retirement vacation. . . . drawing a blank

kaos16

Looks like dad wants to go on a little vacation when he retires.  It'll likely be in the winter.  Looking for long weekend ideas out of NYC area for him, mom, myself and both adult siblings.  We aren't really cold weather people, but certainly not lying on a beach people either.  Dad loves history.  We all like fun food.

Thoughts/ideas?

climbingsingle

Have they been to DC before? Or maybe somewhere in NC? There's a ton of historical sites there and the weather would be nice. 

climbingsingle

Double post. 

kaos16

Fun, your ideas made me think of Savannah too.  No idea why.

climbingsingle

Savannah is a good idea too! 

My dad is a history buff, and loves NC. My parents go every year. They sometimes stay in this little town called Little Switzerland. Lots of really cool hiking trails there too. 

kaos16

climbingwife said:

Savannah is a good idea too! 

My dad is a history buff, and loves NC. My parents go every year. They sometimes stay in this little town called Little Switzerland. Lots of really cool hiking trails there too. 

Little Switzerland looks so cute and quaint!!

OliveOilsMom

I would consider Charleston or NOLA!  Both fun places and if staying the historic downtown sections a long weekend would be all that is needed to see everything in those areas.  Both have amazing food!

ILoveBeachMusic

I second Charleston! Lots to do (especially for a history buff) and great food.

STARMOON44

New Orleans or Charleston. 

short+sassy

Boston has tons of history.  I went there for the first time in September.  We didn't have a chance to get down to Plymouth Rock during that visit, but I had a lot of people recommend that as an amazing historical site.

Charleston and NOLA have a similar feel from the French influences they both had, especially in food (Creole, not Cajun) and architecture.  I always joke that Charleston is the more genteel sister of "party girl" NOLA.

NOLA has the National WWII Museum and lots of other museums and historical sites.  The city is having it's 300th birthday in 2018.

lyndausvi

short+sassy said:

Boston has tons of history.  I went there for the first time in September.  We didn't have a chance to get down to Plymouth Rock during that visit, but I had a lot of people recommend that as an amazing historical site.

Charleston and NOLA have a similar feel from the French influences they both had, especially in food (Creole, not Cajun) and architecture.  I always joke that Charleston is the more genteel sister of "party girl" NOLA.

NOLA has the National WWII Museum and lots of other museums and historical sites.  The city is having it's 300th birthday in 2018.

Hands down one of my favorite museums.  And I've been to a lot of WWII museums around the world.    

southernbelle0915

New Orleans.

CharmedPam

short+sassy said:

Boston has tons of history.  I went there for the first time in September.  We didn't have a chance to get down to Plymouth Rock during that visit, but I had a lot of people recommend that as an amazing historical site.

Charleston and NOLA have a similar feel from the French influences they both had, especially in food (Creole, not Cajun) and architecture.  I always joke that Charleston is the more genteel sister of "party girl" NOLA.

NOLA has the National WWII Museum and lots of other museums and historical sites.  The city is having it's 300th birthday in 2018.

Boston/Plymouth/Salem is in my top 3 places in the US that I love.  I wouldn't recommend it in the winter though.  Or maybe?  I dunno. Never been.

For winter: NOLA is awesome for history and food, but would require a flight if it's just for a few days? Are you driving or flying?   I always wanted to do Savannah and Charleston.  Savannah very soon for me. 

kaos16

CharmedPam said:

short+sassy said:

Boston has tons of history.  I went there for the first time in September.  We didn't have a chance to get down to Plymouth Rock during that visit, but I had a lot of people recommend that as an amazing historical site.

Charleston and NOLA have a similar feel from the French influences they both had, especially in food (Creole, not Cajun) and architecture.  I always joke that Charleston is the more genteel sister of "party girl" NOLA.

NOLA has the National WWII Museum and lots of other museums and historical sites.  The city is having it's 300th birthday in 2018.

Boston/Plymouth/Salem is in my top 3 places in the US that I love.  I wouldn't recommend it in the winter though.  Or maybe?  I dunno. Never been.

For winter: NOLA is awesome for history and food, but would require a flight if it's just for a few days? Are you driving or flying?   I always wanted to do Savannah and Charleston.  Savannah very soon for me. 

Flying from NYC area

kaos16

Please don't take this the wrong way. . . . but what's the crime situation like in NOLA these days?  I have heard some less than favorable reports of people getting robbed in broad daylight on or near Bourbon Street, etc. recently.

bookmaiden17_

Philadelphia came to mind when you said history. Going to Savannah you could also go to the islands off the coast there like Tybee Island. 

artbyallie

kaos16 said:

Please don't take this the wrong way. . . . but what's the crime situation like in NOLA these days?  I have heard some less than favorable reports of people getting robbed in broad daylight on or near Bourbon Street, etc. recently.

We went Halloween weekend of 2015 and were perfectly safe. Frankly, if you're that concerned, there's a hell of a lot more of NOLA than Bourbon Street. The WWII Museum isn't even in the French Quarter, for example.

I would also vote for NOLA between there, Savannah, and Charleston, having been to all three. The other two are lovely as well, of course, and I wished we'd spent longer than a long weekend in Savannah when we went last month, but NOLA blows both out of the water in terms of food and sheer amount of different things to do.

climbingsingle

I was in NOLA a few years ago, and felt perfectly safe. We stayed right in the French Quarter. 

Also, if you're going during winter, I'd personally rather go south. Boston in the winter - might be hard to trek around if there's a lot of snow. 

kaos16

climbingwife said:

I was in NOLA a few years ago, and felt perfectly safe. We stayed right in the French Quarter. 

