It can be somewhere you’ve been or somewhere you want to go…
San Francisco -
I think it was 4 days.
We walked from our place to fisherman’s wharf, had to go to Pier 39 to see the sea lions, had seafood on the water, and I don’t remember what else. Had Swenson’s ice cream on our way back.
We rode our bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge, had lunch in Sausalito (Scoma’s) and then rode on to Tiburon, took the ferry back.
Went to the Golden Gate Park, walked something like 8 miles, and then finally took an Uber to Chinatown and ate at a restaurant Obama had been to.
Took the ferry to Angel Island and walked 15 miles that day. We walked around and over on the island.
Our last day we headed to Sonoma, which was its own experience.
OP here -
This doesn’t have to be trips you’ve actually done. I’m looking for inspiration for places we can go and things we can do for long weekends. We’ve talking about how we should just pick a city and drive/fly “there” for the weekend, but we haven’t done it yet.
I’m sort of planning a road trip that will be a long weekend from and to CT.
I will drive to northern New Hampshire where I have lots of friends to visit. And there is plenty that folks can do there…hiking, golf at the Waumbek in Jefferson, etc.
Then I hope to drive from there to Maine to visit a friend, and then home via the coast of Maine and visit another friend.
The Maine stops would be one night each…depending on my arrival time. The New Hampshire stop would be two to three nights.
Drove 5 hours to Key West. Stayed at the Perry Hotel for 2 nights on the next island over, which had an hourly free shuttle to busy Key West. Sightseeing, shops, good restaurants, good views. Headed back towards mainland, stayed at a beach resort near/in Islamorada 2 days. Went to pigeon Island, had a narrated tour of the facilities and about Henry Flagler and his amazing works including the railroad. Visited a sea turtle rehab center, a beach state park, saw some offshore boat races from grandstand type place. Ate at some “old Florida” type restaurants. Drove the rest of the way back.
This could also be done with a couple variations by flying or ferrying to Key West or Miami.
For me, I think it depends on your current location because I’d personally rather not do a long weekend (long weekend to me means a max of 4 total days including travel) with a long flight or all day drive.
In Ohio, my fav long weekend trips that I’ve done and LOVED are Traverse City/Leelanaw Peninsula and then 2nd trip, Saugatuck. I would do either again in a heartbeat. Needs to not be winter tho.
I also love Chicago as a long weekend trip. Great food scene, you can walk all day and enjoy stops of all sorts! Museums, shopping, lakeshore, parks…..
I generally agree with this! This year was an anomaly because we didn’t have a big trip planned and our D lives in NC so we try to see her as much as possible.
This year notwithstanding, from our present location in Chicagoland, over the years we have done long weekends in Door County WI, SW Michigan (love Saugatuck), hiking trips down state, countless weekends in the city, weekend in Indy, weekend in Milwaukee, etc… H is also happy to do a long weekend somewhere to watch baseball. Me less so but it depends on where ; )
We’ve done a lot of long weekends, some driving and some flying to, but one of the most memorable was to Death Valley. We took the scenic route from the Bay Area, via route 395 (past Tahoe). It’s longer but no kidding at “scenic” - you’re basically driving along the ridge of the Sierras. We chose various cute/historic towns to stop in on the way there and back, including Bridgeport, Independence and (with a great movie museum as many have been shot in the area) Lone Pine, as well as a stop down at Mono Lake and its tufa* formations. And Death Valley itself is just otherworldly and amazing, from the Joshua trees on the way in, some of the trails you can drive (one felt very much like the Cars ride at Disney could have been based on it!), spots for sunrise, high scenic points, salt flats/formations, badwater basin, historical spots in the park itself, just generally beautiful landscapes, side trips out to see some interesting towns /odd things (like the Big Bovine of the Desert and the Shoshone museum). We could easily have spent another couple of days in and around the park. Obviously, don’t go during summer.
*I love Google. I asked “what are the weird things in Mono Lake called”
I think everyone should go to New Orleans once if they’ve never been there. To me it’s a very unique American city. Also the food scene is amazing, you could go there just to eat! Don’t go in the summer, I was there in early December. Weather was perfect for me.
I haven’t been that many places, lots I’m sure would work for a long weekend. You can explore without a big commitment
That was one of our long weekends and so much fun. We actually went for thanksgiving weekend - D19 flew from college in freshman year to meet us there. Had a fabulous thanksgiving meal at Brennan’s but you are right, lots of other good food too.
We spent a long weekend in Charleston SC also. Another excellent place for foodies! We were there for a wedding but extended our stay so we were there for 5 days. It was GREAT.
We loved our long weekend (5days) two years ago in Mexico City celebrating D2’s 30th birthday. We stayed in the historic district. We booked a private driver and guide for the pyramids. Did a tacos, tequila and lucha libre tour that was so much fun. Visited Frida Kahlo house/museum and had amazing food in Roma Norte.
We also love our long weekends in the winter going to the Eastern Sierra to ski. We have stayed overnight in Bishop and Lone Pine and explored the small towns on our way to or from Mammoth to ski. I never tire of the drive along the 395.
There also things to do in other seasons. I’m planning to take a “long weekend trip” to a similar area of Eastern Sierra during this summer. I’m thinking one day in Devil’s Postpile area (Mammoth), one day in Gem Lakes area (Bishop), one day in Big Pine Lakes area (Big Pine), and possibly one day on Mt Whitney depending on how I feel and permits (Lone Pine). Pictures of these locations are below:
I don’t understand this comment about needing to be where you live, most of ours aren’t anymore. We have done 4 day trips to Charleston, Savannah, Chicago, Asheville/Smoky Mtns, Denver, Boston/Cape Cod, almost all as a side trip from or on the way to going somewhere else, or visiting friends and family = new as part of retirement lifestyle. I doubt we would do a four day flying trip these days but we did do those when we were younger and had limited vacation and/ or childcare options - Sonoma, 4 day Caribbean cruise, few hour drive to N. MI many times. We might fly for two attached four day trips that were near each other.
Our kids do Thursday-Sunday trips attached to a business trip or trips planned to meet up with friends who are now in scattered locations, sometimes flying and sometimes driving.
I am enjoying hearing others’ experiences and ideas near and far - never know when an area might be a possibility.
I started my post with “For me…” - you do you, but my preference would be to not use a good chunk of 4 days (which I defined as a long weekend for me) driving hours away or dealing with an airport and flights.
I also totally like hearing others versions of “long weekend” trips!
I’m also going to edit this and say, we all have different vacation lifestyles- some take many vacations, long vacations, far away vacations. Retired or not. Some take few vacations, prefer or can only afford shorter vacations and for various reasons want to stay closer to home. All fine, we all live differently on CC and in the world.
