Friday Five: Top 5 Domestic Travel Destinations

As promised, here are my top 5 domestic travel destinations. If you missed my favorite international spots, you can read about them here. Both of these posts have me hoping to spend a few minutes on Kayak.com this morning. Booking a few more vacations is always at the top of my list!

Before I jump in, let me say I haven’t been everywhere! Being based in Los Angeles, I’ve got the west coast pretty covered (which I’m sure you’ll be able to see). I’m hoping to explore the midwest and the east coast a little more this year now that they are closer. I also think it’s unfair to include Chicago in this (although I’m already obsessed) because I don’t have a list of the best places to go yet. I’m still figuring things out! With that, here is what has topped my list (so far):

1. San Francisco. If beautiful bougainvillea and quaint little buildings squished into a 7 mile x 7 mile peninsula is your thing, SF is for you. This city brought me some of my fondest memories – running the Nike Half Marathon, USC weekenders, and wine tasting trips with the girls. I love every single neighborhood in it’s on unique way. The Golden Gate bridge is a must see as well as Union Square. The Palace of Fine Arts was one of the most scenic places we visited (great for photos). If you are a lover of wine, head to Napa or Sonoma for a little weekend getaway in the vineyards (hoping to make it back to one of those sometime this summer)!

2. Seattle. We first went here to visit my friend who showed us all around the city! My favorite spot was seeing all the Chihuly glass! It’s stunning! Pike’s Place also blew me away with all of the bundles of fresh flowers for such great prices. If I lived in Seattle, my entire budget would go toward flowers. I rounded up a list of my favorite spots here! Forgive the photo quality – it was way before an upgraded camera and a much better lens.

3. NYC. This is one spot that is going back on my list. We visited in 2015 and didn’t get nearly enough time there! It was a tough trip to make from LA given the long flight but I have about 100 things starred on my Google Maps as places to visit. The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and the Empire State Building are all landmarks that you can’t miss. Every corner seems to hold something completely new and I love that about this bustling place. This shot was from Central Park – we could have spent 2 days wandering through easily! It was so huge and I really want to try rowing boats! Matt will kill me for saying that though. I made him row a boat while we were in Tokyo and it was so difficult with the wind he vowed never to do that again. Let’s see if I can convince him to do it again stateside…

4. Palm Springs. Running at a pace completely opposite of NYC, Palm Springs was my go to for a weekend getaway. The famous pink door is always worth a visit as well as the Parker, The Saguro, and Korakia Pensione are all beautiful places to stay. We tended to AirBnB it since we used to drive out with our friends but we’ve paid all of these hotels a visit and they’re gorgeous! All you need for a good weekend is a pool, fun floaties, and a great bikini!

5. Los Angeles. I find it incredibly ironic that I’m including Los Angeles on this list – city I wanted to leave so badly. That said, I was scrolling through my phone to find my favorite scenes from around the US and had to agree that this one tops the list. This sign is in Venice Beach a few minutes from the famous Abbot Kinney (home to my favorite juice bar). It’s such a fun and funky place to go and sunset views over the ocean can’t be beat. The beach is definitely one of the things I miss the most along with all the healthy food options. My favorite restaurants are Nobu in Malibu, Gjelina in Venice, and Gracias Madre in WeHo. The best places to see are Griffith Park Observatory and Santa Monica Pier. If you have a day to kill, go to Malibu wines and spend the day splitting a bottle with your besties over a picnic in the grass.

What are your favorite US travel destinations?