According to food and travel blogger Claudette Spinelli Schwartz, the United States offers a treasure trove of such sites, but locals keep them a secret. Explore these areas, covering the country from coast to coast, to discover jewels of North America you never knew existed.
East Coast Getaway
Long before Airbnb began, people in East Coast beach communities rented their summer homes. If you want a weekend or week away from everything, consider renting a beach house on tiny Edisto Island, South Carolina. Houses on First Row and beachfront properties rent for higher amounts, but a vacationer can still find affordable options. Consider Second Row and Third Row homes, which refer to the number of streets from the beachfront on which they’re situated. The island offers one grocery store, a post office, and two restaurants. There’s no nightlife on this island mecca for family vacations. Most vacationers use the amply-stocked kitchens to cook meals using groceries purchased at the local store.
What keeps Edisto affordable, you ask? South and North Carolinians vacation here. It’s a well-kept local secret. The locally-owned homes rent quickly and sometimes, owners make standing agreements with friends for specific weekends or weeks. Although a few homeowners listed their properties on Airbnb, most of the rentals still go through the island’s local real estate offices, Edisto Real Estate Company and Edisto Realty. Expect to pick up your house keys in person because the Realtors like to meet the renters for the owner’s sake.
Central U.S. Hideaway
In the central U.S., explore the unspoiled inland body of water, Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma. The Lake Eufaula Association states this massive lake offers 802 miles of shoreline, although it began with 600, according to OK History. If you could stretch out this lake’s shoreline, it would exceed the length of the coast of California. Formed by damming the Canadian River, it covers portions of four counties: Haskell, Pittsburg, Macintosh, and Okmulgee. Its unique coastline affords visitors sandy beaches, reedy marshes, rocky coastal areas, and some areas where the water meets the woodlands. Few towns dot its coast, but about 250 tiny subdivisions cropped up instead. Consider renting cabins or a lake house on the shore in the Longtown and Eufaula areas.
Eufaula offers the largest of the small towns that dot the shore, and after crossing the waterway by bridge, nearby Longtown offers one of the other developed towns. Smaller towns, such as Mellette and Texanna, offer few accommodations or shopping but do offer pit stops for gas, bait, and basic necessities. Eufaula’s hotel isn’t on the water, but one cabin resort and a lakehouse development do offer lakefront stays, while another offers luxury treehouse rentals in the forest on the lake. Check into vacation options at:
West Coast Secret Coastal Woodland
California’s Sonoma County draws many tourists, but few visit its best-kept secret, a coastal rain forest town called Cazadero. According to the Sonoma County Gazette, the town nestled among towering redwood trees receives 85 inches of rain in a normal climatic year. Explore the primal wilderness, witnessing banana slugs, a rhododendron paradise, and the mountains of this coastal town of 354 residents.
The town offers cycling and hiking trails. Shop at its general store, in operation for more than 100 years, states the Sonoma County website and stop by Raymond’s Bakery to dine with the locals on wood-fired pizza. The owners of Raymond’s Bakery also operate a bed and breakfast, where most visitors stay. A few other residents rent their homes on Vrbo. Many musicians and artists make the town their home, and an arts camp operates in the town, too, bringing in young people each year.
Don’t Miss These Little-Known U.S. Vacation Spots
Take your family on a domestic getaway that rivals any overseas vacation you could make. You won’t need a passport to go. Forget fighting crowds and enjoy a real vacation that lets you get away from it all.