Anyone got any travel planned?

[Meadbh]

Can't speak to the southern portion of your trip, but if you havn't been there before, I'd highly recommend a stop by Newport, RI on the way back to your neighborhood to tour some the summer palaces of the gilded age crowd from late 1800's to early 1900's. It's really an interesting peak into another time and another lifestyle. The historical society that runs them does a very good job. Docents seemed very well informed when we last went there. Newport also has an interesting historic area with more modest colonial architecture (away from the mansions) to walk around if you're into that.

Newport Mansions | The Preservation Society of Newport County

Have a great trip.

I'll second that. These amazing "cottages", used for only a few weeks a year, are icons of capitalism and excess from over 100 years ago and are definitely worth a visit. (Afterwards you will feel really, really LBYM!). I have not seen all of them, but Rosecliff was my favorite. The Breakers was totally over the top. Chateau Sur Mer was gothic Victorian, gloomy, and reminded me of the house from Psycho.

 

[Lagniappe]

Just found out that I am going to Copenhagen for a week at the end of May; decided to add a month of wandering around England and Scotland.

I am also planning a trip to Ecuador in the fall.

I love ER.

 

[Nemo2]

Contemplating a trip to Prague, late May - early June......anyone been?

 

[donheff]

Contemplating a trip to Prague, late May - early June......anyone been?

No, but I am going in July. Please post your observations.

 

[Nemo2]

No, but I am going in July. Please post your observations.

We started off thinking of a 3 city trip, Vilnius, Riga & Tallinn....places I've also never been to, but have wanted to visit........then we looked at the comparative airfares, (I hate paying more than I have to to sit on a damn plane), and the time spent getting from one to another, etc, etc.......so today we figured that what we save on airfare is best spent on the ground, and started looking at apartments to rent for the duration....either that or Pensions.

Early days yet, but here are a couple links:

Prague apartments, Accommodation Prague, Aparthotel Prague


http://www.praguecheapflats.com/

 

[foxfirev5]

Just got back from a month long mission in the AZ desert. My DW and I have put together an attitude adjustment trip to Key West after Spring Break. By the time we return it will be about time to put the pontoon boat in the lake for the Summer. Maybe I'll find some time to go back to work.

 

[rockyj]

We started off thinking of a 3 city trip, Vilnius, Riga & Tallinn....places I've also never been to, but have wanted to visit........then we looked at the comparative airfares, (I hate paying more than I have to to sit on a damn plane), and the time spent getting from one to another, etc, etc.......so today we figured that what we save on airfare is best spent on the ground, and started looking at apartments to rent for the duration....either that or Pensions.

We also prefer apartments when traveling, and have had uniformly good experiences with reasonable advanced preparation (i.e. never showed up in a city to not be met by owner/agent as planned ahead via e-mail - always had the place we expected - etc.). Not to say it couldn't happen so proceed with your own due diligence. We stayed in the place listed below in spring of 2010. The pictures here are pretty representative - somewhat spartan and worn a bit, but clean and a *great* location just off old town square behind the Tyn church.

RU_Tynska Loft apartment in Prague, RU_Tynska Loft Prague.

It's at the top of an older building. If you don't like (or can't handle) stairs, this may not be for you. Here's the view from landing outside the apartment. There is no elevator.

We liked the place very much overall for us and two adult children. Here's the Tripadvisor link with reviews.

Old Town Penthouse with terrace - Vacation Rentals in Prague, Bohemia - TripAdvisor

We only spent a long weekend there as part of a larger trip, mostly in Germany. So we only spent time walking about the older town historic areas. All very walkable from this location. There seem to be many decent and affordable apartments in Prague from available listings.

Happy hunting.

 

[Nemo2]

It's at the top of an older building. If you don't like (or can't handle) stairs, this may not be for you.

Thanks for the info........it's on our "Check into" list.......stairs shouldn't be a problem; last October 20, 3 weeks after my 70th birthday, I did 7,375 upward risers in one session.......waiting for the good weather so my lady & I can get out there again.

