Are you looking for some ideas for things you can do in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio and northern Kentucky on your summer staycation.  Here is small list I put together.  I have to give credit to the CincyMoms.com forum for some of these ideas:

1. Visit the Cincinnati Zoo (voted #1 family attraction in Cincinnati)
2. Newport Aquarium
3. Stay a night at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason (indoor waterpark)
4. How can you forget, King’s Island ?
5. Drive to the Kentucky Horse Park
6. Mammoth Caves
7. Six Flag’s Kentucky Kingdom
8. Columbus’s COSI isn’t too far away.
9. Hocking Hills makes a nice weekend getaway
10. Hueston Woods State Park is a great staycation destination
11. The Beach Water Park is a great way to cool off on your hot staycation
12. Have you been to CoCo Key in Cincinnati yet?
13. We love visiting the Cincinnati Museum Center
14. Coney Island is home to Sunlite Pool – the world’s largest recirculating swimming pool!

Do you have some other ideas? Be sure to submit your staycation idea or you can comment on this post to let me know of other great staycation ideas for Cincinnati.

There have been a few terms tossed around this summer regarding the idea of enjoying your summer at home. We have heard the terms:

• Staycation - enjoying a vacation in your local community
• Fitcation - enjoying some time off while focusing on your fitness
• Daycation - taking day trips usually on one tank of gas or less

But now the Austin Daily Herald and the Mower County Fair Board has introduced a new term “Fair-cation”. Which, you guessed it, means going on a vacation at the county fair.

The Mower County Fair Board created this word to help promote the 124th annual Mower County Fair which is taking place in Austin, Texas between August 5-10th. If you want to learn more about this fair, you should really read the rest of the Austin Daily Herald’s article.

Some interesting fun facts about fairs:

• The New York State Fair is the longest running state fair in the country started in 1841
• Mercer County, Kentucky claims it is the longest continuous running country fair in the country
• King County, Washington is the longest running county fair west of the Mississippi

As I was doing research for this article I found a great article at Kids Party Fun.com which had an wonderful staycation idea for kids. Set up your own country fair in the yard or nearby park! Kid’s Party Fun: Country Fair

Enjoy your county fair.

Travel Channel.com is presenting an entire online channel and show entitled, “Beat the Prices” featuring travel ideas and videos highlighting various regional staycation ideas. Some of their featured videos include:

• Staycation: Boating Florida’s Everglades
• Staycation: Miami’s Latin Quarter
• Staycation: New York Culture
• Staycation: New York City To Do
• Staycation: Washington, D.C. Photo Tour

They are also featuring articles such as:

• One Tank Wonders: Twenty trips from 10 cities which you can take with one tank of gas
• Carless Adventures: Trip and tour ideas to explore your local area without spending money on gas

These are just some of the features of the Travel Channel’s “Beat the prices” channel. I’d encourage you to visit TravelChannel.com for more staycation suggestions. Here is one of the featured videos, “Boating Florida’s Everglades”.

Let’s face it, a staycation is about saving money and enjoying the sites and sounds around your home. And what is a good way to save some money? Don’t spend ANY! TheSimpleDollar blog posted a recent article about 100 things to do during a money free weekend. They have some great ideas that could be used on a staycation! Here are just a few of their great money free ideas:

1. Visit your community library
2. Play board games
3. Take digital photographs and share them (on flickr)
4. Make a how-to video for YouTube
5. Practice Origami
6. Have a film festival - watch your favorite movies with your friends
7. Read a book - either one lying around that you haven’t read in a while or one loaned by a friend
8. Have a yard sale
9. Do some sudoku or crossword puzzles
10. Volunteer

That’s just 10 selected from a list of well over 100! I’d encourage you to pick a couple of ideas and make a goal not to spend ANY money. Let me know how it goes.

Do know what I love about the internet? Finding a good blog is only one click away. I found a good one tonight and wanted to share it with you. Check out, GettingOutside.com They have lots of great ideas for enjoying the great outdoors. They have a great forum thread entitled, “Some Ideas for Camping on the Cheap.” Here are some of their suggestions:

1. Plan Ahead
2. Use “Survivorman” Tactics (live off the land)
3. Hike and Bike
4. Carpool with friends
5. Bring the Right Tools
6. Conserve Firewood
7. Enroll in a course at a local state park.
8. Eat Like a Pioneer

They have some other idea as well. You should really read the rest of the article for yourself. After that you should unplug your computer and get outside!

Enjoy your staycation.

