Do you like relaxation, food, wine tasting, beer, museums, hiking, skiing, boating, what?
ETA: I like food and beer, and occasionally outdoor activities. Seattle was pretty awesome in that regard. Denver was good, but I went during the Great American Beer Festival. San Francisco/Napa/Sonoma is worth a trip.
How long are you planning on going for, and what do you want to do? My suggestions for a long weekend in a city would be very different from my suggestions for a week of relaxation.
How long are you planning on going for, and what do you want to do? My suggestions for a long weekend in a city would be very different from my suggestions for a week of relaxation.
We will have 5-6 days including travel time in Mid-October. We aren't really looking for relaxing and aren't big on the night life. We do enjoy some sightseeing as well as outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking. To give you a general idea our favorite cities so far have been Seattle and Chicago.
We've taken vacations in the US to: -black hills, SD -duck, NC (outer banks) -Durango/alamosa, CO (Mesa verde and great sand dunes) -Orlando/cocoa Beach (WDW) -Galveston/San Antonio, TX -San Diego, CA -Vegas -Washington DC
And not exactly lower 48, but still worthy of consideration: -Oahu/Maui -San Juan/rincon, PR -panama -San Jose/manual Antonio, Costa Rica
And they've all been awesome in their own ways. Next year is Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Florida keys
I'm actually not a huge fan of Vegas (sorry Nugget), but one of my favorite trips was flying into Vegas, then renting a car and going to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park in Utah. We only flew into Vegas bc we had a wedding there, but I liked the city better as a one or 2 night bookend than as the main event.
We tend to go to big cities and walk around, eat, drink beer, and sightsee. We're not big on the beach or gambling.
Will definitely go back: Chicago Boston Philadelphia Washington, D.C. New York Rehoboth Beach, DE Burlington, and Vermont in General Lake George and Lake Placid, N.Y. Jersey Shore
Might go back: Seattle Portland, OR Baltimore Las Vegas Saint Louis Louisville Atlantic City Cleveland Pittsburgh Orlando/Disney World Cape May, NJ
Probably won't go back: San Francisco (enjoyed Muir Woods, though) Providence Outer Banks, NC Myrtle Beach
Never been but want to visit: Charleston Atlanta Houston Southern and Coastal Maine (MH has never been; I was there as a kid) Finger Lakes, NY Niagara Falls Mount Rushmore Grand Canyon San Diego New Orleans The Hamptons, Long Island NY
We did something different this year that was awesome - we toured National Parks in UT and AZ (Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon). It was AWESOME and gorgeous. It was so much fun but you have to be outdoorsy, obviously to enjoy that.
Other vacations we've loved: Key West, Chicago, DC, Amelia Island, FL
I've loved San Francisco and Vegas
On my list: NYC, More National Parks
On my never again in a million years list: Southern California (sorry OC/LA ladies), New Orleans in the summer
We will have 5-6 days including travel time in Mid-October. We aren't really looking for relaxing and aren't big on the night life. We do enjoy some sightseeing as well as outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking. To give you a general idea our favorite cities so far have been Seattle and Chicago.
I think you would like San Francisco; there's a lot of sight-seeing in the city, and Muir Woods and Mt. Tam are great hiking just outside of the city. If you have more time and want to get further out of the city, Sonoma is wonderful and you can kayak in the Russian River. I don't care for Napa as much; it's getting more developed and a bit pretentious in parts. Sonoma is still down to earth and rural, but lovely. And October is a great time to go there, weather-wise.
zoomzoom and mbcdefg, out of curiosity, what didn't you like about San Francisco?
It just wasn't my thing, I guess. It was SO crowded all the time. And all the ups and downs and wonky intersections. And the trolley's were always packed. Funny thing is, I love NYC and it's just as crowded. But I find NYC to be much easier to navigate than I did San Fran. It just had an odd layout to me.
We tend to go to big cities and walk around, eat, drink beer, and sightsee. We're not big on the beach or gambling.
Might go back: Saint Louis Louisville Cleveland Pittsburgh Orlando/Disney World
Probably won't go back: San Francisco (enjoyed Muir Woods, though)
Just curious...how did these places made the maybe list but not SF?
