9 Refreshing Summer Getaways In The City

Summer in the city getting you down? No matter which city has you feeling sweaty and cramped, there's a place to refresh and recharge right around the corner. Here are 9 places where you can kick back in the big city.

1. Summer in Chicago isn't just burning up in L-Train cars.

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The North Park Nature Center has your woodland, wetland, prairie, and savanna ecosystems totally covered. At just over 10 miles north of the Loop, it's an easy escape from the city.

2. Summer in Boston isn't just Duck Tour riders hysterically quacking at you.

Flickr: 65913838@N02 / Via mendosa.com and Flickr users TNTizzle and patodea

While everyone else you know is throwing plastic beer cups all over Fenway Park in an effort to make the Red Sox play better, you should go a few blocks over and take in the underrated beauty of the Fens.

3. Summer in DC isn't just hot air blowing out of congress.

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The Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial is a wonderful way to take your mind off how high your Pepco bill was in July.

4. Summer in Los Angeles isn't just breathing smog on the 405.

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Hey Angelenos, remember that scene in Drive where the hideously concrete LA River meets up with some magic summer wonderland? That's a real place you can visit! It's near Victory Boulevard and Lindley Avenue in Reseda. If it's good enough for the Goz, it's good enough for you.

5. Summer in Philadelphia isn't just going to the beach in Jersey.

newsworks.org / Via Friends of the Wissahickon and fairmountparkconservancy.org

You and I both know it's not always sunny in Philadelphia. But when it is, you should take advantage of the utter gorgeous-ness of the 1800 acre Wissahickon Valley Park.

6. Summer in Phoenix is more than just 95 degrees all the time.

soul-amp.blogspot.com / Via theroamingboomers.com

If you're gonna be somewhere hot in Phoenix (and you will be), you might as well be somewhere pretty too. The Desert Botanical Garden can help you out with that.

7. Summer in San Francisco isn't just fog... always with the fog.

jswolfphotography.com / Via jswolfphotography.com and globetrottergirls.com

It's just like Justin Timberlake said in that movie about Facebook... A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool? A million trees. Those million trees, and a bunch of other cool stuff, can be found in Golden Gate Park.

8. Summer in New York is more than just the smell of garbage everywhere.

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You go over it every time you fly out of JFK, but you might not have noticed how amazing Jamaica Bay is from the ground.

9. Summer in San Antonio is more than tourists at the Alamo.

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If you've had enough of cowboy boots, BBQ, and other western trappings, try a little bit of the east in the Japanese Tea Garden.