Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    THE CARIBBEAN!!!
    
    My hubby and I went to St. Thomas back in Feb. There a 
    F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C  place called the Mark St. Thomas
    up on Blackbeard's Hill. It's a hotel/restaurant...
    but not your typcial hotel. It's like an inn. The two
    rooms we saw each has an adjoining room. One opened
    up to a courtyard with garden pool and the other opened
    up to a veranda with all wicker furniture and the
    flowy cotton "walls". The veranda looks out to the
    most beautiful view of Charlotte Amalie!. I have
    a brochure (that really doesn't do the place justice)
    if you'd like me to send it to you. Reply with
    your location code and mailstop.
    
    pat
    

    
    Plantation Inn in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  I was there in
    October and it was great.  The place was almost empty
    but the weather was great.
    

    I happen to think Ottawa is a wonderful place, but not for October.

    I'm soooooo nostalgic!  I was married on October 8 (24 happy years
    ago); we drove up Route 1 into Maine.  Of course, the motels were
    the most fun, but we loved the sea, lack of tourists, foliage, etc.
    I think we went as far as Bar Harbor, spent a few days there, visited
    old book stores and antique shops, and sauntered back home.  Even
    today, when we want to renew old memories, we take a trip north
    on Route 1.

    Check out the notes file JPOIND::HOLIDAY_TRAVEL - they have lots
    of neat ideas about Barbados, Hawaii, Jamaica, Bermuda etc.
    
    I am partial to Hawaii - my husband and I spent our Honeymoon there.
    Beautiful...
    

    Hi,
    
    First of all i wanted to say thanks to everyone that has replied
    so far......
    
    This is directed toward reply .5...i have added the file holiday
    travel to my directory but everytime i try to get into it it says
    remote node unknown.  Has anyone else had that trouble?  I was
    originally going to put the request in that file but i can't get
    into it..........

    That happens to me on certain nodes - your system manager must update
    your network file.  Let her know that you cannot access certain nodes
    and and ask her when the last update was done.  Often times to get
    around this you can find out the address and use that instead of the
    node name.   Good luck...I'm still partial to Hawaii :-).
    

    My husband and I married in mid-July, but took our honeymoon
    last week in September and first week in October. We were
    doing all the planning in both cases, and simply couldn't
    cope with trying to plan it all at once.  So if you want to
    go someplace that would be perfect in, say, January, or even
    June, wait!  I hardly felt I needed a vacation immediately
    after our wedding; work seemed like a vacation compared to
    the details of the wedding!  (Although I did take a couple
    days off just *before* the wedding, for last-minute stuff.)

    We are disinclined to warm, humid, sunburning weather, so
    many of the "traditional" honeymoon spots didn't appeal to
    us.  We went to the Canadian Rockies--and it was beautiful,
    even if a bit chilly in September/October.  The off-season is
    during the fall and spring, which means that some things may
    be closed if you don't time it right, but if you plan it
    carefully, most things will be open and quite possibly have
    off-season rates.  We stayed in the Banff Springs Hotel,
    about an hour or two from Calgary, and in Jasper (much
    farther north) and one night at Lake Louise, all of which are
    "touristy" places that we still found quite enjoyable.  I'm
    afraid I've packed away all my brochures, but your favorite
    travel agent usually has plenty of free goodies.

    We're vaguely considering an Alaskan cruise for our fifth
    anniversary--I've heard that cruises are sometimes less
    expensive than other ways of vacationing, since you pay one
    ghastly sum but it includes meals, some entertainment, etc.

    Good luck and have fun!

    -- Linda

    Ah, yes, the honeymoon.  (sigh)
    
    We also got married in October (3 1/2 years ago) and had a three-week
    (sort of) honeymoon:  
    
    Week 1, we flew to San Francisco (we're from Mass.) and spent a week 
    there (also going up to Napa, down to Monterey, etc.).  We had never
    been there and we found it a wonderfully romantic city with lots to do.  
                   
    Week 2, we took a cruise to Mexico.  We went to Puerto Vallarta,
    Ixtapa/Zhuejatanajo (sp.?), and ended up in Acapulco.  The cruise
    was much more fun than I expected.  You can do absolutely NOTHING
    but sit by the pool and have pina coladas brought to you.  Or you
    can be busy around the clock.  I loved it...
    
