where to vacation?

Ok Gentlemen. Help me out. I said to my husband, lets go on a vacation. How about Chicago, NewYork. He said "no". There is nothing there besides people. Ok, I said. How about Colorado, Texas, Tennessee? He said, " Bemiji, Mn would be nice. Are you kidding me. first of all we were there two years ago and plus it is in the same state. Any suggestions?

Iowana Beach Resort in Bena MN. They are a huge huge supporter of the MDBA and I heard the people that stay there every year have a great time! Only about 40 minutes from Bemidji.

We take a road trip each year with our start point as northern WI. It depends how much time you have, but there are so many beautiful places to go and see. You aren't that far from the Black Hills of SD. The first time we went I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to see Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills - I wasn't that excited. Boy was I wrong. It was amazing!!!! You drive through SD through corn and soybean fields, on and on, and then all of sudden you hit the bad lands - wow!!! It seems like it was dropped there from outer space. Unbelieveable! Then continue to Rapid City and of course by then you'll have to stop and see Wall Drug - there are about a thousand signs for it along the way. Go and see Mount Rushmore and go the artist's cottage - they have pictures of how it was done - just something else!!!! Did you know they started carving one of the heads off the side of the current ones and had to abandon it because the rock was too fractured. Can you imagine starting and then having to start over???? Drive through the Black Hills they are so beautiful - they are more like mountains than hills to me! You can end up at Deadwood if you like. A lot of gambling there which isn't my thing - but the buildings are restored and you can visit the museum or their boot hill cemetary. If you have a lot of time continue on to Yellowstone. I firmly believe every American should see it. It is one of a kind and people from all over the world come to see it. It is huge so don't worry about it being crowded, it can accomodate a ton of people. I always knew about Old Faithful but didn't realize there are geysers all over Yellowstone. It has more geysers than any other place in the world!!!! More than Iceland! They have descriptions and signs about everything so you can read about what you are looking at. One thing if you go there, you might want to make some hotel reservations ahead of time. There are only a couple places in the park so you probably want to stay in Cody, WY or West Yellowstone on the far side. Absolutely breathtaking scenery!



Good luck on your vacation!

The 2 most beautiful places I've been are Tahiti (if you're looking for sun and sand and NO people) or Alaska (Denali Nat'l. park) Pictures and video cannot do these places justice!



Alaska is ALOT closer.

South Africa and Namibia. There is no where on earth that compares if you want to see wild life. I spent two weeks there and it was like heaven on earht every day.

Depends on your budget and the time you have. The South Dakota trip can be done with a short timeframe - a week or less - and a reasonable budget. Even Yellowstone - you can drive and the scenery is breathtaking - all here in the US and you don't have to worry about passports or border crossings. I want to see everything here before I travel elsewhere and I still have a pretty long list. You don't have to go to a big city - there are tons of naturally beautiful places here in the US.



If you wanted to go to the southwest both Arizona and New Mexico are great. I absolutely love Santa Fe and the beautiful mountains around it. It is the most different city I've ever been to - it is the oldest state capital. The downtown plaza makes you feel like you are in Mexico with the vendors and unique shops. Albuquerque is at 5000 ft and is high plains desert. Santa Fe is at 7000 ft. and is in the Sangro de Cristo mountains, but is only an hour from Albuquerque. Scenery changes quickly there. I love the adobe houses and native american decor.



Arizona offers some of that same style. South of Phoenix you can visit Tombstone. Many of the buildings are the originals from the days of the old west. You can go to boot hill also and get a guide to who is buried there and how they died - they say these are violent times????? Go to Sedona and see the red rock - awesome. You can go to Flagstaff and then head to the Grand Canyon. Also can see the Painted desert and the Petrified forest. Tons to see and do there as well.



This is making me want to take another vacation!!!!

This is a pretty cool thread......let's hear some more awesome places to vaca.........I've been to some of these places and they are everything that they say they are!!

Shelly:We are not far away and you would love Upper Michigan. St.Ignace is the 3r oldest city in the U.S with Soo Mi the second only 50 miles north. Five miles across the lake is Mackinac Island with no autos , just bikes and horses.

Check out WWW.st.ignace.com

Belize. Stay out on Ambergis Key. Snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming with the sharks and sting rays, along with seeing the manatees is a lot of fun. We also did the deep sea fishing thing. My friend lives on the island and he also took me out fishing in his boat while we were there. Nothing like catching barracudas and other salt water fish down there.

If you want to stay on the mainland you can do the jungle adventures. However I would strongly recommend getting vaccinated then if your doing the jungle stuff. Out on the island and staying on the water vaccinations won't be needed. Either way you will be banned from donating blood for one year after visiting that area. But it is a great time!

It sounds like you don't want to go too far, so I'm with Wild River on the South Dakota trip. Don't forget to stop by Crazy Horse while you're in the Black Hills. Not everybody likes it as well because it's not done, but it's still something to see and there is some cool browsing in the museum area.

If you want to continue on further and don't mind crossing the border, go to Banff. The scenery is simply spectacular, and we saw just about every type of animal that you can think of. I plan on returning to both of these areas.

Deer Whisperer said:

Shelly:We are not far away and you would love Upper Michigan. St.Ignace is the 3r oldest city in the U.S with Soo Mi the second only 50 miles north. Five miles across the lake is Mackinac Island with no autos , just bikes and horses.

Check out WWW.st.ignace.com

Click to expand...

You forgot to tell them about the fudge.

also the big bridge that you go over to get there....what's the name of it again? I remember seeing it on The program dirty jobs.....they were painting it........it is a very beautiful place to see!! Talking about St.Ignace........

If you want to stay in the US, go to Oregon. Three years ago my family flew to Portland and rented a van. We drove to the coast and followed it south through the entire state. There is a lot of seafood, beaches/hiking, sand dunes, sea lions, gulls, deep-sea fishing, and the scenery is breath-taking. We took someone's advice and drove further south into Crescent City, CA, where we drove through a park of redwoods (free). They were enormous, but not as big as the Sequoias. Kids had a blast...I even got up at dawn while we were there and went down to the beach and poked through the tide pools. I collected crabs and starfish there (DON'T try to take those on a commercial flight! LOL) Then when we returned north, we went through the heart of the state, stopping at Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, and at the north end, we drove west along the Columbia River, which separates OR and WA. Everything, including the weather, was perfect. The best thing was that we didn't feel like tourists, not even in Northern CA. It was all farming country with lots of cattle and really (surprisingly, after all I've heard about CA) down-to-earth kind of people. I'd take that trip again anytime!

dear john, I didn't want to tell them what they did with all that horse manure on the Island. Funny how they take manure and turn it into fudge and the tourist buy it and also haul it off the Island. Best disposal system in the country.

Eeeewwwwwww Harold......thank goodness you didn't offer me any of that fudge when I came up to your place!!

Dennis. We just give that fudge to people we dislike,realy makes baddd breath. The bridge is the Mackinac Bridge, the longest supension between towers.

Shelly, we'd like to hear where you decided to go! Then tell us how you liked it!

Sure will if he ever makes up his mind. I do know that I am going to California in a couple of months to visit two friends. I sure am looking forward to that.