Interesting places in the U.S? [Archive]

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Merf

Oct 3, 2004, 02:00 PM

jefhatfield

Oct 3, 2004, 02:08 PM

Next summer I want to go on a road trip. I live in Northern Califonia and I willing to drive any where in the U.S maybe even Canada (I don't know if they will let me in though). I have one place in mind already I want to see the cliff dwellings in New Mexico. Maybe even drive to florida I just don't know yet. But if any of you know of cool/neat places in the U.S. or Canada that would be neat if you gave me like a link to a site about it. I plan on taking my VW Bus I figure VWs are so common that if I break down I should be able to find parts rather cheap. And if I don't take my Bus I think I will take my Motorcycle. Either way I should have a good time. So anyways I'm looking forward to the interesting places you are about to tell me about.

Merf

a lot of friends i grew up with in northern cal took short trips down south...surfing, partying, or other things like sightseeing, etc

sf bay area to monterey, to san luis obispo, to santa barbara, to los angeles/san diego, and then over to las vegas and maybe phoenix or taos, new mexico

going north, many go to oregon, washington, then to bc

if you are daring you can go cross country and i have know a few people who have done that...southern route usually preferred over northern route

anyway, have a lot of fun on your excursion away from northern california

rainman::|:|

Oct 3, 2004, 02:25 PM

I have fond memories of south dakota-- the black hills are amazing, it's storybook forest. mt rushmore and crazyhorse monuments... Also, for some southern charm try Savannah or New Orleans, if you're more interested in history and beauty try the former, if you want a place to kick back and party in historic and beautiful places, try the latter. Umm, Key West area is a great place to visit, but that's probably a bit further than you want to drive. There's some great caves through Kentucky, Tennessee, several of the SE states. Can't remember any specifically of course...

paul

Counterfit

Oct 3, 2004, 07:59 PM

Feel like coming to New England? ;) You can visit where the Industrial Revolution first started in the US :)

crazzyeddie

Oct 3, 2004, 08:34 PM

pseudobrit

Oct 3, 2004, 08:38 PM

I wouldn't take an aimless cross-country drive without stopping in New Orleans.

yellow

Oct 3, 2004, 08:45 PM

Skip North Carolina. Nothing to see here, move along..

Mr. Anderson

Oct 3, 2004, 08:57 PM

I've been in quite a few places, but some that really impressed me were Sedona in Arizona, Chicago (a great city, especially if you can compare it to others, you appreciate it more), Banff (Alberta), and all of Alaska, Kenai particularly.

The only thing is there is so much to see and it is way more than just one road trip :D

Look forward to seeing what you decide to do.

D

Counterfit

Oct 3, 2004, 09:36 PM

leftbanke7

Oct 3, 2004, 11:21 PM

Since you want to hit up NM, you might as well take a jaunt to southern Utah on the way. 5 national parks (Zion, Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands & Capitol Reef) in the area and some of the prettiest scenery you'll probably ever see. Worth the trip.

http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/

And now that I think about it. I now know what I am going to do when I graduate college. Instead of backpacking through Europe. I'll do a cross country trip of the US. Thanks for posting this. You got my creative juices flowing.

Edit: Oh, and don't forget to visit the 4 corners!

bousozoku

Oct 4, 2004, 12:12 AM

Florida rules! And I'm not biased either ;) If you haven't been to Florida you definitely need to though. We have some of the best beaches in the world here (Fort DeSoto is in the Top 10 of the US, or is it the world?).

Wow. You shouldn't try to fool him into driving all this way for nothing. :D SoCal has better beaches and it's closer.

Sorry, there is nothing here. Some of the best scenery is in the west. If you want to see cities and try good food, drive to Kansas City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and New York City.

Duff-Man

Oct 4, 2004, 12:24 AM

Duff-Man says...well, if you start off by heading north Mt. St. Helens is pretty interesting these days. And in general, the Pacific Northwest is a great place to visit - Seattle - up to Vancouver Canada, maybe through the Rockies and Banff alberta, then head back south into the USA and continue on from there....oh yeah!

Doctor Q

Oct 4, 2004, 12:58 AM

It's fun to go to Four Corners and put your left hand in Utah, your right hand in Colorado, your left foot in Arizona, and your right foot in New Mexico. And then take a photo of yourself somehow! I did that a few years ago (with somebody else taking the photo) and it was fun. It's also fun to stand at the continental divide, where rainwater on one side flows to the Pacific and on the other side to the Atlantic.

Phat_Pat

Oct 4, 2004, 01:20 AM

you can drive to Hawaii... or wait that bridge hasn't been built yet.... check back in 2012 ;)

Disneyworld is fun, so's Flordia but they are being bombarded with those tornados and all sorts of weird weather.. so it might not be smart to go down there...

