Winter Vacations?

[John6719]

Well, I've decided that the wife and I need to "get away" for a while--spend some time away from home and work and just relax for a bit before I deploy. We don't want to drive somewhere to sit in a hotel the enire time, so I'm trying to find something entertaining to do. I've had a hard time with that, doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on in January.

If anyone has any suggested locations, please post. I not against flying anywhere in the US, but would prefer to drive this time (would like to keep it as cheep as possible and I enjoy the road). Anything within 10-14 hours of Southern, MN isn't a problem (to the West, Denver is 12 hours, East, Pittsburg is about 14, South, Dallas is about 14).

And the kicker, I would like to leave ASAP (tomorrow or Thursday) and return sometime after the weekend.:cool:

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[dagger0824]

I'd recommend Branson, Missouri. They have quite a bit to do (mostly shows), and a lot of it is family friendly. It's about 11 hours from South Minnesota.

[Gpool]

Hit Nashville. When I was with the 101st I loved going there. The weather will still be cool but much more managable.

Stay here and catch some shows.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=7133835491838936491&q=hotel&hl=en&cd=6&cad=src:kml_balloon&ei=DKRDS7YSoeg1s5SYjAk

[Jong]

Go skiing in CO which isn't that far from Denver. It is kind of expensive at this time of year though you could probably look online and get some deals.

[SOTB]

You didn't mention it, and maybe that is because you don't want to go there -- but I've always wanted to visit Chicago (http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en.html). They have a T-Rex that I've wanted to take my daughter to see. And I've always wanted a REAL Chicago pizza.

How far a drive is that?

[Gypsy]

And I've always wanted a REAL Chicago pizza.

How far a drive is that?

You should come out, you'd love it. :biggrin:

Not knowing where in southern MN...I'm guessing maybe a 7-8-9 hour drive? :confused:

Weather alert however, I think we're expecting a little bit of snow on Wednesday evening sometime and then major snow (6+ inches) on Thursday. Travel will be a PITA on Thursday.

http://weather.yahoo.com/united-states/illinois/chicago-12784255/

[Blackjack78]

You didn't mention it, and maybe that is because you don't want to go there -- but I've always wanted to visit Chicago (http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en.html). They have a T-Rex that I've wanted to take my daughter to see. And I've always wanted a REAL Chicago pizza.

How far a drive is that?

It doesn't beat New York pizza followed by Juniors Cheese cake! :).

[SOTB]

It doesn't beat New York pizza followed by Juniors Cheese cake!I'm sure that it doesn't. But I did notice on the Chicago link that they have their own style of cheesecake (the Eli's link) -- now I'm going to have to find a way to try it....:tongue:

[bohica10]

You didn't mention it, and maybe that is because you don't want to go there -- but I've always wanted to visit Chicago (http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en.html). They have a T-Rex that I've wanted to take my daughter to see. And I've always wanted a REAL Chicago pizza.

How far a drive is that?


Even better is a hot dog from Hot Dougs.
http://www.hotdougs.com

[John6719]

OK, this is soooo much easier when only one person is involved.:biggrin:

I looked at Branson, MO and found this (http://www.whiteriverlodgebb.com/index.html). My wife is concerned with finding enough to do, (I see a bed, hot tub, wireless internet, and a beautiful place--I'm set:cool:), but I think there are enough areas around to explore. I'm thinking this is the winner--now to get out of here in blizzard conditions....

Well, anyone from around that area? Always look forward to a SOCNET meet & greet. We may even end up heading down into Arkansas to visit some guys I deployed with the first time around.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. If you have a good one, feel free to post it yet. We make a habit of being spontaneous--better OPSEC that way;).

[John6719]

I'm sure that it doesn't. But I did notice on the Chicago link that they have their own style of cheesecake (the Eli's link) -- now I'm going to have to find a way to try it....:tongue:

Ooooo, I didn't see the cheesecake link..... I have a thing for cheesecake. mmmm:smile:

[bohica10]

From a biased perspective, I highly recommend the Westin Diplomat on the beach in Hollywood, FL.
http://www.diplomatresort.com/poolbeach
Although a bit pricey, it's worth every penny. Can't beat seared ahi by the pool.

