Santa Fe and around for hiking and beautiful drives. I loved Austin but the traffic is terrible. Minneapolis was a lot of fun with good food, biking, and walking and easy to get around.
I think you have 2 gr t choices. If u choose Santa Fe, I’ll offer my suggestions, as a frequent visitor there. But I love S and N caro., so I don’t think you have any negatives. Flip a coin
I love Sedona, and have been there at least twice. I Would highly recommend it as a destination.
Another recommendation for Sedona! Don’t know if anyone has mentioned it, but New Orleans IMO would also be a great choice. Interesting article in Sunday’s NYTimes Magazine on NOLA.
@busdriver11, I’m just reading this thread and was going to give a thumbs up to Memphis! We were visiting friends in Little Rock recently and all took a day trip to Memphis and had a fabulous time. The Civil Rights Museum is very well done and not to be missed and we had dinner at a restaurant called Flight that was unique and delicious. These things are more sedentary than what the OP is interested in but dh and I were very impressed with our short time in Memphis.
Fly into the Sonoma airport and stay in Healdsburg. Beautiful old northern Sonoma town inbetween three excellent wine regions and a half hour from it’s pricier cousin in Napa county. Excellent restaurants and wine. Stay at the Camellia Inn, right off the Town square. Beautiful in the Spring.
Agree with Chicago. I would add taking a food tour. Check out Chicago Food Planet.
Fun idea! Has me thinking of where I would go. Charleston would definitely be on my list. Moab, Sante Fe, San Antonio, Portland, Vancouver, Nashville…etc, etc, etc!!! :))
H and I are planning a trip to Savannah and Charleston right now. We’re going to be driving (hopefully we won’t kill each other en route) but would love everyone’s suggestions for “must do”. We plan to be there the end of June - hot I know, but the only time our vacation schedules could align.
If it doesn’t work for this trip, keep Nashville in mind for the future. Can probably get cheap non stop out of your area and airport in Nashville is a quick 15 minute ride to downtown. Once there, it is a completely walkable city. Great food, nice music scene, some museums, great weather. Reasonably priced nice hotel rooms. Perfect long weekend destination fromwhere you are.
Looks like we will be heading to Charleston, going “through” Myrtle Beach (great friend retired there last September).
I would love Charleston activity suggestions. We haven’t decided how we will break up the trip, but we will likely be in charleston at least 4 days.
We may attempt to drive through Asheville, but I think that will be too much for this trip.
@sabaray …in Savannah, have dinner at The Old Pink House, make reservations. Do an architectural tour. Do a show at the Savannah Theatre…either Rewind or Savannah Live. The Theatre is in the historic district. Have dinner at Six Pence Pub first, just around the corner. Great food and atmosphere. It’s the restaurant from “Something to Talk About”, where Julia Roberts is in her PJs and spots her husband in a restaurant with his girlfriend. Take a hop on hop off tour, nice way to see all the squares. Skip the ghost tours…stupid and a waste of money.
OP, Greenville SC is great town and airport has Southwest (if that’s cheap for you) and not too far from Asheville to check out several areas at once. I would fly into Greenville, look around cool downtown, drive up thru Travelers Rest area and from there can cut over to 26 to Asheville and surrounding areas or go a more back way thru mountains and Brevard and then over to Asheville.
Love Charleston. If visited parts of it, check out surrounding places like Beaufort.
@1214mom A couple of previous Charleston discussions. I’m sure there are more if you do a further search. I know there was a discussion a few years ago about Charleston restaurants.
Charleston is a beautiful city that is very walkable. I’d recommend either Charleston Place Hotel or the Vendue Inn. The aquarium in Charleston is a great place to visit. There is an abundance of galleries, antique stores, and wonderful shopping in Charleston, all of which you could walk to easily from either hotel.
http://www.charlestoncvb.com/plan-your-trip/tours-attractions~204/
Suggestions for a Charleston visit:
Downtown: Waterfront Park, The Battery, historical home tours (Nathaniel Russell is my favorite - skip Calhoun Mansion), churches, City Market, Rainbow Row, King Street. There are lots of carriage, walking, food, and ghost tours, and of course, restaurants and shopping. Great antique shops on lower King St. On Saturday mornings, there’s a great Farmer’s Market at Marion Square.
Magnolia Plantation and Middleton Place. I’d choose one, but not both.
Fort Sumter, Yorktown/Patriots Point (Mt. Pleasant), Hunley (N. Charleston).
Mt. Pleasant: If time permits, walk or bike the Arthur Ravenel Bridge from downtown to the Memorial Waterfront Park in Mt. Pleasant. Shem Creek is cute and has lots of restaurants on the water. Boone Hall has the Avenue of the Oaks and often hosts fun festivals.
West Ashley: Angel Oak and Drayton Hall
Water activities: beaches (Sullivan’s Island is the closest to downtown), boat tours, paddle boarding, kayaking, fishing excursions, wind surfing, etc.
You won’t run out of things to do here! You can pm me if you have questions or want more info.
PS I’d skip Savannah. Asheville is a great destination!