Best Vacations

[P.C.]

Best vacation you've ever been on.........stories please.  I like to live vicariously through others travel experiences.  Just had some friends come back from Tuscany, Lake Como, Venice....Paris.  She shared all their wonderfrul stories and it was great.

  OR

  Plans for an upcoming awesome vacation.

[kitten]

That's not an easy one to choose.  I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Hungary, touring around Budapest and the surrounding villages.  Eating  at the King's Castle, while listening to a fine gypsy orchestra playing traditional songs.  It was still under Russian occupation, so the selection of food was limited,  but the music and the wine from Lake Balaton made it all worthwhile.

  And then there was the trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the National Art Gallery and the Smithsonian.  Fascinating, but not enough time to really explore.

  Does this whet your appetite for travel, P.C.?

[P.C.]

The Smithsonian has always been on the top of my list for places I'd like to go.  (I have the appetite to travel.....I'm just chicken.  Hub always tries to come up with new plans to get me on a plane.  He would love to take me to Europe.  As soon as we can afford to cruise there, I'm in.)    

[kitten]

I love flying.  I would like to do more travelling, if I get the chance.  (and win a lottery!)

[Sportsdude]

  Oh I've got lots
I'll start with the 'big trip'
We just got a mini van. First real 'vacation' car we ever had. So we decided to see the country!
We went through Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvannia, Maryland, Delaware, D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and east coast of Florida before visiting grandma.
We first went to Indy and took a tour of the race track. wow huge!
Dad took forever at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, we got stuck in traffic to go under the tunnel into Windsor at a Ribs and Soul festival. We drove through the night and got to Niagra Falls at midnight. It just happened to be my birthday, I spent it in Canada! woot! We visited everything at the falls. I got a canadian flag hockey puck (which I'm looking at right now on my desk) and a flag. Then we went to Cooperstown in Upstate New York to the MLB baseball hall of fame for a day.
Then in 1 day
We drove to New York went to Ellis Island, took the audio tour, went to the statue of Liberty. Then we got into the van, drove to Phili visited the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall. Then we got into the car again and drove to D.C. The next day we went to the white house. (we went back the next year to D.C. and did everything else and late in the afternoon we were in the same senate train car as John Kerry, just my family and him, that was really cool.)
Then we drove through Virginia stopped at Williamsburg an old colonial village. (the next year we went to Jamestown)
Then we drove in one night from Virginia to South Carolina. I was in charge of keeping dad awake by just talking. (I wasn't old enough to drive yet). The Shenadoah mountains are really cool in Virginia. Went through the mountains there.
Oh this trip was summer of '99. It took place at the same time jfk jr. died in a plane crash. We were having so much fun we never turned on the tv until a lady outside of a mom and pop hotel we were staying at in rural upstate new york told us the news. We were like 'what news?'.

That's the 'big' vacation. I've got the Boston trip (which was the last family vacation we've had) then trips to Colorado.  

[Sportsdude]

Boston Vacation.
Summer of '02.
We had a wedding to go to back in Ohio (cousin). The wedding 2 days after my 16th birthday so I was able to drive alone for the first time. (I drove to school 60 miles a day in heavy interstate traffic since I was 15 so it really wasn't a big deal). But this was the first vacation when I was able to drive. My dad usually does all the driving and then when he sleeps mom drives and she gets us no where, she's always lost and she stinks at driving. So dad went to sleep in the back in Illinois (as usual) I got to drive. When he woke up we were in Ohio. lol. So from then on I did most of the bulk of the driving. Well I got to meet my grandma's sister. She's polar opposites of my grandma. She was super happy and had a super outlook on life. While my grandma is the polar opposite. lol.
Anyway I drove from Ohio to Mass. then into Boston. Spent a couple days in Boston seeing the sites. Beacon Hill and even went to Red Sox game at Fenway. We lucked out, it was a double header that day so the good seats were still available. Well we were really lucky. We got 3rd row seats behind the plate. LOL
Red Sox ended up winning 16 to 2. lol nice.
Visited all the old colonial places in Boston, amazing town but a pain to drive in.
Then we went to Cape Cod for a couple days. We biked up and down Cape Cod, visited this awesome ice cream place in Orleans. Saw the Kennedy Compound and overall had an awesome relaxing vacation.
Then we went to New York city and got on the Today show. Then after the show the anchors come around and talk to everyone take pictures etc. Well my dad was on the phone with my uncle who was with my grandma in florida. (she just had lung surgery, black lung disease from coal mines in poland)
Well Soledad O'brien comes over and my dad was like "hey Soledad my brother is a big fan" and they talk on the phone for 5 mins! lol! We got a picture and everything. I'll never forget that. lol
We went to the Empire State building. Overall I'm not a fan of NYC, its buildings are too 1920's and bleak. I prefer Boston and then Chicago.

 

[P.C.]

I bet you did ok on those essays we all had to write every September....How I Spent My Summer Vacation....lol

  Sounds like excellent journeys SD.

[Sportsdude]

lol they were a blast. I've got tons more from when I was a little kid. Nothing beats driving to the destination though. Flying doesn't do a place justice unless there's something really exciting on the other end (school in my case) to a place you've never been. From my experiences of flying to places you've never been to, flying tends to get your head in a tailspin. While driving slows everything down. For example when I flew to Seattle, that whole week was just a blur, I got the feeling of looking through a telescope at a world I didn't know. I didn't get familiar with things that you would when driving.

I never had those 'what did you do during the summer' essays. lol
 

[kitten]

Somehow I never figured out how to drive to Hungary.  LOL!  But I was with a friend who drove down to Washington, D.C.  I've also driven to California and Mexico, and back through Nevada to Washington.  Beautiful scenery.

[Sportsdude]

well it takes a while for everything to soak in I guess. When you fly to a place you've never been, it sort of hits you all at once and you go into auto pilot mode. At least that's what I do. Plus I was driven everywhere and didn't have a map. Gave me headaches, I like to know where I am.

For Europe, I've got to think train is the best way. That's how I'm going to do it anyway.
 

[P.C.]

I like road trips too.  Lots to see, lots to do.  But it is rather limiting, and often impractical unless you have all the time in the world.  

.....and driving to Europe is tricky.    

[Sportsdude]

I meant flying to Europe then doing everything by train. lol  

[P.C.]

As soon as they build a train to Europe.....I'm on it.  

[Sportsdude]

haha. What's your fear P.C. is it the airport? the take off or landing?
I love flying but I hate certain airports. Lambert (the airport here) is loud, and all metal looking and you feel like your in a cage. To me the more the airport looks and feels like something that doesn't feel like your in an airport hanger, the better.
 

[49er]

take the cruise from Miami to the Mediterranean when the cruise lines are repositioning their ships around May each year......its around $1500 for a 17 day cruise, then travel around Europe by train....need to fly back from London though.