Normally, about this time every week, we start thinking about things to do on the weekend, but we've got bigger fish to fry because it's time to start planning for summer vacations!! And I know it's an over-used term, but a "stay-cation" may just be the ticket this year. A stay-cation is when you forgo the hassles of trying to manage all the details of pulling together an out-of-town vacation for the family...packing--and then inevitably leaving something important back home, loading the car, trying to keep kids entertained during a multi-hour trip in the car, or worse yet, on a plane, making reservations, boarding the pets, stopping the mail, coming home to plants that have died because nobody was home to water them...I'm sure you're getting the picture. That's the beauty of the concept of a stay-cation...you can venture out for the day or maybe do a quick overnight trip. And let's face it, we're all guilty of not taking advantage of things that are practically in our own backyards. We get busy and keep saying "one day we've got to go there." Let this summer be the time you do it!
You can easily fill up a week just staying in Columbus. Since it tends to get a little steamy around here this time of year, it's a good thing there's plenty of indoor fun to be had. Take a look at their schedules and see what productions CSU's Department of Theatre or the Springer Opera House have on tap, or go explore the Columbus Museum, the National Civil War Naval Museum, the National Infantry Museum or the Coca-Cola Space Science Center. These are some world-class facilities and you might even learn a thing or two! Oxbow Meadows always has some great educational programs and kids of all ages get a kick out of the animals they have in-house--just keep the hissing cock roaches on the other side of the room, please! If you're ready to get out and take on the summer heat, go for an adventure on the whitewater course, which just happens to be the longest urban whitewater course in the world, or you can go zip lining across the Chattahoochee River, get cooled off in the Splash Pad and Playground or rent a bike for just $10 a day and see if you can make it from one end of the RiverWalk to the other--that's about 15 miles one way!!
Now, if you do want to do a couple of day trips or an overnight stay, you can head north or south of Columbus and find all sorts of things you may have never experienced! Just up the road, you'll find Callaway Gardens, the village of Pine Mountain (great antique shopping here!), Hills & Dales, FDR's Little White House, Butts Mill Farm and Pine Mountain Wild Animal Park. If you head south, there's plenty of offerings like Providence Canyon State Park, Florence Marina State Park (they even do an alligator day!), the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, Andersonville National Historic Site, and you can even plan to stay at the amazing Windsor Hotel in Americus and make that your homebase. It looks just like a castle!
Chances are you won't be able to work in all of these sites during your vacation, but you can have fun trying!!! And just think...not one time will you have to go through those dreaded security lines!!
Happy Stay-Cation...