One of my very best friends and I are planning a three-week cross-country road trip next May to commemorate our turning forty. We plan on staying no more than 24 hours in one place to be able to cover as much ground as possible and we want to get a real, local flavor everywhere we go, so we don’t want to do anything “touristy.”

While I have already been to a variety of places across the nation (all but 13 of the states), I would love to get some recommendations. Please let me know what some of your favorite cities, states, or places are in the U.S. and why.

And let me know if you don’t mind us crashing at your place while we’re on the road. We’re not millionaires, after all.