(FORTUNE Small Business) – You've done Epcot and watched ye olde butter being churned at Colonial Williamsburg. And no matter how many times Las Vegas tries to bill itself as America's premier family vacation destination, you worry that your fourth-grader isn't quite ready to be introduced to craps, showgirls, or Wayne Newton. Another spring, another break...another decision about where to take the kids so they won't complain relentlessly and you won't be bored senseless. This year it's time for an adventure interesting enough that your coworkers will actually want to look at your vacation snapshots. (And you won't have to wince at Mickey while showing them.) Be it rocket science, powwows, or chocolate that feed your fancy, there is something that you and the kids can agree on. Here are a few trips worth signing up for.

--Leave planet Earth. Okay, you probably can't afford the millions it would cost to vacation on Mir. But you can try the next best (and significantly more economical) thing: U.S. Space Camp's two-day parent/child weekends.

Together you'll bound weightlessly on the "moon," build a functioning minirocket, and then blast off on a virtual space mission. After this experience, you'll never look at a Cape Canaveral shuttle launch the same way again. In Titusville, Fla.; Mountain View, Calif.; and Huntsville, Ala. Cost: $658 per parent-child pair. Book months in advance; weekends sell out quickly. Call 800-533-7281; www.spacecamp.com.

--Leave terra firma. If you don't want to rocket (even virtually) past the stratosphere but would enjoy a bird's-eye view, try the more Luddite means of air travel: the hot-air balloon. Bonaventura Balloon Company of Napa Valley (www.bonaventuraballoons.com; 800-359-6272), in Oakville, Calif., will send you and your children up in a rainbow-striped balloon a la the Wizard of Oz at the crack of dawn, then horseback riding for the rest of the afternoon.

Afterward you can drive to nearby San Francisco and check out a cornucopia of kid-centric sites like the famous Exploratorium science museum, the marina, or the corner of Haight and Ashbury. In nearby Oakdale, have the Willie Wonka experience at the Hershey's chocolate factory, where you can watch as Kisses are made. The San Francisco Exploratorium ($9 for adults, $5 for kids over age six) can be reached at 415-EXP-LORE and www.exploratorium.edu. The balloon- and horseback-riding package is $265 a person (less for kids under age 12). Guided tours of the Hershey's factory are free. Call 209-848-8126 for more information.

--Why wait 'til summer for peanuts and Cracker Jacks? If you and your kids are baseball junkies, follow your team to spring training. The Cactus League practices in Arizona, the Grapefruit League in Florida. The mood is more mellow then, so you may get to meet your favorite player after a game. Start planning now: Training begins in mid-February. And heads up, Cubs fans. These perennial losers are big winners during the spring season, regularly packing in thousands of spectators. As the season nears, spring training locations are posted on your team's site or at www.majorleaguebaseball.com. Last year, ticket prices ranged from $2 (Colorado Rockies) to $21 (Cleveland Indians). Book a trip through www.springtrainingmagazine.com. Or grab a copy of Fodor's Baseball Vacations, by Bruce Adams and Peggy Engel, which describes the 100-plus major- and minor-league ballparks in the U.S. that the couple has visited with their equally baseball-crazed children.

--Children who've been cooped up in school all year may not want to be confined to small floating spaces. But this boating adventure could be different--barging your way (politely) through Europe. You can amble down canals in France, Holland, or England at a leisurely five miles per hour while the kids play navigator. Check out picturesque towns that Fodor's has never heard of. LeBoat in New Jersey does the bookings; 201-236-2333. Prices range from $3,000 a week to the truly astronomical. www.leboat.com.

--Go West. Tucson may not be the typical child's dream destination, but the Old Tucson Studios are a horse of a different color. Many old Westerns were filmed here. See Wild West sets from classic films like Rio Bravo and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, as well as virtually every TV show starring Michael Landon (Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie). Witness reenactments of legendary gunfights, and sit in on stunt shows.

Then venture from the reel west into the real West: the Grand Canyon (a vacation classic) or the Petrified Forest in northeastern Arizona, home to fossils millions of years old, the remains of prehistoric trees, and the beautiful Painted Desert. Call Old Tucson Studios ($14.95 for adults and $9.45 for children) at 520-883-0100, or go online at www.oldtucson.com.

--Catch another view of the West through Native American culture. Finding authentic Navajo or Sioux life isn't easy, even on a reservation. But powwows are held several times a week around the U.S. The largest takes place April 26-28 at the University of New Mexico Arena in Albuquerque. The Gathering of Nations, touted as North America's largest powwow, features 2,000 dancers, the Miss Indian World pageant, and folklore displays; www.gatheringofnations.org. Check out other powwows at www.powwows.com.