Naples

Naples

Naples brings wealthy retirees to the Gulf coast for genuinely some of the prettiest beaches in Florida, and the sunsets at the pier are a community ritual (everyone gathers, no one talks). The downtown along Fifth Avenue is pastel and breezy. Mercato has the upscale restaurants. The Everglades' western edge starts just south of town. Affluent, sunny, and quieter than the east-coast Florida cities.

Providence

Providence is what a college town looks like wearing a former industrial capital's old leather jacket. Brown and RISD pour creatives in by the thousand, Federal Hill has been feeding them red sauce since forever, and on summer nights WaterFire literally lights bonfires up and down the river. It's cheap enough that Boston refugees actually stay. The state capitol has the fourth-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world, and you'll be told within an hour of arrival.