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Road Trip Honeymoon

ferricfoxferricfox member
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in Honeymoon Discussions

FI and I are getting married next month and planning to take our honeymoon next year, probably around May/June 2016. Our dream is to take a road trip food tour (We will be leaving from Pittsburgh, PA), but we need help! We would love to hear from Knotties about the best local secret spots for food, and what would you recommend we eat? We love to try new things, so we're open to all kinds of suggestions!
Our only limitation is that the location must be in the continental US -- we do not have passports or advanced licenses!

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Re: Road Trip Honeymoon

  • Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    How far are you willing to travel?  How long is your honeymoon going to be?  This will just help people give you better suggestions because there is no point telling you to go to San Diego for the fish tacos if you weren't planning on going that far.

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  • ferricfoxferricfox member
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    Good point. We are planning on a 7 day trip (we hope) and are considering flying to the farthest location and renting a car and driving to closer locations on the way back. So I would say that the West Coast is not out of the question, but Alaska is.
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  • TheCheeseWenchTheCheeseWench member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    One of my fav trips was a road trip I took back in 2011. I drove 5,000 miles in 31 days. I visited 92 wineries, 8 creameries and 4 breweries. I went from OK west (RT 66) to Flagstaff (stop at Mary & Tito's in Albuquerque for red & green chile and Gruet for sparkling wine), then up to the Grand Canyon and then on to Vegas. Left there and went to Sacremento (Amador Couty wine country) and then over to Napa/Sonoma wine/cheese country. Went down 101 to hit Santa Rosa/Petaluma but also went over to the coast to Jenner/Bodega Bay/Marshall (OYSTER FARMS!) Spent a few days in San Fran (lots of food recs here) and then down through Carmel/Monterrey/Morro Bay etc.. Went to Lompoc/Solvang & Buellton (see Sideways?) and on down to Santa Monica. Then took 66 part of the way back, but detoured a bit for a few silly things (saw Billy the Kid's grave, Roswell, White Sands Painted desert). There are tons of foodie/boozy recs in there, so if you do fly out west and drive back through any of that I'm happy to share any part of it! :) Also, if you are into the wine/cheese/beer thing, I am happy to point you in the directions of friends of mine that make those things in those areas.

    I can also send recs if the Denver/Boulder area is an option.
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  • STARMOON44STARMOON44 member
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    I don't think there's a better road trip in the country than San Diego to San Francisco.
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  • Jells2dot0Jells2dot0 mod
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    I moved across country about 10 years ago. I drove from Maryland to Arizona over the course of 5 days. We drove 8 hours per day except the last day was slightly less. We barely had time to stop an do anything, nor could we because we had our kitty with us. My point is that you do not want to be rushed, so be sure to factor that in when planning the length of the drive.

     







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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
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    Check out Guy Ferrari's books Diner, Drive - in and dives. It's all the places he has gone to on his HGTV show by the same name. He finds all the cool little hidden places that locals go to. Huge variety in the types of food. If you have a chance, try to catch one of his shows, it will give you an idea of the types of places he goes to. But I've seen lots of great places on his show that you won't find in a tourist book.
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  • climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
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    STARMOON44 said:
    I don't think there's a better road trip in the country than San Diego to San Francisco.
    I haven't been to San Diego, but this is a great idea. San Fran has amazing food, and you can drive up to Napa. 
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  • Knottie1430965129Knottie1430965129 member
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    FI and I are going on a RT 66 tour for our honeymoon! Popped in to see some of the suggestions myself :) ... enjoy and congratulations!
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  • particuliersylpheparticuliersylphe member
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    Knottie1430965129 said:
    FI and I are going on a RT 66 tour for our honeymoon! Popped in to see some of the suggestions myself :) ... enjoy and congratulations!
    Same!! It's so fun to plan!
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  • Knottie1436805937.defunct635832252505236958Knottie1436805937.defunct635832252505236958 member
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    Sounds like an amazing and fun plan!  

    One of the best food places I've ever had has been Austin.  There are so many cool, different restaurants, plus the amazing BBQ.  Nothing beats Franklin BBQ!  It can be a little expensive, but it is a great city besides the food.  Very fun, lots to do and see.

