FoxPhile

Exactly. There are towns and communities - and not just in New York - that have retained elements of the culture of the immigrants who founded them. Sometimes they are tourist traps (see Helen, Georgia), but they can still be fun and give you a taste of the original culture - even if it's a somewhat commercialized one. There's natural beauty that rivals anything you can find on any of the other continents. I bet most people in this country could find a fun and interesting place within a couple hundred miles of home if they just look.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Thankfully I'm pretty good at spotting tourist traps. There's a "Man Eating Salmon" thing in the U.P. that is literally a man, eating salmon.

FoxPhile

My dad was a tourist trap magnet. He would stop at any roadside attraction and drag us kids out of the car to see something stupid. But when we're traveling from Washington State to Texas, could we stop at the Grand Canyon - NOPE!

WeBuiltThePyramids

Well, I'm in New Jersey! My friend lives in a surprisingly quiet area with a ton of non chain restaurants, I swear I just had the best shrimp linguine.

FoxPhile

I love little small town restaurants. It can be hard to find the good ones unless you have a local guide - but they're totally worth it when you do.

WeBuiltThePyramids

When I travel I generally just ask a hotel or campground worker what the good local places are. We've found some incredible ones over the years.

FoxPhile

At least once before I *move* to NC, I want to go down for a visit and stay in a B&B that my brother found for me that is right in the old town section of Winston-Salem. It's in the middle of a district that includes a lot of old neighborhood restaurants that are just wonderful, and if you don't want to go out, the B&B folks will pick up an order from one of them and deliver it to your room!

WeBuiltThePyramids

Honestly whoever invented food delivery was a saint.

I don't live where anyone delivers but they're still a saint.

FoxPhile

I am SO going to miss it. Where I'm moving I'll be able to get pizza delivered, that's it. Up here, I can get delivery from hundreds of different restaurants. Some of it is pretty pricey, but there are a few that do free delivery, particularly this one Chinese restaurant that is just amazing.

Although, in NC, almost every restaurant has a drive thru, and many you can call ahead so your order is ready when you get there. Not quite as convenient as just opening your door, but if you don't have to get out of your car, you can drive over in comfy clothes.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Yeah, no one delivers out to me but most of the restaurants have very easy pick up so on the rare occasion we order food, that's nice.

FoxPhile

I live right next to Arlington Cemetary. It's not unusual to hear loud booms because they occasionally have cannon fire for a funeral, or they are testing the cannons.

It is a little freaky when you hear a round of booms and right afterwards hear a whole bunch of sirens. Hopefully nobody misfired.

WeBuiltThePyramids

We hear booms quite often out here in the country too - so we get to play the fun game of "firecracker or gunshot?"

FoxPhile

One thing that will probably drive me a little crazy is the LACK of noise. I'm used to sirens and planes and helicopters and kid noise just about all the time. The last time I visited I was so HAPPY when I woke up one morning and heard a train whistle in the distance.

FoxPhile

They turned on the A/C today!

WeBuiltThePyramids

I'm back home from Kentucky, I'm exhausted and I'm sick and in the next 30 hours I have two shifts at work as well as a baby shower to attend.