Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Travel
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 05-12-2013, 07:55 PM
 
172 posts, read 469,438 times
Reputation: 50

Advertisements

Give me your experiences and ideas for the best weekend getaways in the Midwest. From hiking to spa resorts to the big city. Looking at September or October. $1000 budget
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-12-2013, 08:49 PM
 
16,349 posts, read 30,053,119 times
Reputation: 25378
Questions:

Where are you coming from?
What do you like to do? your interests?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-27-2013, 10:48 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
7,646 posts, read 18,043,122 times
Reputation: 6912
Well, without the information that jlawrence01 asked for, we can't give you a definitive answer.

A $1000 budget is pretty good for the Midwest, especially if it does not include airfare. If you're in the Midwest, you should probably drive and add two days to the trip on the open road.

I would suggest:

* Chicago - Three nights is perfect, and $1,000 should be achievable as long as you stay in one-to-two star hotels and don't splurge for every meal. There's an enormous number of things to see and do, from the Field Museum to the Indian restaurants on Devon St. to Millennium Park to the Sears Tower.

* Sandusky, OH: Sandusky is home to Cedar Point, which is the U.S.'s largest theme park (measured by number of rollercoasters). There's also other things in the vicinity, such as beaches on Lake Erie.

* Boundary Waters Canoe Area: For a very rustic experience, this is what you want. Enjoy canoeing or kayaking, portaging, hiking, and camping surrounded by thousands of lakes. There are outfitters in Ely, Minnesota who will set you up if you don't have the requisite gear. Enjoy the very scenic city of Duluth and the North Shore of Lake Superior on your way there. Best in September to early October - gorgeous (though changeable) weather and stunning foliage.

* Traverse City / Petosky, MI: Gigantic dunes, Lake Michigan, and orchards. Probably best in early September.

Fly-over country has a lot of "unskippable" attractions.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-29-2013, 10:09 PM
 
Location: Idaho
811 posts, read 731,250 times
Reputation: 1603
Take a look at St Louis, my girlfriend took me there for my birthday and we had a great time, a hotel down by the arch(pricey, but the rest of the trip was quite affordable), we also went up to the top of the Arch, and walked a lot in the lovely park area surrounding it. We also visited the Missouri Botanical Gardens which are huge and not overly expensive to get in, very nice for a long walk. The zoo was absolutely free, they charge for parking, but if you get there early you can park for free on the road leading in. Also we took a nice carriage ride through downtown, 60 minutes, around $100 plus tip. Also visit "The Hill", a nice little Italian neighborhood, lots of restaurants and shops, great place to walk around, get lunch(followed by gellato).

Another option is Wisconsin Dells, mainly geared towards families but can be quite fun for couples without kids too, Noah's Ark is a lot of fun, so are the Duck rides, and lots of shopping and food.

For hiking, look into Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL or Devil's Lake in Baraboo, WI(not far from the Dells).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-30-2013, 04:43 PM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,103,101 times
Reputation: 49243
I am not sure what you mean by Midwest? That covers a lot of territory, but this is what we did last year on a 4 day mini vacation in October. We did 2 nights in Branson, MO and then headed to Herrman, MO. and stayed at a wonderful B&B. We did the wine trail tour the full day we were there and the first day, pretty much walked around.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2013, 02:37 PM
 
Location: CHicago, United States
6,933 posts, read 8,453,792 times
Reputation: 3510
A September or October trip limits the choices, somewhat.

If you haven't spent much time in Chicago, that time of year can be enjoyable in the City. And 3 nights affords you some opportunities to see enough to keep busy, have some great meals, get out into the neighborhoods, etc.

In early-mid September I've enjoyed Saugatuck, MI. The Summer crowds have gone home, the water at the beach can still be quite warm (closer to Labor Day than October 1), there are small shops, B&Bs, a few restaurants and some other nice small towns nearby.

Door County, WI and the UP of Michigan can be good trips, then, as well ... because of the change to the colors of the trees/leaves.

An interesting 3 night getaway I took several years ago was to travel by the AMTRAK Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle via the Upper Midwest and then the 4th day fly home to Chicago from Seattle. I had an individual sleeper with huge windows, got off at each station along the way, took pictures, and had time to visit the market in Seattle and have an excellent dinner and night's sleep before returning home. It was a Friday afternoon to Monday early evening trip. Well worth it, for me!

And .... when I lived in Des Moines, IA I would take long-weekend trips to either Kansas City or Minneapolis ... both of which are fine short-trips because there are enough interesting things to see/do in each of the cities.

Last edited by gomexico; 06-04-2013 at 03:02 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2013, 03:55 PM
 
Location: Central Mass
4,525 posts, read 4,780,453 times
Reputation: 5234
Quote:
Originally Posted by tvdxer View Post
* Sandusky, OH: Sandusky is home to Cedar Point, which is the U.S.'s largest theme park (measured by number of rollercoasters). There's also other things in the vicinity, such as beaches on Lake Erie.
I wouldn't want to do Cedar Point in September or, especially, October.
Of course, most of early September is great. However, it might not be . And there's always the breeze off Lake Eire - great when it's hot, but if it's a little cool, it's downright chilly...
I've been to Cedar Point for Halloween. That was interesting...

3 nights:
  • Sleeping Bear dunes
  • Pictured Rocks - but, on Lake Superior, might be wicked cold in October
  • Chicago
  • Milwaukee
  • BWNCA
  • Pick any Big 10 town for a football weekend
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-06-2013, 11:33 AM
 
27 posts, read 60,421 times
Reputation: 35
Again it's hard to say for sure where to suggest since I'm not really sure where you're coming from but Cuyahoga Valley National Park is beautiful and if you go in September/October the colors of the leaves will be changing. Also the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad would be especially scenic during September/October.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-06-2013, 11:44 AM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,552 posts, read 57,471,708 times
Reputation: 45908
A few choices:
IA, Villages of Van Buren County Iowa (IA)
Iowa Amish | Amish America

IL/ IN /MI Southbend, SE Chicago, Holland, Muskegon


Madison, WI and 'The Dells'
Official Site For Wisconsin Dells Tourism Info & More | Wisconsin Dells

America's Byways - Midwest Region
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Travel

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top