And buried somewhere in the OP's posts I "think" is, that is when they CAN go, and they like to stick to their original idea.
I wonder if this would have been such a brouhaha about the weather if it hadn't been in the title as possibly "crazy"?

But I am solidly with Starrs in many/all of her last comments AND I have lived here for 50 years and there are times I joke about the mildew warnings, etc. It's a fact of life. People travel to hot places ALL the time and sometimes it isn't that hot!!
People in SF think they will die of heat stroke when the temp hits 75*!!!

Adding to the Nashville suggestions - I had no intention of visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, but since it was so hot and the a/c was appealing, I went and was surprised by how much I enjoyed the museum.

Thanks everyone, I asked for opinions and got them that's for sure. I hear what everyone is saying so will have to think seriously about our plans. It's not that the heat puts me off, I keep thinking of the people who live and work in the area and they must venture out of their AC houses sometimes, it's more about not being able to make the most of a trip to what sounds like an amazing location....would hate to visit and spend our time either in the hotel or sitting by the pool......

"would hate to visit and spend our time either in the hotel or sitting by the pool......"

I don't think that would be necessary, but only you can pick the best location for your vacation. Just a reminder: the "jungles of SE Asia" comment was about Virginia and NYC can be just as hot and humid as the deep south in August. Lots of people live along the eastern seaboard and don't spend all of their time in a/c or by the pool. The suggestions for the western mountain states are good, but that may not draw you. The mountains in the southeast are definitely cooler with far less humidity. One suggestion - if you really want to see the places on your list - is to do a faster road trip to those locations and then slow down more in the mountains. But (and this is a big but), when you are here there may be no need to rush because the heat/humidity may not be too bad. That's the great thing with a road trip - you can vary your plans. There's no place that you're planning to travel that you'd have a really hard time getting a hotel room. You could make reservations for hotel rooms that can be cancelled by 6pm or the day before and still take your trip and modify if you think it's necessary.

Unless you are planning a lot of outdoor activities in the "deep south" part of the trip, you're not going to get overheated. I liked your sense of humor regarding you and your husband's ability to diagnose heat stroke. A tennis vacation in those locations in August? No. A road trip? I vote yes...obviously.

I spent a couple of weeks in July in south Florida and/or the desert SW for about 20 years. There's a big difference between humid heat and dry heat and IMO neither are perfect. Do folks live happy ACTIVE lives in both locales? Yes. They adjust.

If you want more suggestions of things to see and do in the mountains, let me know. It's a gorgeous part of the country. IMO it's one of the prettiest parts of the US. I'd be in Montana right now, if it weren't for the winters.

>>I keep thinking of the people who live and work in the area and they must venture out of their AC houses sometimes,

"Actually many don't for several months unless absolutely necessary."
Ditto for folks in the rain in the PNW.
While others go out and enjoy life even when it's raining.


>>I keep thinking of the people who live and work in the area and they must venture out of their AC houses sometimes,

Please refer to my opining about living vs. touring. YOu CAN tour in an uncomfortable climate (hot, cold, whatever) because you KNOW you are leaving it at some point. LOL, I think.
But you will have had a great time seeing whatever it was--and the whatever weather it was will become a side matter.

Has EVERYONE here travelled in perfect conditions EVERYWHERE!! I'm impressed.

I wouldn't want to "sit by the pool" in that humidity; it's very debilitating.

>>Has EVERYONE here travelled in perfect conditions EVERYWHERE!!

It is Jan 6th, my ac is on, high 80 today but it was so nice walking our local bridge over the inlet this afternoon. It is over a mile both ways and is always busy with runners and walkers, strollers and dogs. I love watching the sail boats, the paddle boarders and wind surfers. Manatees were playing and dolphins swimming today. I could not take more than a couple of days of gray sky and bone chilling dampness normally but do when I want to travel. There is always a trade off. I know when I go to the UK I am going to get wet and cold, miserable most days. I am not use to that weather but want to see England, Scotland and other places. I go to Germany a lot when there is snow on the ground but bundle up and go in and out of shops to get warm, drink many cups of hot liquid and enjoy the sights. We can't always travel the most perfect months.

mamabear,

You seem like you have a good attitude, so I imagine you will end up with good memories from a trip to the Deep South in August.

My concern, and I imagine that of many other respondents to your post, is that the process of making those good memories will not be as enjoyable in August as it would be in a month such as April (which is what I would suggest as well). That's why we are advising you to consider making the visit at another time.

