Inexpensive travel...opinions needed!

thefed · 03-13-2006, 03:17 PM

My fiance and I need to go somewhere for at least a weekend, leaving the little one behind. I kind of want to make this a surprise (as much as possible...I'll have to talk to her boss).

I want to do a quick 4 day thing, FRI to SUN, including travel.

She likes hot weather, I crave hot weather. We both like nature, and maybe a LITTLE night life. Which of these places would be good to go to in April?? Why, and what should we do?

$114 one-way, to/from Albuquerque, NM
$109 one-way, to/from Austin, TX
$59 one-way, to/from Baltimore/Washington Int'l, MD
$99 one-way, to/from Birmingham, AL
$59 one-way, to/from Chicago Midway, IL
$124 one-way, to/from El Paso, TX
$109 one-way, to/from Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, FL
$119 one-way, to/from Harlingen/South Padre Island, TX
$99 one-way, to/from Hartford, CT/Springfield, MA
$109 one-way, to/from Houston Hobby, TX
$79 one-way, to/from Indianapolis, IN
$99 one-way, to/from Jackson, MS
$94 one-way, to/from Jacksonville, FL
$99 one-way, to/from Kansas City, MO
$99 one-way, to/from Little Rock, AR
$79 one-way, to/from Long Island/Islip, NY
$129 one-way, to/from Los Angeles, CA
$79 one-way, to/from Louisville, KY
$99 one-way, to/from Manchester, NH
$119 one-way, to/from Midland/Odessa, TX
$71 one-way, to/from Nashville, TN
$78 one-way, to/from Norfolk, VA/Southern Virginia
$99 one-way, to/from Oklahoma City, OK
$99 one-way, to/from Omaha, NE
$69 one-way, to/from Orlando, FL
$129 one-way, to/from Phoenix, AZ
$89 one-way, to/from Raleigh-Durham, NC
$126 one-way, to/from Sacramento, CA
$126 one-way, to/from Salt Lake City, UT
$109 one-way, to/from San Antonio, TX
$129 one-way, to/from San Diego, CA
$126 one-way, to/from San Jose, CA
$126 one-way, to/from Seattle/Tacoma, WA
$79 one-way, to/from St. Louis, MO
$69 one-way, to/from Tampa Bay, FL
$99 one-way, to/from Tulsa, OK

Thanks!!!!

REWahoo · 03-13-2006, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

She likes hot weather, I crave hot weather. We both like nature, and maybe a LITTLE night life. Which of these places would be good to go to in April?? Why, and what should we do?

$109 one-way, to/from San Antonio, TX

Hot weather? We've already had days in the 90's.

Nature? Come during the 10-day party known as Fiesta San Antonio (April 21-30) and you will see LOTS of "human nature".

http://www.fiesta-sa.org/

Night life? The Riverwalk http://thesanantonioriverwalk.com/

(This message brought to you courtesy the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. JPatrick, senior member)

cute fuzzy bunny · 03-13-2006, 04:08 PM

Whats "hot" and where are you coming from?

Theres a lot of stuff to do basing out of san jose, but its not "hot" by my standards. maybe 70's.

San francisco, napa/sonoma, santa cruz, monterrey/carmel, marin county/point reyes...all within an hour or two.

Otherwise, for an el cheapo get-away-from-winter trip, if you're on the east coast, go to cozumel, if on the west coast, cabo san lucas. Cheap packages with hotel and airfare, short jump to and from, plenty of heat (by my definition), plenty of touristy stuff to do. You'll get hounded by mexicrap and timeshare sales people, but they become transparent after the first day.

Another fun quick trip is to check in with Club Med. They used to have some short term "guess where you're going to end up?" trips where you tell them how many days you want to spend and they zip you off to one of their clubs that isnt that busy to fill out the rooms. It used to be pretty cheap if you didnt really care where you ended up. Plenty of stuff to do. Usually in plenty hot locations.

thefed · 03-13-2006, 04:20 PM

Well, I'm near CLEVELAND OH. So anything above 70 right now would be hot (although its 66 today!)

I was thinking plane to Phoenix, and rental car to Grand Canyon?

cute fuzzy bunny · 03-13-2006, 04:24 PM

Ah yes....the Mistake By The Lake in the winter time...I had a lot of friends from that area at my last job.

I'm very sorry...

haha · 03-13-2006, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

Well, I'm near CLEVELAND OH. So anything above 70 right now would be hot (although its 66 today!)

I was thinking plane to Phoenix, and rental car to Grand Canyon?

Grand Canyon not likely to be hot, might be cold. Not much night life either! I'm with the Fuzzy One- get yourselves to Cozumel. Problem solved.

