Return to Virginia Business - February 2003

by Marjolijn Bijlefeld

Baby, it’s cold outside. Maybe not an Arctic cold, but a lingering, we’re-not-out-of-winter-yet kind of chill. You can bundle up for another month or two, or you can catch a southbound plane to some place way below the snow line. And with major airports in Norfolk, Dulles and Richmond there are plenty of ways to escape. Airlines serving these airports and travel agencies are willing and able to help you. Check out Web sites for special offers, which change regularly.

For sheer spectacle, try Atlantis resort on the Bahamas’ Paradise Island, just over the causeway from Nassau. Besides the usual white sand beaches, it has a casino built over a seven-acre lagoon, 11 themed pools, such as the Lagoon and Mayan Temple, and a variety of water slides and rides. The most dramatic, aptly named Leap of Faith, whooshes riders down a nearly vertical 60-foot drop slide along a replicated Mayan Temple. Then, while enclosed in an acrylic underwater tube, they finish the ride by coasting through a shark-filled lagoon. The resort offers four-day/three-night basic accommodation packages ranging from $519 to $709 per person through the end of May. Nassau International Airport, a 30-minute flight from Miami, is served by American Eagle, Continental, Delta, TWA and US Airways. Travel time from Virginia airports is typically four to five hours, and ticket prices run about $500 per person.

If the beach sounds nice and you’re planning to dip anything more than your toes in the surf, you’ll need to head way south. “Even the Bahamas and Bermuda aren’t always warm in February,” says Joyce Marfull of Up and Away Travel in Fairfax.

Try the Turks and Caicos Islands, one of the newer destination spots in the Caribbean. This string of islands 575 miles southeast of Miami boasts the third largest coral reef system in the world and 230 miles of white sand beaches. “Five or six years ago, there was nothing,” she says. Now there are luxury resorts such as Club Med, but the islands still have a quiet feel. Although it’s just a 70-minute flight from Miami, Americans are only beginning to go, so you can still get a close-by Caribbean vacation without the crowds.

A long weekend to the Turks and Caicos will cost about $1,100 per person including airfare, Marfull says. Flights generally don’t originate from Virginia airports; American Airlines offers three flights daily from Miami to the Providenciales International Airport. Delta offers a flight every Saturday from Atlanta.

If you’re willing to gamble on the weather, consider South Beach in Miami. In the past two decades, the city’s oldest section has restored its 1930s art deco origins. “It has wonderful boutique hotels and hundreds of outdoor cafes where you can sit and watch the world walk by,” Marfull says.

Be aware, however, that vacation destinations in February may already be booked. “There are a lot of school breaks in February so other than Christmas, it’s one of the busiest seasons” says Elaine Collins with Nicholas Travel, a corporate travel firm in Chesapeake. Nicholas’ sister agency, Grand Destinations, handles leisure travel, and Col-lins often books both kinds of trips for her business clients. “Rates could be double and availability lower,” she says. Bargain hunters and last-minute planners may have more luck the first and last week of the month.

Las Vegas can provide a quick get-away for about $700 per couple for a long weekend, including airfare and hotel. While it’s rare to find nonstop flights out of Norfolk, the ad-dition of Southwest Airlines has given the region’s travelers more options for direct flights to more destinations, she says. Southwest lists special vacation destinations to cities in Florida, Texas and Arizona, for example, on its Web site.

Collins says no single destination is this winter’s hot spot. “I may get 10 calls from people looking for a last-minute vacation and they all want something different — especially in February,” she says. Skiing destinations are just as popular as warm-weather spots. It’s not so much that people want to escape the cold as they simply want to shake off cabin fever, she says. For example, she just booked a weekend for a business traveler to London so he and his wife could see a show and enjoy a change of scenery. For that reason, any upscale resort within driving distance that offers a spa and nearby golf course is also popular. She’s been booking a lot of mini-vacations at nearby resorts, such as Williamsburg Inn, or at The Sanderling in Duck, N.C.

Whether you chase your goose bumps away in Virginia or the tropics, take heart. By April, the average temperature in Virginia Beach warms to a balmy 58 degrees.

Virginia Business - February 2003