Due to husband's work schedule, we haven't been on anything like a vacation in nearly five years. But it looks like the stars will align for us in early March, leaving us two weeks to do something very cool with our 4 & 8 year old kids. What should it be? Here are our constraints:
--money not so much an issue; we don't do this very often and can splurge a bit
--can go anywhere in Europe or US, but should be well-connected enough to NYC for husband to return within a day if necessary (so Hawaii/Alaska/cruise out)
--lots of things for kids to do
--not Disney or very beach-focused. Beach OK, but there needs to be something else; we're all ridiculously fair skinned
--we don't ski, but are open to general outdoor winter activities like skating, sledding, etc
--no dude ranches or other horse-centric locations (severe asthmatic on board)
We like unusual transportation (funiculars, barges, hovercraft ferries, etc), board games, hotsprings, factory tours. Our favorite vacation so far was a week in northern California, then taking the train back to the east coast. Our least favorite was a family resort that separated us from the kids for 10+ hours a day.
So, globetrotting Nesties, where should we go?