New England MiniMoon

ladyomnipotent

Hi there.  I live in MA.  My fiance and I want to have our honeymoon in Japan because we studied abroad there together when we were college students, but we're going to delay that trip until our 1st anniversary; the exchange rate is awful now and we won't have sufficient time or money after our wedding.

We'd still like to have a small getaway together after the wedding, though.  I was thinking of something in the New England area that won't break the bank (maybe 1k or under?  Max would probably be 2k). I know New Hampshire and Maine are beautiful, but we're getting married in February, and I'm not sure if they'd be the best destinations during the winter.  We're not into skiing.

Any help?

SJM7538

I live in MA as well.... if you've always been a New England girl then you have to know that any place you go on a minimoon in the middle of winter in New England is most likely going to be a ski destination.

Honestly though you can book a ski resort and not ski. A close friend of mine got married in February two years ago and they went to Jackson NH for their honeymoon, they loved it. Skied some of the time but the definately found other stuff to do.

Do some research online a lot of small towns in NH and Vermont have ski resorts or B&Bs you can stay but have other options for stuff to do. Antique shops, great restaurants, sleigh rides, ice skating, snow tubing. A lot of the resorts have spas as well.

SJM7538

Post to the local NH, VT and ME boards. The girls there can probably give you some reccomendations.

TheSlowskys

Love the vineyard in the off season. A lot of restaurants and shops are closed but I love how quiet and peaceful it is.

Katred08

I know you're from MA, so this might not be the best suggestion, but I love the Cape in the winter.  Nice and quiet, totally different scene from the busy summer. 

With your budget you could definitely go a little further than NE, if you wanted.  Maybe a few days in NYC?  Stay in a nice hotel, do some shopping and sightseeing.  

Or if you don't mind a bit of a drive, how about Quebec City?  I think it's an incredibly romantic city, and really different from a lot of other places (very European feeling).  Great restaurants, too.   Depending on when you go in February, you'd be there for the winter carnival, which is SO FUN.   I'd highly recommend.  It's COLD though, but if you dress appropriately, it's manageable.

jessicalynn416

I'm from MA to and I love both the Cape and the Vineyard in the winter. There is less restaurant selections due to it being the off-season but there is always some good local places open. The Vineyard especially is nice because there is almost no one there and you can do alot of things that are crowded in the summer. Edgartown has a really pretty hotel right on the water in front of the lighthouse that is pretty reasonable in the winter. On the Cape, the Chatham Bars Inn tends to have slightly lower prices in the winter and is beautiful.

MrsKathyC

If you want to shop, North Conway in NH has a lot of outlets.  Plus it's really pretty up there, with a lot of different accomodations to choose from.

Magdala9

Have you looked into the spas in Western Mass?    A couples massage....followed by a great dinner out.  We hit a bunch of good restaurants in the Northhampton - Amherst area.

http://www.discoverspas.com/Massachusetts/RMassachusetts.shtml

ladyomnipotent

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!  I'll admit, I never really thought of checking out the Cape or the Vineyard in the winter. 

Quebec definitely sounds cool, and we both have passports already, so maybe I'll float that idea over...

I originally thought we could do Disneyland because I've never been there, but that trip started getting very expensive very quickly (plane tickets to Florida at the start of Feb vacation ain't cheap, either).  I just don't want to go too crazy with spending because Japan is supposed to be the "official" honeymoon.

Erin and Christopher

Check out Nordic Village in North Conway NH!

~erin~

SuMmErKuTiE

I'd swing down to CT and stay at Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods/MGM Grand for a few nights. They have fabulous restaurants, nightlife, and shopping. And their spas are phenomenal! There's so much more there than just gambling. Then you could hit up the CT wine trail as you head west and go to the city (NYC) for a few days.