 

[scrinch]

Going to be in North Sulawesi from this Friday night for 9 days. We will be at two beach resorts and one small place up in the mountains. The first beach place (Pulisan) we are told that we have to walk about 1 km to get to. But not to worry, someone will carry our bags for about $1 each. We will relax, snorkel, relax, do some short jungle hikes, and try to do a little fishing from local traditional boats. Next we go to the mountains (Tomohon) for a couple of days of hiking on the volcanoes, rafting, and general sightseeing. They keep telling us about the local market where dog, cat, rat, and bat meat is sold, but I'm not sure I want to see that! Finally we go down to Bunaken Island for more snorkeling, hiking, and fishing. Oh, and more relaxing. I've heard that there is some of the best diving in the world in this area, so I hope to come home with stories of incredible coral, fish, and no sea snakes. Sorry, but sea snakes freak me out!

 

[Tree-dweller]

Contemplating a trip to Prague, late May - early June......anyone been?

DW and I were there 4 years ago to visit our daughter who was studying there. It was at Thanksgiving, so it was cold and snowy, but still a very cool place. We rented an apartment for a week (good experience) since we brought our son along and it allowed our daughter to stay with us while we were there. Other than learning how to say please and thank you in Czech, we got by with English ok, though we didn't stray from central Prague. We loved it. Plenty of sights. The people, while reserved, we're not unfriendly. It was a big destination for British hen parties, for some reason, which led to some laughs (and cringes of embarrassment) while strolling at night. We're glad we went.

 

[KM]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have Jeff Busby on my list of campgrounds we are going to try and get into.

As far as Newport goes, I think we are going to make that a day trip sometime this summer. It's prob only 2hrs from us. I have heard really good things about visiting there, so I think it would be a neat trip.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oh, hey, this'd be a good place to ask...anyone have any campground recommendations for southern England? We're looking for somewhere to park for about a week between Southampton and Dover in early July. We've got a couple of days parking promised in Chichester area, but would be great to find a place with showers/toilets leading up to our departure July 13.

 

[Nemo2]

No, but I am going in July. Please post your observations.

If you haven't yet finalized your accommodation bookings now might be a good time to do it.......they seem to fill up very quickly.

(We've spent some time on a couple/few apartment rental sites......from the pics it appears the SOP is to take a small area, throw down some wood laminate flooring, and stock it with Ikea furnishings.)

 

[Rambler]

In a week or so we'll take the new TT out for a shakedown...Just local, maybe within 30-50 miles from home.

Heading out April 10 to North Shore Oahu where DD will be graduating from university. We'll be there for 10 days, and will take in some of the sights we've not seen, as this may be our last visit to Oahu for a while. We've been every year, sometimes twice a year, for the last 12-13 years, so our next visit to paradise is more likely to be Maui.

In early May, DW & I, along with DD and her hubby, will take the new truck and trailer up to Utah to visit DS and his fiancée. After that, we'll go camp a few times before the wedding, and will then head to Utah for the wedding around the beginning of August, and perhaps will tour Southern Utah a bit after the wedding.

R

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Paris and the Scottish Highlands. Great thing is we have relatives based there.

Wine and Ale. At my age I can still manage. The flight from Texas might do me in though

 

[sailfish]

Going to Paris and London in late may for 2 weeks.
We just love to walk around and admire the sights. We get an apartment always and try to blend in with the city dwellers.

 

[Dreamer]

We are going to Fernandina Beach FL for 5 nights, Ft. Lauderdale for 2 nights, Key West for 2 nights and Key Largo for 2 nights. Might be going to the Everglades next, but plans are not finalized yet. We will be driving and be gone 2-3 weeks. We are leaving early April.

 

[Rambler]

North Shore Oahu in 12 days. We'll stay five or six days at Turtle Bay, then another 5 at Ko Olina with DD and DSIL. Last year when we went, I was really sick from the day we got there until the day before we left, and I had pretty much no fun at all...Just a cold, but a nasty one. Hoping there is no repeat this year.

R

 

[Gotadimple]

Just got back from a week in Mazatlan. Perfect weather!

 

[seraphim]

Retiring June 1, taking the truck camper to Alaska u til the weather kicks us out. Then might head to the southwest or might come home. No more schedules.

