Anyone enjoy visiting small towns around country

[bullfrog]

Small towns are just like the few people that live in them, some enjoy having visitors and some don't. Pay attention and stay away from ones that don't. Every state has some that are especially unwelcoming, lately some in Utah have been in the news, but if you are tolerant and just passing through usually no problems as they need dollars that tourists bring.

 

[skyl4rk]

We have had good overnight parking/sleeping in downtown parking lots in small towns. You can get noise from staff dumping trash in the dumpster after closing time, and some drunks talking for a while. Park on the far end of a free overnight parking lot, ideally near a park with restrooms. We often end up near city hall and the police department, no problems. Usually much quieter than the Mart of Wal, with their leaf blowers and street sweepers at 3am.

 

[Ballenxj]

When I do a trial run of traveling/living in my Jeep Patriot I think part of my plan is to visit as many small towns around the country as I can as opposed to mostly camping in nature spots. I think it would be cool to see old movie theaters and main street type of towns around the country. 

I'm with you on that. I love seeing out of the way places.

 

[mert6706]

The wild, weird and wonderful is out there. Up around the bend, over the hill, down a side street. Towns with glass beaches, stores with front window displays of food and table settings carved from rock, spotting a pyramid home with Egyptian statues, deserted mining towns filled with antiques. Musty libraries to modern. Curio shops filled to the brim with antiques and nostalgia. Old style arcades and billiard halls, memories of a misspent youth. Main Street small town, reliving different eras through the architecture. From the wild west, swinging 60s, fabulous 50s, roaring 20s, you can relive it all in a small town. Reconnecting with our forefathers and history. Scenic towns near a river, taking a dip in shallow pools between rapids flowing over smoothed rocks on a hot day. Discovering the wild west in restored towns, stopping for pear cactus ice cream. Reliving the golden era of cinema in old theaters. Here's looking at you, kid. Saloons that harbored the life of the town, criminals, fights, and brothels. Slide me down a whisky, will you bartender?Seacoast towns with decrepit wharfs, thick with the smell of the sea, chilling breezes and hearty chowder to warm your gizzards. Yes small towns have charm, history, grace, vibe, warmth and comfort. Gossip and small minds too. .Well,  I was born in a small town, another boring romantic, that's me.

Well said, Mnivanmotoman, I've had many of the wonderful experiences you speak of. Just one, a memorable weekend traveling south from Sacramento down Highway 49 in California through the gold country. Every little town had historic jails, stagecoach stops, little museums, old newspapers, great stories, etc.

 

[snarfersnarf]

I am so glad the OP posted this. This is exactly why I am transitioning into the van life. When I made the decision to live in a van/trailer, I did so in order to explore the US, the destinations in mind was the lesser known towns. For one thing, I want to explore regional food. I found a lot of cool resources on roadsideamerica.com and atlastobscura. Some food sites as well. Another thing I am interested in seeing are Native American mounds and other sites like that. I love waterfalls, mountians, swimming holes, hot springs, anything weird and paranormal, and so much more. I began a roadtrip map on Google My Maps, which is different than just Google Maps. I began to record points of interest I would find on all these web sites I was looking through. I seriously spent about three days where I only plotted destinations. I would look for breweries in those areas as well, because I love good beer. Most breweries have cars overnight in their parking lot because drunk people have to take a cab home (hopefully). I am planning on parking overnight near breweries or bars often when I finally leave town. I will add places people tell me to visit on my map instead of just forgetting about it. My intent with the map is that no matter where I am driving to in the US, I will have points of interest in between point A and point B. I have about 800 places marked on my map. It motivates me every time I add a place to the list to get my van set up and save a good enough nest egg!

Does anyone have any MUST VISIT places? Any cool small towns that stood out? Any regionally famous foods? Any to die for Reuben sandwich? Any places to cliff jump or swim?

