Anniversary Travel Ideas

[HawaiianShirts]

Mrs. Shirts and I will be celebrating our tenth anniversary this coming August. Her parents have generously offered to watch Little Shirts and Baby Shirts for a while. So, we want to take a trip, but we don't have a huge amount of money to throw around. I'm collecting a few ideas in case we can't go any farther than our home state. I still thought it might be a good idea to reach out to my CS.com friends for some tips.

We'd like to fly somewhere and stay for about five days. We don't want big cities. We like to visit local restaurants and shops and community theaters. We enjoy small towns and forest hikes and beaches. We're not interested in spa treatments, golf, or wineries, but we are bibliophiles, so book shops or literary landmarks would be interesting.

We would like to stay in the United States, but we'd like to go somewhere east of the Rockies (we've had our fill of Montana / Wyoming / Colorado / New Mexico / Texas for now) and avoid the states that get particularly hot and/or humid in August.

I was thinking of going to Maine and renting a car to drive through some small towns there and in Vermont and New Hampshire. That's the only idea I've had so far, though, and I haven't even bothered to work out the details of it yet.

Any suggestions?

[MoonCat]

Well, believe it or not there's a lot to do in Buffalo, if you're not against flying to the Eastern US.

http://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/t...entDate#events

In August the Erie County Fair will take place from 8/12 to 8/23. If you're renting a car it's not hard to get there from any of the hotels around town or in the suburbs.

Lots of parks nearby if you're into hiking. Canalside on Lake Erie has stuff going on in the summer including concerts, boat tours, or you can rent waterboards, waterbikes, etc. (canalsidebuffalo.com has more info) The naval & military park is there, too, and has a couple of actual warships from WW II (The Sullivans & The Little Rock) plus a museum.

There are ghost walks in town, also; and the Elmwood/Allentown area has a ton of restaurants, boutiques (all price ranges), "boho" places, bars, etc. If you're into architecture, there's a lot of Victorian houses and some buildings by famous architects including Frank Lloyd Wright. Oh yeah, the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts happens the last full weekend of August. It's just one street so not too much to walk; local artisans, mostly, as well as cultural and enviromental booths, regular and vegetarian/vegan foods, music, etc.

It's warm/hot in August, generally, but not too humid, and the nights are usually in the 60s/70s so very comfy for sleeping.

New hotels are sprouting like weeds, so there's always some place nice to stay, including a new Marriott about a block away from Canalside.

Just sayin'!

[AnaKhouri]

How funny- our tenth anniversary is also this August, and we are planning to ditch the sons and go somewhere as well. Though we are in the Eastern US and want to drive. Husband wants to go to the beach so he has suggested Beaufort, SC though it is nowhere near firm.

I would suggest Savannah, GA for you. Beautiful old town, not far from the beach, with a rich literary history (read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for more on that).

[Teefies2]

You could drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. I did it with my parents as a kid and it's beautiful. It won't be tooo hot and there are lots of areas to see/explore, as well as sufficient accomodations - whether you want to camp or hotel it. You could also do Boston, they have a great walking tour of major historical sites and of course plenty of accomodations.

[Teysa]

The prices aren't out yet, but I can get you and your wife friends and family pricing on one of the cruise lines we deal with on the train. The prices last Summer ran between $199 and $499 for an Alaskan cruise. August is a good time to visit too. It's not at all hot and some of the leaves are starting to change. PM me when it gets a bit closer and I'll be able to give you more information.

[HawaiianShirts]

Well, believe it or not there's a lot to do in Buffalo, if you're not against flying to the Eastern US

I'm not opposed to going east at all. Like many other western-states residents, I tend to forget that there's more to New York than New York City. Buffalo sounds like it could be fund.

How funny- our tenth anniversary is also this August, and we are planning to ditch the sons and go somewhere as well.

Well, a happy anniversary to you, too. Is Savannah big enough to have an airport, or would I have to land in Atlanta or some other big city and drive the rest of the way?

You could drive the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Road trip!

The prices last Summer ran between $199 and $499 for an Alaskan cruise.

That's not a bad price range for a cruise. I've often thought about visiting Alaska. I'll have to convince Mrs. Shirts, though. She did an Alaskan cruise with her grandparents when she was in high school, so it may take some effort to convince her to do another one.

[MoonCat]

I've heard those Alaskan cruises are pretty neat. It's certainly something different from the lower 48!

[Gilhelmi]

Topeka, KS.

OK, so you can not fly into Topeka. But land in KC and drive 2 hours (Kansas, driving is part of the experience ).

About 30 min east (on I-70/tollroad) you come to Lecompton. A small town, that sparked the embers of the American Civil War. The 3rd Kansas Constitution was attempted there (Dam Missourians crossing the boarders and voting in OUR elections ) and a small battlefield from the "Bleeding Kansas" period (guess what, when Kansan Militia were posted on the Missourian boarder, during the second vote on that Constitution, it failed by a wide margin. Dam slavers.).

In Topeka itself, they have the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education museum. Very nice, very modern. It is a National Museum, ran by the Parks service.

Kansas Museum of Natural History (surprisingly, no mention of creationism Double points if you get that old reference). Very nice as well, going into much of the history of Kansas going back millions of years.

