what to see/do in these cities?

[ESF]

Aug 19, 2012 18:35:20 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Aug 19, 2012 18:32:22 GMT -5 dmv2002 said:

Lurker popping in--- winter park is a great suburb of orlando that would be wonderful or a long weekend.
There Is great shopping, restaurants, etc. Park Ave is the 'hub'
There is also a great boat tour of the chain of lakes
-- beautiful houses to see!

Thanks! I am going to throw that into Google!

A few years ago we had a family event in Orlando. Orlando blows chunks if you are not there for Disney. We wound up spending both the Saturday and Sunday afternoons in Winter Park. We had a nice time on the Saturday but really, you can see the whole town in about 4 hours. The only reason we went back on Sunday was because we couldn't find a decent restaurant for lunch anywhere in Orlando, and there was nothing else really to do, except drive through the parking lot of The Holy Land Experience just to say we saw it.

But, there's a museum there with one of the largest collections of Tiffany pieces in the world, and that was beautiful.

But I don't think I'd go to Orlando just to go to Winter Park unless I was a Tiffany fanatic.

I have not been to the other cities.

[Rachael070707]

All I can come up with for the Chicagoland area is doing the FLW tours in Oak Park like a PP mentioned or staying in Rosemont.

Rosemont is a near northwest burb that is very tourist/entertainment oriented. The area around Balmoral/River has exploded in the last few years. I was just driving by it yesterday and saw that there yet another new steahouse (Toby Keith's) now. The blue line (the L) runs right from O'Hare to Rosemont (first stop). You can catch a concert at the Allstate or a musical/show/concert at the Rosemont Theater. There's a dining movie theater and a casino all right there too. There are plenty of hotels and cabs in the area. If you did decide to head downtown for some reason, just hop the blue line. You can also ride the blue line all the way out to Oak Park if you wanted to (although that's a long "U" shaped trip to make.)

www.rosemont.com/

[Deleted]

agree with ESF, I wouldn't go to Orlando and not do Disney/Universal. We stayed about 10 min away from Disney and there was NOTHING else to do, unless you like to golf and swim. And the food was awful. Its sad when the best meal we had was AT Disney.

[SJ]

As much as I love Chicago, I'd take it off the list.

[formerlyak]

In Orlando, you can drive to Cape Canaveral and see where they have launched many a space shuttle and other rockets. There is a museum there now I believe -- haven't been in year, but my dad helped design parts of some of the space shuttles, so we went there pre-museum. I even got to go out to the launch pad and into a shuttle hanger!

[blackcat]

Aug 20, 2012 7:53:19 GMT -5 marriedfilingjoint said:

Aug 19, 2012 19:25:06 GMT -5 blackcat said:

I didn't realize you would be willing to fly into Charlotte yet drive to other places - in that case, I would definitely do it, and drive to Blowing Rock or Asheville, which are wonderful that time of year.

This. I am also Charlotte-area and we have a joke that there are 3 things to do in Charlotte: drive to Asheville, shop in Atlanta, and go to the beach.

Yup!!

[incognito]

I have to respectfully disagree with the posters who say Orlando blows without Disney. I go to the Orlando area frequently without going to any of the theme parks, and I manage to have a good time. Technically, Disney isn't even in Orlando's city limits. Sorry, pet peeve of Floridians.

I will second (or third) the recommendation for Winter Park. Eat at the Ravenous Pig. Great restaurant. For good food, you have to get off I-Drive, otherwise it's a wasteland of touristy, chain restaurants. Go to Winter Park, the College Park neighborhood (Luma on Park is excellent.), or downtown Orlando. The Doctor Phillips neighborhood has a good wine/tapas bar whose name escapes me at the moment.

I know you said no Disney, but the La Nouba by Cirque du Soleil show in Downtown Disney is really good.

Downtown Orlando has some nice parks and lakes. One of the parks usually has a food truck roundup in the evenings. If you look at the Tripadvisor Forums, they can probably steer you in the right directions. The Leu Botanical Gardens are lovely, as is Bok Tower in Lake Wales.

If you feel like driving an hour or so, you can go to Mt. Dora which is a cute little town with b&bs and antique shops. You could also drive an hour to Cape Canaveral.

Have fun wherever you decide to go!

[iheartbanjos]

Chicago suburbs=not a good place to visit. I think Asheville would be cool. I have to go to Orlando every year for work and am not a fan. My company rented out the Harry Potter portion of the park a few years back. I remember the roller coaster was pretty good (which you can't ride) and they had an excellent selection of microbrews in the little pubs (which you can't drink). I'd say skip it.

[Deleted]

Aug 19, 2012 21:09:48 GMT -5 tarianne said:

In Atlanta, go check out "Serenbe". It is a 100% sustainable community where they grow their own crops, have an Inn, several restaurants, shops etc. It is also where this year's HGTV Green Home is, and you can take tours.

I just got back from a work retreat at Serenbe! It is beautiful, relaxing, and great food. Only 25 minutes from the airport!

[Laura Palmer]

I currently live in the 'burbs of Chicago and don't get the hate. True, we go into the city at least once a week (aside from work commitments), but there's still stuff to do outside city proper... it's not like this is BFE or anything.

[iheartbanjos]

Aug 20, 2012 17:41:21 GMT -5 Laura Palmer said:

I currently live in the 'burbs of Chicago and don't get the hate. True, we go into the city at least once a week (aside from work commitments), but there's still stuff to do outside city proper... it's not like this is BFE or anything.

I lived there for 11 years and it was a wonderful place to grow up. If we had friends/family visit from out of town it always involved going to the city, especially during the fall and winter months. What would you suggest that they do for a long weekend in the Chicago burbs in November?

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2012 17:41:21 GMT -5 Laura Palmer said:

I currently live in the 'burbs of Chicago and don't get the hate. True, we go into the city at least once a week (aside from work commitments), but there's still stuff to do outside city proper... it's not like this is BFE or anything.

Anything worth flying in from out of town to see, though? That's my hangup. If she was thinking about moving to the suburbs of Chicago I'd have an entirely different answer. I don't know about you, but when I fly somewhere for a vacation I want to see something unique and different from where I came from. I think the suburbs are very "anywhere USA" and the traffic is also annoying. Not to mention November (or any winter month) is not a traditionally beautiful or comfortable month to be outdoors.

[Deleted]

H and I went to Orlando earlier this year. We did visit Disney but we stayed on International Drive. It was great there were a lot of bars and resturants and touristy things to do. It was also close to Universal if that is something you were interested in/