March 2022 in a warmer climate

[Stormy Kromer]

DW and I live in Northern MN and are completely FIRED. We like winter in MN and are active, but come March we could use a change. We're 56 & 60.

We're thinking of spending a month or so in March & April in 2022 in a warmer climate. We would fly to a city and get a room at an extended stay hotel. The destination would need a decent airport within cab distance.

What we're looking for:

- A reasonably warm climate, by March that should give us more options. By warm I mean being able to walk around with a light jacket and the outdoor pools are open. Not interested in laying on a beach.

- Public transportation, we don't plan on renting a car.

- Pedestrian friendly.

- Safety. We realize this can't be guaranteed anywhere, but we don't want to put ourselves in a high risk area to start with.

We would love to find an extended stay hotel with a pool and small kitchen and make ourselves to home for a while. Go for a walk in the morning, hang by the pool in the afternoon and go out for dinner most evenings.

I wouldn't mind some fishing. We don't need an ocean or high end entertainment or culture. We can entertain ourselves just fine.

We don't have any particular place in mind. We'd prefer a less crowded destination off the tourist path. In March/April we should avoid peak seasons. We're not interested in a Spring Break area so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking we could be as far north as South Carolina to Arkansas to Nevada.

Any ideas or suggestions ?

Thanks.

 

[cathy63]

In the western states, your problem is going to be finding a place that has good public transit and a warm climate.

San Diego meets your other criteria, having a downtown airport and lots of walkable neighborhoods in proximity to restaurants. We do have an ocean, which seems like a slight negative for you (?) but March and April are not really beach weather, and we're not much of a spring break destination any more since the city banned alcohol on beaches. Public transit to/from the beach areas is lousy, but if you're willing to use Uber/Lyft occasionally, that opens things up a lot.

Some cities in Orange County, CA, like San Clemente, Dana Point, Laguna Beach would also work. Or north of L.A, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties have lots of nice towns, but they tend to be farther from major airports.

Spring is high season in the deserts, so although the days are nice, the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs) area might be more crowded and expensive than you want.

In Arizona, you've got Tucson and the Phoenix suburbs. Scottsdale is very nice. March is high season and it's MLB spring training, so crowded and not cheap. I don't know much about Tucson, but maybe someone from that area will chime in.

In Nevada, look at Las Vegas. I don't think it's a great transit city, but there are some walkable neighborhoods away from the casinos. Reno has had snow this month, so probably too cold for you.

For a two month trip, you might think about an AirBnB or furnished short-term condo rental rather than a hotel.

 

[ivinsfan]

As a fellow MN can I ask a few questions?


Would you give any consideration to a road trip? As in driving to where you want to stay? The walkable, fly, uber plan really cuts down on your options.



I love my DH dearly but 4 weeks in an extended stay motel is a non starter. I can offer some opinions but I have nothing for the fly stay in one place and walk plan. It's very restrictive as far as VRBO and some other options.


Also did you have a budget in mind?

 

[braumeister]

There's always Texas. I believe REWahoo has posted an extensive list of interesting things there.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

As a fellow MN can I ask a few questions?


Would you give any consideration to a road trip? As in driving to where you want to stay? The walkable, fly, uber plan really cuts down on your options.



I love my DH dearly but 4 weeks in an extended stay motel is a non starter. I can offer some opinions but I have nothing for the fly stay in one place and walk plan. It's very restrictive as far as VRBO and some other options.


Also did you have a budget in mind?

We would prefer flying and we don't want to worry about having a car with us. It takes us almost a day to get out of MN from where we are to begin with. We do take car trips later in the year and tent camp along the way.

DW and I live alone in a small home in the middle of the north woods so 4 weeks together in a motel would be a piece of cake. We have snow and 15 degrees here this AM. The wood stove feels good.

We don't have a set budget. I'm thinking the monthly rate at an extended stay motel will be in the $100 per night range. We can fly out of a nice little regional airport (Hibbing, MN) and park for free. Flights are about the same as if we drove 5 hours to MPLS and paid to park there.

Texas is one destination we're considering, but not as far south as the Rio Grand Valley. My parents used to pull a trailer down there and would spend a couple weeks at a small town campground, I think it was Bandera, they loved it.

 

[W2R]

I live in New Orleans, and it does not meet your criteria at all. We have extremely hot, wet weather (which I love) during most of the year, and our crime situation is not the best.

If I was in your situation, I'd visit several prospective get-away locations in person every March until I found the right one. I'd do it by car so that if I didn't like some location, I could immediately drive to another location.

Well, to be even more truthful, if I was in your situation I'd just move south entirely, live there year 'round, and forget about all that snow and ice and snowbirding! But different strokes for different folks.

 

[W2R]

There's always Texas. I believe REWahoo has posted an extensive list of interesting things there.

Here's his list:
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/batteries-79242.html#post1650117

 

[YakGrl]

Possibly Atlanta on the Metrorail path?

 

[ivinsfan]

We would prefer flying and we don't want to worry about having a car with us. It takes us almost a day to get out of MN from where we are to begin with. We do take car trips later in the year and tent camp along the way.

DW and I live alone in a small home in the middle of the north woods so 4 weeks together in a motel would be a piece of cake. We have snow and 15 degrees here this AM. The wood stove feels good.

We don't have a set budget. I'm thinking the monthly rate at an extended stay motel will be in the $100 per night range. We can fly out of a nice little regional airport (Hibbing, MN) and park for free. Flights are about the same as if we drove 5 hours to MPLS and paid to park there.

