I thought it would be fun to have one thread for vacations/holidays. We can have it pretty open, tips and tricks, suggest little known destinations, talk about past trips, different styles of vacations, whatever we want really. Partly I am doing this because I have little real vacation experience. I grew up in a family that took vacations to visit family or friends. Aside from the money/time issue I would like to travel more but I would like to know how others do it. I will be adding more later I just want to see how things get going for now.
I would recommend that people do not put dates of upcoming vacations in the thread. This is public after-all.
The wife and I have been to Old Town in Quebec City twice, and we are talking about doing it again probably sometime in the fall this year. We stay in a "Bed & Breakfast" we like. We normally fly into Montreal and then take the train to Old Town, which is a fun relaxing way to get there. Spend the time sight seeing, and hitting the local restaurants. There is a grand boardwalk overlooking the Saint Lawrence seaway just in front of the Hotel Frontenac. Great for taking a stroll at night.
I go to the Dragon every year as my main vacation A smaller trip I usually go to Rehoboth Beach every year.
I have been to the old Quebec just once, I didn't get the chance to explore much as we went for dinner with my aunts family. As for Montreal I did go with a few friends for a week end a couple years ago. Be sure to try the smoked meat Home | Dunns Famous or Schwartz's - Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen - A Montreal Tradition Since 1928 I preferred Dunn's but I think that was mostly because a table at Schwartz's was going to take forever and we got take out and had to eat on the side walk. A smoked meat sandwich and a poutine is a great(tasty not healthy) meal. One of the reasons for the trip though was going to Au Pied de Cochon you NEED a reservation but it was a great meal.
The Dragon in the Spring and Ft. Lauderdale and Key West in August. Car vacation first then vacation with the wife second.
Highly recommend the Casa Marina Resort in Key West!! Matter of fact we have done same trip your doing and the wife and I wished we had just skipped Ft Lauderdale and stayed the whole time in Key West!!!
Vacation? I think I might have heard that word before, but I'm not sure. Can you use it in a sentence for me? :biggrin5: Jim
need to do the Keys... We usually vaca in Europe every even numbered year, but the last two times we were out sync because of the MTTS (I'll have to ask MINI USA to change it..lol) See America First vacations have been fun...37 states visited, with the criteria being: 1. Must drive the state in a Mini Cooper 2. Must have a traveling dog visit it with you (we have 2) :cornut: pac here is a flickr link to the "best of" photos from MTTS 2012 http://flic.kr/s/aHsjB5xmgC
OK here is a question, what do you base your decision to drive vs planes/trains/buses? I certainly like the drive, even if it's highway driving. The plane option is generally based off time. If I spend more time driving to and from my destination, than I actually spend there I will fly. I went to Seattle and Vancouver a few years ago (live in South Western Ontario) I would love to drive out there someday but I only had a week off. The train well it's been a while but I would consider it for a trip to a large city. Chicago from here I am told is 54$ round trip. Why not? It would cost me more in gas to get there and once there I would just park at the hotel until I left. I have no interest in driving around a busy metropolis, dealing with expensive parking. The bus, for a group trip of some sort sure if it's with people I know. Besides that only if I absolutely need to get somewhere, the cheapest possible way.
I myself would probably never ever ride the bus (Greyhound).... I guess I'm stereotyped by too many horror movies..... Heh Heh Heh.... But maybe that's just me..... My cutoff is probably taking my car anywhere within my state and any bordering state.... Longer than that and it's "let's just fly there"..... We do the "Extended Weekend" thing in Chicago and New York and it's far enough away that I wouldn't consider driving..... I'm just too beat making the drive..... Especially since having a car in Chicago is not really a convenience with all the public transportation that's available in such a cosmopolitan city.... Once we get there it's all about walking / taxi / subway..... We fly into Midway and take the subway to the Loop and then walk the short distance to the hotel..... If a car is needed we just get a rental.... Trains..... Well, that's part of the fun..... Really like taking the trains..... Wish there were better train connections here in the US..... Canada has it down with their trains.... Sooo easy....
Confused.... Sooooo Canada doesn't have North-South trains for fear they'll bump into the East-West trains or what????
I don't know how they are in the US but if ours are great, yours must be terrible. I am a little spoiled though I spent three weeks in Japan, those trains, even the non bullet train are fantastic. As for the North-South well since something like 90% of us live within 100 or so miles from the US border there is little need.
I have taken a train as far north (as far north as they can go) to Churchill Manitoba south end of Hudson Bay, something like 700 miles north of the 49th, and once you get north of the tree line and out on the permafrost those trains travel REAL slow over that mushy ground.
Since air travel just isn't fun anymore, we make getting there part of the vacation -- and we pretty much always drive now. By the time you drive the hour to the airport, get there two hours early for check in and baggage, then wait around, fly in a cramped plane for three hours, then go thru the same ordeal claiming baggage, getting the rental car, then getting to your hotel, we could have driven in the comfort of our car, stopping when we need to, and enjoying the scenery - plus we can take the Mini-Poopers with us! We've been to North Carolina several times, and as far west as Wyoming, but Phoenix (where my other grandkids live) is a bit of a stretch - for that distance or to go to the west coast I think flying makes more sense - but I stil hate it, and we can't take the dogs. Driving means it'll be more than a 1 week trip, but that's OK with me. There are compromises which ever way you go, but I'd rather drive and see something new, so I'll take a couple extra hours on the road to drive a new road and see something I haven't seen before. For me it's more the jouney than the destination.
That is how I would like my trip out west to be. Sure my destination would be Vancouver but I would stop and stay wherever looked interesting along the way. The problem with a journey vs destination vacation is simply time.