Virginia
Blue Ridge Parkway - sort of cheating, but the whole blue ridge area is just gorgeous and this covers it all!
Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown - for its uniqueness and history.
Arlington Cemetery - beautiful, sobering
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Arkansas:
- NorthWest Arkansas (specifically Bentonville) - Crystal Bridges is an incredible museum - worth the trip just for that alone. But there are other reasons to visit as well: incredible restaurant offerings and boutique hotels situated around the historic square in a very walkable area as well as world-renowned mountain biking trails (I kid you not). The younger Waltons have poured enormous resources into the trail system there.
However, Bentonville is but one town in the overall area that has been marketed as, “NorthWest Arkansas,” which covers two counties with four towns making up the region. Rogers just to the south has the Walmart Amp - an outdoor concert venue. Great restaurants and shopping there as well. Fayetteville, which is home to the University of Arkansas is only 25 minutes from Bentonville, and is a fun, quirky college town. Walton Arts Center there is a nice performance venue.
There is actually a bike trail one can take from Bentonville to Fayetteville.
NWA is serviced by a great little airport (XNA) that has a surprising number of direct flights.
- Buffalo National River - great area for outdoorsy folks (I am not outdoorsy) with incredible scenery. Hiking, floating, kayaking, camping, etc.
- Hot Springs - unique town with a storied history. Historic Bathhouse Row, three beautiful lakes to choose from for boating/watersports, a National Park, Garvan Woodland Gardens, and live horse-racing for part of the year. The racetrack now has a very nice hotel and casino attached when it is not racing season. You can drive about an hour and fifteen minutes from Hot Springs and go diamond digging.
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California is a big state, such that a trip would focus on a particular section of the state, rather than including distant areas of the state in same trip. That said, a trip might include the following choosing one from the 3 categories below. I’d tailor the specific choices based on what I know about the person and grouping them in a common general region that could be visited in the same trip.
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Natural Scenic Park Type Area – Yosemite is a good choice. Other alternatives include Sierras, Redwood/Sequoia, Mt. San Jacinto (via Palm Springs tram), Death Valley, Lake Tahoe, and Channel Islands.
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Beach Type Area – The most iconic is probably Santa Monica Pier. La Jolla / Del Mar / Torrey Pines is another good choice. Or Big Sur / Pfeiffer, depending on what type of beach you prefer.
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Tourist / Personal Interest – This will vary wildly depending on your unique interests. Examples include San Diego Zoo / Wildlife Safari, Alcatraz Island, sail a boat to Catalina, …
I favor outdoor areas where I can take my dog, so my choices from categories above might be:
- Hiking in eastern Sierras, including Whitney (highest peak in continental US) / Cottonwood area
- Coronado Beach / Coronado (off leash dogs allowed all year) + Cabrillo Tide Pools
- Ferry to Avalon (Catalina), check out town and walk across island, then ferry back at Two Harbors
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Louisiana
New Orleans, beautiful and unique
Oak Alley plantation for a “traditional” plantation tour
Whitney plantation for a plantation tour incorporating and concentrating on the slave experience
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How long does it take to walk across the island? I’ve been to Catalina numerous times but never realized that was something I could do.
Are there trails? Roads? Or is it all back country?
Thanks!!
Whitney plantation was a transformative experience
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Here’s some info on walking around Catalina.
Thanks!!!
The Trans-Catalina trail crosses the full island. Avalon to Two Harbors (not full length of island) is ~23 miles. It’s possible to complete in 1 day, but it would probably be more enjoyable to split up in to 2+ days, stopping at a campground or beach area (White’s Landing), along the way. There are also jeep tours that cover a similar area.
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Colorado:
will name some off beat places:
Marble (summer)- great BBQ restaurant (only restaurant)
real marble- Lincoln memorial and tomb of the unknown soldier
Great BLM campground (no water or electricity)
Fruita for the mountain biking experience. Cute small town on the Utah border- 1.5 hours from Arches NP. Anytime of the year. Great dark sky for star gazing.
