The United States typify flux . As the salad pipe bowl of the world , it ’s incessantly absorbing new multitude , cultures , and ideas from around the major planet . Over century , that has made a hokum game of many state production line . At leastfive Department of State could lawfully be split in one-half , they ’re so different within their own borders . California could be about nine commonwealth . Texas could be at least two country , both rushing to build a wall between them . Florida could be another satellite .
In every state , there ’s that one spot that seems to have roam in from somewhere else . Sometimes the political sympathies make the pariah . Sometimes , the ideology . Sometimes it ’s because it just face different , and whenever visitors get their first words are " I ca n’t believe THIS is Iowa ! " So as a shout - out to all the weirdos , geek , and outliers who just do n’t jive , here are the places that have every state reckon a paternity trial .
Alabama
HuntsvilleBecause the state of matter is mostly full of Alabama natives who worship college football , Alabama is known as a position where grown men weep over later - game penalty on YouTube videos . That , and theRedneck Riviera . Meanwhile in Huntsville , the aerospace industry has enlist railroad engineer , scientist , and old-fashioned - military geek from around the country to shape for Lockheed Martin , NASA , Northrop Grumman , and others . So while Huntsville might still be in Alabama , do n’t be surprised if you meet a organ transplant here who is n’t referring to ' Bama when he tell he ’s a defensive medical specialist .
Alaska
SoutheastIt ’s hard to pick a part of a state that makes up 17.5 % of America ’s landmass that ’s unlike from the rest . It ’s just so vast . But while most of this Department of State is sleep together for brutal cold , endless nights ( and days ) , and Jack London - esque inaccessibility , Southeast Alaska is more Pacific Northwest than northern tundra . Sure , you ’ll still see glaciers here , but snow amounts only to about 37 in per twelvemonth ( compared to 75 in in Anchorage ) and the sun really sets in June . temperature are tolerable , not much below freezing in the winter and not much above 70 in the summertime . And rather than everlasting frontier , most of the region is made up of unripe , towering islands .
Arizona
ArcosantiArizona is exhaustively desert , from the hot and low variety in Tucson to the crisp , clear elevation of Flagstaff . So even an artsy little spot like Sedona is still distinctly Arizonan . If you desire someplace unparalleled , try this " experimental town " make atop a hill 70 miles north of Phoenix , an exercise in what deviser call " arcology , " or the intermixture of architecture and bionomics . More than 7,000 volunteers have contribute to build the city since the project began in 1970 ( to go or work there you must also build part of the townspeople ) . The economy here is base more on barter than purchases , an experience you wo n’t find much of anywhere in America , much less Arizona .
Arkansas
Eureka SpringsSomehow the hermit - ish , sacredly buttoned-down Ozarks also boast a tie - dyed repair enclave that keep expire the state of matter ’s most reform-minded LGBTQ protections . Nestled into steep , forested crag , the town is full of Victorian nursing home , touristed hotels , and shops – and despite sitting an time of day ’s drive from the public headquarters of Walmart , no string storehouse . The architect E. Fay Jones selected a mound right outside town for hisThorncrown Chapel , one of the most architecturally pregnant American churches of the 20th one C . This place is n’t just cat and dogs living together ; it ’s hippies , bikers , and bougie holidaymaker all drinking at the town ’s haunted Crescent Hotel , front out ona 66ft - tall statue of Jesusa couple of hills over . Because , yeah , you ’re still in Arkansas.–Sam Eifling , Thrillist Travel editor in chief
California
Orange CountyFinding an outlier part of California is about as hard as putting your digit anywhere on the map – it ’s all discrete , guys . But Orange County might be the most openly conservative part of this eclectic United States Department of State . OC , particularly south of the 55 pike , is made up of rich folk and business owners who are n’t big on the taxes and regulation that have become California ’s trademark . So you stop up with the state ’s Republican fastness , where conservatism is respected and mind to , and not shrugged off as talk - receiving set rambling . And even though the county is still ripe with surfboarder and artists , it ’s the rarified part of California that does n’t adhere to a individual ideology .
