Suggestions for nearby overnight trip with the wife?

[TurboMinivan]

In the next week or two my wife and I are looking to take a short overnight trip somewhere. I doubt we would drive much more than 3 hours to get there, so that gives us a realistic radius of only ~ 200 miles. This trip will definitely take place on a weekday, and before any of you even bring it up I will emphatically state that camping is not going to happen. We would leave by lunch time, and return at dinner time the next day.

My wife's kneejerk reaction was to suggest Park City. It's very close, which is nice, and there are a variety of resort options for lodging (which she really likes). It just sounds so... stereotypical... for around here. I'm all for going somewhere that has something for us to do while we're there, but what are my choices in such a small radius from here?

I of course counter-suggested Moab. She wanted to know what we would do there, as Jeeping is definitely not on her agenda. (FYI: our chariot for this trip will be the Impreza.) She didn't like any of the few ideas I threw out, so Moab was removed from our list of possibilities.

Wanting to go off the beaten path, I have even considered out-of-the-way places like Spring City/Manti/Ephraim, or Logan, or Heber City, etc. But in all these cases, it seems there would be no place for us to go other than the hotel/B&B place itself (as far as I know, anyway, though I admit I'm rather unfamiliar with most of these places). Wandering around stores and shopping centers isn't my idea of a great time, but the boss likes the idea so that's why Park City is still her top pick.


Do you guys have any suggestions? Where would you go just to get away for a day or two without camping?

 

[nnnnnate]

Cedar City, go see a Shakespeare Festival play but NOT one written by aforementioned man. "Into the Woods" was nice and fun. D (If you do this google for a 15% discount code) Drive up the canyon to Cedar Breaks. I had never been to Fish Lake and wanted to see it so we took the "scenic" route home. Cedar to Fish Lake then north to Scipio before hopping back on I15. On a previous trip we ate at Milts Stage Stop and it was super tasty. Its up the canyon a little and was fun to eat someplace a little different than normal.

Good luck.

 

[Kevin B.]

Hotel in Wendover and explore south or north.

 

[nnnnnate]

If you end up Park City/Heber way go swimming in the crater. I've wanted to do that for years and my buddy did recently and said it was kinda neat.

 

[skeptic]

Hotel in Wendover and explore south or north.

I second this. It's not Vegas fun, but a nice dinner, a bit of gambling, exploring during the day, etc. makes for an over-nighter where you can completely forget about work and the daily grind.

 

[boogie_4wheel]

Outside of Zions east entrance, get a cabin for the night or two. Small private cabin that ought to stoke the fire. Weekday will hopefully mean reduced tourists. You could do some hikes if she is in to that.
http://www.zmr.com

We stayed there 1 night a few years back 'just to get away' when we still lived in Cedar. It is a little over your 200mi, but you could make a loop of it by taking hwy 89 one direction and the 15 in the other.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Midway and Kamas are both quaint with great food. And why no camping?

 

[SLC97SR5]

Honestly, I would do whatever she wants. If she is set on PC nothing else will measure up.

I'll turn in my mancard now.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Cedar City, go see a Shakespeare Festival play but NOT one written by aforementioned man

Hmm, I hadn't thought of Cedar City. The distance is about at this trip's upper limit, though cruising at 80 MPH will get us there relatively quickly. I'll have to run this option up the flagpole and see how she reacts.

Hotel in Wendover and explore south or north.

I had purposely not mentioned Wendover to her simply because we are not the casino type. If you're going to stay out of casinos and you're not going to go wheeling, what else does Wendover offer?

If you end up Park City/Heber way go swimming in the crater.

I know about that crater, though I've never actually seen it. Hmm.

Outside of Zions east entrance, get a cabin for the night or two.

Personally, I really like this idea. I wonder how she might feel about it.

Midway and Kamas are both quaint with great food.

We've done Midway before and, though we enjoyed it, I'd like to branch out and try something new.

Kamas is another one of Utah's small towns I have never visited. It looks like they have a couple B&Bs. Hmm.

And why no camping?

Because that's not what the boss wants on this trip.

 

[airmanwilliams]

anniversary inn up in Logan followed buy a picnic and fishing up past the second dam up the canyon.

 

[jeeper]

There is a couple places in Heber, and some up by strawberry that are neat. You could even rent done horses and do some horse back riding that's romantic.

 

[mbryson]

We have been going to stay at some of the cool older hotels in Ogden and just hangout for a couple of days there. You could almost just ride the Front Runner up, get a room at Ben Lomond Suites, and have dinner at Union Station.

We used to like to go to Jackson but it's a little overly Park Cityish for me.

 

[Jinx]

Midway. Homestead and or Zermott, kind of spendy but nice. Lots of day time activities. Golf, hiking, spas, etc. Cool European feel.

 

[Tonkaman]

Midway. Homestead and or Zermott, kind of spendy but nice. Lots of day time activities. Golf, hiking, spas, etc. Cool European feel.

That's my suggestion

 

[CobraNutt]

Ogden Canyon had a small-ish themed-room resort type lodge, doesn't it? Can't think of the name off the top of my head...wait...I remembered... Alaskan Inn....B&B... www.alaskaninn.com

 

[Kevin B.]

I had purposely not mentioned Wendover to her simply because we are not the casino type. If you're going to stay out of casinos and you're not going to go wheeling, what else does Wendover offer?

A home base. Silver Reef and the Pilot Range to the north, Gold Hill and more mountains to the south. Maybe that's too close to "wheeling", though?

What exactly does she want to do? If wandering around the wild isn't on her list, it sounds like wandering around shopping malls ought to be on yours.

 

[moab_cj5]

My wife and I stayed at ZMR. It was cool. We went down hwy 12 and enjoyed the scenery, but it was certainly more than 2 hours.

 

[TurboMinivan]

There is a couple places in Heber, and some up by strawberry that are neat. You could even rent some horses and do some horse back riding.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!!!

I began reading through this thread with my wife, seeing what she thought of each suggestion. As soon as I said 'go horseback riding' she freaked out. Turns out she loves riding horses; despite 9 1/2 years of marriage, we've never had the 'do you like to ride horses?' discussion, so this was all new to me. It has obviously been a while since she's ridden one, but it has been far longer for me--last time I rode a horse I was 5 or 6 years old.

So it's been decided--we'll ride horses in/around Heber. Now we just need to select a place to stay (which should be very easy).

Thanks, gang.

 

[Corban_White]

Snowbird. Good food, nice accommodations, beautiful scenery. Get the all day activities pass and ride the tram, chairlift, ropes course, hiking, mountain biking, alpine slide, mountain coaster, mountain flyer, etc. This time of year you will want to call and check what will be open on a weekday though. My wife and I go up every year for our anniversary. It rocks.

edit, just saw the horse thing. You can ride the chairlift up to the top of the mountain, walk through the tunnel and ride horses at the top of mineral basin.

 

[NYCEGUY01]

If I wanted a cool place to stay with horses id go here...

http://www.beavercreeklodge.com/lodging/lodge.htm