Week in March: trip near great camping & great city?

Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
days.

We'd also like that natural environment to be reasonably close to a
city with great nightlife and restaurants, where we could spend
another few days.

Any ideas on what might be a fun and unforgettable way to spend a week
or so with these rough parameters? Thanks!

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:
Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
days.

We'd also like that natural environment to be reasonably close to a
city with great nightlife and restaurants, where we could spend
another few days.

Any ideas on what might be a fun and unforgettable way to spend a week
or so with these rough parameters? Thanks!

How about the San Francisco Bay area? You can get great natural beauty
north of the city in the Point Reyes area. Or south of the city in the
Santa Cruse mountains or even further south in Big Sur.

On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:51:24 GMT, Akilesh Ayyar
wrote:

Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
days.

We'd also like that natural environment to be reasonably close to a
city with great nightlife and restaurants, where we could spend
another few days.

Any ideas on what might be a fun and unforgettable way to spend a week
or so with these rough parameters? Thanks!

Late March in Canada or the northern US states is likely to be winter
conditions, milder than mid-winter, but snow on the frozen ground.

Places like Virginia or the Carolinas in the East, Arizona or New
Mexico in the West could be worthwhile.
Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
--
At the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:51:24 GMT, Akilesh Ayyar
wrote:

Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
days.

I was going to suggest Ste. Anne Provincial Park in Quebec until I saw
that you were travelling in March. Camping in March would likely be a
cold and windy experience in a good part of the US and most of Canada.
I agree with the poster who suggested the San Francisco area, but even
there, you would probably want a heated cabin.

Maybe some place in the southern US would be suitable, but I have
little experience with those parts of the US.
--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

In article ,
Akilesh Ayyar wrote:

Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
days.

We'd also like that natural environment to be reasonably close to a
city with great nightlife and restaurants, where we could spend
another few days.

Any ideas on what might be a fun and unforgettable way to spend a week
or so with these rough parameters? Thanks!

March is a nice time to camp in the Mid Atlantic region states, such as
Pennsylvania. There are several nice camping areas within a 90 minute
drive of Philadelphia where one can rent a cabin, for example. Visit,
the web site at http://www.visitpa.com for some ideas.

My Vancvouver friends - whom I am always baiting, for fun mainly, about
how great their city is not - would get a big charge out of my
suggesting that that city on the west coast of Canada may be exactly
what you are looking for. You can sample truly wilderness feeling walks
on its North Shore Mountains - Grouse, Cypress and in particular,
Seymour - and yet all are right beside, no more than 15 minutes from
downtown. To camp - which in March may be a bit coolish because these
are mountain settings - there are nearby (an hour or so out) at least
two spectacular provincial parks, Golden Ears to the east and Garibaldi
to the west. You can decide yourself how spectacular the latter is by
visiting http://garibaldipark.com/ . I haven't easily found a good link
for pictures of Golden Ears but it is closer and just as spectacular, I
think. The official site for it is
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...gs/golden.html and you
would be advised to check directly with both parks as to when camping
season is open. If you indicate an interest I can dig around a bit more
for cabins as opposed to camping.

Vancouver certainly qualifies in the nightlife and restaurants
department! Googling on "Vancouver nightlife" is your best bet to
confirm and, again, if you indicate that this possibility interests
you, I can rave on quite a while in another post about great Vancouver
eats. Just don't go telling my Vancouver friends, okay? ;-)

I second the vote for the Bay Area. Great adult entertainment in the city.
You've never seen anything like the giant trees and the sunrise on the
maritime chapral on the coast at sunrise. Colors like noplace on earth. If
you have kids, just go to Manitee Springs in Florida, then hop over to
Disney.


In rec.outdoors.camping Akilesh Ayyar wrote:
: Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
: Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
: environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
: days.
:
: We'd also like that natural environment to be reasonably close to a
: city with great nightlife and restaurants, where we could spend
: another few days.
:
: Any ideas on what might be a fun and unforgettable way to spend a week
: or so with these rough parameters? Thanks!

--




Tom Line

For Fun And Safety In Firearms Sports visit...
-- http://www.bobtuley.com --

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:
Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
days.

We'd also like that natural environment to be reasonably close to a
city with great nightlife and restaurants, where we could spend
another few days.

Any ideas on what might be a fun and unforgettable way to spend a week
or so with these rough parameters? Thanks!

"Spectacular" is in the mind of the beholder.
While we have no mountains, you could have a great unforgetable week in one
of the cabins in Brzzos Bend St. Pk. near the Texas Gulf Coast. Just
bring everything you need to camp except the tent. The park has everything
from deer and alligators, to good hiking and an observatory. Just a few
minutes from the Gulf of Mexico and the shrimp boats, 30 minutes to
historic Galveston and the cruise ships, 40 minutes to great nightlife in
downtown Houston, or the museum district or theater district or the NASA
Johnson Space Center.

Marv

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:
Hi. We are interested in spending a week in late March in the US or
Canada for a vacation. We'd like a spectacularly beautiful natural
environment where we could live in cabins or camp for a couple of
days.

We'd also like that natural environment to be reasonably close to a
city with great nightlife and restaurants, where we could spend
another few days.

Any ideas on what might be a fun and unforgettable way to spend a week
or so with these rough parameters? Thanks!

You should consider the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee and
western North Carolina. Cabins are available in the Gatlinburg
area, but there are none in the park that I know of. Depending
on your taste, the entertainment in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg,
Sevierville, and on the other side in Cherokee near the park and
in Asheville, NC might be to your liking. The Grove Park Inn
and Spa in Asheville is world renowned. Please give our area a
look.


--
John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee

late March... a spectacularly beautiful natural environment
where we could live in cabins or camp ... reasonably close
to a city with great nightlife and restaurants

It's going to be cold most places in March, except the southern states
(Florida, Texas, etc) and coastal California.

There's a nice state park about 2-1/2 hours south of San Francisco
called Point Lobos that has beautiful hiking trails overlooking the
Pacific, and their web site lists camping facitilies in the area. It's
close enough to San Francisco for day trips (and S.F. is a great city
for nightlife, restaurants, etc), and it's also close to Monterey,
Carmel, Big Sur, etc.

Web Site: http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/
Camping: http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/geninfo/camping.htm

Jim