The Travel Chick

 With fuel prices making travel significantly more expensive this summer, many people are choosing to skip the summer vacation and stay at home.   If you’re one of these people, there’s no reason you can’t relax and see some new things anyway.  Everywhere there are towns with hidden gems - historical museums, rivers perfect for canoeing, community theater troupes and more.  Perhaps your own town has some of these hidden gems, or maybe there’s a place just a short drive away that’s new and different.  Take a fresh look at what your area has to offer - it might be more than your realized!I live in a little beach town along Lake Michigan, which is kind of like being on vacation all summer long.  I’m at every festival and event.  It’s funny, because people who were raised here say they never go downtown during the summer because of all the tourists.  I just can’t understand that - I love doing all that touristy stuff.  I pay more for the ice cream that’s right by the water, I bring my lawn chair to listen to music at the park and eat free popcorn while my kids  chase one another around the fountain and I go to the busy beach in town rather than the hidden one in the country.  I grew up in a town about the same size, but without the tourism trade, and let me tell you, it was BORING.  Now I live in a place where there’s some sort of event going on every weekend throughout summer, and you can bet I’m not going to avoid it just because it might be a little crowded.  This weekend it’s the art fair - I can’t wait!