Honolulu

Honolulu

Honolulu is Waikiki's high-rises pressed against turquoise water, Diamond Head crater glowing pink at dawn, and plate lunches that mix Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and Portuguese into one perfect styrofoam container. Surf the south shore in summer, the north in winter. The North Shore is a 45-minute drive into a totally different world. Aloha here is a way of moving through the day.

Charleston

Charleston is pastel rowhouses, cobblestone streets, the smell of pluff mud at low tide, and shrimp and grits that should be illegal everywhere else. The historic district is a working postcard, the food scene punches way above its size, and the porches are made for sitting. Spoleto Festival every spring brings world-class arts. It's small, dense, and absurdly photogenic.