The walkable main roads are lined with ice cream parlors, mom and pop shops, twee inns, and plenty of chances to linger outside with a glass of wine (or lobster roll) in hand head toward the water, and you’ll find seafood restaurants promising both the piping-hot chowder you came for, as well as views of sailboats and pine-covered islands on the horizon. Never has a quainter New England seaside town existed, nor a better setting for a small-town coming-of-age novel. Matt KirouacĪlthough YA author Sarah Dessen’s books all take place in North Carolina, the little village of Bar Harbor feels cut from the same cloth. The Boot Hill Museum is a melee of Wild West artifacts, antique guns, saloons slinging sarsaparilla soda, and reenactments of cowboy shootouts, while the city’s first and only dinner theater, Depot Theater, housed in the red-brick 1898 Santa Fe Depot, puts on performances like “Steel Magnolias.” The Santa Fe Trail preserves wagon rut trails from the 200-year-old pioneer highway, and the Boot Hill Distillery pours quirky cocktails (like a pickle juice and white whiskey tipple paired with potato chips) in a neo-saloon setting, with nary a reason to get the heck out of Dodge in sight.
Sure, you can go the modern route with blueberry sours at the region’s first downtown brewery or chicken-fried steak with roasted jalapeño gravy at Prime on the Nine, but the chance to get caught in a time warp is much more alluring. Nowadays, the brouhahas have waned, but Dodge clings to its Wild West roots. | StelsONe/Shutterstockĭodge City once served as the setting for numerous early-1900s Western flicks, the town’s fictional calamities inspiring folks around the country to utter the cliche “let's get the heck out of Dodge” at the first sight of trouble. Bruce Northam Everything you’d expect from Main Street USA. Meet locals at one of several unofficial town halls, like Victor’s Wildlife Brewing, an evolved garage brewery with fringe pool tables and world-class pizza, where you’ll hear tales of East Coast refugees transforming into local ski bums. Hike Darby Canyon’s Wind Cave Trail or float the Teton River in a kayak and spot beavers and huge moose. The Grand Targhee Resort in Wyoming (which can be accessed from the Idaho side) beckons winter and summer thrill-seekers with its bike park and Nordic skiing. Here, cowboys and ranchers wave at each other when they pass on the road and Burger Kings close due to unpopular demand. | Hangout Music FestivalĪffectionately dubbed “Wydaho” given its close proximity to Wyoming, the sun-drenched Teton Valley is flanked by parallel mountain ranges, the Tetons and the Big Holes, with two “downtowns”-Driggs and Victor-about 11 minutes apart. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself scouring the real-estate listings-probably at a tiny little bakery owned by someone who also fell in love with the town and never left. But all of these towns offer the same thing-a respite from big-city life, and, often, a gateway to outdoor adventure (which is why road tripping is part of the fun of getting here). Of course, what qualifies as “small” is relevant (it’s often defined as a population of less than 5,000, but this can seem like a big city in some states or a hamlet in others). These spots are rich in comfort food and craft brews, music and artists, natural attractions and quirky roadside stops, and, best of all, free from big city distractions and crowds. We looked from coast to coast at villages, townships, and even islands, where the living is easy and the pace reliably slow. Even for us writers, it’s hard to avoid using clichés like quaint and charming-even if both of these adjectives are absolutely true. When you fall in love with a small town, you fall hard. The romanticism of small towns is part of America’s charm: the idyllic Main Street with its ice cream parlors and chocolatiers, cobbled roads only horses and pedestrians can pass through, streets sans stoplights and buildings capping out at two stories.
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