If your heart is set on visiting the Deep South in August, then come, but come with an awareness of what some of the potential limiting factors are so you are not disappointed while you are there. (For example, it might indeed be cooler than average. It is equally likely to be warmer than average! So don't make your plans based on a hypothetical best-case scenario.)

I say all that as someone who grew up in the Deep South and who still has both immediate and extended family I visit there. On one of my visits a couple of years ago (in July) we took a day trip to Montgomery, Alabama, in which we got soaked in sweat walking between the air-conditioned attractions we visited, as well as rained on (both at lunchtime and then later in the afternoon). At one point my sister, who still lives in the South, actually wanted to drive the two or three blocks to the next place we were going rather than walk there!

I also say it as someone who, by way of analogy, has been to Southeast Asia twice in August because business took me there. I added leisure time to it, since I was there already, and I certainly have wonderful memories and pictures from those trips. I sure did get hot and sweaty in the process, though! The climate didn't ruin my fun, but it did put some limits on what I could do.

So take the cautions people are expressing seriously, because the heat and humidity will affect what and how much you do, and when you do it. It is very hot and humid, so you might need to take things at a slower pace than you intended. You might end up seeing less than you had planned. You will get hot and sweaty while you are touring around outside (which you will want to do in at least New Orleans and Charleston and Savannah, as has been mentioned), maybe even over short distances. And then sometimes you will enter what feels like a freezer when you go indoors and feel suddenly chilled. Just be prepared for what you will encounter and you will have fun.

With all that said, what kind of things were you thinking of doing/seeing? You have not said much about it.

"...But I try to minimize the risks by not going to St Peterburg (Russia that is) in February..."

Ah. That explains your approach more. So if you had a chance to go to St. Petersburg, Russia in February you would decline? Hmmm...

I haven't been to St. Petersburg in February, but I did spent a week in Anchorage in Feb. and then the next week in Fairbanks. On the weekend in between drove to Talkeetna and took a flight plane tour over Denali. I was actually flying over Mt. McKinley when my niece was being born.

On my other trip to Alaska I went over Thanksgiving break. Yep. Twice in the winter. Both trips were fabulous. After exploring Juneau for a few days we took the ferry to Haines and enjoyed the spectacular views. I got to see something that only a small % of visitors to Alaska get to see - the bald eagles of north America congregating around the Chilkat river for the winter. They were as plentiful as oranges on a tree. The ones on the ground were about 10-15 away and would hop away to match your pace if you approached a few steps. It's really a spectacular site - and again, one that only a small percentage of Alaska visitors see...because it's a winter experience. When we took the car off the ferry the announcement said it was perfect driving conditions with 15" of snowpack. We drove into the Yukon territory of Canada to spend the night and that day of driving was one of the most amazing days of my life. It wasn't exactly "dark" or night but a gorgeous indigo blue. Everything was in shades of indigo blue. We actually turned off the car, rolled down the windows - in the middle of the road - and listened to the silence. Amazing. You knew that if you stepped off the road and started walking you could walk for the rest of your life without finding civilization again before you died (from the cold). On the entire drive (round trip) we passed one other car and a handful of trucks - 18-wheelers. We liked the little hotel, had a steak dinner and drove back the next day and back on the ferry to Juneau. A totally amazing trip...to Alaska...in the winter...

Damn. I should have minimized my risks and skipped the trip to Alaska and the Yukon in the winter.
In Anchorage in Feb. we were there when the city was literally abuzz with Iditarod excitement. In was in the midst of the Susan Butcher years and folks were excited about the race but also excited to see if she would win again that year. I'll never forget that energy, the electricity. In Fairbanks they had experienced a heat wave the week before - it got above freezing. That meant the newly melted snow has frozen again in sheets of ice and we were driving on ice. A bit scary, but we did okay. As a southerner I was fascinated to discover the hotel parking lots had electrical poles in each parking space. One parked and then plugged in the heater for the engine, so it didn't freeze during the night. Darn. I would have missed that if I had "minimized my risks". In Talkeetna we missed the Moose Dropping Festival so that's a summer activity we missed. But we were able to place a bet for the Nenana Ice Classic. I don't think I won because they didn't notify me. It was a great time in Talkeeta in the winter. As we drove back, a musher drove past and I told the rep to turn down the road we saw him turn on. She really didn't want to but she listened to me. It turned out it wasn't a road, but his driveway. She was worried. I told her it would be fine. I got out of the car in his driveway in the middle of nowhere in Alaska and with the strongest southern accent I could muster told him we followed just to see his dogs. He smiled and invited us to get out and we spent about an hour with him and his little girls as he unharnessed each dog, played with them for a bit and then put them in their section and fed them. The Seattle-based rep was shocked. I was not. He was the nicest guy, introduced us to his sled dogs and little girl and we had a once in a lifetime experience...in Alaska...in February...in the winter.

