Tell me where to go
 

I'll trust that no one takes advanatge of me in my wide open title.

I'm located just north of Nashville and will have a week from March 27-April 2. We already have a trip to the Smokey Mtns planned for June so that can't be an answer.

We can decide where to go. We're looking for a place that's either in a day's drive OR on the Southwest Airlines destination list foR a cheapie airfare

We enjoy the oudoors, hiking, great restaurants, history, but are pretty much up for anything....suggestions?

I'll tell you where to go. Ok, not really, but with a subject line like that, I couldn't help it ;)

How about New Orleans?

Charleston.

Washington DC.

Chicago

Non-stop Nashville to <b>San Diego</b> on SWA=$633rt for 2. Has everything you're looking for-fabulous beaches, <i>great</i> hiking, restaurants, wonderful history.

If you'd be interested in a smaller place, how about Hot Springs, Arkansas?

I spent a week there in June and loved it. I'd been inspired to visit Hot Springs by reading a novel of that title by Stephen Hunter about attempts to clean up the rampant corruption that ruled there in the 30's and 40's. See, Hot Springs was THE resort of choice for the mob and gangsters like Al Capone would visit the city to &quot;take the waters&quot; at the magnificent bathhouses that line Central Avenue downtown. Together with Hot Springs Mountain, which rises steeply behind them and is home to the more than 40 hot springs that give the city its name, they make up Hot Springs National Park, the first &quot;national reserve&quot; in the country, set aside by Andrew Jackson in the 1820's.

Downtown Hot Springs is full of art and beautiful architecture. In addition to the Victorian/Edwardian bathhouses -- one of which still offers spa treatments, and another, the grandest, which is preserved as a museum -- there are great examples of Art Deco like the Medical Arts Building, plus the beautifully exuberant resort hotels like the Arlington, which was Al Capone's lodging of choice. There are also some spectacularly overdone buildings like the old Army and Navy Hospital and Arkansas School of Science and Mathematics that are visible from all over town and are imposing in their beauty.

There are also shady public squares throughout downtown, museums, an aquarium, a theater dedicated to documentary films -- not surprising since an annual international documentary film festval is held in Hot Springs each year -- and public art and fountains absolutely everywhere! More than a few of those fountains, by the way, are powered by the simple gravity of the springs flowing down from Hot Springs Mountain and thus, if you put your hand in the spray, it's warm. And the spring water is delicious, by the way, and available from public drinking fountains here and there.

Outside of downtown, there are two giant lakes in Hot Springs, Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine, the Magic Springs/Crystal Falls amusement park and water park, a botanical garden, and a science museum. And it's all set in the beautiful Ouachita Mountains, which impressed me with their clear air and views that went on for miles and miles from places like the top of Hot Springs Mountain Tower.

All in all, I absolutely loved Hot Springs and I'd go back in a minute. Should you go, be on the lookout for the &quot;Mother Nature&quot; fountain in front of the Arlington Hotel. It's just gorgeous, as is an artwork entitled &quot;Freedom&quot; by the same artist, which along with a fountain, stairsteps down to Central Avenue from a large parking garage designed to look like one of the bathhouses, on a street parallel to Central Avenue.

It's a wonderful little city!

LOL, Topper, so many people like to tell ME where to go :)

After reading haunted heads answer, I want to go to Hot Springs Arkansas too!
But since I am exploring new places now myself, I am voting for Charleston if not Hot Springs. It seems to have everything that a person could want and it will be a little warmer in March than Nashville~
Have fun and do tell us where you decide upon~

Asheville, NC

Biltmore, neat downtown, great food, beautiful scenery, easy drive.

How about Nashville to Tampa $200 pp round trip and great beaches at Treasure Island, Clearwater, st Pete. It's a great time to be in Florida.

Savannah.

Shenandoah Nat'l Park in Virginia. A few years ago we stayed in a lodge and enjoyed it very much. Great hiking, beautiful trees, and wildlife in the Park.

And more on this side of the Rockies...Tucson has hiking, outdoors,
good restaurants,loads of history,and
the desert in the spring is nifty!
Then again you could go to Oakland and from there North or South along the coast you'll find tons of beautiful coastal hikes, State &amp; National Parks (Pt. Reyes is exquisite),good food everywhere and much historically.
Let us know what you decide!
R5

Thanks for all the suggestions...However, of the places mentioned we have been to: New Orleans, DC, Chicago, and Savannah, and even Hot Springs (the Arlington and the Buckstaff, a winning combonation)
We're also going to Ashville along with the Smokey trip in June.

We've narrowed it down to Tampa, Pensacola, or Las Vegas.

Except for the hiking part, I'd suggest Tampa. Vegas has little history to speak of. Pensacola lacks the restaurants.

But then I'm a Tampan so what did you expect?

Now, the bad news. If you don't get on the stick you won't find a place to stay. You're looking at traveling to Tampa (or Pensacola if you decide to go there) during the high season. You might want to check on airfares and hotels before you go much farther.