Also, if you're going during winter, I'd personally rather go south. Boston in the winter - might be hard to trek around if there's a lot of snow. 

Thanks!

Yeah, as much as I enjoy Boston, it doesn't seem like someplace I want to be in the middle of winter. . . . i'll try to get a little warmth if I can!

short+sassy

kaos16 said:

Please don't take this the wrong way. . . . but what's the crime situation like in NOLA these days?  I have heard some less than favorable reports of people getting robbed in broad daylight on or near Bourbon Street, etc. recently.

No offense taken!  It's a good question.  Bad things can happen anywhere, but NOLA does have a higher than average crime problem.

With that said, both my H and I have lived here for 15+ years.  I had my car broken into once and our house was broken into about 6 years ago, though we weren't home.  Neither one of us have ever been the victim of a crime to our personal selves, ie a mugging, physical attack, etc.

We live less than a mile from the French Quarter.  Although neither one of us work there now, we have both worked for years in the Downtown area (next to the FQ) and I currently work in the Central City/Lower Garden District area (next to the WWII Museum).  I only point that out to show we are in the heart of the city, not hanging out in a white picket fence suburb.

There isn't anywhere I wouldn't go by myself in daylight.  There are places I wouldn't go at night by myself, though I'm comfortable in the main, populated parts of the FQ.

The best advice I give friends and family when they visit in regards to crime is to:

• Be aware of your surroundings
• At night, stay in groups
• At night, avoid quiet areas that have little foot or vehicle traffic, if possible

On a different subject, not that they are the greatest airline, but JetBlue has non-stop flights from NYC to here.  I think the flight itself is only about 2.5 hours and is $200ish/person.  It was so painless, in both time and money when my H and I went to NYC a few years ago, that we have talked about doing it again for a long weekend.

sparklepants41

CharmedPam said:

short+sassy said:

Boston has tons of history.  I went there for the first time in September.  We didn't have a chance to get down to Plymouth Rock during that visit, but I had a lot of people recommend that as an amazing historical site.

Charleston and NOLA have a similar feel from the French influences they both had, especially in food (Creole, not Cajun) and architecture.  I always joke that Charleston is the more genteel sister of "party girl" NOLA.

NOLA has the National WWII Museum and lots of other museums and historical sites.  The city is having it's 300th birthday in 2018.

Boston/Plymouth/Salem is in my top 3 places in the US that I love.  I wouldn't recommend it in the winter though.  Or maybe?  I dunno. Never been.

For winter: NOLA is awesome for history and food, but would require a flight if it's just for a few days? Are you driving or flying?   I always wanted to do Savannah and Charleston.  Savannah very soon for me. 

Boston area in the winter would not be my first choice - and I live here lol.

Also, Plymouth is completely missable IMO. Not a lot to do and the "Plymouth Rock" is a joke. Sorry for bursting any bubbles. I just wouldn't want anyone to rent a car to drive 45+ minutes from Boston (depending on traffic) to see a rock that's not even "the rock."

CharmedPam

sparklepants41 said:

Also, Plymouth is completely missable IMO. Not a lot to do and the "Plymouth Rock" is a joke. Sorry for bursting any bubbles. I just wouldn't want anyone to rent a car to drive 45+ minutes from Boston (depending on traffic) to see a rock that's not even "the rock."

When I first saw it, I thought "plymouth stone?". I do like the town though.  Only beef is you can't find food after 10.  Like, all the kitchens and fast food places close! Gas stations don't even let you in for snacks.  We took a ghost tour (highly recommended and maybe the only reason I like Plymouth?) that was supposed to end at 9 but went all the way to 9:45 or so.  By that time, we couldn't find a restaurant open.  So weird to me, coming from Chicago where you can dine at 3:00 a.m. Is it the best food at 3 am?  No, but I'm certain at 3 am, you've also made some other bad choices that day.

sparklepants41

CharmedPam said:

sparklepants41 said:

Also, Plymouth is completely missable IMO. Not a lot to do and the "Plymouth Rock" is a joke. Sorry for bursting any bubbles. I just wouldn't want anyone to rent a car to drive 45+ minutes from Boston (depending on traffic) to see a rock that's not even "the rock."

When I first saw it, I thought "plymouth stone?". I do like the town though.  Only beef is you can't find food after 10.  Like, all the kitchens and fast food places close! Gas stations don't even let you in for snacks.  We took a ghost tour (highly recommended and maybe the only reason I like Plymouth?) that was supposed to end at 9 but went all the way to 9:45 or so.  By that time, we couldn't find a restaurant open.  So weird to me, coming from Chicago where you can dine at 3:00 a.m. Is it the best food at 3 am?  No, but I'm certain at 3 am, you've also made some other bad choices that day.

Yeah there aren't a lot of places outside of Boston itself where you can eat until 3 or so (blame the Pilgrims). If someone really wanted to go to Plymouth, though, I'd tell them to book a whale watch and then do lunch or early-ish dinner after before heading back up to Boston.

ernursej

kaos16 said:

Please don't take this the wrong way. . . . but what's the crime situation like in NOLA these days?  I have heard some less than favorable reports of people getting robbed in broad daylight on or near Bourbon Street, etc. recently.

We went down just after Mardi Gras and felt completely safe. Way more to do than Bourbon Street. 

ernursej

If you are not tied to USA, Quebec City has tons of history and you could even go for Carnival. It will be cold but so much fun. 

LadyCatherineDB

You could try San Antonio, which has a lovely river walk, the Alamo and Tex-Mex.

kaos16

LadyCatherineDB said:

You could try San Antonio, which has a lovely river walk, the Alamo and Tex-Mex.

I love San Antonio!!!!