Tell me about your last non-Disney vacation in the US! - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Wow what a road trip, how long were you actually away from home?
All told we were gone about 7 weeks. Although we had a great time, we made it back about 2 1/2 weeks before school started and the kids totally felt "cheated" out of their summer. They say not again, but I would totally drive out to see our family again, just maybe take a more direct route.
Seems like lots of people like the east coast! We drove from MN to Virginia Beach with a stop in colonial Williamsburg. Spent 3 nights in VB at Hampton overlooking the ocean. Walked the boardwalk, played in the ocean, ate a lot of seafood and watched the military planes (big naval? base there). From there we drove up over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (long bridge, tunnel over and under the water - several miles long) and drove through Delaware to Hershey Pennsylvania - the whole town smells like chocolate! We also spent a day in Lancaster PA touring the Amish area and buying furniture and crafted goods before driving home by way of Gettsyburg and seeing this historical area - fun trip - mountains, oceans, history and great food!
Since my oldest child is in Texas, my last three vacations have been to Austin and then twice to Houston. My last visit to Houston we stayed at the Omni Hotel Houston in October. I got the hotel on hotwire for $80./night and it was really lovely. I joined Omni Selects which gave of free beverages every morning and we added a bagel or croissant and had breakfast in the room for under $5./day.
We went to the Butterfly Garden, Health Museum and Zoo as well as walking around Memorial Park and taking DS son's dog to the dog park. We also spent a bit of time just hanging out with Ds, watching movies, etc. We had one day of heavy rain-I think the first in Houston since my previous trip in Jan. 11.
I am growing to really like Houston. We have found some great restaurants with very good prices.
When my kids were young we always did a week on Cape Cod (usually Brewster-Ocean Edge REsort is our favorite) and then as they grew up and the Cape became too crowded, we discovered New Brunswick. I know not the US but close. We spent time in the Hopewell area, the St. John area and our favorite place-Grand Manan Island. I love the people of New Brunswick-the most hospitable place I have traveled.
What is that? No, seriously we did go to Texas this summer to visit family for 10 days with a side stop for Sea World and Schlitterbahn Water Park and of course the Alamo. It was our first non-Disney vacation since 2007.
DH had to use up quite a bit of vacation time before the 1st of Oct. last year, so we had a couple of mini-vacations in Sept.:
1. Myrtle Beach. Not NEARLY as tacky as I had always believed it was. We stayed for 5 nights at the Atlantic Breeze Ocean Resort in North MB (www.oceanaresorts.com). We got a 3 bdrm. condo, ocean-front, for $115 a night, so a great deal. We spent a couple days on the beach, did some shopping and ate at Margaritaville (www.broadwayatthebeach.com), went to a great little reptile zoo (www.alligatoradventure.com), and went to the spectacular Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC (www.brookgreen.org). Nice relaxing time. DD and I had spent some time in the area a couple years ago with my family, and I actually really like it there, especially the Murrells Inlet area.
2. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN. This used to be a day-trip for us as DH and I grew up in East TN, but we only make it over there every couple years when we happen to be passing through. We stayed 5 nights, and rented a cabin through Jackson Mountain Homes - HIGHLY recommended (www.jacksonmountainhomes.com). Our cabin was located in the Great Smoky Mountain Arts and Crafts Community, beautiful area. We went to the new Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge (www.titanicpigeonforge.com), which was kind of boring and I thought was waaay over-priced. We also went to an exotic petting zoo, which DD LOVED (www.deerfarmzoo.com). My MIL drove from her house about 1.5 hours away and stayed 2 nights so DH and I could go out, so we played mini-golf and walked "The Strip" in Gatlinburg. Mostly we just hung out at the cabin. It would have been nice to go to the Natl. Park, but no way was I gonna brave it near a holiday with little ones in tow.
Wow....... I always thought these things were like the Ghost Stories that you tell around the camp fire........."The door at the end of the long dark hallway creaked slowly open and when the lights came on you realized you were not at Disney World for your vacation...AHHHHHHHH"
That being said, every year I typically spend a week or two in Orange Beach, Alabama and I also love going to New Orleans to play tourist.
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Professor Whistleteeth
Last edited by Professor_Whistleteeth; 01-13-2012 at 03:39 PM..