Colorado
BoulderOne of thebest breakfast spotsin the country is Boulder’sVillage Coffee Shop , the type of greasy spoonful serving pancakes the size of the entire scale . It ’s been around for 40 + year , and this is its motto : " 890 straight feet of world , fence by Boulder . " Yes , this townspeople is heaven for anyone who hikes or bikes , but there ’s something else clear-cut here . It can be boiled down to this : money blend with consciousness . In Boulder , you ’re eco - conscious , and ultra ego - witting , too . There are multiple shops to bribe yoga gasp , but hell if you ’ll receive ‘em under $ 90 . You will by all odds see a Tesla or two . And unlike rich ski townsfolk like Aspen , Boulder is a place where ( wealthy ) people live and form year - rotund . The median home price is presently at $ 705,000 and the invariably remodel Whole Foods is the nice you ’ll ever chaffer . It might not be world , but that ’s what attain it uniquely Boulder.– Lee Breslouer , Thrillist stave author
Connecticut
StamfordThe Word of God " Connecticut " is often used as a equivalent word for " waspy and uptight . " Or , when bring up to sure parts of the United States Department of State , " carjack . " Either way , what masses do n’t visualize are low - rise office staff edifice and a series of TV production studios that double as America ’s trash - TV brooder . Even if you ignore that the WWE ( the company whose CEO was oncechoke - slammed by Donald Trump on pay - per - view ) is headquartered here , it ’s also where America ’s ok citizens go to find out on national telecasting if they have outlawed children on theMaury Show . OrSpringer . OrSteve Wilkos . Because they ’re all filmed in one edifice here that dumbs down America one minute at a fourth dimension .
Delaware
DelmarDelaware is just big enough to be known for a handful of corking beach towns and your credit card bills . This town break the petite moulding because it ’s not even exclusively IN Delaware . As the name mean , " the little Ithiel Town too big for one state " straddle the margin with Maryland . Its seal includes both states ' sword lily , and appropriately it has a city manager and a town council for each side . In many other major respects , Delmar is one town with one government . There is one key administration , one constabulary department , one public industrial plant department , one town internet site , a share school day dominion , and jointly owned and operate sewer / water facilities . And yet it might be the weird position in the land .
Florida
HialeahFinding the large oddball in Florida is kind of like pinning down the smartest guy at Harvard . That is , if Harvard offered a John Roy Major in meth production . Still , while Floridians joke that Miami is really a separate banana democracy , themost bananas part of that republic is Hialeah . This industrial metropolis in Northwest Dade is a place where you ’re equally likely to do your produce shopping while stop at a red light or get a truckload of pass - flops toppling onto your car . The city manager once punch a hombre out on a freeway during rush hour … then was almost elect to Congress . All services , be it whisker , makeup , or recommendation forgery are done by " my guy " who comes to your business firm and securities industry only by word of mouth . And if the utterly idea - boggling street power system does n’t have you conceive you ’ve somehow have lost and ended up in another hemisphere , a daylight of shopping at a section store yell Nooo ! ¡ Que Barato ! ( Dang ! That cheesy ! ) absolutely will .
Georgia
HelenThe temptation here might have been to go withone of America ’s great college town in Athensor Savannah . But Savannah , while beautiful , is decidedly Southern . And Athens is , well , full of people from Georgia . Helen ? It looks like someone dropped Bavaria on the Chattahoochee . While German theme towns are nothing young in America ( we see you , Solvang ) the alpine forest here seem like Germany adopted a hospitable Southern drawl . The metropolis is full of bed & breakfast and charming small shops , and a brusque jaunt out of town has you in full - on Georgia wine county . Or German . After a couple of day you might draw a blank the difference .
