Represent your state!

[The Inside of Outside]

Maine:

 

Hiking Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail

Walking (ok, drinking) around the Old Port in Portland

Vacationing at Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor

Skiing Sugarloaf

Eating seafood at the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth

Canoeing the Allagash Wilderness Waterway

[caliber66]

It isn't that green anywhere in the state of Texas.

[Queen Amaranthine]

Iowa. There are a few things to do here. Really. It's just that they are very far apart. We do a lot of driving. Plus, I'm fairly easily amused. A few of my favorites:

 

Amana Colonies

For gardeny types: Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University and the Des Moines Botanical Center, in the process of a major expansion

Iowa City, the quintessential university town

Iowa State Fair every August

Also in summer is RAGBRAI, the annual bike ride across the state that draws thousands & thousands of bicyclists

Boone Scenic Valley Railroad

Historic Hotel Pattee, each room decorated all out in a different theme

Des Moines: Vaudeville Mews, Val-Air Ballroom (seen Wilco there 3 times), downtown farmers market, Salisbury House, Sherman Hill historic home tours in September

Field of Dreams movie site--house and baseball field where the movie was filmed

Fenton Place Elevator in Dubuque. Very unique. Check it out: http://www.dbq.com/fenplco/

About 15 minutes from Dubuque is Galena, IL, one of my favorite places on the planet

 

On my family's summer travel fun list to visit for the first time are the aquarium in Dubuque and Wright on the Park, a historic hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, recently restored.

[uncool2pillow]

Totally forgot RAGBRAI.  Good call!  All the eating and drinking of the State Fair, but much less obesity.

[Queen Amaranthine]

Florida is a huge state, but here are some of my favorite places/things to do:

 

Juniper Springs/Ocala Nat'l Forest for a canoe ride (watch for big old gators!)

Camping at Cape San Blas in the Panhandle

Old house ogling in St. Augustine

South Beach for the Art Deco architecture

Cuban food at La Teresita in Tampa

 

Have you been to Bok Tower Gardens near Orlando? Gorgeous! The Pinewood Estate on the grounds is awesome, if you're into old houses.

 

I'd love to see St. Augustine someday!

 

Canoeing sounds fun, but the thought of gators so close--!

[Queen Amaranthine]

Totally forgot RAGBRAI.  Good call!  All the eating and drinking of the State Fair, but much less obesity.

 

Goodness, somehow I missed your post above my first time around this thread! I haven't seen the Pappajohn Sculpture Park yet but have been meaning to do that. The big spider sculpture looks fun.

 

State fair food--anything on a stick.

[The High Heat]

NC ~ Mountains on one side, Outer Banks on the other!

Also BBQ and iced tea!

[Tweedling]

Here's 50 for Texas. there are a couple that are sorta bunk but just a couple.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/50-sure-signs-that-texas-is-actually-utopia

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Have you been to Bok Tower Gardens near Orlando? Gorgeous!

Wow, Bok Tower and La Teresita in the same thread? You guys are giving away all my secrets!

 

[-seven]

I think Im the only person who thinks White Manna is overrated.

 

I personally love to stop at White Manna when in the area. The burgers and the whole scene is great. 

My husband brought me there for the first time. He used to work in Hackensack many years ago.

[Cat]

I personally love to stop at White Manna when in the area. The burgers and the whole scene is great. 

My husband brought me there for the first time. He used to work in Hackensack many years ago.

Like I said, I am the only person who thinks they are overrated. Maybe if I didn't live in the neighborhood I would feel differently.

[ih8music]

CA has a few nice places to visit.

[smells like flowers]

 

Have you been to Bok Tower Gardens near Orlando? Gorgeous! The Pinewood Estate on the grounds is awesome, if you're into old houses.

 

I'd love to see St. Augustine someday!

 

Canoeing sounds fun, but the thought of gators so close--!

Haven't been to Bok Tower -- sounds like I need to put it on my to-do list. I'm definitely an old house lover and a gardeny type, too!

 

I'm pretty sure a good Florida list should also include Weeki Wachee Springs, where they have a live mermaid show (!) but sadly, I haven't been there!

 

[smells like flowers]

 

Wow, Bok Tower and La Teresita in the same thread? You guys are giving away all my secrets!

 

Last time I ate at La Teresita was after the Wilco show in Tampa last May! Who knew Wilco and Cuban food would be connected...?!

[ripthisjoint908]

Michigan:

 

One of the lakes on either side of the state (Either Huron or Michigan) they are both beautiful in the summer. The Flint Local 432 venue in Flint. Ann Arbor's record stores. Mackinac bridge.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Texas

 

UH...don't come.

The roads are already too crowded.

Thanks

[Lammycat]

Ironically, CO is flooded with folks from TX not heeding said advice. Though to be fair, no one here actually says "don't come."

