sandman

Our boys are traveling to Montana to spend 1 month with their Grandparents. We will be dropping them off in Seattle this summer. Mom and Dad arent sure what to do? We live in Hawaii.We would like to stay in the country. Not sure if the south will be too hot. Considering the pacific Northwest. so many choices. Feeling spoiled and excited. thanks for any help.

rkkwan

How about a grand tour of the contiguous U.S. plus Canada by car? That'd make it a great road trip. Better than staying for a whole month in the Northwest.

traveler24

Stay out of the "South" unless you like opresssive humidity!!!
What are the ages of the boys???
AND how about expenses??
Depending on the ages---I think rrkwan's suggestion could be meant to be "in jest"???At almost any age my 2 children in a car for over 2-3 hours was a nightmare, Of course that wss before "game boys" and portable CD players.
Good luck and enjoy your visit...
Are the boys the"outdoor" type???
Hiking vs indoor stuff??

rkkwan

I think sandman means the boys are going to Montana with the grandparents, so Mr. & Mrs. sandman have a month on their own, starting at Seattle...

ElaineMc

Wow. That's a long time without kids. Don't think I could last that long without mine. There is so much beautiful country to see right here in the US. The south has some wonderful places to visit. Try the Golden Isles of Georgia (Jekyll Island, St. Simons). Oregon is nice too. Completely different. Yes, the south is hot and humid but I think you would enjoy. Good luck on your adventure.

Cicerone

Not knowing where you hare already been in the US, some of my suggestions below may be repetitious. Also, I have left out places like Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Washington DC, etc as I assume you would want to take your children there at some point. As you are adults, I have tried to focus on places adults may find interesting but children may not.

I agree that Florida and places in the deep south will be fairly hot and humid in the summer months, although early June may still be OK, and IMO Miami is a great town at any time, but maybe you have had enough of places with palm trees anyway. Take a look at weatherbase.com and worldclimate.com for historical average temps and rainfall.

From Seattle within driving distances are:

St Juan Islands

Vancover/British Columbia generally

San Francisco (drive down coast from Seattle)

Lake Tahoe

Carmel/Monterey down to LA or San Diego


Places further afield:

New York City (museums, concerts and so much more, could spend the whole month)

Newport Rhode Island and that area of the east coast, including Cape Cod

Boston ? New England (esp mountains of Vermont, Maine coast)

Spa/health resort in New England area (like Canyon Ranch in Berkshires)

Music festivals (classical, jazz, etc) like Tanglewood in the Berkshires (look at bso.org and click on Tanglewood)

Chicago (museums and much more); maybe combine with a trip to the Koehler golf and spa resort about 2 hours north of Chicago (www.destinationkohler.com) or Mackinac
Island on Lake Michigan (www.mackinac.com)

Sante Fe or Taos, New Mexico

Charleston South Carolina (watch temperatures after June)

Savannah, Georgia (watch temperatures after June), agree with Jekyll island above as well

New Orleans, Louisiana (watch temperatures after June), could be combined with a trip to the antebellum mansions in the Nachez, Mississippi area

Stephanie

You could try Dollywood with the big water park and then to Virginia, Busch Garden and the beach. You could then head up to Assateague in Virginia to see the wild ponies or stay South and go to Blue Ridge Parkway and visit the park and hike.

uhoh_busted

I think since you're from Hawaii, you might enjoy exploring the Pacific Coast...Seattle, Vancouver, then head South through Oregon, maybe on down through Northern CA, spend some time in Sonoma and Napa, moving on down to LA, then drive accross the desert to Vegas, see the Grand Canyon. Then you may want to turn in the car and fly back to Montana to pick up the boys. You'll have done a lot of things you can enjoy as adults, and seen some things along the way you may decide to go back and do with the boys another trip.

DavePitt

You might consider a baseball tour if the kids are old enough. Its easier in the northeast as many major league cities are relatively near to each other. My mom and nephews saw games in DC, Baltimore, Philly, Pittsburgh, Cincy, Cleveland...and you would have time for Montreal and NYC. Lots of things to see and do in those cities while you're there, particularly DC with free museums and Cleveland with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and big theme park to go to. There are some good web sites people have posted with their experiences with this...

E

Is it just me, or are several of the above responses geared toward kids?? Read the original question guys--they will NOT have the kids with them for one month!
Now: my suggestion would be to tour the west coast at whatever pace pleases you. I would consider SF and the Monterey Bay/Carmel/Big Sur areas to be must-sees, and romantic to boot. You could include the Pacific Northwest, since that's your starting point, where the weather will be great. Seattle, the Olympics, Portland...
A lot depends on your preferences--urban or countryside? Hiking and picnics and camping or elegant hotel? These aren't mutually exclusive, but if you give us some clues, you'll get more specific ideas. A whole month of travel! Lucky you!

Anonymous

Sandman has indicated in another post that (s)he will be in San Francisco for Easter. Other than that, it's been 24 hours since the OP and we have nothing to go on but "this summer" "1 month" "We would like to stay in the country. Not sure if the south will be too hot." I say we hold off until we get further input from the OP!

SB_Travlr

One more idea to throw in the hopper: a few years ago, we spent a very memorable 3 weeks doing a "round the US" tour with Amtrak. Bought tickets that allowed us stopovers en route.

We started in the Northeast, because that's where we live -- you could apply this in any direction. Went from NYC to Washington DC, Chicago, and Flagstaff AZ. Took a break at north rim of Grand Canyon, explored AZ. Then back on the train to LA and San Francisco for another break, visited Yosemite. Back to the train, to Seattle -- spent great time there, so much to see. Final train leg took us to Whitefish Montana -- went to Glacier NP then Yellowstone, drove over the Chief Joseph to Red Lodge and Billings, and flew home from there.

Wonderful trip, I'd do it again (or something like it) in a heartbeat. Very relaxing to be on the train, lots of interesting folks to meet along the way, and so much to see; plus you can both enjoy the scenery, and let someone else "drive". (Just rent a car for the stopovers.) It's a big beautiful country, and lots of folks don't see half of it.

A month for "grownup" travel is a rare treat -- enjoy it!