Visiting America

Off Topic
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If you like history I’d head straight for DC (tons and tons of museums) and then travel up the east coast. DC to Gettysburg to Philadelphia to NY…

You can drive from the Mason Dixon line in MD to the Northern tip of Maine in a day so you’ve got a ton of time to see a bunch of stuff. My wife and I just spent a weekend in Niagara Falls (We drove from MD). It was about 6 or 7 hours I think. There are a ton of possibilities with how condensed the east is.

You start heading west and you’re gonna be driving, a lot.

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If you do go to Niagara check out a little town called Niagara on the Lake. It was neat.

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[quote]Rollsroyce13 wrote:

im looking to buy some ice hockey gear so perhaps that would be the place to do it as well.[/quote]

I believe it will be considerably cheaper in the US. There are a lot of Hockey stores in Michigan and I would imagine Chicago. My daughter’s boyfriend works in one along the corridor you would drive from Grand rapids to Detroit. I can direct you there if you like.

Check for concerts in Grand rapids, Detroit and at DTE music theatre

Renamed Venues - Venues Under Previous Name | ETC

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Maine is definitely worth the trip, went there for my honeymoon.

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Chicago - see a Cubs game Baseball Schedule | MLB Schedule | MLB.com
see a band Chicago Concerts, Festivals, Tickets & Tour Dates 2022 & 2023 – Songkick

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Awesome,

Yeah baseball is consideration for sure although neither one of really knows the ins and out of it.

Cheers for the concert links, will have a look through them for sure. We are seeing U2 on monday at the United centre but happy to see other things.

We are going to head through Michigan at this stage. Detroit doesn’t have the best rep though, don’t really wanna get car jacked or anything.
Probably stay a couple nights somewhere if its nice along the lake coast

Can anyone recommend the best place for us to spend 4th of July, keep in mind leaving chicago on the 2nd. (morningish)

Is it a big night out for you folks?

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[quote]Testy1 wrote:

[quote]Rollsroyce13 wrote:

im looking to buy some ice hockey gear so perhaps that would be the place to do it as well.[/quote]

I believe it will be considerably cheaper in the US. There are a lot of Hockey stores in Michigan and I would imagine Chicago. My daughter’s boyfriend works in one along the corridor you would drive from Grand rapids to Detroit. I can direct you there if you like.

yeah from what I’ve searched online its a quarter of the price, so that would be great, I’m sure we’ll be heading that way anyway
Check for concerts in Grand rapids, Detroit and at DTE music theatre

Renamed Venues - Venues Under Previous Name | ETC

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[quote]Rollsroyce13 wrote:
Awesome,

Yeah baseball is consideration for sure although neither one of really knows the ins and out of it.

Cheers for the concert links, will have a look through them for sure. We are seeing U2 on monday at the United centre but happy to see other things.

We are going to head through Michigan at this stage. Detroit doesn’t have the best rep though, don’t really wanna get car jacked or anything.
Probably stay a couple nights somewhere if its nice along the lake coast

Can anyone recommend the best place for us to spend 4th of July, keep in mind leaving chicago on the 2nd. (morningish)

Is it a big night out for you folks?
[/quote]

Grand rapids has theirs the fifth, very nice town. I recommend staying somewhere on the coast.

You can cross at Port huron/Sarnia if you want to avoid Detroit but the heart of downtown is pretty safe for a big city and there is a lot to do there.

From Sarnia up the lake huron coast a little bit is a town called Grand Bend. I haven’t been in a while but it is a nice little town with fourteen miles of white sand beaches. Worth the diversion.

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[quote]Rollsroyce13 wrote:

Can anyone recommend the best place for us to spend 4th of July, [/quote]

In a back yard BBQ with good friends and/or family…

Just being honest. It was never a big “go get wasted at a club” day for me or any of my friends.

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[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]Rollsroyce13 wrote:

Can anyone recommend the best place for us to spend 4th of July, [/quote]

In a back yard BBQ with good friends and/or family…

Just being honest. It was never a big “go get wasted at a club” day for me or any of my friends. [/quote]

I’m sure he could find some good festivals in any urban area. Those are always a decent time. Plenty of vendors with food and drink followed by the obligatory fireworks display.

Boston, Philly, NYC … all 3 of those places should have a good to great shindig happening for the 4th. Check into it OP

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14th street in DC for the 4th if no foo or after concert. Lot of bars there for the nation’s youth. Pretty good food too.

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OP, I’ve always had a good experience when visiting a foreign country/city I’ve never been to to schedule some sort of tour through a company. My wife and I got to see parts of Mumbai we would have never went to had we stuck to the recommended tourist traps suggested to us. Try a food tour or something along those lines. Talk to the tour guide and try to get some recommendations for places to see in the respective city - usually they’re locals and we have received great information about off the beaten path type of places (hole in the wall restaurants, locals bars, etc.) or, if you’re into the site seeing type of thing, they’ll definitely help you out with that too.