LA is fun if you like movies, and who can forget Boston? go to Reginies: BEST. PIZZA. EVER. :D

G5orbust

Oct 4, 2004, 01:23 AM

Counterfit

Oct 4, 2004, 01:51 AM

and who can forget Boston? go to Reginies: BEST. PIZZA. EVER. :D You can't forget Boston. And do you mean Pizzeria Regina? Their pizza's okay. I recommend you go to Spike's Junkyard Dogs in Allston (they also have five locations in Rhode Island ;))

yeah, and we all know New England has the best scenery in the country, especially in the fall :D

Rend It

Oct 4, 2004, 03:22 AM

Wow. You shouldn't try to fool him into driving all this way for nothing. :D SoCal has better beaches and it's closer.

Sorry, there is nothing here. Some of the best scenery is in the west. If you want to see cities and try good food, drive to Kansas City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and New York City.

Absolutley. FL sucks. It's oppresively hot except for Dec - February, and the beaches are not that great. I grew up in Tampa, did my undergrad in Melbourne, and seen pretty much everything else, which isn't much. That's why I had to move to CO. I needed another dimension: UP! Of course, I still go back every six months to see my fam.

You say you want to visit the cliff dwellings in NM? Did you know there are also cliff dwellings from the Anasazi culture in SW Colorado? There's even a Nat'l Park devoted to it, called Mesa Verde. I have the perfect road trip for you:

Get on US Hwy 395 (in CA) and head south to Interstate 40. That should be a beautiful drive in itself. Take I-40 east to Flagstaff, AZ. Once there, you can spend time in Flagstaff (which is also beautiful), or head up to the Grand Canyon. From Flagstaff, take US 89 to US 160 through the Painted Desert (an eerie trip, if you've never done it before), and into the Four Corners area. Once there, you can decide to visit the Canyons of the Ancients, or Mesa Verde, or both. Once you're done with that, you absolutely must see the San Juan range of Colorado. It's like the Swiss Alps in America. Stop by Durango for some spectacular vistas, and mountain town ambience. Then, you must (if it's not winter) head over Molas Pass via US 550 to Silverton and then Ouray. Once you've done all of that, find your way to Moab, UT. If you've come all that way, you have to see Moab (which also has 2 Nat'l Parks). From Moab, you can then head back home either via Salt Lake City to I-80 (long and boring, but faster way home), or take I-15 south to either US 395 or I-5 (very beautiful, and you get to visit Las Vegas, if you're into that sort of thing).

With this trip, you will see Lake Tahoe, the grand Sierra Nevadas, the lushness of Flagstaff, the desolate retro feel of CA's southern deserts and the eerie solitude of AZ's Painted Desert. Then you'll see ancient ruins and Alpine wilderness that will blow your mind. And on and on....

Of course, that whole mess assumes you enjoy natural scenery to city life.

:D

virividox

Oct 4, 2004, 04:09 AM

boston!!! hehe
i loved banff but thats not in the us

yellow stone is great and the redwood place in cali

blackfox

Oct 4, 2004, 05:34 AM

Next summer I want to go on a road trip. I live in Northern Califonia and I willing to drive any where in the U.S maybe even Canada (I don't know if they will let me in though). I have one place in mind already I want to see the cliff dwellings in New Mexico. Maybe even drive to florida I just don't know yet. But if any of you know of cool/neat places in the U.S. or Canada that would be neat if you gave me like a link to a site about it. I plan on taking my VW Bus I figure VWs are so common that if I break down I should be able to find parts rather cheap. And if I don't take my Bus I think I will take my Motorcycle. Either way I should have a good time. So anyways I'm looking forward to the interesting places you are about to tell me about.

Merf
Well what kind of things are you interested in seeing?
It is a big country after all...

So in a couple categories:

NATURE/NATIONAL PARKS

Utah/Arizona...beautiful but dry.
Oregon/Washington/Idaho...beautiful but wet.(I live here)
Montana.
CITIES

West Coast: San Fran, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver BC. All great.
Upper Midwest: Chicago, Madison (WI), Minneapolis.

MISC/KITSCH

Carhenge - Nebraska
Wall Drug - somewhere in the Dakotas, I think...

mostly, this stuff is all in the Great Plains states...

yeah, so tell us more about your trip plans and your preferences...

Applespider

Oct 4, 2004, 09:25 AM

Get a copy of Bill Bryson's 'The Lost Continent' and Mark Fletcher's 'Almost Heaven: The Backwoods of America'

Bryson visits many of the places suggested above in a beatup motor. Some of what he does is a lot more interesting than others but you can always vary depending on what your particular interests are. Very funny read - I pull it out and read it when I'm about to do a US road trip.

