San Jose

San Jose

San Jose is Silicon Valley's anchor city, much bigger than San Francisco by population, and culturally underrated because everyone drives through it on the way somewhere else. The Vietnamese food scene (especially in Little Saigon) is one of the best in the country. The weather is impossibly mild, the Santa Cruz Mountains rise to the west, and the tech money funds a genuinely excellent restaurant scene.

Lafayette

Lafayette is the unofficial capital of Cajun country, with zydeco music spilling out of dance halls, crawfish boils that count as social events, and gumbo so dark and rich it should be served with a nap. Mardi Gras here is huge but more family-friendly than New Orleans. The food (boudin, etouffee, cracklins) is the main reason to be here. Friendly in a way that's hard to fake.