If you’re like a whole lot of other people, you can’t afford to go abroad for a vacation. Getting there is expensive, even if you’re able to find a decent group deal. Worse, the dollar exchange is really, really bad at the moment.

Still, you’d like to get away for a little while, maybe in the spring or summer. The answer is simple. Travel in the good ole’ U. S. of A. If you happen to live close enough to any of these locations, you can plan a road trip. Best of all, you’ll be helping our economy while you enjoy yourself.

I’ll give you a short rundown of cities I’ve visited that didn’t disappoint. I’ll start with my two absolute favorites.

• Niagara Falls, New York. Whether it’s daytime or nighttime, the Falls are the main attraction. They’re awesome, to use a word which means, “Go see for yourself.” They are lit at night with colored lights–truly a delicious sight. Then take a day-trip across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. Experience the Falls close-up on a short boat trip aboard the Maid of the Mist. How does it feel to be so close to the Falls: surrounded by rainbows, mist splashing your face, (you’re given a raincoat as you board the boat), the deafening roar? For an all too brief moment, your senses go wild: Seeing, Feeling and Hearing. Even the smells are memorable. There are loads of other things to do and see. This is a “must see” destination.

• Grand Canyon, Arizona. I was in Las Vegas a couple of years ago (not a place you want to go when you’re on a budget). I had never been to Las Vegas before, so I thought I should see it at least once.  My real reason for going was because it got me smack-dab around the corner from the Grand Canyon. Before my feet ever hit the airport in Nevada, my Grand Canyon bus trip had already been booked and paid for. I’d seen pictures of the Grand Canyon hundreds of times, so I figured I knew what to expect. No! There is no way you can conceive its vastness, or its beauty. The only way I can possibly explain its size is–after spending several hours at the Canyon (which was not enough time), I returned to the bus for my return trip back to Las Vegas. The driver handed out pamphlets of the Canyon. On the inside of the four-folded pamphlet extending from one edge to the other, was a photo of the Grand Canyon. I asked the driver where we were exactly. He pointed to a tiny speck and he said, “That’s where we’re at and, actually, my stubby finger is too wide for this map.” That probably doesn’t explain it very well. Suffice it to say, if you haven’t already seen the Grand Canyon, put it on your Bucket List.