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Vacations-2026 and beyond

J

jericho

mascot extraordinaire
Where does/did everyone go? We meet up with some friends from Charlottesville every year and try to meet somewhere in between. Our respective children are both 9. For the past couple years it’s been Hersheypark, but this year we are in Ocean City, MD. I love it here actually. A lot to do for both the kids and adults. Also met up previously this year with friends at American Dream Mall, which I loved it there as well. With everything going up in cost, etc, it’s getting harder and harder to travel. I know everyone here is a world traveler, but i don’t have the desire or resources. Plenty in the US that I’ll probably never get to. Where is a favorite US spot?
 
Ocean City is a hoot. My daughter went to Salisbury and it's right up the road. A sort of mini-Atlantic City.

Favorite lower 48 locations:
  • Adirondacks
  • Shenandoah
  • Zion
  • Arches
  • Crater Lake
  • Grand Tetons
  • Savannah, GA
  • New Orleans
  • Acadia
  • Cape Cod
  • Newport

Just returned home from Alaskan cruise.
  • Juneau
  • Skagway
  • Glacier Bay
  • Ketchikan
One of the most beautiful places I have been. We were also extremely lucky -- it rained in Juneau but every other day was sunny and pleasant.

Our next trip will be a Baltic cruise with some permutation of Bergen, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Riga, and Talinn.
 
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My last real vacation was to Glacier National Park and Yellowstone. 10/10. I liked Glacier a little more as it is less congested. Would love to go back and spend an entire week there instead of just 3 days.
 
With the exception of the Observation Point hike (which requires youthful energy/athleticism and half a day to spare), you can miss me with Zion. Putting 3M souls a year on a bus down that two-laned canyon road with Disney-esque narration is too many.

The same bus experience in Denali is hours-long, necessarily covers a lot more ground, is more expensive, and combined with the location, makes doing it there less crowded and more sensible. Plus, you can get out to hike off-trail if you're so-inclined/equipped, and flag a bus down later for pickup when you're done.

I will say, I was kind of annoyed to see Aramark was the third-party vendor running the busses up there. But that's 'Murica for you.
 
For southern cities, I really like Savannah if you're more into history and architecture than raucous nightlife. New Orleans is terrific for live music, but a tolerance for crowds, drunks, and noise into the wee hours of the morning is required if you stay anywhere near Bourbon or Frenchman Streets. Another point for Savannah is that it has excellent food choices on or within a few blocks of its main drag, whereas NOLA generally requires you to explore a bit beyond the tourist areas to find great cuisine, IMO.

I also liked Asheville and Greenville. A handful of years ago, I had to spend multiple weeks in Charleston for work, which I thought was hit or miss. Sadly, it suffered from a lot of visible vagrancy and crime.

I'll probably shoot myself before I ever go back to Gatlinburg, or spend another night on Broadway in Nashville. Atlanta was OK, but has waaaaaay too many shitty drivers.

In Florida, Tampa is a guilty pleasure. Orlando, Miami, and Naples can burn in hell.
 
This past March, we went to Costa Rica, along the pacific coast, and it was great for about 75% of our experience. The two main drawbacks are the prices and driving. Prices are akin to how people describe Hawaii. The roads down there are very narrow, and sidewalks are rarely seen, so you’re sharing the roads with ev. ‘ry. bo. dy.

We are going back to Tucson this come March as we want to save up for a Disney cruise. Our daughter will be 8 by the time spring break arrives, and we would like for her to have a big Disney experience. Talking to various people, it seems like they do a good job so long as you pick the right ship/cruise.
 
I was nearly a musician on a Disney cruise. Met my wife and got cold feet about it though.

She and our two kids don’t travel much due to finances. We have fun going to cabins and lake houses a few weeks a year, and typically make a trek to Toronto once a year to her dad’s side of her family. We will be going to SoCal over the holidays this year, though. Both LA and San Diego.
 
iu

This morning I took a luxurious stroll though the living room on the way to the kitchen...
 
Most recent vacations:

-Minnesota, Twin Cities, Grand Rapids, Grand Marais
-Chiang Mai, Rayong, Bangkok and Chanthaburi - Thailand
-Boracay, Philippines

On the docket:

-Minnesota in Dec/Jan
-Thailand in October
-Vietnam in February
 
Kepler said:
???

I didn't do Zion with any bus or narration. I have not been there since 1988 though.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's likely changed just a bit. Unless you're staying in the richie rich lodge inside the park, you can't drive in past a certain point during peak tourist season anymore, and have to take a bus tour to get any further into the park.
 
This past holiday weekend, my wife and I vacationed in Montreal. Never been there (well, in college, I did go to the F1 race twice, but not really in Montreal proper), even though it's only a 5-1/2 mile drive.

Did the usual touristy stuff. Had some Marriott free room certificates to use up before they expired, so we stayed downtown.

Next year, I'm looking into another big overseas racing related trip (did Macau for their grand prix, with one day in Hong Kong, two years ago). Still researching it. But, I'll give a clue: Slapshot is answering my questions.
 
FadeToBlack&Gold said:
Yeah, it's likely changed just a bit. Unless you're staying in the richie rich lodge inside the park, you can't drive in past a certain point during peak tourist season anymore, and have to take a bus tour to get any further into the park.
Click to expand...
We were there in 2023 and while all of that is true, it's also not that bad.

My first trip there was in 1990, and it was so crowded, I could barely find a parking spot to hike the narrows. And there were a LOT of people doing the hiking. The bus regulates the flow of people well enough that the increased crowd at locations isn't nearly as much as people think.

The requirement for people to get time reservations and the bus system regulates the flow enough to still make it enjoyable to hike and see stuff.

The interesting side note- the two national parks close to Zion haven't changed much at all- Bryce to the north and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the south. Both are pretty much the same as 1990. Although, today, the North Rim is a shadow of itself after the forest fire.
 
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