We all know that with record breaking fuel costs, flying on a commercial aircraft is expensive and cumbersome. I’m sure that for many of you, the airline ticket prices may be exactly why you are thinking about a staycation in the first place.

However, not all flying is cumbersome.

In fact, flying a small personal airplane can be a extremely rewarding and exciting experience. There is no better way to explore your local community and the sights it has to offer than from the air! One good way to do this is by signing up for a a flight lesson. Be a Pilot.com and 2,000+ participating flight schools have teamed up to offer a “Introductory Flight Lesson” for only $99. You’ll get 30 minutes of flight time in the air with a certified flight instructor flying around your local area. As long as your house isn’t located on the final approach to a major airport, there is a good chance the instructor will take you to see an aerial view of your home. Just be sure to bring your camera! Like I said before, there are thousands of participating flight schools. I did a search near my home and there are over 15 schools just within 25 miles!

Visit Be a Pilot.com for more information and to sign up for your first introductory flight.

One staycation idea that has had quite a bit of popularity is to enhance your local vacation experience by staying at a local hotel. In fact, I’ve mentioned before how hotels are providing discounts and coupons for local residents.

Now, I am a professional piot. As a professional pilot, I have stayed in A LOT of hotels. After a while, they all start to look the same. Same beds, same food and same pool. So when I get a break from professional traveling, and get to travel for fun, the last thing I want to do is go stay at just another boring hotel.

So why not trying stay at a bed and breakfast?

I remember when I was young, one of my most memorable vacations was staying at a Amish Bed and Breakfast in Berlin, Ohio. As a kid, I enjoyed the fact that it felt like you were visiting a long lost relative’s home. I loved meeting and talking to the owner’s of the house and also the other guests. It is a much warmer, friendly environment than a hotel chain.

Find a local Bed and Breakfast.

A great tool for finding a local Bed and Breakfast is to go to Bed and Breakfast.com. You can enter a destination, enter a date and do a search. You can also purchase Bed and Breakfast gift cards, what a great gift idea!

Here’s a good example of a recent local bed and breakfast staycation search. I’m in Indianapolis, Indiana on a business trip and did a search for a local Bed and Breakfast. I discovered the Wheeler House Bed and Breakfast. Located only 20 minutes south of Indianapolis,IN and 40 minutes north of Bloomington’s Indiana University. The Wheeler House is the boyhood home of well know Indiana Empressionist Artist, Clifton Wheeler. Thought to be his first mural, is panoramic view of the Mooresville countryside in the late1800’s/ early 1900’s. Other aminities in this restored 1895 Victorian Home are a Tea Room, Book Store, and Antique Store. All three B&B rooms are decorated with antiques, antique furniture, and collectibles. they each feature private baths and inroom movies. Included with your stay is a 50% dicount at the Silver Owl Teriputic Massage located on property. Massage services are also available in room at no extra charge. For your shopping pleasure, four other Antique Stores are only 2 blocks away.

See how easy that was? Find a local Bed and Breakfast near you for your staycation today!

When my wife and I go on vacation usually we have much different ideas about what makes a great vacation. On my ideal vacation, we do as much as physically and humanely possible in a single day. We visit every site, every attraction and take in as much as possible of our new location. My wife’s ideal vacation? Sit by the beach and read.

Although we won’t be able to sit by beach and read this summer, we will be able to sit in our backyard and read while on our staycation. I actually just finished a book by John Grisham and I highly recommend it, it was The Innocent Man and unlike a lot of the books by Grisham, this one was non-fiction!

The kids are out of school, you have a week of vacation and a gallon of gas costs $4.10. So what are you to do? What are some good staycation and activities for kids?

Here are some ideas my wife and I came up with (these ideas where also subsidized from Berlin’s Whimsey Blog)

• Picnic in the Park
• Go on a Bikeride
• Call your local movie theater, many of them do free movies for children in the mornings
• Visit your local children’s museums
• Go canoeing
• Public Water Play areas / parks (free!)
• Put on a carnival. We just went to a birthday party for our nephew, where his parents made the events out of everyday items and scrap wood from the garage.
• Minature Golf in the evenings
• Backyard Camping
• Play Mad Scientist with vinegar, food coloring, baking soda and other safe kitchen ingredients

I’d love to hear some more of your ideas. If you are looking for more great staycation ideas for kids I’d encourage you to visit…

• 40 Free Boredom Breakers for Kids on Summer Vacation
• Berlin’s Whimsy: Staycation Kids Summer Ideas & Activities…

Enjoy your summer staycation with the kids!