Texas is one destination we're considering, but not as far south as the Rio Grand Valley. My parents used to pull a trailer down there and would spend a couple weeks at a small town campground, I think it was Bandera, they loved it.

We've done the math on this a few times. Now in Hibbing you'll need to get to your airport and most like fly to MSP, for a connecting flight.Hopefully you could get to where you wanted to go with the one MSP stopover. Spend time flying both flights get to arrival airport and get situated at your final destination.



When we add up the hours that takes ( we are a little over 2 hours west of MSP) without allowing anything for weather problems and such at the airport we figure at a minimum we can be half way to where we want to go.


Add that to the fact you have your own car and can travel at your own speed and it's hard for us to make the call to fly.


Everyone is different. On the hotel.. we live a farm with a 1/4 mile driveway backing up to a corn field I don't want overhead noise, hall way and road noise for a month. Also don't like having to sit/ lie on the bed to read watch TV etc.


Keep us posted as to what you find that will work for you.. I'm curious if you can find something that will make you happy. Good Luck!

 

[harllee]

The weather is usually good in March in South Carolina--south of Myrtle Beach (Pawleys Island) Charleston, Hilton Head. I am not sure about outdoor pools being open. Your problem will be transportation. Not much public transportation in SC. You might be Ok with public transportation in Charleston SC but not at most of the SC beach areas. If it were me I would fly into the airport at Myrtle Beach, rent a car and get an airbnb south of Myrtle Beach in the Pawleys Island area. March is not too crowded there and the weather will be good. The area is very safe, beach is wonderful, you can probably find good deal on a place since it will be off season, many good restaurants, lots to do. But you will need a car.

 

[ivinsfan]

I agree if the OP is willing to think about driving and/or renting a car he will have a lot more options

 

[Stormy Kromer]

OP here,


I appreciate the pointers from everyone. We may start small with a week or two trip and look around. We can always rent a car once we get there.

 

[harllee]

OP here,


I appreciate the pointers from everyone. We may start small with a week or two trip and look around. We can always rent a car once we get there.

You would love the Pawleys Island area of South Carolina and it would be great in March. Send me a private message and I will give you some suggestions of rentals there.

 

[pjm-7]

How about Sedona, Arizona? There is good shuttle service from the Phoenix airport to Sedona. There is some local transportation but renting a car for a couple of days can get you to some interesting surroundings.

 

[ivinsfan]

How about Sedona, Arizona? There is good shuttle service from the Phoenix airport to Sedona. There is some local transportation but renting a car for a couple of days can get you to some interesting surroundings.

No fishing in Sedona, it would be warm. I feel like it would be expensive compared to a lot of other places. It's really nice though.

 

[NewEnglander]

No fishing in Sedona, it would be warm. I feel like it would be expensive compared to a lot of other places. It's really nice though.

Wrong, there's good trout fishing in oak creek. When I was hiking there I was wishing I had my flyrod.

 

[ivinsfan]

Wrong, there's good trout fishing in oak creek. When I was hiking there I was wishing I had my flyrod.

The op was not really wanting to rent a car..

 

[38Chevy454]

Gulf coast has some good options that meet your weather. Not so good on the public transportation, although you might get by in bigger cities. The gulf coast is not as big of a winter snowbird area for most part, high season is summertime. So March availability should be decent. Just avoid some of the spring break areas like Panama City Beach.

 

[Dash man]

Public transportation is going to be a problem in any US warm climate. If you’re comfortable using Uber or Lyft, your options are much broader.

 

[Bamaman]

Gulf coast has some good options that meet your weather. Not so good on the public transportation, although you might get by in bigger cities. The gulf coast is not as big of a winter snowbird area for most part, high season is summertime. So March availability should be decent. Just avoid some of the spring break areas like Panama City Beach.

I'll also agree with the Gulf Coast. You might consider staying in Seaside, an upscale and picturesque small community. Everything you would need is within walking distance, including a relatively new Publix supermarket and good restaurants.

The local airport is Panama City, and some flights are going into Destin now.

The Panhandle is a different Florida than Mickey World. And it's getting more popular all the time.

 

[Montecfo]

Savannah Ga area might meet some of your criteria. Lots to do just walking, restaurants, history, sights and just visual pleasure. So much packed in into a couple of square miles in historic district.

Plenty of really interesting spots to day trip to if you rent a car. Charleston, Beaufort SC, Jekyl Island, St. Simons.

Suites hotels in historic district.

 

[Momcpa]

Following along with interest. This sounds like something right up our alley for future plans.

 

[superdave]

Car free travel is difficult in most US cities. We did find Phoenix to have decent public transportation. Trains go east - west and bussing connects. We did find that Miami had ok public transport. We figured it out getting from outlying hotels to cruise ports. Miami hotels are very expensive however.

Savannah is VERY walkable in the historic district. It is actually a great area to not have a car as parking is approx $30 day in the historic area hotels. We are booked there for winter 2022 if the boarder to Canada opens and Covid calms down.

 

[JP.mpls]

Stormy,
I bet you would like the Crystal River area in northern Florida on the gulf side.
Less populated and lower cost, because the weather is a little cooler. Much more of a nature and fishing area, instead of beaches. Very beautiful. Lots of great casual seafood restaurants and bars scattered around too.
You would need a rental car.
Good luck,. JP

 

[Scuba]

Palm Springs, CA would meet most of your criteria. It is better to have a car here, but there are many hotels and Air BnB’s within walking distance of downtown if you absolutely want to avoid renting a car. It’s likely quite a bit more expensive though, as it’s a very popular “snowbird” destination and high season lasts through mid-April.