[Tracy]

Brace yourself, consider Fayetteville, Arkansas. In the winter. Northwest Arkansas.

Try to get a Bed & Breakfast stay.

Very pretty country.

[dagger0824]

My wife is concerned with finding enough to do

She'll more than likely love it there. Try and stop by Silver Dollar City if you're into Amusement Parks.

[Carl Spackler]

Go to Wisconsin and root for the Vikings. Should be very entertaining.

[Papa Smurf]

M-I-C-K-E-Y MOUSE! - there is a special going on (started yesterday) the 4 day pass which is normally well over $200 is available to the military for $99.00, and not sure from where you are but R/T airfare is less than $200 from Denver, so would imagine it would be comparable...

[heavyguns1/1]

Gotta second Disney World.
We're going near the end of the month.

[John6719]

Go to Wisconsin and root for the Vikings. Should be very entertaining.

After fearing for my life cheering for the Vikings in the only Pittsburg Steelers bar in Colorado, I don't know if that's a good idea:biggrin:

I bet that would be a actually be a whole lot more fun, especially with us taking their QB. I think Packer fans are a bit less violent than Steeler fans too! That game isn't until next weekend though.

[John6719]

M-I-C-K-E-Y MOUSE! - there is a special going on (started yesterday) the 4 day pass which is normally well over $200 is available to the military for $99.00, and not sure from where you are but R/T airfare is less than $200 from Denver, so would imagine it would be comparable...

I've never envisioned Disney World for being for people without kids.... I'll have to look into it though. Thanks P.S.

[cj]

Gotta second Disney World.
We're going near the end of the month.

I was in Epcot last week, it was a packed house but we had lots of fun. Although I live only 90 minutes from the park, we decided to stay at one of the hotels near Downtown Disney, Royal Plaza, and got great rates: $119.00 per night. However, make sure you bring your parka since we're currently in a major cold spell with a high today of just around 50. Thats cold for around these here parts, albeit having lived almost 16 years in Rochester New York, I realize that's a heat weave for most parts of the country in January.:biggrin:

If you have any thought of checking out the Cirque-du-Soleil show, make your reservations ASAP: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/downtown-disney/entertainment/cirque-du-soleil/. They're usually booked solid weeks in advance. I consider it near the top of the Orlando "must-see" list. Also IMHO, I'd hit Sea World before Disney's Animal Kingdom and to encourage you even more, Sea World is a big supporter of the US military with special promotions.

[eyezweat]

Go skiing in CO which isn't that far from Denver. It is kind of expensive at this time of year though you could probably look online and get some deals.

Double this, if you and the boss like skiing. You can get MWR deals on a nice condo in a little town called Frisco (1.5-2 hrs W of Denver) and be within 15-20 minutes of lots of ski resorts. MWR has deals on all the rental gear and maybe lift tickets even sometimes. Frisco is a great little mountain town on Dillon Reservoir with good little bars, restaurants and plenty of HOT TUBS!

My Bro-In-Law made all this easy on me while he was staff at the AF Academy, and of course I got hooked.

I've done this plenty, mostly during the week starting at Christmas and going till NY's eve. Met Helena Christiansen (former Victoria's Secret model) at Breckenridge once. Wow! the eyes! Anyhow, many other things to do there as well.:biggrin:
Just sharing................. Make it memorable and best wishes, wherever you go.

[John6719]

How do you go about getting those MWR deals? Do you have to visit a base or is there a website?

[Soot]

Vegas?

[13AP3]

I can't say that it was particularly cheap (we had to buy airline tickets from BWI), but we just got back from the Grand Canyon in AZ. Sunrise from the South Rim on New Year's Day. It was breathtaking.

Regards,

13AP3

[Lagnaippe]

Chicago. Hotel Allegro, Marshall Fields, Agent Provacateur. Not necessarily in that order. But....definitely a pre-deployment type of affair!