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

Retired on Friday and DH and I plan on heading out in our fifth wheel the first week of April for our first big trip:

KM, my wife and I are currently winding up an extensive trip across the southeast US in a fifth wheel and have visited many of the places you are contemplating. We, like you, are not into shopping type stuff, we enjoy nature and museum / general interest type attractions. Some ideas about the places you have listed:

Vicksburg - The battlefield is good but only takes about a day to see. There wasn't much else in the area that appealed to us. By far the only decent place to stay is the Ameristar Casino RV Park in Vicksburg. We don't gamble so the casino aspect held no appeal to us but all of the other RV parks in the area were not very nice. Ameristar is a parking lot with hookups but decent, safe, and reasonably priced.

Memphis - We stayed at Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis. Our site fronted the Mississippi, we could watch the barges from our back window. We enjoyed the River Walk Park in Memphis which has a small replica (well, small being a couple of blocks long) of the Mississippi River and information about the history of towns and river itself. A short drive from River Walk Park is Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken on Front Street in Memphis. We ate there right before going to River Walk Park and it was the best fried chicken I have ever had, and very reasonably priced.

I use rvparkreviews.com pretty exclusively for deciding where to stay. You can find my reviews here:
RV Park Reviews :: Viewing other reviews of campgrounds and rv parks submitted by a user.
They may be appropriate since we also travelled in a fifth wheel and ease of access to parks was a primary concern for us (I still don't back up very well).

Also, when we travel we use this website for finding neat and fun places to eat:
FoodiePie.com - For Foodies Only! Restaurants and Foods Featured on The Food Network & The Travel Channel
We stop at restaurants that have been featured on the "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" show and have found them all to be good, reasonably priced, and a general fun experience. We avoid the "Man vs. Food" glutonous (spelling? as in massive quantity and little to no quality) restaurants and have tried only one "Best I Ever Ate" restaurant where we had a very poor experience as described below....

MR. D's Restaurant in Lorman a short distance from the Trace is worth a stop.

We ate here a couple of months ago and I was VERY disappointed. My wife said the fried chicken was the best she ever ate but neither of us would ever return here. Everything else on the buffet was terrible, the fried chicken was brought out very slowly so it was hard to get any, and the whole place was disgustingly filthy. Mr. D seems like a nice man but I don't know how he stays open unless he is paying off the health department. When we ate there the table had scraps left from the previous customers which the waitress scraped off the tablecloth with the menu (sort of onto a towel, sort of onto the floor) just before handing said menus to us. The buffet area was downright gross as were the bathrooms. I can only imagine the kitchen.

KM, let me know if you want any advice or information on any other places in the SE you may be passing through or visiting. We are currently in Seneca SC, an undiscovered gem we were lucky to stumble across. Within a 20 minutes drive from our campground is at least a dozen waterfall hikes (from super easy 100 foot walks to difficult hikes of a couple miles) and we have also visited the BMW factory and Toccoa GA "Band of Brothers" military museum (very small but nicely done). It has been a truly pleasant surprise.
.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Seneca is a hidden gem, good for you for finding it! Los of neat little towns in the upstate that never get any good press.

 

[scrinch]

North Sulawesi trip

Going to be in North Sulawesi from this Friday night for 9 days. We will be at two beach resorts and one small place up in the mountains. The first beach place (Pulisan) we are told that we have to walk about 1 km to get to. But not to worry, someone will carry our bags for about $1 each. We will relax, snorkel, relax, do some short jungle hikes, and try to do a little fishing from local traditional boats. Next we go to the mountains (Tomohon) for a couple of days of hiking on the volcanoes, rafting, and general sightseeing. They keep telling us about the local market where dog, cat, rat, and bat meat is sold, but I'm not sure I want to see that! Finally we go down to Bunaken Island for more snorkeling, hiking, and fishing. Oh, and more relaxing. I've heard that there is some of the best diving in the world in this area, so I hope to come home with stories of incredible coral, fish, and no sea snakes. Sorry, but sea snakes freak me out!