    Memphis is also pretty good, again for BBQ and other southern staples like Fried Chicken.

    I live in CA, and we have tons of coastal cities serving up local seafood, fresh fare, salads, veggies and being very creative with otherwise basic food.  If you prefer meat, the small city of Santa Maria is famous for their Santa Maria style tri-tip (but not much else!)

    I also think Portland is amazing.  I believe they are the food truck capital, and with good reason...they have a ton!  But, they have to be good, because they all compete with each other.  It's be the best, or go out of business.  They also have McMenamins.  It's a small chain of a few restaurants in Oregon.  But, there is nothing chain about the food they do.  They find these crazy old properties (ones an old hotel, one an old orphanage, etc...) decorate them in amazing ways, and serve the most amazing food and drinks in those cool properties.  It's quite an experience - and everything is great, you can't go wrong.  They also grow much of there own produce.

    New Orleans, LA, I'd suggest Cafe du Monde.  Yes, everyone goes there, but there is a reason for it!  A little touristy, but amazing beignets and chicory coffee (chicory can be strong, get cream and milk if strong coffee is not your thing!)

    The North End in Boston (Little Italy) is full of amazing Italian food.  You can basically throw a rock and anything it hits, it will be good.  This place does a FREE walking tour of Little Italy (the guides rely on tip only) and in fact, they have several free tours in different cities, so they may have something else for you that would also be a good tour to take in a different city http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/boston-tours/food-tours.

    I don't 100% suggest Guy's Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins.  I'm not saying they CAN'T be good, but they do pay to be featured on the show, and once they do, they very much become tourist traps.  I've been to about 20 Triple D places, and there is only one I'd go back to (Citrus in Norfolk, VA).

    I feel the same way about any Food Network place.  It can be good...but...it is usually just normal food with good hype.  I rely much more on Yelp reviews.  They very rarely steer me wrong.

    I know you said no out of country - but just keep in the back of your head if you ever do go out of the country - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.  That by far, the very best food I have ever tasted.  They are an island, so it is mainly seafood, and vegetables they can grow themselves.  Everything we had was soooo good.  There is a culinary institute right on the island, and they take it very seriously.  It is very pricey, but it is food you will never forget.  

    BTW - that brings up another great idea.  Check to see if the city you are in has a culinary school.  Many times, they serve lunch or dinner, and it is a gourmet meal that is about half the price it would cost in the gourmet restaurant across the street.     

    Other than that, my biggest tip would be try to talk to locals.  Find out where they eat.  They know the best places.  Also, eat what the place is famous for, cause they are famous for a reason!  (Georgia, peaches; Michigan, apples, Colorado, beef, etc...)

    Have fun & congrats!
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  • djh513djh513 member
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    Congrats!

    DH and I recently got home from our honeymoon road-trip. We were married in Lake Tahoe, CA (so we flew in to Reno, NV) and spent 4 days there leading up to the wedding. We then drove west to San Francisco, south to San Diego (Coronado Island) along the Pacific Coast Hwy (highly recommend!), east to the Grand Canyon (hit part of Rt 66), north to Moab, UT, and further north to Salt Lake City, UT. We flew home to Cincinnati, OH from there. Other than our time at Lake Tahoe, we spent either 2 or 3 nights in each city I listed. I can give you food recs for any of those cities/ routes!

    Ditto @Jells2dot0 point though - do not be too ambitious with your plan. You will take too much of the fun out of it if you are constantly driving / rushing to your next destination. We drove around ~2,000 miles over 12 days - I would have loved more time in each city, but I wouldn't have wanted to do it any faster than we did. I feel like we were right in that happy medium with the amount of driving we did and the amount of time we spent in each city.

    I also have Cincinnati, OH area recs if you need those!

    Happy to answer any honeymoon road-trip questions :)

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  • Midwest2TexasMidwest2Texas member
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    If you're in the Texas area (central), make sure to stop at Rudy's for a BBQ experience like none other. I'm from Ohio and the first time I had it was the best experience because it was so different from what I thought of BBQ. There is one in Waco, but it's a small chain so there are other locations too.
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