I would like to plan a 4 day weekend trip for husband and I to go on to celebrate his birthday. We would travel in either June or July when I will be 7 / 8 months pregnant. We live in Chicago and I would like to keep the flight time to around 4 hours. We have been to Napa Valley a number of times. The only idea I have is to go to Las Vegas. I would like to be able to relax but have nice restaurants / theaters to go to in the evenings. Also we just returned from Sanibel after a week long vacation so we can rule that out. Thanks!!!

How about Litchfield Beach, SC? It's relaxing, but close enough to Myrtle for excitement if you want it.

Kathleen,
Las Vegas may not be the best idea for this trip. The weather will be stupidly hot in June and July. When I was 7-8 months pregnant the mere weather forecast of temps above 75 degrees could make my feet swell. That said, the casinos are next to freezing but all that smoke is not good for the little one. The most redeeming aspects of Las Vegas in your situation is the wide spread availability of pre natal massages and great restaurants that can satisfy every craving. I love Las Vegas... it is whare my husband and I go to remember that we had a life before we had kids. Wait until next year whan you can really appreciate it.

Until then, consider a trip to Door County (the best spot is actually Washington Island, off the tip of DC, reachable by ferry) or a drive up the Lake Michigan lakeshore to Souix Ste. Marie.
Cheers!

My cousins live in Chicago and go to some islands in Wis on the lake. Door county or something like that??? Does it ring a bell?

Congratulations on the baby. When I was that far along the last place I wanted to be was anywhere that was hot. Some suggestions: Seattle, San Fran, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe. NYC is great, but I don't know if you want to do it that far along.

We visited Santa Fe, NM about 10 years ago, also during the summer. I don't recall it being especially hot (certainly cooler than LV); and we saw an opera (that we hated!) in their beautiful open air opera house. Hotels & restaurants were lovely. There were some wonderful galleries & shops and interesting sights.

If you can stretch your destination eligibility a bit, how about Montreal? Lovely city, an easy walking town, it's never crazy hot in summer.... And it can be quite romantic!

It sounds like you are looking for a city location...perhaps NYC if you want theater. But , being that far along, if you just want a nice quiet relaxing time where it's not too hot, I suggest Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper, Alberta. You can fly into Calgary and drive up there. The C$ exchange rate is very good right now. The scenery is absolutely amazing.

As a law school graduation celebration my DH and I planned a cruise. I became pregnant during my last semester of school and would have been 7 months prego at the time of the cruise. So we cancelled and also was advised not to fly at that stage of the pregnancy. This really limited our options for a splashy vacation. Because of the restrictions we went to Vermont (we're from Mass.), had a wonderfully relaxing and quiet time and have been back many times since with our children. We didn't know how great our own backyard was. And though I was very very disappointed about not taking the cruise at the time the decision was made, by the time for the trip rolled around I was very glad we planned a quieter trip.

You may want to consider sticking closer to home and make it a driving trip rather than flying. Right now you have no way of knowing just how uncomfortable you may feel at that stage of your pregnancy. Some ob/gyns prefer their patients don't fly at that stage also. Consider exploring areas closer to home and enjoy the special quiet time with your husband.

How about Toronto or Montreal?