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HELP! I've got 2 free plane tickets and want to plan a vacation, tropical and inexpensive, where would you go?

THIS IS A BIT LONG< READ ONLY IF YOU HAVE THE TIME TO HELP ME DECIDE: THANKS! First of all I don't want to sound like I am complaining here, just confused on where to go. I realize I am very lucky to have the tickets! The plane tickets are for anywhere in the U.S. plus Cancun, Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Aruba. Most of these places outside the U.S. would be too expensive though in terms of hotel and food for me right now for two people, so where else in the mainland U.S. could I visit that is somewhat near a nice beach, maybe some shells, and isn't too expensive for a hotel there and food? I only have about an extra 1,000 for a 3 day trip somewhere for the hotel and food and spending. All I want to do is spend some quality time with my husband and sit and watch the waves, drink a tropical drink at a tiki hut, swim in a huge pool and possibly take a boat out to a little island to find some shells. (Otherwise I also have free hotel rooms at any Harrah's hotel in the U.S. so I guess they have Harrah's in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New Orleans, Phoenix, and other places more inland in the U.S. That would be very cheap then since I would then have free air and hotel, but none of those places is really that tropical!) I could also choose to fly to New Orleans or Miami and try a 4 day cruise. Upside of that: fairly cheap and could see Key West AND Mexico ! And lots of food all included in the price Downside: I've never been on a cruise , sometimes there are hidden costs to consider, tipping, extra excursion, etc. and I wouldn't get into the pool with tons of people, no privacy, and could seem like I'm stuck on a boat with a bunch of drunks since I heard the 4 days cruises are "party cruises". Again see I'm totally stuck on what to do and where to go with these tickets! Anyway if I don't do the Harrah's free hotel thing or the cruise then, I was thinking possibly Pensacola, Florida since it is supposed to be cheaper and they still offer the touristy things to do there, but not sure if that might be too boring. Do you have other ideas that could work? I wouldn't mind using the free tickets to California but then the hotel prices are just too high. And Virginia Beach is supposed to be nice but I'm not sure if it is expensive to visit and I know it won't be as tropical as Florida or Cancun of course since there will doubtfully be tiki huts and tropical drinks/ not sure though? Also lots and lots of people say go to Cancun but I worry about a few things: crime to and from the hotels, crime at the hotels, crime going to dinner in the cities and I'd hate to see children begging on the beach on my vacation or stray dogs starving to death running down the beaches. If you've gone there, is that what you've encountered ever? Some previous yahoo people said that was what it was like, not fun for a vacation then. Someone recommended a place calledCancun Palace (p.s. my research shows: Le Blanc in Cancun looks amazing if you have more money than me for the trip!), someone else said Myrtle Beach, others Key West? Has anyone been to Key West lately, do you have any quiet beaches or are they all packed with crazy tourists? If I can't come up with a trip that my husband would also like, then he said I should just use one of the tickets to fly to my niece's wedding in Minneapolis and wait for the other ticket for something else ....BORING use of the 2 tickets I say, and then I might never go on the somewhat more "romantic" and "relaxing" trip with my husband. I think I'd rather just pay for the wedding ticket for myself separately.Sooooo ...... if you could go anywhere, where would you fly for a fairly inexpensive vacation with my 2 free tickets? I'm totally stumped on what to do and where to go! Thanks for any input! TRVLLADY- THANKS, my husband just said the same thing, make a list to help decide....so your advice was right on target since I am stuck. And I will look into Virginia Beach more extensively then as well!

Public Comments

1. I think its great that you are thinking about all the pros and cons for each destination. I would suggest making a chart of the beaches you are considering. Have a Positive and a Negative side. That way you can quickly get an idea of which ones to eliminate immediately. I can recommend Virginia Beach if you are going between May - September. It will easily fit into your budget for hotel and food. There are night time activities and restaurants within walking distance of the hotels. You are also a short drive from shopping, historic sites, and museums. Good luck and have fun!
2. If you really want somewhere more tropical than VB, I think you could afford California. My boyfriend and I went to Huntington Beach last month. It's an awesome area, about 45 minutes from LA. There is a long gorgeous beach with palm trees, volleyball nets, surfing, bars, restaurants, shops. We found this brand new hotel just opened in May 2009 called the Shorebreak. It's the most perfect location- directly across the street from the ocean and the pier and ONE street over from "Main St" where all the bars/restaurants are. We were able to walk to the beach everyday and then walk to the bars every night in literally 2 minutes walk. The hotel was gorgeous since it's brand new, and since they hadn't filled up yet they gave us a free upgrade to an ocean balcony room. We went for 4 days. We spent $500 on the hotel, $100 on valet parking (it's a little steep but if you take a shuttle from the airport you don't need a rental car, we drove from Arizona). We ate out the whole time, from the hotel restaurant and places on Main St. and I'd say we spent no more than $400 on food. We went to some expensive sushi places, if you go to like Subway the whole time you can keep it under $100 lol. But we had a great time, the beach was super romantic just lying in the sand & sun together. I think you should check out that hotel and the area online and if you have any questions about it feel free to email me.