Hawaii
Mauna KeaUnlike other state , Hawaii comprises a series of island that , because they were born zillion of years aside , reallyhave distinct personality . But they all have fond weather , palm tree , and striking beach , right ? Well , yes , snow skiing in Hawaii vocalise as silly as asurfer ’s Shangri-la in Alaska . But the Big Island has eight climate zone , including persistent snow at the summit of this 13,796 ft peak known as White Mountain . On occasion it will get enough that hoi polloi can really take their plug-in or skis to the top and slide on down . There ’s no face lifting , ski patrol , or society with spicy cocoa , and every wintertime some underprepared tramper seems to spend the worst night of his life lose after wickedness . But if you desire to recover snow in a tropical promised land , you ’ll find it here .
Idaho
BoiseThough one of the most underrated beautiful places in America , Idaho has a reputation for being home to withdrawn weirdos in the north and Mormons in the south . Boise ( pronounced " BOY - see " ) , however , is like a piffling slice of Portland justly in the midriff of the state , a spot flower people have transformed with poppycock like the Freak Alley outdoor wall painting verandah , 11 brewery , and eatery like Bittercreek , which has the large on - land site compost program of any restaurant anywhere . While much of the state feels rural and removed , Boise is decidedly urban with a ballet , philharmonic , zoo , and even a horse trail .
Illinois
ChicagoSince most of what people know about Illinois IS Chicago ( quick , name three other cities , Chicago suburbs do n’t number ) you could just call all of downstate the oddball . But we should observe the unplumbed outlier that is Chicago . Once one gets outside the urban center , Illinois is decidedly rural , with miles between cities and nothing but rolling mound and flatlands in between . It ’s a country environment that feels more akin to the South than to the urban Midwest . All of that is forgotten once you drive to within scene of the Chicago sensible horizon . Ten million people , five major pro sports team , a globe - class arts and museum fit , and two completely fusterclucked airports – sweet-scented home Chicago , they call it for a reason .
Indiana
Broad RippleThe name is almost as hilarious as the place itself , a citadel of stuffy trendiness in a gloomy - collar Department of State . As one proud Hoosier puts it , Broad Ripple is " the buffer zone between Indianapolis andCarmel , a kind of T.J.Maxx reading of a hipster neighborhood with adequate part hipster , Phish fans , and Carmel mammy getting the partying out of their system since they got conjoin straight off after leaving IU or Purdue . " Put it that way , actually , and it does n’t vocalise half bad .
Iowa
Maquoketa Caves State ParkPeople who think Iowa ’s merely the cradle of high - fructose corn sirup have credibly only see it from the window of an airplane . The state has A LOT more to extend than just corn field , like this park in the " Driftless " region . Turns out , glaciers did n’t pass over everything out during the last ice age , and these limestone cave ( and the gullible wild around them ) remain . So while the rest of Iowa might be as mat and corn - straw as you see in fifth ground level , this section looks more like it wandered in from Northwest Oregon .
Kansas
LawrenceThe only fourth dimension many Americans mean about Kansas is during that last two workweek of March , when the unofficial State Department slogan becomes " Rock chalk , Jayhawk ! " No metropolis represents the res publica more often , and yet it is a state apart . Kansas the Giant Rectangle is full of plain stitch and straw and lawmakers who take issue that development is , like , a fact . Lawrence , menage to Kansas the U , stand as a blank space weirder , artsier , more cosmopolitan , and more permissive than the respite of the province . Perhaps nowhere in America are red - on - aristocratic basketball uniform more meet .
Kentucky
CovingtonIt ’s not surprising that the city that ’s thecoolest suburb of a city in Ohiois also the place most unlike the rest of Kentucky . Oh , sure , it ’s got its parcel of Bourbon dynasty , with two of the country ’s best bourbon bars in Wiseguy and the Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar . But the feel here is part hipster , part historical Southern , with 16 across the nation registered historic territorial dominion and the Kentucky side of the Roebling Suspension Bridge , alongside the MainStrasse Village with its galleries and artists space . Though the story here feels Kentuckian , take the air around the street of Covington is more like being in a college townsfolk or voguish northerly suburb than anything Bluegrass .
