Keeping it simple:I purchased 7 acres of land within 1 mile of a private university.

I am in the Southeast, so I have considered some of the same markets.I thought briefly about Chattanooga and Jacksonville. 

I ran my numbers like this:  The prices for a Motel6 that is several miles inland and alone the motorway, ran about $62 a night. 

Oh and it's miles away from us.

The midwest and southeast have great markets where you can buy houses for 1/5th the cost and they offer great returns.

Less than 10 miles from Boston, Quincy is a historically blue-collar city due to its manufacturing and industrial base, yet has diversified considerably and now has a substantial mix of professional residents in healthcare, finance, education, and insurance.This major medical building development will be the ‘jewel’ of a $1.6 billion downtown redevelopment that has been ongoing since 2011, and is aimed at providing high quality integrated care, both primary and specialty, closer to the residents of the city.

If that's what you choose to do, I would recommend looking at the Midwest and Southeast.

The two reasons you can buy an additional residence without having to cash out your VA entitlement is if you move due to employment (50 miles or more) (why most military can get more houses) or because your living situation has changed (ie you had children or out grew your house in some other justifiable way).

The closest big supermarket is about 18 miles away so I wanted to make sure that if the guests forgot anything, there was a good chance it was there.

It is about 1.5 miles to the stadium, so walking distance but a little past the paid-parking range.