My parents have offered to watch the kids for one week so my husband and I can get away and I need some help deciding on where to go. Here are our restrictions:
-We have to go in May (first or second week) -We have to go somewhere in the USA because I don't have time to get a new passport (or do I?)...
Some other things to consider: -We are in our early/mid thirties -We love to be busy while on vacation (no lying on the beach for us-too boring) -We both love to shop -We like luxury hotels (but for the best price possible) or small, charming country inns -We live in Ohio (if that matters) -We are taking the kids to Disneyworld later in the year (so we can't spend TONS of money) and we also may drive to New Mexico with the kids this summer
So...with all that said, I have a few ideas. Please tell me what you think...
Option 1- Take a cruise. We have never done a cruise. I'm really thinking about trying one. Do you think we would like it? Can anyone recommend a great cruiseline or ship?
Option 2-Go to Hawaii. We have been to Hawaii twice already (once to Oahu, one to the Big Island). Hubby found a great deal on tickets ($450 RT) to Oahu (would love to go to Maui but the tickets are several hundred more to Maui).
Option 3-Go to New York City (and have about $1,000 extra to spend on shopping!). Tickets to NYC are super cheap from where I am so we would have cash to spare but I always think of NYC (or Chicago) as a good long weekend getaway (not a week-long vacation).
Option 4-Go somewhere else totally-suggestions??? (Other places we've never been together are: Seattle, Boston, Miami)
Just some food for thought if you really want to go to Maui is that you can get a pretty good deal on interisland tickets if you stay on Oahu. Most of the time it's about $80pp round trip but sometimes you can get them as low as $25-60pp roundtrip.
Personally, I'm aching to go back to Vegas but I'd jump on a plane to NYC in a heartbeat!
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Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes.
Mary Martin
If the only thing keeping you from going out of the country is your passport, you can pay $60 extra to get it expedited. The State Dept. website says it takes approx. 6 weeks to get a new passport, but could be longer depending on their workload. Expedited service would get you a new passport in about 2 weeks. I did this a few years ago because I had to go to the UK on short notice and it worked, I got my passport in less than a month. http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_831.html
If you want to stay w/in the US, I've heard Seattle is a really fun city. Or maybe you could take a trip to CA wine country? There are a lot of nice hotels and restaurants there.
how about Southern California? You could do San Diego and then take a ferry and spend a couple of days on Catalina Island. I think that's still considered preseason so it won't be so busy, and it's really beautiful there. There are a lot of fun things to do in both places.
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
For busy go getter shopping vactioners like yourself , here would be my picks -
1. San Fransisco. (tons to eat, walk, shop, nightlife, totally awesome!)
2. Ny NY . One of my fav cities in the entire world. Never a dull moment. Besides may would be a great time to go!
3. San Diego (my home!) you would need to rent a car, but there is alot to do. Shopping, surfing, nightlife, wine tasting, hiking trails , you name it we have it.
I vote San Francisoco. So beautiful - wonderful shopping, wonderful restarants, great night life and very romantic, Plenty to sightsee too- drive to Napa or Sonoma in your rental car for a day, Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz is spooky, fisherman's wharf is fun.