Vacation Destinations in the US

[cardiac]

Black Hills and the Badlands of South Dakota. Great history, tons of stuff to do, and some good hiking all around the area...

Bob

 

[Jeff7181]

KillerCharlie, I think you've sold me on Olympic National Park. Going to run it past my travel buddy. What time of year do you suggest? Spring? Summer? Fall? I experience enough snow in Michigan.

 

[MovingTarget]

I'd prob want to visit Glacier National Park or Yellowstone. If you are just going to snowbird it, try Gulf Shores if South Florida isn't your bag.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Florida is all you need.

Though I hear San Diego is a beautiful area...I'd love to visit there some day.

Visit, not live.

 

[evident]

does hawaii count? probably the best place to do outdoor things and water activities. i'll live there one day

the pacific northwest was really enjoyable the weekend i spent in seattle. i wish i had more time to go out to the national parks and hike though.

 

[ivan2]

san fran was very nice.

 

[AreaCode707]

KillerCharlie, I think you've sold me on Olympic National Park. Going to run it past my travel buddy. What time of year do you suggest? Spring? Summer? Fall? I experience enough snow in Michigan.

It depends on what you're looking for. No other visitors around? Winter. (I'll be out there next weekend, in between clamming, which is a winter-only activity open on select weekends.) It's temperate here so you won't run into snow unless you head into some seriously steep terrain. It's usually in the 40s-50s daytime so you won't freeze while hiking.

Summers in the PNW are gorgeous though. Temp hovers in the 70s usually, everything stays green and verdant because of the rain, and the water from the lakes and the Sound sparkles.

Fall you might be able to join up with some mushroom hunters and get to some neat spots you might not otherwise visit.

And of course spring is going to be bird central, if you're into that....

 

[KK]

does hawaii count? probably the best place to do outdoor things and water activities. i'll live there one day

the pacific northwest was really enjoyable the weekend i spent in seattle. i wish i had more time to go out to the national parks and hike though.

You going to die the next day?

 

[PepePeru]

southern UT, northern AZ is really beautiful, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon (north rim) NPs are all relatively close to each other.

 

[iversonyin]

Washington D.C.

Arizona - Grand Canyon is must see. There are also Cantelop Canyons, Horseshoe Bend, Monument Valley.

 

[DT4K]

KillerCharlie, I think you've sold me on Olympic National Park. Going to run it past my travel buddy. What time of year do you suggest? Spring? Summer? Fall? I experience enough snow in Michigan.

Unless you really really love rain, visit in the summer.
The pacific NW is absolutely the best place in the world to be in the summer.

It's been a long time since I was in Olympic National Park (like 20 years), but I remember thinking it was really gorgeous. And that's coming from someone who grew up in Oregon, so the mountains and coast in the NW were nothing new for me.

If you're up that way and have the time, you might also check out the San Juan islands. I spent a week camping on the various islands with my grandma and my cousin when I was about 14 and it was awesome. We sat on a beach one day and watched the orcas breaching.

 

[evident]

You going to die the next day?

might fall off a waterfall or something... who knows

 

[theeedude]

On similar note, I got really cheap tickets to FLL (fort lauterdale) in end of February.
I don't have anything planned except I will be there for 2 days, saturday and sunday. I want to to chill during the day and party hard at night, where should I stay and should I go?

 

[Kadarin]

For California, you can also check out the Lake Tahoe area. During the winter the skiing (and snowboarding) is brilliant, and the scenery is fantastic as well. We also have Yosemite and Death Valley, and lots of other great places.

 

[F1N3ST]

Downtown Detroit

/thread

 

[rockyct]

California is a wonderful place to visit even ignoring the touristy city areas.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

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.

Regarding this, if you do go, try to go to the Canadian side. Granted the bottom line is that both are probably tourist traps.

I agree with the NYC idea. Go for atleast a few days and plan to see atleast one play. I enjoy just walking around NYC every few years. I haven't eaten here, but if you go consider it. it is supposed to be quite the experience:
http://www.mars2112.com/

I also once went to Washington for work. I was about a 5 minute walk from the White House. I want to go back on my own time. The architecture is amazing on the federal buildings and the scale is simply unbelievable. The Smithsonian is also nearby.

 

[KillerCharlie]

KillerCharlie, I think you've sold me on Olympic National Park. Going to run it past my travel buddy. What time of year do you suggest? Spring? Summer? Fall? I experience enough snow in Michigan.

I sold it because the PNW is the only place I know well
You might also want to look into national parks like Glacier, Yellowstone, and Crater Lake.

