Baseball Parks

If you have a baseball fan or two in your family, consider visiting a baseball park. Baseballparks.com lists and ranks both major league and all star minor league parks around the country. Not only a slice of Americana, ballparks are a fun place to sit back, spend time together as a family, and watch the afternoon roll by. Some kids may not have the fortitude to sit through an entire game, but many newer parks take that into consideration. San Francisco's SBC Park and Atlanta's Turner Field offer large children's play areas. SBC even includes a slide hidden in a huge Coke bottle and a miniature wiffle-ball field.

The Ocean

Whether it is in the Pacific or the Atlantic, that first time your child dips her toes in salt water is an incredible experience. West Coast beaches can be rather chilly, even in July—though you can do some wonderful beachcombing, kite flying, and whale watching at Oregon and Washington beaches.

If you're looking to go West for swimmming fun, try the beaches of Southern California, particularly those in Orange County or San Diego. On the Eastern Seaboard, Florida offers a plethora of beaches on the Gulf and Atlantic. But, don't pass up Virginia Beach, Virginia—with its boardwalk, piers, and easy accessibility (unlike most East Coast beaches, Virginia Beach is served by interstate highway all the way to the oceanfront), this beach town offers lots of space for frolicking in the waves and serious sand castle builders. And if beach vacation is what your family is after, don't forget Hawaii, who Peter Van Buren of Travelwithyourkids.com names as "one of my top picks" for family travel.

The possibilities are endless—there are just so many interesting and fun places to take your children. But the key to finding the coolest places to take your kids doesn't necessarily lie in an atlas or travel website; as Lesley Carlin McElhattan, Managing Editor and Site Producer of TripAdvisor.com says, "Almost anywhere can be a great family vacation." For ideas and further information on family-friendly trip destinations, be sure to visit BabyZone Regions.