The 14 Coolest Towns for Your Summer Vacation

Certain destinations are on everyone’s wish lists: New York, San Francisco, the Grand Canyon. And those places belong on those lists. But it’s a big country, and there are so many more places to see—including, increasingly, quirky, character-filled small towns that are anything but sleepy. I asked several high-end travel designers about their favorite rural retreats. These are people who deal in the exotic, who send their clients to have once-in-a-lifetime experience in far-flung places. But when I asked about our own backyard, they were full of enthusiasm. Check out where Bellingham ranked on this list, here.