If I could go anywhere today, I would go to…
Sep 14th 2007
Claudia DainGoddess Grins
…and the mall is not an option!
When it comes to taking a breather, one of those mini-vacations that may last a day or a long weekend, I’ve concluded that people fall into very messy, not at all scientific, categories. 
There’s City, Country, or Resort (which would include a cruise). City people tend to like to vacate to the country, country people to the city, and suburban people to a resort. 
Then there’s the question of what type of country/resort/city destination people like: Beach, Lake, or Mountain.
Here’s where it gets very interesting because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of crossover. Beach people want the beach. They aren’t going to get their relaxation fix on a lake. Mountain people don’t care about the water experience. Lake people don’t like the sand and salt of the beach.
I have known one person whose weekend destination of choice was hiking in the desert. I figure he’s a complete abberation and he has not been factored into my intensely non-scientific research on this topic.
So, what are you? Beach, Lake, Mountain? City, Country, Resort?
39 Comments »
39 Responses to “If I could go anywhere today, I would go to…”
twolilhahas on 14 Sep 2007 at 11:00 pm #
Oh, I hate the city. I live in the country and would never intentionally choose to travel to anything even remotely like the city for a vacation. The beach is okay, lakes not so much, mountains really hardly ever. Guess that explains why I never go anywhere. lol I’d really love to visit Scotland. I need an emotional connection to a place to really be interested in it. Like St. Augustine, it’s a city, but it’s so old and historic, I love it. Places with lots of stories to tell…those are the places I want to go.
Vicki Lane on 15 Sep 2007 at 6:49 am #
I love the beach and everything that comes along with it. Okay, maybe not the sand in the bathing suit thing but everything else.
Since I live in Florida, a quick mini vacation to the beach is not all that hard to do. For me waking up to the sound of the water is the best. Watching the sunset, taking walks along the beach, and sipping a cool drink in the evening is relaxing and just what I need sometimes.
Ann in IL on 15 Sep 2007 at 7:21 am #
SCOTLAND.
In the Highlands, in a mountain cabin
A fire in the fireplace/stove
Wearing a big warm sweater and a beautiful plaid throw over my legs .
A box of books beside my chair.
A case of Diet Cherry Pepsi.
My Andre Rieu cd’s for background music while I daydream.
Or……….I would forego the fire, sweater, throw, books, Pepsi and cd’s if I had a man like Lachlan MacKenzie, Duke of Ross from Arnette Lamb’s HIGHLAND ROGUE.
SOMEday………….I’ll get there.
Fantasy……..it’s all good.
Ellen on Vacation on 15 Sep 2007 at 7:28 am #
Picture Julie Andrews twirling around, singing in the mountains and you’ll have a visual of my perfect getaway. The clean air, mammoth hills and pristine lakes beckon me to sit down and do nothing.
I lived in the ocean as a child and while I have many happy memories of those times, I also cannot forget the baggage that comes with the beach.
Enough zinc-oxide on my nose to supply every life guard in the world…
Enough sand in the crotch of my bathing suit to make Iranians envious…
Enough visuals of hairy backs, too small thongs and beer bellies to burn the retinas out of my eyes…
…and then there are the men…
The hills are alive with the sound of music!
E
doglady on 15 Sep 2007 at 8:32 am #
Cracking up at Ellen on vacation!! Too funny!! The only beach I am crazy about is the one in Biloxi. My hubby did an internship there and I really loved it. I have not been back since Katrina, but I have fond memories of that beach. Oh, and the “hills are alive” scene? Been there and let me tell you Ellen Austria is a fantastic vacation spot. I took the Sound of Music tour, hokey, I know, but it was just gorgeous. My dream vacation would have to be England, touring the great houses for a whole summer. Heaven!
I live in the country and I only go to “town” if I absolutely have to. Don’t get me wrong. I love London, Paris, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, New York, Houston (they have a great zoo! I love zoos, okay?)
New Orleans was our second home when Roger was in psychiatry school. I still have friends there. They were fortunate enough to live in a part of town that got very little damage, relatively speaking. New Orleans is a great place to sit in a club, listen to music, people watch.
FreshEChelle on 15 Sep 2007 at 9:04 am #
I’m gonna say a mountain lake is my ideal. I begrudingly work in NYC and am from here; boy is it overrated! So cities for a vacation? Thanks but no. The beach is nice if it’s some place dry - God save us from humidity, have mercy on my hair!!!! Hiking in the desert - in southern Utah - it can’t be beat not just because it’s beautiful but because well, no humidity. Wasn’t humidity supposed to be good for the skin? What with these crow’s feet since my mid30s.
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 9:07 am #
I love being in old places, too. Bath, NC is one that has a quiet way of hypnotizing you–I believe it’s the oldest town in NC, Blackbeard’s hangout. Very quaint.
