Vacation Destinations in the US

[Jeff7181]

Ok, so I'm from Michigan and I've only vacationed in southern Florida and the Philadelphia area so there's lots of areas I haven't seen. This year I'm hoping to take a couple long weekends and visit some "must see" places around the country.

I'm not real interested in the spring break type destinations. I'd like to see the Pacific Northwest, the Grand Canyon, Vegas, Niagra Falls... maybe do some hiking/nature walks.

Anyone have some destinations they'd recommend for a 4-5 day weekend trip? Like maybe some specific towns or sites that are interesting that may fit my tastes based on the above?

 

[xanis]

The Grand Canyon is pretty cool. I know a lot of people are kind of "meh" about it, but I was blown away. There's a train ride via the Grand Canyon RR that leaves from Williams, AZ and goes roundtrip. It's pretty nice.

Vegas is also pretty cool. When I went I wasn't old enough to drink or gamble but I still had a pretty good time anyhow. There are lots of good shows to see... I recommend KA.

 

[DrPizza]

Niagara Falls is vastly over-rated. It's little more than a tourist trap these days. There are other state parks in my area that also have waterfalls. Granted, smaller falls, but I'd much rather spend the day at either of those parks than spend an hour at Niagara Falls.

 

[dbk]

Nyc!!

 

[bobdole369]

stay out of south florida. We don't like northerners here. Or quebecers. STAY OUT!!!!!!

 

[xanis]

Niagara Falls is vastly over-rated. It's little more than a tourist trap these days. There are other state parks in my area that also have waterfalls. Granted, smaller falls, but I'd much rather spend the day at either of those parks than spend an hour at Niagara Falls.

I'd have to agree with this. I visited Niagra Falls many years ago and it wasn't really worth the obnoxiously-long car ride or time.

 

[bobdole369]

Gatlinburg/smoky mountains anytime in october - november.
Maine in summer is said to be breathtaking.
I would say anywhere in the Pac NW just to GTFO of the rust belt.

San Diego and San Francisco are also said to be amazing year round.

 

[IronWing]

For long weekends you can usually find cool stuff just about anywhere. Keep an eye on airfares and pick destinations based on price, then find the the stuff to see.

 

[Schadenfroh]

The two most interesting places that I have been to would be Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park. Yellowstone has the edge, the geothermal activity there is very interesting.

The Smokey Mountains are good, but likely not worth the trip if you have the option of Yellowstone or Glacier on the table. But, I have been to the Smokey Mountains so many times that they no longer have a significant effect on me (live about an hour away from the national park).

 

[bobdole369]

Schadenfroh - aye! I actually grew up likely not far from the OP Jeff (I'm a Redford/Westland/Ypsi/Ann Arbor refuge) - that moved down to boring - horribly flat with only 2 seasons (wet and not so wet) - Sunny South Florida - in 1998. When my fiancee and I took a trip to the great smoky mountains natl park in oct 2006, it was the first time I had seen anything but horrifyingly boring to look at south florida in 8 years.

Changing leaves was a damn sight for us I might say.

Our next trip is to yellowstone or vegas/death valley/grand canyon.

 

[AreaCode707]

I'm a big fan of wine country, the redwoods and the Lost Coast. Try hitting Mendocino and Humboldt Counties and working your way north.

http://www.americantrails.org/nationalrecreationtrails/blm/lostcoast.html
http://www.trails.com/activity.aspx?area=12471

Or come up and join us in the Pacific Northwest. I think the Olympic Peninsula is a win for your type of tourism. Avoid the Twighlight frenzy in Forks though. Start out clamming in Aberdeen area and check out the rainforest. It looks like dinosaurs might step out from behind the trees, and there is NO ONE there.

http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/images/olympic2.jpg

http://www.notesfromthepath.com/images/rainforest.jpg

 

[Rubycon]

Niagara Falls is vastly over-rated. It's little more than a tourist trap these days. There are other state parks in my area that also have waterfalls. Granted, smaller falls, but I'd much rather spend the day at either of those parks than spend an hour at Niagara Falls.

What about base jumping or going over the falls in a barrel?

 

[compman25]

Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park, awesome big trees and deep canyons

 

[thepd7]

Niagara Falls is vastly over-rated. It's little more than a tourist trap these days. There are other state parks in my area that also have waterfalls. Granted, smaller falls, but I'd much rather spend the day at either of those parks than spend an hour at Niagara Falls.

Which ones? I'm just curious because my brother is stationed at Drum and we'd love to hear where the great places to camp and hike are around there.

I'm a big fan of wine country, the redwoods and the Lost Coast. Try hitting Mendocino and Humboldt Counties and working your way north.

http://www.americantrails.org/nationalrecreationtrails/blm/lostcoast.html
http://www.trails.com/activity.aspx?area=12471

Or come up and join us in the Pacific Northwest. I think the Olympic Peninsula is a win for your type of tourism. Avoid the Twighlight frenzy in Forks though. Start out clamming in Aberdeen area and check out the rainforest. It looks like dinosaurs might step out from behind the trees, and there is NO ONE there.

http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/images/olympic2.jpg

http://www.notesfromthepath.com/images/rainforest.jpg

The Olympic Peninsula is full of win. I went backpacking in the Olympic Mountains 5 days over July 4th and it was incredible. You need to realize parts of it are a rainforest if you go though (just come prepared).