Louisiana
New Orleans / Southeast LouisianaThough Louisiana is as Southern as states come , topical anesthetic joke that its southeast portion should be an alone dissimilar state . Why ? Cajun civilization . When most people find out those give-and-take they immediately think New Orleans , but the culture is more intricate than that . It embodies the bayou , the French influence , and some Southern , Saints - loving , Creole / Cajun food - encompass , laissez - faire attitude . The eternal rest of Louisiana , come to think of it , might be the entirely dissimilar state .
Maine
Aroostook CountyAside from possibly some exterior shots fromMurder , She Wrotethe images that come to brain when one things of Maine affect lobster and lighthouses . Acadian Gallic architecture , maypoles , and Amish country ? Not so much . But that ’s commonplace in the area know simply as " the county , " home to large population of Acadian , Amish , and Swedish descendants . Sixteen Acadian Gallic syndicate settled here instead of in Quebec or Louisiana , and at the Acadian historic museum in Van Buren you ’ll receive 16 reconstructed edifice see from 1785 to the early twentieth century . It ’s also home to the towns of New Sweden and Stockholm , where each June descendants of the original Swedish colonist fete Midsommer complete with a maypole . The country also boasts the only Amish communities in all of New England .
Maryland
Capital RegionMaryland prides itself as a cracking nautical finish . Annapolis is the unpaid sailing working capital of the worldly concern ! Ocean City is one of America ’s good beach towns ! They put something call " Old Bay " on literally everything ! So an area full of administration worker ' families who tell people they ’re from DC when they go anywhere outside the state is not Maryland ’s mind of identity element . That ’s not to pick at Frederick , Montgomery , and Prince George ’s Counties . They are lovely place with o.k. resident and sport funny city names such as Chevy Chase . But they are effectively part of the enceinte DC region , first cousin to Fairfax and Louden Counties in Virginia , and more northeasterly - urban than Mid - Atlantic . Though they probably still put Old Bay on everything .
Massachusetts
ProvincetownSitting on the far conclusion of Cape Cod can make a position palpate middling apart from anywhere , but when you ’re as apart from the balance of the Cape as Provincetown is , you really do feel like you ’re in a dissimilar world . Gay vacationers make out it as a goal city ; you might know it as the town that gave Anthony Bourdain his first cooking business ( and also introduced him to heroin ) . For its resident , it ’s just a diminished town of fisherman and salty old New Englanders . And while the saving in the rest of the state has become varied with didactics , applied science , and other fields , the ups and downs of this township depend largely on how much Pisces the Fishes they get .
Michigan
The Upper PeninsulaYoopers will be the first to hold they ’re an odd bent of folks , by any measure . It take a special character to live in such wild , primal isolation . And to dole out with all that cold and Baron Snow of Leicester , which they do n’t even seem to mind . What they do mind ? When the summer temps have the temerity to cap 80 . " I came up here to be where it ’s nerveless , " one Yooper grumbled to me a few long time back on what , to anyone else , was a perfectly courteous summer daytime . But the big thing that determine the Upper Peninsula aside from the repose of Michigan ? Well , in all likelihood the strange dialect of Canadian English they speak . And the secondly - biggest thing ? Up there , they are Packers fans . And in Michigan , so loyal to its home - state teams , choosing the Cheeseheads over the Lions is betrayal – even if Green Bay is about a thousand miles closer to the UP , both culturally and geographically , than Detroit.–Bison Messink , Thrillist deputy editor
Minnesota
North Shore Scenic DriveHey Chris Cornell , you ’re not the only one who can say he ’s expect California , but sense Minnesota . So can pretty much anyone who ’s taken this campaign along the north shoring of Lake Superior . The folk here are every bit the Norse nice you ’d expect in Minnesota , but the views of the distortion road along the shoreline are more reminiscent of Big Sur and the PCH than the Land of 10,000 Lakes . The opinion here could well be mistaken for ocean , and the towns that disperse the road are full of small waterside bistro serving fresh fish to those who drive through .
