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What To Do In The USA
Apothe0sis
Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?Registered User regular
Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?Registered User regular
Hello USAsians,
My girlfriend is madly in love with the idea of traveling to the US for a holiday. At the moment, we are planning three weeks, around Halloween, to visit your strange land.
Initially the plan is to arrive in New York and see some places (museums, some kind of statue - the statue of freedom I think it's called - and so forth), before driving to New England for a while via car, then flying to Florida to visit the Harry Potter place and possibly Disney World. And finally going to New Orleans for Halloween.
We'd like to hire a car to drive from NY to New England, and Orlando to New Orleans (over a few days) and so I wanted to make sure that would be feasible as I'd be the one driving. We were also hoping for advice on things to do and see bearing in mind we won't really be the typical tourist (or maybe we will be, who knows) we don't really drink, and don't care for sports or hiking and so forth. On the other hand we do love eating so a semi-eating tour recommendation would be greatly appreciated (think Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives sort of thing).
So any recommendations for anything with these things in mind - from accommodation, to airlines, nice or otherwise scenic drives in this area, places that serve delicious and unique food or other sundry interesting tourist things would be much appreciated.
My girlfriend is madly in love with the idea of traveling to the US for a holiday. At the moment, we are planning three weeks, around Halloween, to visit your strange land.
Initially the plan is to arrive in New York and see some places (museums, some kind of statue - the statue of freedom I think it's called - and so forth), before driving to New England for a while via car, then flying to Florida to visit the Harry Potter place and possibly Disney World. And finally going to New Orleans for Halloween.
We'd like to hire a car to drive from NY to New England, and Orlando to New Orleans (over a few days) and so I wanted to make sure that would be feasible as I'd be the one driving. We were also hoping for advice on things to do and see bearing in mind we won't really be the typical tourist (or maybe we will be, who knows) we don't really drink, and don't care for sports or hiking and so forth. On the other hand we do love eating so a semi-eating tour recommendation would be greatly appreciated (think Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives sort of thing).
So any recommendations for anything with these things in mind - from accommodation, to airlines, nice or otherwise scenic drives in this area, places that serve delicious and unique food or other sundry interesting tourist things would be much appreciated.
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Halloween is a good time to go, but be cautious about going too far north into New England around that time. There could very well already be snow on the ground, and if you're not used to driving in snow, it can be bad.
Driving along I-95 from NYC to my parents place in southern delaware is about a good 6ish hour drive. Depending where you want to go in new England, it's almost that long the other way (Bangor, Maine to my parents place was 13 hours almost exactly). It's probably about 4 hours from NYC to Philadelphia and another 2 or 3 from there to Baltimore & DC.
You can drive it, but it can be very tiring.
If you're looking for history/art/food Then I, personally, would say stick to the 95-corridor. Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond, Charleston. You'll get a taste of just about everything you can imagine if you stick there, from Boston Italian down to good ol' Soul Food and everything in between. Plus the historical sights in those places alone are enough to make you crazy. From the Boston Tea party to Independence Hall, the Capitol of the Confederacy to Fort Sumter it's all along the coast.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
History, art, food and scenery (that we don't have to hike for) would be our plan, so that sounds pretty good. 13 hours sounds pretty doable over 3 to 5 days...
but they're listening to every word I say
Accommodations depend on what you're looking for. If it's just a safe place to sleep at night when you're on the road between Orlando and New Orleans, motels that are good include La Quinta, Microtel, Holiday Inn, Best Western, Hampton Inn. You can always ask to see a room before committing to stay, in fact, I would suggest this.
Airlines: not American Airlines. Fuck them. Southwest Airlines is usually cheapish, and it's not included in Kayak.com so you have to go to their website separately. Southwest.com
While I'm on it: Kayak.com and Hotwire.com are the two website I use almost exclusively for travel, and I travel a fair amount for business. carrentals.com is also good.
