If you like Buena Vista you should try some of the towns in the nearby San Luis Valley. Salida, Alamosa, South Fork in Colorado and Taos in New Mexico all rule

hardly a destination, but a cute little town to kill a couple hours if you’re driving through. I’ve always loved Tenino, WA. Cute little town with several antique stores and a nice museum where they show off all the wooden money they’ve printed off over the years

Another wonderful small town is Kelley’s Island, OH. It’s the best of the Lake Erie islands, imo. Obviously, it’s got a ton of tourists at any given time, to a very small population of only about 250 full time residents. Despite that, off the main street, it’s a super chill place that (obviously) has great access to water. There’s a dope area on the Eastern edge of the island, beyond the single-strip airport, with an amazing outdoor/indoor art gallery/studio. There’s interesting geography - old quarries abandoned 100 years ago with strange microclimates, huge glacial grooves, caves. It is at substantial ecological risk from overtourism, so if you do go, please be chill, don’t bring your car (bikes are an easier way to get around anyhow), and if you litter I’ll hunt you down and kill you.

grand marais, minnesota is right on lake superior and very quaint.

Ithaca is pretty cool if you’re passing through upstate NY. It is largely a college town for Cornell University and Ithaca College. Lots of old buildings, vertical terrain, lots of restaurants, right at the tip of Lake Cayuga, good public transit.