Mystic Seaport in CT is another old haunt that catapults me back in time. I love it there, plus you get to explore an old ship!
Don’t get me started on London and Edinburgh because if I talk about them long enough, I’ll hop a plane tomorrow! Doglady, your dream vacation sounds a lot like mine.
Kelly Ann on 15 Sep 2007 at 9:21 am #
I love the city, the country, the mountains, lakes & beaches. I love everywhere. If I was going on a small weekend getaway this weekend or next I would have a really hard time choosing - Maybe New York or San Fransico, possibly the beach - Ohhhh Key West; my kids want to go camping so the mountains would be fun too, possibly Tenn. That’s close enough to my home.
Now if I could choose anywhere @ all, money was no object and I could spend as much time as I wanted it would be England- I would have to go to the Isle of Man, Ireland & Scotland too.
I live in the country (Alabama) now and I will be honest, I would give anything to move back to Cape Coral, Fl. That is the best place I’ve ever lived and I miss it terribly.
Ellen you made me miss my home even more, your too funny!
Karen Hawkins on 15 Sep 2007 at 9:44 am #
I want to go on vacation with Ann of IL. She had me at the box of books.
Ellen, you’re right about the hairy back/beer belly/too small thong aspect of the beach., although sometimes my son and dh pack snacks, head to the coast, set up chairs, and then spend a few hours listening to the waves and reading books. We must look funny, all three of us reading under our umbrella, legs propped on the cooler, but hey, it’s gorgeous there and peaceful — if you know where to go.
Kathy on 15 Sep 2007 at 10:08 am #
I live in the great Pacific North West. My favorite place to go is Aldebrook Inn, on the Hood Canal. Mountains as a back drop, on the Hood Canal with a dock and boats, great rooms with cathedral ceilings, free dvd’s, feather beds, soaking tub big enough for two, swimming pool, hot tub, outdoor fireplace with couch, room service, and a spa. Heaven on earth!!!
darkshire007 on 15 Sep 2007 at 10:15 am #
I am a mountain kind of girl (isn’t that where all the scottish guys can be found?) LOL! Anyhow, if I could go on vacation today I would go to Yukon territory north of British Columbia. It is absolutely gorgeous there. Of course there is nothing for miles but wilderness and trees but that suits me just fine. And reading Ellen’s input (after wiping the tears from laughing so hard) I may have to avoid the beach permanently!
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 10:33 am #
I really need to learn to think things through. I had no idea when I posted this blog that I would wind up hearing about so many fabulous places to visit! I’m making a list, so keep ‘em coming.
If the blog gets really silent later on today, I’ve probably skipped town!
Nicole Jordan on 15 Sep 2007 at 10:46 am #
Beach, beach, beach!!! I’ve lived in the mountains for the past 7 years, and my dh’s family lives on a huge lake (have their own boat dock). But I really miss being able to go to the Gulf or Atlanta in Florida. I miss humidity and I miss heat.
If anybody there wants to swap houses with me for a few days, give me a yell!!
I also love the Pacific NW, northern CA and above. And of course anywhere in the UK.
You’re making me cry, Claudia, cause I have no time for a vacation!
NicoleJ
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 10:48 am #
Another thing I never intended to do today—make Nicole cry!
Sherri Erwin on 15 Sep 2007 at 11:08 am #
Today’s a good day to shop and stop for wine and baguettes in a cute little cafe. I want to be in Paris with my best friends.
Karen Rose on 15 Sep 2007 at 11:15 am #
Any place with my own full-time massage therapist. I saw a commercial for this resort on the beach with cool breezes and a person on the massage table under a little awning. Music was playing…
Ellen you grew up in the water? Are you a mermaid? That would be cool.
Sherri, Paris sounds good. Mountains sound good. I really don’t care as long as that massage therapist is there.
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 12:06 pm #
Karen, I had a full body massage once. Once. The masseuse was a man in his 20s. I was nearly naked under the sheet. I was so uncomfortable that I never could relax!
Judy F on 15 Sep 2007 at 12:11 pm #
Oh I would love to be on the beach. Though we have had hotter the heck weather this summer, it would be nice to have the ocean nearby. I could handle a cabin in the woods too. I just got a bit cooler here and it feels great.
Oh I need a vacation…
Karen Rose on 15 Sep 2007 at 12:24 pm #
Poor Claudia
And you never went back? You’ve only had that one massage? Say it isn’t so! Maybe your DH does the honors. My DH would, but he has a bit of the arthritis in his hands 
I love my massage times. I can’t afford to go often (kid going to college next year!) but I treat myself every now and again. Birthdays, completion of a book. That kind of thing.
