9 Travel Destinations Perfect For Dads

February 3, 2017

When you were growing up, it’s pretty likely that a lot of family vacations required some level of sacrifice from your dad. As much as dads love road trips and stopping at the largest ball of yarn in America, they usually have to also make sure their destination is something their kids won’t bitch and moan about the whole trip.

That’s why Disney World exists, after all.

But what if dads got to choose where they really wanted to spend their hard earned vacation time? Well, here are some spots that are time-tested and father-approved.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yellowstone is huge, filled with impressive wildlife and natural beauty, and allows your dad to both drive around buffalo and drag you to a hike at some ungodly early hour in the morning. Seriously, it’s not like the trail goes away in the afternoon, there’s no reason to get up at 5 in the morning just to go for a walk, dad.

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is one of the more breathtaking natural wonders in America, and there’s something about it that just screams “dads with shorts that cut off above the knee, white socks, a fanny pack and a visor” about the whole enterprise.

Branson, Missouri

Branson’s like if Las Vegas was run by Rick Moranis, and he replaced all the casinos with TGI Fridays and all the strip clubs with shops that exclusively sell knock-knock joke books. It’s basically Dad AF. But, it also has some amenities your dad will really like, including one of the better golf courses in America.

Cooperstown, New York

Four words. Baseball. Hall. Of. Fame. Cooperstown’s tourist population is comprised entirely of dads, wives who decided to stay in the hotel, and sons who are bored and don’t care about Reggie Jackson or their dad’s story about meeting him in an Arby’s one time.

The entire town is designed to give dads as many opportunities as possible to sigh and reminisce about back when they used to ditch school and buy bleachers tickets for a dollar, in the good old days.

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville’s got something for every dad. There’s an unending flow of bourbon for Bourbon Dads. There’s the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum for Baseball Dads. There’s even a lively music scene for Country Dads. It’s a place for Dads from all walks of life to gather in solidarity.

Lynchburg, Tennessee

Listen, this town pretty much just has one thing, but when that one thing is the Jack Daniels distillery, that’s enough to excite any dad.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Myrtle Beach is a place where the whole family can just soak in the sun and relax. It’s also a place where at least one of the days will be used up by dad’s insistence that everyone watch a NASCAR race. Dads have been single-handedly keeping NASCAR afloat for decades.

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

As far as Florida destinations go, Orlando is for kids who want to take a picture with Mickey Mouse, Miami is for people under 30 or really into coke, and we heard that Jacksonville’s Wendy’s is under renovation.

That leaves Ft. Lauderdale as the one true Dad-worthy destination. It’s warm, right by the beach, and, most importantly, it affords dads some serious deep sea fishing options. But, of course, if a dad wants to be on the sea, his ideal trip is…

Any Cruise

Really, the perfect vacation for any dad is a cruise ship. Where’s it going? Doesn’t matter as long as it’s warm enough that he can rock his Hawaiian shirt with some flip flops and swim trunks 24/7.

In fact, he’s happier to be on the ship anyway, taking advantage of the unlimited alcohol and, more importantly, unlimited food. It takes every ounce of restraint in the average dad’s body not to call everyone they know to say, “Listen here, they’re serving lobster tails…and I can have as many as I want!”

It’s essentially the dad mecca. Especially if he gets to talk to the captain at any point, that’ll make his year.