Telluride has some truly awesome hiking. I’d be happy to share the dope on my favorites, several of which you can get to from town without driving. It’s a small town, but there are lots of festivals in the summer if you need more entertainment. (Telluride Film Festival, MountainFilm, Chamber Music, Telluride Wine Festival, Blues & Brews, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Jazz Celebration…) Great restaurants. One hour to Mesa Verde, 2 hours to Canyonlands Nat’l Park or Moab, etc, etc. If it’s too expensive, try the nearby town of Ouray, which also has killer hiking and is only an hour from T-ride.
I’m looking at some of these mountain cities in Colorado. I like the idea of combining a trip with a few days in Denver along with a trip out to one of the mountain cities. I’d enjoy a music festival combined with some hiking opportunities.
Is Memphis close to any of the mountains in Tennessee? I do want to visit the South, but I was thinking of New Orleans and then Mississippi. But, I know Tennessee is also close to Mississippi. So, some combination of Tennessee and Mississippi could work as well.
The mountains are at the other end of the state (i.e., about six hours’ driving). New Orleans is a similar distance.
Memphis is just across the border from northern Mississippi, but there’s not much right there but suburbs and casinos. Oxford, Miss., is a pretty college town, with a lot of William Faulkner history, and it’s not a long drive from Memphis. I’m sure there are blues clubs to be found around Mississippi as well, but I don’t know off the top of my head.
The Gulf coast is much more accessible from New Orleans than from Memphis.
Any time is the time to visit DC! Come here on election day, pull up a chair in any one of our excellent bars, and watch the poll results come in. If you’re feeling ambitious, spend the day volunteering in Virginia first.
Come here on Inauguration Day to cheer (or protest, if that’s your thing).
Come here right now to watch the leaves change color, or this spring and summer for top-notch outdoor jazz and shakespeare, or -
Seriously. I love this city more than anyplace else in the Republic. If you’ve only seen the stodgy, boring federal government buildings, you need to come back, hit up the real city.
How about Alaska? You get your dollarsworth in the summer, having almost 24 hours of daytime. Mountains to climb, fish to catch, bears to watch, great roads to drive or ride, the world’s northernmost Denny’s. What else do you need?
Does it have to be a city? If not, I highly recommend Vermont. Stay in Burlington and drive around the state. Autumn is best, of course, but it is really hard to go wrong any time of the year (except May, mud season kinda sucks).
Don’t forget the isles on Lake Champlain, and most certainly don’t skip Montpelier (eat at the culinary institute, I forgot what it is called, but there is only one)
You might even be able to sneak a day trip to Montreal.
And a vote for Boston from your list.
I’d stay away from Jackson… it’s not a big tourist hot spot. New Orleans is not a bad bet. Memphis is really good, but not really close to any mountains. If you’re set on MS, try Greenwood and hit up their Blues museum.
I loved Boston when I went a couple of years ago… not much else I can say about the northeast.
Always wanted to go to Montana and the Pacific Northwest.
Smathers beach is a big white sand beach. Go to fort Zachary Taylor and there is another one. The fishing boats are not real bad especially if you split one. You can dive, snorkel or canoe. There is a huge restaurant and bar scene. You can go out to the dry Tortugas and tour and dive. You can do dinner or sunset cruises. There is a lot to keep you busy.
I keep kicking myself for not doing this when I was just minutes away with time to kill. :smack: I coulda seen the Twin Towers, and drove around Manhattan aimlessly all night.
Instead, I chose “attemped suicide by sleep depravation” and turned right around and headed back west, not stopping again till somewhere around Iowa.
Permit me to put in a plug for my adoptive hometown, Cleveland, Ohio!
It’s a great, smallish city with lots to do. The Cleveland Museum of Art is world-class, and deservedly so; the Cleveland Orchestra likewise. There are lots of funky neighborhoods and bars. A great restaurant scene. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Browns Stadium and Progressive Field for football and baseball, respectively. The Metroparks hiking trails and zoo. Playhouse Square and the Cleveland Play House for live stage shows and musicals. Shopping on hippy-throwback Coventry, in upscale Legacy Village, or in the retro Tower City. And, of course, the most kickass DopeFests around!
Vermont might also be a consideration. A friend of mine from college went there and I think he was doing something with skiing so there must be some hiking there. The city/outdoors combination is ideal for me. A couple days in Boston combined with a to a less urban area would be an ideal vacation.
There is so much hiking in Vermont that you will need 2 pairs of boots. I volunteered some trail work at some point during my stay there. Most trails are in very good shape, are super well marked (even for snowshoeing, another great activity to do over there, if you go in winter), have magnificent views (plenty of finger lakes in some areas) and have all levels of difficulty (tending to easy, though).
If you are planning a Boston/VT combo, there is a road that goes from somewhere in CT to VT and is rated as one of the most scenic drives in the US. I am sorry I forget what road this is, but some googling or a specific thread here (we have several Vermonters here) might give you the answer (or a Rand McNally road atlas). I did it once and it took me a whole day (as opposed to 5-ish hours on the highway) but it was a fun day through beautiful little towns and forested areas.
If you shoot for Halloween, you might get some late autumn foliage and luck out on the first snow for some trail fun and scenic drivearounds.
After traveling all of the Eastern seaboard and inland, I would very, very, very firmly pick Washington D.C. and New Orleans. They are not similar but both offer great experiences that are unique to the U.S. It is impossible not to have a life altering experience in New Orleans and D.C has a ridiculous number of accessible touristy things to do. The Smithsonian museums alone (there are many) are worth a trip from anywhere in the world. Nearby Virginia has some cool stuff too.