Ducati Monster Forum

So me and the Mrs. are tyin the knot in New Orleans in October of this year and we're trying to figure out where we want to go after the wedding. We'll have about 4-5 days, M-F and we're looking to try to stay in North America.
So far we've thought about the Omni Mt Washington in Northern New Hampshire, and maybe heading to Vancouver........any thoughts?

I lived in the NW (Seattle). 

Vancouver in Oct, you may be seeing a lot of rain at that time?!

Come out to the desert!  In Oct..it's falling down into the 90's here.   
 ;)

choose 1:

yosemite
zion
grand canyon

Banff

i had a shed in the yard  :-*

I know you said in US but I just came back from my honeymoon in Bora Bora and that place is amazing. I would recommend it to anyone. You only go on a honeymoon once ( well hopefully) and where else can you give someone the flying squirrel while they swim under your room. 

Vancouver in October should be fairly nice...but it might rain at least some of the time. Early October is better. Usually late October is when the weather takes a nose dive.

Vancouver for a couple days (great city), then Whistler (cool place, and very pretty) for a few! You'll probably be too early for skiing, and too late for mtn. biking, but it's still a nice place.

Yosemite is always spectacular. IMO it's the most beautiful place in North America, but I saw it during waterfall season (April).
You could just stay in Nola  ;D
I can make some calls and get you the VIP treatment at some of the restaurants.

Any sort of recreation in mind other than the traditional honeymoon staying in bed late, eating splendid food/drinking splendid drinks & going to bed early?

Since you've got just 4-5 days, it'd be a shame to burn two of them on transit (all day drives or all-day trips by air suck!), so of all the places I love in North America, I'd think of staying local-ish to NOLA, no more than a couple of hours by air... Maybe the Keys or somewhere secluded in Florida (if there is such a thing). How about Austin -- I love that town, and it shouldn't be to hard to find a romantic little hideaway B&B to call home for a few days.

If you're looking for vigorous outdoor fun, the deserts of Arizona & New Mexico should be cooling down and very pretty by then, and pretty easy to reach by air from NOLA.

Awesome ideas. A little background. We live in Arizona; she's from new Mexico and I'm from right outside of DC. Instead of staying in NOLA for the honeymoon, were gonna get there a 4 days before the wedding so we can hang out and maybe get to a crawfish boil ( and swampduc, feel free to make some calls - that would be awesome!  [thumbsup])

The wedding is on oct 10 so we'll be on vacay from the 11-15 so that may help figure out weather.
As far as staying in the states Triangleforge is right, although we'd love to go to bora bora she's in med school and only gets a little bit of time off, so something in the conus seems to be the ticket.

As far as activities go, we like being able to explore a city/surroundings during the day, and head back to our somewhat secluded/outta the way  hotel/cabin/B&B during the evening.
Were both active, I do more outdoorsy stuff (rock climbing mtn bike, kayak,etc) we both like to hike and explore.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Keep'em comin!

That's a little late for crawfish, but that's also when we have the best weather of the year, so you should enjoy Nola. Give me a reminder a little closer to the date, and I'm sure I can hook you up. Oh, and if you need to borrow a bike, let me know  ;)

My buddy priced out his honeymoon there.


It was like 4500$ a plane ticket!!!!

Then again, this was about 5 years ago.







back to original:


What's your budget? I think a lot of where you can go would depend on how much you have to spend.

San Francisco would be ideal for a quick but very nice and relaxed honeymoon.  Great places to stay in Sausalito or Tiburon.  Better yet, pamper yourselves and stay at the Fairmont or Mark Hopkins on Nob Hill - fantastic views, great food, lots to do, and easy to get to the coast or wine country (honeymoonish things to do.)  Or, drive down to Big Sur for a few days.

+1 to Big Sur -- actually, anywhere along the Santa Cruz - Monterey - Carmel - Big Sur crescent. That's where I had my honeymoon, in fact -- the marriage didn't take, but I don't blame California.  ;D

I've spent a decent amount of time in the region, loved it all, but my favorite place was actually up away from the coast -- find a little B&B up the Carmel Valley and just feel the tension melt off. Seclusion, few/no tourists -- heavenly.  I can't seem to figure out if my favorite historic hotel up there is still in business, but if the Robles Del Rio is still in business, do NOT miss it at least for dinner...

