We’re fairly active. Hiking, sports, like to go out to eat. Would rather not sit in a hotel room around the clock but would be ok on a beach. Not huge drinkers but will have a drink or two if we go out. We live in Ankeny, think we’re looking at flying.
Portland Oregon is amazing. Direct flights from Des Moines. Great town for drinking and food. Lots of beautiful scenery is not far outside of town, if you're into hiking and the outdoors. And it's the strip club capital of the U.S, so there's lots of beautiful scenery in town as well, if that's your bag. Casa Diablo, for example, is vegan and vampire themed. Not to be missed.
Ang and I messaged about Portland maybe a year or two ago. One of my favorite cities. Japanese Garden is amazing. (It's a garden, not a strip club @BCClone )
Our favorite restaurant closed down due to the pandemic. It was a Thai place that served the hands down best chicken wings I've ever had. There's so much to do, there, though. One thing I highly recommend is the Night Market. They don't have it every night, or every week, but it's basically just a bunch of vendors in a giant warehouse. Starts after dark and is open very late. They have live music, and lots ways to spend money and alter your consciousness. Like a farmer's market but with homemade soap and leather goods instead of vegetables.
I think I spent 3-4 hours at Powells books.
Agree with those who suggested SE Minnesota or the SW part of Wisconsin. Some great stuff around there. I had a thread about suggestions in that area about this time last year, some were used! The state's only working water-powered mill is somewhere around there.
Sedona, AZ
We went to San Diego/Coronado and loved it. Weather was great, food was excellent, and there was plenty to do (Torrey Pines Reserve, boat tours, Padres, USS Midway). There is also a direct flight from Des Moines through Allegiant which was perfectly fine for us. Highly recommend.
