Favorite areas and where you want to go

[knightfan26917]

In the "Who Will Be Where This Year?" thread where I mentioned where I'll be in 2008 and early 2009, I also asked 2 questions: "Where is your favorite area?" and "Where do you want to go in your lifetime?". I thought these might be better suited for a different topic; thus, this thread.

But, a twist, on both questions:

1 ... Where is your favorite area in your HOME country (for most of us, the US)?

2 ... Where do you want to go in your HOME country (for most of us, the US) in your lifetime?

For me ... the answers are easy:

1 ... Nashville/Jackson TN

2 ... Everywhere I haven't been already on one of my road trips, to see the sights and, of course, meet more people. This includes California, Boston/the NorthEast, Minnesota, Alaska and a few other places. Course, I'd also like to re-visit many of the places to which I've already traveled...and I'll be doing some of that this year, driving to Pennsylvania in June and then again in August (including stops in Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland, northern Virginia)...and then the St Louis area in early October.

So ... what about you? How do you answer these 2 questions?

Cort:34swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve&pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Out in no-man's land on an old 2-lane" ... Bucky Covington ... 'It's Good To Be Us'

[Blake Noble]

1. I am fond of South Carolina. I like the area in and around Charleston quite a bit. I also like some areas along the coast of New England as well.

2. I want to experience a week of Alaska at some point in my lifetime.

[Oracle of Delphi]

My parents have a home on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, it's where I go to escape.

[Intrepidation]

Anywhere that isn't Lawrence.

[Lamar]

1. Atlanta, GA.

2. Philly, Memphis, St. Louis, LA, Phoenix, Seattle.

[A Horse With No Name]

1. Atlanta, GA.

2. Philly, Memphis, St. Louis, LA, Phoenix, Seattle.

I used to live in Atlanta...it has to be one of the coolest places in the whole freaking country!

My wife worked in Philly while we were dating, LA is awesome, and Seattle is on my short list also.

Right now I want to see the whole country...but I'm waiting for my five kids to get a little older.

Chris

[The O.C.]

2. I want to experience a week of Alaska at some point in my lifetime.

Alaska's AWESOME! I could almost live there......

I used to go up there quite a bit for work, and I have spent time in the winter, and summer, in Anchorage, and travelled to Fairbanks and Juneau.

I've spent the most time in Anchorage....which is like a little "Seattle." Not at all "backwards." It's got some GREAT restaurants and stuff. It's got all the amenities you need of a big city, but it's so close to so much beautiful country, it's incredible. Winters in Anchorage are remarkably mild.....in some respects better than what I experienced in Michigan!!! Because it's located on the water, the winters are somewhat mild in comparison. Obviously it gets cold, but when I was there in February a couple of times, the temps were in the mid-30's......

Fairbanks, in comparison, is freaking cold....OMG....

Juneau is like a little european village.....so incredibly charming.....

[Justin Bimmer]

Disneyland, it's even better now that ESPNZone is right next to it with beer and drinks.

I would like to go to Hawaii I think because I have been almost everywhere in the Cont. US of importance (except maybe Boston).

[capriceman]

Ninilchik, Alaska.

Going to build my dream house there and retire because i love it so much!!!

Once i figure out Autocad Architecture 08 i will post up the initial designs.

[CARBIZ]

1. My favorite area of Canada is the 30,000 Islands - the east coast of Georgian Bay. Miles and miles of pristine coastline and Canadian Shield. I have spent long hours, tucked away on desolate granite islands with windswept pine trees, just canoeing or snorkeling. Nothing quite like it that I've ever seen.

2. I want to see Newfoundland before I die. I've been up and down the west coast. I've even been to New Brunswick. I've been to Hudson's Bay (well, James' Bay, actually), but I saw a tourist video recently of The Rock and vow I will go there soon. It's tough though, because the BF wants us to go to Brazil again in February (gee, do we have to?). I want to go to Europe, but doubt I can get the time off to do both.

[Robert Hall]

Hmmmm....many favorites, lots of places I want to go but I haven't.

1. Favorites--this is tough...several favorites, for different reasons.

The mountains of Colorado, esp. around the Breckenridge area and down around Silverton and Durango. Great get away close to home.