My particular interest (along with some friends) is football (American-style) so each year, 4 or 5 of us pick an area, fly over to the US and drive around (stopping at weekends to watch some football. So far we've covered 19 of the 32 stadiums with another 5 to tick off this trip - Great Lakes time.

If you're going to cover lots of the US, pick a theme just to give you a goal in each place - so stadiums, state capitols, Halls of Fame etc

wordmunger

Oct 4, 2004, 09:28 AM

I think glacier national park in montana is one of the most amazing sights on the planet. Truly awesome. If you go, make sure you walk the Garden wall.

ToddW

Oct 4, 2004, 09:33 AM

some buddies and i took a trip in my old beat up toyota camery. we called it the party like a rock star trip. We went to a few major cities that had hard rock cafe's and our last stop was in cleveland at the rock and roll hall of fame. it was really cool. we did a lot of neat things. we ended up stopping in new orleans and other places as well, it took two weeks and a lot of driving. we only stayed at motel 8s that was one of the rules. my old camery died a month later.

toaster_oven

Oct 4, 2004, 12:12 PM

some places I like:

Northern Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula - especially the porcupine mountains and pictured rocks... try swimming in lake superior. ;-) lake superior is beautiful in the summer...

the dakotas- definitely...

Northeast kingdom in New England... Northern Vermont, New Hampshire... the coast of Maine...

Minneapolis is a great place to visit... as is chicago. Boston is pretty cool-

I'm partial to Detroit- if you are driving it's probably one of the most interesting cities to explore... try to find a group that goes on tours of abandoned buildings, or go during one of the festivals. heidelberg street is pretty cool- wander around gratiot ave towards downtown, or hang out in the cass corridor- it's kinda hard to describe- don't think of it as a normal city where you do all the touristy things, you are going to have to search stuff out... you will feel strangely alone in some places... and in others full of life... it's that relationship which makes Detroit great. some people say it's like Berlin or Warsaw after WWII - some neighborhoods literally look like they went through a fire-bombing. it might not be your thing though- but here's a link:
www.detroityes.com

-TO

johnnyjibbs

Oct 4, 2004, 12:48 PM

You are so lucky to live in California! I expect you've visited all the top places nearly on your doorstep - Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Monument Valley, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon, etc, not to mention LA, San Fran, Seattle. How about Mt St. Helens? (Not too close, that would be dangerous!), Yellowstone National Park?

I've only ever visited the south-western US, but then if you want to go further afield, you could try the cities in Texas, go to Chicago and St. Louis, then Pensylvania and then on to New York and Boston. It would be amazing to travel coast to coast.

bousozoku

Oct 4, 2004, 01:00 PM

Absolutley. FL sucks. It's oppresively hot except for Dec - February, and the beaches are not that great. I grew up in Tampa, did my undergrad in Melbourne, and seen pretty much everything else, which isn't much. That's why I had to move to CO. I needed another dimension: UP! Of course, I still go back every six months to see my fam.
...

There's nothing in Colorado, either. :D

Doctor Q

Oct 4, 2004, 01:39 PM

You are so lucky to live in California!Hey, it's not luck, it's talent! ;)

Actually, Merf, it will always be easy for you to visit Los Angeles or even San Diego, so I don't recommend staying in California. Here's your chance to head east and visit some other states. We'll still be here when you get back, so I think you should save the rest of California for another trip.

wordmunger

Oct 4, 2004, 02:19 PM

MISC/KITSCH

Carhenge - Nebraska

Oh, yeah! Word Munger loves his carhenge. Dragged the wife and son there a couple years back. While I'm busy exploring the site, another wife asks my wife, "so how far'd your husband drag you out of the way to get to this place? For me, it's 400 miles!"

http://wordmunger.com/mungers/summer2002/Images/8.jpg

makisushi

Oct 4, 2004, 02:31 PM

Vienna, VA - "Midgetville" - For Midgets Only
A town with houses made for midgets...structures no taller than six feet. Has very small roads and the porch furniture looks like it's kid-size.

This near where I live.

Merf

Oct 5, 2004, 10:04 AM

Wow I didn't think this many people would respond! Well one of you said "tell us your prefrence for places" Well I don't really have a prefrence if you find a place interesting tell me about it. Things like car henge look neat so just any wacky neat places. I haven't really beeen to many places thats why I want to go on this trip I'm willing to drive to any of the 48 states maybe even alaska. So I guess we will just see :)

Merf

Doctor Q

Oct 5, 2004, 12:09 PM

Things like car henge look neat so just any wacky neat places.Maybe you'd like the Winchester Mystery House (http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/). I've been on the road between Los Angeles and San Francisco many times, but never took the side trip to see it.

When you take your trip, are you going to take your computer along and tell us about your adventures as you go?

