This article will offer suggestions for readers with no children in the family. You may be single, a couple or some other combination but this article is to suggest activities for adult vacationers.
You may not think there is anything worth doing in your hometown or nearby city because you live there and take all the attractions for granted. You will most likely be shocked to learn that people travel to your area just see things you drive by or near and never even considered seeing or doing.
One thing that I think works well as a general rule is that if you are an urban dweller go to the country around your city. Conversely if you live in the country, spend some time in a nearby town or city. Either situation resluts in your being exposed to new or different things that you may not have experienced before.
The very first time we did a staycation; this was before the internet we did it the hard way by stopping by the local Chamber of Commerce and getting pamphlets from the tourism boards. The internet has changed most of that mundane work for the better. You can sit at home and do your research to find things in your local area that you might not even know existed.
The very first step in finding activities to do in your area is to ask yourself what you enjoy doing and then find the local version of that. If you are still drawing a blank, go to Google, type in your city and state and the word attractions. You might be surprised at what pops up in the results. I was amazed the first time I did this. I discovered a great number of things within 50 miles of my house that I never visited. Obviously specific things that might interest me may be of no interest to you that is why defining what you enjoy or even might enjoy is the first most important step.
We recently took a little jaunt to the western part of the state because my wife read this really glorious review of a restaurant there. We did not drive all that way just to eat. We researched a couple of other things to see on our two day trip.
The amazing thing is we discovered something new and enjoyed that also. Neither of us sews though we both understand the basics of quilt making. We spent a nice hour and a half looking at works of art in the physical form of very detailed quilts. Trust me; no sweaty body is ever going to wrap up in one of those puppies. $15 for 2.
I really got into seeing the old historical slot machines at the Metropolis Casino Hotel. No cost at all.
A drive through the national wildlife reserve cost us nothing but the gasoline. Well and a lot of stress because forgot to check the gas gauge before we entered the reserve. Learn from our error. Get gas before you enter.
Closer to home on day trips we have:
Taken 3 or 4 distillery tours
Watched candy making in a candy factory
Visited the local aviation museum.
Had a ball watching large scale model airplanes fly.
So what cool things have you discovered close to home?