This is just for fun, as we may be heading to check out NC and SC for potential retirement destinations, but we have talked about just getting on a plane, and heading to a city, just to check it out and have fun.
I’m hoping it will give other people ideas too.
We will likely be flying from Baltimore MD (but could fly from DC also)
We like active vacations - we like hike, ride bikes, eat well, just walk around and see the sights and people, etc.
We kind of like to experience places, as opposed to just see them.
Ideas on my list right now (for no particular reason)
Austin
Chicago
Memphis
NYC
Charleston
Any comments on the above?
What places are on your list?
Chicago. Spring so the weather better than winter. So many excellent museums et al along the lakeshore. When we lived in Wisconsin we made many weekend trips to see various attractions. People watching while walking Michigan Ave (the “magnificent mile”) is fun. The Navy Pier as well. The Art Institute. The Museum of Science and Industry. The Museum of Natural History. The Shedd Aquarium. The Planetarium. Grant Park and the lakeshore. Plus many more smaller museums and attractions.
You could stay near the lake and take public transportation to those places or you could stay in the suburbs (eg near Woodfield Mall) and drive in. People from there can give a lot more advice.
It will be cooler and the leaves won’t be fully out on the trees (by June 1st in NE WI). Madison and the U of WI is terrific but I find that a better place to live than visit. Plus, you likely would fly into either O’Hare or Milwaukee and rent a car. The UW arboretum is gorgeous in My when waiting fore a kid to finish packing up his dorm room…
If you have never been to Chicago make it the number one spot on your list. You may want to retire in a more southern climate but you can’t beat Chicago for the cultural offerings (didn’t even touch theatre, music others). You could easily spend a week there without exhausting the opportunities.
Traverse City, Michigan. Lots of great food, biking, hiking at Sleeping Bear Dunes, take a day and go up to Mackinaw Island. Especially if it’s late spring (so May/June as opposed to April).
Thanks everyone, great ideas so far. I like that top 25 list.
I like the idea of going someplace we haven’t been before (or only been very briefly), but that takes Charleston off the list, which may be close to the top for me, AND we may have a FREE place to stay.
Asheville is on our potential retirement list, but I think it may be too far from an airport.
Moab is AWESOME if someone hasn’t been there and is looking for outdoor activities. It’s a place I just wound up in on a trip, and we extended our stay there.
We went to Las Vegas in December. We didn’t gamble a dime, but went to Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, Zion National Park, and another hiking area I can’t think of right now. We walked the strip at night, so it was good exercise. It was inexpensive and fun.
DC has always been my favorite weekend getaway. I need to expand and Philadelphia, Charleston, San Antonio, and Pittsburgh need to make it into the rotation.
I think most of the cities listed above have public bike rentals.
If you like active vacations you must see Theodore Roosevelt Island in DC. Beautiful!!! I guess since you are flying out of that general area that you have been there, but it is a hidden gem when visiting DC.