Ideas for husband/wife 50th birthday travel somewhere in US
Replies: 9 - Last Post: Jan 10, 2008 11:37 AM Last Post By: kimberly8758
jump to
Ideas for husband/wife 50th birthday travel somewhere in US
I will be celebrating my 50th birthday in August, and would like to get some ideas on great places in the US to travel with my husband. Willing to be gone 7-10 days; we have seen plenty of the California Coast; Carribean; Gulf Coast. Places of interest are Grand Canyon area, midwest; canada; alaska; etc. Since it is August, we don't want to be miserably hot, but want to have a great time regardless. We like to do "driving tours" on our own, so we can fly to a location and drive to see some sights.1
Hard to beat a drive from northern Utah - SLC up to Logan over the Wasatch Mtns. around Bear Lake, up to Jackson Hole and the Tetons continuing on through Yellowstone and up to Montana. The northern Rockies are some of the most beautiful geographical areas on the face of the earth. Fly into SLC rent a car and drop it off in Montana and fly home.2
#1 is good. August is a difficult month, what with everyone wanting to vacation in the same places. A good solution is to do some homework on Utah northward, and pick out some of the spots that aren't mobbed (e.g. Yellowstone National Park's campgrounds). Or at least make reservations really early. Old Faithful Lodge is really remarkable.Or maybe British Columbia?
3
you will still need A/C in the car and lodges don't always have AC. if there's a heatwave (not uncommon), you'll feel it....drink lots of waterto add to 1) i would tour SLC then drive north
i would stop at busy yellowstone and then go all the way to glacier NP in montana
http://www.nps.gov/glac/
but research all the parks
4
Anywhere you travel in USA in August is likely to be warm or hot, even in the mountains you can expect daytime temperatures above 75 degrees.Glacier National Park, as mentioned by previous responders, was also my first thought for you.
Or you may want to look at flying into Denver and driving through Rocky Mountain National Park, stopping to walk /explore where you choose.
Or fly into Green Bay, WI and explore the Upper Pennisula (UP) of Michigan - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Munising, MI) and Mackinac Island or Door County, WI. These areas, while popular summer destinations, are not mobbed and the Great Lakes help moderate temperatures.
5
Alaska is one place where you will not need air conditioning in August! Maybe a raincoat. You could go halibut fishing out of Homer and have the charter fishing boat crew clean, package, freeze, and ship your 100-lb halibut home. You could go flightseeing out of Homer to see grizzly bears in Katmai. You could take a short tour boat ride to see nesting puffins in Kachemak Bay. You could tour the many art galleries and museums. You could go kayaking or horseback riding. You could go on a 26 Glacier Cruise out of Whittier into Prince William Sound. You could go gold panning in Girdwood. You could go paragliding from the top of Mt. Alyeska in Girdwood. You could dine at a 4 Star restaurant at the top of Mt. Alyeska or at a renown Cajun restaurant. You could go for a ride in a horsedrawn carriage. http://www.alaska.org6
How about Mackinac Island and the U.P.?7
August is perfect in Montana - UNLESS we're having a bad fire year and it's so smokey you can't see a thing!Combine Glacier NP with the Canadian Rockies National and Provincial Parks. Really outstanding scenery, and if you come prepared to camp, you can take advantage of free-camping on National Forest lands (where it isn't expressly prohibited) or camping in the Canadian Provincial district forest camp sites, which no one seems to know about, so they aren't overfilled even when the nearby parks are quite busy.
8
Alaska sounds like a great place to go in August. I would also consider going to Montreal/Quebec City. Easy to drive around there and experience a bit of a different language/culture at the same time. Lots to see there. You can also go on a trip around the countryside on the east coast. Or, you can do Savannah, Charleston etc route in the South if you haven't done that yet.I would NOT go to the Grand Canyon or any other desert area in August. Salt Lake City was also awful (hot and disgusting) when I was there in late July. I wouldn't recommend it.
9
I really like the ideas you came up with. I don't know that area at all, so do you have any reccomendations on accommodations, dining, things to do, etc.? We aren't "campers", so a B&B or hotel are probably good for us. We are really into driving, scenery, and stopping here and there for different types of activities. I tried looking up the areas, but am having trouble with the Bear Lake area. I like to "mapquest" my driving route and have my itinerary roughed out ahead of time to give us plenty of time for extracurricular activities. If you have any other web sites you can direct me to to help me out I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your help!ADVERTISEMENT
Hotels & Hostels
-
Philadelphia Center City Residence Inn by Marriott
Philadelphia(3 star Hotel)
From US$271.00 per night
Book now
-
Book now
-
Residence Inn Las Vegas Convention Center by Marriott
Las Vegas(3 star Hotel)
From US$95.00 per night
Book now