 

[MotionMan]

Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Mason (under the GG Bridge), Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square, Alcatraz, Cable Cars, Union Square, Golden Gate Park, Lombard Street, Coit Tower, The Cliff House, Chinatown, Transamerica Pyramid, Sausalito, The Exploratorium...

I :heart: San Francisco.

MotionMan

 

[lxskllr]

I'd just hit the road, and see what there is to see. Stay off the interstate, take the older US roads, and pick the business/scenic route where possible. Plain old ordinary America's pretty interesting if you keep your eyes open :^)

 

[ProfJohn]

The coast of Maine is pretty if you are into that stuff.

Try this:
Fly into Vegas and rent a car and then head to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. Both are amazingly beautiful and only a few hours drive from Vegas.

Could also fly into Salt Lake, but I think Vegas is closer.

The Blue Ridge Parkway would be a good place to visit, especially in the fall. Lots of chances to hike as well.

Washington DC would be a good long weekend trip too.

 

[Jeff7181]

Awesome... definitely some good ideas for me to take to a potential travel buddy.

Oh, and bobdole369... you're right about this part of Michigan. Geographically it's so completely lackluster, it's depressing.

 

[KeypoX]

Niagara Falls is vastly over-rated. It's little more than a tourist trap these days. There are other state parks in my area that also have waterfalls. Granted, smaller falls, but I'd much rather spend the day at either of those parks than spend an hour at Niagara Falls.

These days, when was it not? I went about 20 years ago and looking at pictures it had it all.

Ripleys, plastic dinos, and all that crap.

I would say yellowstone.

 

[aircooled]

Ho National rain forest is awesome, but I would make a full fledged PNW vacation out of it.
Grand Canyon is great, Yellowstone would be fun. If you have the money to spend L.A. is a great vacation spot.

 

[skyking]

You left an H out of Hoh there kitty
Lots of good suggestions, some of them will work for me too. If you go to Yellowstone, go either in the first weeks in May or the last weeks in September.
In May there is still snow around everywhere, the baby buffalo and elk are tearing around like goofballs.
In September the elk are in rut and everything is on the move. There is a good chance of seeing grizzlies and moose from the road over by Mammoth.
In both cases the vast herds of motorhomes have migrated away

 

[shocksyde]

National Parks are your friend. Tetons, Yellowstone, Zion, etc. etc. etc.

 

[NuclearNed]

National Parks are your friend. Tetons, Yellowstone, Zion, etc. etc. etc.

Yup. Pick any one of them and go. Some are better than others, but all are awesome. My personal favorites:

Zion
Mt. Rainier
Grand Tetons/Yellowstone
Glacier

 

[KillerCharlie]

I live in Washington and here's what you'd probably want to see and do in the Pacific NW:

You can see a few of my WA pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jgrothe

Mt Rainier NP - the most prominent mountain (looks he biggest) in the 48 states. Tons of huge waterfalls, wildflower meadows, glaciers, and breathtaking views. Keep in mind these mountains are big - they look bigger (when measured from base elevation to peak) than anything else in the 48 states.

Olympic NP - this park is extremely diverse. There are a couple rainforests as people noted (look for pictures online). There are also high mountains similar to the cascades (there's a visitor center you can drive to at hurricane ridge).

My favorite part of Olympic NP is the coast - it is, to my knowledge, the most undeveloped coastline in the 48 states. The PNW coastline (WA and northern OR) is extremely rugged and beautiful. Here I would definitely recommend backpacking (it's only about a 3 miles hike to the northern beaches and you can rent gear at REI). If you go on a weekday there will probably be few enough people that you don't even notice them.

I've been backpacking and hiking (50+ different trails in 4 years) in the PNW. Every trip was extremely beautiful, but there was just something different about camping on the Olympic coast. It's awesome pitching your tent right near the water, hoping that you're above high tide line (okay it's pretty obvious where high tide line is). It's amazing watching the sun set over the ocean, then building a huge fire with driftwood while you listen to the crash against the shore. One time I was in a section that had very high rocky cliffs right above the beach. I picked my campsite such that when high tide came in, I was completely blocked in against the cliffs. I had my own 100 foot wide private beach surrounded by cliffs.

There is also North Cascades NP, one of the least visited national parks in the country. It is very beautiful and is a great place to backpack, but Rainier and Olympic NP would be higher priority for sure.

I think this would be doable in 4-5 days. At both parks you can see a lot without going more than a mile or two from your car, except that I would try to backpack the coast.

 

[DrPizza]

I'd have to agree with this. I visited Niagra Falls many years ago and it wasn't really worth the obnoxiously-long car ride or time.

There's another "a" in Niagara! It's less than 2 hours for me & not worth the drive.

Which ones? I'm just curious because my brother is stationed at Drum and we'd love to hear where the great places to camp and hike are around there.

Stony Brook is nice, but Letchworth gets a huge thumbs up from me. 62 miles of trails to hike on (iirc), bike trails, etc. 3 beautiful waterfalls. Tons of wildlife. And most importantly (for me), kayaking I was going to go this weekend but couldn't find someone to go with. Funny - not a lot of people like 33 degree water. River was over 13 feet for a while. If you search, I posted a thread on the park a while back.

These days, when was it not? I went about 20 years ago and looking at pictures it had it all.
Ripleys, plastic dinos, and all that crap.
I would say yellowstone.

Well, now Niagara Falls has the casinos, so if you didn't blow all your money on wax museums, etc., there's a new way for them to keep what you bring.