My 50th-- August 2014-- Where to Go?!?
 

Time for a game that comes up periodically on these forums, I'm sure:

Where should I go to bring in my 50th in style and panache without breaking the bank?!?

This year we're ringing out my 40s by spending a well-deserved 5-night getaway in San Francisco. Relaxation, a little romance, good food, The City. Since we're looking at over a year from now, we have time to fantasize a bit. Places already in the hopper:

-- NYC (already been, LOVE)
-- Chicago (already been, LOVE)
-- Maui (I've never been, but I LOVED O'ahu)
-- Hawai'i (i.e., Big Island-- never been etc., etc., etc.)
-- Eastern Caribbean Cruise (a bit of a homecoming since I lived in Puerto Rico as a preteen)
-- Montréal and/or Vancouver and/or Toronto (Montréal mostly to visit my niece who lives there)

What would YOUR dream vacation to celebrate a milestone birthday be? Some ground rules:

-- Seven to ten days duration
-- We will NOT drive more than 10 hours from home (southern California); otherwise we fly (in fact, we prefer to fly, except when we're buying cases of wine, tee hee)
-- We're game for anything, but not keen on heavy scheduling of activities; for example, we know we can do anything and everything in NYC, but we don't want to feel obligated to try to do everything
-- Must be LGBTQ-friendly, but not over-the-top so

Price won't be an object till we decide on which location we're going to. Dream away, and thanks for your ideas! :-)

I'd go to Hawaii myself. Oh that's right... I DID! (lol)

Yes, another vote for Hawaii. Big Island might be hot in August so I would go for either Maui or my favorite, Kauai. The North Shore is beautiful that time of year.

Or how about Paris? Or Venice? Or Amsterdam?

To me (assuming you live in the US) NYC or Chicago just don't seem like quite a big enough deal for a special b-day.

What month? Although, I vote for Maui any time of year.

suze: We're open to the entire world, really. Like I said, we'll decide on a place and price out the trip, then make the final decision.

msteacher: The month will be August of 2014. That could put a wrench in, say, a southern Europe trip (as I recall, some cities essentially shut down in that month). But I know I will love Hawai'i in August, since we went there for my husband's birthday six years ago (also in August).

Yes, this is a very open-ended query, but this is everyone's chance to dream, and talk up your favorite "milestone" spot! And thanks again, everyone. It DOES help me.

Ah the entire world? How about Buenos Aires?

Intriguing.... It would definitely interest me, but my DH-- not so much.

I might see splurging on a Family Roots trip to Spain (my roots) and Portugal (his), with some time in Paris (both). But that would probably take us to 2 weeks, which can be a hard amount of time to block out (he runs his own business). Still....

I think Spain/Portugal and family roots sounds great, but you would need at least 2 weeks, and it really doesn't strike me so much as a celebratory vacation type of trip.

Oh, we'd celebrate-- we can make anywhere we go a party. And I plan to!!! ;)

My wild idea - YMMV.
Fly to Toronto - see Niagara Falls?
Take the ViaRail train from Toronto to Montreal.
See your niece!
Take the Amtrak Adirondack train from Montreal to New York City.
See and do whatever you wanted to see and do in New York.
Day 10 fly back home to Southern California from New York.
Living where you do you can probably go to any of the Hawaiian Islands at a nicer time of year.

tom: Hmmmmmm.... That has possibilities. I'm going to put that in the hopper; that could be a lot of fun!

For my 50th, we went to Spain to visit family. We did tourist stuff: Barcelona, Cadeques, San Sebastián, Rioja, but also spent some time with cousins near Pamplona. We got to visit both my grandparents' villages in the Pyrenees. My grandmother's village is on the Camino de Santiago. We also spent time with some other cousins living closer to Barcelona. Great fun, learned so e more family history. Since then, several cousins have passed away, so I am glad we did the trip.

August is the kicker....I think you are right to leave off the European destinations. I would have recommended Paris (that's where I spent my 50th :) ), but so much shuts down in August, and its so hot.

Hawaii is great anytime, its a good choice.

But lets think about someplace that is particularly good to visit in August, and not some other time...

The Northeast could work. Cape Cod? Maybe Provincetown is too over-the-top LGBTQ-friendly. But other parts of the outer cape would lovely that time of year.

You mentioned cruising. How about Alaska? Perfect time of year for it. A few days in Vancouver would be lovely that time of year as well. If the Alaska cruise doesn't appeal, how about Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies? In fact, I see you mentioned Vancouver. I think that would be a great starting point for a celebratory vacation. And there are a number of places you could go from there.

If you decided on Montreal, you could pair it with a visit to the Eastern Townships. Since you said money is no object, check out Manoir Hovey. Now that is a place to celebrate http://www.manoirhovey.com/en/

Peru. For the Spanish routes. Lima has amazing food and you will at times think you are in Los Angeles. You can fly nonstop LAX to Lima on LAN.

Include an extension to Machu Picchu (hiking is not required) and stay at some of the luxurious hotels around Cusco, the Sacred Valley (Tambo del Inka) or in Aguas Calientes .

August is high season so start looking for availability soon.

You will find lots of how to advice here in the trip reports.
www.andeantravelweb.com is another good resource.

Go to <b>Vancouver</b>(Canada), if you've never been.

Project your future, and with Vancouver not being on the way toward anywhere else, when else are you likely to get there??

The logistics of Vancouver are relatively simple, and you can easily have a wild <I>"celebration"</I> by merely throwing yourself in the middle of Granville Street action. The whole trip can be as tame or as wild as you might choose, and the backdrop can scarcely be topped, while just 3 or 4 hours from <I>home</I> by air.

Well, kids, checking back in....

We have gone a bit back and forth on this issue, and domestic family issues are steering us toward....

(drum roll)

PROVINCETOWN.

We will have one day for family obligations on the Cape, then spend one crazy week in P'Town by ourselves to ring in my 50th!!! At this point we don't need suggestions; P'Town is familiar and ADORED (we're coming back, Dina Martina!!!).

Thanks for the suggestions. If the family stuff weren't so pressing, we'd entertain other places. And hey-- as long as we're young(-ish), we'll have plenty of time for those places!!