Can we talk about vacations?

pirategal03

Do you vacation often?  What do you consider a "vacation"?  Does a weekend away count?  Where do you go?  What do you do?

H and I love to travel, when we were in school we'd go a ton of places each summer and spring/fall breaks, but now that we have "real world" schedules we're finding it more difficult to find the time to go places.  Our honeymoon was the first time we've been able to get away somewhere new just the two of us for over a year, and it was awesome.  I know the location made it amazing, but I really just enjoyed the adventure of traveling again. 

So, I'm in need of inspiration.  We're all for a long-weekend road trip kind of thing.  We go to Williamsburg VA quite often.  And H's family has a house on Topsail Beach, but we're kind of in a rut with those two places. 

Any amazing weekend away type places you'd like to suggest?

ashleynwilliams

Definitely Charleston.  Great restaurants to try, plantations with beautiful gardens (We saw Middleton on our way back to NC), and shopping.  Carriage rides through the city and just neat stuff to see. 

kelsey+brandon

In North Carolina, Asheville is a fun weekend getaway. And they have great shopping too. They have a JCrew Factory Store there (much better than an outlet) that has this season's clothes for 1/3 the price!

Boone/Blowing Rock is really fun with lots to do (Hiking, Skiing, Shopping, Good Resaurants). Downtown Blowing Rock is so quaint with adorable shops and The Mast General Store in Valle Crucis is the best!

I second Charleston and Savannah, GA is really awesome too!

In the summer, Sea Island, GA and Kiawah are great.

[Deleted User]

I've done Asheville, Charlotte and Charleston for weekend trips. What about Savannah? I'm not sure how far it is from you, but everyone says its beautiful. That's next on my list.

TinyTRex321

I agree with Charlestown, Savannah, and Asheville. Some other ideas are Washington DC and Atlanta.  I was in Atlanta for SEC Championship last year and the aquarium there is a really good one. It is about a 6 hour drive from the Durham area so not sure how far you want to go.

pirategal03

Savannah is my favorite US city.  H has never been there.  It's on our list for a place to go for an extra long weekend. 

We've done the Boone/Blowing rock area a ton of times, love it up there.  Asheville too, one of my best friends lives there. 

I have another friend in Charleston we've been meaning to visit.  And we really want to do a weekend in Atlanta.  I spent a weekend there a few years ago and it was just too short.  We've also done DC trips over long weekends. 

amandaandkyle

Asheville is probably one of my fave weekend places (other than the beach, but FI is not much of a beach person) ever.  I love it there! 

Savannah is fun, I agree there.  Charleston too - I can't wait to be able to take Kyle there!

I think weekend/long weekend trips count.  We did tons of those when I was in  a grad school because that's all we could do (we did quite a few to the Smoky Mtns because it was close, staying in Townsend, TN to stay out of the tourist stuff, but we did Gatlinburg too).  Down here, we've done San Antonio for the weekend and gone to the Hill Country! 

NcsuPsych

Savannah. . . Cherokee (used to go camping here when I was a kid and loved it!). Outerbanks. . .reallly cute B&B (The Inn at the Pamlico Sound) - DH took me there for a surprise bday trip two years ago and it was super cozy and awesome )

Stone Mountain Park in GA?

Dang. . now I'm ready for traveling. . .*sigh*

pirategal03

I think I just need a really good backroads guide. 

Beth0882

We've done long weekends in Blowing Rock, and at Lake Lure, where we rented a cabin for a weekend and hiked Chimney Rock.  Also, don't know how much time you would be willing to spend in the car for a long weekend as opposed to a week, but DC is only 5 hours unless you hit traffic, and Baltimore is about 6!  If you like winery touring, VA has a ton of them, especially in the Charlottesville area (Dave Matthews owns one of them!).  We haven't done the VA wineries, but we have stayed at a B&B in Rockford NC and spent two days winery hopping. 

I love road trips, DH HATES sitting int he car so that kind of sucks for us.  I grew up on them, my mom hates flying so we drove everywhere.  We would drive from Colorado to Florida or Michigan to see family every summer, a 20+ hour trip!

ashleynwilliams

Amanda, we should also mention Hilton Head :-)  It has nice beaches and fun/casual restaurants if you want to avoid the $$$$ side. 

pirategal03

If I never go back to Hilton Head it will be too soon.  That was the most terrible experience.

