STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

laken1 · Hermes

Where do you like to go?

relrel · Marc Jacobs

i don't really have much to add in the way of cool places to go because i haven't really been many places, but i will say that the finger lakes region of new york is fantastic. i love camping so that's what we did there, but im sure there are great bed and breakfast type places. my sisters (three of them) my mom, and i went camping up there about four years ago. we didn't have any plan, just a map to get us from our area of pa to that area of ny, then we just drove around, changing campsites every night (you really have to like camping to do that) and going wherever. there are great little wineries/vineyards up there too to visit.

on another note...my parents do the whole driving around with no plan thing all the time. they love antiquing and will just decide on saturday to spend the whole day driving, will get up really early, seven or so and just drive out some random highway looking for small towns to visit. they swear they always find the best pieces (be it pottery or frames or whatever) when they are just wondering around. note: my parents are in thier early early fifties and still in love. the saturday antique drives are like all day dates to them.

i've always wanted to drive out to north/south dakota, for some reason that area fascinates me. perhaps its the emptiness. ive lived on the east coast my whole life and there are just too many people who live here.

Andrea Julia · Coach

I can't think of anyplace off the beaten track that I've been in the US, but I just wanted to say I'm just like you! I want to visit random places in the US with no plan or reason. I always say I want to go to Kansas or Oklahoma just because I've never been there. I mean, there must be stuff to do there and it is probably cheap (at least cheaper than going to a major US city or tourist trap). I think that just being in a different environment would be fun: going to different stores and restaurants and taking walks down different streets. I just want to find some really nice hotel and stay there and act like I live in the area for a few days. Also, I have thought about taking a road trip to the unknown, just driving and taking whatever road "feels right" and stopping when I see something interesting.

Maddie · Coach

I think almost every place has its charms. I really love eastern Washington and Idaho.

The drive from Seattle to Idaho has some amazing scenery. There's these huge plains and rolling hills that I think are cool, and some awesome geology particularly around the Columbia river. And there are all these random places I always stop. The petrified gingko forest museum. This restaurant in George, WA (get it? haha) that makes a giant cherry pie on George's birthday every year. These huge sculptures of horses running on top of some random hill along I-90. I drive back and forth from there all the time and know all the places along the highway. People are also just real friendly and easy going and nice.

Then Idaho is just amazing. It's gorgeous and uninhabited, plus my family's from there since forever so it's cool cause everyone knows everyone. I love feeling like a local there, and again knowing all the places to go.

I'm also getting to know Maine and starting to warm to it.

shopgirl82 · Chanel

i love santa fe/taos (i'm sure dc could go on about santa fe too), yellowstone (and surrounding areas like jackson hole and bozeman), austin, and i can't wait to check out the new england area next.

JoceyBaby23 · Gucci

Key West is my favorite place in Florida.. Inner Harbor (Baltimore) is my favorite place in Maryland.

Beach towns in Delaware.. Lewis, Dewey etc. are awesome.

I am a huge fan of downtown Chicago..

Outer Banks towns in NC are breathtaking..

New England is also a favorite of ours.. You must see Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket sometime in your lifetime.

And of course where I live.. Amish Country.. Lancaster County in PA is quite interesting. You can shop and tour the countryside by taking a house and buggy ride.. Its pretty interesting.

-- Edited by JoceyBaby23 at 10:22, 2005-11-29

jj · Kate Spade

There are so many great places to visit and meander through in the US! I hate the "getting there" part of a vacation, and your post has made me think about lightening up and enjoying the process. Could be a new years resolution! Some of my favorite places are:

Jackson, Wyoming. I've never been in the summer, only the winter, and it's so beautiful. You don't even mind the cold! Once we drove an hour outside of Jackson to the continental divide and spent the day dogsledding. We took a "road" that could only be travelled by dogsled or snowmobile, and had lunch at a stunning lodge in the middle of nowhere. The drive there and back was unbelievable.

Sedona, Arizona. The pink jeep tours are so much fun, the scenery is incredible, and there is great hiking along Oak Creek Canyon. It's also a holistic medicine/artist colony type place, so there are lots of herbal medicine shops and art galleries to browse through.

The northern part of Michigan's lower peninsula. A great drive is along lake Michigan from Mackinac Island (chock full of historical activities and no cars allowed - only horses and bikes!) to the sleeping bear dunes. Again, another amazing drive with tons of cute towns, scenery and history. When we go to Mackinac, I always make my husband rent a tandem bike. It's just so silly!

luckylily · Gucci

One of my favorite vacations was when my ex bf and I drove down the Washington and Oregon coast into the Redwoods in Northern Cal. We then drove back thru Eastern OR and WA. We stopped at every cheesy tourist destination along the way (there are a lot), and we had so much fun. In addition to the amazing beaches and sea life we saw on the way down, we visited the Redwoods, Crater Lake, Mt. St. Helens and Grand Coulee Dam. We ate great food in tiny little towns and did some great hikes.