Mississippi
Mississippi Gulf CoastThe Gulf Coast is much more like New Orleans than it is like the remainder of Mississippi . Once you get south of I-10 the province turn into an artsy , creative coastal community with towns like Bay St. Louis – a kind of Sausalito - on - the - Bayou – and Ocean Springs , one of the best beach town anywhere . Throw in the tower casino of Biloxi and an irresistibly diverse and accepting universe , and the Gulf Coast is not at all what hoi polloi associate with a res publica with the Confederate emblem on its state signal flag . You canlearn more about why flop here .
Missouri
The BootheelThis area in Southeast Missouri was originally supposed to be part of Arkansas when Missouri first applied for statehood . And not much has commute since then . Also , the area includes Cape Girardeau , well known as the birthplace of Rush Limbaugh . I reckon we ’re done here .
Montana
MissoulaMissoula carries a well - lie with slogan you could see on the beer cap above . The habitation to the University of Montana is , as one Montanan told us , " fill with hipster , brooding creative person , poets , microbrewers , bike commuter , river surfer , and so much more . All around town , you ’ll see ' Keep Missoula Weird ' stickers . Though it ’s a blatant rip - off of Austin ’s slogan , it still reverberate true . "
Nebraska
MonowiWe could have gone the easy path here and recount you Omaha is the only urban center in the state , and is home to the College World Series AND Warren Buffett . But you want oddball ? Try this little town that gets as tight to Peter Griffin ’s utopian Petoria as any place in the cosmos . Monowi , once a thriving city of 150 , now has a universe of exactly one individual , making it the smallest town in America . Elsie Eiler not only answer as proprietor of the well-disposed Monowi Tavern , she ’s also the city manager , Ithiel Town bibliothec , and civic liquor control board . And if being an integral city run by one person does n’t make you different than the respite of the state , we ’re not indisputable what does .
Nevada
Lake TahoeAnyone who ’s driven through Nevada can safely tell you there ’s no need to force through Nevada . The place makes Mars look lush . The only respite is the periodic small town cast anchor by a sad little cassino and a gas station with one-armed bandit machine . And then there ’s Lake Tahoe , nestled right on the California border and occupy with emerald - green tree and quartz glass - vindicated blue water . It ’s like the reward at the end of the retentive , cold Nevada trail and has much more in coarse with the Sierra Mountains than anywhere else in the state . But when you combine the scene , outside recreation , and terrific nutrient with the Nevada - want casinos , it makes for one of thebest places in America to have a bachelor party .
New Hampshire
HanoverIf there were a metro area anywhere near Hanover , it would have found itself squarely onthis listing . While most of New Hampshire is full of isolationist " Live spare or Die " types , who lives in a far - flung New England state to escape urban dogshit , Hanover is more like " I ’m productive , allow for me alone . " The area is literally an 60 minutes from ANYTHING , yet somehow boasts some of the most expensive real estate and highest cost of living in the country . mean that there ’s either some serious connivance going on in the real estate grocery store , or rich citizenry are willing to grossly overpay to never have to deal with the common folk .
New Jersey
NewarkWhile most of the country is either NYC / Philadelphia suburbia or coastal beach Town , Newark is a clearly urban place with its own skyline and character . Newark has its own miserable drome , its own professional field hockey squad , and its own rapper who reps the metropolis hard every prospect she bugger off ( Queen Latifah , in case you omit it ) . And sure , Jersey City might also have a big - metropolis ambiance in suburb - and - beach - fill Jersey , but it feel more like an extension of New York than its own Jersey pride - filled metropolis . Plenty of New Yorkers make the commute into the city from Newark , but once you set groundwork there something feels unquestionably different .
New Mexico
TaosAlbuquerque might not be as badas everyone who ’s ever watchedBreaking Badassumes , but the desert around it leaves no doubt it ’s emphatically in New Mexico . America ’s fourth - largest state is principally arid desertscapes , right until you get to the mountains of Taos , home to a 79 in nose candy root word and white - capped flower . Even if you chit-chat in the summer , the experience are , well , odd . Wanna stay in something visit an"Earthship"and go off the grid and produce you own food for thought ? Or go on a llama trek ? you may do it in Taos . All the while listen to its notorious hum , a deep underlie low - frequency buzz that only some people can hear .
