South Beach in Miami, Florida is a great place to relax. Photo / Getty Images
Hit the road for a great US family break, writes Eli Orzessek.
Our oldest son is currently studying at Murray State College in Oklahoma. We have a bit of a pipe dream to go and see him graduate in May 2018. We would like to take our (now) 13 and 16-year-old children too. While over there, we thought it would be
a great opportunity to have a family trip round part of the US. We are probably looking at three weeks (maybe four at a stretch). Given the size of the US we know we cannot do it all. We will either fly into Dallas or Houston, go to graduation in Tishomingo and go from there. What would you suggest as an itinerary?
Janet Horsfall
That definitely sounds like the perfect opportunity for a family trip - I've spoken to my contact at House of Travel, who says three to four weeks is a great amount of time to spend exploring. However, where you go depends on your interests and how you want to travel. Do you want to see as much as possible, or do you prefer a more relaxed pace and to see fewer places in more depth? Do you want to go for the classic American road trip or would you rather see some big cities and travel by air?
Oklahoma itself has plenty of natural attractions to take in, if you're keen to start your journey exploring the state. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Lawton covers 24,000ha of ancient mountains and is home to an array of American wildlife. I'm sure your son will already have plenty of suggestions for the area.
If you decide to rent a car and hit the road, you could head from Oklahoma through Arkansas and the Ozark National Forest park and then continue on to Memphis and Nashville. That's a good option if you're interested in the music heritage of the South - plus you could also travel to Alabama and visit Muscle Shoals, once known as the "Hit Recording Capital of the World". Everyone from the Rolling Stones to Cat Stevens has recorded there.
