favorite places to visit in the US

tpwkalyn · January 2015

Okay, so, I live in Alabama but Maine has my heart.

Since you're so close, I'd DEFINITELY say the coast of Maine.
Start from the bottom (obviously).

- York, ME. Super cute, quaint little town with a gorgeous beach & lighthouse (Cape Neddick).

- Kennebunkport, ME. Another super cute little town with lots of shops and cafes. Stop and see the Bush Compound, it's stunning.

- Old Orchard Beach, ME. A little tourist-y, but absolutely beautiful. There is OOB Pier & Palace Playland with all the "fair" food & rides. I'm 23 and my brother is 18 and we had a BLAST buying tickets & riding some of the fair rides.

- Cape Elizabeth, ME. Go to Fort Williams Park & see the Portland Head Lighthouse. It's one of the most photographed Lighthouses in the US.

- Owl's Head, ME. Owl's Head State Park is gorgeous on a clear day AND at sunset.

- Rockland & Camden, ME. Go to Rockland Harbor & see the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. It's about a mile walk on the breakwater with absolutely stunning views. Eat some fresh Maine Lobster & some amazing clam chowder at Cappy's Chowder House in Camden. Camden is a precious town right on the bay.

- Bangor, ME. Go see Stephen King's house! It's a sight!

- Acadia National Park, ME. Last but certainly not least, there are a TON of things to do in Acadia. Take a windjammer cruise around Bar Harbor on the Margaret Todd. Spend the night at the Bar Harbor Inn. See the sunrise on top of Cadillac Mountain (often the first place the light touches in the US). Go golfing at Kebo Valley Golf Club. Take a hike to Sand Beach. Go see Bass Harbor Light at sunset. OH and go see Thunder Hole!!

Maine is the best

WhatawagSBNy · January 2015

Friends got married on a sailboat out of Camden and poor us just took them to the dock and picked them up.

I have wanted to go on a windjammer out of Bar Harbor ever since. Hub did one off Catalina Island, makes me jealous.

Viczaesar · January 2015

bubblegum1309 said:

WOW! Thanks for all the input! Time to start looking for some great deals!

When we go to San Francisco next month we are going to spend a night in Sonoma and a day in Santa Cruz so there's 2 I can check off from your suggestions!

Woot woot! Santa Cruz is my hometown.

hellosweetie1015 · January 2015

I saw a recommendation for Rosemary Beach. Let me bring that one back up.

The whole 30A strip (in South Walton County, between Destin and Panama City Beach, FL) is BEAUTIFUL. Protected beaches, meaning the highest "rise" is about four floors. Most beachfront property is limited to two stories, if it's allowed to be true "beachfront" at all.

Rosemary is beautiful, and it was the beginning of the "New Urbanist" civil architecture movement, where neighborhoods are connected by sidewalk instead of interstate.

My favorite 30A beach, though, is Grayton. It's Old Florida - it's been there forever, but it's also been updated. I talked for about two months about having our wedding here. (And then I took FI to the beach and discovered he's not such a fan of it, sooooo that was scrapped.)

theartistformerlyknownas · January 2015

futurekhugz said:

Okay, so, I live in Alabama but Maine has my heart.

Since you're so close, I'd DEFINITELY say the coast of Maine.
Start from the bottom (obviously).

- York, ME. Super cute, quaint little town with a gorgeous beach & lighthouse (Cape Neddick).

- Kennebunkport, ME. Another super cute little town with lots of shops and cafes. Stop and see the Bush Compound, it's stunning.

- Old Orchard Beach, ME. A little tourist-y, but absolutely beautiful. There is OOB Pier & Palace Playland with all the "fair" food & rides. I'm 23 and my brother is 18 and we had a BLAST buying tickets & riding some of the fair rides.

- Cape Elizabeth, ME. Go to Fort Williams Park & see the Portland Head Lighthouse. It's one of the most photographed Lighthouses in the US.

- Owl's Head, ME. Owl's Head State Park is gorgeous on a clear day AND at sunset.

- Rockland & Camden, ME. Go to Rockland Harbor & see the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. It's about a mile walk on the breakwater with absolutely stunning views. Eat some fresh Maine Lobster & some amazing clam chowder at Cappy's Chowder House in Camden. Camden is a precious town right on the bay.

- Bangor, ME. Go see Stephen King's house! It's a sight!

- Acadia National Park, ME. Last but certainly not least, there are a TON of things to do in Acadia. Take a windjammer cruise around Bar Harbor on the Margaret Todd. Spend the night at the Bar Harbor Inn. See the sunrise on top of Cadillac Mountain (often the first place the light touches in the US). Go golfing at Kebo Valley Golf Club. Take a hike to Sand Beach. Go see Bass Harbor Light at sunset. OH and go see Thunder Hole!!

Maine is the best

Aaaaand now I'm researching a Maine road trip.

jenna8984 · January 2015

@lolo883 Gazebo Inn in Ogunquit. That's the fancy B&B we stayed at for Christmas with fireplace and personal hot tub, and it was the most beautiful place I'd ever stayed. And the owner made a fucking hell of a breakfast. I can't wait to go back in summer.

theartistformerlyknownas · January 2015

jenna8984 said:

@lolo883 Gazebo Inn in Ogunquit. That's the fancy B&B we stayed at for Christmas with fireplace and personal hot tub, and it was the most beautiful place I'd ever stayed. And the owner made a fucking hell of a breakfast. I can't wait to go back in summer.

