Vacation Ideas

[homoe]

Originally Posted by Chad

I am thinking about taking mom to Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, Texas this year. It looks like big fun.

http://www.galveston.com/dickensonthestrand/

Yes for when traveling with mom that looks very good BUT may I suggest the Dinah Shore Open Palm Springs Women's Weekend, Ptown, or an Olivia Cruise for when travelling solo?

[cathexis]

Does anyone know of a place that one can go zip lining in the contiguous 48 states? Maybe out west?

[homoe]

Originally Posted by cathexis

Does anyone know of a place that one can go zip lining in the contiguous 48 states? Maybe out west?

I have some info and will post it later on today Cathexis

[homoe]

Home to 10 zip lines and an outdoor laser-tag arena on 250 acres of undisturbed mountainous terrain. Silver Streak Zip line Tours offers and exhilarating adventure rush in Wallace Idaho. Admire beautiful views of the scenery and wildlife while zipping along lines ranging from 325 feet to 1,800 feet long, at speeds reaching 60 mph.

AAA members save 15% off admission. To receive your discount, present your AAA membership card when you check in at Silver Streak's office. Season runs through mid-October.

For reservations and info called 208-556-1690. More info is available also on
http://www.silverstreakziplinetours.com/

[GeorgiaMa'am]

My favorite vacation ever was camping in the U.S. Virgin Islands national park on St. John. (I am suddenly having a flashback of writing a paper in the third grade, "How I spent my summer vacation" . . .)

Anyway, my partner at the time and I flew down to St. Thomas with all our camping and snorkeling gear. We spent our first and last nights at a B&B in Charlotte Amalie, visiting some great restaurants, drinking, and applying toothpaste to our mosquito bites. In between, via someone's personal fishing boat/water taxi, we traveled to St. John.

Cinnamon Bay campground is one of the nicest campgrounds I have ever been to. You camp right on the beach, but each campsite is private - they are separated by palm trees and these gigantic bushes with huge leaves. The facilities are extensive, nice and well-maintained; they have hot showers (need I say more?) Here's their web site: https://cinnamonbayresort.com/

The snorkeling was great. The water was clear, and warm. There were many opportunities for interacting with nature - I really felt a part of it, not just like an observer. The birds were fantastic. The mongooses were gigantic, and really fast. The crabs crawled past our tent down the beach every night. I had an (unwanted) close encounter with some large underwater predator - probably a shark . . . but I've told that story in another thread, so I won't repeat it here, except to say we were lucky and all turned out well.

The nearby town of Cruz Bay offers some nightlife, including some fantastic restaurants. Everything is on the pricey end. But, we did most of our eating by grilling out on the beach, anyway, so it was worth the splurges.

I miss this place so much. No other vacation has ever measured up, although I try to judge each one on its own merits. (I've traveled a bit around the world; I've stayed in hostels and resorts and 5-star hotels; I love Disney World. But this camping vacation on St. John was the ultimate. Really.) I don't think I will ever re-experience anything like it, either, because I am no longer physically capable of tent camping, and what with TSA now, I'm not sure it's possible to fly with all that equipment like we did back then. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Thanks for traveling with me down memory lane.

[Chad]

A decade or so back I had a conference in Lake Placid, NY and took my mom with me. We flew into Albany, NY and took the slow road to Lake Placid. By shear luck we passed the Adirondacks and I was just blown away from the beauty. I told mom that I wanted to live there and she replied that it was only like that a couple of months a year the rest of the time it was under snow. Okay it is a great place to visit.

I never forgot the natural beauty of the Adirondacks and I plan to return there again.

[Orema]

The 18 Most Beautiful Highways for Road Trips


Jack Kerouac might have said it best in his famous novel On the Road: “I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future.” His words serve as a testament to the power of a road trip; how the process of packing a car and driving long distances has the ability to transform us. Yet, what about the roads themselves? What makes this form of travel more life-changing than, say, flying in an airplane? Or taking a cruise? The answer could be in the old chestnut: It’s not the destination but the journey that matters. AD rounds up 18 of the most beautiful road trips to take in your lifetime—routes that are as stunning for their natural beauty as they are for their architectural design.

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(Photo: Getty Images)

Roughly 123 miles long, and cutting between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Park is Utah's Highway 12. Originally built in 1914, the stretch of road winds in and out of beautiful sedimentary sandstone cliffs.
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For more click here.

[easygoingfemme]

Originally Posted by Chad

A decade or so back I had a conference in Lake Placid, NY and took my mom with me. We flew into Albany, NY and took the slow road to Lake Placid. By shear luck we passed the Adirondacks and I was just blown away from the beauty. I told mom that I wanted to live there and she replied that it was only like that a couple of months a year the rest of the time it was under snow. Okay it is a great place to visit.

I never forgot the natural beauty of the Adirondacks and I plan to return there again.

Your mom is quite right. You'll want chains on your tires and a LOT of layers if you come outside of summer months. Pretty.... but cold and messy.