Play Tourist Guide--what Do You Recommend Visitors to Do and See near You?

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We have beautiful provincial parks and beaches within a three hour drive in every direction. Grand Beach is a world class beach. The Whiteshell is a huge park with dozens of lakes, beaches and hiking trails. Just an hour north of the city we have the Narcisse Snake Dens where millions of garter snakes migrate to live over the winter. We have Oak Hammock Marsh wildlife managment area and interpretive center just north of the city which is home to 25 species of mammals, 300 species of birds and numerous amphibians, reptiles and fish. In the city itself we have Assiniboine Park, which is the third largest urban park in North America, designed by the same person who designed Central Park in NY. Assiniboine Park is an all season destination with a zoo, duck pond, outdoor theatre, art gallery, nature playground, conservatory, steam train, English Gardens, sculpture gardens, toboggan hill, skating rink and more. We have Fort Whyte Alive wildlife conservation area and interpretive center with a Bison herd and stocked lakes which serve as a staging area during waterfowl migration as well as boating, fishing, and educational programs. There is the Manitoba Museum and Planetarium. The Manitoba Childrens Museum. The Aviation Museum. The Assiniboine Downs Horse Racing Track. The Winnipeg Art Gallery. The Forks historic market. We have urban forests at Little Mountain Park and Assiniboine forest. We have the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and The Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Several theatre companies. We have Folklorama (the largest multi-cultural festival in the world), the Festival du Voyageur, The Fringe Festival, The Winnipeg Folk Festival, The Festival of Fools. We have the worlds longest naturally frozen river skating trail in the world at the Forks. We have more restaurants per capita than any other city in North America. The prices here are very affordable compared to other cities. I could go on and on...

We live in the Milwaukee area which is known for it's breweries. Some do tours including Miller Brewery.

Other things to see -

The lakefront (Lake Michigan) fly a kite, rent a paddle boat for the pond, rent family bikes, lounge on the beach, sit at the coffee shop, walk the break walls or just enjoy people watching while laying in the grass.

Harley Museum - grab lunch and check out the Harley motorcycles.

The art museum designed by Santiago Calatrava is an amazingly beautiful structure.

Summerfest for a giant music festival every year (end of June - beg of July)

Discovery World - on the lake, place to check out all sorts of cool displays.

Shopping on Brady Street

Shopping and wonderful meals in the Third Ward

Miller Park (the retractable roof Brewer baseball Stadium)

See broadway/ballets/symphony downtown

Walk along the Milwaukee River and check out the Fonz statue

Stay at the Iron Horse in the Fifth Ward or old time Pfister downtown

We also have the typical stuff like a great zoo, children's museum, and restaurant style movie theaters.

Oh and check out the outdoor mall at Bayshore shops. In the summer the kids there can play in the splash pad.

Depends on the time of year, we have hiking, fishing, glacier tours, 4 wheeling, camping, Northern light viewing, hot springs, all types of outdoor sports, I could just keep going and going. I mean, its Alaska, whats not to love?

HHHHMMM....I live just outside of DC....we are considered the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Where would I tell yo to go?

The National Mall
Arlington National Cemetery
The Smithsonian
Kennedy Center for a play
Air & Space museum in Chantilly (parking is $15 a car - entrance is free).
Spy Museum (not free, HIGHLY Recommend reservations).
The Capitol Building
The White House (need tickets in advance from your state representative)
The FBI building

Best time to come?

Spring - that's when the Cherry Blossoms are out in full bloom.
Fall - just getting crisp air - leaves are changing...the Tidal Basin is grand!
Winter - darned if we are getting snow this year...but the National Mall is beautiful when the snow falls!!
Summer is hot and humid. VERY humid. So if you don't mind that and crowds, great time!!

Lodging:

Oooohhhh depends on the amount of $$$$$ you have. want free? If I like you - then my house! :) If not - then there are a boatload of hotels ranging from $90 to $1000 a night. The Gaylord is very nice....there are some good Marriotts too. I would choose something that is metro accessible. Makes getting around the city soo much easier. The Watergate is right on the Potomac - not sure if it's a hotel too...I'd have to look.

Parks:
The National Mall...
There are many others...if you rent a boat or canoe you can travel down the Potomac and walk around some of the "islands" it has...

Baltimore is 45 miles north of DC and offers a TON of things...inner harbor tours, etc.

Restaurants? All depends upon the budget. I would stay out of DC and come to NOVA (Northern Virginia) or head into Silver Spring or Bethesda, MD.

You can fly into:
BWI - Baltimore Washington International (45 miles north east)
Ronald Reagan (DCI) - In Arlington, VA - metro just outside terminal one
Dulles (IAD) - 8 miles west of my house.

If you have the time - a drive to Charlottesville would be in order - to see Monticello - it's about 2 hours (depending upon who is driving and traffic). That's day trip...

Williamsburg is about 3 hours MAYBE 4 hours south and has a lot to offer as well.

Hope that helps.

I live about 20 minutes from Philadelphia and all it has to offer.

We've got Valley Forge National Park 10 minutes away. Longwood Gardens (a beautiful botanical treat) is about 1/2 hour away. The King of Prussia mall is 10 minutes away (once the largest mall in the world...). There's an abundance of great places to dine. Museums, hiking trails, ice-skating rinks, all within 20 minutes or so.

If you want to ski in the winter or do nature-y things in the summer, the Poconos are 11/2 hours away.

And about 1/2hr to 1 hr west of here, you're in Amish country.

Using my home as a base, New York could be a possible day trip. Baltimore and DC would both be easily accessible for an overnight.

Really, I've barely grazed the number of things to do around here.

We just had a long weekend - ask me what we did.