New York
New York CityIt ’s different than the rest of the state . By a lot . Like someone dropped London or Paris onto the edge of West Virginia . And we ’ve all discover enough about New York from , literally , every New Yorker ever . So on we move .
North Carolina
Yadkin ValleyNo State Department ’s character has commute more over the past 20 + year than North Carolina . Once a stanchly Southern state known for bass sportfishing , hog farm , and military bases , North Carolina has been inundated with academics , bankers , technical school folks , and hipsters . Set apart fromallof that is this wine-colored part just west of Winston - Salem that was once the state of matter ’s largest tobacco - growing area . Choosing to focus on a different vice , winemakers here adapted European grapeshot to the climate , soil , and pest of the 1.4 million - Accho valley . The , er , fruit of those effort resulted in Yadkin Valley becoming the state ’s first American Viticultural Area , and an accidentally sorcerous wine realm in a state not bonk for wine-coloured .
North Dakota
MedoraWhen you think about North Dakota you picture , what , Fargo ? Which claim place in Minnesota . Wide - assailable prairie ? Fracking ? Sure , but what you certain as Inferno DON’T retrieve about are renowned outdoor eatery and melodic dramatic art . Which are the trademarks of Medora , an Old West town in the philia of the Badlands , on the bound of Theodore Roosevelt National Park . Its call to renown is the Medora Musical , an annual summertime production by the townsfolk to celebrate the legacy of Teddy Roosevelt . It ’s a utter prelude to dinner at Pitchfork Steak Fondue , mayhap the most self - explanatory eating house on the planet , with a sweeping patio view of the Badlands .
Ohio
Lake Erie Shore"Ohio , Island Paradise " was just BARELY passed over for the commonwealth touristry motto in favor of " Ohio , find it here . " But had it been adopt , people would know about this coastal region near Lake Erie : 200 mile of coastline from Toledo to Conneaut with beach that get people blurt , " THAT ‘S in Ohio ? " The islands between Toledo and Cleveland – Kelleys Island , South Bass / Put - in - Bay , and Middle Bass – are accessible only by ferry , but host some of the wildest beach party of the summertime , most notably on South Bass . A far cry from the Midwestern rolling Benny Hill and prairies of the rest of the state of matter , this neighborhood feel more like Michigan ’s coastal areas or even the Northeast . And is one of the more underrated summertime destinations in America .
Oklahoma
TulsaEven in NBA - crazy Oklahoma City , cowboy cultivation defines Oklahoma . Yet in Tulsa – the little US metropolis with its own ballet , opera house , and symphonic music – rural area - Western radio , megachurches , and old oil money coexist with world - course of study museum ( the Philbrook and the Gilcrease ) , Art Deco architecture , and a voguish Downtown . Tulsa has diversified from hydrocarbons to aerospace and finance , and its cornerstone issue is oddly external for this landlocked state : an Oktoberfest that rate among the best anywhere . But true to its roots it has doubled down on local polish with itsweekend - worthyBrady Arts District and an urban garden and performance parking lot calledGuthrie Green , identify for Woody . Even cowboys require their poet .
Oregon
BurnsEven if you give no tending to its university ’s bozo football uniform , everyone assort Oregon with the color green . peradventure because of the copiousness of evergreen plant trees , perchance because of the legalized marijuana . But what they do n’t think of is hard - living mellow desert , the dominant topography of Southern Oregon . This urban center known as " the gateway to the Steens Mountains " is n’t hippie or hipster , there ’s one brewery ( the state ’s pocket-sized , in Steens Mountains Brewing ) , and it face more like a minor town in the Southwest than any portion northwards .
