One last trip before the baby--looking for suggestions
 

My husband and I are hoping to take one last trip before we have our first child (due in Sept).
We are able to travel anytime after the first week in May through June--before that we just have too many obligations. I will be in my second trimester and "they" say I will be feeling my best.
I don't want to take a cruise, and I'm not anxious to leave the country--although I guess I could be convinced. I'm not feeling in the mood for a "city" vacation (NYC, Chicago etc).

We live in the South East at the beach, and have visited the southern classics (St. Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, St. Simons, Jekyll, Amelia) several times--and love them all. My favorite trips have been CA wine country, and the trip we took this fall driving through western Vermont, Mass, and Connecticut.

Flying or driving is fine, and I would like to spend about 5-10 days. The budget is pretty flexible.

We typically enjoy vacations that have great scenery, small towns with a good downtown, small Inn's, and good restaurants. We generally like to keep busy exploring the area. With this trip, I know I may tire more easily than usual, but in general we are not good at sitting still.
I know its hard to suggest trips for other people, but I'm really at a loss. If you've taken any good trips that you think I might like, or just have any suggestions for me that would be fantastic.

Thanks for your time.

I know you said you wanted to stay in the states, but I don't really consider Canada a foreign country. Banff & Jasper National Parks in Canada sounds like it might fit your description. Very scenic, lots to do and see & small towns and it won't be HOT!. I would go as late in June as you could to catch the warmer weather.

Utahtea

I think wine country would be not much fun; even if you taste, you'll be thinking too much about it. I know you're not interested in cities, but I did my last-trip-before-baby in Paris. It was fantastic. I bought a ton of baby clothes (Petite Bateau, Tartine et Chocolat, Jacadi) and just had this amazing time. Waiters would say to me, "Madame is not alone," referring to my pregnancy. It was great. I did a Hawaii trip and hated it. Felt dumpy in my bathing suit, hot in the sun, cold in the water, wanted mai tais and hot tubs, didn't love it.

What about a place like Sedona where you could do a little exploring, a little spa treatment, and get some great crystals for your baby to have when s/she is older?

I would also suggest Banff & Jasper National Park. We flew in to Seattle (toured around there) then rented a car and drove up to Vancouver. We then went on to Banff & Jasper National Park. We also took the ferry to Victoria while in Candada--I loved this quaint little island.

My other suggestion would be Yosemite National Park. Course you might not be up for hiking.

The four corners make another great trip. Tour the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde and enjoy the scenic drives. We loved Durango, CO.

Thanks for the ideas guys! I guess I need to do a little research on Banff & Jasper National Parks :)

Thanks for your thoughts on Hawaii--I hadn't considered some of those factors. I don't know anything about Sedona--I'm putting it on my list of things to research.

Any other ideas?

Marci-
Congrats! What about the Carmel/Monterey area? We went last May and loved it--- lots of areas to explore, beautiful scenery, shopping, restaurants, etc. You would have plenty of time to explore the area, make it down to Hearst Castle (which we were not able to do), hit the aquarium, Big Sur, etc.

Sedona is beautiful also but I'm not sure what you would do for a 5-10 day trip? Seems a bit long to me but that's just my opinion.

Good luck with everything...
Jane

wow, you've seen a lot already. good for you.
acadia national park came to my mind. or what about new mexico.
if you decided to leave the country, i would also say banff/lake louise/jasper area. considering how many days you want, i'd recommend flying into calgary, alberta then renting a car. you get to see a ton of beautiful scenary as you drive and then you can also do many, many hikes/walks depending what you feel like. as you say you don't want to leave the country, i'm assuming for health reasons if something went wrong. but we have good emergency health care so you'd be well taken care of. just get insurance.

I loved our trip to the Canadian ROckies. We stayed at the Banff Springs Hotel, the Jasper Park Lodge and the Palliser in Calgary. We got upgraded both thimes becuase we were there in October and it wasn't corwded; could be the same in May. Spectacular scenery, it was a very relaxing trip.

And yes, I was also going to recommend Hawaii except for the additional flying time which may exhaust you.

My wife and I took a ten day rail tour of Italy when she was five months pregnant in 1996. We had a great time; my wife's endurance held out well. She did tire during a two hour tour an American priest gave us and ten others of St. Peter's in Rome. She also did not enjoy the four floors of winding, narrow stairs to get to our flat in a penzione two blocks from San Marco's in Venice. All in all, it was a great time. With our fifth born one month ago, it was very much a last big trip, too.

Another vote for Banff/Lake Louise. The places we have stayed in the area and would definitely recommend are the Banff Springs Hotel, Baker Creek Chalets, and the Emerald Lake Lodge. Baker Creek is definitely not of the same caliber as the other two, but they are fantastic in their own way. They have built new cabins and have a lodge that I believe are a bit more upscale than the other cabins, but even those we have been very pleased with. The Bistro there is a wonderful restaurant as well.

We were in the same situation as you were about 8 years ago. Also not neccessarily looking for a "city" trip. However we did start out in San Fransico. It is a beautiful world class city. Stayed in a small boutique type hotel there for 2 days, then drove north up the coast, ending up in Portland. Scenery is incredible, can take your time as needed, so many places to stop and things to see.

One of the best parts... thinking t his was our last trip for a long while... 3 years later we took our 3 year old son back to some of these same areas.

Before kids (BK) we generally travelled overseas because we figured we would see the US when the kids were here. Our last journey BK was a trip to China. Very memorable.

Since the kids have arrived, we've taken them to the usual (Disney), but also to California, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, NYC, Canada, Alaska and London.

My advice would be to take your list of ideas, then cross off the things you can do with your kid(s) in the next few years. Leave only the "no kids" choices for your possibilities.

I love my kids and I love vacationing with my family. However, I'm glad I got to do things before they came.

Me, I'd go to Europe. My oldest is 11 and I'm still waiting to get to Italy.

IF you do the Banff, Lake Louise trip to Canada, you can always trek to Edmonton, Alberta to shop for baby at the world's largest shopping mall.

Vancouver, to the west, although not a small town by any stretch, is situated in such a compact way that you would probably find many touristy interests well within your bounds and it would certainly be far enough from home in the southeast to seem significant when looked back upon in the years to come.

If nature is of greater interest than urban exploring then maybe the Canadian Maritime provinces might be your cup of tea. They don't exactly have major cities there relative to what you've known before, and the scenery measures up quite well with anybody.

Should be a great time of year to be there (when you're going) and it is still "on your coast", and wouldn't take such an incredible amount of travel time.

i'm a big fan of banff/jasper but at the other end of the scale is cape cod, and the islands of martha's vineyard, nantucket. you could 1. fly to boston and rent a car, or drive and have your car, using 95, i'm guessing it's between 12 and 15 hours of driving. you'd need reservations for your car on the ferry. Also washington/vancouver is. is beautiful with tons to do.

What about the Outer Banks and great lighthouses?

I agree with those that say consider places you won't be able to go for a while. I've not been to Banff & Jasper but it sounds doable with kids. I would go to Europe. You will find many areas in France, Italy and elswhere with
"great scenery, small towns with a good downtown, small Inn's, and good restaurants." I have a particular bias for the south of France around Nice. Lots of beautiful towns, sightseeing, food etc. If you consider that, I would go earlier (beginning of May) rather than later since you run into the Cannes film festival and then the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo toward the end of May/beginning of June. You can easily fill 5-10 days in the area. It's a beautiful time of year.

The south of France.