Help us pick our next vacation spot!

How about Key West? That is one place that is on my bucket list. The Pirate Museum, the Hemmingway House, the Ghost Tour, the lighthouses, beaches, the haunted Hard Rock Cafe. I haven’t been there, but I hear there is a lot of night life if you want it.

New Orleans can be very romantic and fun, especially around Mardi Gras time. The hotels in the French Quarter open up on beautiful and cool courtyards and cafes and quaint shops line the streets. The weather should be tolerable and the culture is rich in things to do! Have fun…

Atlanta may be what you are looking for. You can learn to drive race cars, visit 6 flags, the Coca Cola experience and lots of other stuff from fast paced to self guided tours you can take at your own pace when you want to slow down.

What about Tampa, FL? There are beaches, Busch Gardens (zoo, roller coasters), canoes, MOSI – largest museum of science and industry in the southeast, The Henry B. Plant museum, boat tours, and Lowry Park Zoo. Depending on the time of year, you might be able to attend a baseball or football game.

Personally, this is where I wanted to go this year. Hubby wants Savannah (which seems really boring).

New Orleans, Key West…both great suggestions. (I’m resisting the cry of Blackfish(film)

Skiing in the Alps.

Take a cruise.

Key West or New Orleans are great choices. Avoid the peak of summer. The heat and humidity are awful.
I’m an engineer and know that relative humidity can’t go above 100% but I’m pretty sure it was 200% when I was down there one summer.

Well, I guess San Francisco is out, this California girl doesn’t know anything about the southeast. lol
New Orleans sounds great to me.

I think New Orleans during Mardi Gras might be a little too wild for us – we’re young, but we aren’t the “go out and get wasted” type of people. Or even the “be around a bunch of drunk idiots” type. I looked into Key West and found that hotel rooms were about $350/night. Wow. That’s $1400 just for the room. We didn’t even pay that much for our suite in Orlando during our honeymoon. And I don’t want to stay in a crappy hotel for $150/night – I’m not willing to pay that much to sleep with roaches and be miles away from the beach.

@Coloma I’d go to San Diego in a second if I could afford it. I’m sure San Francisco is great as well, but it’s out of our price range.

@Tachys A possibility, for sure. Neither of us have ever been on one. We’ve just heard bad things, so we’d have to make sure we pick the right one.

I would not go to N.O. during Mardi Gras. Too busy, too expensive, too crowded. A couple of weeks before or after is a much better idea. Or…..

If you need to go during the summer how about looking at Western NY or the Finger Lakes? Stay at a B&B, Visit wineries, or rent a cabin at Letchworth (maybe they are already taken). The area is gorgeous. If that is full you can find a place to stay near Zoar Valley and investigate the primal forest. If it’s hot day you can walk in the river and swim in the pools formed by the dozens of various sized waterfalls. The place is a hidden gem that is empty most of the time. It would be new world for you – rural western NY. Who knew?

After my trip to Nashville it easily became my second place in the world (after the west highlands if Scotland!!). I’m not a big drinker but could have spent weeks just bar hopping to listen to the various bands/singers and going to the Grand Ole Opry for a tour backstage and to take in the show was a dream come true for me. Of course, that really only works if you are big into the country music scene!!

I also really enjoyed my stay in New Orleans and we took a boat trip into the swamps and saw the alligators, that was amazing!!

I wish I could have spent more time in Austin, Texas. I love history and paranormal sightings so I would have loved to have spent more time there exploring that side of it. I loved all the unique, little shops (I’m not big into shopping but I love quirky boutiques and antique shops).

I’m planning to visit South Carolina this year, you’ll have to recommend the must sees/dos in the area :)

@Leanne1986 interesting that you enjoyed Austin. I do my best to avoid having to pass through it and have never really ever considered it a vacation spot. I guess familiarity breeds contempt.

@rojo I loved how weird Austin was, it was creepy in a thrilling way for me. I understand though, I live very close to Stonehenge which people come from miles away to see. For me, it is just a cause of heavy traffic and accidents!!!

The Tampa suggestion by @Juels brought me back to Orlando. Disney, Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, and close enough to go to Busch Gardens Tampa. And I found resorts with great reviews at $120–130/night. We may just end up reliving our honeymoon.

If we don’t have the money for a big vacation like this, we’ll just have to settle for Myrtle Beach. I’ve actually never been, but Charleston bores me and the beach isn’t enough to excite me, nor is the Ripley’s Aquarium (we went to the one in Gatlinburg and it wasn’t so great), so we’re going to try to save as much money as we can.

We haven’t actually decided on Orlando, but I can’t seem to find anything else that seems attractive to me. Places like New Orleans, Savannah, and Nashville are great for certain types of people, but I’m just a kid on the inside and I want to swim with dolphins and ride roller coasters. So sue me. :)

Keep the suggestions coming, though. I’d love to find another affordable option to replace Myrtle Beach.