If you guessed "nothing" or "send husband and kids to visit grandparents in NJ", you would be correct. Sometimes too much choice is paralyzing.

I live in DE and it's such a small state, it is not hard to come to the northern part of the state and still visit the southern most parts in the same day...although you would do better to enjoy the day at one end and then go to the other (even if you drove back to the first for lodging at the end of the day...we're talking roughly 2-2.5 hours end to end).

The northern area is more like the city (it's near Philadelphia, PA) and I am not that knowledgeable about that area.

The central area is a little more royal with a few smaller "cities". It has Dover International Speedway, Dover Air Force Base, a mall, roller skating and ice skating facilities, a brewery or two, a winery, typical things like local museums (after all we are the 1st state), parks, and shore areas for some boating. There are two casinos and in July, it also has the State Fair.

The southern area is more rural (especially the western side). The western side has a few race tracks (think go-carts, dirt tracks, etc), a few breweries, and a lot of farms. The eastern side has our beaches...Lewes, Rehoboth, Dewey, and surrounding communities. So you have the small town feel but the beach atmosphere. There are the typical shops, restraurants, and centers that go hand in hand with beaches (water parks and mini-golf for example), a few more breweries, the beach itself, more parks, Cape May - Lewes Ferry, etc.

I love this question, I am going to keep checking back for ideas for vacations.

Austin is the State Capital of Texas. So we always suggest a visit to our state Capital Building is even taller than the one in Washington DC.. We are the one Blue Dot, surrounded by a lot of Red..

We are one of the best educated locations in the US. More books are sold here per capita, than almost anywhere else.

We have lakes all around us. On "Lady Bird Lake", is located in our Downtown area. One of the bridges, is the largest colony of Mexican Freetail Bats in the US.. . At certain times of the year, they give birth to their babies and fly out at sunset and fly out to search for food.. It is an amazing sight. People bring a picnic, musicians play music.. it is like a huge party every night.. all free of course. During the day there are canoes, and rowing on this lake with a beautiful running/walking biking trail all around it.

Lake Austin, is beautiful, perfect for swimming, jet skiing and boating. Then lake Travis is a huge lake (low water levels right now. ) but also a good place to swim, jet ski and boating.

We have a huge fresh spring that runs through the largest park in Austin.. The park is called Zilker park.. Beautiful.. With playground, small train, there is a out door stage with performances... Home pf Barton Springs Pool. This is a natural body of water with plant life. The water stays at about 68 to 72 degrees all year round. It is open 365 days a year.

The University of Texas is one of the largest campuses in Texas. Most of their museums are free or very low cost.The Harry Ransom Humanities Museum.. Has the original Photograph ever made. One of the original Gutenberg Bibles is part of this collection, The Gone with the Wind "Curtain" Gown is at this museum. And so much more.

Austin is famous for all of the Live Music, lots of it is free or low cost. Honky Tonks, will teach you how to country dance.

And then the Amazing food. Lots of BBQ, Tex Mex. One of the top Sushi restaurants in the Nation is here.

Drive a few miles and you can hike or camp in the Piney Woods. Go in the other direction and visit the Texas Hill Country, where the Germans settled. The Texas Gulf coast has lots of fun beaches.

Remember the State itself is HUGE.. And all very different.

I grew up in Philly and live 40 minutes outside of it now.

Where I am now there is so much to do, almost J. as much as Philly.

For Philly I would reccomend the food and pubs, and not the chain resteraunts but the local little dive places that are owned and opperated by families that have grown up cooking that food.

Museums- please touch for little kids is great, then you have the mutters museum filled with odd things, then there is the seaport museum, franklin institute, tons of art museums (a few are free) also you have the Betsy ross house, liberty bell. Also there are TONS of theatre choices. Tons of live comedy shows, clubs, plays, live music. Then you can go an hour to New hope and walk along the river, walk across the bridge into lambertville, hit local pubs, art shops, and their local restaraunts, hit the raven which is a gay bar which the guys sing show tunes in the back, then go to washingtons crossings and look in all of the old historic buildings and see where history took place...hmmmmm theres so much more.

things i;d stay away from
ANY place thats a museum or tourist attraction on the weekend

Its too crouded and its not as safe

weekdays for the museums are awesome, J. dont go on the first wed of a month because most museums are free or cheap and its way too crouded

ETA in and around philly there are pretty much museums for everything, theres a bug museum, a plane museum, a train museum and so on

Upper Peninsula of Michigan- Munising area. On your way there, stop at Tahquamenon Falls if you pass Newberry. Stop at Cut River Gorge if you're on US2.
Right around Munising- anything Pictured Rocks-related. Definitely the boat tour of the park. Definitely Miner's Castle. Some hiking if you're up for it- Chapel Rock area. Maybe the glass-bottom boat tour to see ship-wrecks. Miner's Beach, AuTrain Beach or Sand Point. Canoe or kayak down AuTrain River. Many, many waterfalls- don't miss Miner's Falls and Munising Falls.

Day trip to Grand Marais- eat at the West Bay Diner- expect slow service and excellent food. Stop and see the Devil's Log Slide and the Grand Sable Lake and Dunes on the way there or back.

Day trip to Marquette- lots of excellent restaurant choices (Aoy's Rice Paddy, Lagniappe, Doncker's, to name a few). Art on the Rocks or the Hiawatha Music Festival in the midsummer. Hogsback Mountain if you're up for a great hike (maybe you should have a guide who knows the trail). Sugarloaf Mountain- less strenuous and trail is easier to follow.

Michigan.
Greenfield Village in Dearborn
Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills
Taquamannan Falls in the U.P. and I spelled it wrong I know.
Greektown in downtown Detroit