Went to a wedding in Fort Meyers a few years ago
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I don’t like Florida much but the gulf side was surprisingly nice
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I don’t like Florida much but the gulf side was surprisingly nice
OT: "Name a city that exceeded your expectations upon your first visit."
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Boulder , Colorado was awesome
It was also surprisingly mild for the week we were there in March
It was also surprisingly mild for the week we were there in March
Madison, WI. Two beautiful lakefronts. Good food. Awesome summer weather. Nicest people you can imagine.
Salt Lake City much more going on than I anticipated and nice light rail system. Maybe it was my bias assuming all of Utah was boring but I was shocked at how cosmopolitan it was. Also the surrounding area is great but that wasn't really a surprise. I went to Park City, which is about 45 minutes from downtown Salt Lake for night, and it was absolutely gorgeous.
I echo those saying Greenville,SC. I moved about an hour south of Greenville (Greenwood, SC nice little town in the middle of nowhere) to work as a financial analyst in a manufacturing plant after college in 2006. All the people I worked with told me how great Greenville was and after a few weeks as a 22 year old in the middle of nowhere I decided to venture the 50 miles to Greenville for some nightlife. It exceeded my high expectations. It is gorgeous and main street is absolutely hopping on Friday and Saturday night. It is my favorite smaller city in America.
Lastly Savannah which is just an amazingly cool old city. Again I had high expectations here and they were exceeded.
I echo those saying Greenville,SC. I moved about an hour south of Greenville (Greenwood, SC nice little town in the middle of nowhere) to work as a financial analyst in a manufacturing plant after college in 2006. All the people I worked with told me how great Greenville was and after a few weeks as a 22 year old in the middle of nowhere I decided to venture the 50 miles to Greenville for some nightlife. It exceeded my high expectations. It is gorgeous and main street is absolutely hopping on Friday and Saturday night. It is my favorite smaller city in America.
Lastly Savannah which is just an amazingly cool old city. Again I had high expectations here and they were exceeded.
To be fair though, Walt's been dead for 54 years, so I'm not sure he's actually offering anything at this point.
We spent the week between the Pitt at Miami and Pitt at Clemson games in 2016 in Marco Island, FL. South of Ft Myers on the Gulf Coast. That was in the first half of Nov. Weather was perfect at that time of year. Crowds were light: snowbirds hadn’t arrived yet. It was pretty darn nice!
•London - as one who loves history, this was THE place to spend a week (or more). There’s so much to see here that my biggest challenge was deciding what I wanted to see the most. Their mass transit system is well documented; it takes a day or two to learn how to use it, but once you get the hang of it, it’s really good. The downside of London? It’s pricey. Accept that you’re gonna spend a tidy sum for the experience.
•Cleveland - Sure, we like to bad-mouth the place, but honestly, it’s a lot like Pittsburgh, minus the Super Bowl wins (anything that happened before the Super Bowl years doesn’t count - right?).
•Asheville, NC - the place reminded me of Shadyside in 1970. Plenty of small, funky, family-owned boutiques. When I was there 10 years ago, it had a”hippy-vibe”, complete with college students (young women wearing “granny dresses” and guys with shoulder-length hair. I felt like I’d stumbled thru a time-warp). I’d recommend staying at a B&B over a hotel.
•Key West (disclaimer: not for everyone) - a lively, iconic bar scene with live trop-rock/Gulf Coastal music. Many fresh-caught, seafood restaurants. Unfortunately, it’s become more “touristy” than ever (it’s even become a stop for cruise ships.)
But there’s so much to see of a historic nature (Hemingway’s house, Truman’s southern White House, etc) that it’s really more than bars and touristy souvenir shops. The beaches are meh at best: the better ones are smallish and man-made from sand brought from the Bahamas on barges. KW is not particularly kid-friendly; they’d be bored silly. It’s pricey, too.
•Cleveland - Sure, we like to bad-mouth the place, but honestly, it’s a lot like Pittsburgh, minus the Super Bowl wins (anything that happened before the Super Bowl years doesn’t count - right?).
•Asheville, NC - the place reminded me of Shadyside in 1970. Plenty of small, funky, family-owned boutiques. When I was there 10 years ago, it had a”hippy-vibe”, complete with college students (young women wearing “granny dresses” and guys with shoulder-length hair. I felt like I’d stumbled thru a time-warp). I’d recommend staying at a B&B over a hotel.
•Key West (disclaimer: not for everyone) - a lively, iconic bar scene with live trop-rock/Gulf Coastal music. Many fresh-caught, seafood restaurants. Unfortunately, it’s become more “touristy” than ever (it’s even become a stop for cruise ships.)