SOLD.

ohannabelle · January 2015

pinkcow13 said:

jenna8984 said:

I've been to 37 states. I think my favorites are:
Myrtle Beach, SC. Laid back, ocean, golfing, shopping, hotels are much cheaper than they are in FL. I prefer May and Sept because it's around 80° instead of 100 and there are far less families with kids because they are in school.
Vegas/AZ- Vegas itself is just awesome. I don't even drink or gamble but the lights and shows and walking around the strip are just fun as hell. But I really love going there when I can combine it with Grand Canyon/ Flagstaff or Sedona AZ. Those small towns have some of the best scenery in the states.
Seattle- So much cool stuff to see. Space needle, we did an underground tour literally walking in tunnels underneath the sidewalks from the 1800s, we tooka ferry over to Victoria Canada for the day which was neat.
San Diego/Huntington Beach- Huntington is further up near LA but I love them both.
DC- love walking around seeing the monuments. Tons of great restaurants and shopping and museums. Great young nightlife in areas like Dupont Circle bars.
Glacier Nat Park/ Flathead Lake, Montana- ok I have not been here but I'm fucking dying to go.

I am DYING to go to Seattle, I am kinda obsessed with that city. My desktop background at work is always a different image of Seattle.

You'd have loved it today, pinkcow. Not a cloud in the sky and a sunny 61. It looked just like this:

What the hell, January? It smells almost like spring out there. I just sat in the grocery store parking lot for about ten minutes, watching the mountain turn pink in the sunset, and eating candy. Because I love my mountain so much.

So obviously, favorite city:

My own city. I love Seattle deeply. Beautiful little city with a fun history, beautiful waterfront views, good food, and decent arts and theater and music scene. Leave the city and in an hour you're in magnificent primeval mountains. So it pleases the outdoor biking skiing sailing kayaking snowboarding whale watching hiking types, as well as those of us who just want to head downtown and have fun and eat all the good seafood.

Favorite multi day road trip is allllll the way down the coast on Hwy 101 through Oregon, and then you drive the coast to Big Sur. Breathtaking. California has some fantastic amazing coastline.

If I'm flying, favorite is New Orleans. I love history, food, music, and ghostly things. So all my favorite things in one balmy place. When I had my flight passes, this was my favorite place to go. Music festivals, book festivals, art shows, good museum exhibitions, whatever, it seemed like there was always something happening and something fun to do. And giant sandwiches. God, I'm on my second day of craving a muffaletta sandwich. All respect to Seattle, but it's not going to be the same here.

lovemyrunner · January 2015

Might I suggest Groupon? They have some pretty good deals on trips and we had a good experience using them to book a hotel in Chicago. It allows us to stay in fancy schmancy places we could never afford otherwise.

We traveled to North Carolina last year for the Tar Heels/Duke basketball game. And got stuck in the snowstorms. As Nebraska folk, it was pretty funny to watch the mid-atlantic reaction to 'snowmageddon.' But it was not so funny how much that snow fucked up our travel plans! Anyway, we loved Wilmington! Cute little beach town, and also home to many TV shows and movies, so you can take tours of film locations. I was a big Dawson's Creek fan back in the day and that show was filmed in Wilmington, so I got a kick out of seeing the locations in person!

photokitty · January 2015

The Grand Canyon. There are two cabins that have unobstructed views into the canyon. The food at El Tovar in GC Village is amazing. It is my favorite vacation and probably always will be! Depending on what airport you fly into (PHX) Sedona is incredible, stay at the Sky Ranch Lodge. And there's always Vegas. Fly into one, rent a car and fly out from the other.

Maine was amazing as well. We went to Portland and Camden and ate lobster until we popped!

Food wise - Charleston is my favorite. Savannah is a close second.

themosthappy91 · January 2015

I just have to put in a word for my hometown- Williamsburg VA! To be honest probably only really worth doing if you love history since that's what makes it unique, but it's just the cutest little town with lots of other stuff going on to boot! There's the historic triangle of Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown, plus several plantations and Civil War battlefields within driving distance if that's more your era of interest. Busch Gardens is a beautiful and super fun theme park if that's your thing, the Premium Outlets are considered a major shopping destination on the east coast, and Richmond is an hour away and FULL of even more interesting history and culture. But most of all Williamsburg is just a gorgeous place to walk around and see the sights, chock full of adorable B&Bs, and an awesome mix of cool stuff to do and quaint Southern town charm.

Okay now that I put in my plug for that, I want to second DC and OBX as well! Both are frequent hangouts for me and others have covered their benefits wonderfully- but I do have to disagree with just one point: someone about suggested Georgetown Cupcakes and I just have to say, all the locals know Baked and Wired (which is like two minutes away!) is better- and you won't have to wait two hours to get in the door :P.

levioosa · January 2015

@photokitty , what are the name of the cabins at the Grand Canyon? I'm trying to do a surprise trip for SO, but I've never been and I'm not sure where the best accomodations are. Do you like the North Rim or South Rim better?

mrsk616 · January 2015

im thinking of doing another trip to DC. i went twice in one year years ago with my family. it was fun and want to have fun with my FI during those trips. (now the issue of talking him into it)

NYC is another great place. i only did a few day trips there though. loved to spend a few days there. it would be expensive though.

treasure island tampa bay area was great.

photokitty · January 2015

levioosa said:

@photokitty , what are the name of the cabins at the Grand Canyon? I'm trying to do a surprise trip for SO, but I've never been and I'm not sure where the best accomodations are. Do you like the North Rim or South Rim better?

South Rim, never stayed at the North tho...I always go when the North is closed. I'll PM you the cabin numbers after I find them.

levioosa · January 2015

photokitty said:

levioosa said:

@photokitty , what are the name of the cabins at the Grand Canyon? I'm trying to do a surprise trip for SO, but I've never been and I'm not sure where the best accomodations are. Do you like the North Rim or South Rim better?

South Rim, never stayed at the North tho...I always go when the North is closed. I'll PM you the cabin numbers after I find them.

Thank you!

favorite places to visit in the US

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