Great Summer Vacations

Since my wife and I got married we have been very fortunate to take some great summer vacations.  We have had a lot of fun during these trips, sometimes with friends, sometimes with kids, sometimes with both, and sometimes with neither.  After the jump are some of my favorite with a little description of each.



New York City

We went to New York City for a summer vacation in July 2007.  My wife was 7 months pregnant, but we still had a really good time.  It was the first time for us to visit the city so we stuck to most of the traditional touristy stuff.  We stayed on Times Square, went to Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and Wall Street.  We took a tour of NBC Studios and saw Meredith Vierra filming a segment for the next day's Today Show.  We also went and saw The Phantom of the Opera.  

We loved NYC so much that we went back in January 2011.  It was completely different in the winter.  We also tried TKTS, which was a success.

Waikiki

We went to Waikiki in August/September of 2009 for a late summer vacation with another couple, with each couple leaving our sons behind.  Every day that I'm back on the mainland I wish I was back in Hawaii.  I can't stress how much I love Hawaii.  It was a little crowded in Waikiki and Honolulu, but there was plenty to do.  If you can handle the traffic and the people, there's nothing wrong with traveling there.

Galveston

We went to Galveston in July of 2010 with the same couple we went to Hawaii with.  This time we each took our sons.  It was fun being with good friends, but we weren't the biggest fans of Galveston.  Lots of jellyfish and lots of mosquitoes.  Plus, my son was just 2 years old and wasn't a fan of the ocean, so we stuck to the swimming pool the most.  We stayed in a condo, so we had good accommodations at least.

Port Aransas

We just got back from Port Aransas, TX for our 2011 summer vacation.  We stayed in a nice beach house which was a definite plus.  Also, we were able to eat at Blackbeard's in Corpus Christi, which was fun and had wonderful food.  Being on the north end of Padre Island, Port Aransas has some nice beaches that are not crowded.  There is plenty to do, whether it's going into Corpus or heading down to downtown Port A.

So those are the more recent.  We also had a trip to Chicago, but it was a little more detailed so maybe I'll chronicle that trip at a different time.