We're gonna be on vacation a couple days during the week of April 21. If we don't get OUT of this FROZEN place we may be needing some psychiatric help...

Starting from Chicago, driving no longer than 5-6 hours, where would we be heading?

We need WARMER weather than Chicago, so heading up north to Wisconsin or Michigan, both lovely areas, is not what we want at this time of the year....

Thanks for your HELP!

You only need to drive a short distance to ORD, and get a plane to somewhere where it's really warm. Luck could be on your side, but I'm not sure of anywhere within a 6 hour drive of Chicago that would guarantee what this Floridian calls warm weather in April!

Na, no.... Had just about ENOUGH of ORD and crowded planes and delays and cancellations, waiting on the tarmac for 2 hours, lost luggage, running thru long terminals....

....We had enough of that this past winter....

...NO. We want to get to our car and have a nice drive somewhere nice and warm.

No, we don't need a FLORIDA kind pf HEAT and HUMIDITY... Thanks so very much. We just don't see any reason to head up NORTH and get into a colder weather than we have here now....

How about a nice place in Indiana? Iowa? Ohio? Or even northern Kentucky?

Thanks.

Without a clue as to ages, interests, and budget this is going to be a shot in the dark... However, if you're only planning to be gone for a couple of days, you might want to consider the communities of French Lick and West Baden down in the hill country of southeastern IN. There you will find 2 resort hotels, 3 golf courses, and a casino with small town ambience in the surrounding area. Check out the following link which should get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Lick_Resort_Casino

While admittedly somewhat geography challenged, is there really anyplace within 5 hours drive of Chicago that is warm?

Mamamia, we didn't do it for warm, and I'm go North when I retire. LOL!

But we found a drive drive straight South from Chicago marvelous. We went to St. Louis and wandered down the Mississippi. That's about as far as you are going to get for the time limit you set for driving- St.Louis. 5 or 6 hours isn't going to get you warm, warm. All my guys go fishing in KY and TN in April and May, and they are never, from what they tell me, warm. Warmer, but not warm. And it is also 60 degrees in Chicago today, so I think you need to consider what the "difference" is, not just the distance.

We had a great vacation, and went all the way to Biloxi, but somewhat farther than 5 to 6 hours you can each Tunica MI, which has a large number of casinos and all kinds of next to nothing $$ for lodging and it will be warm there already. It's got more to do than gambling.

Also, you could hit the Cohokia Mounds, my favorite and several other places on the way. But still, it is not toasty there yet.

I, myself, am going to a warmer but not warm place next week. And I am opting for Midway airport and the cheap, quickie flights.

If it was my choice, that's what I'd do and I'd go to the Gulf if I wanted warm or TX or somewhere.

Just glanced at the newspaper and lo and behold- guess what is an entire section, Mamamia?

They have just opened a resort in French Lick, IN (5 hours) that is phenomenal. You should see the pictures! The inside atriums are bigger than St. Peter's square in Rome. And minus casinos, and beaucoup golf courses and restaurants. It looks like Jules Verne, and gorgeous. And most of it is outside. It's 70 plus there right now.

Revival of a 106 year old original hotel into a marvel that people are coming from Europe for:

West Baden Springs Hotel
French Lick, Indiana

Al Capone, FDR and lots and lots of others were guests when it wasn't as it is now, and at the same time of the year, and for the same reasons.

Thanks so much, Retired and JJ5.

I will give a closer look, later in the day.

Yes, Chicago is in the 60's today. Nice.... We just don't find it sensible to go back to the 50s, which would be our faith, if we were heading up NORTH today....

Nice secenery, a resort place, some place like Saugatuck, MI, that we frequent during the summer....

Well if you really want to heat things up and if it's not too far, you could always drive to Intercourse, Pennsylvania and if you have a good time there, stop at Blue Ball. Of course, a stopover on the way at French Lick would be pretty appropriate too.

You cannot make a significant climante change in a 6 hour drive. Your request makes no sense.

But stating the obvious... yes you should drive south, not north for slightly better weather. That is a universal truth (north of the equator anyways).

I fear that suze is correct when one's starting point is Chicago. I grew up there and am well acquainted with its location.

It is possible, that St. Louis could be warmer during the 3rd week in April---probably statistically a higher average temp, but no guarantee.

However, suze, your statement would not be entirely correct in my adopted state of MA which has several distinct climatic zones within its borders....none of which is more than a 3-4 hour drive from each other.