I think it was circumstantial, but it's not somewhere I want to go again.

pirategal03

Beth have y'all stayed in a lot of B&Bs?  We never have, but it's something we're considering.


And we both love road trips.  The adventure of getting there is often most of the fun. 

Beth0882

I wouldn't say we've stayed at "a lot" but we prefer to stay at those or at smaller hotels rather than large chains.  There are a ton of websites with reviews, like TripAdvisor, so I'd just recommend making sure you find one that has a lot of good reviews before you book!

elizabethb3511

FI and I did a mini vacation to Chicago.  What about Wilmington?  NYC? If you know an APPState Alum then you can see about staying in their NYC loft.  MOH and I went a few years ago and it was great!  Baltimore?  Knoxville or Nashville, TN?  I've always wanted to go to Mall of America (Minnesota).  Jacksonville is pretty close.

I love cruises and they can be reasonably priced going out of Charleston.

BTW, HHI is AWESOME! 

ChickenOnSunday

What about Washington DC??

tarheelbabs

Saw this earlier and didn't have time to post--I see someone has suggested Baltimore and Chicago.  Both great cities with lots to do.  And Charleston is wonderful.  I've gone there with some friends for Memorial Day most weekends for a number of years.  All kinds of fun stuff there.  And Boston has wonderful historical things and great restaurants and museums.

alliegator8

HD and I LOVE to travel!  Road trips, long vacations, it doesn't matter.  Completely agree, the real world gets so in the way of all the plans I have!

What we aim to do is to take one really nice trip a year then do a weekend trip once every 1-2 months.  Sometimes I will join him on his business trips. Or we'll go visit friends.  Last month, we drove up to UVA to visit his sister and go to a DMB concert. We had a blast! Not to mention it was nice just to get out of town for a few days.

I love national parks. There are so many of them along the east coast that it is really easy to make a weekend escape around them.  Meredith mentioned Blowing Rock. That is an adorable little town! Plus you have the blue ridge parkway there. Asheville is great with their incredible art scene and the Smokey Mountains near by.  Charleston is great, Savannah. DC is so much fun!  The Shenandoah Valley is breathtaking! You can visit Harpers Ferry and hike part of the AT.  And of course, there is Philly, my home (uh, how I miss it!).  It is such a fun city.

For bigger trips, we always try to do something different.  I am big on budgeting and finding good deals.  In 2009, I found such a great deal on a cruise, that we ended up taking 2 big trips last year. This year, for our honeymoon, we went to Costa Rica. What an adventure! That is an easy "somewhere different" trip to make.  This year, we are doing a live aboard for 1 week around the British Virgin Islands. We have been to the Caribbean plenty of times, but this is a completely different way of visiting. It's a new adventure. And if all goes how we hoped, Alaska 2012 and Australia 2013 or 2014. But those are huge trips we are starting to save for now. 

Hope this helps!

tarheelbabs

Forgot to mention this earlier. Vegas is a lot of fun.  Airfares seem to be pretty high right now, but you can usually get a hotel for a great price--and there is something for everyone. Plus the people watching alone is great.  Every kind of food.  Hoover Dam.  Shopping. And great shows at all kinds of price points.  It's a lot of fun.

TinyTRex321

I just got an email from Living Social yesterady and I thought of you Mary. Do you get the Living Social escape emails? Once a week they send an email with some kind of travel deal. This week it's for a Blue Ridge Mtn Retreat. I think the last one was to a wine vineyard in VA. Anyway it's worth checking out. You can see them here (clicky).

pirategal03

Jenni, I have heard of Living Social, but I hadn't ever checked into it.  Thanks!

CLTKate

Creeper Trail in VA is fun. Bring your bikes or rent them. It's a beautiful ride!!  Camping and horseback riding nearby.  We went "glamping" at a place nearby. The tent had a private bathroom and a real bed.

pirategal03

Haha I just read about "glamping" last week, funny you mentioned it.  I'm not afraid of real camping sometimes the woods are cleaner than a bathroom.

You know what I love about the Virginia Creeper trail?  If you start in the right place, it's all downhill

sunnysarahinNC

i love living social escapes!! we're saving my vacation days for wedding/HM right now, but can't wait to settle into my second year at work (i get an extra week of vacation thank goodness!!) and start taking advantage!