Gas-friendly vacations

A recent story in the NY Times on gas-friendly, low-budget vacations hits the spot. The writer found a relaxing destination that seems far-flung but is actually 142 miles from her home.

"There was a time when such a short distance from home might hardly have qualified as vacation," the story says. "The inherent rule was that a true getaway really did mean getting as far away as possible. But who can think that way now?"

The story highlights gas tank getaways from four major metro areas: Los Angeles, New York, Boston and San Francisco. The choices for LA are the usual suspects - Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, La Jolla. But a story on how to take a vacation in LA's backyard, aka Santa Monica, pointed out a few things that were new to me. (It also blew the lid on one of my favorite bargain stores, Varga. Dang you, NYT!)

Read the full story or jump straight to the interactive getaway map, which has mini-stories on individual cities.