HI, all!

My wife and I will be on the East Coast in mid-October.

Besides visiting friends, we want to visit one other place. Where would you suggest? We've done the big cities - Montreal, Boston, New York, Washington, DC. etc. We've also been to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont for a number of hikes, so would like something new. I suggested Nova Scotia/New Brunswick - or - at the other end, Florida! We've been to Miami and driven up the coast to St Augustine. Also been to Orlando. We're pretty open to any suggestions within about a two or three hour flight of Boston/New York.

Oh, yes, have about three days to spare.

This has been a great forum, so I'm looking forward to your ideas!

Two questions:
What time of the year?
What are your interests--outdoor activities (hiking, etc.), museum....what?

Ooops, I just noticed that you did give the time of year!
I'd suggest viewing the foliage in the upper New England or the Hudson Valley/Berkshires area in Massachusetts and New York...but, you may be too late to get any reservations for accommodations.

I, too, would like more of an idea of your interests. I might suggest Williamsburg, VA, but only if the history would interest you; Chincoteague and Assateague islands for wildlife viewing, seafood, and a laid-back pace; Baltimore is a smaller city with a unique flavor, and you could check out Annapolis, too. Charleston also springs to mind. Whaddaya think?!

Ooh, or Savannah!

A second vote for Savannah, Georgia and the islands off the coast: history, natural beauty, and of course, food. It's also unlike any of the other places you and your wife have visited. Not sure what the weather will be like exactly, but it'd be a great place for a 3-day getaway.

Annapolis and Baltimore are great, too, but given Isabel, probably not the ideal time to go this time around.

Hi, and thanks for your quick responses!

Although my wife and I love hiking, we are leaving our boots and waterbottles behind this time.

We'd like some place for history, museum, cultural life, and just relaxing - with a couple of good restaurants.

HowardR - we've done the England foliage thing several times and love the colors. We'll probably be doing a bit more with our friends, who live in New England.

E: we've also been to Baltimore and Annapolis, but not the islands you mentioned. Where are they? Would it be too cold to go in mid-October? What is there to see and do on those islands?

coffeeaddict and E: Savannah sounds like a possibility! We've never done the estate homes there - a wee bit out of what we were considering but possible! possible!

Thanks all for great suggestions! HowardR, are there any other foliage places besides the ones you mentioned?

Thanks again for all your responses! Please keep them coming!

How about Philadelphia? Lots to see and do there and if the weather gets cool, many museums.
Or Providence. You can take a trip to the "cottages" in Newport within an hour.

I second Philly! I'm a native and it has exactly what you described....

Let us know what you decide...

Another vote for Savannah. A wonderful city for walking with good restaurants, great historical homes and beautiful squares. Oct is a perfect time of year to be there.

I love your idea of Nova Scotia! The drive around Cape Britton (sp?)is beautiful! We stayed at a b&b where you walk out the back door to a salmon stream. (sorry, I don't remember the name.) We also enjoyed New Brunswick. We stayed in Muncton and saw the 40ft tides which are awesome! Don't know if you could do it in three days though.

If you drove from Boston to Portland, ME you could take the ferry to Nova Scotia. While Cape Breton is very nice, 2-3 days will not be enough. So just do a quick tour of Nova Scotia - perhaps you could even fly home originating in Halifax - if not, take the ferry back.

To fly from Boston to Savannah is longer than 2-3 hours since one must change planes, usually in Charlotte or some mid-Atlantic city (or at least 2 months ago when we checked there were no non-stop or even direct flights)

In response to your foliage question, there wouldn't be any decent foliage any further south at that time. So, the only option would be further north in Vermont and/or New Hampshire, where you've probably been already.
Either Charleston or Savannah would be a great choice.

Wow! Thanks all very much!

I've narrowed things down to Philadelphia, Savannah, and Nova Scotia. Florida is out, since no one thought it a good idea

We usually have our itinerary pretty much laid out, but this trip has taken on a life of its own! First we were going to do some hiking with friends in New England. Then another couple decided to join us, but the wife can't walk too much. So out the window went the hiking plans. Then the original couple we were going to see had something come up - leaving us with a few days on our own. But the second couple stepped in - last night! - and invited us to stay over with them! So, we may end up doing nothing more exciting than sitting around, chatting, and stuffing our faces! Which is fine by me!

Will let you all know what the final chapter will be! Lo!

Thanks a million again! Great recommendations!

Jason

Philadelphia, Savannah and Charleston all sound like great options. You will find no end of things to do in any of those places and it would be really hard not to have a good time in any of those places! You just have to decide whether you want a big city (Philadelphia) or someplace smaller. Philly is the closest to Boston/NYC, too, which means from NYC, you wouldn't even have to fly.
Nova Scotia sounds like fun, too, but I would think it would take more than 3 days to enjoy it fully.

Just want to second Philly, Charleston and Savannah. Philly is the closest. Plenty to do in that area to keep you busy for 3 days. If you run out of things to do your not far from Hershey, Amish and Gettysburg. Might consider it as a side trip.

My apologies, Amish reads like it is a town. I meant to say Amish populated areas, for example, Lancaster, PA.

BTilke and DeborahB:

Thanks very much for your added recommendations! I'm definitely looking into US cities now!

Thanks again!

Nova Scotia is an hour or so plane ride from NY. You land in Halifax and can rent a car from the airport.
Cape Bretton is a beautiful car ride (take your camera, great photo ops). If you do Halifax, be sure to see Peggy's Cove. New Bruswick's high tide is great but be sure to come back and walk the ocean floor when the tide goes out.

Jason,

You've done the NE rural and foliage scene. You've done the citiea and history. I'm throwing in a vote for Key West. It's a completely different culture and fits your timetable.