Where is good combo of warm and not touristy in southern US?

[bsi]

I have some time on my hands this winter and am looking for some quiet solitude in the sun. I am looking for somewhere I can drive and stay for a few weeks to just veg and read books in the sun. Nightlife is not important.

I don't need oceanfront or tourist attractions and I sure don't want to pay for that. Something like $500 for 2-3 weeks of accomodations. Something in a trailer park would be fine.

I am guessing Florida is mostly geared to tourists although the inland areas might suit. I am guessing that Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana might have some places. Texas, Arizona or California are getting kind of far but hey.

If someone has an undiscovered gem, let me know.

 

[S.C. Joe]

Been to Downtown Miami..not South Beach-went there too but downtown..in Miami you need to drive across a long bridge to get to a little island they call South Beach..that is where tourist go...downtown is the non-tourist area once you get a few miles away from where the bridge to South Beach starts.

$500 for 2-3 weeks...yeah, you find a motel in downtown Miami but gee unless you are black or can fit in with them, not sure...I was at a days inn for $50 a night but that was first class around there

Keep in mind its warm year round, that means roaches and other bugs are all around..seen one roach at the days, but that is good for Miami.

Sure there is better you can find but Miami might be the warmest area for right now, that is why I went.

 

[ig-88]

Just about anywhere, really.

I would just browse the priceline bidding boards until you find a place that fits your fancy, and then bid on that place.

 

[papasmerf]

if yo want to spent 500 for a 3 week stay in the US I suggest you start looking at HOSTELS. 35 dollar a day hotels are not found.

 

[CapitalGuy]

35 dollar a day hotels are not found.

Sure they are. Such places are everywhere. Even cheaper. I spent ONE night in such a place in Beaumont Texas, just outside the Alabama border. Was tired while driving late at night so I pulled into the first place after the off ramp. Only $21. Filthy, roaches, but I didn't care as I just wanted to sleep for a few hours then get back on the road. About 4 hours after checking in (call it 3AM) there was a series of kicks at my door. I pulled back the curtains to find four young men of a certain ethnicity, demanding payment for the drugs I bought from them. Ummm...

Anyhow, one of the four was short of cash I reckon, and was trying to bs the other three. They eventually assured me that nothing was "going down" and I could go back to sleep, and left, presumably to kick the shit out of the fourth dude.

The rest of the trip was spent in reputable Hotels, at a cost of $150 or higher. And I was able to sleep without interruption.

 

[Master Muse]

restful vacation

Try the panhandle area of Florida, with Pensacola as its airport. It's on the Gulf, has very small beach towns nd is quiet and safe. In Texas, along the Gulg is again filled with safe, small, quieet sleepy places.

 

[spankingman]

500.00 for 2-3 weeks down south in winter!!!!!!!!!!! Thats the PEAK season for southern locations. You might get that in the summer when NO ONE goes to Florida.

 

[Don]

Stay away from Miami and Southern California. Not only is it tourist heavy, but no way you can get it for that cheap. I'd recommend somewhere in the desert. Like Arizona or New Mexico in the middle of nowhere if you can take the dry heat. Maybe even Navada (far away from Vegas) or Utah.

 

[a 1 player]

Moab - Utah

 

[CapitalGuy]

If you just want warmth and don't need the ocean or distraction, and don't want to pay, I suggest you simply pull out a map of the interior states you mentioned, find a city or town that looks suitable and do some research on tripadvisor.com or something similiar. What you are looking for is entirely achievable, but it is unlikely that people on this board will have spent a holiday in some non-descript southern town in the deep south, so you are unlikely to get specific recommendations from here.

You don't even need to drive as far south as you are mentioning. Go to the weathernetwork.com to get some average temperatures for this time of year. The interior of South Carolina and northern Georgia are probably the closest states that will meet your needs. I'd even look up Tennessee. There are economically depressed areas all through that region, where motor hotels will give you weekly rates of a couple hundred bucks. But, they probably dont' have websites or Expedia links. Be aware though, that crime can be high in the lower-end places. Lots of people live in gated communities down there, with good reason. My story about drug dealers in a cheap roadside motel isn't a one-off. There is poverty and crime down there, and if you gravitate to the cheaper deals, you might encounter it.

Also keep in mind that package deals to the Caribbean can be had for dirt cheap. You can spend a week in Cuba for $500. I'm sure if you shop around you can find a real good deal somewhere in a 1 or 2 star "resort" that will include airfare and maybe even breakfast, for cheap.

 

[Brotherman]

toursity? shouldn't it be "not much tourism"..?

 

[S.C. Joe]

Many blacks and Cubans live in Miami..deep in, its not a tourist area and its not expensive. I was there in 2005, the SC deep in where running ads in the papers saying they have $5 lap dances at lunch time. I seen some pretty cheap, poor areas.

I do not recommend it but you could find a motel room for $500 for 2-3 weeks in some areas there. Would your car be ok the whole time..would you be

Its how warm do you want it, 15-20 (50-60 dergrees) there is lots of places to go, 30 (80+ degrees) its Miami..only place in the 48 states where saltwater crocodiles live year round and the south by the keys...thats more $$$...think of the worst area of Toronto during the summer and times it by 3..you get parts of Miami.

 

[21pro]

you said Texas is kinda far, but I've found what you are looking for in Tyler Texas, or on Lake Palestine ... stay at Lake O the Woods - $199/wk get's you your own 2 storey log cabin w/ fireplace, a real bbq pit, a lakefront patio and peace and quiet.

you should easily be able to find a dig in Alabama or the other places you mentioned. i stayed in Mobile before... the cockroaches are mmmweh...

alot of people really, really like Texas. alot of interesting peaceful towns... many lakes, good climate, very rural with ammenities within 45min drive no matter where you are.

 

[bsi]

Thanks for the leads so far. A lot of good tips in there.

 

[ig-88]

actually, you can pick a big, touristy place, as long as you stay away from the main tourist areas

look for hotels in the suburbs away from all the tourist attractions

it's the same as staying in guelph instead of downtown toronto, for example

and use priceline to get a nice place for cheap

so really, you can just about pick any place you want (except for maybe New York)

 

[bsi]

actually, you can pick a big, touristy place, as long as you stay away from the main tourist areas

look for hotels in the suburbs away from all the tourist attractions

it's the same as staying in guelph instead of downtown toronto, for example

and use priceline to get a nice place for cheap

so really, you can just about pick any place you want (except for maybe New York)

This is a good analogy of what I am seeking. A place with the climate of what I seek but outside of a major center.

For example, I am sure few people in Atlanta know there is a place called Guelph, just outside of Toronto. Similarly, I do not really know of what towns might be 20-40km outside of areas I seek.

Some of the previous suggestions have now pointed me this way (i.e. get out a map, then google towns I find) and the specific recommendations about Texas are intriguing and I have started to google them. I admit that I had not thought of Texas as a place with lakes.

The hostel idea seems worth looking at as well. I guess I am looking for something that caters to wandering students versus something primarily occupied by the down and out-ers.

I guess I was also hoping that someone would PM me and say their trailer in Florida was unoccupied for period A -> B and a short term rental might be in order.

 

[Pencap]

For $500 you could try to sublet a place.

Pencap

PS: somebody else suggested New Mexico. Never been, but some of the coolest, most interesting people I've met have been from there.