40 small U.S. towns worth visiting

[user 22017]

40 American Towns You Haven't Heard of But Should Visit ASAP​

Hit the roads less traveled.

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/g2658/small-american-town-destinations/

 

[Frood]

40 American Towns You Haven't Heard of But Should Visit ASAP​

Hit the roads less traveled.

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/g2658/small-american-town-destinations/

The part that's left unsaid...
"...because after this article gets around and YouTubers start making videos they will be packed with tourists and lose most of their friendliness and charm."

As much as I like these articles for giving me ideas on places to go and visit, I really wish they were less popular.

I'm wondering if Jarbidge has been overwhelmed yet?

 

[INTJohn]

Hilarious as I scroll thru this list dated Oct ‘21 by the way; going on 2 years old; to find Grand Haven Michigan on it. Coast Guard City, USA.
I was born in Grand Haven; grew up there and graduated from Spring Lake HS and is where my love of The Beach and all things Lake Michigan was nurtured as a runaway teen.
Today I spend most of my summer beach time several miles north but still visit GH several times a summer as it’s only about 30 miles frum my summer hang.
It’s a very conservative and religious area. I’ve always called it the Northern Bible Belt. and it’s a major league Lake Michigan tourist town.
Major league crowds on a summer weekend

INTJohn

 

[Morgana]

I've been to four of these towns and lived/worked in one. They're not exactly undiscovered; tourism is a major part of the economy for at least two of them (maybe all four). I wouldn't break any speed limits to get there before the crowds show up.

Doesn't mean they're not worth visiting! Lovely places, but you will be rubbing shoulders with other PFAs (people from away .

PS I could be wrong, but I think we have a native son of one of these towns here on the forum.

 

[wayne49]

The Lake Michigan Dunes are also in that area.

My son graduated from Grand Haven High.

I have been to Jim Thorpe, PA, interesting geography.

 

[user 22017]

I've been to Galena, IL, but not since I was a teen in the '70's. I used to snow ski there on Chestnut Mountain's "bunny hills". The town became popular much later. I grew up 90 miles south of Galena.

Been to Woods Hole, MA. My dad retired to Cape Cod; plus, my godparents had a summer home on the cape that I stayed at. Most of the towns on Cape Cod are scenic. Same with the Rhode Island beaches. Lived in Mass. until I was 10. The whole state is scenic, imo.

 

[INTJohn]

Coincidentally, today is the first day of the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival. It’s always held frum the last weekend in July thru the first weekend of August.
The city embraced it after the USCG cutter Escanaba which was stationed at Grand Haven at the outbreak of WW2 was called into Atlantic Ocean escort duty and was sunk by a uboat torpedo with a loss of 101 of 103 crew members.

Few Grand Haven residents at the time did not know someone or a family member that served on the ship so the entire community was affected.

https://centennial.legion.org/michigan/post28/1943/06/13/sinking-uscgc-escanaba
I remember the 2 survivors always attending the festival memorial and speaking and I also knew some of the crew members children.

It’s sad to me today that it has evolved into a tourist attraction 10 day long party that few understand the depth of the historical connection. But such is today’s Murahka.

INTJohn

 

[Morgana]

For a good look at what life is like behind the scenes in those oh-so-picturesque fishing towns, try GF Michelsen's novel Hard Bottom, set on Cape Cod and written by a former commercial fisherman.

 

[Gr8ful]

Michigan is a Great state. One of my sons lives at Grand Haven. The real jewels are in the west end of the U.P. So many hidden jewels without the tourist.

 

[maki2]

I have been to six of the towns on the list.

 

[Gr8ful]

80 degrees now, 62 tonight, very comfortable!

 

[jcollie]

Unless you're visiting off-peak Galena Illinois is wall-to-wall cars. We tried visiting on a really nice weekend last fall and we could not find parking spots which was especially important because my father has mobility issues and can't walk long distances.

 

[Morgana]

I think you pretty much have to find your own special places.
And it helps to have a good imagination and be easily amused -- /and/ to be able to visit off-peak!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

And to keep your special places to yourself.

 

[egilbe]

Been to Wolfesboro NH, Keene NH and Damriscotta several times. Damn tourist traps in the Summer. Best time to Visit is in the Winter when there are only locals. I'm pretty sure Galena IL is on RT66 so I've been through there, also.

 

[user 22017]

I'm pretty sure Galena IL is on RT66 so I've been through there, also.

Galena is in northwest Illinois on the Mississippi River. Not far from Dubuque, Iowa. Route 66 runs from Chicago through St. Louis. Much further south.

 

[towboater]

Michigan is a Great state. One of my sons lives at Grand Haven. The real jewels are in the west end of the U.P. So many hidden jewels without the tourist.

Don't tell everybody The UP for me is like going to Canada without leaving the US. When u cross into MI from WI it is a different country.

 

[wayne49]

Don't tell everybody The UP for me is like going to Canada without leaving the US. When u cross into MI from WI it is a different country.

Da Yoopers, eh.

Michigan's Thumb is another "special" place.

Midland is the home of Dow Chemical, and a certain colored agent.

Flint has an outstanding Youth Symphony. Just don't drink the tap water.

 

[maki2]

Da Yoopers, eh.

Michigan's Thumb is another "special" place.

Midland is the home of Dow Chemical, and a certain colored agent.

Flint has an outstanding Youth Symphony. Just don't drink the tap water.

I was in Flint Michigan in the mid 1970s. Sure hope it has changed since then. Our host drove us to Frankenmuth and Ann Arbor so we could see much nicer towns to visit instead of Flint.

 

[user 22017]

I was in Flint Michigan in the mid 1970s. Sure hope it has changed since then. Our host drove us to Frankenmuth and Ann Arbor so we could see much nicer towns to visit instead of Flint.

You are comparing a midwestern manufacturing hub to a college town and a German farming community noted for beer festivals. The midwest was filled with manufacturing towns just like Flint. Now most are boarded up. You would like them even less today.