Places To Visit While On A Vacation At Home

When the recession first hit, many Americans opted to vacation at home. This trend was dubbed a "staycation," meaning that one would take time off work and remain within the city, but abstain from any chores.

Instead, families or couples found they could do some of the touristy things they usually took for granted. They could hit up amusement parks, dine out, spend some time outdoors, and indulge in a little shopping spree -- without dealing with the crowds or the hassle of flying.

Mark Kennedy writes that one of the most enjoyable parts about deciding to vacation at home is being able to sleep in. "Each morning of my "stay-cation" I turned off the alarm clock and slept until 8 a.m.

This lolling about proved to be a much-needed 'lay-cation,'" he writes. He watched some of his favorite Food Network shows, attended an Independence Day parade, grilled steaks, took a sail down the Tennessee River, ate triple layer chocolate cake, went to a baseball game, watched fireworks and surveyed his garage for eBay-worthy junk.

Even though he hates the term "staycation," he found there was some merit to sticking close to home after all.

So what did 38-year-old Neil Callahan, a police officer from the Bronx, do on his vacation at home? "I played dominoes," he recalled. "Nothing crazy. Go to the movies. Yankee Stadium, City Island.

Just stay local, basically," he says. His neighbor, cab dispatcher Brown Bino, took a walk, visited a cafe, ate in area restaurants and met some beautiful women on his hometown holiday.

Forty-one-year-old Raymond Miles stayed in bed, watched daytime TV, went fishing, laid some tile with his brother, bought a lottery ticket, visited the beach and had a beer.

In Astoria, the Mondello family ate deli heroes, played basketball, picked up a few things at Toys R Us, barbecued in the backyard, spent some time reading and took a ride on the boat.

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