With Winter and Christmas break approaching, there are plenty of exciting trips and activities that can be enjoyed with family or friends whether it’s indoor or outdoors, including baking winter treats such as gingerbread cookies, brownies, and bread pudding, or having a movie marathon by watching classic holiday movies, or binging a new television series.
The first idea for a indoor place to visit outside the house includes visiting the aquarium downtown in Chicago, Shedd Aquarium. Shedd Aquarium has Wild Reef; an immersive and exciting exhibit that takes you through the many sides of a coral reef, from big sharks to tiny mandarin dragonets. Shedd Aquarium also has unforgettable encounters with belugas and bluegills, stingrays and sturgeons, sea stars and sea otters; and so many more animals from aquatic environments around the world. https://www.sheddaquarium.org/exhibits/wild-reef
The second option would be going ice skating in Crown Point at Bulldog Park or in Valparaiso at Central Park Plaza Ice Rink. Bulldog Park features a splash pad, picnic tables, hockey, and ice skating. Central Park Plaza Ice Rink includes room rentals, youth hockey, skating lessons, 4 on 4 hockey leagues, and cold weather fun from mid-November to beginning of March. https://www.centralparkplazavalpo.com, https://www.crownpoint.in.gov/414/Ice-Skating
The first outdoor activity could be going winter hiking at Indiana Dunes National Park in Porter County or at Starved Rock State park in LaSalle County Illinois. Indiana Dunes National Park features Starved Rock State Park offers fishing, boating, extraordinary views and great places to relax. https://www.nps.gov/indu/index.htm, https://www.starvedrocklodge.com/starved-rock-state-park/
The second activity would be having bonfires with s’mores with friends.
The third and last activity is going skiing or snowboarding at Paoli Peaks or Perfect North Slopes. Both are a few hours of a drive, Paoli Peaks being located in Orange County and Perfect North Slopes in Dearborn County. Paoli Peaks offers snowboarding, skiing, and snow tubing. Perfect North Slopes features 5 chairlifts, 7 carpet lifts, 23 trails, 2 terrain parks and 25 tubing lanes. https://www.paolipeaks.com/, https://perfectnorth.com/
Overall there are plenty of things to do indoors and outdoors, whether it’s just relaxing by baking winter treats or going on a hike in the forest.
