OT: Short Vacation Suggestions
- Thread starter tjsker
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Head to Royal, NE.... Fish a little, enjoy a couple of meals at the local watering holes, and spend 3-4 hours at Ashfall... O'Neill is the closest town with hotels.
Correction, my wife said she is not "upper 50s" yet.
Where do you live? If in eastern Nebraska or the Omaha area, have you ever been to Port Washington Wisconsin? About 8 hours from Omaha. It’s kind of a neat place, and since it is right on the Lake, it would probably be a relief from Nebraska summers. My sister lives fairly close, and I plan to spend some time there once I retire and we become empty nesters.
https://www.visitportwashington.com/tourism/
https://www.visitportwashington.com/tourism/
Visit the rainbow trout hatchery right next to Grove Lake at Royal. For a slice of small town Americana, go to Plainview (20 miles from Royal) and tour the Klown Doll Museum.
Unfortunately it may be a while before you can get to this area of the state.
I guess amusement parks are out, if you guys are all short you won't get to try out a lot of the roller coasters.
Are you really set on staying in the states? My wife and I are 60 (59 and 61) and its so easy to travel out of the country, and fairly cheap. Do a tour of Japan or China. Take a cruise to Europe or a tour of Italy. Everyone is friendly to Americans, regardless of what the media would like you to believe.
If you are looking closer to home, Chicago has fantastic museums and shopping and is also very friendly for a large city. Even St. Louis has the zoo, science, center, botanical gardens, Budweiser tour, Grants Farm, the Hill (Italian restaurants where Joe Garigiola and Yogi grew up), etc. And of course the national parks are awesome.
In Canada, head to Vancouver and Victoria and tour Butchart Gardens, which are stunning. People there are awesome as well.
If you are looking really close to home, go to Fort Robinson, Scottsbluff, the Arch at Kearney, Pioneer Village at Minden, the planetarium and museum in Hastings, and the Stuhr Museum in GI. I did this trip with my wife several years ago as she is a native of St. Louis. She loved it as she had never seen any of it. You have lots of options-- don't limit yourself. The other suggestions on this thread are all great as well.
If you are looking closer to home, Chicago has fantastic museums and shopping and is also very friendly for a large city. Even St. Louis has the zoo, science, center, botanical gardens, Budweiser tour, Grants Farm, the Hill (Italian restaurants where Joe Garigiola and Yogi grew up), etc. And of course the national parks are awesome.
In Canada, head to Vancouver and Victoria and tour Butchart Gardens, which are stunning. People there are awesome as well.
If you are looking really close to home, go to Fort Robinson, Scottsbluff, the Arch at Kearney, Pioneer Village at Minden, the planetarium and museum in Hastings, and the Stuhr Museum in GI. I did this trip with my wife several years ago as she is a native of St. Louis. She loved it as she had never seen any of it. You have lots of options-- don't limit yourself. The other suggestions on this thread are all great as well.
Lake Geneva, WI. Along the way, you can stop in Galena, ILL. Not sure what all they have, but I have heard a lot of people like going there. On the way to Lake Geneva, swing by House on the Rocks just south of Spring Green, WI. Make sure you do the galley tour, not just the house. By the end of 2 or 3 hours in there, you will be on stimulus overload.
If you like antiques, yard sales and flea markets, take the drive from Springfield, MO to Jonesboro, AK, through the Ozark mountains. Beautiful drive and I swear there is a yard sale or flea market in every yard and a dozen antique stores in every town. Great little restaurant on the overlooking the Spring River in Mammoth Springs(named for the underground spring that pumps like 55,000 gallon per minute of water out of the ground to form the cold arm of the Spring River). The stretch of the spring river from there south 30 miles or so is reportedly one of the top tubing rivers in the country. Hardy, AK is a popular stop for antiquing and quaint little restaurants.
Or, hit up the Blackhills. Gambling in Deadwood, Spelunking in Wind Cave, drive up needles highway, bus surf at the top (look it up on youtube). Ice cream at the shop at Mt. Rushmore -seriously, the ice cream alone is worth the visit - cones as big as your head (almost). Skip Wall Drug, but drive through the badlands national park (a fee, of course). along the way, hit up toadstool national monument north of Fort Robinson (Crawford) and take a mile or so walk through a place you would not believe exists in Nebraska.
If you like antiques, yard sales and flea markets, take the drive from Springfield, MO to Jonesboro, AK, through the Ozark mountains. Beautiful drive and I swear there is a yard sale or flea market in every yard and a dozen antique stores in every town. Great little restaurant on the overlooking the Spring River in Mammoth Springs(named for the underground spring that pumps like 55,000 gallon per minute of water out of the ground to form the cold arm of the Spring River). The stretch of the spring river from there south 30 miles or so is reportedly one of the top tubing rivers in the country. Hardy, AK is a popular stop for antiquing and quaint little restaurants.
Or, hit up the Blackhills. Gambling in Deadwood, Spelunking in Wind Cave, drive up needles highway, bus surf at the top (look it up on youtube). Ice cream at the shop at Mt. Rushmore -seriously, the ice cream alone is worth the visit - cones as big as your head (almost). Skip Wall Drug, but drive through the badlands national park (a fee, of course). along the way, hit up toadstool national monument north of Fort Robinson (Crawford) and take a mile or so walk through a place you would not believe exists in Nebraska.
Go to California and rent a convertible and drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. We did that from LA to SF and back for our honeymoon over a week. Lots of neat little towns, don't need to plan much in between, drive as far as you want, stop and stay when you want, very relaxing.
Estes Park Colorado is always fun and beautiful for me. IF I had only a few weeks to live and wanted to get away for a couple of days, it would be Jackson Lake Lodge in the Tetons.
Wisconsin Dells and then to New Glarus Brewery... then round back through Decorah, IA to hit up Toppling Goliath
If you’re not into sight seeing than a nice resort where you can just relax and enjoy the amenities might be for you. The nicest in the Midwest is The Big Cedar Lodge just south of Branson. Owned by Bass Pro Shops everything top notch!
No sightseeing... hmmmm. That an interesting "criteria", it would help if you gave an idea of what you do like to do.
Take a short vacation to Japan China, or Italy. Solid humble brag.
If you don't sightsee, what do you do on vacation? Rent a movie and watch it in your hotel? Maybe see what best buy has on sale?
Yeah, why even travel anywhere if you don't want to sightsee. Just go to a nice restaurant or something.
If I'm ever going for a short vacation, it will almost always include the Rocky Mountains. I never get tired of seeing them.
Breckenridge is pretty cool in the summer!
I grew up in the Chicagoland area and visit there at least once a year. Don't get me wrong we love sight seeing but we'd prefer a play, a jazz bar, following the Royals ( going to Boston or Toronto or Seattle ) great restaurants. We hear Toronto is pretty cool and others have suggested Nashville, if anyone has been to these places I love to hear your thoughts about them.
Northwest Arkansas has a ton of stuff to do. Beautiful area.
Eureka Springs is pretty nice for a short trip.
Toronto is a great city and is actually a lot like Chicago, with downtown activities anchored on the lakefront. Lots of great live entertainment there. Food is not really Toronto's strong point, though there are some good restaurants downtown. Rogers Centre is an okay place to watch baseball if the roof is open, not as nice when it is closed.
If you go to Toronto, I would take a little time to learn the public transit system. You can rent a car, but traffic is a nightmare and parking is off-the-charts expensive.
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