8-hour vacations (Sell your city)

[Spotcheck Billy]

cancha tour WKRP?

[jsglow]

I'll defer to warriorchick on all things Nashville related.  But on the drive north from there I can vouch for a 1/2 day stop at Mammoth Cave.  One of the great national parks and one of the few relatively close by us in the midwest.  I concur with the comment that 4th street in Louisville is pretty cool.  Warriorchick jr. and I attended the NCAA this year and enjoyed our time in the city.  Louisville is more interesting than Indy unless you are interested in touring the speedway and its related museum.

[PBRme]

I think Atlanta is getting shorted here.  It is an incredible city with more to do than the rest.  The aquarium donated by Home Depot founder is unbelievabe (Chattanooga's is second).  In addition they have the history (MLK museum, cyclorama, Coke, CNN tours, Atlanta History Center, etc), the High Museum of art, Carter Museum, Entertainment --Buckhead, and you can see the pandas at the Zoo

Nasheville is second

Asheville third and don't miss the Biltmore if you go there.  

Charleston is Fourth

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I think Atlanta is getting shorted here.  It is an incredible city with more to do than the rest.  The aquarium donated by Home Depot founder is unbelievabe (Chattanooga's is second).  In addition they have the history (MLK museum, cyclorama, Coke, CNN tours, Atlanta History Center, etc), the High Museum of art, Carter Museum, Entertainment --Buckhead, and you can see the pandas at the Zoo

Nasheville is second

Asheville third and don't miss the Biltmore if you go there. 

Last night as I thumbed through the AAA book on Georgia in an attempt to read up on my visit to Savannah, I saw an ad for the Atlanta CityPass.  If you go there, I'd recommend purchasing one.  I bought for Chicago last summer and I walked passed lengthy entrance lines at the museums and observatories.  We waved to the people who had to wait an hour at the Schegg while we walked right in.

[Lighthouse 84]

Brew, head over to Hilton Head Island (from Savannah only about 45 minutes), have dinner at the Old Oyster Factory and get up the next day and play golf.  No offense to you and your bride to be, but you've probably been doing it for a long time already, you'll do it on your wedding night and you'll do it a ton afterwards (until the wedding cake kicks in).  You might as well go play the Trent Jones course at Palmetto Dunes or Harbourtown while you're that close.  Your bride can shop.

[brewcity77]

Brew, head over to Hilton Head Island (from Savannah only about 45 minutes), have dinner at the Old Oyster Factory and get up the next day and play golf.  No offense to you and your bride to be, but you've probably been doing it for a long time already, you'll do it on your wedding night and you'll do it a ton afterwards (until the wedding cake kicks in).  You might as well go play the Trent Jones course at Palmetto Dunes or Harbourtown while you're that close.  Your bride can shop.

Are you talking about golf, or sex?

I don't play golf, but we do want to get to South Carolina, heard many good things. If we do, we'll probably make a daytrip of it when we're in Savannah the first time for location scouting. The trip for the actual wedding will pretty much be all business.

We might do Atlanta after the wedding as well, the Maid of Honor's mom lives there, so we might hang out with her and her husband an extra day when they head over. I'm liking Louisville as an option more and more with what I read here...wasn't completely sold before, but it's sounding like a nice stop, especially with the caves around.

Looking for some small town ideas as well, if anyone has some. Here are a few I'm considering...

• Nashville, IN: Seems like a mini-version of the Tennessee one, a nice rustic destination with some music.
  
• Damascus, VA: Scenic, lots of trails, and bike rentals near the Appalachian Trail.
  
• Franklin, TN: Tons of 19th Century charm, just outside Nashville.

.
Anywhere else with nice small-town charms?

[Benny B]

Are you talking about golf, or sex?

I don't play golf, but we do want to get to South Carolina, heard many good things. If we do, we'll probably make a daytrip of it when we're in Savannah the first time for location scouting. The trip for the actual wedding will pretty much be all business.

