Gas prices force local family fun/vacations. What's good in your home town?
 

It seems like this will be a summer with much less travel than in previous years. Gas prices have forced us to realize what is good in our own backyard. What local fun can you have in your town?

My town has NYC across the Hudson, and many ways to get over there other than driving and paying for parking. But in my own town we have a great park and mini golf and, ummm... and NYC right across the Hudson. :o

I live in Fresno now (Haven't updated my Cellar profile in a while). It's not my hometown, and I don't plan to be here more than 5 years (girlfriend is going to grad school). We have ... very little. There are farmers markets, few nice theaters, clubs, etc. but this town is dead inside. Like a zombie city.

El Paso has a few small museums, an "arts center", the Sun Bowl, a few "haunted sites" and Ciudad Juarez just a few miles south.

Simply put, it's the asshole of Texas. I'm forced to live here out of love for my wife. Her arthritis is bad and she is in too much pain to live outside a hot, dry climate.

I want to live in Knoxville, Tenn. Or around there. Lots to see and do in that area. Music, art, theatre, tourist-y things, history, nature, fishing, swimming, boating, camping. Too much to list. And few if any tornados because the Smoky and Bald Mountains tend to block them.

There are all four seasons, all mild. Rarely is a winter harsh or a summer brutal. Here it's already climbing up into the 90s and will be hitting over a hundred degrees daily by the end of the month.

And we're just about to move into a house without air conditioning. I can only open three windows so far and they require a pry bar.

I REALLY love this woman, right? Right?

She wants to move to Phoenix someday. Or The Mojave desert. She will be alone there as I'll be in Heaven on Earth, otherwise known as Tennessee.

Just say NO to the house without air conditioning. What are you thinking?

Actually, there are some things to do around here. There are missions, rock painting sites, the largest urban state park in the country (a mountain). A little farther afield there is Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, hot springs.

Not a lot, true. But not nothing, either. Pretty much every place has something--most locals don't do them, though.

The Getty, Museum or Villa

The Beach

Lake Arrowhead

The Hollywood Bowl - Bring picnic dinner and a bottle of wine. This summer, you can go hear Joshua Bell, Yo Yo Ma, and dozens of other world-class artists. Perfect LA summer evening.

The Original Farmer's Market

A walk to Masthi Malone's, the best damn ice cream in the world.

A hundred other things. These are just on my mind, because we're planning a family fun week. I love this town.

DC has a lot of neat stuff, but I'd rather be in Maine if it's August.

there's even a word for it: stacation

Cowtipping.

I'd rather be in Maine for May, June, July, August and September. Maybe even October. It's already 93 degrees here. No A/C yet---only a window unit and it's not up yet. Slowly melting.

Brian,

I live near the Mojave desert, Indian wells valley. AC is not the economical answer for a dry hot climate, an evaporative cooler is, as long is humidity is low (and here, 3 miles from the sun, it is). Dealing with the heat takes an adjustment, but the crime rate is low, schools are good, and housing prices are among the best in California, so here we are. That being said, there is not much to do here, and when our kids are grown, and we retire, we are off to the Oregon coast with all the rain and fog.

Flagstaff for the cooler mountain air and camping - 1.5 hour drive
Lake Pleasant for the quick boating, fishing, whatever days - 15 minute drive
Rocky Point for a weekend at the beach -3 hour drive

In town, lots of swimming pools and water parks, nice ballparks, mediocre theater, science center, museums, and heat to bake your braincells in.

The Brandywine River for one...

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL162.../320600053.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL162.../320600051.jpg

Is...is that LJ in that hat?


(adorable kid)

Yes, and thanks, she's a sweetie.

Lake Tahoe. Need I say more?