the ultimate road trip

Spring Break 2011.  Last year around tax time, we decided, "Next year we're going to take our returns and go to Disney World."  A great idea!  One that we had come up with the year before and had to scrap because we had to use the returns for other things.  And yes, this time around the same thing is going to happen.  We still want to have a good trip this year though - something memorable for all of us and less expensive than flying to Orlando, so we've come up with the idea of doing an old-fashioned road trip.

We all love the idea.  The only issue is that we can't figure out where we want to go.  My husband has never been in the ocean, my son has never seen the ocean or mountains, and I'd love to get them there.  That opens up a whole world of possibilities, right?  Now, cross off anything in the Gulf because - well - it's Spring Break.  Not really a family atmosphere, ya know?  Also cross off going anywhere where we would have to drive through the Rocky Mountains because it's the 3rd week in March and the weather is pretty unpredictable up there. Add a few factors in like we want to be sure that there are activities for all of us to enjoy, we don't camp and we're on a limited budget and it makes the decision a little harder.

Some ideas we have come up with are Washington D.C. (tons of free stuff to do and not terribly far from the ocean, but hotels are a little pricey), a tour of BBQ hotspots (pretty easy, but the kid would probably get bored and there would be no ocean and no mountains), Maine (because we want to eat lots of lobster but again, not much fun for the kid), and a little jaunt through the Smoky Mountains to the lower east coast and back, but we wouldn't know exactly where our destination would be.

Who knew this would be so difficult!  Anyone out there have any suggestions?