Where should we take our honeymoon?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Since finally getting the computer job of my dreams, I’ve decided not to go back to school in the fall. Which means that mr. avabeth and I can take a true honeymoon after our wedding (Labor Day weekend). We still want to keep it fairly inexpensive and we’d rather go somewhere that we can drive to, but we do want to take 5-6 days to spend in a romantic atmosphere. We’re debating between several different places right now.

The couple: History buffs. Love eating out and trying new kinds of restaurants. We enjoy historical tours, museums, etc. We both like to see things on our vacations, but we want to be able to relax, too. We’d like to avoid a place where we have any family or friends because we want to spend our honeymoon TOGETHER, not with anyone else.

Montreal - Neither of us has ever been. We’ve both always wanted to go and we know there are tons of historical sites. Both of us are wanna-be Canadians, so we think Montreal would be a wonderful place to visit.

Boston - I have been, the mr. has not. I love it there. Again, tons of historical sites, tons of places to see, lots of museums.

Charleston, South Carolina - Somewhere that we’ve BOTH wanted to visit. Incredibly beautiful and romantic city according to my brother. Fantastic restaurants. Tons of history to see, and Savannah is within driving distance.

Disney World - yes, probably a typical honeymoon destination. Both of us have been before, but he hasn’t been in ten years and I LOVE Disney World - I’ll go whenever I have the chance. Tons of opportunities for romantic activities, plenty of day trips within the area. I’ve always wanted to experience Disney as a honeymoon.

Any info about any of these places for a romantic honeymoon would be appreciated! Thanks!

Ava

2

Of the places you mentioned, I’ve only been to Boston but it was very enjoyable.

if you do that, I would recommend a side trip to Salem. That was really interesting.

When I was reading the OP and before I got to your list. The place I thought of was Hew Orleans. It’s got some of the best restaurants in the country and an incredibly romantic atmospere.

But just remember, it’s not where you go, it’s who you go with.

Congratulations on your wedding.

3

Umm … OP?

Well blush um … I’m not sure if your parents have had “the talk” with you yet but, um …

Well, sometimes when a man and a woman love each other very much, they want to express that love. Usually on the wedding night and during the honeymoon, they express that love a whole lot. I mean a LOT. As much as the groom can muster, basically, or until the bride gets cystitis, whichever comes first. That’s basically what all newlyweds do. Eat, sleep, and um, express love.

And this is why you shouldn’t bother going anywhere cool on your honeymoon, as you will be too busy, hopefully, expressing your love for each other to leave the hotel room the entire time.

:wink:

4

Stupid me – not copying my post before hitting “submit”. Damn post-chewing hampsters. :mad: Anyway, let’s try this again…

My wife and I honeymooned at Caesar’s Cove Haven in the Poconos. I thought it was going to be a really cheesy mix of every sappy romantic getaway cliche’ I’d ever heard about. After a few days, I found that I was right, but that I was having a blast. We’ve gone back every year since. :smiley:

After rereading the OP, I see this doesn’t match up with some of your criteria. The place is fairly expensive (especially in the summer), and not really what you would call “historical” (except for it being the birthplace of the champagne-glass-hot-tub :)). But, if you’re looking for a romantic getaway, this place would be hard to beat.

5

Honeymooned in Boothbay Maine at the end of September. The prices were beautiful, since it was “off season”, and the area in general is just gorgeous. Anyway I thought it was a great place… That was about 10 years ago though.

6

Sorry, hit the wrong button . :o

I just wanted to add that near Boothbay was a really fascinating car museum, an old steam train type village, and other interesting things to do in the area. I’m also not sure where you’re coming from, so… whether it’s driving distance for you or not, I have no idea.

7

Mr. HotB and I honeymooned in Williamsburg, VA. It was fantastic. We celebrated our first anniversary in St. Augustine, FL, which was also fantastic. We didn’t go anywhere on our second anny because my husband changed jobs. He’s a truck driver now, and wasn’t even home on our anniversary. We went to the area Renaissance festival the weekend before to celebrate and have our vows renewed (we did that the year before, too). We had planned on going to Kennedy Space Center.