We might do Atlanta after the wedding as well, the Maid of Honor's mom lives there, so we might hang out with her and her husband an extra day when they head over. I'm liking Louisville as an option more and more with what I read here...wasn't completely sold before, but it's sounding like a nice stop, especially with the caves around.

Looking for some small town ideas as well, if anyone has some. Here are a few I'm considering...

• Nashville, IN: Seems like a mini-version of the Tennessee one, a nice rustic destination with some music.
  
• Damascus, VA: Scenic, lots of trails, and bike rentals near the Appalachian Trail.
  
• Franklin, TN: Tons of 19th Century charm, just outside Nashville.

.
Anywhere else with nice small-town charms?

Personally, I think Nashville, IN is closer to a mini-version of Branson, MO than it is a mini-Nashville, TN.  With that said, if you're going to be in that area (Brown County), you might as well head over to Bloomington... someone tells me the university there has great tanning facilities, but skip that part.  Despite what some here would have you believe, it actually is a pretty cool campus with a lot of good restaurants & bars near the main gates (my wife always recommends Nick's for pizza, I like the Irish Lion)  Monroe Lake is just south of town... you can go to the beach, hike around the lake, rent a boat, etc.  The state park around the lake has plenty of outdoorsy-type stuff as well -- hiking, biking, covered bridges, cabins, teenagers smoking in the woods, naked 60's-era hippies who have strayed too far from their nudist colonies, etc.

[mugrad99]

Indy is great if there is an event happening (500,SuperBowl, Final Four, GenCon (just kidding)). Not so much for a destination place any other time.   You can always go by Bloomington and say hello to Coach Crean. 

I would second Asheville...huge beer town.

Atlanta is a fun city as well. 

[Spotcheck Billy]

 

I would second Asheville...huge hipster town.

Atlanta is a fun city as well. 

fixed

[Benny B]

Indy is great if there is an event happening (500,SuperBowl, Final Four, GenCon (just kidding)). Not so much for a destination place any other time.   You can always go by Bloomington and say hello to Coach Crean. 

I would second Asheville...huge beer town.

Atlanta is a fun city as well. 

GenCon is great entertainment, as long as you don't actually go into the convention center.  One of my best memories of Indy is sitting at the RAM watching stormtroopers try to drink beer in costume two tables over.

If you're into people-watching, GenCon is your Super Bowl.

[awilhelmscream]

Are you talking about golf, or sex?

I don't play golf, but we do want to get to South Carolina, heard many good things. If we do, we'll probably make a daytrip of it when we're in Savannah the first time for location scouting. The trip for the actual wedding will pretty much be all business.

We might do Atlanta after the wedding as well, the Maid of Honor's mom lives there, so we might hang out with her and her husband an extra day when they head over. I'm liking Louisville as an option more and more with what I read here...wasn't completely sold before, but it's sounding like a nice stop, especially with the caves around.

Looking for some small town ideas as well, if anyone has some. Here are a few I'm considering...

• Nashville, IN: Seems like a mini-version of the Tennessee one, a nice rustic destination with some music.
  
• Damascus, VA: Scenic, lots of trails, and bike rentals near the Appalachian Trail.
  
• Franklin, TN: Tons of 19th Century charm, just outside Nashville.

.
Anywhere else with nice small-town charms?

Hilton Head or Charleston, SC.  Charleston has an incredible historic downtown area.  Gatlinburg, TN is a little touristy nowadays but would be a great place to stop off.  You could go do some hiking or canoeing with the wife there if you're into that type of thing.  

Someone said Atlanta got shorted and to an extent I agree.  They've cleaned it up a lot but the one thing Atlanta offers in spades is a stupidly good food scene.  The coca cola factory is cool too if you've never been.

