Lakes are great, but they’re different from the ocean. Check out the Cape Cod National Seashore, sometime. It’s breathtaking.
Cape Cod a short drive from RI, which has jet-set shorlines (Newport), and NYC, too.
The nice thing about NE is that within 200 miles you can visit a variety of dramatically different environments.
We all know what the drawbacks are. I wish conservatives would invade MA and RI. It’s beautiful here.
We lived in Rhode Island for several years when I was a girl. I agree, it is beautiful. Some of my parents’ Navy friends still have summer homes in New England, and winter in The Villages, in Florida.
Folks from Tennessee could always head to the Redneck Riviera! The beaches along the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama and the panhandle of Florida are just gorgeous; sugar white sand and aquamarine waters.