Monday, April 17, 2006

I am trying to decide where I want to go on my birthday trip this year. It's a fairly new tradition for me, but the idea is that each year on or near my birthday I travel somewhere I've never been.

I haven't always stuck to the "never been" part of that. I went to New Orleans twice. Last year we went to Chimney Rock, Grandfather Mountain and did a quick tour of the Linville Caverns and waterfall, all in North Carolina. I love the mountains.

This year I was looking at Lake Lure, but technically it's the same trip as last year. So, I'm spending time with my good pal, Expedia.com, searching for new places.

My top two wishes right now are: 1. Going back to San Francisco or 2. Going back to Washington D.C. Note the "going back" which violates the "someplace new" part of my tradition. But I'm not sure DC counts as we were only there for about 20 hours.

And, my time off is in late June and I'm not sure about stomping around DC in the heat of the summer.

I don't know. Any ideas?

5 comments:

jaz said...

Niagra Falls?
Halifax, Nova Scotia?
Chimney Rock, NC?
Nashville?
Mackinac Island, Michigan?

Daniel said...

If you like the NC mountains, I have a couple off-the-beaten track suggestions in Haywood County:

1. Shining Rock Wilderness area -- ridge-walk high meadows between balds with the Smokies receeding as far as the eye can see. Last time I was there the access road (off the parkway) was not marked.

2. Cataloochee in the GSMNP. A long gravel road over a ridge, a long gravel road down off it, and suddenly you're on a blacktop "road to nowhere" that carries you down into a remote valley. Hard to find, and typically used by "locals only."

JanetLee said...

Jason-nice try sneaking Nashville in between yankee-land and Chimney Rock.

Daniel-both places sound wonderful but alas, old joints and ON-road vehicles demand a more open-access site.

I really really want to go back to DC, but crunching numbers today is making the dream fade away...

Anonymous said...

That time of year I'd go for "cool" mountains or north.

Drive or fly?

JanetLee said...

Joan - I think we are leaning towards the same idea - the cool mountains. It's an easy drive and considerably less expensive than DC.