I've also driven thru the SW, Santa Fe to Pheonix to Vegas, and that was also really fun. It would have been more fun if it wasn't 114 degrees the whole time.

Altho I love a good beach or exotic city vacation, I think a fun vacation is really about the people you spend it with.

shopgirl82 · Chanel

jj wrote:

There are so many great places to visit and meander through in the US! I hate the "getting there" part of a vacation, and your post has made me think about lightening up and enjoying the process. Could be a new years resolution! Some of my favorite places are: Jackson, Wyoming. I've never been in the summer, only the winter, and it's so beautiful. You don't even mind the cold! Once we drove an hour outside of Jackson to the continental divide and spent the day dogsledding. We took a "road" that could only be travelled by dogsled or snowmobile, and had lunch at a stunning lodge in the middle of nowhere. The drive there and back was unbelievable. Sedona, Arizona. The pink jeep tours are so much fun, the scenery is incredible, and there is great hiking along Oak Creek Canyon. It's also a holistic medicine/artist colony type place, so there are lots of herbal medicine shops and art galleries to browse through. The northern part of Michigan's lower peninsula. A great drive is along lake Michigan from Mackinac Island (chock full of historical activities and no cars allowed - only horses and bikes!) to the sleeping bear dunes. Again, another amazing drive with tons of cute towns, scenery and history. When we go to Mackinac, I always make my husband rent a tandem bike. It's just so silly!

i love all of these suggestions. i agree. sedona is nice, then you can drive to flagstaff and the grand canyon.

in michigan i like mackinac island, and traverse city.

in wisconsin door county is really nice too.

Maddie · Coach

luckylily wrote:

Altho I love a good beach or exotic city vacation, I think a fun vacation is really about the people you spend it with.

So true.

Mia · Kate Spade

What Maddie said in her first post. My family and I went on a road-trip type vacation around eastern Washington state, Idaho and a bit of Montana a few years back and it was great - really out-of-the-way, lots of beautiful, clean lakes with not too many people etc. I loved it.

jen · Kate Spade

Well Zurich, Switerland was my favorite place to visit. But although this may sound stupid, Disney World is just the best. It holds such a special place in my heart, you simply cannot be sad there! I've been to the Bahamas a few times (Atlantis) which is beautiful but a bit stuffy for me.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

I don't enjoy traveling in the US, but I love travelling by myself in Europe, with no set plan. That's why Eurail passes are so great. I like the freedom of being able to stop wherever and whenever I feel like it, and I enjoy traveling by myself because I never have to do what other people want. I also found that people who travel with me tend to feel left out since they can't speak French, and are therefore left out of those conversations.

I'm contemplating a trip to Egypt right now, but I don't know anyone who wants to go/who is willing to spend the money, so I might be going on this 2 week tour by myself...

joy0302 · Kate Spade

Jen I totally agree with you. Disney World is my absolute favorite place to go. I go almost every year I love it so much. I have visited alot of great places, but Florida and Disney is the best IMO. For a quick trip I love to go to Austin. It is only a couple of hours and a nice place with pretty scenery and really cool people.

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

My favorite state to visit is California or Hawaii. I really love London too. I don't think I've ever been on vacation to a place off the beaten path, though I hope I get to sometime soon.

turtledove · Nine West

I'm from the midwest...but my family is from all over. I believe every state has something amazing to offer, you just have to look.

Stergis is a must, I know it probably sounds crazy, but seeing all those motorcycles and everything is a once-in-a-lifetime : )

Colorado is my favorite state, the montains are amazing and breathtaking. Try to go to the little ski towns, they are all so cool.

The Badlands in South Dakota are interesting, once I visited the begining of a river in Nebraska (the coolest thing EVER), I love the east coast...all the cute towns, Cambridge, MA is one of my favorites.

Man, there is just so much, I don't think the "road trip" is what it used to be. People just want to get where they're going and fast. I'd get a book on roadtripping, they can let you in on a lot of good insight.

laken1 · Hermes

Everyone has such great ideas, I'm ready for another trip already! We are going to Destin from Baton Rouge the day after Christmas & my DH told me we could stop along the way - go see the battleship in Mobile. Just a reminder that I've been to Florida about a trillion times & have never stopped there - crazy! He also reminded me that by starting this thread & researching I am technically making a list which is contrary to the whole idea of stopping spontaneously!

Oh well, my OCD is showing...