[John6719]

Chicago. Hotel Allegro, Marshall Fields, Agent Provacateur. Not necessarily in that order. But....definitely a pre-deployment type of affair!

Holy Sh*t:biggrin: I could buy a gun for the price of some of those pieces of cloth that will end up on the floor way too fast! That was some good perusin though!;)

[Hot Mess]

Brace yourself, consider Fayetteville, Arkansas. In the winter. Northwest Arkansas.

Try to get a Bed & Breakfast stay.

Very pretty country.

Nothing named Fayetteville can be good:biggrin:

Don't come to California!

[bohica10]

Chicago. Hotel Allegro, Marshall Fields, Agent Provacateur. Not necessarily in that order. But....definitely a pre-deployment type of affair!


Marshall Fields is gone...now Macy's.

:-(

[random]

Agent Provacateur.

WAY overpriced. You pay $200+ for a set of elaborate strings when you can get equally stringy things at Frederick's of Hollywood for much cheaper.

[John6719]

Nothing named Fayetteville can be good:biggrin:

Don't come to California!

:biggrin:Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber, you go and say something like this.....and totally redeem yourself!:biggrin:

[J2S]

WAY overpriced. You pay $200+ for a set of elaborate strings when you can get equally stringy things at Frederick's of Hollywood for much cheaper.

Agreed, but quality of both lines are garbage IMHO. If you like UK lingerie, try Fleur of England. If you don't care, try La Perla. Quality and sexy and often on sale.

[Lagnaippe]

Marshall Fields is gone...now Macy's.

:-(

Bummer...you can tell I haven't been there in a few years. Last time I was there, we went to see the Broadway production of the Lion King at the theater, shopped at Marshall Fields (picnic in our room kind of food and drink stuff) and lingerie shopped. It was the perfect weekend trip.

[B 2/75]

My recommendation for a winter vacation reflects my own destination for next week....


J A M A I C A


LOL I'll be thinking of you suckers who are freezing their asses off stateside in mid-January ;)

[eyezweat]

How do you go about getting those MWR deals? Do you have to visit a base or is there a website?

Sorry for the delay. Interviews................. hmmmm.

http://www.armymwr.com/
http://www.mwrfortcarson.com/
http://www.airforcetimes.com/benefits/mwr/online_hbm08_leisure_facilities/

If you know someone at Ft. Carson, Petersen AFB or the Academy, have them look at the bulletin boards for you as well or call their base info lines. You'll need to dig a little into the links, but a good start.

I hope you both enjoy your pre-dep vacation.

[EATIII]

Sorry for the delay. Interviews................. hmmmm.

http://www.armymwr.com/
http://www.mwrfortcarson.com/
http://www.airforcetimes.com/benefits/mwr/online_hbm08_leisure_facilities/

If you know someone at Ft. Carson, Petersen AFB or the Academy, have them look at the bulletin boards for you as well or call their base info lines. You'll need to dig a little into the links, but a good start.

I hope you both enjoy your pre-dep vacation.

Don't forget Military one source.

[Wootnik]

Well, if you only want to drive then Wisconsin Dells.

[Frog]

NO!

Get out of the cold, but don't come here to Florida -
Freeze warnings all weekend. It's 32 in Tampa tonight. Skip Orlando unless you bring your parka. Go to Mexico, San Diego, the Carib. Get a change in climate that will be different from where you are.

[Tracy]

...Don't come to California!

They have a Fort Bragg too!

[ParrotHead]

We're heading to Mexico and Belize for a much needed break next week. Bout damn time.

[Joda]

My wife enjoyed Branson even more than she enjoyed our trip to Aruba. Plenty to do there.

[slowloud&harmless]

You can come here and go bird huntin with us. We got good dogs and we'll find phesants...its the last weekend of the season. To hell with minus 0 temps....we're going anyway. A Jarhead brother of mine is coming into town from south Florida and the burbon will flow.
Yer wife might enjoy shopping metro Des Moines...well maybe not, but you'll have a good time killing shit in Iowa.

