Hi..Need some help. We live in Eastern Pennsylvania. My husband and I need (desperately) a weekend getaway. Weekend because right now that's all we can afford. We haven't truly been on what I would call a vacation for over 10 years. A vacation is what I would call ....get on a plane and fly somewhere new or exotic for at least a week. We have been on weekend getaways in these past 10 years. We've taken a few day trips to NY and we've gone to the Jersey shore for 2 or 3 nights a couple of times(had some good times but enough already with the Jersey shore). I read about weekend flings to Las Vegas and Bahamas but don't know much about the places and I have a 16 year old stepdaughter who will have to come with us. I thought about Niagara Falls and thought about camping but I'm not that outdoorzie. Thought about going to Florida for a long weekend. Can anyone give me a starting place to look. I have to research all of this and would appreciate a push in the right direction. I know I may sound stupid but I am not much of a traveler. Thanks.

Archa, if you could narrow down your parameters a little we could give more input.

Do you want warm or cool?

Mountains, urban, or beach?

What is your budget?

When are you going?

Travelzoo puts out a weekly top 20 best deals and that may be a good start. You could sign up for their weekly email blitz.

Thanks I will check out TravelZoo. Would like to go sometime over the summer. No specific time since it will be planned as a long weekend and will be easy to get the time off. Early August might be best because it is my stepdaughters birthday so we could combine the two events. Mountain, Urban , beach .......doesn't matter. Budget well...guess we will do a lot of scraping but probably between 1500-1800. Am I asking too much?

No...you don't sound stupid just a person in need of a nice getaway! Here are a couple of ideas.
1. Fly to Ft Lauderdale. Stay @ The Pelican Beach Resort right on the Ocean. Only about 10 minutes from the FLL airport. 17th St. Causeway exit from US 1 North. Get an ocean front room w/ sitting room(separate sleeping area/TV/fridge/micro for your stepdaughter). The pool is very nice as is the "lazy river". The beach is beautiful & great for long walks. Gelleria Shopping Mall is 5 minutes away. Lots of great restaurants nearby. Or, call Lago Mar www.lagomar.com & get a 1 BR suite. It's just South of Pelican Beach Resort.

Another suggestions wld be Toronto. I won't get into all the things that you can do there but it wld be a great "getaway".

Another suggestion (and you do not sound stupid to me either) would be to do a Hotwire package. To keep your price down, a location where you would not have to rent a car would be excellent.

What about Key West or Miami? Your budget may shorten your stay but I'll look.

For the heck of it, I did a Hotwire package search.

For airfare and accommodations in Key West August 4-7 flying out of Atlantic City, it was $675 per person.

Ouch.

For those same dates, airfare and accommodations for three people for three night in South Beach were much cheaper. $300 per person for the Royal Palm Crown Plaza and The Days Inn oceanfront just down the street was only $219 per person. At the days in, you could even add a night or two and still come out under budget.

$660 for three people for oceanfront accommodations for three nights, roundtrip airfare, and all taxes and surcharges is about as cheap as I've ever heard.

Thanks sooo much. You've both been so helpful giving me places to look. I like your ideas so far. I probably could leave from NY or Philadelphia airports. I have looked on Travelzoo and there were some good ideas there but some of them were already sold out however it said new deals will be posted on June 1st. Again I thank you for your trouble. You guys just might make a traveler out of me! lol .. .....again many thanks.