Congrats!

8

One note, if you decide to pick Boston: since this is a big student town many of the hotels tend to get filled up near Labor Day (also in May around graduation time) as parents come to town to drop off their little darlings. Get reservations early.

In addition to Salem the Lexington/Concord area is reeking with history and worth a side trip, if you are up this way.

9

I gotta go with Charleston. It’s a gorgeous city, with lots of history behind it. (A friend of mine particularly recommends the ghost tour.) And the food? Oh, avabeth, low-country cooking can make you cry, it’s so good. And since it’s on the coast, there are nearby beaches–Folley Beach comes to mind, though I’m sure there are others–if you just want a day to loll about in the water.

10

We honeymooned in DC and it was just wonderful. We got married December 20, though, and the city was very VERY quiet over Christmas. Lovely. Especially the night tour of the monuments, and being able just to walk right up to the Washington Monument and go in rather than have a long wait.

11

All of the suggestions have been great. My son is marrying a girl from the Poconos in August and it is a wonderful place.

As to your list, your three choices are top-notch. For history fans what better choices could be made? Charleston and Boston probably have more to see than you can cover in just a few days. So does my choice Monteal That choice is made simply because you seemed inclined towards it, so why wear yourselves out trying to make a decision.

If you still feel you need another suggestion: I’ll add the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which among other things has “The Lost Colony”, Wright Brothers, seawrecks and lighthouses along with being just one long beach with plenty of good places to eat.

12

I’m down the street from Disney World. Lots of stuff has changed in the last 10 years (heck, even in the last couple of years). Still lots of touristy stuff (both tres fun and tres tacky) as well as lots of culture: art festivals, food festivals (Zellwood Corn Festival, Cantrememberthenameofthetown Strawberry Festival), theatre (ooh yeah! International Fringe Festival is coming up in a couple of weeks).

Contact me offboard: I can send you a half ton of brochures rather than taking up bandwidth.

(Personally, I’d go with Montreal.)

13

If you like Disneyland and you like history and good food, why not go to Disneyland in PARIS.

14

Thanks much for the replies - It’s nice hearing the pros and cons of the various sites.

Odinoneeye, we’re very strongly considering New Orleans. The biggest downfall to that is that my cousin lives in New Orleans and while I love her, her husband, and her four year old dearly, I know they’d want us to go out with them several times. While I wouldn’t be against it on an ordinary vacation, we both just want our honeymoon to be us. But New Orleans has definitely got possibilities - I’ve not been since I was twelve, and the Mr has never been.

Abbie, are you kidding me? I thought I got to STOP doing that after we were married! Damn, the wedding’s off!:wink:

Hal, when the honeymoon was only going to be 2-3 days, the Poconos was a definite. We’re still thinking about it, but we also figure we want to go somewhere that we can experience our interests. We’ve still got the cool videotape for honeymooners;).

burundi, the food is one of the reasons we’re really interested in Charleston. My brother’s a chef, and has gone to Charleston on business trips several times - he doesn’t have a bad thing to say about any of the restaurants he’s been to. I haven’t had good low country cooking in years, anda week of it just sounds amazing.

kniz, I didn’t even think about the Outer Banks! That might work, thanks!

ScreechOwl, I’ll do that - thanks. We’re also very interested in Montreal, but worried it might be a little too far of a drive from Virginia (We’re getting married in my hometown in VA, but we live in Ohio - so it might not be a long drive back, but driving there might be a little long).

Zebra, he nearly had a heart attack last night when I did a casual search for flights to London to see if we could swing a honeymoon there. I practically had to get out the defibrulator. I think I’d be shopping for a coffin if I suggested Paris:). It’s a wonderful thought and I truly wish we could have a European honeymoon, but he’s stuck on the whole money issue.

