy with family bingo, family scavenger hunts, miniature golf and water balloon tosses. The resort’s Memorial Day celebration has an all-American cookout, a live DJ and nightly movies. For parents who golf and want to sneak away for adult-only play time, there’s the resort’s top-rated “best public golf course in Texas”.

Atlanta: Located inside Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park, the Marriott Evergreen’s “Play Another Day” package includes 4 two-day Stone Mountain Adventure Passes. The park’s Memorial Day ‘Salute to the Troops’ weekend line-up includes concerts, fireworks and laser shows, along with its everyday family fun activities like adventure courses, treetop treks and 4D movies. Families can venture out of the park to enjoy the weekend long 32nd annual Atlanta Jazz Festival.

Chicago: The Windy City hosts one of the country’s largest Memorial Day parades and offers versatile kid-friendly activities. Sports-loving children will enjoy seeing the White Sox play the Pittsburgh Pirates and animal-loving toddlers will want to visit Shedd Aquarium’s Oceanarium, re-opening May 22nd. The centrally located Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile‘s Memorial Day weekend deal includes VIP tickets to the aquarium’s opening (no waiting in line!) and is within walking distance of the American Girl Place, Field Museum, Millennium Park and Navy Pier.

Lake Tahoe: Even though the snow has melted away, Tahoe’s Resort at Squaw Creek offers plenty of fun outdoor activities for families. The Memorial Day Family Getaway package includes free daily meals for children 12 and under, plus a $25 resort credit per night. Families can enjoy mountain biking or guided hikes and when kids want to escape from their parents, they can spend the day in Mountain Buddies with activities tailored just for them—from arts and crafts to a fly fishing center to ice skating to water slides.

New York City: Memorial Day in the Big Apple is in the middle of Fleet Week. The “Parade of Ships” is the highlight, but families can also tour Coast Guard and Navy ships, see helicopter and search-and-rescue demonstrations, watch a Navy v. Marines tug-of-war, brave the roar of a military aircraft fly-by and even sit for musical performances from Broadway’s Chicago, Stomp and Wicked casts. A number of NYC hotels offer family packages like the Omni Berkshire’s Kid Suitcase deal and Hilton Build-a-Bear Pawsitively Fun Package.

San Diego: San Diego has no shortage of family-oriented activities, especially with 70 miles of beaches. The newly renovated Hyatt Regency Mission Bay is a water oasis for kids—complete with pools, waterslides and proximity to the beach. The resort’s “Fabulous Four Package” includes tickets to Legoland, the SD Zoo, the SD Wild Animal Park and Sea World (located directly across the bay so you’ll arrive via water taxi!). If the Fabulous Four doesn’t tire you, there are Padres v. Brewers baseball games at kid-friendly PetCo Park with its kids’ play area, Little League infield and “Autograph Alley”.

Tucson: Tucson’s JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort is offering a jam-packed Memorial Day weekend with a never ending slew of fun activities to get the entire family involved. Along with airbrush tattoo and face painting, hula hoop contests, ping pong and watermelon eating tournaments, the resort will have a rdive-in movie party Saturday night and a Sunday Beach Party with a DJ, tiki torches and fireworks. If all this exhausts parents, a trip to the resort’s Hashani Spa for a treatment inspired by the Sonoran Desert will be needed ASAP.

Washington DC: There’s no better place to celebrate Memorial Day than the nation’s capital. Kids will get a heavy—but entertaining—dosage of U.S. patriotism with a parade, the annual Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally with thousands of bikers riding through the city and a PBS National Memorial Day concert. After daytime activitIes are over, kids will appreciate St. Regis’ Family Indulgence Package, which includes a children’s DVD, chocolate pops and milk, food and beverage credits and teddy bears.