We were only in the first four cities for one day each, so I'd be interested in going back and checking them out a little more. We've both been to Orlando/Disney but never with each other and we keep saying that we should go together at some point. We had amazing barbecue in Saint Louis and it was awesome to see the Arch, and we saw some cool neighborhoods in our brief drive around Louisville.
For dexteroni, too: We were just in SF a few weeks ago. I'm really glad we got to be there and we saw some lovely things ... but we left feeling a bit disappointed. We definitely had some nice experiences ... Muir Woods was lovely, MH enjoyed the breweries when we drove north of the city, we had mind-blowing Ethiopian coffee, beautiful architecture and natural scenery.
But it was tough to find stuff to do past 9-10 p.m. every night. Climbing up the giant hills was a real drag. Parking sucked. A beer bar that MH was really looking forward to wound up letting him down. We wanted to try several restaurants but they were full and we had to go elsewhere. We had a rental car incident that put a damper on the rest of the trip. We tried to strike up some conversations with other locals/tourists, and nobody was rude but nobody really seemed that "into it," for lack of a better word. The laid-back nature got on our nerves at a few points ... for example, we went into a few coffee shops/bars where there was no real line or organization and it was just confusing as to when/where to place an order. Cashiers and waiters were much slower than I'm used to. Some SF-local friends had told me before my trip that I would definitely know I wasn't on the East Coast anymore, and I agree - nobody was ever rude, but I was always aware that I was in a different area and that the locals had a different lifestyle/mindset/whatever than me.
I know that all of that was just circumstantial, but we just didn't get the same "vibe" that we've gotten in other cities where we're heading home and saying, "Wow, we should definitely come back!" I can't really describe it. It's a lovely city and I'm sure it's got lots more great stuff that we didn't experience, but for now I'm happy that we got to see it but I think I'm good with the one visit.
zoomzoom and mbcdefg, out of curiosity, what didn't you like about San Francisco?
It just wasn't my thing, I guess. It was SO crowded all the time. And all the ups and downs and wonky intersections. And the trolley's were always packed. Funny thing is, I love NYC and it's just as crowded. But I find NYC to be much easier to navigate than I did San Fran. It just had an odd layout to me.
This too. I'm biased since I'm from the NYC area and I've been there for both work and fun, but I agree that NYC seems easier to navigate. I think the SF hills kept throwing me off ... I never really wanted to walk anywhere because I was afraid we'd have to climb up a bunch of giant hills to get back to the hotel. That happened the first day we were there and it put me in a really bad mood (I'm really out of shape and I hate getting all sweaty and gross when I'm trying to enjoy myself).
Oh, yes - SF is not at all like NYC. Both are great, but for very different reasons.
zoomzoom that's funny that you found SF crowded. I find it delightfully roomy compared to NYC. Different experiences for sure!
mbcdefg, SF definitely doesn't have an east coast feel. If that was your first visit to a West Coast city, I can see why it might have been a culture shock. And if you ever do come back to Cleveland, let me know! I can make some recommendations.
dexteroni It's a great city, I'm sure. Just confusing. We had a fabulous dinner at Tadich Grill and went to Alcatraz and visited the tourist trap, AKA, the wharf. We had fun walking around and the weather was wonderful. More than anything, we had just spent 4 days in wine country and I was itching to get home. We were supposed to stay 3 days in San Fran but left after 2. So, yeah, I'm sure there's plenty we missed.
For that time of year, really anywhere in New England but Vermont is especially nice.
We did a nice long weekend in Quechee/Woodstock VT a few years ago and it was great. There are good restaurants (love Simon Pearce!), towns are cute, scenery is beautiful (see if you can go ballooning), just a lot of fun.
My favorite U.S. states are Alaska and Hawaii, both of which have great water and land sport opportunities, but I guess that's not what you want.
What about coastal Oregon? We've vacationed there a couple of times and it's just gorgeous. Lots of small towns you can VRBO in, and just 1.5 hours from Portland.