I’m a proud Midwesterner-turned-coastal-transplant, and lately I yearn for home. I find the honest prices, friendly people, and generous hospitality increasingly rare these days. To me, the Midwest has its own distinct flavor, something akin to ranch dressing and a cold beer from a bartender who winks at you.
In recent travels, though, I’ve discovered that many popular coastal cities have real doppelgängers in the Midwest, similar in spirit and feel. So instead of another trip to Portland or New York, consider these compelling alternatives that offer a similar experience, just on a smaller scale and distinctly Heartland. None are the perfect parallel—that would be impossible and potentially offensive—but each destination evokes something that might strike you as familiar.
Here’s where to go when you’re not looking to head to the coast, but want to feel as if you have.
In this article
Instead of Portland, Oregon, visit Minneapolis
Like Portland, Oregon, I find Minneapolis to be equally quirky, outspoken, and green. Walking the streets, I recognize an undercurrent of activism similar to Stumptown. Minneapolis’s culture of community action and civic participation can be traced back centuries. In 1871, a deadly mill fire spurred workers to adopt safety precautions. Today, the ruins can be toured at Mill City Museum, where visitors can learn about the industry and its aftermath that form the bedrock of the city’s development.
And like Portland, it’s a beautiful place to be outside. The waterfalls that powered the flour mills of Minneapolis, like Minnehaha Falls, now make for gorgeous hikes. Where Portland is swathed in dense forestry, Minnesota’s “City of Lakes” is dotted with reservoirs.
Minneapolis also punches above its weight in the global food scene, with spots like Laotian Gai Noi and the Indigenous American fine-dining restaurant Indígena.
Trade New York’s Hamptons for Saugatuck, Michigan
If you made a Venn diagram of Saugatuck, Michigan, and The Hamptons in New York, the circles would easily overlap with sandy dunes, coastal homes, and farm-to-table dining. Both destinations come to life in the summer months, when beach houses are occupied and a laid-back air resumes. Overlooking the sandy shores of Lake Michigan, Saugatuck feels like a coastal escape even though it's hundreds of miles away.
In contrast to the Hamptons, though, Saugatuck is stripped of pretension, with the only thing remotely resembling sceney-ness being a thriving art scene. Indeed, Saugatuck is an LGBTQ+ and creative outpost with a strong artistic presence. You’ll find a gallery for every 50 residents. One of my personal picks is a pottery studio in a barn at Khnemu Studio.
And in Saugatuck, farm-to-table isn’t a culinary fad or a flex; it’s a lifestyle. Local spots like Pennyroyal Cafe & Provisions and The Southerner source from West Michigan farms.
Skip Seattle for Detroit
The parallels between Seattle and Detroit are uncanny. Both reckon with the remnants of a boom town—aircraft manufacturing and automobiles, respectively. And both cities coped with music. Well before grunge rock emerged from the Seattle Sound, Motown soundtracked Detroit’s post-industrial angst. Venues like Lager House, a historic dive in Corktown, and Third Man Records, Jack White’s record label, are ballasts of the continuing music legacy.
Visitors also pilgrimage to curio art like the Heidelberg Project, a decades-long devotion to finding treasure in the discarded. What’s more grunge than art made from literal trash?
For the foodies, Eastern Market is Detroit’s answer to Pike Place, an 1800s open-air market that still pumps today.
Try Wisconsin Dells Over Orlando
While Orlando may be considered the theme park capital, the waterpark capital is in a city located squarely in the middle of the country: Wisconsin Dells.
Decidedly smaller in scale than Orlando, which has over 100 times the population, the Wisconsin Dells is home to a large collection of family-friendly water parks.
I have fond childhood memories of Great Wolf Lodge, a uniquely Midwestern resort where log-cabin aesthetics contrast with sprawling indoor waterparks. While totally kitsch, the cabin design nods aren’t completely random. Long before the Great Wolf Lodge opened its doors, the Dells’ glacier-sculpted, sandstone gorges were a popular camping site for families.
The Shortcut
Love Portland’s activist streak and easy access to the outdoors? Minneapolis has both, and its waterfall hikes are inside city limits.
Saugatuck has Hamptons-style dunes and beach houses, minus anyone sizing up your outfit.
Detroit is the call for music history. Motown was soundtracking the city decades before grunge put Seattle on the map.
Wisconsin Dells swaps Orlando’s theme parks for waterparks, and the kitschy log-cabin lodges are half the fun.
Don’t expect a carbon copy. Expect the one thing you’d book the coastal trip for, at a smaller, easier scale.
