Hello Shoppers,
Yes, we are at the 5 Best Little Towns and they are looking good. Before we get to them let me remind you, I do have a great talk show on Blog Talk Radio. All you need to do is go to the right of my blog here and go down to Jerry's Radio Show and click on the button and you are there. I talk about a lot of things dealing with shopping, this is your chance to talk to me live. So come and join the shopping fun. Now lets get to the last of the 100 Best Little Towns In The U.S.A.
#5 Saugatuck/Douglas, MI
Being from MI I know all of these little towns, and they are great towns. And I am not just saying this because I live here. They are great towns! These side-by-side Lake Michigan shore villages are so artsy, resident take for granted having their portraits painted. Their likenesses hang in one of the 40 galleries that liberally mingle with an appealing collection of boutiques. Visitors not only find original art adorning studio windows, but also they get accustomed to encountering sculptures on almost every corner in Saugatuck (population: 1,050) and Douglas (population: 1,200). Artists set up easels among the swimmers and sunbathers enjoying the crescent of white sand to capture Oval Beach (considered one of the country's best) on canvas. Summer also brings an acclaimed film festival and jazz and chamber music series. A lot of great shopping and fun, what more can you ask for?
#4 Madison, IN.
Towering limestone bluffs and the Ohio River frame picturesque Madison, an old riverboat port of 12,400 are on the National Historic Register, with buildings dating to 1817. Antiques dealers fill the district, which has served as a model for preservation of other towns. A brick river walk leads visitors close to touring riverboats that regularly dock with loads of vacationers, and a stroll through Madison's hilly streets provides glimpses of lush gardens around grand old homes, some converted to inns. Drives out of town meander to several award-wining wineries, some of the area's best bike trails and Clifty Falls State Park, where seven waterfalls flow.
#3 Galena, IL
The preservation movement in this old lead mining town (population: 3,600) has effectively defined the trend toward small towns reinventing themselves. Framed by northwestern Illinois hills, the business district's century old buildings now house more then 90 shops filled with antiques, home accessories and art. Some 50 inns and hotels welcome travelers, and restaurants serve seemingly every taste. And the effect is spreading to surrounding towns like Savanna. If Main Street or the many festivals get too crowded, escape with a hot-air balloon ride, carriage tour, spa treatment or pottery class, part of a new hands-on arts scene. A great place to shop.
#2 Petoskey/Charlevoix, MI
Yes, another MI town that makes 11 towns. So 11 out of 100 Best Little Towns are in Mi, must be a great place to visit. These neighboring resort towns along the Lower Peninsula's northwestern shore began entertaining vacationers who came by steamship more than a century ago. No wonder they're so good at it, offering an ever growing to do list for travelers and a relaxed attitude. Petoskey (population: 600) clmbs hills along Little Traverse Bay, and Charlevoix (population: 3,000) nestles between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix 17 miles southwest. The beach and harbor are steps from the 100 shops and galleries of Petoskey's Gaslight District and landmark Stafford's Perry Hotel. Charlevoix boutiques string along the waterfront. Local restaurants, including Andante (fine dining; bay views) and Jesperson's (good pie) deliver memorable meals. In the warmer months, visitors golf at the Inn at Bay Harbor, a first class resort with courses heralded as the Midwest's Pebble Beach. Now the number one Best Little Town, and no it is not in MI.
#1 Ephraim/Fish Creek, WI
Who needs New England? The Midwest has its own coastal charm around the Great Lakes, and our top towns, located in Door County, are the best examples of it. The 80- mile- along Door Peninsula extends into Lake Michigan on Wisconsin's east side, creating more than 300 miles of coastline. Tucked into this shore are lighthouses, 30 beaches, five state parks, golf courses and pretty towns seemingly plucked straight from a painting. Along the busier Green Bay side, it's hard to tell where one ends and the another begins. But Ephraim (population: 349) and Fish Creek (population: 200), bookends to Peninsula State Park, epitomize what's most appealing.
Visitors rent bikes at the park entrance and ride to water views, beaches and lighthouse. Artists inspired by the county's scenery show their work in two towns' dozen galleries. Travelers tap into this scene with classes at Fish Creek's Peninsula Art School and the newer Hands-on Gallery. Plentiful shopping runs toward high-end boutiques; good food is equally ample. The signature meal is a cauldron of whitefish, potatoes and onions. Fish Creek's White Gull Inn, known for first-class hospitality and one of more then a dozen lodging choices in Fish Creek alone, stages one of the best. Top off this meal with pie made with cherries from the orchards that flourish in the peninsula's interior. And there you go, I hope you have had fun going through the 100 Best Little Towns, now get out the and visit some of these towns and remember, STAY SHOPPING!!
