Santa Maria

Santa Maria

Santa Maria has its own style of barbecue (tri-tip cooked over red oak with pinquito beans and salsa), which is a legitimate regional tradition that locals will fight you about. The surrounding Santa Maria Valley is becoming serious wine country (especially Pinot Noir and Chardonnay). It's quieter and more affordable than its central coast neighbors. The Pacific is right there.

Tulsa

Tulsa was built by 1920s oil money and the downtown looks the part: Art Deco everywhere, like Gatsby moved to Oklahoma and never left. The Greenwood district, once known as Black Wall Street, now holds one of the most powerful civil rights museums in the country. The Tulsa Remote program pays new arrivals $10,000 to move here, and enough have taken the deal that there's a real scene now. The Gathering Place park alone is worth a flight.