Suggestions for Birthday trip

[Yzerbear19]

I'm thinking about where I want to go for my birthday at the end of April. Since my 25th birthday when we went to WDW my sister and I have gone somewhere for our birthdays. This year in January for hers we went to Chicago to see Wicked, then for mine in April went to Mackinac Island. This January we are going to WDW. I'm trying to think of somewhere fun to go to mine. And WDW is unfortunately not an option because its too close to our January trip. So I want to go somewhere closer to home and somewhere affordable.

Of course first idea was Chicago, since we both LOVE Chicago! Its probably one of my favorite cities in the whole world. The hotel we've stayed at the last two times and have really enjoyed and just had two really wonderful stays at is booked for the time we want to go. We could always stay somewhere else, but this one has all the perks we like (indoor pool, free parking, great location, affordable rates, etc) that aren't found at most of the other hotels in the city.

Next I thought of Gettysburg. I know, probably not everyone's first or second choice, but as a history major and Civil War enthusiast its always a consideration. We went in June and had a fun time, but didn't get to really see everything we wanted to because of a tight, busy schedule. We ended up missing some things and would love to go back and see those things we missed. The hotel we stayed at in June is available with somewhat affordable rates, much cheaper than Chicago. The only problem with this idea is that driving through the mountains STUNK! I was so scared driving on the curvy, mountain road that our directions told us to take. Plus this one is a bit further away than Chicago. But I looked and Gettysburg isn't far from Hershey, so we could take a small side trip down there since we haven't ever been there.

This morning I thought about maybe going to the Mall of America because I've never been there and never been to Minnesota. If we go there then I can cross MN off my list of states to see. The drawbacks to this idea is that is about 12 hours away from where we live and I don't want to drive more than 12 hours anywhere. I would prefer to fly there, but the prices right now aren't all that great. Plus I don't know if there would be enough there to keep us entertained. I think the mall after one day would probably bore us both to tears. My brother and his wife went there on their honeymoon and had fun, so I was going to talk to them about it.

Then I was thinking about Toronto. Its been 6 years since we've been there. I can't believe its already been that long. I LOVE Toronto. We took the train last time from Sarnia to Toronto and had a blast. I hate driving in Canada so we would want to take the train. But I rather wait to go to Toronto until after Steve Yzerman is in the Hockey Hall of Fame which won't be until 2009 or 2010. But I know we would have a lot of fun in Toronto. Though right now the exchange rate stinks. When we went back in 2000 for every $1 USD we had we got $1.50 Canadian dollars. I would love to go back to Casa Loma in the spring it would be beautiful!

I guess I just need some ideas. Each one I've come up with so far is OK, but I'm not sure about any of them. I kind of want to go somewhere new and different that I haven't been to, but at the same time not go too far from home. And whereever we go has to be affordable. We live up near the middle of Michigan so pretty much anything within 10-12 hours away is fair game. Detroit is out of the running because I have family and friends that live down that way so we are down there all the time so it wouldn't be all that special.

Any suggestions?

 

[Sherri]

I suggest New Orleans. There are probably great travel deals there. They need the tourism. We went over the summer and had a blast.
There is a lot to do there and it would be a great experience.
My dh, kids and I were sorry when our week ended.
We will go back.
Boston is a lot of fun to. There is a lot you could do there as well.

 

[Micca]

I like all of your ideas I haven't been to Gettysburg, but Chicago is a great city, and Minneapolis-St.Paul is amazing. If you are a junkie for shopping, go for the MOA--it is WAY over the top.

 

[Yzerbear19]

Right now we are leaning towards Gettysburg. Another plus in Gettysburg's favor is that my sister said she would be able to drive in Michigan and Ohio. I would have to drive in Detroit though since she hates driving there. She refuses to drive near Chicago and with good reason. So if we were to go to Chicago or Minneapolis, a majority of the driving would be done by me. If she does drive that would be great for me because I always get stuck doing all the driving. I drove all the way from Michigan to Florida when we went to WDW in 2005 and won't ever do that again. We split it up over 2 days, but 15 hours that first day was a bit much. Gettysburg is only 9 hours away, but it would be nice to be the passenger for a change.

My sister is really interested in Gettysburg because she wants to go on one of the ghost tours, which is something we didn't get to do last time. She was disappointed last time that our hotel room wasn't haunted.

So that appears to the be direction we're leaning right now.