Thanks again - feel free to keep the suggestions coming!:slight_smile:

Ava

15

This is not one of your choices but if you want an autumn trip that is spectacular you should think about Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It has fabulous foliage and incredible coastline. It has historic sites like the Fortress Louisbourg. The people are friendly and there is a booming Celtic music scene. Hehe, I sound like a tourism ad. Check it out.

16

Me and Mrs. are going to Paris next week.

Why did we choose Paris?

It was CHEAPER to go to Paris for 5 days 4 nights than it was to go to Disney World for the same ammount of time. Now I do live in NYC so flights to Europe are cheaper from this part of the country. And yes the dollar has slipped against the Euro lately but it was still cheaper to go to PARIS than it was to go to Orlando.
Hotel Champ De Mars was recently selected as one of the best budget romantic hotel. We stayed there last time but it was booked for next week. It’s great!
Remember, plenty of folks give cash for a wedding gift.

Now I will say that I did honeymoon at DisneyWorld. It was a blast. If you do, be sure to get the Bride and Groom mouse ears and wear them all the time and you’ll be treated like royalty.

17

He keeps saying he’ll wear the ears over his dead body, but I think I’m swaying him on that:).

And that’s amazing on the trip to Paris - what a great deal! Now I’ll have to check into that:). I would actually love to go to Dublin or Edinburgh or London for our honeymoon, but he hears ‘Europe’ and panics (can you tell I’m the one who tends to be bad with money?). However, I have a friend who’s a travel agent and gets our trips for us fairly inexpensive, so maybe she can swing a deal for us.

And yeah, we’ve already designated part of the cash gifts as honeymoon money - we just don’t have any way to count on how much. (And to be honest, we’ve told people that we know they’re coming from long distances, so we’d rather they use the money just to come to the wedding, and forgo gifts). Still, I’m good at traveling on small amounts of money:).

Ava

18

I gotta go with Disneyworld.

For starters, it’s the Number One honeymoon destination in the USA (cite: my 2003 edition of Birnbaum’s Official Guide to Walt Disney World).

There are plenty of little romantic getaways: a stroll along the Seven Seas Lagoon along the Grand Floridian beach would probably be tops. A meal at Victoria & Albert’s restaurant (again, at the Grand Floridian hotel). The Wishes fireworks show behind Cinderella’s Castle every night. Splash Mountain (OK, maybe not).

When Mrs. HeyHomie and I were there last fall (not on our honeymoon; just as regular tourists), we saw several couples with the mouse ears top hats & bridal veils. I remarked to Mrs. HeyHomie that my next marriage would definitely be at Walt Disney World.

She didn’t think it was funny. :smack:

19

Love WDW and did a honeymoon there, but it is pricey - especially to do it well.

I took my husband there on a late honeymoon. It was his first Disney trip. It isn’t very honeymoonish to run through theme parks (we also did a weekend at a local B&B right after the wedding, very honeymoonish).

On the other hand, there is nothing better for a Disney fan than to let your husband know EXACTLY what he is in for…he’ll still be able to get out while the getting is good…

(I’d pick South Carolina. Have never been there, or any of your other choices. But that sounds the most honeymoonish, as well as the most affordable).

20

Oh, believe me, he knows what he’s in for :smiley: . I think he realized what he was in for the first time he heard me tell the cats to go ask “Daddy” for a treat (Mainly just to scare the hell out of him, not being serious:)). He didn’t run screaming in the other direction, which is a plus!

I just love the idea of Disney - we’d do it as inexpensively as possible. My travel agent friend would get us a lovely condo with a kitchen area so we could have breakfast and snacks in the room.

But then I can’t help wondering if I’ll feel like we’re missing out on something by not going somewhere new. But considering we may end up spending a lot of time in our room as newlyweds;), I wouldn’t feel guilty about missing something at Disney because I’ve seen it before, you know?

He’s basically leaving the decision up to me (although he’s starting to lean more towards Disney, too).

Ava