So, Europe is a no go (sigh)
 

The not-so-good news is that DH nixed plans for London in January and gave me a MUCH smaller budget., meaning we can go somewhere but it will be a very short trip (three nights, four if we find a really good deal). The good news is, we at least get to travel. A blessing for sure. This will be our seventh anniversary/last trip before our first child is born in late spring.

So, while looking for domestic locales, I realized that one of our credit card's rewards account will take us to quite a few places. In fact, we could go to Las Vegas, New Orleans, Nashville (still looking to see where else) and not have to spend any cash on air or hotel! That would be so awesome!

I guess the question is, what are your thoughts on these three cities, but first a little background that might help you help me. :-)

1) We've never been to Nashville, but we're on a quest to visit each of the U.S. capitol buildings, so this would accomplish that plus I'm sure there's lots to see and do in such a musical city.

2) We've both been to New Orleans. I've been a few times, but almost all of them were either one-nighter's passing through to somewhere else or I went for a weekend event that left little time to really soak up the city. We've never been to NOLA together. I love that we could stay in the heart of the French Quarter, see just about everything on foot or via public transport, and my mouth waters at the thought of visiting Cafe du Monde, again! Not to mention the Po-boys. Ok. I'm kind of a foodie.

3) Neither of us have been to Las Vegas, but my mom raves about how easy it is to get around and how wonderful the buffets and shows. She said the one sticking point is that a number of hotels are set up so that you have to walk through the casinos, which can be quite smokey, to reach either the hotel lobby or the strip. Mom knows I have an extreme aversion to cigarette smoke, add to that being pregnant, and she feels it would def not be the best situation for me. I've found only a handful of places that do not have casinos, including Vdara which is a smoke-free hotel, and a few others are in Henderson. The big question I have with LV is what are our options besides walking the strip, dining, shopping and shows. We like a little history with our trips and Vegas doesn't seem to be 'historic' so to speak.

Ok, this is getting really too long. Appreciate any sincere thoughts, suggestions, or advice.

Oh. One more thing. It's been at least a decade since either of us visited NOLA...

As much as I like New Orleans, if you have an extreme aversion to cigarette smoke, it's probably going to bother you there. We went in March and could not avoid the smoke - the sidewalks are full of smokers and all bars in the Quarter have a constant plume of smoke. We encountered smokers in restaurant bathrooms (where smoking is not allowed) and even had smoke coming into our hotel room from the connecting door at our non-smoking hotel.

Perhaps we got unlucky, but it was clear that New Orleans (probably like Las Vegas) attracts a high percentage of smokers as tourists.

I'd STILL go to London, frankly!

Brian, good point. It's been so long that I don't remember smoke being an issue in NOLA.

D1, wouldn't quite be an anniversary trip alone. ;-)

Unless you like to gamble - and have money to lose - I think Las Vegas would be a bore. And in Jan will be cold.

Have never been to Nasville so can't comment.

Agree smoke would be aproblem in NO.

Are you limited to these three?

I like to travel, I hope you have fun

Can you get cheap flights & hotel in San Francisco? Smoking is not allowed anywhere (almost). SF is another city where you can walk everywhere or take a cable car, trolley, or bus to outlying areas. There is more to do in San Francisco than the other spots you've mentioned, considering that you don't seem to want to spend a lot of time in a casino.

San Francisco instead of London is not much of a downgrade.

I've visited all the other cities you've mentioned - and I think San Francisco is much more exciting (excluding London).

Stu Dudley

nytraveler, don't gamble at all. no, not limited to those three. right now, i'm looking at savannah. always wanted to go there. also saw comments about charleston, sc. thought about seattle and portland, but thinking those would be cold. brrr for a second, i thought about key west.

Thanks, Stu. I briefly considered SFO, but thought it might be a bit chilly as well. Went there with my mom in August 2009 and even then I wore a sweater on one or two days. Going to look at weather trends...