Northern California, San Francisco itself, the coast from SF down to Big Sur, the Mendocino coast to the north, and the Napa Valley/Sonoma County area. A favorite long-weekend getaway of mine, great driver's roads away from the city, scenery, food.

Oahu and Maui.

Eastern Ohio...where I'm originally from... not much dining wise and culturally, but the backroads of Tuscarawas, Coshocton, Carroll, Holmes, etc counties are incredible for driving...

For big-city experiences, besides SF, my favorites are San Diego, LA,Chicago, and Boston.

2. Haven't been to but want to go:

Pacific Northwest....I've been to Portland and the surrounding area a few times, but I want to explore Seattle, Puget Sound, the Washington coast, the Cascades, Crater Lake, Snowqualamie.

Big Island of Hawaii, Kauai, Lihue

Alaska

More of Arizona..I know the Phoenix metro area quite well, and have been to Sedona, Jerome, Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon, but I want to explore the rest of the state.

More national parks...I've seen all the ones in Colorado, but I want to explore those in Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota.

Blue Ridge Mountains, Smoky Mountains. Have passed through long ago but want to go back and explore..heard there are a lot of great driver's roads there.

3. Outside the US.

I've been to Mexico, Canada, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, but want to travel more extensively throughout Europe (more of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain, Germany, in particular).

Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Brasil and Argentina are all on my to-do list for the next decade or so.

Edited May 1, 2008 by moltar

[vonVeezelsnider]

Definitely

1. Victoria County, Cape Breton Island

2. Seattle, WA

3. Phoenix, AZ

4. Chicago, IL

[daves87rs]

I want to go everywhere...

Canada, Europe....

Not sure where to start....

[vonVeezelsnider]

I want to go everywhere...

Canada, Europe....

Not sure where to start....

Banff/Jasper Canadian Rockies (Alberta)

Lunenburg, NS and Peggy's Cove (Nova Scotia)

Quebec City

Ottawa, ON

Victoria, BC

are all good bets for the first places you should go in Canada.

[capriceman]

I want to go everywhere...

Canada, Europe....

Not sure where to start....

Dude. Canada? its like 50 miles away that should be easy to check off the list.

But i have been to some deferent places and Vietnam is a very beautiful country. i want to go there again.

Europe. No offense but i found nothing there i cant find here. i don't remember it being memorable plus im not well liked by the EU.

Siberia. has beauty that cant be described. If i could i would love to go see it and explore it.

I hate deserts. if i never see another one in my life i will be good. spent to much time in the great sandbox of hell and i don't like it at all.

[CARBIZ]

Travelling is a great way to shake up what one thinks they know about the world. I am not talking just about the obvious differences in culture. For example, when I was travelling around the L.A. basin, surrounded by those mountains it was almost disconcerting for me because I was more used to the green, lush beauty of the coastal mountains around the Vancouver area, not the arid contrast of the California mountains.

We all need to get out over our own personal boxes and travel. It is the greatest way to educate oneself! No books or courses can replace the sheer ecstasy of experience!

[Lamar]

I used to live in Atlanta...it has to be one of the coolest places in the whole freaking country!

My wife worked in Philly while we were dating, LA is awesome, and Seattle is on my short list also.

Right now I want to see the whole country...but I'm waiting for my five kids to get a little older.

Chris

I was born in Atlanta, so of course it's cool.

[CARBIZ]

I was born in Atlanta, so of course it's cool.

I left my Olympus camera in the parking lot of a downtown Atlanta hotel about 15 years ago. Well, 'left' is probably not the right word, I actually threw it from the 12th floor window when the batteries (yet again) died as I attempted to take pictures of the city from our hotel. Brand new camera and it was eating batteries (the computer wasn't shutting off when the aperture door was closed, I suspect.

Very big city. I'd like to go back, but the two times I've been to Atlanta I was travelling through to Florida, as many of us Canucks tend to do. Horrible city to get through at the wrong time of day, though!

[Lamar]

I left my Olympus camera in the parking lot of a downtown Atlanta hotel about 15 years ago. Well, 'left' is probably not the right word, I actually threw it from the 12th floor window when the batteries (yet again) died as I attempted to take pictures of the city from our hotel. Brand new camera and it was eating batteries (the computer wasn't shutting off when the aperture door was closed, I suspect.

