Your favorite experiences

Of all your travels what really impressed you.

We have visited some incredible places but I think my favorite memory is visiting Purina Farms outside of St. Louis.

It is free, but you have to order tickets. Owned by Purina animal food company, it has all kinds of farm animals and domestic pets. Retired show dogs and cats. Agility courses and a show pavilion for dogs. rolling hills and green pastures.

You can pet the animals, watch some shows and enjoy some relaxing, fun times. Great place for a relaxing visit.

Arizona - Sedona (Gorgeous)! The drive through Walnut Creek. The Grand Canyon!! (Staying in a cabin right on the rim and having that glorious view right from the cabin window!!)

There are so many, and yet not enough. I would love to see so much more of the world. But I've really enjoyed touring the grand old houses in Newport RI and imagining that kind of wealth. And walking through New York City on any given day, always something new to discover. And just sitting on a beach, any beach, but we love Wells/Ogunquit Maine.

When I was 19, my family took a trip to Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach FL and I was amazed by the soft white sand and watching the dolphins from the beach. That was a memorable time. I always want to take time after a Disney vacation to get my kids out that way, but there's never the extra time and now they're all grown.

DW and I went to Ireland in June of this year. We got really lucky with some sunny weather and it was probably our favorite vacation of all time. Rolling green hills, farms, rich history and some of the nicest people you'll meet. The town of Dingle was especially nice.

We went to Alaska last August. Probably the most beautiful place to fly in and out of. Glaciers, mountains... amazing. The glacier cruise we took on Prince William Sound out of Whittier, AK was just stunning. You see 23+ glaciers and the boat gets within 100yards of 2 of them. Sea otters everywhere; I must have seen over a hundred.

Kauai - as laid back a vacation as you'll ever have. It is as close as us haoles will get to the real Hawai'i these days. I'd take it over Oahu any day, even with Aulani.

Brugges, Belgium - It would be hard to go to Europe again without a stop there. 800+ year old walled city with canals, windmills and some of the best beer you'll have anywhere.

I love visiting new places and old favorites and I have found many experiences to be wonderful. The 2 that most come to mind for a pulling on the heartstrings moment were:
1) My first view of the Grand Canyon.
2) Sailing on a catamaran off Kauai with a pod of dolphins at my feet.

Thanks for posting this question! We love to travel and I'm not sure I could pick a favorite, but I'll share some of our most loved vacations.

1) Most Recently France. We were there for about two weeks and what a beautiful country. I was lucky that my husband lived there for 3 years and speaks fluent French which made it quite easy for me. We drove our rental car 2700 miles and I do mean miles. We were in Paris for 3 days - all that I imagined. A couple negatives that did leave a not so good impression 1)Trash and Smoking everywhere! As we traveled through the Loire Valley and down to the South of France and Monaco the sites were breathtaking.

2) Next would be Hawaii - just a tropical paradise. We've been to Oahu, Big Island, and Maui....not a big fan of the Big Island since it looks very lunar like. We prefer the lush and green islands. Maui was probably our favorite as we swam with dolphins and turtles nearly every day.

3) Telluride, CO in the summer! Oh my gosh, this left such an impression on all of us. The area is so scenic! The kids ask regularly if we can go back. We played tennis, hiked, fished, went on day trips to Silverton etc. Great food too.

4)Finally, both Northern and Southern CA. Two very different places and we have family in each. The beaches of San Diego and the beautiful SF Bay Area are great spots for family vacations. Two easy escapes from Arizona that we are not very fond of.

Venice Italy....such a cool place to see.

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Originally Posted by NJGIRL

Venice Italy....such a cool place to see.

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Your Italy report has stayed with me. I'll keep it in mind when I plan.

Zion National Park hiking the Narrows last year!! Such an incredible experience, I'm soo happy we did it!! Actually all thanks to someone here on Intercot who suggested it!! :)

I haven't traveled nearly as much as I'd like, but one of my favorite places I've been (and that I fell in love with and can't wait to get back to) is the Bay Area. DH and I went to San Francisco for a work convention for me thinking to pack as much in as possible because that would be our one time there. We were hooked once we'd been there two days. Went back a year and a half later for our honeymoon.

I also love Monhegan Island in Maine. It's a small island off the coast of Boothbay Harbor (another place I enjoy) that has a small artist's community on it, plus fisherman... a cute village and AMAZING hiking trails.

There are many great places we've been to, and lots we'd love to get back to but there are so many we've not done yet, it's difficult to fit everything in. And sometimes a place resonates with this person but not that one. Grand Canyon is an example. I don't care for the South Rim but the North Rim is a favorite place. Love Bryce but don't care much for Zion.

In Maine, at Acadia Nat'l Park, we did an evening wagon ride mostly because our granddaughter was so into horses. Very interesting ride, lovely view of the sunset, and a great all around experience that we all enjoyed.

Mt Washington Cog Railway and the little museum at the bottom. Right around July 4th , warm weather for boarding the trail, but wow - so cold and chilly up top, even with gloves, windbreakers, hats, etc. The wind was so strong I worried about the grandkids but we survived.

Sometimes things just come together: I had been reading Killer Angels - about one small portion of the Battle at Gettysburg - to our grandson, prior to visiting Gettysburg. We spent a long time on Little Round Top, finding places mentioned in the book, looking at the rows of silent cannon, imagining. That evening we were camped at the Famcamp at West Point, in New York, when they happened to be doing range practice with their big guns. (If memory serves - a small country road serves both the famcamp, north side, and the range, south side of the road) What a way to make Gettysburg more immediate.

Jan