We are having strange weather this year. It was in the mid 80s a few weeks ago (in Nov). This morning the car thermostat said 36. Highs in Feb have been in the 80s and 50s.

August is our worst month weather wise - foggy & cold most of the time, when people from other parts of the country expect warm summer temps. Lots of sweatshirts sold at Fisherman's Warf in Aug to the un-informed tourists. A sweater in August is normal.

Here are my San Francisco recommendations:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Stu Dudley

hmmm Based on this info, SFO may not be too bad.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g6...hen.To.Go.html

Oh. Just saw your other post. Yeah, we expected a bit of chill so we packed a couple sweaters, but hoped for warmer. Actually, our visit to Sonoma was a very warm day. Okay. Off to review your recommendations. Thanks so much.

BTW, Stu, I see a rewards package that includes air and hotel at the Handlery Union Square. TR reviews look pretty good. Any experience/knowledge of this hotel?

Feb 15, 2010 max/min 65/52
Av for Feb 15 58/52

Stu Dudley

Since we live here, we don't stay in hotels. Handlery is popular, & is 1/2 of a block west of Union Sq. OK/Good area. Two more blocks farther west or 2 blocks farther south might be a little scrufty if you are not use to seeing a few vagrants. You will be heading east or north to see most of the sites, so you won't walk through this "scrufty" area (the "tenderloin").

Stu Dudley

I'll second San Francisco - hopefully for 4 nights.

It's easy to spend 10 days just walking around the city and not run out of things to do or see.

It sounds like you're leaning toward San Francisco? I just saw this and thought I might pipe in about Nashville, since you didn't get many thoughts there. In January, the temperatures may be warm-ish (50s or even 60s) or it may be freezing. If it snows or ices (unlikely, but it happens), the city will freak out. So, basically similar to Dallas, from what I know. :)

Smoking is now banned in most bars and restaurants in town; I forget the exact rules, but it's something like banned if there's food available or if the place serves minors. I think it is allowed on patios, but in January you probably won't be sitting on many of those! Most of the live venues in town are now smoke-free.

There is a lot of music - most of the live music, contrary to popular belief, is more rock/pop/Americana than country. But if you like country (or even if you don't), the Country Music Hall of Fame and of course the Opry are great. In January, the Opry will be at the Ryman downtown. Lots of history everywhere, and if you stay downtown there's a lot to do within walking distance. The Frist has an exhibit from the Musee d'Orsay until January 23.

If you want to do anything outside of downtown (Opryland Hotel, the Hermitage, etc), you would either need to rent a car or look into shuttles. The city bus may take you to some places but I'm not familiar with the system, or how long it would take. I doubt that it goes to the Hermitage, but there may very well be some sort of a shuttle bus that does.

Will echo that you are very likely to run into second hand smoke issues in both NOLA and Las Vegas.

Also, be prepared for a lot of walking in Vegas if you go there. The issue of a hefty hike between your hotel room and the street (through the casino) in most all Strip based hotel/casinos is very real, plus the distance between casinos here is longer than most folks realize. Monorails are not usually as convenient as they might appear in this regard, either.

Enjoyable as it is, Nashville is not a warm weather destination in January -- it can get cold then, and even snow. If you stay downtown, you will be near the city bus hub (located about a block from the capitol building), and the buses are indeed useful, at least in my experience. There is also a city bus that goes to the Opryland area from downtown. If you are without a car, you can book a Gray Line tour to see some of the attractions unreachable by bus, such as Belle Meade and The Hermitage.

I've never had a problem with second hand smoke in New Orleans and smoke really bothers me. They banned all smoking in restaurants but people still smoke in bars and on the street. It's really not an issue for the most part. If a particular bar is smokey, just go outside and get some fresh air. Most bars have all doors wide open because of the mild climate so that helps for the ventilation too.

Maybe I'm confused about where you are based. Your Fodors name makes it hard to tell from whence you are traveling. Are you tied to these three cities with your rewards program or can you make other choices? With second-hand smoke issues, I can think of lots of other places that would be better choices. Can you give us more information?