Favorite vacation spots

Simky906

FI and I are heading to my favorite vacation place this weekend, Pawleys Island. My family rents the same house there every year and it's amazing. There is no commercial development allowed on the island itself so it's really quiet with basically only single family homes. I love relaxing there with my family and stuffing myself with my grandmothers cooking. Plus, FI proposed to me there last year so it's got added meaning now. 

So knotties, where do you love to go on vacation? Do you have spot you keeping coming back to or do you change it up a lot?

thisismynickname2

I would say a perennial favorite is Door County, Wisconsin. It's a wonderful spot for midwesterners. It has sentimental value for me as well because my family and I camped in a state park there every year for at least 20 years. FI might take me there for a weekend this summer! Other than that, Napa Valley is like the Garden of Eden to me.

JCbride2015

We've never really had the means to take vacations except to visit family, although this year we will start a very different lifestyle with my new job.  So, I'm looking forward to figuring out what my favorite vacation spots are!

I'm lucky though, that both my grandmothers have retired to really pretty areas near the beach.  And my dad is from Narragansett, RI.  So I have grown up loving the beach.  My dream vacation would probably just involve lying on a tropical island.  Maybe some hiking.

Fi and I went to Colonial Williamsburg twice, which was his family's favorite vacay spot as a kid.  It's cool, but it was kind of ruined for me when I went to law school there for 1L.  Well not totally ruined, more like I see it as a place I used to live rather than a vacation spot.  It's beautiful, but totally boring once you run out of colonial things to do.

beethery

Pawleys Island sounds really nice. I should tell my aunt about it. She, my uncle, and my cousins live just outside of Lexington and they love exploring the Carolinas.

My favorite place is Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii. Best place on the planet. Super low-key, and absolutely gorgeous. The whole island is incredible, but I love just relaxing and watching the turtles swim around on that side of the island.

RebeccaB88

Hilton Head Island, SC.  Acadia National Park in Maine. Anywhere in the Colorado Rocky Mountains in summer.  Taos, NM.  Used to love Ft Walton Beach, FL, but it's been ages since I've been there.

Simky906

@thisismynickname‌ I love Napa Valley! I've gone there twice now (FI has family there) and I joke that I'm marrying him so I can keep visiting wine country. 

 @JCbride2015‌ I know what you mean; once you live a place it's hard to look at it the same way. Though I will say that William and Mary has a really pretty campus! 

@shrekspeare‌ Sun Valley is supposed to have really good skiing as well, right? Do you ski too or stick to camping?

jenna8984

I don't really have one because we are one those families that prefers to go new places and not "waste" time where we've already been. However, every few years we return to Myrtle Beach.

My grandparents live on Cape Cod 5 minutes from a beach that a lot of tourists don't know about. So I love going there and jumping off the boardwalk when the water is high enough.

FI & I also have a favorite hotel in Providence that we go for a night getaway about twice a year. The bed is soooo glorious.

thisismynickname2

shrekspeare love your signature line! 

climbingsingle

I've heard Pawley's Island is nice!

OBX - but all the further out towns, like Frisco and Avon 

Newport, RI 

Key West 

Simky906

@beethery I grew up about an hour or so north of Lexington and I definitely think it's one of the best beaches in the Carolina's. And I just googled Poipu beach, it looks gorgeous!

jdluvr06

St. Petersburg Florida. We tend to go to Florida in between international vacations. We love to travel! Instead of buying stuff we save up to go on vacation. This year has been hard because we can't afford to go anywhere because of the wedding. That is ok though. We planned our honeymoon.

Cookie Pusher

Disney World is it for me. Although I think it had more to do with the fact that we spent 4 days drinking around the world in Epcot on our last trip than the whole "Disney Magic" thing. Vegas is also a favorite despite the fact that neither of us gambles - the food, the desert adventure, and the people-watching are a great way to spend a few days!

KatieinBkln

Hooray for Door County, @thisismynickname! We used to go fairly frequently when I was a kid (often enough that there is more than one "old-timey" photo of us and our friends from that place in Egg Harbor, I think). I love Maui as a vacation spot. I've been lucky enough to go more than once, and I'd love to go back someday. I'm also a big fan of Breckenridge in CO for skiing. I'm hearing it's quite lovely in summer, too, so I'd love to check it out.

