Hi guys,
I've never been able to travel very much throughout my life, but have always wanted to. Almost a year ago, I married an amazing lady. I want to treat her to a trip, as she wants to travel as much as I do.
As I'm trying to surprise her, I'd love to take her somewhere nice, yet affordable. We've both been to Florida, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington DC (and everywhere in Ohio). I would like to visit somewhere new this time. I've narrowed my choices down, but would like some input.
Things that are important for this trip:
Food: I will eat anything, and love trying new foods. My wife is the same way, with the exception of pickles or peppers. The place I'd like to take her needs to have great food, and unique places in which to eat.
Beer: I love beer. Love it. I love trying new beers as often as I can. My wife also likes beer and will try anything that I put in front of her. The place we go should have places with pretty good local and craft beer.
Music: We both love live music, though our musical tastes don't really overlap that much. We do both agree on classic rock, blues and blues rock, and folk music. The place we'd like to travel needs to have places with good, dive-y atmospheres and good music (drinks are very welcome and expected).
Culture: We'd love a place with great people, a laid back atmosphere, and a place where we can just enjoy each others' company.
Things we do not want:
Crime: This is a no brainer. I've been to East Cleveland, wife's been to Detroit, both places are incredibly scary. We'd love not to get mugged. (My apologies to anyone who loves Detroit, I'm sure there are great things about your city. The Red Wings are pretty consistently good every year)
Kids: My wife is a pre-school teacher. She's around kids for a living. I'm betting that she would want a kid-free vacation. In a perfect world, there would be no children where we go. Obviously, that's impossible. We'd love for the place that we go to be at least a little grown up.
Ok, now for the important stuff. My budget is anywhere from 1500-2000 dollars. We're leaving in late October for probably five days (think 23-27th).
A few other things:
Neither of us has ever been to the west coast of the US, and would like to go. I've always thought that Portland would be nice to visit. My wife has always wanted to go to New Orleans.
Ages are probably important for suggestions as well. By the time this trip happens, I'll be 27, and my wife will be nearly 26. We're both huge movie and comic book nerds.
We currently live in Akron, Ohio. We've been to Pittsburgh a billion times. While I like that city, and vehemently support its hockey team, I don't want to take her there...again. My wife is an amazing, beautiful, and intelligent woman. I have no idea why she married me, but she did, and I'd love to take her somewhere that will blow her mind.
Any advice that you guys have would be great. Thank you!