But there’s so much to see of a historic nature (Hemingway’s house, Truman’s southern White House, etc) that it’s really more than bars and touristy souvenir shops. The beaches are meh at best: the better ones are smallish and man-made from sand brought from the Bahamas on barges. KW is not particularly kid-friendly; they’d be bored silly. It’s pricey, too.
I thought that downtown Philly was the perfect place to fit the description “nice place to visit, but wouldn’t want to live there”. For me, the historical sites and their museums were a must-see, but otherwise, I couldn’t wait to leave.
Los Angeles and Hollywood were 2 places i thought i would love. Visited once and feel no desire to return. Very underwhelming
I’ll echo Salt Lake City -
Was absolutely blown away by the town
We went for a weekend trip in 2019 and was very impressed as well. Had a very nice light rail system. Loved Target Field.
Noted. Between that and the sights to see in Portland, sounds like it’d all make for a very nice trip. And the lobster...
Lobster rolls, Duckfat, Eventide Oysters, Holy Donut, there are a lot of great food options. And great beer too.
Wilmington NC is a really cool little town
Durham NC has really improved
Charleston SC and Savana Ga are cool
really liked Long Beach Cali and San Diego
I liked Tucson Az
I enjoyed Shanghai, Chongqing, and HANGZHOU
The historical sites in and around Beijing are amazing but not a fan of the city otherwise
Tokyo and Kyoto were really cool
Absolutely enjoyed Normandy
Durham NC has really improved
Charleston SC and Savana Ga are cool
really liked Long Beach Cali and San Diego
I liked Tucson Az
I enjoyed Shanghai, Chongqing, and HANGZHOU
The historical sites in and around Beijing are amazing but not a fan of the city otherwise
Tokyo and Kyoto were really cool
Absolutely enjoyed Normandy
Took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallin, Estonia for a day once when I was bored and had some time to kill. Really neat walled city, cool architecture, good food and drink (though expensive) - definitely exceeded my expectations.
For those that mention Asheville, NC... yes, great food and beer galore, you’ve got Biltmore Estate, and all the activities of the mountains. Being in raleigh, it’s and easy trek for us. But man, the homeless situation is San Francisco-like, at least downtown. That’s the one major drawback.
For those that mention Asheville, NC... yes, great food and beer galore, you’ve got Biltmore Estate, and all the activities of the mountains. Being in raleigh, it’s and easy trek for us. But man, the homeless situation is San Francisco-like, at least downtown. That’s the one major drawback.
I was in Minsk also. Same trip. I was there playing soccer and maybe it was Minsk that was totally dead. Our only interactions was with guys wanting to buy our American clothing or trade to get US dollars. We flew into an airport that was dead also. Military guys tossing our gear everywhere. We had military guards outside the place we stayed.
I can’t recall the details as it’s been so long. We drove by charter bus from airport to what they called a Russian Olympic training facility.
I’m sure that was a high quality facility with excellent design and skilled construction. 😉
When you entered the Russian Olympic Training facility, were you required to take steroids? Or, was that requirement only for females?
Dubrovnik, friendly people and it was nice seeing spots from Game of Thrones.
Rome if you can ignore the graffiti. The history is amazing.
Naples Florida, what can be better than the Gulf of Mexico and the money down there is unbelievable. 5th Avenue is a sight to see.
Rome if you can ignore the graffiti. The history is amazing.
Naples Florida, what can be better than the Gulf of Mexico and the money down there is unbelievable. 5th Avenue is a sight to see.
I agree with Key West. Great in 1980. Not so much in 2020. I know it was 40 years but just a completely different place.•London - as one who loves history, this was THE place to spend a week (or more). There’s so much to see here that my biggest challenge was deciding what I wanted to see the most. Their mass transit system is well documented; it takes a day or two to learn how to use it, but once you get the hang of it, it’s really good. The downside of London? It’s pricey. Accept that you’re gonna spend a tidy sum for the experience.
•Cleveland - Sure, we like to bad-mouth the place, but honestly, it’s a lot like Pittsburgh, minus the Super Bowl wins (anything that happened before the Super Bowl years doesn’t count - right?).
•Asheville, NC - the place reminded me of Shadyside in 1970. Plenty of small, funky, family-owned boutiques. When I was there 10 years ago, it had a”hippy-vibe”, complete with college students (young women wearing “granny dresses” and guys with shoulder-length hair. I felt like I’d stumbled thru a time-warp). I’d recommend staying at a B&B over a hotel.
•Key West (disclaimer: not for everyone) - a lively, iconic bar scene with live trop-rock/Gulf Coastal music. Many fresh-caught, seafood restaurants. Unfortunately, it’s become more “touristy” than ever (it’s even become a stop for cruise ships.)