Ellen on Vacation on 15 Sep 2007 at 12:29 pm #
Karen…What did you think? That my webbed toes were just to draw attention to my Manolo Blanhniks? And how sweet you are to suggest the image of a lovely mermaid frolicking about in the waves.
Unfortunately, a beached whale, with sand in its blowhole would be much more accurate.
Kay on 15 Sep 2007 at 12:44 pm #
It depends on my mood & the time of the year. (I love the mountains any time of the year)
Lakes appeal to me in the Fall. We are going up to Lake Superior in two weeks for a weekend, and I am looking forward to beautiful colors, crisp days, and NO BUGS! The first hard frost was last night.
I LOVE the beach, and wish I could take a beach vaction every summer. I remember childhood summer visits to Ocean City, MD in July: the boardwalk, steamed blue crabs, sun & sand, ahh.
I like visiting cities in the Winter, when they are decorated for Christmas. I love Chicago at that time of year. DC weather is only is bearable to me in the Winter. Since we have family near both of those places, they are the cities I am most likely to visit. I would love to see Paris sometime.
Resorts are not my thing. We do the land of The Mouse every three years or so with our kids and I enjoy it, but only for a couple of days at a time. That is not my first choice for a yearly vacation.
Ellen on Vacation on 15 Sep 2007 at 12:58 pm #
Now don’t get me wrong, Gees. I can admire an ocean view like the rest of you; it’s just that I suffer from a debilitating medical condition. I’m white. I’m really white. MUCHA BLANCA! As a matter of fact, I’m so white, I’m light blue. Allow me, if you will, to share my childhood experience at a beach.
At the crack of dawn, Mom would wake me up and start painting me with Coppertone. This was way back, before manufacturers opted to actually put sun block in their “tanning lotion.” The paint job would be finished off with a scarecrow looking zinc oxide nose…which I’m convinced caused intermittent eye crossing. To add insult to injury, she would then put one of my father’s undershirts over my bathing suit and my brother’s baseball cap on my head.
Looking back, I should have known better than to let her dress me for the beach. She was, after all, the same person who would put on a bathing cap, covered in a neon, rubberized floral arrangement. She kinda looked like Carmen Miranda on crack.
Mermaid, indeed!
Still peeling,
Ellen
PS Do you have any idea what happens to your father’s undershirt when it gets wet? Let’s just say, it’s like swimming in a parachute.
Sherri Erwin on 15 Sep 2007 at 1:11 pm #
Claudia, I’ve done the massage thing (heavenly!) but I’ve only had female massage therapists (soft hands) and I’ve been totally naked under there. Then one day Kelly Ripa told Reege she wears panties to get a massage. Regis goes commando. Thus ensued a whole debate about getting naked for a massage and now I’m still wondering what’s the proper protocol. LOL! I thought they told me to get naked but I still have this fear that I heard wrong. Massage etiquette, Anyone?
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 1:17 pm #
Well, naturally, my husband has given me a full body massage. More than once, I might add. LOL I like the idea of getting a massage as a gift to yourself. I’m going to have to pluck up my courage and try it again.
Now, cities at Christmas, I’d never thought of that! It does sound magical. I have a dear friend who’s moving to Chicago soon. I wonder if she’d like a Christmas season house guest? I’ll bring the egg nog!
Ellen, how I pity you (my mom had the same bathing cap, btw)! I was the kid who could never burn, no matter how much sun I got. Yes, now that you mention it, I was universally hated for my deep golden glow. This was in the day when “getting a little color” was thought to be a good thing, a sign of health. Now I look at people who are super tanned and think, “Hmmm, crispy.” Not good.
Ellen on Vacation on 15 Sep 2007 at 1:35 pm #
Oh Claudia, you lucky, lucky, sun goddess. I guess it’s safe to say you never had the pleasure of the car ride back from the beach…where the sand, clinging to your Coppertone-coated body, would act as a very effective dermabrasion.
Thank God nobody wore seatbelts back then. The strap would have been living hell on my third degree burns!
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 2:25 pm #
Nope, Ellen, never used any sort of tanning lotion or sun block. My mom thought it would only serve to get in the way of a super-fast, super-dark tan.
Those were the days, huh? No seat belts, no sunscreen, no bicycle helmets. “Be home by dark” was considered the height of good parenting. And it worked, then. Today, I can’t get in the car without automatically buckling up.
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 2:28 pm #
Sherri, meant to add…is the masseuse supposed to be able to tell if you’re naked or not under that sheet? If he can, yikes, he’s too close to the goods!