Ha

cute fuzzy bunny · 03-13-2006, 05:04 PM

Good snorkelling and diving, some mayan ruins, quick trips available to the mainland to go to larger mayan ruins, larger snorkeling, get into cancun, etc. Very small town, unless you make the mistake of staying at the one hotel thats about 5 miles south of the main city, everythings within walking distance. Should be in the high 80's/low 90's. Very warm water.

For $75 you can get a quickie divers training class and a shallow water (about 30') dive on the shore reefs if you've ever wanted to try it. I got my padi certification there about 10 years ago.

SC · 03-13-2006, 05:14 PM

Here's some other thoughts...

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

$109 one-way, to/from Austin, TX

If you hurry, you can catch the annual SXSW music/film festival (starts this week). Central texas isn't known for its parks but there are some nice, small parks between San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and Bastrop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

$109 one-way, to/from Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, FL

Guaranteed warm weather, hard to go wrong here. Hollywood beach has a nice boardwalk and the nearby Lion Country Safari is good for animal viewing. Might be overrun with spring break kids though (the beach, not the safari

).

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

$119 one-way, to/from Harlingen/South Padre Island, TX

Not as nice as Florida beaches, and tends to be VERY overrun with spring break kids. Pretty laid back in the off season.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

$79 one-way, to/from Indianapolis, IN

This is a joke, right?

Once I was there on a business trip and arrived at 9pm.. it might have been a Friday even (we did the work on weekends when offices were empty). We asked the people at the hotel where we could find a place to get a beer, and one of them looked at us funny and said "at THIS time of night??" Um, okay...

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

$78 one-way, to/from Norfolk, VA/Southern Virginia

If it's warm enough, you can't beat the Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway for nature and scenery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed

$69 one-way, to/from Tampa Bay, FL

That's a great price and you can go south to Bradenton or Sarasota for a more small-town feel. That'd probably be my pick...

Have fun!

SC

LOL! · 03-13-2006, 05:23 PM

In order of heat:

San Antonio
Washington DC
NYC (Islip)

but none of those for a nature sort of thing.

How far is El Paso from Big Bend National Park? BBNP is superb this time of year. The desert in bloom, hiking, a lodge, etc. We spent last spring there and in nearby BB Ranch State Park. No night life. Most of the restaurants / hotels run by retired hippies.

Brat · 03-13-2006, 05:27 PM

If you want hot weather scratch Seattle off your list.

You don't want to spend a day in the air, look for direct flights.

thefed · 03-13-2006, 05:35 PM

Wow! Thanks for all the advice. I have to re-read you posts and evaluate things a bit...and I'll let ya know what happens!

As far as cozumel or cancun etc etc, thats a bit more than i want to spend. I was thinking more like a few hundred bucks, maybe 5 or 6 hundred. The bigger vaca is planned for the fall.

thanks guys!

Ed_The_Gypsy · 03-13-2006, 07:42 PM

Let us exclude a couple of possibilities.

IMHO you should go somewhere else than Seattle this week. The snow just melted in Bellingham on Saturday and there was heavy frost every morning. It ain't that much further south.

NOBODY goes on vacation to Tacoma.

I don't know where you are starting from, but you can fly to Mazatlan from Vancouver, Chinese Columbia, cheaper than you can from Seattle (The Emerald City). Same plane, too.

Ed

Brat · 03-13-2006, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy

Let us exclude a couple of possibilities.

IMHO you should go somewhere else than Seattle this week.* The snow just melted in Bellingham on Saturday and there was heavy frost every morning.* It ain't that much further south.

NOBODY goes on vacation to Tacoma.

Ed

* Indeed... nobody vacations Tacoma, but a few cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and venture up the Peninsula.*

Skiing has been great.* *The mountains have so much snow this year folks who leave patrolled areas are taking their lives in their hands.* For those who don't know, Bellingham is just south of the Canadian border on Puget Sound.* Their weather is no where near as brutal as that of Great Lakes communities, Bellingham weather stories are designed to slow immigration from the south.*

Come visit after June 15, but I assure you it is rarely hot.

unclemick · 03-14-2006, 05:15 AM

Not serious and not cheap

But for the 'wild ' life lover - New Orleans Jazz Fest with perhaps a swamp tour - last weekend in April and first weekend in May.

heh heh heh heh

astromeria · 03-14-2006, 05:37 AM

The Charleston, SC area (or Beaufort/Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach) is great in April--you might check for good deals online or via travel agent. Plantation gardens and other nature areas, kayaking tidal creeks, the beach--all excellent in April. And Charleston has nightlife and great restaurants, and is a very walkable and pretty small city.

thefed · 03-14-2006, 11:43 AM

Where's Rich_from_Tampa with some good things to do in Tampa/Clearwater?