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Ironically, CO is flooded with folks from TX not heeding said advice. Though to be fair, no one here actually says "don't come."

 

As someone who has visited you fine state on several occassions, I might say that the reception that one gets from the natives once they find out a person is from Texas matches the temperature on Pikes Peak in December:  decidedly chilly.

 

Besides, apparently nobody likes Texans on this board except those of us who are actually from the Lone Star State.

[Lammycat]

I have no beef with Texans.

 

 

That would make a decent bumper sticker.

[The High Heat]

I have no beef with Texans.

Isn't this how we got stuck with Dr. Phil?

[Queen Amaranthine]

 Haven't been to Bok Tower -- sounds like I need to put it on my to-do list. I'm definitely an old house lover and a gardeny type, too!

 

I'm pretty sure a good Florida list should also include Weeki Wachee Springs, where they have a live mermaid show (!) but sadly, I haven't been there!

 

 

I think that's the mermaid show I saw on some show on the Travel Channel. My daughter REALLY wants to go!

 

Funny how it's too easy to neglect cool things in one's own state.

[lost highway]

Colorado

 

Denver

An established close-knit grassroots community of artists, musicians, and business owners are thriving with new contributions and a growing economy.  Cool museums, restaurants, tons of music, professional sports (every kind), great record stores.  Our mass transit was lagging, but our light rail system has been growing faster than just about anywhere in the country.  A distinctly Mexican twist in the local culture, with a generous helping of Vietnamese, Russian, Ethiopian, and all of the other exceptions to our Anglo-caucasain reputation.

 

Boulder *or* Ft. Collins

College life.  You know what that entails, if you're into it.  Imagine Lawrence, or Madison with gorgeous hikes a fifteen minute drive away.

 

The Freakin' Rockies

Too many spots to name. Red Feather Lakes area to the North.  Summit county in the middle, San Juan mountains to the south.  Tons of rafting, hiking, camping, mountain biking, nordic skiing, Mesa Verde, Alma, Buena Vista, Telluride, Gunnison, aspen groves that turn gold in the fall,

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Besides, apparently nobody likes Texans on this board except those of us who are actually from the Lone Star State.

Sorry you had that experience, and obviously I'm one of the people who conveyed that, to some degree...My apologies.

 

My experience with people from Texas leads me to believe that they might be great people...if they live in Texas, where they prefer to be. Much like folks from New York City, if they go somewhere else, many of them (of course I won't say "all") spend a great deal of time and energy criticizing the place they have gone to, while talking incessantly about how great their home state is...leading one to wonder, "Then why the hell don't you just go back?" New York City is not actually the center of the universe, but neither is Houston.

 

I'm sure there are thousands of exceptions. Just as there must be conservatives living in New York, there must be some progressive-minded folks in TX. Unfortunately, I keep finding more and more examples of the gun-toting, flag-waving, xenophobic caricature rather than the exception (I don't mean on this board, just other experiences...talking heads on TV, blowhard politicians like Ted Cruz and Rick Perry, people I have met personally, etc.)

[Hixter]

I keep finding more and more examples of the gun-toting, flag-waving, xenophobic caricature rather than the exception

What's wrong with toting guns and waving flags?

I think it's a matter of your perception; you might be seeing what you want to see. 43% of Texans voted for President Obama, so you're overlooking the fact that nearly half the state isn't what you think they are.

 

The nation as a whole is pretty evenly divided between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, whites and non-whites, men and women, the religious and the non-religious. There's room for everybody here and I don't see much use in trying to label and pigeonhole people or states. I've always been a "live and let live; do your own thing and let them do theirs" kind of person.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Sorry you had that experience, and obviously I'm one of the people who conveyed that, to some degree...My apologies.

 

My experience with people from Texas leads me to believe that they might be great people...if they live in Texas, where they prefer to be. Much like folks from New York City, if they go somewhere else, many of them (of course I won't say "all") spend a great deal of time and energy criticizing the place they have gone to, while talking incessantly about how great their home state is...leading one to wonder, "Then why the hell don't you just go back?" New York City is not actually the center of the universe, but neither is Houston.

 

I'm sure there are thousands of exceptions. Just as there must be conservatives living in New York, there must be some progressive-minded folks in TX. Unfortunately, I keep finding more and more examples of the gun-toting, flag-waving, xenophobic caricature rather than the exception (I don't mean on this board, just other experiences...talking heads on TV, blowhard politicians like Ted Cruz and Rick Perry, people I have met personally, etc.)

 

You watch too much television.

And this "spend(ing) a great deal of time and energy criticizing the place they have gone to, while talking incessantly about how great their home state is..." attitude is certainly not limited to New Yorkers and Texans.

 

I will tell you this, the time I went to London and wore my Jeans and Boots indicated to me that the English can readily identify Texas and guess what? Didn't hate me.