Where to honeymoon?

Mrs. Dirtybird and I got married like 8 months ago. Because of my reserve duties/young daughter we had to cancel. She's letting me take this trip to the Fiesta bowl and to surprise her in the next few weeks I'm going to reveal plans for our honeymoon. Daughter is old enough to be left with grandparents now as well.

• We want to stay within the US.
• We already live on an island.
• We drive enough so road trips are out of the question.
• We do love the outdoors.
• Would prefer something with a cool/mild climate. We already get to see triple digit temps. I'm planning Aprilish.

Appalachian Trail?

Go to Yellowstone. Lot's of outdoor stuff to see.

mtn wrote: Appalachian Trail?

This would be cool. I will go a step farther, and say Asheville/Boone/Blowing Rock. Lots of cool outdoors things to do.

Otherwise, Vegas.

Who cares. You should be spending most your honeymoon in bed.

You live in the Keys?

I'd go somewhere with some serious mountains. Grand Tetons and Yellowstone would fit the bill.

New Orleans. That's my plan in May.

Jerry wrote: New Orleans. That's my plan in May.

Our daughter was most likely conceived there so we want to stay away for fear of having another!

I do like the idea of Yellowstone or Yosemite. The Redwoods in california as well would be awesome.

We did part of the Appalachian Trail while living in VA and that was awesome! There is plenty more to see as well. So awesome idea.

Great ideas so far!

I'd say USVI like I did, St John for me, but you mentioned the island thing not being that neat, so I dunno.

DirtyBird222 wrote:

Jerry wrote: New Orleans. That's my plan in May.

Our daughter was most likely conceived there so we want to stay away for fear of having another!

It may not be as high-profile, but we recently had a long weekend in Hocking Hills OH, and plan to go back soon. Plenty of outdoors stuff including caves and such.

tuna55 wrote: I'd say USVI like I did, St John for me, but you mentioned the island thing not being that neat, so I dunno.

I love island life, being close to the water is awesome; but, she has clearly stated doing something different. The keys are indeed a different animal and VI would be awesome, gotta make the wife happy with the surprise though lol.

Plus I think a national park will save me from tourist trap stores that she absolutely loves dragging me into. I know parks have them as well but not nearly as bad as lets say Key West.

Door County Wisconsin is kind of like 'The Hamptons' for people from Chicago, but less expensive. We had fun on our honeymoon there. It was supposed to be a mini-moon to relax after the wedding and then we could plan/save for our euro honeymoon, but it was a better time than either of us expected.

The Mrs. and I went to Oregon when we got married. We went there b/c we were just out of college and poor and could stay at a relative's home while they were gone on vacation. That said, I'd go again in a heartbeat. The Oregon coast is spectacular, and the rest of the state has everything from massive pine forest to portions of the Rocky Mountains to the high desert. (All within an hour or two of Eugene, where we ended up staying).

We also really enjoyed the Sedona, AZ area.

Congrats BTW.

You cannot go wrong in Alaska, fly into Anchorage rent a small motorhome and control your own destiny.

We're going to the 24 hours of Le Mans. I realize that doesn't help you...

DirtyBird222 wrote: I do like the idea of Yellowstone or Yosemite. The Redwoods in california as well would be awesome.

I'm not sure how accessible Yellowstone is in April if you're not wearing snow shoes. In Yosemite - unless we get another "snowless" winter like the last two - the higher elevations of the park will be inaccessible in April. Mind you, we haven't had much snow yet this winter so unless this changes, the higher elevations might be more accessible than usual.

If you do want to see the Redwoods that shouldn't be a problem, I'd recommend driving up from San Francisco to Eureka and stay there. Plenty of Redwoods up that way.

Yellowstone is open year round, and by April, it's pretty well plowed/clear of snow. I think there's only one entrance on the Wyoming side, so be mindful of that, and it's open seasonally. I HIGHLY recommend going there though, and staying in Jackson Hole. You can get a killer deal on great hotels there during that time of the year as it's just before the season starts to go into swing for summer, and is coming down from Winter. By late April, most of the snow is gone in the Valley, but you can still have some fun at higher elevations if you want to have a go at snowsports. Biggest problem is getting there: either fly into SLC and driver(5 hours, boring), or Fly into JH and get ticket raped. The Tetons still haunt my dreams.

Come to Vermont. You might catch a hill climb while here! Regardless, great scenery, attractions, and you could sneak up to Montreal in a heartbeat if you wanted to. Many B&Bs to choose from.

I just got back from Sedona. Went to Phoenix for the Fiesta bowl and had an extra day to drive around Arizona with my buddy before the red eye. Place was awesome looking. We only drove as we were trying to see as much as possible but we have family all around there so thats another thing - I want to avoid that at all costs. Because when you see family it's never really a vacation in my opinion lol.

I've considered vermont too; but, after this trip out west I'm hooked on seeing some high mountains and all that awesomeness. We may push back to May now. Had leave approved for Sebring and Daytona and will need April to regenerate some vacation days.

I vote Yellowstone as well.

I can't wait to go back and spend more time there.

I just got back from Rivera Maya in Mexico, and although I was skeptical leaving the country I had a blast. The people were very nice and accommodating, the foods and drink was awesome. Seeing the Mayan ruins was incredible. The flight to Cleveland was less then 3 hours.

I would love to go to Mehico or Nover Scotia. If I leave the country at this point I have to do paperwork for three separate entities and it's just not worth the hassle because if one says no then I planned a trip for nothing. Otherwise I would be going to Le Mans this year as well.

Alaska does look beautiful. Quick question. Anything to do in between Vegas and Yosemite? My family says you can do Vegas in a day and a half. Then knock out the grand canyon and hoover damn in half a day then make it somewhere else around that area. Just throwing that idea around because I know shes mentioned wanting to visit that place before and could easily knock that out then skip off to the outdoor adventure.

South of the Boarder in SC on I95!!

Suite!

ITB?