FreshEChelle on 15 Sep 2007 at 2:34 pm #
The masseuse should give you the option but I gotta recommend go commando and don’t look back, no matter what gender the therapist is. You’ve got to completely relax to enjoy massage. And oh, hot stone massage…. ooohhh, so relaxinging. Off to get a pedicure, think I’ll upgrade to the version with the hot stone. Thanks for mellowing me out goddesses, you’ve undone my PMS attitude…happy trails
Suzanne Enoch on 15 Sep 2007 at 3:42 pm #
My idea of roughing it is a limited selection for the room service menu. *g* My sis is a big camper, but I didn’t inherit that gene. For a day-trip getaway, I’ll take Disneyland.
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 3:53 pm #
Ah, The Magic Kingdom! We’ve talked about it before on the blog, but you really can’t go wrong with a trip to Disneyland/World/Epcot.
zambonigirl on 15 Sep 2007 at 4:19 pm #
I’m going kayaking out of Dana Point Harbor tomorrow. Does that count?
Out of all the places I’ve traveled, I’d go back to both Scotland and Alaska in a heartbeat. Great places, both. Plus, I just bought a gorgeous new wool sweater in a dark pumpkin color. Yummy! Can’t wear that in SoCal right now…
Sign me up for a hot stone massage, too, FreshEChelle. I love how they feel on my spine!
Karen Rose on 15 Sep 2007 at 5:11 pm #
I’m with Suzie. I have a friend who just went camping up to the Mtns of NC. With a passel of middle schoolers - some school nature function.
Ew. Camping. Double Ew. Middle schoolers. (I have a middle schooler and I have been a middle school teacher, so I know of what I speak.)
My idea of roughing it is a hotel with no roomservice at all. Limited room service is a pain, but livable as long as they haven’t skimped on the pasta, bread or dessert selections.
Kayaking? Shudder. Looks dangerous to me.
Now Scotland? I’m there. If the lodging is a centuries-old castle with a ghost, men in kilts, AND room service, you can’t get closer to Heaven than that. Unless it’s Mount Oly.
Ellen, girl, you had me choking. Carmen Miranda on crack. My mother had the same bathing cap! Oh, it burns!
Karen Rose on 15 Sep 2007 at 5:14 pm #
Claudia, however did we survive to hit 40 (ish, mumble).
We ran the neighborhood and I lost count of the times my kid sister “ran away.” She used to go down the street and hide in the big sewer pipe - and her without her little bottle of hand sanitizer. Le gasp!
Of course now I have my doctor check my skin every year because we never used sunscreen either. Who knew?
Claudia Dain on 15 Sep 2007 at 5:45 pm #
A pumpkin colored wool sweater?! I’m dying of envy. You just have to go somewhere immediately to wear it. If Scotland calls, what can a poor woman do but answer the call? And bring her sweater, naturally.
Karen, LOL about the sewer pipe. I was usually the smallest kid around so when a ball ran into the storm drain, guess who had to worm her way in and stand in fetid water to fetch it? I don’t think I washed my hands regularly until…well, wow, guess I don’t want to admit that publicly!
MJ on 15 Sep 2007 at 6:04 pm #
Right now…. I want to sit on the veranda of an old cottage in Muskoka, on my swing, reading and eating grapes. When I get too warm, I’d go for a swim. In the evening, take a nice long paddle (canoe) as the sun goes down and then move inside to enjoy a hot drink by the fireplace…..rocking chair, of course….chatting…..and we’ll stop right there.
(-;
Sherri Erwin on 15 Sep 2007 at 6:21 pm #
Thank you, FreshEChelle! I can stop worrying that I was a skank for showing up naked for my massage- LOL! Under the sheet, I mean. I was wearing the sheet.
darkshire007 on 16 Sep 2007 at 6:05 pm #
Ellen, are your toes really webbed? That particular trait runs in my family and you don’t really notice it unless you spread your toes out (like when you lose your balance). It’s something we usually hide as most people find it very strange. My aunt thinks it makes us good swimmers! LOL!
Sabrina Jeffries on 16 Sep 2007 at 10:47 pm #
It’s always been the mountains for me. I love, LOVE the Asheville area. If I could endure living there in winter when the snow is on the ground, I would move there, but alas, I also hate snow, so I’m stuck.
When I was a kid, we spent our vacations in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia–best of both worlds. It was tropical (had rain forests), yet cool, and it is some of the most gorgeous scenery you’ve ever encountered. I’d love to go back.
As for city vs. country vs. resort–I like all three. Depends on my mood.
Caren Crane on 17 Sep 2007 at 8:16 am #
Mountains for me! I love the Smoky Mtns or any other part of Appalachia. I am willing to try any mountain range, but prefer older ranges (Appalachians, Alps) to newer ones (Rockies). Our trip this summer to the Swiss Alps was heavenly! I also want to visit the mountains of Asia someday. The mountains in China look magical!
Oh, and I would go to Disney World any time at all. It really is magical!