Of course, the State Capitol building, with its beautiful murals.

Then, depending on how far you want to travel, there are sites to see all throughout Kansas. From the worlds largest hand dug well (Greensburg, KS). To Nicodemus, KS, where former slaves founded a town and caused the land around them to bloom. Then the Sternburg museum (a world class natural history museum) and the Museum in Goodland with a replica of the first helicopter in America .

Kansas is beautiful, I highly recommend it to anyone.

[AccountingDrone]

I'm not opposed to going east at all. Like many other western-states residents, I tend to forget that there's more to New York than New York City. Buffalo sounds like it could be fund.
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And if you are willing to rent a car and do some driving, Buffalo is a couple hours drive from Toronto, and also about the same amount of drive time to Letchworth State Park, the 'Grand Canyon of the East'. Most of the touristy stuff is closed in the off season, but it is a great place to drive around and stop at the various overlooks and do pictures and such.

If you hit the virtual tour, I have actually walked across that railroad bridge in the background ... though it is illegal to do it I will not recommend you do the same. And on the other side of the bridge, halfway down the gorge walls is a great cave, but it has been locked off by a steel gate because it has some sort of rare bat living in it. At the base of one of the falls is another series of caves t is not recommended you climb down to - the rangers are tired of having to climb down and haul bodies back up.

But Toronto is much safer and has restaurants and other touristy stuff, and along the way you can stop in Niagara Falls and look at the falls. I have actually been to the falls twice, once when they were turned off for repairs

[MoonCat]

AccountingDrone, those are good points too! Letchworth is gorgeous, there are hiking trails, an interesting museum, and the Glen Iris Inn is right in the park and looks right over the falls.

Getting to Torono is pretty easy from Buffalo. Just hop onto the Peace Bridge (you need passports, sad to say, since 2001) to get to Canada and Toronto's about a 90 minute drive away.

[wolfie]

I've heard those Alaskan cruises are pretty neat. It's certainly something different from the lower 48!

A few things to keep in mind about Alaskan cruises. First, you'll need a passport. True, Alaska is part of the U.S., but virtually all of the cruises depart from Vancouver, B.C., which is in Canada. Second, it's virtually certain that there will be only one port visit in Alaska. Both are the result of the Jones Act, which imposes (expensive) restrictions on ships that travel between 2 U.S. ports.

[HawaiianShirts]

Kansas is beautiful, I highly recommend it to anyone.

That actually sounds like fun. I have to admit that I rarely think of Kansas as a destination for anything. I've also heard that August is a good time to explore county and state fairs throughout the plains states. I may have to investigate that as well.

...and also about the same amount of drive time to Letchworth State Park, the 'Grand Canyon of the East'.

That park looks beautiful! We like camping, but I'm not about to haul tents and such across the country. That inn looks very nice, but probably out of our budget, so maybe I can find a small cabin or something...

First, you'll need a passport. True, Alaska is part of the U.S., but virtually all of the cruises depart from Vancouver, B.C., which is in Canada.

I found some that leave from Seattle, which is close to us, but I hadn't thought about needing a passport for stops in Canada. Good point!

[wolfie]

I found some that leave from Seattle, which is close to us, but I hadn't thought about needing a passport for stops in Canada.

The ones leaving from Seattle will either be on a U.S. registered ship (more expensive to run than a "flag of convenience" ship) or not make ANY port visits in Alaska (you'd see the sights, but not pull into port). Legally, only a U.S. registered ship can travel between 2 U.S. ports. If a ship makes 2 or more port visits in Alaska, it's probably going to leave from Seattle, since a U.S. registered ship would already be needed for the trip.

[Teysa]

Holland American is the cruise line I have in mind. Princess offers friends and family deals too but I'd have to be on the ship with you. Don't think you'd want that. You would most likely leave out of either Vancouver or Seward. If you leave out of Seward, you will take the train from Anchorage. The train ride, by the way, is well worth it. You'll see several glaciers, have a good chance of seeing wildlife, and you may even see some Beluga whales. (I might be able to help with the land tour part too, but I can't promise anything there.)

[Jester]

From my experiences traveling the U.S., both Portland and Savannah would be well-suited to your needs. Savannah will of course be hotter and more humid than Portland, but both are lovely places, and have plenty to offer besides the usual tourist nonsense, which you seem to want to avoid. Also, Portland has one of the two greatest bookstores ever, Powell's. Seattle is also pretty much awesome sauce.

Normally I pimp the hell out of my home state of Arizona and my adopted state of Florida, but those places in August? Ouch. An oven and a sauna, respectively.

Although, in Arizona you could always do the whole Flagstaff/Sedona/Prescott thing. As they are up north in the mountains, they do not have the scorching heat typical of the desert cities that time of year. And there is plenty to do and see there, beyond just the Grand Canyon. (By the way, the Grand Canyon WILL be scorching that time of year.) Of course, if you were flying in, you'd flying into Phoenix, but it's easy to just hop into the rental car and race north out of the Valley of the Sun.

Cape Cod is also awesome that time of year, though probably not all that cheap.

That's about all I have.