Florida. Hilton Head. Who needs 'em? With our spectacular weather lately -- and the wealth of things to do within a couple hours' drive -- sticking around home for spring break this year doesn't have to be a drag.
Here are nine ideas for crafting a little family fun over break.
Sundance Kid Drive-In
4500 Navarre Ave., Oregon
Since no one has to get up early for school, spring break is the perfect time to show kids how people in the '50s used to watch movies. This East Side drive-in shows flicks on two screens. Call 419-691-9668 for movies and showtimes or check listings in The Blade. Admission is $8.50, $3.50 for kids 6 to 12. Go on Super Saver Tuesday and you'll shave a couple of bucks off.
Boyd's Retro Candy Store
954 Phillips Ave., Toledo
To stock up on goodies for the movie, go to Boyd's Retro Candy Store. You'll find every kind of candy imaginable in this Willy Wonka-ish wonderland. "I want to get people things they couldn't find elsewhere," says owner Pam Lloyd-Camp, who specializes in seeking out hard-to-find candy for her customers. It took her four years to find cream filberts, a sugary confection with a filbert nut in the middle.
She also claims to have the best-tasting string licorice and gummies in town. The soft gummies come from Indiana in cool flavors like mango and pineapple and in shapes from butterflies to Army men.
Museum of Natural History
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
If your little dinosaur devotee has called on you to master the pronunciation of species from diplodocus to deinonychus, travel back in time at this undiscovered gem. The free museum on UM's campus houses Michigan's largest permanent display of prehistoric life, including full skeletons of allosaurus and edmontosaurus. Sign up for the half-hour dinosaur tour on the weekends.
Don't miss the updated exhibit on the evolution of whales and the largest mastodon trackway on display in the world. This relative of the wooly mammoth plodded along in lower Michigan about 10,000 years ago, forming the footprint track you see in the museum. For more information, including show times for the planetarium and other hands-on demos, contact www.lsa.umich.edu/ummnh.
While you're there: Pick up some lunch at the famous Zingermann's (422 Detroit St.) deli and head to the picturesque picnic spots at UM's Matthaei Botanical Gardens (1800 N. Dixboro Rd., www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg).
I-X Indoor Amusement Park
Cleveland
No need to wait for Cedar Point to open next month. This convention center-turned-indoor amusement park serves up plenty of nausea-inducing fun with its 20 acres of rides. Your older kids will love the Crazy Mouse, a four-story-high coaster that also spins them around as they race down the track. (Suggestion: no big meals before this one.) Kidzville, with more than 25 rides and a petting zoo, caters to the younger set.
The whole family should meet up on the Ferris wheel, which shoots out 35 feet above the center's roof and offers a bird's-eye view of the airport.
The park is open April 5 to 15. The $24 admission includes the Cirque Shanghai acrobatic show and the Big Cat Encounter, a lion and tiger show. Check out its Web site for more information and ticket promotions (www.ixamusementpark.com).
The Parlour
Jackson, Mich.
Do you truly love ice cream? We're talking the "I'm willing to drive an hour to indulge my craving" kind of love? If you count yourself among that special breed, a visit to this Jackson institution is a must. The 1950s-style diner (1401 Daniel St., 517-783-1581) has been serving up humongous sundaes and other ice cream concoctions since 1944.
Watch your kids' eyes bug out as the servers deliver the colossal treats. The ice cream isn't just plentiful -- it's good. If your eyes are bigger than your stomach, order the junior size. It will be enough. Trust us. A fan favorite? The Turtle Sundae ($6.49), three scoops of vanilla slathered with hot fudge, caramel, and your choice of nuts. If you're with a group or just feel like conquering a true ice cream mountain, order the restaurant's 21-scoop Dare to be Great ($29.99). Finish it by yourself in an hour--complete with four toppings, whipped cream, and a cherry -- and you'll be immortalized on the Wall of Fame with about 20 others who finished it.
While you're there: Visit the Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History (www.ellasharp.org).
Fort Meigs
Perrysburg
How long have you lived in northwest Ohio? And you've never been to this historic fort and War of 1812 battlefield on the shores of the Maumee River? It's time to explore this jewel in your own backyard.
Fort Meigs is the largest reconstructed fort in North America and one of our area's best-kept secrets. Exhibits in the Visitor Center museum and the fort bring the battlefield to life -- as does the soldier wandering around carrying a musket. Be sure to ask him to fire his weapon. You'll finally understand why a good set of teeth are so important to a soldier.
Blockhouse 4 appeals especially to youngsters, with its muskets and spinning wheel of diseases (they were often more deadly than the musket). You also can peek into a soldier's tent and see how he lived.
Admission: $8, adults; $4, students. The fort, closed Monday and Tuesday, is at 29100 W. River Rd. (State Rt. 65), Perrysburg. Call 800-283-8916 for more information.
Metroparks
Farnsworth, Bend View, and Providence
Spring break should be all about taking a breather, and there's nowhere better or more beautiful to do that than these three parks along the shores of the Maumee River.
A peaceful alternative to some of the more well-traveled Metroparks, these parks are connected by the Towpath Trail, which runs for about eight miles along the river and the remains of the Miami and Erie Canal. The stone-and-dirt trail is a great place to bring the bikes.
