Live Around Here?

· Frederick, Md. It's less than an hour from Washington, rush hour excepted, but Fredrick feels farther away and somehow longer ago. The second-largest city in Maryland is surrounded by big-box stores. But the thriving 50-block historic district and surrounding neighborhoods is more about 19th-century row houses, candy shops and flower boxes, an exceptionally well-stocked Small Town U.S.A. Mayberry with wine bars. 800 999-3613, http://www.fredericktourism.org/ .

· Berkeley Springs, W. Va. This mountain spa town, long a destination for those seeking the mineral water cure, seems to specialize in eccentrics and extremes. New Age meets Old Timey in a place where an herb shop sits across from a church billboard threatening damnation to sinners. We found the good, the bad and the oily in the town's many massage offerings, but restaurants that definitely rubbed the right way. 800-447-8797, http://www.berkeleysprings.com/ .

For People Who Love Cities

· New York's Meatpacking District. Until the late 1990s, this enclave between Chelsea and the West Village was known for butchers and packing plants. Now it's a gathering place of edgy fashionistas and late-night partiers, with all the resources of an urban escape: trendy restaurants, casual wine bars, cafes, clothing boutiques, jazz joints and late-night dance clubs, all within a few square blocks. 212-484-1200, http://www.meatpacking-district.com/ .

· Baltimore, Baltimost. We went looking the superlatives in the city with the comparative name. Among them: the Gaudiest Place (Bingo World on Belle Grove Road); the Oldest Church (the Old Otterbein Church, in continuous use since 1785 on Sharp and Conway streets); the Oldest House (the 1765 Robert Long House on South Ann Street); the Narrowest Rowhouse ("The Little House," less than nine feet wide, on Federal Hill); and the longest row of town houses (the 2600 block of Wilkens Avenue). 877-225-8466, http://www.baltimore.org/ .

· Pittsburgh Rocks. Esquire magazine raised eyebrows when it named Pittsburgh the No. 1 "City That Rocks" last year. But this post-industrial town is packed with undiscovered, paid-in-beer local bands playing raw, passionate and original rock in clubs that occupy former churches, warehouses and factories. Common denominators include high-decibel sound, low-watt lights and a refusal to cover Top 40 radio. 877-568-3744, http://www.visitpittsburgh.com/ .

· A Philly Pen. On your next visit to Philadelphia, avoid the usual suspects -- Washington, Jefferson and Franklin -- and their regular hangout, Independence Hall. Instead, visit the huge, castlelike Eastern State Penitentiary, which opened only 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Now it is a spooky tourist attraction for those who want to see Al Capone's well-appointed cell and the chilling 8-by-12-foot cells of regular inmates. 215-236-5111, http://www.easternstate.org/ .

For People Who Love Country Inns

· Savage River Lodge, Frostburg, Md. In the winter, this isolated enclave in the middle of state forests and cross-country ski trails 2 1/2 hours west of D.C. can be hard to reach, and even harder to leave once you're in the grip of its log cabins with down comforters, soaking tubs and cast-iron stoves. In the summer, the trails are for hiking rather than snowshoeing, but the cellar of reasonably priced wines and the kitchen that produces four-star meatloaf are open whatever the weather. Cabins begin at $210 a night, double occupancy. 301-689-3200, http://www.savageriverlodge.com/

· Allenberry Resort Inn and Playhouse, Boiling Springs, Pa. From October through April, they're knocking 'em dead at the Allenberry. Murder Mystery Weekends give guests at this small town inn two hours north of Washington a chance to express their inner Miss Marples. The plot begins to thicken at Friday dinner and doesn't stop until all is resolved at Sunday brunch. Don't worry, there are plenty of unscripted chances to do yoga, walk the handsome grounds or get massages. Rates are $350 per person, double occupancy, for two nights and six meals.800-430-5468, http://www.allenberry.com/ .

· The Inn at Montchanin Village, Wilmington, Del. This elegant small hotel is built from a 19th-century hamlet that housed workers from du Pont gunpowder mills. Now, restored and refined, it is an incomparable base for exploring the historic estates, museums and gardens of the Brandywine Valley. After exploring, return to marble bathrooms, Frette linens and, best of all, Krazy Kat's, an exceptional three-star restaurant. Rooms begin at $169. 800-269-2473, http://www.montchanin.com/ .

· Sleeping with the Forefathers. Like a little history in your hotel? We've found several Colonial-era digs still serving weary travelers: the Georgian House 1747 Bed and Breakfast in downtown Annapolis (begining at $160 a night, 800-557-2068, http://www.georgianhouse.com/ ); the circa-1745 General Warren Inne near Valley Forge, Pa.(beginning at $120 a night, 610-296-3637, http://www.generalwarren.com/ ); and the Glasgow Inn , a 1760 plantation house on the Choptank River near Cambridge, Md. (beginning at $100 a night, 410-228-0575, http://www.glasgowinn.com)/ .

For People With Young Kids

· Loco for Locos. Forget shopping mall choo-choos or anything your uncle labored over in the basement: Northlandz, a model train extravaganza in Flemington, N.J., just under four hours from Washington, makes a reasonble claim for wonder-of-the-world status. Guinness has called it the biggest model railroad on the planet: 100 trains, many running all day long, eight miles of track, 4,000 buildings, 400 bridges (one of them 40 feet long), a half-million "lichen trees" and a 30-foot mountain. Oh, and a doll museum. 908-782-4022, http://www.northlandz.com/ .

· Candy Land. Pennsylvania's Hersheypark retains some of the small-world feel it must have had when Milton Hershey opened it for his chocolate factory workers in 1907. But now the kiddie rides and carnival games sit among world-class roller coasters and high-tech water rides and, of course, lots of the sweet brown stuff. Where else but Hershey, about two hours from Washington and just east of Harrisburg, can you sleep in a luxury hotel at night and shake hands with a colossal Milk Dud in the morning? 800-437-7439, http://www.hersheypa.com/.