SilentPanda

Oct 5, 2004, 12:37 PM

Check this website out for all your offbeat tourist needs:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

jefhatfield

Oct 5, 2004, 12:50 PM

man, a lot of great and beautiful trips here

how about the urban blight/eyesore tour of america??

start in east los angeles, go to kansas city, then chicago, philly, newark, and finish the trip in the beautiful south bronx

or compton to phoenix to detroit to new haven...fewer cities, but higher chance of getting killed

MongoTheGeek

Oct 5, 2004, 04:23 PM

Recently traversing this great country hear are some random thoughts.

South of the Border in SC is an interesting stop. Sorta like the Wall Drug of the east coast.

Enjoy good roads when you have them. Avoid Pennsylvania and Arkansas.

Ponder the differences in fast food across the County. In Texas you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a whattaburger but good luck finding them elsewhere.

Drink the local beer. Realize that crap beer is crap beer no matter if it is called Jax, Milwaukee's Best, Lone Star or Iron City...

Camping is good. Charcoal is cheap and steaks and potatoes are really cheap in grocery stores (fed 4 of us great grub for the cost of feeding one.) taters take a while to cook. Put them on first and then have them for desert.

If you drive on I95 from Richmond north you take your life into your own hands.

I80 is a wonderful road except for the stretch through pennsylvania. If you take it through Nebraska stop a Cabela's in Sidney NE.

Make a note of town names and keep track of how many times you go through Uniontown or the like.

Roads tend to be EMPTY between 2 and 5 am.

ThomasJefferson

Oct 5, 2004, 05:30 PM

I spent 10 days in Yellowstone National Park and 3 days in the Tetons this summer. Best vacation I ever had. I really got a chance to relax at Yellowstone. Saw 4 grizzly bears (one had 2 cubs), 2 black bears and many, many buffalo.

May do it again in about 5 more years or so ...

pseudobrit

Oct 5, 2004, 06:24 PM

A long vacation block with which to tour and you live in Cali?

I'd get a nice touring bike, strap up some panniers and try some loaded touring. Some wicked climbs in them thar' hills!

Frozone

Oct 5, 2004, 08:27 PM

I would recommend Georgia (Jawjuh :-D) to ANYONE! I live in extreme south Georiga and I love it here. If I was going to recommened you going somewhere here in Georgia, though, I'd say go to Savannah. I have been to Savannah many times and It's without a doubt my favorite place to be on Earth. It's a very beautiful town with tons of history. It's even claimed to be one of the most haunted cities on Earth! Also, it has the best restaurant in the World there. Well, that is, if you like Southern Food. It's this eating place built into a boarding house called Mrs. Wilkes. Every morning people line the streets to just get in and have a taste. They have like 26 or so different southern dishes and they just bring em' out in these huge bowls and sit them on a table. I remember when I left that place I walked out holding my stomach cuz' I ate SOOOOOO MUCH! (There are only two tables in the place, so you'll be sitting with other people you don't know which can be really interesting)

Other places in Georgia that I'd recommened stopping are...Tybee Island (Island near Savannah), Thomasville (Old Victorian resort town with tons of planations), Athens (Stop and watch a UGA football game :-D), Atlanta, and Bainbridge (Seminole Lake, so if you like to fish, etc it's a pretty cool place). But if you come to the south you GOTTA stop in Savannah.

http://www.georgia.gov/
http://www.thomasvillega.com/
http://www.ci.savannah.ga.us/cityweb/webdatabase.nsf/visitingIndex?OpenFrameset

Merf

Oct 5, 2004, 09:08 PM

Maybe you'd like the Winchester Mystery House (http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/). I've been on the road between Los Angeles and San Francisco many times, but never took the side trip to see it.

When you take your trip, are you going to take your computer along and tell us about your adventures as you go?

My dad used to have a friend who lived right next to the winchester house of mystery and him and his friend used to jump the fence and just go in and take a look at night. But it also costs like 25 dollars to get in. Maybe though.

Yeah I need to get a laptop here soon though. And maybe I was thinking I could stay at some mac rumors members houses. Then I wouldn't have to camp out every night and I won't have to pay for a hotel room. I could also post pictures of every neat place I go. Then maybe even make a little movie of my adventure! hurray!

Merf

Doctor Q

Oct 6, 2004, 04:56 PM

And maybe I was thinking I could stay at some mac rumors members houses. Then I wouldn't have to camp out every night and I won't have to pay for a hotel room. I could also post pictures of every neat place I go. Then maybe even make a little movie of my adventure! hurray!I think that would be a first! Instead of staying at the "Y", you'd stay at the "MR".

Once you figure out your itinerary, you should tell us what cities you'll be in on which likely dates, and see if any members are willing to play host. In return, you can let them be in your travel movie. :)