Hallgirl and I are wanting to go on an all-girls weekend away in September. We’re looking for a spot within 2 hours drive from Philadelphia. (I know, some may be saying, “Why not do Philadelphia?”–Hallgirl lives there and I have a low tolerance for the noise, the people and the filth. Beside we want a vacation.)
Here’s our criteria.
[ul]
[li]Must be within a two hour drive from Philly.[/li][li]Should have something different to do. We like oddball museums and tours of weird or unusual places (we did a tenament museum in NYC that was freaking awesome).[/li][li]MUST have some variety of places to eat. We are foodies and love everything from a diner breakfast to really good seafood.[/li][li]We are not big shoppers. So while some independent funky shops are fine, we are not into malls or outlet stores. Farmers markets are a plus though.[/li][li]We’d like some nature. Beach, mountain, nice lake or something like that.[/li][li]While we don’t mind some history, we don’t want to be consumed by it. When we’re talking history, we’re more into the oddball history (we liked the industrial museum thing at the Inner Harbor)[/li][li]We’ve done Baltimore, DC, Pittsburgh and NYC (although some of those are further than two hour drive).[/li][li]Don’t need somewhere that’s “family” oriented (no kids are coming), but we’re not partiers, either.[/li][li]We’d like some outside activities–a boat tour is great, kayaking would be cool, and somewhere that we could rent bikes would be okay, but the bike rental would have to have a purpose (like touring downtown, not just riding around a park).[/li][li]It doesn’t have to be one single place–it could be a couple of places that we visit one after the other.[/li][/ul]
A run through the Lehigh Valley has lots of stuff to do. You could head up to Bushkill Falls, or stop at Roadside America, the World’s Greatest Miniature Village, or head out to Pottsville to the courthouse where they hung the Molly Maquires, or Dorney Park outside of Allentown, or head out toward Reading and the Amish country where you can visit Intercourse, Blue Ball, and Paradise, and the numerous antique shops and pretzel factories.
I can’t help you within two hours of Philly but if you wait a bit and go in October, Asheville, NC is an awesome weekend escape. When the leaves change, it’s a gorgeous, hip mountain getaway. There are alot of good people and beautiful sights to see.
Eastern Shore, Long Beach Island and Harper’s Ferry are a possibilities.
Unfortunately, we’ve done Cape May, Hershey (I lived in Hbg. for ten years), Lancaster and Gettysburg (even have the driving CD for the car tour through Gettysburg!). We did Atlantic City awhile back, but neither of us gamble and we’re impressed with it enough to return.
We did OC last summer and Rehoboth Beach…I’ve heard everyone say, “It’s like OC, only nicer and not as crowded.” I’ve also heard it’s more expensive than OC.
Have you been to Chincoteague? It’s a neat little town, plus there’s the beach and wildlife sanctuaries on Assateague. The last Wednesday and Thursday of July is Pony Penning - the annual Chincoteague Pony roundup & sale. It’s kind of a mad house, which may or may not be a plus in your eyes.