Very big city. I'd like to go back, but the two times I've been to Atlanta I was travelling through to Florida, as many of us Canucks tend to do. Horrible city to get through at the wrong time of day, though!

You should stop there one time. It's nice, especially in the summer.

[daves87rs]

Dude. Canada? its like 50 miles away that should be easy to check off the list.

But i have been to some deferent places and Vietnam is a very beautiful country. i want to go there again.

Europe. No offense but i found nothing there i cant find here. i don't remember it being memorable plus im not well liked by the EU.

Siberia. has beauty that cant be described. If i could i would love to go see it and explore it.

I hate deserts. if i never see another one in my life i will be good. spent to much time in the great sandbox of hell and i don't like it at all.

True, but some of those places Veez said sound good...

I figure a month would be a good start...

[Robert Hall]

I was born in Atlanta, so of course it's cool.

I definitely want to check out Atlanta some day...I've only been through the airport about 10 years ago once and recall going around it on the freeway in family trips in the '80s..Memphis is on my list also, I'm interested in checking it out for it's music history and food... about the only part of the South (and it's, IMHO, very different from the rest of the South) that I know very well is the Miami area and the Florida Keys (lived there 6 years).

Edited May 2, 2008 by moltar

[knightfan26917]

We all need to get out over our own personal boxes and travel. It is the greatest way to educate oneself! No books or courses can replace the sheer ecstasy of experience!

AMEN!

Well put, carbiz! Heh ... this is yet another reason why I love to travel and road trip. You see so many great things along the way. Course, meeting people is a good thing, too . he he

This is a link to some gorgeous scenic areas a friend sent to me:

http://mybeautifulamerica.com/nationalparks.htm

Cort:34swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve&pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"I'm still alive inside" ... Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown ... 'No Air'

[daves87rs]

AMEN!

Well put, carbiz! Heh ... this is yet another reason why I love to travel and road trip. You see so many great things along the way. Course, meeting people is a good thing, too . he he

This is a link to some gorgeous scenic areas a friend sent to me:

http://mybeautifulamerica.com/nationalparks.htm

Cort:34swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve&pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"I'm still alive inside" ... Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown ... 'No Air'

very true...

[VenSeattle]

OC... just call the waterfront of Anchorage what it is... it's an inlet.

Did you make it to Mad Myrna's while you were there? Fun place. I'd love to live in Anchorage for 2-4 years for the experience, and just to be able to say I earned their dividend check. LOL (I bet most of you didn't know Alaskans are practically paid to live there did you?)

As you can tell... yes, I've been there also... If any of you go to Anchorage, I highly recommend booking your stay at Captain Cook Hotel. Fantastic place. Great breakfast and gym (athletic club) etc for the price. It's one of the nicer places you can stay in Anchorage. Service is great also.

For those who have never seen a moose in the wild, you'll probably spot one between the airport and downtown. lol.

--------

1 ... Where is your favorite area in your HOME country (for most of us, the US)?

HAWAI'I hands down.... Unbelievably beautiful and very gay friendly. Kauai isn't called the Paradise Island for nothing. Oh, and the only way to do Honolulu is Waikiki beach front. If you've never been, plan to go during Halloween. The holiday is HUGE in Hawai'i!

2 ... Where do you want to go in your HOME country (for most of us, the US) in your lifetime?

It's a multiple-tie, but I'll probably combine them all into a single two-to-three week trip... I have a fascination with the "Gilded Age" of the US... back when US laws allowed visionaries and opportunists to become our country's equivalent to aristocracy.

Start at the grandest of them all, Biltmore. Head up to Newport. Do the Gold Coast. Continue through the Hudson Valley. End up at Niagra Falls. I've read about the degradation of the Woolworth mansion (Winfield Hall), and the loss of White Marsh Hall breaks my heart. I think the entire tour would make an excellent vacation. I think it would be the USA's equivalent to a Loire Valley tour in France. Now, if I could only convince my partner to join me... lol.

My above fascination is one of the reasons I enjoy visiting Craigdarroch Castle every time I'm in Victoria BC. Wonderful city and beautiful too. I'm sure the Canadians here would agree.