FYI: we refer to it as "renting a car" instead of "hiring a car." Some of the yokels you encounter might not understand "hire" to mean "rent."
I'll add more as I think of it.
I only visit New England once a year, but I can tell you don't try to go between any two major cities on Sunday night. Spend Sunday night in one city, don't even THINK about leaving it.
Hopefully someone will come up with things for you to do. When I travel, it's always for work and there's never time to sightsee. Except this: Epcot in Orlando is very cool and worth the visit. I could have skipped Disney entirely and just visited Epcot (Harry Potter world was sadly not complete when I was in Orlando).
Americans can be quite friendly, so don't be afraid to ask for recommendations for restaurants from locals. The New Englanders especially will be keen to give you their opinions on seafood restaurants.
Days 1-3 - Boston
Day 4 - Drive up to Portsmouth NH (1 hour north), spend day and night in that area (some cool historical stuff, beautiful downtown, fun bar scene)
Day 5 - Drive to Portland ME (another hour north), repeat portsmouth activities, note that Portland has some amazing restaurants
Depending on weather and preferences for large vs. small cities, you may want to alter your time in the cities
Day 6 - Drive west from Portland ME to North Conway NH (an hour to an hour and a half)- go see beautiful vistas/white mountains
Day 7 - North Conway Area activities (especially if you're fit and a hiker)
Day 8 - Drive back towards Boston (2 and a half to 3 hours from North Conway), hiking Mt. Major in Alton NH on the way back (easy hike, amazing views of Lake Winnipesaukee and the whole area).
Let me know if you need any eating/lodging reco's
Southwest and JetBlue are the US version of RyanAir, with all that comparison entails.
pretty much anywhere along the east coast is going to give you a history rich experience. I'm biased towards Philadelphia personally, but Boston is definitely my 2nd favorite. Richmond, Virginia is a truly gorgeous city with lots of history.
Also, if you like E. A. Poe at all, let me know. There are Poe Houses/museums in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Richmond. The one in Baltimore is the one I'm most familiar with, and it's right around the corner from the graveyard where Poe, his wife, and mother-in-law are all buried. Very very awesome museum, and the curator is a fantastic guy too.
I mean, there is so much to do and see. The statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Time Square, Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Boston's Freedom Trail (it's a walk but not a hike and so very very worth it), Sturbridge Village, Williamsburg, etc etc etc. There are forts from pre revolution to WWII all along the coast. One of my favorite beaches back home in Delaware has the tall circular watchtowers that were used during WWII to keep eyes out for UBoats.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
For airlines, I basically feel like there are four choices: Southwest, JetBlue, Virgin, and everybody else. Southwest is generally cheaper than the other airlines. JetBlue and Virgin are a little nicer, more legroom and more amenities in coach. There's no reason to avoid any particular airline, though.
Unless you're really in love with the idea of going to Orlando or New Orleans, I would consider removing them from your itinerary. Nothing against them - it's just that the US is really really big and a trip to Orlando and/or New Orleans is basically a trip in and of itself. You will have so much to see and do in the Northeast.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Would you be a fan of Top Gear by chance? Driving Orlando to New Orleans is kind of a boring-ish drive. I-10 is a good highway though so it's a straight shot. If you're driving that far might I suggest a little extra driving and head into Texas? Gotta get some real BBQ, maybe see the Grassy Knoll in Dallas, etc.
Good luck!
maybe it just felt that way cause i'd been driving for 7 hours by that point. But NJ is a boring ride on 95/Turnpike. Almost as bad as Connecticut.
OH The Turnpike. Toll Roads. If you are going to drive, there are tolls. And you have to pay a toll to get out of NJ. It's like a state freaking law or something stupid *this might be hyperbole*. But i don't know what the tolls are on the George Washington Bridge as of now, but they were around about $7 or so last time i went over. And the Turnpike from NYC to the Delaware memorial Bridge was just about $13.
