Family travel in Nevada

Every week or so until we run out of states, I’ll be posting about family-friendly vacation ideas, attractions and events in each one of the US states, taking input mostly from Twitter and Facebook.

Yes, I know how to search for travel ideas on a destination or attraction Web site, but a tweet or a Facebook Wall recommendation is a much more engaging and public way to spread the word.

Please don’t email suggestions to me; that’s nice but it is one-to-one communication. Tweet me and/or Facebook me, so that all of our networks can see what’s cool about your state.

We’re going in alphabetical order but started with the end, so our first state for the series was Wyoming, then we investigated Wisconsin, West Virginia,  Washington,  Virginia,  Vermont,  Utah, Texas,  Tennessee,  South Dakota,  South Carolina,  Rhode Island,  Pennsylvania,  Oregon, Oklahoma,  Ohio, North Dakota,  North Carolina, New York, New Mexico, New Jersey, New Hampshire and now we’re moving on to….Nevada!

This state is doing a terrific job leveraging the social Web to talk about what they can offer prospective visitors.  Their Traveling Nevada blog has plenty of updates and good ideas, and they have a Facebook Fan Page, shared Nevada photos on Flickr,  a MySpace page, videos on their YouTube channel and of course they’re very active on Twitter as @TravelNevada.

When I asked for Nevada ideas, here’s what came in….

Twitter Travel Tips for Nevada

***  From Nevada Tourism via @TravelNevada on Twitter – Artown, which runs the month of July, is a great family-friendly month long event.  [There’s a] new V&T Railroad from Carson City to Virginia City.  Virginia City’s a very family-friendly destination/activity. Events and things to do there: https://bit.ly/63UNRz

***  From Mary Jo Manzanares via @flyawaycafe on Twitter – [in Las Vegas] Jousting tourney at Excalibur, Lions at MGM Grand, Lion King at Mandalay Bay, Secret Garden at Mirage, and oh! – renting a cabana by the pool at Mandalay Bay (best  family-friendly pool in LV, in my opinion.)

***  From Chris Chambers via @ckjchambers on Twitter – our 5 year old loved “O” at Bellagio when we went to see it recently – so did Mum & Dad.

***  From Bethany Drysdale tweeting Nevada tourism news via @NevadaPR on Twitter – [Ideas] ….mining park in Tonopah; Ghost Train in Ely; Animal Ark in Reno; Springs Preserve in Vegas, any/all outdoor fun at Tahoe.  [Events] …Reno River Festival (May), Carson City Rendezvous (June), Reno Rodeo (June), Artown (whole month of July in Reno),  Natl. Basque Festival (July in Elko), Best in the West Nugget Rib Cookoff (Sept, Reno), Great Reno Balloon Race (Sept, Reno)….And my all-time favorite:  International Camel Races in Virginia City (Sept.)  Hilarious event and great family town to explore!

***  From Spencer Spellman via @spencerspellman on Twitter – what is the hotel with the fountains that has the zoo [Actually the Bellagio has the fountains, the Mirage has the volcano and the MGM Grand has a zoo/lion habitat.  THAT is a bizarre sentence to write!]

***  From Kara S. Williams via @karasw on Twitter – Call me crazy, but kids liked these spots in Vegas:   M&M World (free 3-D movie) and Titanic exhibit at Luxor.  I would absolutely take my theatre/dance-loving 9 yr old to a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas (just not the R-rated Zumanity! – though for adults, it’s a HOOT.)

Facebook Travel Tips for Nevada

***  From Bridget Smith on Facebook  –  The Las Vegas Children’s Museum is cheap and great. We enjoyed bowling at one of the casinos. The Golden Nugget has a great pool water slide AND you can swim with sharks.

***  From Paul Ellis on Facebook – In Henderson NV:  the Carousel Workshop and Ocean Spray tours.

Thanks so much for the contributions, everyone!

The BootsnAll Travel Network has a Nevada Travel Guide as well.

The next state in the series is Nebraska.

Send your Nebraska highlights to @SheilaS on Twitter or write them on my Facebook Wall (please tell me you’re a 50 state-er if you want to friend me.)

My purpose for this series is not only to highlight worthy kid-friendly vacation destinations in all 50 states, but by using Twitter and Facebook I want to also encourage tourism organizations to learn more about connecting with their visitors using social media and online networks.

Please add your own Nevada suggestions in the comments below, if we’ve missed anything. Thanks!