I second (or is it third?) Greece. I am betting V-Span will let you stay over at his guest house, may be even show you around.
Vancouver. One of my favourite places to visit. If you get up there you can take a ferry to Victoria, B.C, which is stunning. Victoria, B.C feels like Europe.
Jeff, what have you heard about that? Also, as for Seattle, I used to work for MS, so been up there lots..... DD
San Diego or Phoenix are a couple of my favorite spots. I try to go where I'm almost guaranteed no rain. One place I've never been to is San Francisco. That's high on my list. I hear Hawaii has been running GREAT specials and the hotels occupancy rate has been dropping rapidily lately.
We always enjoyed San Franciso and Sausalito. Did you hit Victoria when in Seattle? Banff? And why not Hawaii yet? Alaskan cruise? Grand Cayman? A raft trip down the Colorado in the Grand Canyon? Or just go to .... Vatulele
Do you like outdoors stuff? I know that as a Rockets fan, I should never recommend a place in Utah, but if I were going to spend 4 days in any place that I've ever been before, it'd be Zion National Park. Easily one of the most beautiful places in the US, it's nice to spend either the first or last night in Vegas, and the best lodging where I've ever stayed in a National Park. Definitely do the Narrows hike (rent water shoes), and hike to Angels landing. If you want to get away a little more, ride up to the northwest side of the park and hike down to Kolob Arch. It should be an easy overnighter, but I did it as a really long day hike.
Every August long weekend in Kaslo, BC stunning vistas, great acoustics and superb musicians combine to create the Kaslo Jazz Etc Summer Music festival. The unique floating stage rests just offshore a little, sandy beach on Kootenay Lake. One of my old friends, a native Texan who "went foreign," and married a Canadian lass, started this jazz festival some years ago. Kaslo is a village "at the end of the road," resting in an idyllic spot that's like something created by blending the Swiss Alps and the Norwegian fiords. I went there for the second one by flying into Spokane and renting a car. It's a beautiful drive up to Nelson, a lovely college town at the end of the lake, and then driving up one side of the lake until you get to Kaslo. Very successful, it's in a natural amphitheater at the bottom of a cove, surrounded by mountains, the music on a floating stage, with the musicians chillin' in a houseboat before walking the plank to the stage to play. Besides jazz, the offerings typically include blues and world music. Very beautiful, loads of stuff to do around there, the town council has a large percentage of old hippies on it, and the number allowed each day is about 3,000, due to space limitations and a desire to do no harm to the site, the village park. It started in 1992, so this is the 16th year. Hard for me to believe. Not only that, but my buddy, as well loved as he is in Kaslo, is still "that fellow from Texas." He's only been there over 20 years! Groove during the Canadian Labor Day weekend! The first weekend in August, every year. Hot springs abound, if you know where to go. Waterfalls galore. Indian hieroglyphics on the other side of the lake that you need a boat to see. One of those hippies on the town council loaned one to me and I puttered across. Don't miss the dance after the end of the last day. When I was there, it was about 3 girls to every guy. Well, I was without my wife, so I was dancing with 3 at the same time, at any rate. Purely for fun, you understand.
Good call, I really dig Vancouver too. Fortunately my grandmother lives there. I also agree w/ the other San Fran recommendations. After being there a few times it tops my list of places I'd like to move to. Not coincidentally SF and BC are similar in many ways. Which is why I'd also like to check out Seattle, which seems to fit in that group.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Yosemite as a possibility. If you like the camping/hiking type of vacation, it is hard to beat, and considered by some the most beautiful place on earth.
http://www.fairmont.com/frontenac/ in Quebec City is very nice. Quebec City is awesome and the people are friendly.
i went there last year, and my family had a great time. but, the place where i was. were pretty pricey, and they had two computers that had internet access, (no wireless) , and everytime, there would be kids playing online games.
The problem with Hawaii for us is that we would only be there like 3 days...and that seems like a long way to go for 3 or 4 days and the time would be screwed up coming back..... We plan to fly out Tuesday morning from DFW airport and return at a reasonable time Saturday afternoon in order to pick up the kids at my dad's house and drive back to Austin. June 19-23rd are the dates we are thinking about. So far, we like the Fairmont in Alberta, but the Lodge is 250 miles from the airport....so probably not going to be able to do that. We like the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, but we may want to take our kids there later, so we may hold off on that. I think a nice resort where we can drink, eat, and lounge is our preference....preferably in the mountains....... Anyone been to Utah or Colorado in the summer? DD
Worry-Free Vacations...check them out. Lots of All-inclusive's for a good prices to Jamaica, Bahamas, Mayan Riviera, etc.. We enjoy Playa Del Carmen, about an hour south of Cancun...much more secluded and enjoyable than Miami..er..I mean Cancun. It's a totally different atmosphere than Cancun.
