Our Most Short-Changed States

When you attempt to visit all 50 states, there are bound to be some states that get short-changed. In our family, Maine tops that list. We have spent only a single day in Maine. It was a great day, full of neat experiences, but there's obviously a lot of things we missed. Just like anywhere, you could spend months and not see everything. I'd love to return to Maine and see some of what we've missed. Just look at the beauty of the Pine Tree State.

 

Delaware is our second most short-changed state. We spent a full day in Delaware in October 2017 and had a lot of fun, but there's a lot we didn't see. It's a small state (the second smallest) and we drove through about half of it, but didn't visit the more touristy area in the south. Someday! Look at all that the First State has to offer.

When planning our June 2023 New England trip, I really wanted to spend two days in Connecticut. But the timing just didn't work out with what days of the week certain things in other states were available, and I had to cut it down to a single day. Thus, Connecticut is our third most short-changed state. We packed in a lot of really fun things, but we'll be back to see more of the Constitution State - tentatively in the fall of 2026!

Our July 2019 trip to Missouri and Kansas was split into 6 days in Missouri and one day in Kansas. This was more a reflection of how easy it was for us to get to and from Missouri than it was to Kansas. We were able to take a nonstop flight to St. Louis from Sacramento, then another nonstop flight from Kansas City to Boise to visit my family. Flying in or out of any city in Kansas would have involved layovers. Not only would it have taken a lot longer, but the flights were more expensive. So Kansas became a day trip from Missouri. Here's some of what we saw, and some of what we missed, in the Sunflower State.  

Of our most short-changed states, the one that makes me the saddest is Wyoming. We had to cancel a 2020 family reunion in Yellowstone and Grand Teton because of the pandemic. That was so disappointing. We had been to Wyoming already, but had only spent one day visiting in June 2015. So Wyoming comes in at #5 on our most short-changed state. 

Our family has spent the least amount of time in Maine, Delaware, Connecticut, Kansas, and Wyoming, in that order. But there are two other states that need an asterisk:

• New York: As a family of three, we have spent only a few hours there. We sailed into New York harbor aboard a cruise ship, then had a brief city tour on the way to the airport to fly home. However, each of us has been to New York separately for multiple-day trips. Trevor visited without us on a school trip in March 2019. 

• Virginia: This is the only state we have not visited as a family of three. However, we've each been there separately (another stop during Trevor's school trip) and spent a decent amount of time. 

Any thoughts on don't-miss places to go when we eventually make it back to our most short-changed states? Let me know in the comments!