You would definitely want to go sometime in mid-July through August. The coast is okay any time, but if you go up in the mountains they're really only snow-free during that time (these mountains are the snowiest place on earth). Like DT4K said, summers in the PNW are probably the nicest in country. It's typically 75 degrees and sunny every day with no humidity July-August. You can't guarantee good weather, but if you're around 4-5 days chances are pretty darn good. I won't tell you about the other 10 months.

If you go to Washington you absolutely must visit Mt Rainier. The west coast volcanoes are mightily impressive to those who haven't seen them before... and to those who live by them!

 

[Descartes]

IMO, if you've never been, California is the place to go. 5 days might not be enough for everything, but if you could get some more time you could start in San Diego and drive up the coast to the Laguna Beach Area, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, Monterey and then ultimately San Francisco. I've been all around that area many times and love each place.

If you only had one place to visit, I'd say San Diego and La Jolla, Monterey and Carmel or San Francisco and Napa/Sonoma. You'll see a lot, eat great food and relax without too must of the hustle that you'll get in Vegas.

Catalina Island off LA is a pretty decent visit, but try to avoid busy season. Food is terrible on the island though.

 

[DT4K]

I sold it because the PNW is the only place I know well
You might also want to look into national parks like Glacier, Yellowstone, and Crater Lake.

You would definitely want to go sometime in mid-July through August. The coast is okay any time, but if you go up in the mountains they're really only snow-free during that time (these mountains are the snowiest place on earth). Like DT4K said, summers in the PNW are probably the nicest in country. It's typically 75 degrees and sunny every day with no humidity July-August. You can't guarantee good weather, but if you're around 4-5 days chances are pretty darn good. I won't tell you about the other 10 months.

If you go to Washington you absolutely must visit Mt Rainier. The west coast volcanoes are mightily impressive to those who haven't seen them before... and to those who live by them!

Yep. Once in awhile, a heat wave will come along, but most of the time, July through August are absolutely perfect. Spring and Fall can have some nice weather, but it's much more unpredictable and you're a lot more likely to experience the rainy, gray, dreary pacific NW that everyone complains about.

Montana has a lot of the same natural beauty that Oregon and Washington have, with the exception of the coastline. Glacier is absolutely stunning.

Crater Lake is pretty impressive as well, but there isn't a lot of other stuff to see or do nearby.

 

[evident]

On similar note, I got really cheap tickets to FLL (fort lauterdale) in end of February.
I don't have anything planned except I will be there for 2 days, saturday and sunday. I want to to chill during the day and party hard at night, where should I stay and should I go?

I was there in Sept of 2008. I stayed at the marriott beach place resort on A1A which is pretty much the main road that goes with the ocean. lots of places to drink your night away on that drag. the elbo room is the place you need to go to see drunkenness at its finest, thats at the big intersection of A1A and las olas (the main road that goes east-west). a little tourist trappy, but still a boatload of fun. if you want to go a little bit away from the ocean, there is even more nightlife if you take the trolley down las olas to the restaurant/club district (himmarshee village i believe its called). watch out for some touristy places like coyote ugly. if you're a philly fan, go to the parrot lounge on the blvd. sushi rock is also a good place to get sushi. whatever you do, do NOT go to this POS of a italian restaurant called noodles panini. singlehandly the worst restaurant experience i've ever had in my short life. you only have a couple days, so theres not much else you could do besides get wasted down there. otherwise i'd suggest doing a tour of the everglades

 

[Sheep]

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

Winner.

My favorites are Yellowstone (you can EASILY spend an entire week or two there if you've never been before), Arches, Joshua Tree and Crater Lake.

 

[Gooberlx2]

One of the most memorable places I've visited was DC. It's just impressive walking around such significant monuments, memorials and buildings. The tours and history lessons are pretty good too.

From there, you could probably see some nature in the Appalachians.

 

[CrackRabbit]

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.

While Zion is nifty, getting to anything in the park requires some hiking. Bryce Canyon, and Arches NPs are much more suited for drive up viewing.

ProfJohn is right that flying in to Vegas is closer for getting to Zion and Bryce Canyon.
One warning, it costs $25 just to drive through Zion, even if you aren't going to hike or do anything else there.

 

[KillerCharlie]

While Zion is nifty, getting to anything in the park requires some hiking. Bryce Canyon, and Arches NPs are much more suited for drive up viewing.

ProfJohn is right that flying in to Vegas is closer for getting to Zion and Bryce Canyon.
One warning, it costs $25 just to drive through Zion, even if you aren't going to hike or do anything else there.

Zion has a bus system that runs the length of the valley. You can see quite a bit with very little hiking, unless you want to get up high and look down below.

Zion/Bryce/Arches would definitely be a good choice for a 5 day trip. You can even hit the grand canyon in the same trip, but that might be pushing it for time.