I kind of like that idea.....

HFWR · 03-14-2006, 12:24 PM

The beach in Clearwater is nice...

Not too far away is Cypress Gardens, for flora, water skiing, and a nice model railroad...

Ed_The_Gypsy · 03-14-2006, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Not serious and not cheap

But for the 'wild ' life lover - New Orleans Jazz Fest with perhaps a swamp tour - last weekend in April and first weekend in May.

I second that! We loved the NOJF. The way things are, the NOJF and a swamp tour are probably the same thing this year.

I was going to say that Cypress Gardens was closed, but I just Googled it and they re-opened in 2004. Worth seeing.

kaudrey · 03-15-2006, 09:22 AM

I'll beg to differ with the person who said DC isn't for "nature".

DC in April is beautiful and should be warm. If you come in early April, you might be able to see the Cherry Blossoms, which are supposed to peak on 3/30.

Other "nature" to see and things to do in DC:

Hike/mountain bike in Great Falls.
Visit Rock Creek Park
Visit the park-like grounds of the National Zoo.
Kayak on the Potomac out of Georgetown
Rollerblade/bike/walk along the many bike paths around the city - I like going from the airport to Old Town, Alexandria.

It may not be as "nature-like" as, say, the Grand Canyon, but you can definitely be active and outdoors here!

Karen

03-13-2006, 03:17 PM	#1
thefed Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,330	Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! My fiance and I need to go somewhere for at least a weekend, leaving the little one behind. I kind of want to make this a surprise (as much as possible...I'll have to talk to her boss). I want to do a quick 4 day thing, FRI to SUN, including travel. She likes hot weather, I crave hot weather. We both like nature, and maybe a LITTLE night life. Which of these places would be good to go to in April?? Why, and what should we do? $114 one-way, to/from Albuquerque, NM $109 one-way, to/from Austin, TX $59 one-way, to/from Baltimore/Washington Int'l, MD $99 one-way, to/from Birmingham, AL $59 one-way, to/from Chicago Midway, IL $124 one-way, to/from El Paso, TX $109 one-way, to/from Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, FL $119 one-way, to/from Harlingen/South Padre Island, TX $99 one-way, to/from Hartford, CT/Springfield, MA $109 one-way, to/from Houston Hobby, TX $79 one-way, to/from Indianapolis, IN $99 one-way, to/from Jackson, MS $94 one-way, to/from Jacksonville, FL $99 one-way, to/from Kansas City, MO $99 one-way, to/from Little Rock, AR $79 one-way, to/from Long Island/Islip, NY $129 one-way, to/from Los Angeles, CA $79 one-way, to/from Louisville, KY $99 one-way, to/from Manchester, NH $119 one-way, to/from Midland/Odessa, TX $71 one-way, to/from Nashville, TN $78 one-way, to/from Norfolk, VA/Southern Virginia $99 one-way, to/from Oklahoma City, OK $99 one-way, to/from Omaha, NE $69 one-way, to/from Orlando, FL $129 one-way, to/from Phoenix, AZ $89 one-way, to/from Raleigh-Durham, NC $126 one-way, to/from Sacramento, CA $126 one-way, to/from Salt Lake City, UT $109 one-way, to/from San Antonio, TX $129 one-way, to/from San Diego, CA $126 one-way, to/from San Jose, CA $126 one-way, to/from Seattle/Tacoma, WA $79 one-way, to/from St. Louis, MO $69 one-way, to/from Tampa Bay, FL $99 one-way, to/from Tulsa, OK Thanks!!!!

03-13-2006, 04:08 PM	#3
cute fuzzy bunny Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Losing my whump Posts: 22,540	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Whats "hot" and where are you coming from? Theres a lot of stuff to do basing out of san jose, but its not "hot" by my standards. maybe 70's. San francisco, napa/sonoma, santa cruz, monterrey/carmel, marin county/point reyes...all within an hour or two. Otherwise, for an el cheapo get-away-from-winter trip, if you're on the east coast, go to cozumel, if on the west coast, cabo san lucas. Cheap packages with hotel and airfare, short jump to and from, plenty of heat (by my definition), plenty of touristy stuff to do. You'll get hounded by mexicrap and timeshare sales people, but they become transparent after the first day. Another fun quick trip is to check in with Club Med. They used to have some short term "guess where you're going to end up?" trips where you tell them how many days you want to spend and they zip you off to one of their clubs that isnt that busy to fill out the rooms. It used to be pretty cheap if you didnt really care where you ended up. Plenty of stuff to do. Usually in plenty hot locations. __________________ Many an optimist has become rich by buying out a pessimist

03-13-2006, 04:20 PM	#4
thefed Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,330	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Well, I'm near CLEVELAND OH. So anything above 70 right now would be hot (although its 66 today!) I was thinking plane to Phoenix, and rental car to Grand Canyon?