Just got back from the airport at 6am Monday morning in time to shave, shower, and head to w*rk. Our Sunday return flight was delayed until 2:30am Monday! The diving at both Pulisan and Bunaken were fantastic! These are the first places I've snorkeled where the main attraction was the coral, not the fish. And the biggest attraction at Bunaken is the wall or vertical dropoff of the reef all around the island. Wow, I've never seen a coral wall before with all the schools of fish extending into the deep, and turtles ascending from the deep, and corals of all color and texture making up the reef itself. The fishing at Pulisan was good. We went out at 3:45am on a local outrigger boat that was juuust wide enough for my butt to fit in, and we handlined for bait followed by slow trolling for 10 medium-sized dorado. We came back in at 10 am with a 5 gallon bucket of mackeral and the 10 mahi-mahi. The moon had already set when we went out, so the sky was magnificent before sunrise...milky way, southern cross, and a full sky's worth of stars! We climbed to the crater of a volcano in the highlands (Mahawu, not Lokon which erupts almost daily) and then about 8 km through the jungle down a footpath on the other side. We went on a great but short rafting trip through a river-cut gorge that was mostly class 2-3, but which had two class 4 drops. Lots of fun! The food was mostly local and all cheap...fish, beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, and lots of rice. It was generally good except at the Gardenia Hotel in Tomohon where it was exceptional! The places we stayed were basic but clean and nicely kept...the kind of place that won't break your budget but won't send you to the hospital with the runs either. There were next to no mosquitoes for some reason during the whole trip. Definitely a recommended stop if you're a snorkeler or diver and are in the region.

 

[SJ1_]

We are in St. Petersburg, FL for 3 weeks . we did a by owner in an est. neighborhood that worked out to about 400 per wk for a 3bd 1 ba house.
We are 3 miles from downtown which has miles of parks and jogging, walking, biking paths along the bay. really nice. They had a farmers market yesterday that we went to. we are also about 6 miles to the Ocean.
During the week there seemed to be a big crowd at the beach as there are still some spring break people left, but the weekend = zero parking so we ended up hanging around St. Pete Beach at a festival that had.
Today we went for a bike ride, with no hills it seemed easy but the heat
eventually made up for it. still use to 40s - 50's
Great place to spend some time during the winter. High 70's

 

[NW Landlady]

Just got back from the airport at 6am Monday morning in time to shave, shower, and head to w*rk. Our Sunday return flight was delayed until 2:30am Monday! The diving at both Pulisan and Bunaken were fantastic! These are the first places I've snorkeled where the main attraction was the coral, not the fish. And the biggest attraction at Bunaken is the wall or vertical dropoff of the reef all around the island. Wow, I've never seen a coral wall before with all the schools of fish extending into the deep, and turtles ascending from the deep, and corals of all color and texture making up the reef itself. The fishing at Pulisan was good. We went out at 3:45am on a local outrigger boat that was juuust wide enough for my butt to fit in, and we handlined for bait followed by slow trolling for 10 medium-sized dorado. We came back in at 10 am with a 5 gallon bucket of mackeral and the 10 mahi-mahi. The moon had already set when we went out, so the sky was magnificent before sunrise...milky way, southern cross, and a full sky's worth of stars! We climbed to the crater of a volcano in the highlands (Mahawu, not Lokon which erupts almost daily) and then about 8 km through the jungle down a footpath on the other side. We went on a great but short rafting trip through a river-cut gorge that was mostly class 2-3, but which had two class 4 drops. Lots of fun! The food was mostly local and all cheap...fish, beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, and lots of rice. It was generally good except at the Gardenia Hotel in Tomohon where it was exceptional! The places we stayed were basic but clean and nicely kept...the kind of place that won't break your budget but won't send you to the hospital with the runs either. There were next to no mosquitoes for some reason during the whole trip. Definitely a recommended stop if you're a snorkeler or diver and are in the region.

We have Bunaken on the agenda with Lembeh for a vacation in the next year or 2. We are avid scuba divers & have never done the "muck diving" that is done at Lembeh - supposed to be a great experience. This July we are going to Bali & Wakatobi in South Eastern Sulawesi Indonesia. This is our second time there, but it is very relaxing & beautiful & some very unique fish (& sea snakes - they don't bother us).