# Your Favorite Vacation



## blhowes (Jul 7, 2006)

Out of all the vacations you've been on, what's your favorite, most memorable one...that was loads of fun for the family, and economical too?

(I'm fishing for ideas for this summer's vacation)


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## lwadkins (Jul 7, 2006)

This doesn't really count because its a vacation I'd like to take. I'd like to see Israel.


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## BobVigneault (Jul 7, 2006)

Eastern Tennessee!
We've been 3 times now. The people are marvelous, the mountains are beautiful. Lot's to do in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville area. Dollywood is very family friendly as is the entire region. Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg is gorgeous. Townsend is the quiet side of the Smokies, you can get a cabin in the mountains for around 90 - 100 a night. There's a cheap trolley system that connects the three towns.


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## VictorBravo (Jul 7, 2006)

Standing in the middle of the North Fork of the Flathead River in Montana. Fly fishing. But it wasn't really a vacation. It was an afternoon I took off.

Still, it comes back to me as one of my most refreshing memories. It was cheap enough, too. I bought my flies at the grocery store for about 25 cents apiece.


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## Ivan (Jul 7, 2006)

Wasn't cheap, but a week in Northern California in a cabin under the redwoods....cool.


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## blhowes (Jul 7, 2006)

Those sound like some pretty nice vacations.

We were originally thinking of flying down to Orlando next month and going to Universal Studios, but the cost for the flight, hotels, car, tickets, etc. was just a little more than we wanted to spend. 

I haven't run it by my wife yet, but I think I may have found a fun place to go, that's much more budget-friendly and within driving distance (a couple hours). Its a place called Bay Side Inn, right on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. Nice accommodations, a beach on the property...and motor boat rentals!

I'm sure the kids will have fun either skiing or tubing behind this:





If I decide I want to try tubing and maybe do a little fishing, this is a little more my speed:





...and my wife always wanted to go on a cruise. Can't afford the ones to the Bahamas, etc, but there's always MS Mount Washington:


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## Kevin (Jul 7, 2006)

Grand Manan Island in the bay of Fundy (New Brunswick). Smallish island only reached by ferry (aprox 1 hour). Only about 3000 people, no "touristy" type places just beautiful sceanry & whale watching. Cabins, camping (incl cliff-side sites if you don't have small kids) & small motels.

Only a short distence from the US border, aprox 1/2 hour from Calis Maine.

It's a great place to relax.

I agree east TN is a great spot too, but the in-season crowds in Gattlinburg/Pidgon Forge are terrible. Anyone who goes to east TN should stop in Chattanooga to see Rock City. Really it is kinda nice & owned by a PCA guy as well!


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## bigheavyq (Jul 8, 2006)

> _Originally posted by BobVigneault_
> Eastern Tennessee!
> We've been 3 times now. The people are marvelous, the mountains are beautiful. Lot's to do in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville area. Dollywood is very family friendly as is the entire region. Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg is gorgeous. Townsend is the quiet side of the Smokies, you can get a cabin in the mountains for around 90 - 100 a night. There's a cheap trolley system that connects the three towns.



have you tried tellico plains and bald river falls?


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## bigheavyq (Jul 8, 2006)

I love the west. Grand canyon, bryce canyon, monument valley, four corners, zion, arches, carlsbad caverns, yellowstone, yosemite, and the best is the aliens at roswell, NM.


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## ReformedWretch (Jul 8, 2006)

I can't take economical vacations, if I am going to travel and stay away from home (which I love my home) then I've got to go all out.We took our daughter (she was 22) to Disney and stayed inside the park at one of their resorts.

I feared I wouldn't like it and that it would be too "childish", but I very much enjoyed it and want to do it again soon (it's been about 2 years). We are talking about going again with friends of ours over of Christmas break.

We stayed in the Board Walk Villa and it was very, very cool.


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## jaybird0827 (Jul 8, 2006)

My favorite vacation is still the very first family vacation we took when I was a boy. I turned 7 the last day of it. We went to Toms River, NJ and rented a bungalow for 2 weeks. Trust me, this is before it was developed. There were 5 of us and 9 of extended family including my grandfather. There was barely room to move, but we had a blast.

In the mornings we walked down to "the creek", a tributary of the Toms River. We swam in the creek. There were pines all around. The water looked like the color of tea from all the pine needles that had fallen into it and settled on the bottom. The current was swift and the water was refreshing. Afternoons we went over to Beachwood and went swimming there. While supper was cooking I'd play "roads" in the breezy shade of the tall pines. 

Some nights we'd go out for pizza or to the boardwalk at Seaside Heights. It was awesome.

_Jay_


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## BobVigneault (Jul 8, 2006)

> _Originally posted by bigheavyq_
> have you tried tellico plains and bald river falls?



No I haven't, I will look into it. Thanks for the tip!


