athletics

My girlfriend is a normal girl and thinks about getting married just one degree short of getting married. I hear this is normal. We have been dating for a year and a half, so I think the faceless man she has thought about marrying for years is starting to look a lot like me.

She can think about that as much as she wants and being the man has its traditional benefits on wedding responsibilities. However I was thinking about honeymoon ideas, I didn't come up with much. If you can, I would like to hear where you went on your honeymoon and why.

Ustwo

Colorado because we had a place to stay, we were poor, and it was cheap.

I think a honeymoon is sort of overrated, its not like you need to figure out how to have sex with each other under most circumstances these days.

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The_Jazz

We went to the British Virgin Islands. It's pretty easy to get to from the East Coast and not that expensive. But you need to like to sit on a beach since there isn't much else to do (unless you sail).

I can think of 30 or 40 other places, but you need to share more, like time of year, rough idea of what you want to do, etc.

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hambone

Hawaii. We loved it.

Although we had never had sex before marriage, that wasn't what we enjoyed about the honeymoon best (though it was wonderful )

It was a nice way to get away from everything. The endless planning, the family, the friends, etc. Just got to be alone together and it was on kauai so it was a nice isolated place.

Perfect.

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athletics

I would say the time of year would be late spring to early summer.

I am not one to sit and take stuff in, I would rather be out doing things. Not late night club type things, but seeing cool or popular things However, I wouldn't want to go somewhere and have to make a 10 hour round trip to see something of the area, unless it was something totally amazing. I would approach it as more of a vacation, but one that provided enough things to do, but not too much.

abaya

This is a good thread for me and ktspktsp, too. We are getting married next month, but we don't have any days off for a honeymoon... so we're hoping to do something in November (Thanksgiving break) or December.

Anyone have good ideas for places inside U.S. territories in November?

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Ch'i

If you have money comming out the wazoo, Bora Bora, French Polynesia.

SirLance

If you have the bread, look into Sandals. They are carribean based, have a plethora of resorts, and are truly all inclusive (all meals, all drinks, scuba, etc.) Been there several times (including my honeymoon) and had an absolute blast.

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snowy

While probably not your thing, my cousin and his wife got married a couple Decembers ago and spent their honeymoon at Disneyland. They had a blast, and it wasn't too expensive.

There are plenty of similar options though, like Orlando--warm, sunny, Daytona isn't too far, there's Disney and Universal Studios, and if you feel like doing nothing, well, it's sunny enough that you could do that too.

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analog

That's so awesome, congratulations!! I remember you mentioning it but I didn't know it was coming up so soon. That's so great... I hope you find a great place to spend your honeymoon!

The_Jazz

We got married in November as well, so I'm actually fairly well versed in the options. Here are my recommendations in descending order of my opinion of cost:

Little Palm Key, FL - about 25 miles north of Key West, it's 30 private cabanas on an island with one of the best restaurants in the country (in my opinion). My wife likes it because she can have lobster 3 times a day in various forms. There's not much to do besides sit on the beach or try one of their small boats (sail or sea kayaks), and there's only 1 TV on the island. It's pretty pricey, though, but the weather should still be ok in Nov.

Calestoga Ranch, CA - this is outside of Napa and is a very cool concept. Basically, every room is a suite, but they're all individual modular buildings. There's a big deck connecting 2 trailers/modular houses, with one being a living room/library with a half bath and the other being half bedroom, half master bath with a private outdoor shower. It's also right down the road from Silver Oak and Opus, which are two of my all-time favorites.

Winter Park, CO - if you ski, this is my favorite place out west to do so. It's high enough to have a good base at that time of year. It's also one of the most affordable of the ski resorts in Colorado.

Smokey Mountains, TN/NC - Thanksgiving is the very end of the color season with the trees, but there is still lots to see, especially if you like to hike. You can usually find a rental cabin that's pretty inexpensive. Or you can go to Frozen Head State Park in TN, which has individual 2 bedroom cabins for about $125 a week at that time of year (although I think they may be closed in Dec.).

Ok, you don't want to sit on a beach. Not a problem. There's lots of stuff that time of year (much more than Abaya, to be honest), but here are some ideas again with my idea of price in descending order:

Charter a boat in the Carribean - There are lots of boats that sleep 4 comfortably and are captained and crewed by a husband/wife team. One runs the boat and the other cooks. You can do as little or as much as you want, and you can constantly be moving but still be relaxing. It's a lot of fun, but expect to spend some money.

Las Vegas - a little cheesy, but you don't have to gamble or even see the stuff in town (although some of it is very impressive). The Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon are easy drives away, and the North Rim is spectactular.