You could also stop by Morgantown, WV, go to a karaoke bar, and sing "Country Roads" while wearing a Marquette shirt

[PBRme]

Hilton Head or Charleston, SC.  Charleston has an incredible historic downtown area.  Gatlinburg, TN is a little touristy nowadays but would be a great place to stop off.  You could go do some hiking or canoeing with the wife there if you're into that type of thing.  

Someone said Atlanta got shorted and to an extent I agree.  They've cleaned it up a lot but the one thing Atlanta offers in spades is a stupidly good food scene.  The coca cola factory is cool too if you've never been.

You could also stop by Morgantown, WV, go to a karaoke bar, and sing "Country Roads" while wearing a Marquette shirt

AND make sure to do a little polka while your singing.

[brewcity77]

You could also stop by Morgantown, WV, go to a karaoke bar, and sing "Country Roads" while wearing a Marquette shirt

While that would be undoubtedly awesome, I'm not sure I'd come back from West Virginia alive if I did that

[brewcity77]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the input. So far, the mini-vacations have been a success. I made two on our first trip, one on the way to Savannah, one on the way back. The first one I went for the small-town and settled on Danville, Kentucky. It's just outside Lexington, we stayed at a B&B, ate at an excellent tapas restaurant, and did some sight-seeing at some old historic areas. It was a really nice, relaxed day. Then I took a Scooper's advice...

Also, I forgot about Asheville, NC.  You can do everything in a 1-day stop or less.  I used to visit a couple times a year as my company had it's warehosue there.  I never minded going there for the mountain air and seeing a Southern version of Vermont.  Check out the Biltmore Estate (the Vanderbilt mansion) and pick up some of their wine.  Downtown is easily walkable with lots of open-to-sidewalk bars & restaurants.  Also, I recently saw it listed as a Top Ten place to visit for beer lovers.  (Milwaukee was #1 on the list.)

We went to Asheville, but ended up spending pretty much the whole day at the Biltmore. I thought I might be overspending a bit, with the tickets at near amusement park levels, but it was well worth it. We got there around 3:00, toured the house, walked the grounds for around an hour, got some amazing photos, did a wine tasting, and had dinner at their excellent cafe. I'm seriously thinking about hitting Asheville again on the way back down to Savannah the next time.

I think we're going to make a mini-honeymoon out of Nashville and spend 3 days/2 nights there. Our full honeymoon won't be until February, but who am I to argue with a preview?

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the input. So far, the mini-vacations have been a success. I made two on our first trip, one on the way to Savannah, one on the way back. The first one I went for the small-town and settled on Danville, Kentucky. It's just outside Lexington, we stayed at a B&B, ate at an excellent tapas restaurant, and did some sight-seeing at some old historic areas. It was a really nice, relaxed day. Then I took a Scooper's advice...

We went to Asheville, but ended up spending pretty much the whole day at the Biltmore. I thought I might be overspending a bit, with the tickets at near amusement park levels, but it was well worth it. We got there around 3:00, toured the house, walked the grounds for around an hour, got some amazing photos, did a wine tasting, and had dinner at their excellent cafe. I'm seriously thinking about hitting Asheville again on the way back down to Savannah the next time.

I think we're going to make a mini-honeymoon out of Nashville and spend 3 days/2 nights there. Our full honeymoon won't be until February, but who am I to argue with a preview?

   Glad to hear you enjoyed AVL.  More important, congratulations on the wedding.

[swoopem]

If you swing back through Ashville a MU alum manages a resort in Ashville, his name is Ricky (wont say last name) but ask around..class of 2006

[warriorchick]

If you swing back through Ashville a MU alum manages a resort in Ashville, his name is Ricky (wont say last name) but ask around..class of 2006

I am sure he won't mind if you plug his business...what's the name of it?

[Bocephys]

I am sure he won't mind if you plug his business...what's the name of it?

Rickey's on State.

[swoopem]

Biltmore Estate

[Benny B]

6 years out of college and he's managing the Biltmore?  I bet I can guess his last name ---- Vanderbilt.