Pennsylvania
PhiladelphiaWhen your high school sports teams resolve to take their ballock and go home , you ’ve passably much clinch the laurels of differentiating yourself from the rest of the nation . So even though Philadelphia - area school day have at long last given in and participated in PIAA statewide championships over the last decade , for twelvemonth Philly schools literally played in a conference of their own . Prep sports aside , Philadelphia is every routine a Northeastern urban center complete with compound historical web site . Much of the rest of the state is rural , and Pittsburgh find more Midwest than Northeast , as do much of the other smaller cities like Harrisburg and Jamestown . Philly , meanwhile , is the de facto Das Kapital of South Jersey .
Rhode Island
Block IslandThirteen miles off the coast of non - island Rhode Island sits this genuine island . Assumed by many boatman to be part of New York or Connecticut , the island is full of the Great Compromiser drop-off and bluffs , and the beach here are costless and open to the populace ( a rarity in the state ) . It ’s also so remote that clear pollution is minimum , so unlike on the densely dwell mainland , stargazing here is pretty spectacular .
South Carolina
Myrtle BeachSouth Carolina has an air of genteel Southernness about it , whether you ’re along the slide in Charleston , the capital in Columbia , or graft - laden Greenville . Myrtle Beach , however ? Well , yes , it ’s one ofAmerica ’s best beach town , but it ’s still shaggy around the edges . It ’s made strides , with the new business district boardwalk and creative restaurants , but it ’s still home to Bike Week and weekend blowouts for citizenry all over the region . And whatever inhibitions southerly cultivation might bestow on the rest of the state are pretty much nonexistent here .
South Dakota
SpearfishPart of what makesSouth Dakota so incredibleis its translation as you move east to west , across prairies , Bad Lands , and raft peaks . It ’s distant , beautiful , and far-out all at once , but the strangest part of the state is this town of flower people just a quick jog out from Belle Fourche , the epitome of the Dakotas . One South Dakotan report :
" Spearfish has a beautiful restore opera mansion and is surrounded by amazing hiking potential . The business district look like the place where you could always buy a Hacky Sack . Crow Peak Brewing ( the first Coyote State brewer to pass around its beer in what has probably been a very long time ) shares a drive withBlack Hills Milk , a sort of permanent James Leonard Farmer market where customer can find fresh vegetable and tall mallow samples waiting for them
" Drive 13 miles away and find an entirely different world . Belle Fourche is the Edwin Herbert Land of ranchers and boot where the best greasy - spoon eatery in townsfolk has a signboard prompt you to scrape the shit off of your the boot before entering . Go for a deglutition in Spearfish and you ’ll probably find nice beer / wine-coloured options . In Belle Fourche , you ’re going to find wood , denim , and , if you ask about the craft beer selection , in all likelihood a funny look from a barman in boots . "
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist
Tennessee
GatlinburgGatlinburg feel like somebody was comport a garish Northeastern beach town to Florida for the winter , got lost in the Great Smoky Mountains , and just say , " aw , heck , this ’ll do . " It ’s got all the housing of a tasteless boardwalk – Ripley ’s museum , Trumpianly offensive three - for-$10 T - shirts , dateless mini - golf – without the benefit of any literal beach . It does edge on the Smokies , which are lovely , but the town is nothing about Tennessee , and everything about entertain the 9 million people who clump to the park every twelvemonth . If the world ever suffers a famine of Old West picture shops , Gatlinburg will be there to economise the day .
Texas
AustinLiberals from the West Coast and Northeast who stargaze of moving to the Southern utopia of Austin always warrant it by saying something like , " At least it ’s not REALLY Texas . " Like somehow that ’s a safe affair . And whenever an eccentric of any DoS gets brought up , it ’s ineluctably called " The Austin of Wherever . " Sure , the inflow of tourists who decide to move there has homogenise some of the city ’s abject outlandishness . But as menage to the University of Texas , the city will always have its share of Berkeley - ready characters . Even with majuscule barbeque and obsessional football sports fan , Austin still feels like an island in a bighearted strange state . You could say it ’s the Austin of Texas .
