Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Planning a trip

We have three trips planned in the next year:
First, we'll be going down to Indiana in two weeks to visit my cousin and see forests in the fall. Just a two days, one night thing.
Second, we'll be flying out to Utah/Idaho for Christmas and the New Year.
Third, (and the one that will require the most planning), we want to take the week I have off for spring break to visit Kirtland, Palmyra, a friend who will (hopefully) be living in upstate New York, Toronto, and possibly Montreal (if time allows).
Unfortunately, Rick Steves just does guidebooks for Europe. And my experience with all other guidebooks has been less-than-satisfactory. (I spent three nights in a hostel in Paris that another guidebook had listed; my experience was so bad that I then made sure that, for the next ten weeks, every place I stayed in was recommended by Rick Steves).
Where would you visit in Northern Ohio/Upstate New York/Eastern Canada? Any positive experiences? Any places to avoid? Rick Steves can't help me, but maybe you can.

7 comments:

Katrina said...

I would say definitely make time to see Lake Erie if you haven't seen it yet. We loved our time at the beach this summer. If you're interested, there are also a lot of Amish communities in that area, which we would have loved to see but didn't have time to.

Jenni said...

I'll ask Dave about upstate NY, since that's where he grew up. :)
When we were out there we stayed with friends of my parents from grad school (who have since spread out a bit from Purdue) so that's no help to you, but Dave probably has some ideas. :)

Brentwell said...

We enjoyed visiting the Damstedts in Buffalo, New York. I would make the Sacred Grove as the top priority, if you haven't been there already.

Brentwell said...

You could consider Niagara Falls. It is of course a major tourist trap, but worth a visit.

Tim said...

We'll have to look into Lake Erie beaches. I'm sure it will be a lot colder in March, but it might still be worth the trip.
Info from Dave would be appreciated.
Brent--you were much better friends with the Damstedts than I ever was; the Sacred Grove is the top priority (next to visiting Kirk and going to Canada).
We're considering Niagara Falls, if we have time. The tourist trap thing is a big turn-off though (at least for me).
Thanks for all the ideas. Keep them coming. Especially if they involve Canada (I know very little about Montreal and Toronto).

Brasileira said...

For what it's worth, I loved Niagara falls when my family visited there when I was a kid. I also heartily recommend the church history sites that have already been mentioned: Kirtland, Hill Cumorah, Sacred Grove, John Johnson Farm in Hiram, OH. We loved the beach at Lake Erie, but it was because we visited in August and went swimming. May not be as fun in March...

Aaron said...

If you are interested in an Alpine destination in REAL upstate NY try rainbow falls in the Adirondacks. It should be frozen over in March and very pretty.