What's your summer vacation plans?
- Thread starter Fijimn
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Nothing crazy - we are just hitting it on the way from upstate NY en route to Boston. Stopping in Portland for 2 lights national park and the Lobster Shack.*
* edited to paste a link to the spot we like
Open April 9 – October 23 (12 pm-7 pm) – both indoor and outdoor dining are open!
lobstershacktwolights.com
Just got back from three days each in San Francisco and Napa. Heading to Newport, RI next month for my nephew's graduation. Spending a week in the Keys in August.
If you can catch The Zimmern List. He did an episode from Portland and some really good looking food places.Nothing crazy - we are just hitting it on the way from upstate NY en route to Boston. Stopping in Portland for 2 lights national park and the Lobster Shack.*
* edited to paste a link to the spot we like
Open April 9 – October 23 (12 pm-7 pm) – both indoor and outdoor dining are open!
For TV food host Andrew Zimmern, Portland is the city of fatherly love
An episode of 'The Zimmern List,' airing tonight, is all about his and his late father's favorite places in Maine.
www.pressherald.com
If you have the time, I recommend driving over to Providence and then swinging up through Newport and along the coast. Stopping in Plymouth. I'm sure you did that trip when you lived there. I was in Providence for two days and and decided to take the last flight out of Logan so I could meander up the coast. Loved checking out the little hamlets, getting fried clams and whoopie pies.
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Ok...soooo...after TX in June and Louisiana in July....I could probably shake free for a week or two in early August...just sayin'. 😁
We love Aruba. It’s outside of the hurricane belt and the Sargassum belt. Weather is perfect all year. There is a high rise section in the north, where all the action is. We prefer the low rise section south of there where things are laid back. We basically sit under the palapa all day, with occasional dips in the ocean. Then we walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner and drinks. Go to bed early, get up the next day and repeat.
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The house is pretty rustic, but it does have a nice sandy beach with clear water. It’s a relaxing time for me, because my wife and her sisters hang together and do all the cooking while the men just toss back beers back on the beach or under a tree near the house.
We were looking at doing a week in the Bahamas. Now we may pivot to another island. Don't want the family to catch the deads. Maybe USVI? Not sure.
Xcaret Arte, Mexico, this Friday. 2 week long trips to the Lake of the Ozarks and 2-3 shorter trips to Okoboji.
We're going to the Outer Banks in July. Avon, NC for sand, seafood and maybe some pier fishing.
I did one in 2016, my first cruise and had a blast. Flew to Fairbanks, down to Denali for a day, then took the train to Whittier for the boat. Stops at Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan, ended at Vancouver.
Jealous. I love Greece. I went to school in Thessaloniki for a semester abroad and have visited 4 other times. Beautiful country.
I've been here 18 years and haven't been to the Outer Banks yet
It seems like most of the rental places are meant for large groups, and it's just us, so we've done other trips.
One of these days.
Ok...save me a spot. Hell, I'll sleep (pass out) on the sandy beach!
Enjoy. I was lucky enough to play the Old Course along with the Jubilee Course. Enjoy some haggis along with some fine single malt.
I booked our place in February, it's a two bedroom that sleeps 6. When I was looking, on some advice from someone that has been many times, I stuck to Hatteras Island and there was quite a few options in out range.
Our goal was to be away from the more established tourism and crowded towns to the north. I'm sure our kids(5 & 11) would have liked to be in KDH or Nag's Head, but they're not paying so they can STFU.
That would have been more nice. I was trying to get everything done in one summer and Admin specialist was @ Jackson. AIT was a joke for me in the classroom. They were trying to teach people how to type.
The 5 mile runs were no joke though. I've never had lungs for long runs. Managed to be distinguished honor grad.
I've been to the Outer Banks about 10 times: Duck, Pine Island and some other places I'm forgetting.
It'd basically giant houses on the beach. It's OK but I'd choose the Bahamas instead.
Fortunately I was a distance runner in high school so the long runs weren’t so bad. The rest, whoa Nelly
So true. We have rented a condo on the North Shore for a week in August. We will pop back down to Duluth a few times. It has a neat food scene. Looking at booking a sail boat cruise. We did one last August, but the smoke from forest fires killed the views. Beyond that we will hike in some of the amazing parks they have up there during the week.