03-13-2006, 04:24 PM	#5
cute fuzzy bunny Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Losing my whump Posts: 22,540	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Ah yes....the Mistake By The Lake in the winter time...I had a lot of friends from that area at my last job. I'm very sorry... __________________ Many an optimist has become rich by buying out a pessimist

03-13-2006, 05:04 PM	#7
cute fuzzy bunny Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Losing my whump Posts: 22,540	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Good snorkelling and diving, some mayan ruins, quick trips available to the mainland to go to larger mayan ruins, larger snorkeling, get into cancun, etc. Very small town, unless you make the mistake of staying at the one hotel thats about 5 miles south of the main city, everythings within walking distance. Should be in the high 80's/low 90's. Very warm water. For $75 you can get a quickie divers training class and a shallow water (about 30') dive on the shore reefs if you've ever wanted to try it. I got my padi certification there about 10 years ago. __________________ Many an optimist has become rich by buying out a pessimist

03-13-2006, 05:23 PM	#9
LOL! Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,187	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! In order of heat: San Antonio Washington DC NYC (Islip) but none of those for a nature sort of thing. How far is El Paso from Big Bend National Park? BBNP is superb this time of year. The desert in bloom, hiking, a lodge, etc. We spent last spring there and in nearby BB Ranch State Park. No night life. Most of the restaurants / hotels run by retired hippies.

03-13-2006, 05:27 PM	#10
Brat Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 2,773	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! If you want hot weather scratch Seattle off your list. You don't want to spend a day in the air, look for direct flights. __________________ Duck bjorn.

03-13-2006, 05:35 PM	#11
thefed Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,330	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Wow! Thanks for all the advice. I have to re-read you posts and evaluate things a bit...and I'll let ya know what happens! As far as cozumel or cancun etc etc, thats a bit more than i want to spend. I was thinking more like a few hundred bucks, maybe 5 or 6 hundred. The bigger vaca is planned for the fall. thanks guys!

03-13-2006, 07:42 PM	#12
Ed_The_Gypsy Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,859	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Let us exclude a couple of possibilities. IMHO you should go somewhere else than Seattle this week. The snow just melted in Bellingham on Saturday and there was heavy frost every morning. It ain't that much further south. NOBODY goes on vacation to Tacoma. I don't know where you are starting from, but you can fly to Mazatlan from Vancouver, Chinese Columbia, cheaper than you can from Seattle (The Emerald City). Same plane, too. Ed __________________ "Ain't got no money for no old-age pension; I'm so broke, I can't pay attention!"

03-14-2006, 05:15 AM	#14
unclemick Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 5,344	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Not serious and not cheap But for the 'wild ' life lover - New Orleans Jazz Fest with perhaps a swamp tour - last weekend in April and first weekend in May. heh heh heh heh

03-14-2006, 05:37 AM	#15
astromeria Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,380	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! The Charleston, SC area (or Beaufort/Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach) is great in April--you might check for good deals online or via travel agent. Plantation gardens and other nature areas, kayaking tidal creeks, the beach--all excellent in April. And Charleston has nightlife and great restaurants, and is a very walkable and pretty small city. __________________ You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.

03-14-2006, 11:43 AM	#16
thefed Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,330	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! Where's Rich_from_Tampa with some good things to do in Tampa/Clearwater? I kind of like that idea.....

03-14-2006, 12:24 PM	#17
HFWR Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: May 2005 Location: DFW Posts: 5,252	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! The beach in Clearwater is nice... Not too far away is Cypress Gardens, for flora, water skiing, and a nice model railroad... __________________ Have Funds, Will Retire I will now proceed to entangle the entire area...

03-15-2006, 09:22 AM	#19
kaudrey Full time employment: Posting here. Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alexandria, Va Posts: 504	Re: Inexpensive travel...opinions needed! I'll beg to differ with the person who said DC isn't for "nature". DC in April is beautiful and should be warm. If you come in early April, you might be able to see the Cherry Blossoms, which are supposed to peak on 3/30. Other "nature" to see and things to do in DC: Hike/mountain bike in Great Falls. Visit Rock Creek Park Visit the park-like grounds of the National Zoo. Kayak on the Potomac out of Georgetown Rollerblade/bike/walk along the many bike paths around the city - I like going from the airport to Old Town, Alexandria. It may not be as "nature-like" as, say, the Grand Canyon, but you can definitely be active and outdoors here! Karen __________________ Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by...