Oh, and sorry for forgetting that you're in Arizona - Duh!

Budget seems to be around 1k-1.5k

The San Fran area seems like a winner! She likes the idea of staying a little north/south of the city (maybe an hour or so) off the coast in a little b&b like TF was talk in about. That way we can enjoy our seclusion and take day trips to the surrounding areas.

Is the caramel valley north or south of SF? What about sausilito/tiburon? Out of those areas which do you guys think fit the bill? Niether of us have been to northern CA, just LA and San Diego.

There's a valley made of Caramel?!?!?!?!  :o ;D :o

j/k

Carmel is south of SF. The whole area around there is really nice.

Since you specified North America, you can't beat the area just south of Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan coast - Tulum, Akumal, that area.

Miles and miles of perfect beaches. Lots to do. Tons of nifty little hotels (as opposed to huge resorts) with attentive staff.

It's where I'd go for my next honeymoon after my wife and I split up, but I'm pretty sure that would mean I'd be dead at the time.

I've heard lots of good things about Playa del Carmen but I'd want to spend more than a few days there.

Considering your budget, the Fairmont in San Fran might be out.  I'd still suggest staying in the heart of the city (especially Nob Hill) though.  It's one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world.  Tiburon or Sausalito are just a short ferry ride away from the city.

If you want to be out of the city, you should rent a convertible and head down or up the coast.  If you want quiet, my wife and I stayed at a cool place in South Big Sur a few years ago.  As I recall, it was pretty reasonable and in a spectacular cliff setting.  Here's a link....

http://raggedpointinn.com/index.html (http://raggedpointinn.com/index.html)

The Best Western Cavalier near San Simeon was also nice if you're on a tight budget.

Playa del Carmen is great and for that budget you can get there and have money left over for lots of fun.  Look into Las Palapas hotel (secluded and quiet).  There's tons of stuff to do there BUT if you don't want the beach I'd suggest Banff again and again and again.  Or there's Glacier National Park which is equally great.

Great choice here, but the flights and hotels will kill the budget in a heartbeat, unless they drive and camp.

If you go to glacier, you have to stay at the big lodge at Many Glacier.

Last I remember, it wasn't exactly cheap.

I'm an hour south of San Fran in the area you want to stay in.


Lemme know if you want anywhere checked out etc. May be able to loan you a bike or car, depending on things-just shoot me a PM when you get closer if you're coming out this way.

^^

he'll also make you buy him dinner.


Oh wait, the people I was with paid for both of us. That was an odd duo.

Portland Oregon, greatest place in North America.Desert 1.5 hours east. Mountains(11,300 feet)  1 hour east. Pacific, 1 hour west. Columbia river gorge 20 mins east
Willamette valley wine country 30 mins south. Seattle 3 hours north. We have 5 star hotels hiking biking backpacking zoos parks running water ,great food art museums, theaters, voodoo donut,everything you could probably ever need in your life, plus shipyards, ports, steel mills, a dying lumber industry an Itl airport clean water and fresh air. Did I mention motorcycling here is awesome?
 
Portland, a great choice!

It's like bidding for the Olympics. [laugh]

Thanks Mr I! Today is research day, so if you've got any additional ideas for the area that havent been mentioned please let me know  [thumbsup]

Thanks for the info Erica  ;D We're actually looking at living close to there in a couple years so we may visit for that, so I think we're gonna try to go somewhere different. But we'll definitely get in touch with you for some good places to go when we visit  [beer]


Thanks for the tips on Banff and GNP - I've been big into climbing so I was lucky to make it out to Banff a few summers ago, and GNP sounds awesome but I'd wanna go in the winter time for some Ice climbing  [evil]

I ran mexico by her but seeing as how we live so close to mexico, and she's mexican - she wants to go somewhere that has a little more/different culture.


As I said, today is research day so I'm going to check more into the weather and places in the delicious caramel valley, and maybe a bit more into Banff too (she's never been to Canada so it would be a cool experience for her) THanks for all the help and if anyone has any more ideas/suggestions/hookups/MUST SEE places    let me know   :)

and thanks again for all the help!



