10 Best Places to Break a Sweat with Mom on Mother’s Day

Contrary to popular opinion, Mother’s Day is not all about serving your mom breakfast in bed (though we certainly know she’d appreciate it). Nor does the notion of taking her “out” mean to a restaurant alone. A great way to make the day memorable is to plan something active with her. We asked Marybeth Bond, author of the National Geographic books Best Girlfriend Getaways Worldwide and 50 Best Girlfriend Getaways in North America for a list of great ways to get outdoors with your mom.

1.

Raft the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon (Marybeth did this with her then 68-year-old mom) or hike rim-to-rim.
2. Trek the hills of San Francisco

(like the hidden Filbert Steps through gardens).
3. Stretch, sweat, and sigh at Lake Austin Spa in Texas which offer amazing post-workout massages.
4.

Hike inn-to-inn in Vermont.
5. Swim with the manta rays in Hawaii.
6.

Walk the woods then tap your toes at Tanglewood, Massachusetts.
7. Swim, stretch and sip chocolate cosmos at Hershey Spa, Pennsylvania.
8. Discover the cowgirl within each of you at a weekend Dude Ranch in Wyoming.
9. Climb the Billy Goat Trail and follow the Potomac River to our nation’s capital.
10. Push your limits.

Bike together on a 10k, Century Ride, or even across America…

Which, coincidentally is how Marybeth Bond will celebrate Mother’s Day with her 22-year-old daughter this year–by biking across America. The Bond Girls Bike America will raise awareness of osteoporosis–which runs in her family and affects millions of women in the U.S.–and promote the importance of diet and exercise starting early in life to build lasting bone health. May is National Osteoporosis Awareness Month so the timing, along with Mother’s Day, couldn’t be better.

The journey will take mother and daughter through five national parks and seven cities, beginning in hometown San Francisco and ending in New York City.

Visit www.BondGirlsBikeAmerica.com to see how Marybeth is training for the trip. The site will feature daily posts during her journey as well.

For more mother’s day ideas, checkout stories about outings with mom from Traveler staffers. [Mother’s Day: Staff Stories]

Photo: Maxim Bolotnikov/istockphoto.com