Where in the US would you go?

[garnet]

My SO has promised that unless something awful (such as losing his job) comes up, he's going to take us on our first vacation this summer! We both want to stay in the US, the budget isn't going to be huge, and we have zero ideas of where to go. We are saving Disney (and any theme parks) for a vacation down the road with our boys. It's a bit too expensive anyway!

Neither of us party, club, dance, and we're old! (32 and 35.) I'm a vegan, he's not. I told him a Super 8 down the road from him works just fine for me :P but he wont hear of it. We're both computer nerds basically. We have no idea where people go to "vacation" since we never do! We're not really athletic either. We've spoken of Vegas, but the thing with that is that we both eloped there, in the 90s. He had the nerve to do it on my birthday (so fail haha). So bad associations for both of us. But thats the closest thing we've come up with. I don't really want such a busy gogogo trip, but I don't want to do a bed and breakfast either.

We are so difficult. Please help us!

[Brieasaurus]

Are you guys nature-y? Maine and New Hampshire are super pretty. There's tons of things to do there too even if you're not athletic. Washington State also has extremely pretty views and hanging out in Seattle would be super fun. Or you could do a tour of California, go to San Fran and then up or down the coast line depending on what cities you want to see.

[snow_girl]

I loved San Fran when I didi a road trip through the states! You can also visit the jelly belly factory while you are there!! No one is ever too old for jelly bellies!

[lucybelle]

Grand Canyon!!!

[kittyo9]

I agree with Brie, if you are into more natural settings and want to see some scenery, northern New England is definitely the place to go. My family takes a trip to Maine almost every other year, and it's just really nice to be in a setting like that. While I was looking at colleges, we did a road trip that included driving through the White Mountains in New Hampshire on our way to Maine... just gorgeous!!

I'm trying to think of other places I've been that aren't 100% theme park related. I did enjoy when we went to Lancaster, PA-- really pretty and very fascinating to visit the Amish folk. I think there was also something that involved trains (so helpful, I know). We also went to Hershey, which you may or may not enjoy. I think we just toured the factory.

[Sora1101]

I loved visiting San Fran last summer but I must say it's A LOT of walking around, driving there is insane, but the tour buses are nice and the weather is amazing. And tons of stuff to do, there's China Town, Little Italy, tons of famous movie places, Alcatraz island, a boardwalk, tons of street performers, and you could visit the Ghirardelli chocolate factory too.

[blankita719]

Well other than Florida, I'm partial to New Hampshire as well - time it right and I might end up there around the same time

I also really liked visiting Gatlinburg, TN. We had a big family gathering where we rented a log cabin a few years ago and everyone had a good time.

[Zapookie]

My SO says that if you're looking for a nice place that will have like minded people (other vegans), try coastal towns in California. There's lots of hippies (not to generalise lol) who believe in raw diets, eating green and being Eco friendly. If you're looking for nature, there's lots of mountains and parks there too. Yosemite would be cool, I'm hoping to go there when I visit. If you're looking for a bustling city, like others have said, San Fransisco is nice too.

We're going to the US in may and we'll be staying in Santa Barbara, about an hour away from LA. Hoping to go to Disneyland and do a short road trip to Vegas or something. Hope you enjoy your trip!

[AABRCL05]

I was going to say anywhere in Cali would make a wonderful vacation and there are plenty of things to do all over the state!

[kiara_silver]

I only know places in Cali, San Francisco we both love, yes there is a lot of walking, but its fun. Tiring but we love it! There's pier 39, the beach, Alcatraz then if you walk into town you have union square with all the shopping sites, can go eat at the cheese cake factory, china towns right around the corner. Its a nice way to spend the day. Santa cruz is nice, the beach boardwalk, playing at the beach, a few rides, clam chowder its fun.

We want to do a trip one day, we talked of New York, everyone whose been says its a trip worth taking, thats definatly on my wish list trips in the US lol

[Hollandia]

I would suggest Alexandria Virginia. It is a cute little town is very close to Washington DC and Arlington Va. Alexandria has many cute little shops and is on the water. The people there are very friendly. If you like history the museums in DC are awesome. As a fellow geek, I would suggest the air and space museum of the Smithsonian. There are cheesy trolley tours that are fun and even the Duck tours that take you onto the water. I would do the day trips into DC and stay in Alexandria. You can also check out the Georgetown area and Potomac MD is nice too. You can get a taste of some nature, some science and history and every type of restaurant imaginable. You can find some cute pubs in Alexandria and you can listen to your actual politicians ramble over cocktails in Georgetown if you hit the right spots.

If you are ever looking for somewhere in wintertime, I would suggest Jackson Hole Wyoming. This was the coolest place I have ever visited in the USA. It is right down the road to the to Yellowstone National park as well as being in the Grand Teton mountain range. The view was breath taking when I stepped off the plane. You could go there in summer too. I just prefer the snow covered mountain tops. The town itself is small and quaint.

Have fun wherever you go.

[Dezface]

I'm most familiar with places in Cali so I'll give my advice based on that. Yosemite is my favorite place in the world. It's so amazingly beautiful. San Francisco is an awesome city, so much to do, although it can be expensive.

Outside of California, I would look into other national parks, but I'm not sure if that's your style or not.

[mllebamako]

Southern Utah has a lot of beautiful national parks, if you are into hiking/exploring.

I'll also jump on the San Fran bandwagon- beautiful city and so much to do there that you can really tailor the trip to your personalities. Favorites in SF: Chinatown, Alcatraz, farmer's markets, the Japanese tea garden, the aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences,

[sewbama]

I'd suggest Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's really one of my favorite places to go. There's the Tennessee Aquarium, which is awesome, lots of other tourist things to do that aren't typical touristy things. The incline railroad is one of the steepest railroads. It's one mile straight up the side of the mountain -- REALLY cool. And there's parks and stuff up there. Lots of things to do in lookout mountain. Ruby falls is awesome. It's a huge underground waterfall inside the mountain. Rock city is great, too. There are really awesome shops on the other side of the river (which you can get to by walking bridge, also cool). And great museums.

The only trouble you might have is food. I'm not entirely sure how vegan-friendly they'd be. It is a southern city, and we tend to like our veggies doused in bacon grease. :/ But if you looked into it you could probably find places around there.

Also, my very favorite place in the world is a short drive from Chattanooga. It's called Stone Door. It's in the Savage Gulf State Natural Area. It's a really big gulf (like a mini-canyon) in the plateau. It's really cool. And the path to the most amazing view is paved. You can continue and find more awesome views down a more traditional (but easy) hiking trail. It's only about a mile. Really easy hike.

[ayarusworld]

I would love to go to San Francisco, coz there is where my SO lives. Hehehe