It would be pretty awesome if the Olympics went to Playa Del Carmen! [laugh]

Kiawah Island , South Carolina.

It's about 25 miles south of Charleston.

It's only an Island due to the fact that you have to cross an inlet to get there .

Nothing commercial on the Island.

Not open to anyone but Residents , their guests and guests of the Hotel.

4 or 5 Golf Courses Championship Quality.

The Island is pretty much flat with most of the Island in it's natural state .

It's about 12 miles long and there are asphalt bike paths the entire length.

The Hotel has 3 Pools , or it did when I was there.

There was a market with shops w, old time Southern style Straw woven baskets for instance woven on site by the native ancestors of slaves.

Tall Dunes w, wild Sea Oats and very large uncrowded beaches.

You should check it out.

It's beautiful and secluded.

Dolph     :)

Kiawah Island would be a nice place to honeymoon especially if you golf but I got a bit bored when we stayed there a few years ago (three or four days would be about right though.)
I live in Montana and Glacier is a nice area but I think it would be too much effort visit for just a few days and there are better places - there is no really easy access to the best of Montana.

You mentioned Vancouver.  If you're still interesed in that area, I'd suggest Victoria instead.  It's more "British" and I think it's a nicer and less hectic place to stay as a tourist.  The Empress Hotel is a classic luxury hotel above the harbor docks.  They serve a classy high tea there every afternoon if you're SO likes that sort of thing.  There are other nice hotels and B&Bs but Canadian travel is not as good a deal as it used to be since the Canadian dollar is about on par with the US dollar anymore.  Fly into Seattle, rent a car, take the ferry to Victoria.  You can rent scooters or motorcycles.  Your wife would enjoy the Bouchard Gardens if she's into flowers and stuff like that.  You can explore around Vancouver Island (there is some nice coastline on the west side.)  You could take a ferry to the San Juan Islands and rent bikes or kayaks.

Another option in Canada would be Lake Louise.  Someone mentioned Banff earlier but the town of Banff can over run by tourists.  I'd stay in Lake Louise or Jasper.  The Icefields Parkway is spectacular and offers some great access.  October would be a good time of year - might get some early snow. 

Go to Zion NP. you will also be close to Arches NP, Mesa Verde NP, and a bunch of National Forests.

October is still prime fire season in CA (especially the south half) so i would personally avoid it if you are thinking of getting out into the parks and forests.

Hilton Head Island is a good alternative to Kiawah, but depends on the time of year.


It pretty much blows weather wise before June 15

NO is a major cruise port - you might check into a four-day cruise to the if that is your speed.

Normally, a cruise would not be my first choice of vacation.   Your itinerary is locked in, and your primary source of entertainment is eating and sitting around drinking/looking at the ocean/gambling.  And eating. 
But, I think it is a good choice for honeymooners.  We got married in Mexico and stayed on for another week for our honeymoon - had our plans been even slightly more complicated, I think it would have been a bummer.  We needed a break.  A honeymoon requiring planning, after a wedding requiring a ton of planning is no vacation at all.

Good luck with the plans, and congratulations on the wedding  [thumbsup]

Damn! They must be old.

It also depends where you're going to live after you get married. If you're moving back to Arizona, then find something on the East Coast and vice versa. Have you thought of going to one of the smaller Carribean islands? Stay away from PR and DR, but the hurricane season should be passed.

The hurricane season is not over in October. Wilma bashed Cozumel and parts of the Yucatan in October 2005 then went on to hit the US.

I live in FL and before that PR. August is the worse month. You might see a storm in September, but it's pretty much over by October.

June, too soon,
July, standby,
August, a must,
September, remember,
October, it's over.

well we're going to be living in Az for the next 3 years, so we thought it would be cool to go somewhere else besides the desert  :-\  I looked into some cruises but none seem to leave from new orleans on the monday and come back on a friday.


October seems to be the perfect time for the carribean, but also a pretty good time of year for SF/Carmel Valley. Internet tells me that historically during that week it tends to be in the mid to upper 60s, sometimes low 70s during the second week in October. Anyone have any first hand knowledge about it?

Dude. It's California.


It's beautiful out here every day.


I don't even check the weather before I schedule a bbq/group ride/orgy.



