1

Consider Boston and nearby New England destinations, but only if he is substantially healed from his surgery. It is a pricey time to visit, but also a great time. You can enjoy beautiful nature vistas without having to hike everywhere. It's the peak of the fall foliage season (rent a car for a portion of your trip to enjoy it. The NH white mountains would be a good drive to take).

2

You could consider a nine-day rental car loop from Las Vegas - the great national parks (Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon) - plus a great deal more - can all be really enjoyed just via your own car, or in the case of GCNP and Zion, by the free shuttle buses. No major hikes at all are required to get a great experience. What I would do - the weather out there in October is superb.

3

Santa Fe, New Mexico, is only 8 hours' drive from Dallas and a favorite of Texans during their hot and humid summer months. There are 300 art galleries plus almost a dozen museums of Southwestern History and Culture plus International Folk Art. There are many boutiques and excellent restaurants and cafes. The autumn colors will be beautiful. There is a beautiful drive along the Rio Grande to Taos and also Santuario de Chimayo is a very popular destination only one hour from Santa Fe. I just discovered nearby Madrid, on the Turquoise Trail, half-hour from Santa Fe, and definitely known for its hippiness. There are nearby Pueblo Indian villages that may have ceremonial dances open to the public. Bishop's Lodge on the outskirts of Santa Fe includes horseback riding, a swimming pool (October may not be open), spa, and tennis for those capable of running. There are bicycle trails throughout Santa Fe. The La Fonda Hotel in downtown Santa Fe is across from the 400-year-old Cathedral and one block from the Plaza. There are free shuttlebuses every 15 minutes from the Plaza to Canyon Road art galleries and to the Railyard art galleries and boutiques and restaurants. There is a convenient bus from the Plaza to Museum Hill.

4

Tour the Southwest/Grand Canyon/Rockies/Moab/Yellowstone.

Tour New England area from Boston to Arcadia NP.

Tour Asheville/Blue Ridge Parkway/Smokey Mountain NP, Whiskey Trail/Wine Country in Kentucky

5

With a little bit of luck, that can be the ideal time for an Atlantic beach from Cape May south. Five days in DC and four in Rehoboth or Lewes, Delaware. Or five days in Charleston and Savannah and four at Hilton Head or Edisto Beach.

6

"Acadia," no 'r.'

You could consider the Finger Lakes.

7

I'll second #3. Santa Fe actually has good bus & shuttle system to minimize walking & reach local attractions...You will need a car for out of town day trips...carracar

8

And, you could catch some of the Albuquerque Balloon Festia events as well...This might make ALB tight for hotels & Santa fe gets it's share of trade. Best to have reservations confirmed for weekend arrival... carracar

9

And, you could catch some of the Albuquerque Balloon Festia events as well...This might make ALB tight for hotels & Santa fe gets it's share of trade. Best to have reservations confirmed for weekend arrival... carracar

10

You are a day's drive from historic New Orleans and antebellum Natchez. Lots of places to hear a variety of great music from Jazz, Cajun, and Zydeco to Blues. Plenty to see and do in those places. The humidity shouldn't be very high then and hurricane season will be about over.

11

You could fly into Raleigh, rent a car and drive to Asheville. W. North Carolina is beautiful, and you can find easy hikes. You could then return through Raleigh, maybe spend a day or two exploring the art galleries and food in Chapel Hill or doing light hiking in Durham at the Eno River State Park and Eno River City Park. Then head east and visit the Outer Banks and swim at the lovely beaches (might want to do beaches first, then Asheville, so it will still be warm enough to swim). Note, this will still be hurricane season, but you'll have a car and can be flexible if you need to change your plan.

Edited by: tilos

12

One option I've thought of would be to go to Asheville, NC - we love the foodie/hippiness/bed and breakfasts, but can't think of a great place to go for the second half of the trip.

