Too bad, as you picked the time when rates would be great! New Year’s is outrageously expensive, but usually the week afterwards, the prices drop considerably and you would be able to pick and choose from the best Hotel/Casinos on the Strip and get the whole nine-yards - spas, nice restaurants and buffets, some good shows. Perhaps giving your wife the credit card before you head off for the table might be a wise idea…assuming she is armed and able to fend you off when you come back and ask for more money.
But seriously, there is lots to do in Vegas other than just gambling.
**gigi **, it seems that the e-mail I got back with an unknown sender was from one of the local hotels that was probably forwarded my information. I just relooked at my e-mail inbox and have over 20 e-mails from various lodging facilities.
Good call. My parents went there during January and it was too cold to swim (60s) but it’s beautiful and small enough to see everything over a long weekend. There is a historical interest (more my parents’ style than lounging on the beach), lighthouses, rocky shore to climb on. And rates may be more reasonable and things less crowded since it’s not the busy time.
Pack your warm clothes and come to DC. It’s our off-season so you can probably get good rates on hotels. Also, the museums are least crowded in the winter, so you would get to see more. There are loads of great restaurants (we absolutely love Bistro Bis on the Hill - it’s in the Hotel Georges), and if it’s just starting to snow, a walk on the mall is almost magical.
Yeah, I know there are less glamorous aspects of DC, but I don’t work there every day and I don’t live in the city limits, so I still have a kind of romantic view of the city.
If I have to listen to you talk about biochemistry, we have to get something in return.
I just got off of the phone with the a lady who runs some cabins in Estes Park. It was from Dripping Springs. She is actually the only person (so far) who added a personal touch to a pre-written e-mail.
The lady said 1/3 of the shops out in town close because of the winter, so I wonder if it would still be nice out there.
Is it too late to suggest Mt. Zion National Park (UT)? It has cabins, nice trails (from easy to challenging) and is one of those places where you can get an idea of what the area looked like 200+ years ago.
I had a wonderful time there a few years back.
PS- I’ve heard that the Grand Canyon is spectacular as well, but I’ve yet to go.
PPS- I remember researching riverboat gambling cruises on US rivers a few years back for a friend, but he never went and I thought they seemed semi-expensive.
My folks have been married 30 years, and the vacation they keep talking about and googling over is their trip to Savannah, Georgia five or six years ago.
I am not entirely sure why they liked it - they just had the best time walking around town, going on tours, eating at the restaurants and stuff. Perhaps it’s a nice place to be alone together?
Not sure how long of a drive that is from Ft. Lauderdale. Not sure if it’d be more time efficient to fly or drive.
My mom (can you tell my parents wander around quite a bit) really loved Memphis (enough that she, who wants to live out of an RV, wouldn’t mind living there).
If this is really a special surprise for your wife, then go to a spa.
Not the all-exercise, run around the trails and eat tiny servings of yogurt and pureed yams - type spa. Never.
I’m talking about a sit in the hot spring until it’s time for your massage, hang out by the pool and then get a sea-salt body rub, late-afternoon couple’s massage, excellent food and wine, no phone no tv, private hot tub, stress runs out of your body and down the drain -type spa.
I know where it is, but I won’t post it publicly. Knowing about it is a special gift. Email me if you want to know.
If all you’ve got is a 3-day weekend to pack as much fun and luxury into as possible, then, it seems to me, you don’t want to be spending lots of time on the plane.
How about looking into resort places in the Carolinas or Georgia? Other Dopers have already suggested Savannah. I’ve never been there, but one of my sisters has. She loves the place and recommends it to everyone.
Maybe you could take a trip to some of the islands off the Georgia coast. You could make sure to catch a performance of this group, which looks like it would be a great time. I haven’t been to the Georgia Sea Islands, but I’d like to go some time!
I live in California, and when I’ve gone out to Florida for a weekend, it’s a pain. Going out there takes a full day of travel, just about, and coming back is almost as bad (with the time change, it looks better but still feels terrible).
If you just have a long weekend, don’t waste half of it traveling, which means that the west coast is out. That’s my two cents. Otherwise, I’d echo the DC and Savannah suggestions.
There’s one of those outside of Santa Fe - Ten Thousand Waves. I’ve never been there but friends of mine rave about it.
Estes Park is in a beautiful spot but January - I don’t know. Access to RMNP is limited, though what you do have access to is spectacular as always. You’d probably be better off staying in Boulder and hitting Estes Park on a drive through the mountains.
Forget Estes Park in the winter or the summer; in the winter it’s kind of dead. In the summer, it’s a tourist trap. Lots of shops, but definitely on the kitschy-touristy side of things. It’s interesting to spend a day there, and it’s a beautiful setting, but 3 days in the winter would be bleak.
If you want a really great Colorado experience, check out Gold Lake Resort. It’s about an hour’s drive from Denver and would be GREAT for a 3 day weekend. You can spend a day on the grounds, hanging out in the outdoor hot tubs and pampering yourself. You can spend another day driving the Peak to Peak highway and hit Estes Park and Nederland.
If you still need more to do, you can easily spend anywhere from a few hours to a whole day on the Pearl Street Mall (a pedestrian mall, not a shopping mall) in Boulder.
