WEBlue

Or perhaps plan some nice long road trips for whatever the bad season is wherever you do end up.

When our family lived in Houston with its unbearably hot & humid summers, we bought a used camper van and got the heck out of Dodge once school let out in June. We did a couple of trips north to various mountainous areas for better (cooler) weather, and a few all the way to the east coast to visit friends and relatives.

A camper van is cheaper than a second home overall, though the gasoline cost can mount up, if you & your OH like motor camping...

Pulaski

No need for the trips to be that long. The mountains of NC are relatively cool and low humidity in the summer, and have pleasant breezes. Just a couple of hours to the east we rarely get winter snow, though we get frost for the 4-5 months of winter. Even in December and January the sun usually melts all overnight snow the next day, and it can be warm enough to wear a T-shirt in the afternoon.

WEBlue

We took brilliant short trips to cooler weather (in August!) in the Ozarks--Arkansas & Missouri. Arkansas was only one short day's drive from Houston, IIRC, whereas it took two days of driving to reach Missouri.

However, NC was actually quite a "long" trip from Houston. Around 800 miles?? We did it though, several times. The Smoky Mountains were worth it, gorgeous!!

Pulaski

I wuz advising Hotscot, who still hasn't fixed either end of his drive!

A house on the west side of Lake Norman, just outside Charlotte, or near lake Wylie in SC, 20-30 minutes to CLT, 1½-2 hours to a summer home high in the Appalachians, and both together quite possibly costing less than Hotscot's current pad in CA.

Hotscot

Huh?

Anyway...I think we're trending away from lakeside with insects/humidity/winters to closer to the coast.
Now need to think about up the coast from Boston or down the coast between Boston and NY.

Early days yet though and we will do several road trips.
Thanks chaps.

Uncle_Bob

Snowbird

Bob

Still humid and plenty of bugs though, even on the coast.

Uncle_Bob

I see there is, in the old Bradlees building in the stop and shop plaza. Its exactly a 2 min walk from the building i used to work in across the street.
I see they have a BJs wholesale now too. Look like the cape finally caught up with the times a bit, 10 years ago it was like living in a time warp.

Hotscot

Opinions on?

Portland NH
Plymouth MA
New Haven CT

Are they all worth a short list?

rpjs

Once again, I'd recommend looking at southern Rhode Island: Narragansett (lovely beach resort town), Wickford (artsy and historic), North and South Kingstown for a bit more rural, Charlestown for a lot more rural...

Hotscot

That's already on the list And Mrs H enjoyed visiting that area last summer as we passed through.

Adding to it..

Thanks

Nutmegger

I certainly would never consider living in New Haven -- terrible traffic on I-95, crime, no decent downtown. Best thing about it is the pizza at Sally's and Pepe's, and the birthplace of the burger, Louie's Lunch! But I love living in the country these days -- are you looking for more of an urban center?

Hotscot

Ok that helps. Prefer having a large town nearby, for culture/live music/restaurants etc but live on the outskirts. A lot with at at least @ 1 acre.

Bob

Presume you mean Portland ME or Portsmouth, NH? Either way, both along with the other options are nice.

Hampton, NH is lovely but a major tourist trap, but Seabrook I think it is, just south of isn't as bad and quite nice.

Getting a little bit inland a couple towns over and you've got Exeter which is also a lovely little market town.

Either way, with those towns in NH, you're a short hop to both, Boston and Portland.

Portland, ME is a nice small city, but by Maine standards, quite large. Got a lovely pub/food scene, some nice art scene going on and for the most part, quite a few music acts come along and not a bad music scene, pretty decent to get around on foot and with buses, plus a small but decent little airport and a decent train station. Also for sports, decent access to skiing, golf, hiking not far and the baseball/hockey is affiliated to the bigger MA clubs and fun as well as cheap.

Hotscot

Yes, sorry, getting mixed up with all those places and their States