I like this idea, but would add to it by making Asheville the start point for a drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway , all the way to DC. The road itself (a linear National Park) is simply stunning, and it passes close to (but not through) numerous places where you could eat, explore, sleep, do museum stuff, etc. If you're lucky you might get some early fall color in the hills; you could spend a couple of days around Roanoke and (wonderful) Charlottesville visiting various Thomas Jefferson sites like the gorgeous UVA campus, Monticello , Poplar Forest , etc. and then end up in DC for all the museums and foodie action you could ever want. Nine days would be perfect for that trip.

13

Wow, thanks so much everyone for the responses! It looks like we have some good info for this trip and also for a few more in the future (especially santa fe and new orleans). Since Asheville has been on my to-see list for awhile, I like the idea of going from there to kentucky/bourbon trail, and the asheville to DC idea sounds great too (I've been to DC once when I was young, but husband never has).

Does anyone have any more thoughts about this, or some input about either trip - especially kentucky, which I know hardly anything about!

14

There is a lot of ways to slice that trip up, but here is my take. Its going to be very pretty in that area so driving will be a delight, though weekends can be a tad nutty.

Asheville is a great base a few nights, good cuisine scene, music scene, sort of bohemian, nice arts and galleries too. They now have a art district in some warehouse down by the river on other side of town, some funky studios there. Of course nearby you have the Biltmore Manion and Estate, you can do a package there if you want to splurge, this gigantic setting has wineries, spas, fishing, horseback riding and a art collection among a ton of other activities. The BLuegrass and music scene in Asheville is great, lot of people playin the fiddle/banjo and singing folk right on the streets.

http://www.biltmore.com/

http://blog.riverartsdistrict.com/
http://www.exploreasheville.com/things-to-do/arts-entertainment/

From here you can go two directions, one is to head on the BLue Ridge Parkway and explore the organic food trail and rustic towns towards Virginia.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/the-food-lovers-drive-along-the-blue-ridge-parkway

The other way is to enjoy the spectacular scenic drive on the BRB to Bryson City, via Mt Pisbah, the hiking and mountain settings around this area is drop dead pretty.

http://www.hikewnc.info/trailheads/parkway/guidedhikes/mountpisgah.html

http://www.cnyhiking.com/BRP-MountPisgah.htm

You can continue to drive and enter Smokey Mountain NP from this area, or head to Bryson City a night, hang out there and then spend entire morning/afternoon in the park. This place is great, old school, great lodge, there is also good rafting here, as well as a cool old train, you can rent cabins around there too, but you need to arrange it prior to arrival.

http://www.fryemontinn.com/

After driving about the park, I suggest avoiding the Gatlinburg area, its a tourist ghetto like no other. Keep on driving and go up I-75 to Corbin Kentucky and the Cumberland Falls Lodge. you can get cabins with fireplaces here and bbq's, totally old school, or stay in the main lodge, the area has the waterfalls and also great hiking, as well as canoe the river, really pretty. At the pull out point nearby is the Yahoo Waterfalls park and hike too, really pretty area. Also near Cumberaland Falls is Laural Lake for fishing and boat rentals/

http://parks.ky.gov/parks/resortparks/cumberland-falls/default.aspx

http://www.johnnymolloy.com/KentuckyhikingAdventures.htm

http://www.ky-rafting.com/rivers.htm

Then you can head to the Whiskey Trail, as well as some very historic towns like Harrodsburg, Danville, and the main Whiskey area of Bardstown (Makers Mark) among many.

Nearby you can enjoy organic meals and hikes in a old shaker setting here.

http://www.shakervillageky.org/

On the way back towards Asheviile, this park is great hiking too.

http://parks.ky.gov/parks/resortparks/natural-bridge/default.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridge_State_Resort_Park

That would be a lot of driving and a lot of fun, much of this I driven on a motorcycle and in a sportscar, and taken mostly side roads besides the I-75 section from North KY to Smokey Mountain NP.

Here are pictures of KY- and trip report. Have fun. Its a really nice road trip and cheap, KY is a blast.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa;jsessionid=3DF881B6F334D382801CB12E3F464E93.app01?threadID=1612474&messageID=15877854

Tim Chicago