I moved here in 85 and havent left.......keeps getting better and better
I also don’t love Florida but we have found a couple of sweet spots that we really like on the gulf side. Sanibel-Captiva and North Captiva are fantastic. I don’t like high rises on my beaches and that rules out 90% of Florida—San-Cap has a ton of protected natural areas and long-standing building restrictions that don’t permit structures higher than the tallest palm trees on their lots. North Captiva is accessible only by boat and no cars are allowed on the island. Very unique and beautiful spot.
I also like St. Augustine a lot. That was a place that exceeded my expectations for sure.
I love exploring different cities, but almost always find that I like Philadelphia the best (I live here, but did not grow up here). In my opinion, it has a great mix of the attractions of NYC, but without the need to glam yourself up. It also has grit, like Pittsburgh, which gives it character. I will say though, people who only stay around city hall and then go to Independence Hall/Delaware Waterfront are missing a number of best parts of Philadelphia, and aren't getting its true flavor. Nevertheless, I can understand that people who prefer the GQ feel of Boston/NYC/DC probably don't feel the same way, and its also too big for people who want to be able to get the feel for a city in one day.
I also loved Victoria, BC. Chill & outdoorsy.
I also loved Victoria, BC. Chill & outdoorsy.
Will echo what some others have said about Las Vegas. Moved here from Pittsburgh 19 years ago and can’t imagine ever leaving at this point, it has just about everything we were looking for.
I love the town of Aiken, SC near the Georgia border. Stayed there the first time we went to the Masters and fell in love with the place. Friendly, quaint, and historic, in a lot of ways your quintessential small Southern town.
We spend as much time as we can in Newport Beach every year, so much so that it’s become rare that we go anywhere else on vacation. Will never have the money to retire there, but if I did it’s one of the few places I would consider leaving Las Vegas for.
I love the town of Aiken, SC near the Georgia border. Stayed there the first time we went to the Masters and fell in love with the place. Friendly, quaint, and historic, in a lot of ways your quintessential small Southern town.
We spend as much time as we can in Newport Beach every year, so much so that it’s become rare that we go anywhere else on vacation. Will never have the money to retire there, but if I did it’s one of the few places I would consider leaving Las Vegas for.
I love the restaurants in Philly but almost nothing else. My experience is dirty place and rude people, in general. Restaurants all over are very good.
Philadelphia does live up to its reputation. I won't go all the way to call the people there rude, but they do give off a different attitude compared to other places I've been. Dirty is the best way to describe it. I've never been anywhere else that had trash everywhere. Many areas of the city just have garbage all over the road and sidewalks and it isn't pleasant.
This is a good take. I used to live in Philly and it's really recovered a lot from my experience in it as a kid in the 1990s (which was going to Veterans Stadium or the Franklin Institute and immediately leaving because it was dangerous). The city has a lot going for it: it's comparatively affordable (a 2BR townhouse in a nice neighborhood will be 50% the cost of DC) for East Coast cities but still has an amazing food and drink scene. Places like Zahav, Serpico, and Vernick Food & Drink can compete with anything in NYC or DC and you can actually get in there to enjoy it, unlike so many places in the megacities (I once ate at Babbo in NYC and I had to make my reservation a month in advance - we sat down at 11pm on a Thursday).
Philly is also really walkable. Probably about 30-40 blocks from the Delaware to UCity and 30-40 more from Washington Ave to Spring Garden is an insanely huge walkable footprint for an American city. And it's all flat. They've also done a good job with the outdoor scene, building a boardwalk over the Schuylkill around 21st street that gives you about 40 miles of bike path, as well as super cool pop-ups on the Delaware. The cultural scene also offers a lot - the Electric Factory is a premier indie venue, several amazing museums (especially the Barnes), etc.
I know it's a little rough around the Convention Center/Reading Terminal Market, but Philly is really a hidden gem and a great place to live.
Austin is amazing but it's been oversaturated. The boom started 30 years ago so anyone who hasn't bought already is basically priced out. Everything is crazy expensive now. Also, standstill traffic.
Inner Harbor is kinda like a tourist trap, but other areas around the city like Federal Hill and Fells Point are pretty nice.
Didn’t get to experience too much of it, but Kansas City was a bit better than I thought. Great food too, of course...
I like the Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater area. And Boston. Boulder, CO was probably the friendliest place I've ever been. Providence, RI is walkable and caters to tourists.
Yeah anyone going to Portland and need any recs, let me know. I have been there many of time and to echo the thoughts above, I usually stay right in town and as soon as I am checked in the hotel, I walk up to Eventide for oysters.
Been to a lot of college towns in the 27 years my buddies and I have taken our annual football mystery trip and my favorite places have been: Austin, TX ; Seattle, WA; both Greenville's (NC/SC) and Boulder and Colorado Springs, CO (Did a UCLA-Col Friday/Nevade-Air Force Saturday doubleheader).
