Your favorite vacation?
 

What was your favorite vacation you took in the US? What did you do and why was it so amazing?

My two trips to the Pacific Northwest9Oregon/Washington). You have the best of both National Parks/Nature and major Cities like Seattle and Portland. So, you can do a bit of both. Food is very good there too. Perhaps we got lucky on weather, but it was perfect both trips.

I also enjoyed taking our daughter to Disney when she was younger.

LA to San Francisco on the Coast Highway in a red convertible. Four slow days with my wife.

Miami to Key West and back. Five days, then a few more days in Miami. If I did it again, I would double the time.

From Sleeping Bear Dunes to the Straits of Mackinac over several days. I gave a speech in Traverse City, and we turned it into a vacation in a lovely area that was absolutely unfamiliar to us.

From Virginia to St Simons Island via US17, including Charleston, both Beauforts, and Savannah.

It's hard to narrow it to just one.

I love ski weeks in the mountains.
A theater weekend in NYC is a favorite.
Our honeymoon in Bermuda.
Whatever is next on the travel agenda--right now it's 5 weeks in Ireland; we leave July 29.

Two that stand out:

In 1962, when I was a kid living in Detroit, my family took a multi-week trip through the west. D > Chicago > Badlands NM > Mount Rushmore > Yellowstone > Seattle > Redwoods > San Francisco > Big Sur > Los Angeles, Disneyland > Phoenix > Grand Canyon > Home
I fell in love with travel on this trip.

In 1985, my wife & I took a two week trip that tried to see too much, too soon -- but we did it. Flew into Salt Lake > Grand Teton > Yellowstone > Glacier NP > Banff / Jasper > Seattle > Idaho > SLC
Found out we could handle this type of traveling, and we've barely slowed down since.

My favorite was in 1976 as a kid. We had sold our house and the new one was not yet completed, so we spent a month on the road in our camper. We lived in Madison, WI and headed West. The Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Tetons, Salt Lake City, down through San Francisco and LA, then over to Las Vegas and after that, a bee-line for home, LOL.

I loved seeing all the national parks. We always took rest stops alongside mountain streams, where we'd catch minnows in a coffee can and let them out at the next stop. The best part, though had to be Dave. We kids were me, my sister and my brother, and since my brother was the lone boy he got to bring along a friend -- Dave. I had the biggest crush on him!

Just spend a week in Madiera Beach last month. It's about 6 miles north of Clearwater Beach. Super cute little towns with lots to do, the sand/water were beautiful right there (we rented a condo on the beach), very quiet well maintained beach. We spent one day going to Magic Kingdom (about a 2 hour ride), but mostly just were beach bums and enjoyed the local restaurants. It was one of the more relaxing trips we have ever taken.. especially with a 2 year old. There was so much to do that we canceled, didn't get a chance to do because we were just enjoying the beach that much.

I guess favorite was many years ago- I was living in Hawaii and newly married- husband was being discharged from army. We took a cruise ship ( the Mariposa) to LA, rented a car and drove to Vancouver, got on the train and took train to family home in Saskatchewan- a fun way to start our married life - the train ride through the Rockies was spectacular of course.

As much as Amtrak gets slammed, it would be the long-distance sleeper train rides I've taken on it that have been my favorites. It's got its flaws but I seem to be able to roll with it and I always enjoy it. The ones that pass through the west are most spectacular, but I've enjoyed each and every one I've taken even if it's just to see parts of America I might not see otherwise. I find it fun even just to go to sleep, look out your window in the morning and be in an unfamiliar place.

These include (just so you can see how much I really enjoy it):
Albany NY -> Buffalo -> Chicago -> Glacier Park -> Cascade Mtns. -> Seattle-> Portland

DC -> Chicago -> Glenwood Canyon -> Sierra Nevada -> San Francisco area

DC -> New Orleans

NYC -> DC -> Richmond -> Charleston -> Savannah -> Fort Lauderdale -> Miami

non-sleeper routes: DC -> Boston, NYC -> Montreal

I really loved my San Francisco to Yosemite and back trip. We stayed right outside the south entrance and while pricey it was worth it. It brought back fond memories for my mom who used to visit her family's lake house. The cabin and woods is what did it. My family was amazed by Yosemite's scenery which we topped off by hitting the cost line) one more check off the bucket list for one in my family) north of SF. We went in mid June so beat a lot of the crowds. The trip also started on a bad foot but everything from there just fell into place and was nicely planned. So much so, I may be taking them back next year.

Limiting it to the US, my favorite place to vacation is Hawaii.

National Parks of the west... Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce.

Hawaii for me too