Utah
Salt Lake CityMost of Utah tilt hard Mormon and , for better or for forged , remains fairly homogenous . The exception is Salt Lake City , a lieu anyone who ’s seenBook of Mormonsays with a Ugandan idiom and the one metropolis in Utah you could begin to call divers . While many counties in Utah top 80 % LDS inhabitants , Salt Lake County comes in at just over 50 % , with a hefty Hispanic universe as well . Since the 2002 Olympics introduce law that allow for existent bars , the metropolis has developed a nightlife fit , and as home to the University of Utah and other small college , Salt Lake has a noticeable counterculture . It ’s still not what most the great unwashed would consider " oddball . " But you roll in the hay the rules here – we ’re rate on a curvature .
Vermont
DuxburyVermonters are in the business of keeping it unearthly . No other State Department could createcookie dough water ice cream , forgethe innovative jam dance band , or efficiently digest by the antiquated voting procedures of Town Meeting Day for the past 200 years . Picking the weirdest of the weird was toughened – honorable mentions to the owners of the frump chapel in St. Johnsbury and to everyone who ’s take to see Nessie , the lake monster . Duxbury win , for its subtly odd tradition of publicly electing a town dog backstop . The predominate catcher is local son Zebulon Towne , who , brace yourself , also make maple syrup . It ’s still Vermont , you guys.–Sean Cooley , Thrillist senior editor
Virginia
Fairfax CountyTo much of Virginia , Fairfax County is that older brother who die away to a nice college and hail home for summer holiday acting like he make out everything . A state that is predominantly rural and military has somehow turned into a blue res publica , due mostly to the inflow of transplants who ’ve moved to this DC suburb and the influence they have . Because million - occupier Fairfax is a citadel of Northeastern liberality in a Southern state , it ’s not exactly encompass by Virginians outside the beltway .
Washington
The PalouseIf you flatten someone from a whirlybird in the centre of the Palouse and told them they were in something called " The Evergreen State , " they ’d either think you were being ironic or that they ’d somehow been rendered colorblind . This windswept desert in Eastern Washington might be in the running for America ’s most execrable stead , a wasteland painfully live in the summertime and brutally cold in the wintertime . While ultra - large-minded Western Washington can get marijuana legalize , the hoi polloi of the Palouse do n’t exactly see eye - to - eye with what go on in Olympia . Which is why many of them would like to see the state split right down the Cascade Mountains .
West Virginia
The GreenbrierMost Americans ca n’t say the word " West Virginia " without straightaway follow it with an unoriginal joke about espouse full cousin or sofa burning . So it ’s not on the dot the first place one would look to find a grand hotel that dates back to 1778 , with 10 anteroom , 96 guest house , nine restaurants , eight bars , a 100,000sqft gambling casino , and a golf game course that hosts an one-year PGA event . But thecoolest hotel in West Virginiashowcases the province ’s natural beauty in an atmosphere of worldliness , as one of America ’s greatest refuge and a historical testimonial to opulence . It ’s also the home of Prime 44 West , thebest steakhouse in the commonwealth .
Wisconsin
MadisonYeah , we eff . College town are sluttish picking and there ’s also theice caves of the Apostle Islands , a complete contrast from America ’s Dairyland . But Madison is the only place you ’ll regain New Yorkers . Or , more generally , " coasties , " the kids who ’ve hear about what agreat place Madison is to spend the weekendand decide to go to school here . Much like Austin , it ’s home to the state ’s major university and is therefore the hotbed of creativity , technology , and general liberal - leaning government . Andunderrated as Milwaukee is , when it amount to a expert time , nowhere in the United States Department of State tops Madison .
Wyoming
Jackson HoleThough the college town of Laramie is a far more bohemian and liberal town than the balance of the state , it still feels very much like Wyoming . The Jackson Hole surface area , on the other script , is a citadel of vacationers and yuppie transplant from other nation . Jackson resembles the rest of the Cowboy State in exactly zero ways – except for its lifelike , mountainous beauty . If Jackson Hole is the only part of Wyoming you ’ve ever been to , you still have n’t been to Wyoming.–B.M.
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The Greenbrier
