Stop in at the Hotel Seville in Harrison AR for a sandwich in the bar. Hotel was built in 1929 and they renovated it a couple years ago. Jasper to the S of Harrison on Rt 7 is another great ride and small town. Full of hills and curves. Buffalo River to the S & E of Harrison has some great canoeing. There is a 225' tall waterfall you can hike into but I swear it's uphill coming and going. Eureka to the W of Harrison is another old town to see with great drives around it and plenty of shops although it has gotten touristy. Bull Shoals Dam and the information center on the hill above the Dam. Bull Shoals Lake, Norfork Lake, the area around Mountain Home AR. Peel Ferry takes you across Bull Shoals Lake from AR into MO. Flippin AR S of Bull Shoals Lake, just so you can say you've been to flippin' Arkansas. The 1850'concrete arch Cotter Bridge over the White River in Cotter AR. Rt 5 S from Mountain Home to Mountain View. It follows White River and has small interesting towns along it. Salem AR W on Rt. 62 out of Mountain Home is another nice drive and quaint town. A lot of these small towns and homes are built using native stone. I love them. North of Salem is Mammoth Springs at MO border. To this desert native it looked like a whole lot of cool clear water just being wasted down a river. In MO just N of Mountain Home AR area are some old mills on rivers or springs. http://www.ozarkmtns.com/milltour The Rockbridge Mill converted the old mill barn into a bar with a wooden patio looking over the stone dam. You can sit there and watch the fishermen catching trout below the dam. On a hot day with the big barn doors open, a cold brew in hand, and a cool breeze off the water it's a hard place to leave. They have weird hours and days they are open so best to call ahead. That North Central AR has a lot of beautiful country. You can google a couple of those names and check them out. What gets a guy from the desert in AZ excited might not be as exciting to a person from the land of real trees and 10,000 lakes. If you happen to be towing a motorcycle I can fix you up with some people that will show you around the back roads of that area. Oh ya, don't forget the little restaurants with their pies, cobblers, and biscuits & gravy. If you don't gain 5 lbs. you're not doing it right.

Asheville is a smaller airport, or if you want to consider Boone/Blowing Rock area. I would really recommend you fly into Charlotte (many nonstrop flights from NYC area) and drive the approximate 2 hours to each since you will need a car anyways. Neither is a difficult drive at all, especially since you are looking at summer vs Chistmas. The Grove Park Inn in Asheville is fabulous, but it is pricier. The whole Biltmore complex is can't miss, even for kids. They do have a hotel/resort on the grounds.

bpath, lots of people retire to SA and like it. It is certainly a very popular city that many people seem to like. There has been a huge influx of newcomers and there is no sign of a slowdown. The city is sprawling and there is constant new housing development construction to accommodate all the new arrivals. There are traffic jams and slowdowns pretty much any time of the day now, complicated by road expansion, so it takes a lot longer to get from one part of the city to another. Summers are usually hot, humid and uncomfortable. Public transportation is not great. So a car is pretty much mandatory unless you live right downtown, which is quite walkable but very expensive. On the plus side, it is pretty laid-back, people are usually friendly, lots of ethnic markets, the River Walk, the Alamo, many historic missions, good museums, very nice city parks. Many lovely old homes especially in the King William neighborhood, lots of shopping/antique stores, Mexican Imports, etc. The main grocery store is HEB, which is the best grocery store we've ever shopped at anywhere. Also, lots of really great hospitals and general medical care. The downtown area is pretty and there is great Tex Mex food to be had all over the city. Also, no state income tax, but if you buy a house, property taxes are really high.

Annie - I'm staying at The Swift House Inn in MIddlebury. A few years ago I was off on a tangent to go out there at Christmas and settled on this place - even made a reservation and then decided traveling at Christmas was a dumb idea. I think it will be good for a couple days. I did see a bunch of places in Burlington but I just can't bring myself to stay in a chain hotel on a trip like this - actually I never like to do that. I did make a reservation at the MIrror Lake Inn - it looks wonderful - thanks for the recommendation. Also staying at a highly rated B&B in Geneva even though I generally don't like B&Bs. Considered Geneva on the Lake but that had some bad reviews and the B&B had wonderful reviews so giving it a try.