Your favorite vacation/holiday spot (Page 1 of 3)

Far, deep into the mountains(Blue Ridge, Big Walker, Little Walker, Drapers', Cloyds') of Southwest Virginia, away from all people minus my immediate family. I am a people person but I need extended absensces from people in order to better tolerate them nontheless. There is no better food on this planet than food cooked over an open, outdoor flame, with the possible exception of a big, fat, totally raw chunk of yellow-fin tuna. But there's no tuna in the mountains so that'll have to wait 'til the get-away's over. I'll survive on the stream water, edible plants, and songwriting..........

I'm with Southpaw on this. I love the solitude of the mountains! Give me a cabin by a stream with good fishing and my guitar and I'm a happy man. One of my favorite spots though, is a fish camp on the coast of N.C.  It's just a really small fish camp that's often occupied with old timers... They have 8 cabins that go for $20 bucks a day or $25 with AC. You can fish in the river off your back steps and it's some of the best I've found. You canoe, fish, and talk all day and at night there always a fire and a few people sitting around picking and telling stories... Good times! We usually go atleast once a year. It's called Blunts Creek fish camp and is located in Chocawinity about 60 miles north of New Bern (incase any locals are wondering;)). -Pix

GP I agree ... growing up in the Pocono Mts. in PA was great ... and I miss it constantly

Ken ... have you ventured out into the Scottish Highlands where Bear Gryls did his show on Discovery Channel?  That place was wildd from what I saw ... such serious weather change!

I love being by the sea. Not on the sea, but by it. As in some of the lovely old fishing villages around the coast of the UK. Wierd for someone who has no real liking for seafood.

Eric Johnson has a fantastic instrumental called "Cliffs of Dover."

Ahh for me it's the Highlands of the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. The fishing is fantastic with scenery second to none. Fresh air by the sea, Whales off the coast, great camping and lots of great food. Super hospitality with great kitchen parties.

  Badeye 

Seems to be a theme here of wild and windblown places. Northern Ireland isn't quite so high or red in tooth and claw as some of the places you mention. It is, however, relatively free of crowds once you get out of the cities. Three decades of trouble means we don't get the crowds that some parts of the Republic get (I hear that there was some consternation on the ring of Kerry down south last year as people in motorhomes have started using GPS to navigate. In Kerry the quick way is not the way to go - you have to follow the signs that the locals have put up otherwise it ends up in gridlock !).

Two places I love are less than an hour and a half from Belfast - Fermanagh and the Glens of Antrim.

Fermanagh has wonderful Lough Erne with hundreds of islands, the best fishing in Europe outside of Northern Sweden and thousands of years of history to discover. Here's a fishing map

http://www.fermanagh.gov.uk/index.cfm?w … ge_Key=334

If you look at the southern shore of the lower Lough you'll see a green area called Navar. Drive up there late on a summer evening and watch the sun dip red into the golden atlantic ( next stop New Foundland ?), You'll see the Hills of Donegal, the Erne flowing to the ocean, the Sligo Mountains and the Lough itself laid out like this map below you.

The Glens of Antrim is somewhere you are not allowed to visit. We already have sufficient tourist to this glorious landscape. Each of the Glens have their own story reaching back into pre-history, each of them is a jewel. See for yourself - http://www.northantrim.com/theglensofantrim.htm .
From Torr Head you can see Upyerkilt in Scotland and half the Hebrides including the Paps of Jura.

Somewhere you are not allow to visit under pain of a hangover is Johnny Joe's in Cushendall - wonderful real ( yes, real - not a phony-franchise ) Irish pub with sessions on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Check out the village - http://www.northantrim.com/cushendall.htm .

I could tell you how beautiful Layde Church is, but I won't ;

LespaulGuy,

What have you started ? I have so many places . I fall in love easily with the places i visit.

But Ireland my home place is always  top of my list. Our people reach out like lovers arms to welcome you. Always happy to meet and greet.
Heres a few i really loved.

http://www.mournemountains.com/attractions.htm

http://www.northantrim.com/giantscauseway.htm

Whale watching in Teneriffe { off the coast of Africa. I went here every year for 15 years.

Cape Cod. { Boston being my favourite City to visit and shop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHXBS0hBTAI  { I visited here this year. So unspoilt. Beautiful

Amsterdam. Ive been loads of times as my Sister lives there. Such a great city to visit. Colourful to say the least.

My all abiding memories are of taking my sons for a month every year to spain. The 3 of us would head off on this great adventure. I seen them change from Boys to Men. Hormones raging, which led to holiday romances and tears when we had to leave. They did a lot of growing up in these times and i was glad to be there to see it. Difficult as it was sometimes.

Ps. This is the smallest city in the world. I visited this year. Its called " Hum"
http://www.croatia-travel-guide.com/en/Hum

Long winded as always,
Old Doll.

All these places in Ireland and Scotland makes me wish I still lived in England ... at least then it would have been cheap for me to take a road trip up north or hop on a plane and cross the pond to Ireland ... the pictures of the old homes and buildings reminds me of places in England that I visited

I have Irish roots on my fathers side and we traced them back to west/central Ireland if I remember correctly ... then again, my Dad also said we had roots in Scotland as well so who knows!

I'm glad I could bring back memories for everyone ... it's nice to go off the beaten path and reminisce

Here's a link from the Poconos in Pennsylvania if you'd like to take a look if you ever visit the U.S.

http://www.800poconos.com/

yep, that was up in the cairngorm mountains. Not just there where the weather changes so quickly, it is probably anywhere north of glasgow that does that, but up there it can get quite bad ( or good depending on how you look at it. I love getting snowed in )
He made it out to be  bit worse than it actually is though for people that know what they are doing, but if he is doing it for the silly people thatgo not equiped properly for certain times of the year then he would be not fr off from being right.
It is lovely up thereand quite a few bothies dotted about, if you know where they are then you are never far away from shelter.
But I love watching him.

Ken

LesPaulGuy,

Those Poconos look like they need some serious checking out !

We have plenty of Timothys in Ireland - Not too many LesPaulGuys !

I'll bow to the superior knowledge of our Scottish friends, but I thought that Hogmanay in Edinburgh came with a serious health warning.