Simky906

@RebeccaB88‌ Although I grew up in SC, I've never actually been to Hilton Head. I'll have to rectify that situation one day! And Acadia looks lovely. I've never been to Maine but it's near the top of my list.

 @jenna9894 Pawleys is only about a half hour south of Myrtle Beach but has a very different feel. Myrtle is a fun place to go though; there's always something going on!

cupcait927

FI and I both loved going up to the Adirondacks growing, but we haven't gone together. We're going to try and make it a point to go camping up there next summer. I've been to Hawaii and I must say, that is my favorite place I've ever vacationed. I'm definitely a "lay on the beach and enjoy the sun" type of vacationer and Hawaii is perfect for that. Whenever we decide to take a honeymoon, FILs are going to let us use their time share wherever we'd like to go and most likely it'll be a place with a  beach.

RebeccaB88

@simky906, it's wonderful!  Not a party spot, but laid back, family friendly, and easygoing. The beaches, especially mid-island, are soft, clean, and wonderful. Good food. And close enough to Savannah for a day trip.  I'd love to go to Pawley's sometime, and the Outer Banks.

beethery

Cookie Pusher said:

Disney World is it for me. Although I think it had more to do with the fact that we spent 4 days drinking around the world in Epcot on our last trip than the whole "Disney Magic" thing. Vegas is also a favorite despite the fact that neither of us gambles - the food, the desert adventure, and the people-watching are a great way to spend a few days!

We went to Vegas for a week last year, and I'm not into gambling at all but I looooooooved it. I shopped like a Real Housewife, ate like I was about to be executed, and drank like a damn fish.

I made it rain on a couple strippers, we saw a burlesque show, and the people-watching was fantastic. Vegas was cool shit.

RebeccaB88

Ooh, I totally forgot about Vegas. Awesome in it's own way.  And Asheville, NC.

Simky906

@RebeccaB88‌ That's how I like my beaches! I've been to a lot of beaches but that type of atmosphere is what always brings me back to Pawleys. Savannah is actually at the top of my list of US places I want to visit, so a combined trip to HH would be great. FI promised me a trip for our first anniversary (we'll get married 9/6 of this year) and that might just fit the bill!

Simky906

@CookiePusher I have never actually been to the Magic Kingdom. I've been to Orlando at least four times and I've gone to Epcot, Universal Studios and SeaWorld, but never to the big guy. Might have to look into that.

Jells2dot0

Edit- double post

Jells2dot0

Tahiti, for sure! I had my 6th trip there late last year. We had planned on going back to the South Pacific this year, but cancer fucked that up. I've been all over the South Pacific and just really enjoy that area as a whole.

bethsmiles

SO and I really love camping so that's what our vacations usually are. There is a lake in Montana that is our absolute favorite place.

We've also been to Disneywold, I think I love it more than him though. We really aren't huge into vacations but we are saving up for a few international trips we'd like to take one day. Norway and Australia are at the top of our list.

@Shrekspeare - I LOVE Sun Valley! I'm grew up in Idaho and it's beauty is highly underrated. I went to to a summer camp in that area for years and it's one of my favorite places in the entire world. So many good memories there! Have you been to Red Fish Lake? It's amazing and my family used to camp there every summer.

Simky906

@ClimbingBrideNY‌ I've only been to Key West very briefly when I was on a cruise but would like to spend more time there. If actually really like to drive there. 

 @cupcait927‌ I'm trying to get FI into camping. He has never actually been camping in his life and I got the look of death when I suggested camping for our honeymoon. I'll break him someday!

jdluvr06

shrekspeare said:

Simky906 said:

I have never actually been to the Magic Kingdom. I've been to Orlando at least four times and I've gone to Epcot, Universal Studios and SeaWorld, but never to the big guy. Might have to look into that.

Question about your Universal visit, I've been trying to plan a vacation there and buying tickets seems like a pain in the ass. How does it work? Websites offer two park tickets, but aren't there more than two parks? Are they just divided into lands? What's the other park if there are two parks? I'm so confused.

There are only two Universal Parks. Universal and Islands of Adventure. The parks are divided into different sections, for example the Harry Potter part is in Islands of Adventure (even though they are expanding it and it will be in both parks soon)

Inkdancer

Duck, NC or Kure Beach, NC for some nice beach solitude. But I also love going to Buxton just for the Apple Uglies at the Orange Blossom Cafe.