Damn. I should have known better and not said "yes" when they asked me to go to Alaska for two weeks in winter. Alaska certainly wasn't in my territory and I had the chance to say "no". Until today, tonight actually, I didn't know the better answer was to minimize my risks and say "no" to a trip to St. Petersburg Fairbanks Alaska in February.

St. Petersburg Russia = 59.95 latitude
Fairbanks, Alaska = 65.84 latitude
Whitehorse, Yukon = 60.71

Damn. I didn't know tonight how much of an idiot I was to go to Alaska in winter...twice. Further north than St. Petersburg.

I should have "minimized my risks".

Oh, darn. I forgot my little janisj guy.

"There is always a trade off. I know when I go to the UK I am going to get wet and cold, miserable most days. I am not use to that weather but want to see England, Scotland and other places. I go to Germany a lot when there is snow on the ground but bundle up and go in and out of shops to get warm, drink many cups of hot liquid and enjoy the sights. We can't always travel the most perfect months."

Well said, flpab.

"...Southeast Asia twice in August because business took me there. I added leisure time to it, since I was there already, and I certainly have wonderful memories and pictures from those trips. I sure did get hot and sweaty in the process, though! The climate didn't ruin my fun, but it did put some limits on what I could do."

Totally agree.

If only we were lucky enough to pick THE perfect time to go to every location we visited. That would be wonderful indeed.

But it's also very possible (and perhaps more probable) that most of us try to get to the places we want to see, WHEN we can go see them...and it all works out. Nothing is wrong with adjustments and modifications.

And actually, April may not be the best month anyway. It rains a lot in April.

You do underestimate me starrs . . . My first visit to Moscow and St Petersburg (when it was still called Leningrad) WAS in Feb and I had a great time but vowed to never go there in the depth of winter again. (it never got above -20C the whole time)

Same w/ the deep south -- I've been in summer several times . . . but I've decided that life is to short to plan trips where/when there is a good chance it'll be miserable.

"Absolutely not . . . But I try to minimize the risks by not going to St Peterburg (Russia that is) in February, and not going to the Deep South in August."

"You do underestimate me starrs . . . My first visit to Moscow and St Petersburg (when it was still called Leningrad) WAS in Feb and I had a great time but vowed to never go there in the depth of winter again"


I don't "underestimate" you. I can only read your words.

So you went to went - although you wrote "But I try to minimize the risks by not going to St Peterburg (Russia that is) in February..."

Okay....

And you "had a great time"

Okay....

But if you return you "vowed to never go there in the depth of winter again".

Okay. But you used that for an example. And after accusing me of "underestimating" you, you share you went, had a great time but want to return at a different time of year.

Okay.

mamabearUK would like to see some sights in the "deep south". August is the month she has available to travel. I'm guessing that, just like you "had a great time" in St. Petersburg in winter in not the best month (by far) and I had a great time in Alaska...twice...in winter, mamabearUK will have a great time on her trip in August.

The pfffing contest should be called done, IMO.

Mamabear, I respectfully suggest that you start another thread asking for information on what to do on A tour of the south with your itinerary, and without any time connection/weather concern. Just a thought. Hope you do this.

I doubt there's a need for that. This thread can continue with the discussion. I don't think "the sky is falling" and dire warnings comments are helpful but my guess is they'd show up on a new thread too. I'll ignore the little green guys going forward. I'll admit that little guy and the comment pfff'd me off, along with the "mountains of suggestions" after it.

A poster takes the time to create a routing based on the OP's list of cities and the other posters' recommendation and another poster continues with insults directed their way. But I'll ignore them going forward. My apologies.

OK then.....the decision to travel or not to travel is completely in my hands....I have read all the posts and have taken on board all the comments. 1) We have to travel at that time due to school holidays 2) My eldest son leaves for college in October, studying History with a massive emphasis on American civil war/civil rights 3) We aren't put off by the weather...rainy Alaska (Starrs) last summer...sking in Lapland (-33 c) twice ....mountain biking in the Utah desert! Yes it would be great to visit at a better time of year but it's not an option if we want to visit as a family. I am thankful for your honest opinions about the weather...I asked the question after all. Gretchen, I think that your suggestion is a good idea as IF we decide to go it would be good for opinions on where to go and what to do....