Floridians have a summer rule: The smaller the beach town, the faster it fills. Tourists learn that rule in a parking lot, circling for a space that doesn’t exist. Save yourself the gas. These are the Florida beach towns that aren’t worth the summer crowds. 1. Destin Destin built its name on white sand and…
Have you ever driven three hours for a view that took four minutes? Virginia tourists do it every summer. Some of the Commonwealth’s most famous stops earn their hype. A few don’t. These are the Virginia summer trips that let tourists down. 1. Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens wins awards for its landscaping, and the…
The car door handle is hot enough to brand you, the kids are cranky, and the sign up ahead says the wait is 90 minutes. Every Pennsylvanian has lived some version of that afternoon. These are the Pennsylvania summer trips that don’t live up to the brochure. 1. Centralia An underground mine fire has burned…
Where do North Carolinians go when the flatlands hit 96? Up. At 4,000 feet, breakfast comes with sleeves and a breeze, and nobody apologizes for either. These are the North Carolina mountain escapes built for the hottest months. Blowing Rock North Carolina’s oldest attraction is a cliff that throws things back. The Blowing Rock hangs…
You could fight the shore-traffic crawl to the Jersey beaches this Fourth. Or you could stay in Pennsylvania, where a string of lake towns throws its own waterfront celebration without the six-hour drive or the sunburn line. From the Poconos to the Lake Erie shore, these are the Pennsylvania spots built for a long, lazy…
Anybody can grill hot dogs and watch fireworks from a lawn chair. But in Virginia, you can stand on the exact spot where the Revolution was won, then watch the sky light up over the same river the British sailed down in defeat. The Commonwealth is dotted with places where the country’s founding stopped being…
There’s a Virginia you see on a postcard, and there’s the Virginia you meet at 11 a.m. on a summer Saturday. They aren’t the same place. The postcard version is calm overlooks and empty trails. The summer-Saturday version is a closed parking gate, a $36 ticket, and a stranger’s elbow in your ribs. Here’s where…
New York City gets the postcard fireworks over the East River, and the whole country tunes in. But drive a few hours upstate, and you’ll find something the cameras miss. These are the New York towns that treat the Fourth like the biggest day on the calendar. Most of the state has never heard of…
Florida does the big-city fireworks show as well as anyone. But the Fourth of July hits different in the small towns. Out past the theme parks and the beach high-rises, there are Florida towns where the parade still rolls down a brick main street, the band plays on a courthouse lawn, and the fireworks boom…
There’s a reason Floridians roll their eyes when a tourist announces they’re heading to Clearwater Beach on the Fourth. Locals already know how that day ends: a parking lot full by 9 a.m., a two-hour crawl home, and a patch of sand the size of a beach towel. Floridians love their coast. They just guard…