We have looked at buying a condo up there for retirement. It's fabulous if you love outdoor activities.
Yellowstone area for two weeks in June with mine and my brother's family.
July in WI at the lake house with my wife's family.
July in WI at the lake house with my wife's family.
Living in Iowa I never really understand why people leave in the summer when the weather is actually nice here. All of our vacations are in the winter to get the hell away from the cold.
Your vacations sound like our vacations.
Spent a long weekend in Cleveland last month. The city gets a bad rap from Pittsburghers like myself, but it has a lot to offer, especially if you like to eat and drink. If you go to a Guardians game, you can combine it with a pregame meal and/or beer at Great Lakes Brewing Co. They have an excellent restaurant to go along with their superb craft beer, nice outdoor dining option and a free shuttle to and from the ball park. I also recommend a visit to Little Italy if you like Italian food. Lots of dining choices there. Breakfast or brunch at Lucky's Cafe is a must, too.
We had plans summer of 2020 for 2 weeks in Greece (most of it on Rhodes, where my wife's father is from), but of course had to cancel. Haven't been able to reschedule. Maybe next summer.
Wife wants to do a long distance train. If you do any of the train trips you mention, I'd be interested in hearing about the experience.
Because there is also nice weather other places where there is way more things to do. At least you outed yourself as a boring fart
Most likely Vegas in august, I love the heat. About half dozen times to boji. 8 days in the Algarve Portugal
We are doing Marathon for Memorial weekend. Then Key West for a long weekend in August for our anniversary. we'll probably work in at least one more road trip and hopefully get out to Vegas in October.
In the summer there are a lot of fun things to do in the mid west, Chicago is awesome, lakes up in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Great stuff. I go to the Caribbean in the winter. Jamaica, Mexico, Saint Lucia.... that's when you get out of the mid west.
Good recommendations, I've had a few Great Lakes Brewing co beers and I do like going to breweries. My gf's (no pics) family is all from Greece and she spent about a month each summer there, just hadn't been back for several years. I did some initial flight searches a month or two back but was a bit discouraged by the prices, will look again and may just blow my points/miles.
I actually have done each of those routes twice each. Chicago to SF, Chicago to LA and Seattle/Portland to Chicago. All of them in what Amtrak calls a "Roomette", basically two chairs that face each other, they fold down into a bed, and on the top another bed folds down to sleep two. You can bring your own booze onto the train if in a sleeper car.
It's fairly comfortable during the day for two and quite a bit cozier at night. Within your train car are a couple of showers and a few toilets in the lower level. Each of your meals are also included in the price of the ticket, and the meals in the dining car are actually pretty quality given the context and a bit of fun given the context.
There's also a nice sightseeing car with floor to ceiling windows, different seating styles, kind of lounger type chairs and also bench/table set ups. The lower deck of this car has snacks and beverages.
There's a few things people should consider before taking a long distance train. It's definitely not faster than flying (duh), it's likely not cheaper (definitely not in a roomette) and it's possible and not unlikely to be delayed. I've seen people's first train experience completely sour because they were unprepared for a delay, vowing to never return.
You basically need to consider the time on the train part of the vacation and overall experience and not just a means from A to B. That's pretty easy for me in a roomette with great views.
If you've made it this far: the California Zephyr is my favorite route and I would say the consensus most beautiful route. Chicago to Denver across Iowa and Nebraska isn't so great, but from Denver to San Francisco (well, Emeryville) is fantastic through the Rockies and Sierra Nevadas. Mountain passes, switchbacks, long tunnels, Donner Lake, etc.
Accordingly, if you just want to dip your toes in, the best way to do it would be to fly to Denver, then train to San Francisco and fly home from there. It leaves Denver early in the morning and you get to SF the next afternoon.
We are going to the black hills and Massachusetts/Vermont. I don't really want to visit those places during the winter months. But since you don't understand why, maybe I'll move the east coast trip to January so we can walk the freedom trail in a blizzard.
I've always enjoyed your posts, seemed like you're a nice guy.
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