My wife and I travel every year and alwys are looking for new destinations. For job reasons out time is limited to the weeks between December 16 and January 1 0r 2. We are in our late 20's and have been to Washington, DC, San Antonio, London, WDW, and Las Vegas the past 5 years at this time. Can anyone give suggestions? We are active but for health reaons cannot snow ski(bad knees)!!!
I enjoy gold and we both enjoy history. I hate crowds if I can help it. We have enjoyed all our trips so far and have considered a cruise but I am worried about the lack of freedom to do things without a huge crowd of people at all the popular things onboard. We are definatly not the "sit by the pool and read" types.
Any help is appreciated!! Thanks
BTW we live in the Austin, Texas area.

Oooops!
As you can tell I cannot type very well!!
I ment to say "I enjoy golf" not "I enjoy gold"...heck who doesnt enjoy gold

If you really like golf, then Palm Springs, California, should be an ideal site for you in December!

Have you considered Key West? It can be as active or inactive as you want, though I'm not sure there's any gold, er golf available. That's a pretty good time of the year to visit...after the hurrican season but high temperatures in the mid 70s.

This is what I get for poking fun at your misspelling of golf/gold. In my real life I DO know that hurricane has an E on it.

What about Los Cabos? Or Aruba?

Hi, Scott,
I think southern California offers your best hunting. Some thoughts:

Golf: Lots of choices

History: In addition to poking around old missions (Santa Barbara, for example, is drop-dead gorgeous in December), there is a lot of urban history and great architectural touring possible in the greater LA area.

Cruise: There are some 3- or 5-day possibilities to Mexico - an easy introduction, if you like it, fine, if not, well, it's almost over...

Movies: Do you like movies? How about previewing some Oscar wannabes (especially the "small" films which don't get distributed widely) in Hollywood - many of them are shown in December (before the cutoff) so that Academy members can vote.

Shops, clubs, beaches, restaurants...all there. San Diego Zoo, Mt. Palomar observatory, amusement (almost typo-ed "abusement" - no editorial there, I guess) parks, Catalina Island, Lakers games....

Or up the coast to SF.

Scott,
I would also recommend So. Cal. We just returned from a fabulous week down there and are planning to return Christmas week. We stayed at Lawrence Welk Resort Villas.....don't laugh, they are gorgeous. It's actually a timeshare which can be rented. Check out http://www.shays.com There are pictures of the rooms which are two bedroom/two bathroom condos. They rent for $125/nite.

There are two golf courses on site as well as numerous ones nearby. The biggest surprise we had was the green fees were so REASONABLE! There's also a deli, small market, theatre, restaurant (average, but okay for one meal)

There's a small town of Temecula just 15 minutes north which is an antique lovers mecca.

The ocean and San Diego are about 20-30 minutes away. I would definitely recommend a trip to La Jolla Cove....great shops, restaurants, and views.

We enjoyed Wild Animal Park, the zoo, Coronado. Highly recommend Miguel's on Coronado for Mexican food. Palomar Observatory nearby. I could go on and on. As I said we are planning to go back to see everything we didn't get a chance to the first time around.... Good luck.

Scott:

I second Terri's suggestions and would like to add:

1. Temecula is located on the I-15 just north of San Diego. In addition to its antiques, there are some smaller wineries having tours and tastings.

2. Mt. Palomar, not far from Temecula or San Diego, is a beautiful place for a day visit. It sits high above the desert floor, and the drive to it is spectacular--one passes bouganvillea-covered houses through mountain forests and, finally, the fern-covered mesas where the three telescopes reside. There are also a lot of trails up there.

3. Beautiful, challenging public golf courses are plentiful in SoCal. Note: CROWDED every day of the week.

ALTERNATE SUGGESTION: Palm Springs really isn't my thing, but I think they have the highest fairway-to-boulevard ratio in America. Adjacent is Mt. San Gorgonio--great hiking and views. About thirty minutes north is Joshua Tree National Park--the craziest trees you've ever seen and some great trails, both mild and severe. And rock scrambling (rock climbing for the fittest). It's perfect in December (if it's not windy).

San Antonio would be my first choice. How about Pasadena for the Rose Parade and Game?? Palm Springs might be rainy but it's a good suggestion. Look into New Orleans. No. California can be quite cool at that time of year, but if it's not a very rainy year ( and who will know) it could be a lovely destination. The Big Sur coast will most likely be pretty foggy. We went Christmas shopping and theatre going one year in London just about that time but were back for the actual Christmas Day. It was one of our very best vacations ever. If you want to consider other places in Europe, perhaps Morocco or Sicily might work.

Hi Scott
We are visiting Florida at Christmas (from the UK). Why not visit England - a country cottage in the Cotswolds, winter walks, log fires, pub grub!!!!!!!

Nobody mentioned Hawaii. It's a great destination any time of year. You have your choice of several islands, each with its own attractions, but they all have golf courses. Think about it!

Scott, I second Hawaii. It gets very busy between Christmas and New Year though so the prices are higher. You have a selection of islands with varying levels of activity and nightlife plus lots of golf and snorkling scuba and other activities.

Alohaaaaa,I second the Hawaii choice.

We have been fortunate enough to go over either over Thanksgiving or New Years for the past 9 years and have always had a good time laughing down at the pool bar while the weather channel is on TV showing single-digit temps back on the mainland.

We've been going to Kauai and Molokai. Molokai has a few decent golf courses and some mountain biking tours, etc. while Kauai has a few EXCELLENT golf courses. Even the 9 hole public golf course has a breathtaking view.

Both islands are still less travelled than Oahu or Maui but still have a lot of things to do if you know where to find them.
Mahalo,
Kal