Need a good, cheap and BORING city to rehab and get back into shape
October 12, 2022 8:31 PM Subscribe
Currently I live out of hotels. So if I don't HAVE to be in town for work, I do google flights and go international. But it's taken a toll. I've gained some weight (THANKS CHEAP, GOOD GUATEMALA FOOD) and lose focus (...tinder). So I'm looking at a two week trip somewhere I can work out twice a day and stay out of too much trouble. Places like Calgary. Or Rapid City SD. Any recommendations?
Worcester, MA can be pretty boring. They have some gyms.
posted by vrakatar at 9:21 PM on October 12, 2022
posted by vrakatar at 9:21 PM on October 12, 2022
May I recommend my birthplace, San Antonio, Texas? It does have a little bit of nightlife and some really amazing food, but mostly it’s sprawl, with lots of walkable areas, and a weirdly large fan base of American Ninja Warrior gym people. This time of year it’s warm but usually not so hot that you can’t be outside. It’s within an easy day trip of Austin, an overnight to Houston, and quiet drives to hill country.
posted by Mizu at 11:37 PM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Mizu at 11:37 PM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think what you're looking for is the rural world. Any city—any city—is organized around selling you distracting goods and services. Go rent a cabin in the Ozarks (or wherever) and see what life is like where your nearest Tinder match is 50+ miles away. Hike and kayak and sip coffee by the fire and otherwise enjoy autumn instead.
I'm from said cabin region. It's a beautiful place I return to often but I moved away 20 years ago because I needed a bigger pool of humanity to find my tribe. I've bought some land there so I can return at some point. You're about 3 hours by car from LIT airport in Little Rock.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 1:39 AM on October 13, 2022 [14 favorites]
I'm from said cabin region. It's a beautiful place I return to often but I moved away 20 years ago because I needed a bigger pool of humanity to find my tribe. I've bought some land there so I can return at some point. You're about 3 hours by car from LIT airport in Little Rock.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 1:39 AM on October 13, 2022 [14 favorites]
Providence, RI: hills for walking up and a few cafes for sitting down.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:33 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 4:33 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Peoria, IL
posted by hwyengr at 4:48 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hwyengr at 4:48 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fall in New England tourist destinations can be a good time. It's not yet real cold, and the tourists are gone, and it's too soon for the skiers. Noth Adam's or Stockbridge, MA. For a small city, Portland, Maine.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:59 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by SemiSalt at 5:59 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
What’s your favorite way to stay fit? Are you looking for a place that particular outdoor sports are possible at this time of year, or do you prefer gyms?
I see from a prior question that you may be into hiking. It’s a pretty time of year in south central Wisconsin, if you can handle 40 degrees in the morning. I doubt there’s a dry town in the state, though, so you’d need to be willing to cooperate with yourself and not check out the local dives, if you follow.
posted by eirias at 6:02 AM on October 13, 2022
I see from a prior question that you may be into hiking. It’s a pretty time of year in south central Wisconsin, if you can handle 40 degrees in the morning. I doubt there’s a dry town in the state, though, so you’d need to be willing to cooperate with yourself and not check out the local dives, if you follow.
posted by eirias at 6:02 AM on October 13, 2022
Fall in New England tourist destinations can be a good time. It's not yet real cold, and the tourists are gone, and it's too soon for the skiers.
Counter-argument - you may run into leaf-peepers, depending on where in New England you're talking about. But, then again, if all there is to do in a small town is "go for a drive and look at leaves", that probably fits your requirements.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:25 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Counter-argument - you may run into leaf-peepers, depending on where in New England you're talking about. But, then again, if all there is to do in a small town is "go for a drive and look at leaves", that probably fits your requirements.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:25 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Mason City, IA.
Not much to see there but some interesting Prairie-school architecture and a few odds-and-ends related to The Music Man (Mason City inspired the musical's setting of River City).
posted by jquinby at 8:31 AM on October 13, 2022
Not much to see there but some interesting Prairie-school architecture and a few odds-and-ends related to The Music Man (Mason City inspired the musical's setting of River City).
posted by jquinby at 8:31 AM on October 13, 2022
We are on a tour of mostly semi-rural places in the US where we might eventually decide to live in permanently. We're currently 30 minutes outside Bend, Oregon, and there's not much to do here except be outside. Winter's a little chilly here, but currently it's 30s overnight and 70s in the day. I'd suggest either La Pine or Sunriver, both are in/adjacent to a bunch of state/regional parks for hiking and trail running with every level of elevation challenge. Barely any restaurants, but there's grocery stores. You'd probably need an airbnb, I'm not sure there's any hotels here.
We also spent a month in one of the little towns around Clear Lake, about 2 hours west of Sacramento. If you want slightly more services, Ukiah is just big enough to have a few cute restaurants and probably more than one gym plus climbing gyms if you like that, and this whole area is just south of Mendocino National Forest for adventuring.
We did a weekend trip to San Juan Bautista CA, which was small but cute and interesting and lots of access to outdoors. They might have too much good food, though, which is also why I won't recommend the Julian-Ramona area of inland San Diego County.
