I initially voted “None of the above” because there are few places I would like less to visit right now than the U.S.
Then I realized the poll says “Within the next 3 years”, so I voted for a few interesting cities on the proviso that the country has regained some measure of rationality after Trump.
Still if it was up to me I’d go to Europe every time, I was a fan of ancient European history even before reading LOTR so visiting Marathon, Athens, Thermopylae was like visiting Lothlorien, Rivendell, Gondor…
So far I was able to go only once but I hope to return at least once more.
I’m still trying to figure out why Washington DC wasn’t on the list.
Disneyland and DisneyWorld for us. (Anaheim, Orlando) and maybe SLO.
For the record - and I didn’t mention it initially because I didn’t think it would matter - The cities in the poll were identified as the most visited by international visitors. Cite
And, now that you mention it, @BippityBoppityBoo , I am also baffled as to why D.C. is not on the list.
mmm
I went with:
Honolulu, because, you know, it’s in Hawaii.
Flagstaff, because it’s the closest city to the Grand Canyon.
Nashville, just because I’ve never been there before and I’ve heard it has a cool vibe.
I chose:
Boston and New Orleans for historical reasons.
Honolulu because beaches and nature.
*Had a good vibe. Now it’s full of drunk dude-bros, woo-girls, and pedal taverns.
So maybe the international visitors who took the poll were Steinbeck fans? I’ve only spent enough time in Salinas that it takes to drive through it, probably 8-10 times, but at no point did I see something and think, “Hey, we should stop and check that out.”
ETA: Or maybe the international visitors thought they were talking about Salina, KS, or even Salida, CA? ![]()
My only guesses are 1) Maybe people visiting Monterey are staying in Salinas because it’s cheaper. 2) Somehow migrant farm workers are getting counted as “international visitors”, given that as far as I know Salinas is most famous for growing lettuce.
My free vacations will be to Honolulu, Denver, and Salt Lake City.
I prioritized places I’ve never been to. Re-thinking it, though, a week in New York with expenses paid would be hard to pass up.
mmm
Think it is safest to decline all those vacations. ICE might detain me for weeks despite having Visa without giving any reason (possibly due to a post I made on SDMB.
I voted New York and Chicago because they are so damned expensive on your own dime…and I’ve barely been outside the airports of either city. Third one was Memphis for the music history (Sun and Stax records, Graceland, and a day trip to Nashville) and the food.
Given that I’m currently enjoying a no-expenses-paid trip to Baltimore, I picked that.
Also Honolulu and New Orleans.
Second prize was two weeks in Baltimore? ![]()
Baltimore is quite nice actually. They had a massive amount of tall ships and other naval vessels (domestic and foreign) in the harbor last weekend you could go onto, right next to the National Aquarium.
Correction: The Inner Harbor is (can be) quite nice. ![]()
Piffle. I was at the Baltimore Museum of Art yesterday and the Senator cinema last week. Plenty of nice places and things to see and do.
A lot of not-nice places too, but that’s true of every city. And hey - homicide is at its lowest rate since 1970 so - bonus!
All articles of clothing get laundered before being worn, with the possible exception of suits - it’s been so long since I bought a new suit I don’t remember if I was in the habit of having them cleaned first. You never know what’s on new clothing, whether it’s sizing (I don’t even know what it is, but my mom said I had to wash it off new clothing), flame retardants, or other people’s funk who may have tried it on or otherwise handled it. My wife buys a lot of clothes at the local Goodwill Outlet store, and supposedly everything gets cleaned, but every piece of GO clothing has a distinctive GO smell, that sometimes takes more than one laundering.
Underpants, probably yes. Socks, probably no.
New and used clothing both the same- if it will touch my skin it gets washed- socks, underwear, shirts, pants etc. So jackets, etc do not.