I live in a cool small city called Lynchburg, VA. It is about 30 min from the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a must if you are between here and Asheville, NC. If you come to town go to Rivermont Pizza for great food and good beer. Walking distance from there passed the very scenic Randolph College, is the Cavalier. It is the closest thing to a dive we have. It is a very cool place to eat my personal favorite reuben and shoot pool. It has a bunch of old shit all over the place. Our local greasy spoon late night food spot is the Texas Inn, or the T Room as we call it. It has its famous Cheesy Western. It is a greasy cheeseburger with a fried egg on it with a special yellow relish. It is all you could ever want when it is 2 AM on a Saturday night after a night at Rivermont Pizza or any of the new bars downtown. Also, there are so many places downtown you can park with no problems whatsoever, unless it is on the weekend. The downtown is charming and on the river. There are many crazy old buildings and houses all over the city, it is fun to just cruise around. The area is rife with Civil War historic areas. Appomattox is a great historical place less than an hour away. Despite recent terrible events, Charlottesville is a very cool and progressive city and is about an hour from here. Take rt 151 to get there and there are over 4 breweries 2 cider makers, a distillery and about the most beautiful drives on the east coast. Roanoke is also a very cool city less than an hour from here. Stop in Bedford on the way to Roanoke, it has a great D Day Memorial and a new brewery called Beal's. Looking for a real crazy adventure? The last week of June is the annual James River Batteau Festival. A floating festival boats from Lynchburg to Richmond in 7 days. Most people kayak and canoe, but a bunch of historically made batteau boats manned by crews of 5 or more will pole their boats the whole way. The first year I went, I got to do 5 days of it and it changed my life. You make great friends and the whole time is a huge party. I am almost making myself not want to leave Virginia! I will always be traveling back for sure, I recommend checking it out. It is very pretty. Panther Falls and Staton Creek Falls are all great places to take a dip and enjoy the tranquil falls. Did I mention free camping on the parkway and national forests toward WV?

 

[blmkid]

"On the Road with Charles Kuralt "

Here's a link to a google search: https://www.google.com/search?q=cha...HunZPYDg&start=0&sa=N&biw=1093&bih=510[/SIZE]

I watched Charles, every Sunday morning. I loved that voice.
 R.I.P. Mr. Kuralt.

 

[Beckyls31]

This is why I want to travel I want to see everything! Lol I definitely don’t want to see interstates though unless there’s a family emergency.

 

[Beckyls31]

I’m live in Lynchburg too. Have you left for your adventure yet? I’m hoping me and my minivan will leave by October 1st. I can’t wait I’m so excited.

 

[Deb_A]

I love small towns, and plan to visit a lot of them. When I used to travel with my son, we loved finding small towns with a local restaurant and go in and talk to the locals. I'm hoping that if I do that in my van, I can ask if there is any place to park overnight and get some offers to park in driveways or even open fields. I know people who do that. Seeing the country is great, but I want to meet the actual people in the country. 

My passion is gardening, so I want to go to small towns and find the most beautiful gardens and meet the gardeners. I also want to travel to as many botanical gardens as I can. I did have a plan to do a YT channel on it, but that's a lot of work. I may just do a blog with pictures, maybe a short video of interviews with the gardeners. My dream is to go to the Chelsea flower show and Kew gardens in England.

 

[DannyB1954]

I am more of a vacationer than even a part timer. Some health issues have contributed to that. I spent most of my adult life living on boats and RV's but none of that was adventure touring and I was mostly stationary. In the last two years I have spent about 2 months living in my van.

Small towns are nice to pass through for maybe a few days, but I think a town large enough to have a Walmart, Lowe's or Home Depot is more to my liking. Something in between everyone wanting to put their nose into your business, and one where nobody will even look your way. This year I think I want to check out towns like Flagstaff Az. My van conversion is about finished and all I really need to do is pack. I will be traveling alone with my dog, so camping in a forest or desert by myself will get old pretty quick. I may take some tools and maybe even a sewing machine to finish off the van. I have lots of power options now, so that part is covered.