There are any number of ways you can tackle the trail, depending on how far you want to go. You can start at either the Roche de Boeuf parking area at Farnsworth (near Waterville on U.S. 24) or at the Providence parking lot (also off U.S. 24). There's also a new parking area off U.S. 24/Anthony Wayne Trail, just west of Box Road, at Bend View. A short hike down the hill will lead you to the Towpath Trail.
Bend View, a couple of miles southwest of Farnsworth or six miles from Providence, is a perfect place for a respite. Grab a seat on a bench overlooking this 90-degree bend in the river and watch fish leaping or herons and eagles hunting for their next meal.
Be warned: The canal boat, mill, and general store at Providence don't open till May. For maps, go the Metroparks' Web site at www.metroparkstoledo.com.
While you're there: Grand Rapids, Ohio, and Waterville are fun to explore. Both have quaint shops and places to refuel. Try the diner food and ice cream at Koral Hamburg (12 N. 3rd St., Waterville) or go a bit more upscale with American fare at La Roe's Restaurant (24138 Front St., Grand Rapids), in a historic building with a patio overlooking the river.
If you're up for more walking, right behind the restaurant one mile of the Buckeye Trail runs from Grand Rapids to Mary Jane Thurston State Park.
Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Oak Harbor, Ohio
Avid birders from all over the country come to spy on the migrating waterfowl, waterbirds, shorebirds, and songbirds that love our Lake Erie wetlands. Spring is a great time to take a little ride east on State Rt. 2 and find out what the fuss is about.
You get two-for-one with this half-hour drive. The 5,470-acre national wildlife refuge is just west of Magee Marsh, and both offer plenty of prime birdwatching. At this time of year, you may be able to see waterfowl and shorebirds such as great blue herons, along with such raptors as bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and hawks.
Magee Marsh's Sportsman's Migratory Bird Center is a great place to start with its habitat exhibits and more than 300 mounted bird specimens. The center also has a scope so that visitors can check on the nesting eagle close by. Naturalist Mary Warren says the eggs should hatch sometime in April.
Walk on the beach or along a boardwalk, which travels through a forested beach ridge where migrating songbirds congregate. (If you don't mind crowds, come in May when the boardwalk is packed shoulder to shoulder with birders watching the warbler spectacle -- more than 30 species have been spotted.)
The wildlife refuge also has a visitor center and 10 miles of hiking trails, and will loan out binoculars (so will the bird center), field guides, and activity packs. Both places host bald eagle tours on April 7. Check their Web sites for times (www.fws.gov/midwest/ottawa; www.friendsofmageemarsh.org) and for more information on bird sightings.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Boston Store Visitor Center, Peninsula, Ohio
Who knew? Just two hours east of Toledo off the turnpike, tucked between Cleveland and Akron, lies a 33,000-acre national park. Just right for a day trip, the park offers up a perfect springtime playground. And it's free!
Cyclists and walkers can roam through heavy woods and wetlands on the 20-mile Towpath Trail, which follows the Ohio and Erie Canal. As you pass Beaver Marsh, keep an eye out for snapping turtles and other critters. Volunteers with scopes and binoculars will help you spot the bald eagles that have kindly nested near the Station Road trailhead just off the Towpath.
Rent bikes for $9 an hour from Century Cycles in Peninsula, Ohio, at the southern end of the park. If you only feel like biking one way, you can flag down the historic train for a ride back to the parking area ($3 per person).
For great views overlooking the valley, ranger Brady Bourquin recommends the family-friendly 2.2-mile Ledges Trail hike. Another don't miss: the blue heron nesting site on Bath Road at the park's southern tip. Park in the pulloff and you can watch more than 100 herons building their nests in the treetops along the Cuyahoga River.
The park has lots of kid-friendly activities and talks. Its well-done Web site has maps and much more information (www.nps.gov/cvnp).
Ohio Caverns
West Liberty, Ohio
Spring has put on a spectacular show this year. Just two hours south of Toledo, witness an equally beautiful display underground at the state's largest caverns.
Discovered in 1897, the caverns have been hosting tours since 1925. Known for its abundance of stalactites and stalagmites, the caverns also have a profusion of color that's unusual in most caves. These natural wonders range from white to red, orange, blue, and even purple.
The 45-minute, one-mile tour ($15; children 5-12, $9) shows off the most photographed formation, the Crystal King. This 400-pound white stalactite is nearly five feet long and about 250,000 years old.
Take a picnic lunch for the 35-acre park above ground. The site also features a sluice at which you can pan for gems and minerals. You'll need to buy bags of "mining rough" for $4.50 to $9.
According to manager Eric Evans, the caverns will premiere two new tours on Memorial Day weekend, a historical tour and a shorter tour that will be handicapped and stroller accessible. Get more information at www.ohiocaverns.com.
While you're there: Head to the north end of West Liberty and get a chocolate fix. Marie's Candies (311 Zanesfield Rd./U.S. 68), which has been whipping up sweets since 1956, offers more than 80 varieties of chocolate (mariescandies.com).
First Published April 1, 2012, 4:15 a.m.