These are all fairly cold places at the moment. Just north of LA is Santa Clarita, Palmdale, and Lancaster - that's all edge of the high desert so nights will be cold but days should be nice. Palmdale/Lancaster are I guess early sprawl areas, but not terribly exciting with good access to outdoor nature.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:34 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
We also spent a month in one of the little towns around Clear Lake, about 2 hours west of Sacramento. If you want slightly more services, Ukiah is just big enough to have a few cute restaurants and probably more than one gym plus climbing gyms if you like that, and this whole area is just south of Mendocino National Forest for adventuring.
We did a weekend trip to San Juan Bautista CA, which was small but cute and interesting and lots of access to outdoors. They might have too much good food, though, which is also why I won't recommend the Julian-Ramona area of inland San Diego County.
These are all fairly cold places at the moment. Just north of LA is Santa Clarita, Palmdale, and Lancaster - that's all edge of the high desert so nights will be cold but days should be nice. Palmdale/Lancaster are I guess early sprawl areas, but not terribly exciting with good access to outdoor nature.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:34 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Calgary has Banff and the Rockies about a half hour drive west of there, Drumheller and the Badlands about 45 minutes east of there. It you're inclined to outdoor exercise at all, it would be pretty great.
posted by peppermind at 12:01 PM on October 13, 2022
posted by peppermind at 12:01 PM on October 13, 2022
You can come to Calgary if you want, although we DO have good food and hot babes here, if you wait about a month it will get quite cold and you will find it much less pleasant to go out if you aren't used to this climate. If you get a hotel out by the airport, there's not too much going on out there.
There's also a hotel by the South Health Campus (which is a hospital) that's pretty deep in the burbs, so that might keep you a step away from a lot of the fun things to do.
Calgary isn't particularly cheap (or boring) to my rural heart though!
posted by euphoria066 at 3:19 PM on October 13, 2022
There's also a hotel by the South Health Campus (which is a hospital) that's pretty deep in the burbs, so that might keep you a step away from a lot of the fun things to do.
Calgary isn't particularly cheap (or boring) to my rural heart though!
posted by euphoria066 at 3:19 PM on October 13, 2022
I've been to both Rapid City and Calgary. They are both very business oriented and the people tend towards the reserved and will give you plenty of space. In terms of most boring I would suggest that right in downtown Vancouver, or someplace like the Seaside in North Van is probably the most boring city. But SO expensive.
Instead of a whole city I would suggest a staying at a business campus or convention center. I've taken mini breaks at the Hyatt Lodge Oak Brook, which is on the campus of the old MacDonalds HQ out west of Chicago. It's got a little campus area to putter around, all the amenities you need and very much a liminal space for anyone who is not there on business. Without a car it feels very disconnected.
Because you are flexible you can just find one that isn't hosting anything. You'll get a deal, and stay someplace reasonably nice but certainly uneventful. Like the Sprint World Headquarters Campus Overland Park in Kansas and the convention center just north have heaps of hotels around, and very little trouble. It's just a bougie suburb south of Kansas City, which itself is pretty dry. Des Moines and Cedar Rapids might also fit your needs.
Wisconsin is to wet, Nebraska is all gambling now, I would avoid the airports and the urban centers like McCormick Place (expensive) or the Minneapolis Convention Center (trouble), and look for ones in the burbs, like the Saint Charles Convention west of St. Louis. Although frankly downtown the St. Louis are is cheap and almost fits but the hotels were poor. And trouble abounds.
posted by zenon at 8:56 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Instead of a whole city I would suggest a staying at a business campus or convention center. I've taken mini breaks at the Hyatt Lodge Oak Brook, which is on the campus of the old MacDonalds HQ out west of Chicago. It's got a little campus area to putter around, all the amenities you need and very much a liminal space for anyone who is not there on business. Without a car it feels very disconnected.
Because you are flexible you can just find one that isn't hosting anything. You'll get a deal, and stay someplace reasonably nice but certainly uneventful. Like the Sprint World Headquarters Campus Overland Park in Kansas and the convention center just north have heaps of hotels around, and very little trouble. It's just a bougie suburb south of Kansas City, which itself is pretty dry. Des Moines and Cedar Rapids might also fit your needs.
Wisconsin is to wet, Nebraska is all gambling now, I would avoid the airports and the urban centers like McCormick Place (expensive) or the Minneapolis Convention Center (trouble), and look for ones in the burbs, like the Saint Charles Convention west of St. Louis. Although frankly downtown the St. Louis are is cheap and almost fits but the hotels were poor. And trouble abounds.
posted by zenon at 8:56 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fall in New England tourist destinations ... North Adams or Stockbridge, MA. For a small city, Portland, Maine.
Since OP is looking to take weight off, I would recommend staying away from Portland, which has a huge restaurant and craft brewery scene. North Adams would be a much better choice.
posted by virago at 3:45 AM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Since OP is looking to take weight off, I would recommend staying away from Portland, which has a huge restaurant and craft brewery scene. North Adams would be a much better choice.
posted by virago at 3:45 AM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
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