Aspen (not winter) for the experience of maroon bells- one of the most photographed mountains in North America. And Aspen is reasonable to eat lunch there and enjoy window shopping. Nice park.
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Michigan.
Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Lake Michigan coastline in that area (especially where the Platte River empties into Lake Michigan).
The Upper Peninsula, especially Pictured Rocks (love the cruise), Copper Harbor, the southwest coastline, and Crisp Pointe Lighthouse.
Detroit area - Detroit Institute of Art, lots of great restaurants and a beautiful riverfront; Cranbrook Educational Community (great science and art museum, beautiful grounds with sculptures everywhere) in the suburbs. OR … if cities aren’t your thing, the Lake Huron coastline is great - Tawas, Alpena, Ossineke.
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That looks like an amazing trail.
Thanks!!
Arizona:
Scottsdale
Not much else
Michigan* (Go Blue!):
Ann Arbor
The Henry Ford (museum and village)
Ann Arbor (maybe just do Ann Arbor three times)
(*The Franklin Cider Mill in the fall.)
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Pennsylvania:
The great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has 2 awesome large cities, plus the Pocono mountains for hiking, skiing, fishing and boating, several major rivers, and a Great Lake. But for choosing 3 must-visits, I would focus on the unique historical aspects of our state:
#1 - Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty and birthplace of America. Do all of Independence Mall including the Liberty Bell and the National Constitution Center, but most especially the guided tour of Independence Hall. Walk around Old City and visit the Betsy Ross house and Elfreth’s Alley. Of course no trip to Philly would be complete without a visit to the Rocky statue and a run up the art museum steps! And sampling a cheesesteak or authentic hoagie! Lots of other great things to do in the city, but the history aspect is paramount.
#2 - Gettysburg Military National Park. The history of the battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the Civil War, has been wonderfully preserved by the NPS. Do a self-guided audio tour in your own car or hire a guide to ride with you through the park. Stand on the rocks of Little Round Top and Devil’s Den, and imagine the Confederate soldiers running across the open field to their imminent death. Walk around the historic town and look for the bullet holes in some of the houses!
#3 - 3-way tie (visitor’s choice, but really it wouldn’t be hard to hit up all 3): A -spend a day in Lancaster, Pa - to see and learn about the Amish community (can stop here on the way from Philly to Gettysburg) OR B- a bit further west near Pittsburgh, visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece house, Fallingwater. C - between Gettysburg and Pittsburgh, you can also visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville (site of the 9/11 airplane crash.)
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Michigan is also well known for being a rockhounder’s paradise.
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Do I get to comment on AZ if I live there part of the year?
- Sedona
- Antelope Canyon
- Scottsdale for luxury hotels, shopping and restaurants
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Colorado:
Red Rocks Amphitheater -attend a concert; I suggest James Taylor but really anything will do
Drive over Independence Pass (in/out of Aspen the ‘back way’) This will be more exciting if you bring along a grandmother shouting ‘don’t you go one inch closer the the edge’. There are many places with no guard rail (so they can push the snow off in the spring)
Still craving excitement? Royal Gorge Bridge, where you can put on a harness and swing out over the Gorge and look down at the river below -956 feet below. Too much? Take the Cog railway to the top of Pike’s Peak
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Minnesota!
The twin cities- I could go on for days- sculpture garden, art museums, mill museum, chain of lakes, St Paul’s Summit Avenue, and on and on.
Up North- I consider this anywhere north of the Twin Cities- so many ( more than the advertised 10,000 ) lakes, Brainard, Grand Marias , Duluth, Lake Superior, etc.
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IMO, Hawaii gets to pick 3 places for each island! 
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California -
Santa Monica and surrounds, all the way into West Hollywood & including Griffith Park.
Ojai - such a groovy place.
Catalina Island - it’s like going to the Mediterranean for a day (or more), and there’s a lot to do (outdoor things).
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