    Week 3, we spent a few days at Las Brisas in Acapulco.  Las Brisas
    is a beautiful, romantic resort with little pink and white villas
    built into a mountainside with a spectacular view of Acapulco. 
    This is where John and Jackie Kennedy went for their honeymoon.
    Each one or two villas has a private pool (we had our own) and every
    day the maid floats fresh pink gardenias in the water.  BTW, the
    locals call it the "baby factory" because it's so romantic.  There
    is lots to see and do in Acapulco as well--and lots of "deals" to
    be had.
    
    The end of the third week, we ended up in Chicago.  Don't ask.
    
    Besides all the packing we had to do, it was a wonderful trip.
    
    October is a good time to travel to warm locations because the weather
    is usually good (eg., in Caribbean or Mexico), but the prices are
    more reasonable than in the Jan-April time frame. 
    
    I also went to St. Thomas a couple of years ago and enjoyed that
    very much.  We stayed at a place called Secret Harbor...very romantic
    also.  If you do go there, make sure you visit St. John's while
    you're there; it's a beautiful island.
    
    BTW, our original plan was to fly to San Francisco for a week, then
    fly to Acapulco for a week, then come home.  The cost of the cruise,
    which included air fare, accommodations, meals, entertainment and
    the extra couple nights at Las Brisas (which was a special through
    the cruise line), was less than the cost of just the air fare if
    we had gone with Plan A.  So cruises really can be more cost effective,
    while allowing you to "check out" a few different spots without
    unpacking, etc.
    
    Hope this helps.  Good luck.
    
    --Tracy
     

        I'd second (or third) the Hawaii suggestion if you like a laid
    back relaxing vacation.  But as .9 suggested I'd list San Francisco
    as my second choice.  Early October is one of the best times to
    go to San Francisco weather wise.  September and October are the
    warmest months on average in San Francisco.
    
        And there are so many things to do within 4 hours drive of the
    city.  The Napa Valley is 1 1/2 hours away, Lake Tahoe is 4 hours
    away, Yosemite is 5 away, (O.K. it's not 4 hours away, but its
    well worht the trip.) and Monterey and Carmel are 2 1/2 hours away.
    If you're really interested in San Francisco you might want to check
    out the THEBAY::SAN_FRANCISCO conference.  Hit KP7 or the Select
    key to add the conference to your directory.
    
        Of course you could plan to visit Hawaii via San Francisco.
    
    ASP

    
    Don't miss the big artichoke in Castroville...
        

    'Scuse me, as someone who grew up in Bozeman, do you mind telling
    me what the heck you're talking about?  Artichokes don't grow
    that far north.  
    
    --bonnie

    
    
    I'd say, check out LAS BRISAS in Acapulco, or the KRYSTAL hotel in
    Ixtapa. The best for me is LAS HADAS in Manzanillo, that's were
    my wife and I spent our HONEYMOON.
    
    All the above places are in MEXICO.
    
    Good luck.
    
    ART.

    
    
    Forgot to write that all the places that I mentioned in my previous
    reply, have been included by Robin Leach of Lifestyles of the rich
    and famous, as places with high rankings (LAS HADAS is number 7
    in the list of best hotels in the world for 1988.)
    
    For what it's worth...
    
    ART.

    
    As someone else mentioned a few replies back, my husband and I are
    also not fond of warm weather vacations.  We went to Britain for
    our honeymoon.  It was wonderful!  We rented a car for two weeks,
    stayed at romantic bed and breakfast lodges, toured castles and
    gardens - there are lots of things to do in Britain (we like active
    vacations, though).  I'm not sure how Britain would be in October.
    You'd want to check on that with a travel agent I guess.  (We went
    in late May)
                                           
    Anna

    
    We flew into Miami then took a puddle-jumper flight to Key West
    last October for our honeymoon.  We spent a week and a half in the
    Keys just before Columbus day.  It was great!  Warm, friendly, and
    not too expensive.  We had a package deal for a week at Key West
    and spent the rest of the time a few keys up at Big Pine Key.  The
    people were really nice and would help out in anyway they could.
     
    The atmosphere is very laid back, there are pleantly of things to
    see.  Hemingway's house, the Atocha treasure, the end/beginning
    of Rte.1 (big deal, a little red sign!).  There are lots of great
    places to eat.  
    