Just remembered about that.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
New Orleans Halloween is a lot like Mardi Gras, one big party. If you like drinking, dancing, elaborate/slutty costumes and parades (and good food and music), that's where you want to be.
Salem does the "traditional" experience and they do it up right: corn mazes, haunted houses, spooky wagon rides through dark wooded areas, and a big witches ball. It's pretty much THE place to be in New England for Halloween, lot of fun. You can check out the website for 2011's festival here: http://www.salemhauntedhappenings.org/
When flying, keep in mind that many (most?) US airlines now charge around $25 for each checked bag. That's one of the reasons I like JetBlue -- they still give you a free checked bag, so unless you manage to get everything into a carry-on bag, they don't end up being that much more expensive than the other airlines.
Harry Potter World is definitely worthwhile and the stores first idea is solid
Also every region in the south has what they consider to be 'real BBQ' and are all completely different, if you have the time, I would suggest sampling as many as you're able to hit
also sweet tea is a must
I will check into the former - I am 27 so I am ok on that front.
Thanks for the tip.
I will definitely be advocating the Harry Potter World strategy.
No passing lane laws are awesome BTW. That means I can stay in the left hand lane and do the speed limit via cruise control and if you want to pass me... Well, go around then :twisted:
New Orleans to Dallas or Austin is almost as far as Orlando to New Orleans. I don't really recommend doing that if time is a concern.
As someone else who lives in Atlanta, I would really recommend not bothering coming here. It's a pretty crappy place for tourism unless you have a hard-on for Coca-Cola or the 1996 Olympics. :P
And if you're in a large city beware "barbecue" places that don't serve actual barbecue. There are a lot of these sort of places in Raleigh catering to all the displaced northerners. Look for cheesy looking statues of pigs in the lobby of the restaurant and/or nascar memorabilia as markers of a real barbecue place. Smithfield's is a chain that servers decent if not great traditional barbecue if you can't find anything else. Bill's in Wilson, NC is a good place for barbecue. Parker's in Greeneville and Wilson used to be very good but they've gone downhill somewhat. Hmm. Looking at that list you should probably just rule out any place that doesn't have a possessive noun as a name.
0431-6094-6446-7088
Yeah, real eastern North Carolina barbecue is just slow roasted pulled pork with a sort of dressing of pepper vinegar. There should not be an appreciable amount of liquid to it. Those heathens in the west like to put some sort of tomato based sauce on it that might make it soupy though. If you ate that you should probably have an exorcism just to be safe.
0431-6094-6446-7088
In general, most states "require" a foreign visitor to obtain a temporary driving permit for that state.
However, in practice, nobody actually gives a shit. As long as your foreign driver's license is in English and has your picture and birthdate, (and as long as you're over 25 for car rentals) you're fine.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Granted, I don't know your budget or timeframe. Just remember the US covers alot of milage. It's not nearly as dense or interconnected as Europe.
Historical weekly averages for that area around Halloween are around:
Max Ave Min
Max Temperature 30 °C 30 °C 29 °C
Mean Temperature 21 °C 21 °C 21 °C
Min Temperature 14 °C 14 °C 13 °C
It could be mid-January and still be warm enough in Florida.
Seriouseats is also heavily present in the northeast. You could even check out the pizza guide so you can try a slice from each region's native style.
You might also want to stop in southern New England. Newport is always picturesque.
Salem also has a really old candy company.
I suppose you could also try Worcester or Springfield and, I don't know, get mugged or whatever it is they do for fun out there.
I can guarantee that we'll be visiting the candy company and seriouseats is looking to be very helpful.
We've also decided to rearrange the trip and go for Halloween the extra-traditional way and do it in Salem. Instead of starting in New York and going north then south, instead it'll be something more like:
Orlanda and Harry Potter World+Disney World drive to New Orleans over a few days stopping at interesting diners etc..., flying to New York for a few days, train from New York to New England and then with the big finish of Halloween in Salem.