28 June 2014

Vacation ideas

I am going on vacation from July 19th-July 28th. Originally, my friend Adele and I were going together, and were debating between a tour of the southern states (culminating in ending up in Savannah, Georgia), or a tour of New England (with stops in Maine and Rhode Island so that I can finally check them off of my list). Adele, however, is unable to go with me now, as she is transferring stores and her new store has inventory about three weeks after our planned vacation. I, on the other hand, opted to keep my week as it is (since I still have another week to use this year even after this one, and a very limited window in which to use it - I might as well still take this first week, and then maybe try to schedule something with Adele in the fall).

So, here I sit, trying to figure out what to do with my ten days of freedom. I figured I would bring my dilemma to the blog and see if anyone can make any suggestions.

Requirments:
  1. Must be in the US. Unfortunately, I have no passport.
  2. Must be within driving distance (for this case, I will say about 8 hours) from Northeastern Pennsylvania (as of now, Day 1 of vacation will be at my dad's, because there's an event that I want to take my nieces to).
  3. Must have something to do in the area that is unique to that area that I really should check out - I am not going to drive to a place I've never been just to eat at the same chain restaurants where I've eaten in every other town in America.
  4. Bonus points if the things to do are free or very low cost.
  5. Must be relatively inexpensive to stay (hotels under $100/night for sure, and that is on the very high end of what I would want to spend).
Some ideas that I am throwing around:
  • A tour of New England. I have never seen Maine or Rhode Island (they are the only two states East of the Mississippi that I have not made it to yet - might as well check them off). I was thinking Providence, Rhode Island then Boston, Massachusetts, and then Portland or Bangor, Maine.
  • Upstate/Western New York State. Trish from The Trish List mentioned that the area she lives in now is really pretty (the Finger Lakes region) and said I should come visit. I shot her a message to see if she's serious so that I can contemplate it. I would also look into Syracuse, and then shoot over to Niagara Falls to see it from the US side.
  • New York City. I am not much of a city person really, but I'm sure I could find things that interest me in the city. I've been there a few times, and seen a few things, but not spent a ton of time there. My biggest issue, though, with NYC is that I don't know how comfortable I feel going into such a big cit on my own.
Anyone have any other ideas or suggestions? I would consider all parts of Pennsylvania (other than Philadelphia as I've already seen so much of it), New York State, New England, western Maryland, parts of Virginia, West Virginia, maybe Ohio. If my brother and sister-in-law let me, I wouldn't mind dragging my nieces along. I don't know how much fun they would have though, as most of what I would want to do is check out pretty scenery and museums and things.

2 comments:

  1. We're also stumped as to what to do for vacation this year...I can't afford a lot right now, so we probably won't do anything too crazy lol.

    Have you considered a cruise? I know there are ones that go up the coast of New England which might be nice and not require a passport. I would love to visit Maine! I know a lot of people who have and say that its gorgeous.

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    Replies
    1. I'd love to do a cruise eventually... but I don't think it's going to happen this year. Plus I'd be going alone, and don't know how I feel about going on a cruise alone.

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