State-side HM ideas???

linzcw04

Does anyone have any state-side honeymoon ideas? I am trying to plan for our HM in June...we have looked at the Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii.....my FI is very indecisive. We think his father will be helping us (around $2000) financially with it but I don't want to break him! Plus we will be moving (hopefully) into our new house when we get back so we are looking to save a little of our own money for that. We want a place where we can go explore, check out the eateries, scenery, any historical elements....we are pretty athletic and like any kind of sports (water, snow, ect.) I know that in June it will be warm so I'm thinking no snow options...?? I am clueless though on where to go!!! We live in Texas and have only really been to the surrounding states (FI has never been out of TX/OK). I have heard Lake Tahoe is nice...really though any ideas would be very much welcomed!! Thanks in advance!

alithebride

San Francisco, Carmel, Monterey, Napa, New Orleans, Savannah, NYC, Boston, Arizona-then the parks-Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, etc.... Also consider Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver.
With only $2,000 june will be a bit tough considering it's high tourist season most places state-side.

mbcdefg

You could go to New York and visit a bunch of restaurants and do walking tours - there's a ton to see - historical sites, museums, landmarks, etc. It's also only about an hour or two from there to the Jersey Shore, so you could split your time between the city and the beach if you want. You also have Atlantic City nearby if you like casinos, and Cape May is a Victorian town with some cute B&Bs.

Boston is one of my favorite places to go. There are a ton of historical things to see, and since it's a big city you'll find great restaurants (the North End is great for Italian food). Maybe you could manage to get Red Sox tickets (can be hard to come by ... try StubHub), since Fenway Park is such an awesome sports stadium. Or just take the tour.

We spent some time in Montreal earlier this year and that was a nice trip. I would definitely recommend that. If you go, check out a restaurant called Au Pied de Cochon.

FI and I were thinking of Chicago, Niagara Falls or San Francisco. We're most likely going to Maine. We only have a long weekend, so we're going to do a short trip after our wedding and then plan something bigger for the following summer.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

How long do you have? You can get a national parks pass for about $80, which gives you unlimited access for a year.

I'm in CA, so I'm kind of biased, but we have Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, and Channel Islands national parks, just to name a few. Northern California would be great - Tahoe, Yosemite, Napa Valley, San Francisco. You could fly into San Diego and do a driving tour up the California coast through LA, Santa Barbara, Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

Sedona, Arizona is beautiful. FI and I might go there for our mini-moon.

I adore Yellowstone National Park too. There's not much around there, but it's absolutely gorgeous.

Of course, the major cities are great (Chicago/NY/Boston/DC), but not very cost friendly. The nice thing about NYC is that you can use a metro pass and get around, but hotels might run you $200-$300 a night for something decent. Chicago might be a good option for you. Slightly more cost friendly with good restaurants and waterfront.

Have you thought about Cape Cod, the Adirondacks, Seattle?

katebh

You could look in to Florida...Sanibel Island or Captiva, Georgia...Sea Island, Tybee, Savannah, South Carolina Charleston, Sullivan's Island, North Carolina Outer Banks, Wilmington, Blue Ridge Mtns. You'd probably have to fly which would take a chunk out of your budget but you could have a great honeymoon in any of these places for about a week if you just look for some deals. If you're interested in Savannah, Charleston or NC let me know and I can help you find some stuff. If you go for the coast....it's high rental season so you'll be paying peak prices for lodging.

PharmJen

If your FI is indecisive, I don't think this post is going to help!  Love Boston in June.  Weather was crazy when we were there June 2008 - went from 60 to 90 in the same weekend!  I've always wanted to go to San Fran and Napa.  There's always NYC or DC.  Unfortunately, as pp's said, big cities will not be budget friendly between hotels and meals, depending on how long you want to stay.  Seriously there's tons of options!  Just depends on what you and your FI are really looking for. 

I always ask my FI what are the top 3 cities he'd like to visit and we compare lists.  San Fran, Vegas and Miami are the top three we .

DanielleD7782

Siesta Key, Florida is one of my favorite places. The beach is unlike any other...its white quartz sand and doesn't ever get hot. I'm not sure how much exploring you can do down there, but its super relaxing and has some great restaurants. Sports wise there is a lot of water things to do. Also not that far from other great cities in Florida if you want to rent a car and check out some other places. You can easily do this trip for under $2k.

A good note- Not sure if this is available all over the country, but we got the Entertainment book. We were able to save over $400 on a rental car through the coupons.

lindseroo

There are cool beach places in North/South Carolina that are close to lots of historical and cool places.  This is what we would do (FI is a history buff), but our wedding is in March and it will be too cool there at that point.

linzcw04

We are thinking that we will have a 4d/6n trip....

Thank you for all your ideas!!! I will see if any of them light a fire under FI's lil' butt.

MsBunny312

I'd suggest going up north in Michigan. Traverse City and Mackinaw Island are both really nice places. Good food, some boutique shopping, and lots of athletic things to do: hiking, biking, water sports, etc.