Our last non-Disney vacation was last summer. We had to got to Detroit for a family obligation (niece's graduation) and didn't want to drive there and back without seeing something. So we made it into a road trip --
stopped at the Reagan home in Dixon IL
drove along the old Lincoln Highway
stopped at Purdue, for old time's sake
Indianapolis -- the Benjamin Harrison home, Indy Speedway tour
stayed at the Crowne Plaza in an old Pullman car. That was cool
Wilbur Wright's birthplace
Air Force Museum in Dayton
stopped at the inlaws in Ohio
spent a night at a water park near Sandusky
stayed with family in Michigan
came home
I am late chiming in but we have been to South Dakota twice and LOVE it. As long as you don't go when the biker rally is on.
We went there for over a wk. We drove. Didn't do much around Mount Rushmore the 2nd time, but you can see that from the road. They have so many wonderful things to do as a family and very close together. I love Rapid City as well as Hill City. We went to the caves, the alpine slides, amongst other things. A very nice trip and the kids loved it.
I am looking at the West Coast maybe, maybe this summer. I would love to go to the East Coast as well and have a clam bake someday.
1) Where did you go? Portage, Indiana to visit the Indiana Dunes
2) How long did you stay? 2 nights
3) Where did you stay? Country Inns and Suites Portage
4) What did you do? Waded in Lake Michigan, made sandcastles, watched a major storm come in over Lake Michigan, saw Chicago skyline from Dunes, visited the huge Bass Pro Shop and ate at Islamorada Fish Company.
5) How did you like it? Loved it, we are ready to go back.
Location: Texas Baby!!!! Where Else would anyone wana live
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Technically, I classify this as a vacation...DGF, DS, DGF's Son, and my youngest daughter went to Houston this past November. We went to a renaissance (think i spelled it wrong) festival, and NASA, well, Johnson Space Center. It was a weekend trip, and we stayed with my best friend (since 6th grade), in Katy, TX. It was a very relaxing trip, and we were there for about 4 days. We have plans on going back to the festival next year. I secretly want to get a kilt...not just any kilt, a law enforcement kilt. My brother has been wanting one, so my sister bought him one for Christmas. It was awesome seeing people going all out with costumes and dressed up like Roman soldiers, barbarians, knights, and little pixies. All in all, it was a great trip, and the first of many more to come.
Our next trip that we have planned, is WDW. Shortly after that, i want to try and take a westward trip. I would like to see NM and Grand Canyon....hopefully next year we can make it happen.
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Last edited by Charlie97; 01-18-2012 at 01:11 AM..
Disney is our once a year fun trip, But we have done a few long weekend trips,for daughters travel soccer. Not sure where the long trip will be this year,last year was north of Chicago
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"Raindrops taste like tears without the pain"
1186 miles from Home
1) Where did you go?Boothbay Harbor, Maine
2) How long did you stay?5 days
3) Where did you stay?Spruce Point Inn
4) What did you do?Enjoyed resort (had great kids program), Botanical Gardens, Shopping and eating lobster.
5) How did you like it?Loved it. Would totally go again.
Vacations? I don' get no steenkin' vacations! They're research trips!
It ain't quite the U.S.A, but... 3 nights in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 3 nights in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Where I stayed didn't matter - since they're ports of call instead of ports of embarkation (for DCL), I went for the best deals and compromised on creature comforts.
What did I do? Jammed 10 days of vacationing into 6 full days and 2 half-days of touring. Here's an example from my blog.
How'd I like it? Very highly recommended (although at a significantly slower pace)! Lots of seafood, and who needs more than that?
Then, there was the trip before that (Seattle), the two cruises before that (Disney Dream), the Vancouver/Alaska cruise trip before that... Come on, DCL, keep going to fabulous new destinations! (Couldn't quite justify a trip to Hawaii, though).
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1) Where did you go? Great Smoky Mountains, TN
2) How long did you stay? one week
3) Where did you stay? some off name hotel on the strip in Pigeon Forge, TN
4) What did you do? Hiked the Smokies, swam in a crystal clear mountain river (complete with rapids)
5) How did you like it? We loved it. We would go again. The Aquarium in Gatlinburg is fabulous, but the best part was finding the "locals" swimming area in the Smokies. We used tubes and went through "rapids." The water was crystal clear and cold and the boys had the best time. So much better than just a swimming pool. They fished for trout and we cooked them for dinner. Go off the beaten path in the Smoky Mountains and you'll find beautiful adventures!
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