Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
As a destination, Oklahoma City prides itself on being family-oriented. The city has 13 distinct districts dedicated to fun, entertainment and education while a meeting delegate is busy or later, when everyone reunites.
One, called the Boathouse District, is downtown on the Oklahoma River. Olympians train there, but amateurs and outdoor enthusiasts of all levels and ages enjoy fun times. Visitors can row, kayak, get on a dragon boat or paddleboard and make the river their own playground. Riversport Adventures offers an exhilarating 700-foot zip line across the river, as well as the SandRidge Sky Trail, the 80-foot Rumble Drop free fall and the Sky Slide. All are sure to excite the senses.
“If Mom or Dad is at their meeting, they’re going to be jealous that the others got to do all that,” said Dennis Johnston, director of sales for the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Johnston has spotted a trend among older meeting attendees. “As boomers age, they tend to take their spouses with them to meetings and, sometimes, their grandkids, too,” he said.
Oklahoma City’s Bricktown District has a canal with water taxis that ferry visitors around the fun and hip area of downtown. The district features dozens of restaurants, bars, shops, hotels, a AAA-level baseball park and a concert and sports arena.
The Adventure District is busy with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, one of the best around, and the hands-on Science Museum Oklahoma, where visitors unleash their inner mad scientists. The neighborhood also boasts the National Softball Hall of Fame Complex. Softball is huge in Oklahoma. Many families travel to tournaments.
Adults are urged to set aside time for an important pilgrimage, one that teaches children many lessons. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum are on the site of the 1995 bombing of a federal building by a domestic terrorist. That heinous crime killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.
“There are many parents there telling the story to their kids. A 15-year-old wasn’t alive when that happened,” said Johnston.
Georgia’s Golden Isles
The Golden Isles is a beautiful coastal destination in southeast Georgia. It’s made up of four barrier islands: St. Simons Island, Little St. Simons Island, Sea Island and Jekyll Island. Add the historic mainland port city of Brunswick, and you have the intriguing Golden Isles.
“We’re a family and meeting destination with oceanfront resorts,” said Tomee Sellars, sales and service manager for the Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau. “There are the unfortunate souls who have to go to meetings, but the ones who get to play can go to the beach or the pier.”
With water and beach everywhere, it’s easy for families of meeting attendees to enjoy the outdoors. Families often flock to Neptune Park Fun Zone on St. Simons Island or to Summer Waves Water Park on Jekyll Island.
Some try kiteboarding or paddleboarding. Others hit the gorgeous, sun-splashed golf courses or go charter fishing several miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. Horseback riding is another favorite pursuit.
“We’re also known as a bike-friendly community,” Sellars said. “There are lots of things to do on the islands.”
Family members can also rest on the beach with a cool drink and a good book in hand and do nothing at all.
The area is a resort haven as well. The two largest properties are the historic King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort, a popular choice of guests since 1935, and Sea Palms Resort. Both are located on St. Simons Island and offer conference and meeting space.
Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
The Pocono Mountains is a region that covers four counties in northeast Pennsylvania and is approximately the size of Delaware. It has long been a magnet for meeting attendees and their family members.
“It’s a great place for meetings because of its proximity to New York City and Philadelphia,” said Elizabeth Richardson, communications coordinator for the Pocono Mountains Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s an easy drive from anywhere along the I-95 corridor. It’s also a four-season destination for the family.”
In summer, there are a large number of outdoor activities for every multigenerational family.
“We have a lot of campgrounds, which opens itself up to anything outdoors a family wants,” said Richardson. “There’s white-water rafting and canoeing on the Lehigh River or Delaware River. We have many lakes in the region. If grandparents want to come, they can sit by the lake while the family is out there in paddleboats.”
Some resort areas all but shut down for the winter, but the Pocono Mountains thrive on cold, snowy weather and extend warm invitations to meeting planners to send delegates and their families to Pennsylvania.
Richardson said skiing, snow tubing, dogsledding, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are common. Many lodges and cabins in the mountains have cozy fireplaces around which to gather.
Woodloch Lodge and Skytop Lodge are the two largest lodges in the mountains. Another lodge is being built, and it will become the area’s largest. Meeting planners can look for Kalahari Resort and Convention Center and its myriad meeting space options in 2015.
Also coming on line next year in the Poconos in February 2015 is the $163 million, 453-room Camelback Lodge and Indoor Waterpark. While meeting attendees are working away, there’ll be plenty of fun activities available for their loved ones.
