The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2013
From the blues to the big top, we’ve picked the most intriguing small towns to enjoy arts and smarts
- By Susan Spano
- Smithsonian magazine, April 2013
(Brian Kelly Photography)
In the summer the Indians picked the berries along the road and brought them down to the cottage to sell them, packed in the buckets, wild red raspberries crushing with their own weight.
—Ernest Hemingway
The Hemingways started summering near Petoskey in 1899 when Ernest was a baby and trains and steamer ships brought city people in search of fresh air, boating, fishing and widely advertised “Million Dollar Sunsets.” Hemingway immortalized Michigan’s Lower Peninsula in his Nick Adams Stories, but his “The Indians Moved Away,” quoted above, was a bit premature. Some 4,000 members of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of the Odawa Indians still live nearby and operate the Odawa Casino in town.
Petoskey (named after chief Ignatius Petosega) is charm central, graced by concerts, vintage architecture, art galleries and Friday night festivities that attract folks to the petunia basket-draped downtown Gaslight Shopping District. Jesperson’s Restaurant has been serving local sour cherry pie since 1903 and the doors are still open at bay-front Stafford’s Perry Hotel, which catered to summer people in the Victorian heyday. The Little Traverse History Museum has taken over the old rail depot, and a United Methodist Church built in 1890 is now home to the Crooked Arts Center, with pottery and painting studios, films, dance and music recitals.
In nearby Bay View, a Methodist summer camp and Chautauqua Assembly, the events traditionally started as soon as the lilacs bloomed. (One night in 1895, folks could choose between Mark Twain and a stereopticon lecture on “Babylonian Religion and Ideas.”) Today the tidy community of Victorian cottages puts on concerts, operas and musical theater. The Hemingway Society pays its respects at Windemere, a cottage on Walloon Lake eight miles from Petoskey and still owned by the family.
Papa isn’t the only literary figure around. The novelist Ann Patchett, of Nashville, who has vacationed in the “dreamy little town,” adores McLean & Eakin Booksellers, an independent shop that sponsors readings and short story contests. “It’s the kind of store where I could happily spend a summer,” Patchett wrote not long ago.
Others prefer the beaches, hunting for fossilized coral Petoskey stones, everybody’s favorite souvenir of summer on the shores of Lake Michigan.
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Comments (76)
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I couldn't agree more with your decision to put Petoskey on the list of summer "go to" places. I started vacationing there in 1988. I rented a place in Bay View for twelve years and knew it was where I wanted (and needed) to spend my summers! My husband surprised me by putting in an offer on a cottage in Bay View in 1999. The rest is history.... I will be packing my bags next week for my annual pilgrimage north! Thanks for recognizing the beauty of northern Michigan. Jane Austin
Posted by Jane Austin on May 10,2013 | 12:52 PM
Thank you for that great recognition. My book won the 2011 State History Award "Bay View, an American Idea" covers the close relationship of Bay View and the Hemingway family. Hemingway's mother a fine singer was deeply involved in the women's movement in Chicago and many of the women spoke in Bay View. His sisters both fine musicians performed on the Bay View stage - one a harpist and the other a violist. His aunt was a nationally known children's story tell who taught in Bay View.His brother in law was the grand nephew of John M.Hall the creator of the Bay View Assembly reading circle and magazine. Sterling met Marcelline in Bay View while she was staying at the home of Trumbull White. The family were close friends of Bay View assembly director Trumbull White who was a nationally known editor, writer, and war correspondent. Hemingway saught advice from him as a writer and the first thing Hemingway did was to take off to war.
Posted by Mary Jane Doerr on May 10,2013 | 09:17 AM
I agree. Fairfield, Ia is a most unique city. Surely a farm town but with an amazing quality of life not to be found elsewhere. J Las Vegas, Nv
Posted by Janice W on May 2,2013 | 05:43 PM
Fairfield is not only #7 small town to visit, it is one of the very best to live in. Homes are a bargain from 3 bedrooms under $100,000 to a 15 acre 8000 sq.. feet home with lake and barn for horses for under $600,000. Most everything seems unbelievably inexpensive.
Posted by Chet Swanson on April 22,2013 | 10:15 PM
Naples, Fl was on thr 2012 list and should have made this one. Great West Coast of Florida town for class, art, shopping, boating, beaches, golf,tennis, 3rd street, 5th ave, great dining, etc. Not just a place for winter snow-birds. Been everywhere and this is where I picked for home-sweet-home. Some may think a little high toned and up-erty? Well thats all great with us!!
Posted by Andy on April 19,2013 | 09:34 PM
Wyoming has many great small towns !!
Posted by Mary Link on April 18,2013 | 03:06 PM
MOST ANNOYING HAVING TO CLICK THRU ALL JUST TO SEE IF A CERTAIN TOWN WAS ON THE LIST. I FINALLY QUIT AT #5.
Posted by LARRY NELSON on April 12,2013 | 12:28 AM
Why not do something a little closer to home you know like Manassas/Bullrun or Lexington
Posted by Joey on April 11,2013 | 09:40 PM
Great article! Author Susan Spano is a college classmate, her travel stories are always interesting!
Posted by Eileen Murray on April 10,2013 | 07:11 PM
I, for one, didn't need confirmation of something I already knew: that Gettysburg is the best small town travel site in America. (But I'm glad it has been recognized in the Smithsonian Mag as well.) Gettysburg has something for everyone and I feel it's safe to say I can't think of anyone I know that would not enjoy a trip there. I love it there so much that I've seriously thought of packing up and moving to the area - leaving friends and family behind.
Posted by Chris Shelton on April 10,2013 | 03:44 PM
How I can get a tour?
Posted by methu on April 10,2013 | 02:20 PM
We love Gettysburg! So happy that the Smithsonian acknowleged this great town. Just a tip - Hauser Estate Winery, is our favorite.
Posted by Abby White on April 9,2013 | 12:43 PM
I grew up in cleveland and was elated to see the article
Posted by Gayle O'Quinn on April 7,2013 | 02:05 PM
unnecessarily unwieldy to look through cool idea, horrible format. UP YO GAME SMITHSONIAN
Posted by dpl on April 4,2013 | 09:35 PM
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