Asheville, NC for the food and art scene. Same for Charleston, SC. (SNOB is heaven on earth.)

Ireland for the history. Only worth going if you have a long time to spend there.

Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Not a soul in sight most of the time, just wind and trees and peace.

cupcait927

Simky906 said:

@ClimbingBrideNY‌ I've only been to Key West very briefly when I was on a cruise but would like to spend more time there. If actually really like to drive there. 

 @cupcait927‌ I'm trying to get FI into camping. He has never actually been camping in his life and I got the look of death when I suggested camping for our honeymoon. I'll break him someday!

He's never been?! He doesn't know what he's missing out on! FI and I LOVE camping. Like, we would go every weekend all summer if we could. I actually want to price out little tiny teardrop campers because it's an investment that we would actually use. Has he expressed why he doesn't want to try it out?

Cookie Pusher

beethery said:

We went to Vegas for a week last year, and I'm not into gambling at all but I looooooooved it. I shopped like a Real Housewife, ate like I was about to be executed, and drank like a damn fish.

I made it rain on a couple strippers, we saw a burlesque show, and the people-watching was fantastic. Vegas was cool shit.

We definitely want to go back to Vegas. I've been a few times, but FI has only gone once. We didn't go to any shows or stripclubs (we both ended up with mild food poisoning the night we were going to get tickets to see whatever we could), but we did watch the fountain at the Bellagio about a dozen times and went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower replica. We got the BEST pictures of the strip at sunset there.

shrekspeare said:

Vegas is great! Next time you go, stay in the Gold Nugget on Fremont Street. That's 'old Vegas' as I've been told. Lots of showgirls with big feathery headdresses. It's a lot more showy. We've always stayed there save for the freak accident when we ended up at Circus Circus.

I'm so spoiled. I've only ever stayed at the Paris and the Venetian. It rained pretty hard on our last trip out so we didn't get to walk up to Fremont like we had planned. Next time, though, for sure!

Simky906 said:

@CookiePusher I have never actually been to the Magic Kingdom. I've been to Orlando at least four times and I've gone to Epcot, Universal Studios and SeaWorld, but never to the big guy. Might have to look into that.

We actually had a lot of fun at Magic Kingdom! We stay at the cheapest Disney hotel we can get a deal at and buy a meal plan so we never have to leave the park for food or rent a car (yay for free shuttle buses to bring our drunk asses back to the hotel every night). Each day one park opens an hour early and stays open two hours later, and you can only be there if you're staying at one of the Disney properties. We did the extended hours at Magic Kingdom during our stay, and it was soooooo much more fun riding Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion at 1 am!

bethsmiles

shrekspeare said:

bethsmiles said:

SO and I really love camping so that's what our vacations usually are. There is a lake in Montana that is our absolute favorite place.

We've also been to Disneywold, I think I love it more than him though. We really aren't huge into vacations but we are saving up for a few international trips we'd like to take one day. Norway and Australia are at the top of our list.

@Shrekspeare - I LOVE Sun Valley! I'm grew up in Idaho and it's beauty is highly underrated. I went to to a summer camp in that area for years and it's one of my favorite places in the entire world. So many good memories there! Have you been to Red Fish Lake? It's amazing and my family used to camp there every summer.

I have not been to Red Fish Lake. It looks promising!

It's breathtaking. I definitely recommend it!

@Simky906 - How has your FI never been camping?! You need to take him ASAP! SO and I are huge campers, we would camp all summer if we could! 

Peaseblossom55

I love going to cape may my family goes every summer and has been since I was 4 there are a few summers I missed but I love being able to go.

Paris is another vacation spot I can to go over and over again.  Although I haven't been in about 5 years I miss it dreadfully and FI needs to see Paris too.

Simky906

@cupcait927 His parents (mom especially) are basically anti-outdoors. He was also generally babied growing up (never taught to do laundry, cook, etc) and he got mocked for that quite a bit in college so it's made him pretty sensitive. Not knowing how to set up a tent, build a fire, etc I think builds into that. All of which is totally foreign to me since I spent every summer as a kid at a sleepaway camp and loved every minute of it. 

But we've been watching a lot of Walking Dead recently and over the course of discussing our zombie evacuation plan I think he's becoming more amenable to the idea. It may just have to be the two of us the first couple times though until he gets more comfortable.

ETA: TK, what did you do to my formatting?