Whistling Straights, WI - I only mention this one in case you and your bride are golfers. It's 3 of the toughest courses I've ever played, and all 3 absolutely ate my lunch (I think there may be a 4th, but I haven't played it). You need to stay at the American Club in Kohler, which is spectacular. The food is pretty good as well, but if you play the Straights course, it looks like you're alongside an ocean for the front 9.

Charleston, SC - practically in your back yard. There are tons of bed and breakfasts that would cater to honeymooners or you could rent a condo or house a little farther north. Charleston has tons of history, an aircraft carrier to tour and fantastic food. You can also go fishing or drive up the coast to Myrtle Beach (if you do that, make sure to stop off at the Hammock Shop in Pawleys Island. They practically invented the hammock there.)

I've got a couple dozen other ideas, but if anyone wants to narrow down parameters, that would save me lots of time and effort.

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

abaya

I hope I haven't threadjacked athletics' post! I hope these replies are just as helpful for him as they are for me. Thanks for getting this started.

Snowy: Actually, I unashamedly love Disney. I grew up going to Disneyland at least once a year, and I never got bored of it. I know!! Doesn't sound like my thing, but it is. Disneyworld could be an option, since we're in PA!

Analog: Thanks! I only made the announcement in my journal over the weekend, so it was kinda low-key. But yeah, we're gettin' hitched ASAP.

Jazz: That Little Palm Key place sounds fantastic... very tempting. Either that or a cruise, I suppose. I wonder how hard it's going to be to book for Thanksgiving?

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for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
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ShaniFaye

We got married the end of October and we spent a week in the mtns of western NC....we saw no point at all in spending tons of money to have a week after the wedding where all we wanted to do was relax and was only a few hours drive from the ceremony (which turned out to be a good thing, because I woke up with the worst cold I've had in 10 years the day after the wedding)

Our 2nd choice was Savannah, the major thing that stopped us was that the prices in Savannah go up halloween weekend and everything is booked WAY in advance.

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Sage

Yeah, I'm going with the western NC thing here too. Asheville is very pretty, lots of historic stuff, lots of shopping, tons of nature stuff around, Cherokee Indian reservation an hour down the road... you could make it into a vacation where you spend like, three nights in Asheville, two nights in Cherokee, and two or three nights up in a little cabin in the woods in the smoky mountains. And if it's your thing, Gatlinburg TN is only two hours away- it's the biggest tourist trap I've ever seen, but it can be fun in all it's kitcshyness.

If you care to, PM me and I'll tell you everything I know about Asheville, which is a lot!

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The_Jazz

Clearly you've never been a little farther down 441 into Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg at least has the redeeming factor of being in the actual mountains and it still has some of the "quaint mountain town" feel to it (until you get the festival of lights in December). Pigeon Forge, however, exists only to separate you from your money in the most efficient way possible. Attractions? Indoor parachuting? Check. Dollywood? Check. World's Largest Maze? Used to be a check but closed down. See the Live Bear? Check (sadly). Water park? You better believe that's a check. Archie Campbell Land? Check. Hundreds of go-carts/bumper boats/arcades? Check.
And they've even got all the live entertainment that can't hack it in Branson, MO.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

ShaniFaye

I've never been to Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, but I've always wanted to go to the Ripley's musuem there!!!

I love anywhere from Murphy to Asheville and lots of places in between....Cherokee, Maggie Valley, Waynesville, it was so great being there in the fall, it was so much more pretty with the leaves and everything than the N.Ga mtns were last year

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

snowy

Or a Disney cruise. My best friend is obsessed with Disney...so much so that she has been working at Disney World for the last year Right now she's a lifeguard at Blizzard Beach, one of the waterparks there.

There's such a variety of things to do there. I've been thinking about going for spring break myself.

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fresnelly

If your vacationing on a budget, consider spending at least one night in a fancy hotel or B&B; mabye bookending the trip this way. You'll be able to keep your total down, but still have the bit of pampering you're due.

Also, look up "Boutique" Hotels. They're smaller, less crowded, offer tailored service and are not necessarily as expensive as you might expect.

The best three words of fall? "Off Season Rates"

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ShaniFaye

um fresnelly off season rates in the fall depend on where you go....most places I like to visit in the fall actually charge higher rates than they do in the summer because people are coming for the changing of the leaves. Off season down here is usually the middle of nov-the middle of march

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

highthief

We got married in and honeymooned in Negril, Jamaica at the Grand Lido. Neither of us wanted the big wedding (it was my second time around and she really didn't want the big ceremony) so we booked our time at Grand Lido, the wedding cost nothing more than the license, it was handled very professionally and we frolicked in the surf, did the horizontal mambo 4 times a day and relaxed the rest of the time. All inclusive place, all drinks/food/snacks are no extra charge. Recommended (but probably not in hurricane season!)

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