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## gwine (Jul 9, 2006)

> _Originally posted by blhowes_
> Out of all the vacations you've been on, what's your favorite, most memorable one...that was loads of fun for the family, and economical too?
> 
> (I'm fishing for ideas for this summer's vacation)



I'm not much of a fisherman, but my wife loves to fish, and we do have fun trying (maybe if someone would tell us when to throw a net overboard . . .). We've been up to the northwoods of Wisconsin (Eagle River area) for a week at a cabin and really enjoyed it - a great way to get away from the world. I still remember when a loon called out and as we turned around to look for it an eagle was flying low over the water. Surrealism at it's best.

We're going up again at the end of July for a week. Maybe this time we'll catch some fish instead of having to eat out. It was so weird eating Canadian walleye when we should have been catching our own.


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## Herald (Jul 9, 2006)

> _Originally posted by blhowes_
> Out of all the vacations you've been on, what's your favorite, most memorable one...that was loads of fun for the family, and economical too?
> 
> (I'm fishing for ideas for this summer's vacation)



Considering where you live, how about Winnepausaki (spelling?) in New Hampshire?


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## blhowes (Jul 9, 2006)

> _Originally posted by BaptistInCrisis_
> Considering where you live, how about Winnepausaki (spelling?) in New Hampshire?


It looks like that's where we'll be going this year - check out the pictures above. We're looking forward to having a good time.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 10, 2006)

Some of my favorite past vacations include:

Northern Ireland
Scotland
England
Germany
Nova Scotia
Outer Banks
Crystal Coast, N.C.
Eastern Shore
Florida
Bahamas
Puerto Vallarta
Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Grand Canyon
Colorado
Shenandoah Valley, Va.
Great Smoky Mountains, N.C.
Harpers Ferry, W. Va.
San Antonio, Tx.
Galveston, Tx.

Places I have lived or visited which are also good vacation spots:

Jamaica
Dominica
Martinique
St. Maarten
Puerto Rico
Burlington, Vt.
Boston
New York
Philadelphia
White Mountains, N.H.

[Edited on 7-10-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 11, 2006)

One of my favorite beaches is Gold Rock Beach, Grand Bahama Island:


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 11, 2006)

Another is Frenchman's Cove, Jamaica:


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 11, 2006)

The coastline of County Antrim, Ulster was pretty spectacular too.

Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge:





Giants Causeway:


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## blhowes (Jul 11, 2006)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> One of my favorite beaches is Gold Rock Beach, Grand Bahama Island:


Looks nice, but the picture's obviously been touched up. Where are all the bottles/litter on the beach? And the water looks much too clean to be realistic.

Good job! What software program did you use? It looks almost real?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 11, 2006)

> _Originally posted by blhowes_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> ...



 No kidding, Bob, it looked just like that. It's very remote and there is nothing commerical around there for miles. Just on the other side of the beach road is the Lucayan National Park which contains the world's largest surveyed underwater cave system. That's an amazing place to visit as well. If you like to get away from civilization, Gold Rock Beach is the place to go. To paraphrase others, even by _mentioning_ this beach I am aiding in the commericalization of it, alas!


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## blhowes (Jul 11, 2006)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> No kidding, Bob, it looked just like that. It's very remote and there is nothing commerical around there for miles. Just on the other side of the beach road is the Lucayan National Park which contains the world's largest surveyed underwater cave system. That's an amazing place to visit as well. If you like to get away from civilization, Gold Rock Beach is the place to go. To paraphrase others, even by _mentioning_ this beach I am aiding in the commericalization of it, alas!


Looks beautiful, a tough place to pull yourself away from I'm sure.


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## bob (Jul 11, 2006)

One of my favorite vacations took place last year, in which we rented a van and drove through deathvalley en route to Sequoia National Park. From there we drove up the coast to see the Redwoods. It was a good bit of driving, but I was delighted to see those beautiful forests.

We managed to catch Death Valley during the early spring bloom, which was really quite stunning.


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## govols (Jul 12, 2006)

> _Originally posted by BobVigneault_
> Eastern Tennessee!
> We've been 3 times now. The people are marvelous, the mountains are beautiful. Lot's to do in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville area. Dollywood is very family friendly as is the entire region. Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg is gorgeous. Townsend is the quiet side of the Smokies, you can get a cabin in the mountains for around 90 - 100 a night. There's a cheap trolley system that connects the three towns.



Bob, now you're talking. Ah, the mountains of east Tennessee.

Rent a chalet @ http://mtnlaurelchalets.com/


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## govols (Jul 12, 2006)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> Some of my favorite past vacations include:
> 
> 
> ...



Andrew,

Jackson Hole (Yellowstone) was awesome
Negril, Jamaica was a great place. Just driving by the police chief's house was great (one of the largest homes on the island for a reason).
Garden of the gods was great
Nothing beats Neyland though (except for last year).


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## wsw201 (Jul 12, 2006)

A week in London. The airfare and Hotel were FREE!!! We stayed at the County Hall Marriott across the Thames from Parliment and Westminster Abbey. The best part was that everyone there spoke English!


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 18, 2006)

Reformed Historical Tour of America


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