Velocipediste

I grew up in, um, the eastern time zone amongst corn fields and hardwood "forests". Most of the northeast wouldn't be unfamiliar. Haven't been to the Big Apple, but have been to the Second City plenty of times. Translating the "haven't been to" list into experiences: I haven't toured quaint Atlantic fishing villages (but much of that would be lost on me as I don't eat seafood), experienced the Jersey shore, nor visited historic cities of the Confederacy. Presently I can substitute Pacific coastal towns, California beach culture, and Spanish missions. I've taken a liking to deserts and conifer forests - so I'm more likely to end up in Alice Springs than Atlantic City.

travelmad478

Your #1 is true, although it is also true that PHL is a 30-minute drive from most of New Castle County, where the bulk of DE’s population lives. Your #2 is, um, completely irrelevant to DE’s qualities as a place to visit. (Also, spend $50 at the massive shopping mall that millions of out-of-state visitors flock to, located right next to I-95, and you will save the toll money in sales tax vs. whatever state you came from.)

DenverBrian

Every state. Picked up Alaska a few years ago.

Most beautiful: Colorado, of course. In second place: Probably 20 or more states. There is some incredible scenery all over the country.

Ugliest: Louisiana. Florida ain't stellar, either.

kalderlake

23, most of them near the border with my Canada, not surprisingly.

WA CA NV AZ ND WI MN IL IN MI PA NY VT NH MN MA RI CT NJ DE MD DC VA

I've been to nine of Canada's ten provinces, missing Newfoundland and Labrador, and all the northern Territories.

lamphs

Missing AK and HI. I plan AK for a long weekend trip in 2021. HI will occur as a stopover to Asia at some point. I've done something substantial in all states visited - minimum overnight, dinner, and an activity. (I've had connections at LHR more times than I can count; never left the airport, so I've have not counted England as one of my 49 countries.) I live in a suburb of DC and it is still my favorite city in the world. Spring, summer, fall, and early winter, I find myself there at least twice a month - dinner, museums (pre-COVID), or just a 5-7 mile walk through a neighborhood. All states have a variety of people, but I am not going to disparage any of them (people). Almost every state has something for everyone. Oh yeah, family has a house on the Delaware shore; I like being there spring and fall. I often think about living there. But like another poster said, the international airports are 3-4 hours away - PHL, EWR, BWI, and IAD.

Kamalaasaa

Have not visited HI, ID, MT, ND, SD

Airport only in MN

Visited but no overnight in WY (state capitol), NE (Scotts Bluff NM), IA (Herbert Hoover NHP), WI (state capitol), OH (job interview with P&G but they put me up in KY).

Have flown in and/out of 34 (missing - besides 10/11 above - KS, WV, DE, RI, VT, ME)

Drove (as opposed to just riding) in 38 (missing AK & UT, as well as 10/11 “op cit” - have driven in OH)

chrisl137

How about an exception for Nebraska?

moondog

Those flyover states might as well be the same place IMO, but the accents are definitely funnier as you head north.

Loose Cannon

Only state I haven't been in is Alaska. I've been to/thru all the lower 48 states when trucking. As far as Hawaii goes my parents took my sister and myself on holiday to Hawaii back in 1972 when I was in grade school.

Kamalaasaa

Yeah, because everybody knows Mississippi and Wisconsin and New Mexico and Idaho are all exactly alike.

moondog

I was thinking more along the lines of Kansas (spent a month there working on project), the Dakotas, and Nebraska. I only went to New Mexico once, but "Breaking Bad" and its prequal have compelled me to put it on my list.

jrl767

can't recall the source of a long-ago comment that those states were all so nondescript and flat that a snake crawling across the highway was considered a hill ... having driven the length of SD (eastbound) and ND (westbound), I'll disagree in the western parts

I'm originally from ABQ and always relish an opportunity to explore other parts of the state ... Taos and Santa Fe of course are "tourism central" but well worth it in shoulder season; we also had a fabulous visit (early June) to Acoma Pueblo and Abiquiu several years ago

BudgetJetsetter

I enjoyed the Breaking Bad sites in ABQ. The owner's of Walt's house have gone a bit mad and sit out front yelling at anyone that even stands on the sidewalk in front of their house.

White Sands National Monument is worth the visit too.

CMK10

I claimed my 50th state with South Dakota in 2013. Since then I've been going ahead and revisiting states and then working towards developing more US milestones such as:

States Visited: 50
State Capitols Visited: 49 (Missing Juneau)
States Overnighted In: 48 (Missing RI and WY)
States Flown To: 49 (Missing WY)
States Where I've Drank at a Local Brewery: 39 (Missing: CO, DE, IN, KS, MD, MS, MN, NM, RI, VT, WY)

travelmad478

I too am searching for a new travel goal after getting all 50 US states, at least one country for every letter of the alphabet (X excepted), and all seven continents. I have a vague idea about hitting every Canadian province (I only need a few more to check off) but I need something better. Maybe 100 countries—I’m now at 80. The alphabet thing was really fun.