Best Places to Live

[deadheadskier]

Personal trivia that I believe I've mentioned on AZ before. My folks were from MA and though I never lived there, we returned every summer to visit relatives. Every summer for about a dozen years in my youth I spent a week at Hampton Beach, NH and have great memories of the area. Cold, but very clear water. I can blame my current problems with skin cancer on two things: my Irish ancestry and Hampton Beach sunburns
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I was a serious distance runner in HS and college and used to run up the coast along a seawall from Hampton to Rye and back for training runs on some of the visits. Beautiful.

We live 20 minutes from Hampton and make it over a handful of times a year. More in the off season than summer. Summer usually only for Casino Ballroom shows. While NH coastline is short, it has one of the best coastal drives I've been on in the Northeast. I can see how that was a fun place to train as a runner. I like the aesthetic of that old outdoor stage better than what exists today. Today's is nice, but the one pictured has almost a Frank Lloyd Wright look to it.

In addition to warmer water, another part of the reason I've always been more of a fresh water person is my complexion. My Irish skin prefers the more available shade at the lake. Also the lesser crowds. Lot of skin cancer in the older generations of my family. So, I am religious about sun screen and limiting exposure. That's harder to do at an ocean beach. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Hope your treatments go well!

 

[jimk]

. Hope your treatments go well!

So far all benign, but I've been sliced and diced for numerous and various skin cancers for half of my life.

 

[SenorQuesadilla]

Northern Idaho peaks my curiosity for summer as they're much lower elevation up there and apparently some of their lakes are pretty warm. I just wouldn't want a summer without many days hanging in the water on a sandbar relaxing.

Sandpoint in the summer is primo. Water only gets up to 65ish though, guessing due to depth (5th deepest in the country). Couple days there, couple days in Fernie (or Banff if you can tolerate the crowds), guaranteed good time.

 

[deadheadskier]

So far all benign, but I've been sliced and diced for numerous and various skin cancers for half of my life.

Good to hear. I started going to the dermatologist a few years ago. Once a year. They hit a few spots with nitrous and that's about it. They're fairly impressed I don't have more issues at my age given my complexion. My father is in there once a quarter. I'm mindful of the sun to hopefully avoid a similar path.

 

[jimk]

Sandpoint in the summer is primo. Water only gets up to 65ish though, guessing due to depth (5th deepest in the country). Couple days there, couple days in Fernie (or Banff if you can tolerate the crowds), guaranteed good time.

I skied Schweitzer for a week in March 2025 and drove around Lake Pend Oreille on an off day. Beautiful part of the country and not spoiled yet by Ikon.



Dang good ski area!


View of a small portion of Schweitzer ski area from Sandpoint area.


The sandpoint beach at Sandpoint, ID.


Downtown Sandpoint is small and quaint.

 

[crank]

Fun thread.

We came close to buying in Whitefish MT 11 or 12 years back. Would have been a great investment for sure and also seems like a very nice area... The pics of Sandpoint remind me of the region.

 

[Edd]

The Idaho and Montana areas I’ve skied are Whitefish, Lookout Pass, Silver, Bogus, Tamarack, and Brundage. I’ve really liked each one and am jealous of people living in that zone.