[John6719]

Now to get out of here. Today it has snowed another ~6" so far, maybe even more than that. That's on top of our 24-30" base of snow we already have. This time it is all light and fluffy, so the 15 mph winds tonight, and 20-30 mph sustained winds tomorrow will really cause problems. And it looks like it will be that way all the way down I35. I'm not holding my breath. I may have to just hop on the snowmobile and pretend I'm in the mountains... Don't know what the wife is going to do though:confused::biggrin:

I looked up a few packages to Puerto Rico that didn't look too bad, but couldn't talk the boss into going that far (and spending that much). I guess buying a new gun and new computer recently may have something to do with that.:rolleyes:

Well, I appreciate the all the great recommendations.

Frog, a warm climate is definitely looking really good right now. We've been in the deep freeze for quite some time now. Way too many -10s, -20s, and even -30s lately.

Dan, thanks again for the outstanding offer!

[John6719]

You can come here and go bird huntin with us. We got good dogs and we'll find phesants...its the last weekend of the season. To hell with minus 0 temps....we're going anyway. A Jarhead brother of mine is coming into town from south Florida and the burbon will flow.
Yer wife might enjoy shopping metro Des Moines...well maybe not, but you'll have a good time killing shit in Iowa.



If we end up getting snowed in tomorrow & Friday, I might take you up on that offer. Are you pretty close to Des Moines?

[slowloud&harmless]

Yeah, Im directly in Des Moines. Shoot me a PM if that works for you.

[John6719]

Will do, SL&H.

I got up and took of in my pickup to check the roads this morning--see if we could head out with the car on vacation. As I pulled up to I-90, I saw a cop sitting there. Turns out they are closing the interstate. So I head toward home and find the UPS man stuck in the middle of the highway, just past my turn off. Even with 4x4, I can't get close enough to him to pull him out. I go check and he has a tow truck coming, good deal. I go the rest of the way home and figure I'll run my tractor into town and fill up with some #1 (and check on the UPS guy, the windchills are dangerously low). On the way in I see him, still stuck. Turns out the tow company (and every other one in the area) won't send their trucks out. So I blow the road clean and pull him out.

Then I go into town, fill up, blow out my in-laws, and head for home. I get about half way home and there's a pickup, stuck in the middle of the road (different spot than the UPS guy) in about a 4' drift. Got him pulled out and cleaned the road off then headed for home. Moral of the story: I don't think we will be going anywhere today.:cool:

[heavyguns1/1]

Probably less fun killing shit when it's that cold.
Once I shoot a deer my local critters are safe until spring.

[John6719]

Probably less fun killing shit when it's that cold.
Once I shoot a deer my local critters are safe until spring.

Funny you should mention that. The other day (when it was -15 or -20 out), I was sitting on my couch looking at a rabit out the window. I watched it for probably 5 min and thought, naaa, it's to f***in cold out to shoot it. It was close enough even I probably could have hit it with my 9mm.

[SOTB]

It doesn't beat New York pizza followed by Juniors Cheese cake!For those in the NYC AO, HERE IS A COUPON (http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/Coupons.php) for a free slice of Junior's Cheesecake. Yeah, I think you have to eat an entre as well, but just pass that shit off to your spouse or GF -- and then dig into that slice of cheesecake.

I wish I were a couple of thousand miles closer....

[jane]

My wife enjoyed Branson even more than she enjoyed our trip to Aruba. Plenty to do there.

I'm not sure that there's much going on in Branson right now. Usually the shows close down for awhile after the Christmas show rush. There'll probably be some shows but not 'the' shows. I'd go to New Orleans. Only a few hours from Branson.

[usnavy_233]

I'd recommend Branson, Missouri. They have quite a bit to do (mostly shows), and a lot of it is family friendly. It's about 11 hours from South Minnesota.

Silver Dollar City. Great family time.

I see you've already decided. Disregard my suggestion until next year....or at least until summer if you're back by then.

[J2S]

HERE IS A COUPON (http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/Coupons.php)

You are an evil man, SOTB. :biggrin: