Each city we've visited in the Carolinas has its own thing going on; yet they all have that unifying southern regional feel. We've yet to be disappointed with any visit to either state, and I would wholeheartedly recommend a long weekend to any of these cities.
For all cities, we flew United Airlines direct from Chicago. Unfortunately, being in the south, there aren't many options for getting from the airport to the city, except for taxis. Beware that the Asheville and Charleston airports are pretty far from the city centers. I almost never recommend renting a car, but for Asheville, it makes the most sense, especially if you plan on visiting Biltmore.
Iowa makes for a nice long weekend road trip. The Quad Cities have really made an effort in the last few years to liven up the downtown areas, and it's a great place to break up the drive (while we can handle long flights, we have a hard time handling long car rides). I'd recommend any of the places we've visited, especially the Amana Colonies.
Kansas City, Missouri is a good weekend getaway. Country Club Plaza is a great place to stay, since it's close to museums and restaurants, as well as walking distance to Old Westport. Plus, the barbeque is great. St. Louis, Missouri has seen better days--at least much of it has--but that doesn't mean it's not worth a pit stop on a road trip. If you do a little research, you can find some great places.
All the other states are grouped together, because I don't quite have enough (for me, at least) to warrant separate sections. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy these places--I do, and I recommend all of them for small weekend trips.
All of these could be road trips from Chicago; some are better as short flights, like Minneapolis.
For Kansas City, we grabbed a last-minute deal on United Airlines. It definitely makes it easier to do the city in a weekend; the downside is that the airport is pretty far. In terms of public transportation, there are buses, since Country Club Plaza and Old Westport are not really walkable from downtown.
For St. Louis, we took a road trip from Chicago, stopping in Peoria and Springfield on the way there, and Vandalia, Effingham, and Champaign on the way back. I highly recommend the Effingham stop, if for no other reason than to eat at the Firefly Grill. If you stop in Springfield, make it a day stop. In my opinion, there are no passable hotels there.
Indiana
Iowa
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
Yellowstone National Park is the most beautiful place in the U.S. we've visited thus far. We've also had fun in Colorado and Idaho--yes, we actually flew to Boise, Idaho for spring break one year and had fun! I think mountains are gorgeous, so I'd recommend any mountain state just for the visual aspect of it.
Direct flights from Chicago are under three hours. Per usual, we did not rent cars for any of these trips. For Yellowstone, we took a small day-tour. I highly recommend that instead of driving through it yourself. It allows you to pay attention to the scenery rather than the road, and the guide knows the good places to take you. Not to mention you can nap on the way back if you're tired.
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and now Connecticut. We love the New England states. They're beautiful, historic, quaint, and mellow. Below are Connecticut recommendations. Other states will be posted eventually. You can find Massachusetts in its own section.
There are lots of quick, direct flights out of Chicago. Once you're there, you can get to most places by trains. If not, driving in New England isn't the worst, as long as it's not winter.
I love the Pacific Northwest--and I mean Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver (which is part of the Canada page). Seattle, especially, has a vibe that I get. It's mellow, it's vibrant, and it always relaxes me. Seattle has managed to make things right when nothing is right in the world. It knows when I just need to sip on some hot tea outside Perennial Tea Room while a light rain pitter-patters on the pavement. It knows that babies don't belong in bars, which means that every time we eat dinner at Elysian, it's peaceful. It knows how to make cafes inviting on a Friday night. I like Seattle because Seattle reads books and composts trash. Above all, though, Seattle knows how to be nice.
The Emerald City isn't the only part of Washington to love. In 2015, we rented a car and did a trip out to Snoqualmie, while visiting Twin Peaks filming sites along the way. It was a fantastic side trip, even if we did not run into any film crews. Salish Lodge is worth a visit on its own, but I will describe that below.
On our 2022 trip, we used Seattle to get to Victoria, B.C. via ferry. The direct ferry wasn't operational yet, so we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, from there a 2-hour bus to Port Angeles, and finally a 90-minute ferry from there to Victoria. We liked that it allowed us the opportunity to see two extra places on our voyage--and both are places where we wished we'd had a little more time.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret: Delta seems to be a great airline. This was the first time in all of my years of travel that I flew on Delta. The aircraft was a new Airbus 319 that afforded more overhead bin space while somehow making the interior of the fuselage seem roomier. They have excellent entertainment options, including touch-screen games, and the offer choices for free snacks. The best part, though, was how friendly and pleasant all of the employees were.
Arizona - Tucson is fantastic! I was blown away by how much there is to do, how walkable the city is, and just how beautiful everything is. I could spend all day taking pictures of saguaro cacti and murals. We already want to go back.
Nevada - Las Vegas is smoky. Really smoky. A friend of mine even warned me that this would be the case, but it had been so long since we'd been to a smoky place that I forgot what it would be like. We've been to countries where smoking has been called the "national pastime", and they weren't as smoky as Vegas. Even many of the hotel restaurants and bars that claim to be non-smoking are, in effect, smoking due to the proximity to the casino floors and lack of any barriers between them. We even altered plans due to this issue. That said, there are some notable exceptions: hotels like the Venetian & Palazzo, as well as the Cosmopolitan, have restaurants on a completely different floor and enforce a no-smoking policy.
If it seems like I'm ranting, I am. I have little patience for places, in developed countries, that still allow smoking. One third of China's population smokes, and yet Beijing implemented a smoking ban that is enforced beautifully. Just saying.
That aside, we had a nice time on our trip. We spent the better part of a day downtown, and we did a day trip to the Grand Canyon West Rim. We used GC Tours for the VIP tour. A small van picked us up at 7:00 AM. We stopped at the Hoover Dam and Joshua Tree Forest before getting to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon around 10:45 AM. We had three hours to explore there, and we were back to our hotel at 4:00 PM. For us, it was perfect. If you're in Las Vegas, there's no reason not to do this.
Arizona - The airport's not too far from downtown Tucson. If you are planning to do some of the best attractions (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Old Tucson, etc.), you'll want to rent a car, even if it's only for a day. That's what we did, and we actually went back to the airport to get the car (due to price and convenience). Aside from those attractions, everything else is walkable, and the city is really pedestrian friendly. There's even a light rail to take you from the Mercado District, through downtown, up 4th Avenue, and to the university.
Nevada - When you arrive at LAS on whichever airline you choose, it might seem like a quick, cheap taxi ride to your hotel (given that you can practically see your hotel from the airport!)--but it's not. Rideshare apps are the way to go. We used them to get downtown one day. For everything along the strip, you can walk.