    If you want excitement get down just before Columbus day and stay
    a while.  Thats when they start their "Mardi Gras"-like festival.
     Hey did I mention the sun, the sunsets, the shopping!  Ho ya I
    wanna go back so bad!!!
    
    It made for a perfectly romantic honeymoon.  An event we will never
    forget.  
    
    Have fun deciding!
    
    I'm happy, I hope you're happy too,
    	Dunc
    

    For our tenth year anniversary, my wife and I went on a 2 week
    WINDJAMMER CRUISE in the West Indies.  This was the most wonderful
    2 weeks of our life.  Contrary to popular belief, you do not work
    on these ships, only fun and sun.......
    
    The cost was very reasonable about $3000 for 2 persons for 2 weeks
    - not including spending $$$ for extra goodies.  
    
    
    Bob  

    re: .12
    
         I believe that Bob's note had a title and a text that didn't
    exactly match.  Castroville in California is the artichoke capitol
    of the world.  It's located about 16 miles NE of Monterey, CA. 
    They have a produce stand there with a HUGE plastic or wooden
    artichoke outside of it.
    
    ASP

    HI,
    
    JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT INFORMATION SO FAR.
     IT'S ALL BEEN VERY HELPFUL.  I'VE GOTTEN ALOT OF BROCHURES FROM
    TRAVEL AGENCIES SO I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO VISUALIZE SOME OF THE PLACES
    MENTIONED......WE STILL HAVEN'T DECIDED YET.  EVERY TRAVEL AGENT
    I HAVE TALKED TO SAID THAT IT'S HURRICANE SEASON IN THE CARRIBEAN
    IN OCT. AND RAINY SEASON I BERMUDA...SO WE MAY END UP IN MEXICO
    OR HAWAII.......THANKS AGAIN!

    RE:  .18 - windjamming
    
    My new hubby and I just returned from a honeymoon in the Virgin
    Islands.  I'm not sure if what we did was "windjamming", but we
    did charter a 52' sail boat and crew for just under 3K for a week.
    It also included all food and booz.  It was *so* special - just
    Gerry, me, the captain and first mate.  They were a couple from
    "down under", and customized our week according to our desired
    activities, food, etc.  I can get you in touch with the charter
    aency.  They are in Marblehead.
          
    Marion

    
    re .15
    
    I'm not sure I would risk Britain in October if I were you ! It
    can be pretty wet and cold around that time of the year. (Mind you,
    I suppose that that could apply to just about any other month, the
    weather is a bit unpredictable over here.) May is probably one of
    the best months to come as there's quite often some nice sunny weather
    and the country is very green and lots of flowers around, June's
    nice too but in July and August it's school holidays so some places
    can get a bit crowded.

    
    Hurricanes are a possibility, of course.  We were on Big Pine when
    the the one last year and it was no problem.  In fact it was fun!
    As a matter of fact, although, Key West hasn't been hit by a hurricane
    in a lonnnng time.
    
    Dunc
    

   
    BTW,
    
    If you plan to buy new clothes for your trip, you may want to start
    NOW, depending on where you live.  When we went on our October trip,
    I started in July looking for new bathingsuits and other tropical
    weather wear--and I couldn't find any anywhere.  By then, the summer
    clothes were mostly sold out and fall clothes were on the racks;
    and "cruisewear" doesn't hit the racks until December or January.
    (Fortunately, I had a business trip to Southern California, where
    I was able to buy everything I needed.)
    
    T.
    

RE: .22

Yes, you have to be careful to consider the local weather.  My wife and I met
in a medieval history club, and planned to go to Iceland for our honeymoon to
see some of the places and things we'd read about.  One day at lunch I went
across the street from the Mill and spoke to a travel agent.  (I have no idea
whether or not the agency is still there.)  The agent thought that Iceland was
a good place to go, and asked me when the wedding was.  When I said "February"
she was quite silent for a while, and finally said "I don't want to tell you
what to do, but may I just suggest that February is not the best time of the
year to see Iceland?  It's very cold and windy."

But we ended up getting married in July, and went to Gloucester, MA for a nice,
quiet time, walking on the rocky shore, watching the lobster boats, and seeing
the town.  It was the first time I'd ever taken a vacation to relax, instead of
going to visit family or participate in some organized activity.  We used the
money we saved to help make the down payment on a house.