Staying Fit
Contrary to what the Who told us in their 1967 song, there is a cure for the summertime blues! So, how about a nice vacation?
Vacations are as personal as our choice of the books we read, the cars we drive and the houses we live in. They reflect our personalities and preferences. So what are some of Americans’ favorite ways to spend their leisure time?
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Baseball tours
Baseball is as American as ice cream cones, apple pie and jazz. I’m a huge fan of baseball, and almost everywhere I go in the United States I try to take in a live game. I have been to more than a dozen major league baseball team stadiums and as many minor league parks.
Several websites are dedicated to baseball vacations, and most MLB parks have tours. The two oldest, Fenway Park in Boston, built in 1912, and Wrigley Field in Chicago, constructed in 1914, are National Historic Landmarks and evoke the ghosts of Babe Ruth (and the curse of the Bambino), Rogers Hornsby, Jimmie Foxx and Ernie Banks.
Beaches
If you prefer a little time with your toes in the sand and the sound of the waves lapping at the shore, you are in luck. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. has almost 95,500 miles of shoreline, which provides plenty of options for vacationing at the beach.
U.S. News & World Report ranked Maui, Kaua’i and Honolulu-Oahu in Hawaii and Destin and Clearwater Beach in Florida as the top five beaches in America in 2023. My favorite beaches are along the 200 miles of coast in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. OBX spots like Kitty Hawk, famous for man’s first airplane flight, Hatteras and Ocracoke, where James Teach (Blackbeard) met his end, are just a few of the places to see there.
Amusement parks
If thrill-seeking is more your thing, then hitting some of the country’s amusement parks may be right up your alley, especially for a family vacation. With 70 million visitors a year, Orlando, Florida, is a top vacation destination thanks to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World, but it may be beyond the budget of many families. According to budgetyourtrip.com, it costs about $9,000 for two people to spend two weeks there.