LOL JJ5, I hadn't even gotten my Trib in yet when I threw out the French Lick/West Baden idea.... It's just that we were there over the holidays last December.

Mamamia, if you do decide to explore southern IN, stay at the West Baden Springs Hotel if your budget permits. The accommodations as well as the clientele are more refined there than at the French Lick Springs Hotel/Casino.

NeoPatrick, in my former school teaching days, I would have ignored you, but I must confess that I'm curious... As with high school aged students, am I to attribute your remarks to attention seeking behavior because your flight out of ORD suggestion was ignored? Or are you merely trying to get this post deleted? Inquiring minds want to know...

Um, what was wrong with anything that Patrick wrote?

I am a Philadelphia resident and am not that far from Intercourse, Bird-in-Hand, and Blue Ball.

Retired teacher, do you have a problem with the Amish towns of Pennsylvania?

I am DEEPLY offended by your diparagement of Pennsylvania. HOW DREADFUL!

The Great and Powerful Thingorjus

Ok I am in Europe and no expert...but when we drove route 66 in March a few years ago we had snow in Chicago and all the way down though Illinois but once we got a bit further south we had sun and warmth. At Cahokia we were walking around in t-shirts, same in St Louis, and all the way west until we hit New Mexico, when we shivered again.
There is lots to see and do around St Louis so maybe you should check the Weather Channel for the temps there and hit the interstate south.

Thanks for the smile NeoPatrick.
I can't remember if it was Blue Ball or Intercourse where we found ourselves after a wrong turn many years ago!

Lots of laughs and pictures at the time. Wow, haven't thought about that in ages....

Mamamia, I would get out the map and a compass and draw a line 5 hours away, and another at 6. See what falls in between!

This is more like a 6-7 hour drive, depending on where you live in Chicago. We did this one spring in late April/early May when we lived in Deerfield, IL, a northern suburb. We drove to Nashville, TN for 5 days and had a great time. We don't even like C&W music. We stopped at the Maker's Mark whiskey place in Northern Kentucky, took a small detour so DH could see where they run the Kentucky Derby in L'ville. We stayed 4 nights in Nashville visiting the Hermitage, Parthenon, Opryland, visited a couple music venues. We drove 1 1/2 hours south for a day trip to the Jack Daniels brewery (gosh, we sound like alcoholics!) and had lunch at Miss Bobo's boarding house. The best part was spring had really sprung in TN and flowers were blooming everywhere, the grass had turned from brown to green. We wore light jackets, but we stayed in a hotel with an indoor pool and just swimming seemed like a lot of fun. Let me know if this sounds interesting and I will pull my notes.

OK. Thanks for the helpful hints....

It's not that we're not looking for a warm place. We're not heading North to the lovely Wisconsin and Michigan, because we don't want colder weather, we want warmer weather. So naturally we need to be heading SOUTH...

We've been in St. Louis only 6 montha ago.

Besides, we're not interested in a large, congested city, we want a rural scenery, fields and farms, small towns, small restaurants...

We may consider French Lick, IN.... Yes, I found it in the Tribune of today.... Thanks, JJS\5 and Retired.

A friend of mine suggetsed looking into CENTRAL ILLINOIS as having the kind of rural scenes I mentioned above.... Anybody done that?

Last year on April vacation, we went to Cleveland. It was very decent weather wise compared to MA. We loved the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we really liked Cleveland, and DH also loved the Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
Much longer drive but worth it is SC. We've gone to Myrtle Beach in April plenty of times and the blooming flowers and trees are well worth it.

Checked about French Lick.... Boy, they are EXPENSIVE.... Especially since now our teenage daughter may join us, which means taking a WEEKEND vacation... $300-400 per night? not with this economy (what an excuse...)...

But maybe there are nice little places around that area, even closer to Illinois, like Terre Haute? I was there once, a zillion years ago and it was a lovely arae....

"we want rural scenery, fields and farms, small towns, small restaurants..."

4 hours SE from Chicago:

Nashville IN
Bloomington IN
Columbus IN

small towns
rural scenery
quaint (Nashville IN)

"Columbus is ranked sixth in the U.S. for architectural innovation and design by the American Institute of Architects. Come see the architecture, public art, gardens and landscaping and a first-rate park system."

Warmer?? Not by much. But different.