Cajie

My husband and I have several companion fare tickets that we must use or loose. We don't have a lot of time and on one the travel must be completed by Feb 26th - the earliest we could travel is about Feb 10th.

We've really never traveled much in the eastern U.S. Moved to FL several years ago from LA so have done extensive travel in the West.

However, a bit concerned about snow, but interested in Baltimore, Philidelphia and interesting historical cities. Love good restaurants. Places we have been in the past and loved, San Francisco, Carmel, Big Sur, Santa Barbara, Napa, Mammoth, New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, Not really interested in the hustle bustle of NYC right now.

Suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

longhorn55

Who knows what this year will bring, but the East Coast was particularly hit with cold, snowy weather last year. (We got around 5 inches in D.C. on February 17th.)

Baltimore and Philadelphia are great cities for history and food and either city would be worth a 2-3 day visit, as long as you are prepared for the weather and the possibility of having to hang around longer if your flight gets cancelled.

Houston is actually a great city for museums and food--and you won't get snowed in there!

dfrostnh

For good restaurants, you might consider Portland ME even in winter. Visit chowhound's northern New England thread for Portland recommendations. There are some good weekend visit reports. I've been on the foodie tour which goes around places in the Old Port area. It was ok but I think you could find some of the places on your own like the brewery and Two Fat Cats bakery (whoopie pies). We haven't had much snow yet but winter just arrived. You would have to wear waterproof boots right now since parking lots (at least here in NH) are slushy.

If you're willing the rent a car, the "cooking classes" at Stonewall Kitchen in York/Kittery area are fun. They're really full course meals with a cooking demonstration. If you feel like shopping you have your choice of Kittery Rt 1 outlets or north of Portland Freeport Maine.

If you luck out with good weather you could even consider a cruise of Casco Bay.

emalloy

If you don't want to rent a car, Boston has all you want. Plenty of places to get good food, lots of history, public transportation, compact and lots that is walkable.

Gretchen

Vancouver if you want to go back west.

Washington DC

Gretchen

I will add I let a lot of companion fares go--they end up costing a good bit, with air fares as high as they are now. If I really WANT to go, they are great, of course. They come around the next year and I can plan for it then.

schmerl

Philadelphia was number 6 in the nations top food cities.
Certainly tons of history in Philadelphia and the historic district is very walkable.

SusieQQ

Boston (and Cambridge)would be my pick...lots of good restaurants, historical sites, etc.....all easily accessible. Of course, going to any place in the North East can have weather issues...

Christina

2 days isn't very long, so I gather this is to go one place. You can easily go to Baltimore and take the train to Philadelphia, for example, but I wouldn't do all that in 2 days. I wouldn't worry about snow that much, the odds are there won't be any in a 2-day period. Last year, I had a flight cancelled out of BWI in early March due to merely sleet/ice/rain, not snow. All flights were cancelled that morning, so you never know for sure.

I'd much rather go to Philadelphia than Baltimore, unless you really want to see the aquarium. I think you can find a good enough restaurant in any major city for a couple meals. I'm not a big Baltimore fan myself, and I live in DC so have been there plenty. Would never spend hundreds of dollars or more just to go there for 2 days.

Of course DC would be the natural with tons to do in a couple days, but I'm guessing it's not of interest or would have been mentioned.

dwdvagamundo

I agree with Philadelphia over Baltimore, although we love both.