But firsthand, it's beautiful that time of year.

Ok everybody. the wedding is quickly approaching, which means the honeymoon follows soon-there-after. [bang] any last minute ideas? as of now we're looking for a place in carmel valley, ca.

On a side note, I'm also looking for ideas for a restaurant in New Orleans to host our rehearsal dinner. Anybody have any suggestions? there will probably be about 20 people.

Tally Ho Inn in Carmel.  Rent a convertible and drive down to Hearst  Castle.  Go to the Hogs Breath Inn for dinner if its still there.  Cant go wrong......thats where Coop was fabricated, its gotta be good!

i'm sure the rest of the stains are there  too  :o

Im sure they had to throw some shit out!  Where/when's the bachelor party f-er?

friday before the wedding. oct 8th. you guys are making it a long weekend, right? i figured you'd be in for a night out [wine]

That is an ABSOLUTE MUST!


Wow, that place was amazing. It was probably 18yrs ago since I visited, but can't wait to go again.

If I'm not mistaken , Hugo blasted south Myrtle Beach the 1st part of Oct.

Dolph       :)

And this year it "snowed" in Orlando.

And 2 years ago a hurricane went through Indiana.

Sort of.

through the end of October is the end of Hurricane season. They still occur during that month.


And Ohio.

It ripped apart Columbus.

Thank god we have buried power lines and the substation near us happens to be the AEP Station as well. Also it helps our grid is the same as the major high school and city buildings. We never lost power during that.

However, I had several co-workers that lost power for 6 days.

My brother in Dayton didn't have power for 10.

My point is that you have to look past the freak storms. Historically August is the high season for hurricanes and September will see some. By October you get great weather and you still get the low prices of people too afraid to go anywhere during hurricane season.

I ain't afraid of no storm! and i do like those low prices. I think what you're saying is you can't always wworry about what could happen

Alright, I've got the dates booked and so far we're staying 3 nights at the old monterey inn (http://www.oldmontereyinn.com/ (http://www.oldmontereyinn.com/)) arriving in San Jose on 10/12 and leaving on the 18th. 12-15th at OMI, and havent figured out what we're gonna do for the other 3 days. Maybe a cool little place in Carmel for one of the nights, and then 2 nights somewhere in San Fran.

Wanna take a drive down to Hearst castle, and hit the aquarium. Any other fun things you guys recommend in the area (be it SF, SJ, Monterey, Carmel, or Big Sur)?

Good restaurants in the area?

Thanks for all the help!

Dude, fill in the rest with Carmel, that place is the tits.

Don't listen to the carpenter man-there is much to see. I'll poke around later and give some advice.

You can talk to people's shoes everywhere you go, engineer man, scenery is the same, advantage you.

Carmel is a great spot!

I was looking at a few places in carmel, but the Old Monterey Inn is 7 min from downtown carmel so we can spend the day/evening there.

I like the idea of heading to SF. Never been, so this way she gets her tranquil peaceful time at a B&B and I get the adventure of a new city.

Besides, I'd prefer her not come home with a bun in the oven, and since thats what seems to happen when people visit Carmel......I'll just do day trips  [thumbsup]

Thanks Mr. I, my friend said I may like to stay at a hotel in Union Square- thoughts?

My wife is a Steinbeck nut. This thread has made me think that I should surprise her with a trip to this area.

I hope your honeymoon is incredible.

Thanks redxblack!


We're on our way now! Just hitched and headin to CA

We have reservations for a bed and breakfast in Monterey for until friday, then we're just going to wing it until monday....any ideas let me know!!!

Thanks for everything,
Aarash

Here's an idea: don't spend your honeymoon hanging out at the DMF!  [laugh]

OK, since you asked a serious question -- head down the coast to Big Sur, and have lunch here:

http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/ (http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/)

And be sure to have a drink (and maybe a meal & a night or two) at the Big Sur River Inn - the back wall of the bar opens on to the forest lawn, which wanders down to wicker chairs & tables in the shallows of the Big Sur River. Haven't been there for thirty years, and still treasure the memory of a good hoppy ale with my bare feet in the river:

http://www.bigsurriverinn.com/ (http://www.bigsurriverinn.com/)