I know Boston has a few of these types of tours as does DC. Haven’t looked into NYC for this, but I’d be willing to bet my first born they have one. NYC would be great for this…or if all else fails, go to the Financial district to Stone Street in NYC - tons of great little eateries down there for a good price. It’s a cool part of the city not many tourists go to (This is in Manhattan btw just north of Battery Park - a couple blocks south of Wall St)

Boston, you’ll probably end up at Faneiul Hall across from City Hall. That’s a good area for shopping and some good restaurants. If you want to get some decent history and see a good portion of the city, take a Duck Boat Tour - not sure what they’re running these days, but they generally last about 1.5 to 2 hrs and take you all around the city and into the Charles River. Plus the driver’s are usually pretty funny. I think you can find tickets out of the Prudential Center. Driving/Parking is a bitch in Boston, I’d suggest finding a cheap place to park (parking garage, etc.) and either utilizing Uber or the public transit system (MBTA/subway) or just walking. A lot of the neighborhoods you might want to see are reasonably close to one another. It’s pretty easy to stroll through the city. I’d also recommend checking out the North End - predominantly Italian neighborhood with the TD Garden just north of it (where the Bruins and Celtics play). They have some great Italian bakeries and restaurants. Probably some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had. I’d recommend Giacomo’s on Hanover St. They don’t take reservations so I’d try to get there when they open as a line tends to form. But that street is littered with great Italian restaurants that you won’t be disappointed with.

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4th of July at Put In Bay (little island off the coast* of Port Clinton, OH) is pretty crazy if you’re into wild partying in the sun. Saturday 7/4 from noon til about 5pm is when you want to be there. Splash at the Islander Inn usually has a rock cover band and is my favorite spot there, but there is also Mist (another pool bar) that has a house DJ if you’re more into that.

http://www.islanderinnpib.com/put-in-bay-splash

If you like roller coasters, you’ll want to hit up Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH on the way to the East Coast. If you do, definitely spring for the Fast Pass so you don’t spend the entire day waiting in lines.

Maybe do July 3 at Cedar Point and then head over to PIB for The Fourth? They are really close to each other. Sandusky is about 4 hrs from Chicago IIRC.

*EDIT: Not really “coast” since it’s a lake, but you get the idea.

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If sightseeing is important enough, then you won’t want to pass up DC. It has a lot of museums and monuments that are good if you’re trying to go sightseeing. It’s not all a shithole, there’s lots of live spots (every major city can be described this way, pretty much). I’d say it’s worth spending a day or 2 there. Fireworks on the mall are also pretty good, right between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

If you like seafood, then going east into Maryland isn’t a bad idea, either. Lots of local spots with excellent seafood dishes, especially crabs.

What are you emphasizing for this trip? Like, the most interested in doing? This can have a large affect on where you should go and how much time you should spend there.

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Living near it, and having been there, I really can’t stand Boston, at all. If we’re talking about “visiting” and not “living in” NYC absolutely destroys Boston in every way imaginable. (I wouldn’t want to live in either, but cost of living is a tick lower in Boston.)

Not trying to be Debbie downer here, but it is what it is. The good news is, for sure in Boston, you should be swimming in women with your accent if you are remotely good looking and look like you’ve lifted a weight in in your life. You’ll clean up with ease.

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[quote]TDub301 wrote:
If sightseeing is important enough, then you won’t want to pass up DC. It has a lot of museums and monuments that are good if you’re trying to go sightseeing. It’s not all a shithole, [/quote]

This is a fair comment.

But each summer in America, there are a couple of stories of tourists (generally male and generally German or Japanese) who come to America, get off on the wrong train station in (insert big city here) and get gunned down. Less of a problem because you are a native English speaker, but still a problem.

Boston is, by far, the easiest not to wander off into the fringes. You really have to go look for it. It’s a city designed for drunk college students, so they have been reasonably good at keeping things OK. Chicago or DC, you can get killed by holding a subway map upside down and getting off on the wrong stop.

But, yes, if you want to go to the best museums in the world, DC is where it’s at. Air & Space is my favorite. If you want local flavor and reasonably safe drunken wanderings, Boston or the better parts of Manhattan.

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[quote]Jewbacca wrote:
But, yes, if you want to go to the best museums in the world, DC is where it’s at. Air & Space is my favorite. If you want local flavor and reasonably safe drunken wanderings, Boston or the better parts of Manhattan.[/quote]

Agreed for sure. (though do be ready for plenty of youngsters/rugrats running around everywhere at the Air & Space)

Would also highly recommend lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian - Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe Menu & Hours

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[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]TDub301 wrote:
If sightseeing is important enough, then you won’t want to pass up DC. It has a lot of museums and monuments that are good if you’re trying to go sightseeing. It’s not all a shithole, [/quote]

This is a fair comment.

But each summer in America, there are a couple of stories of tourists (generally male and generally German or Japanese) who come to America, get off on the wrong train station in (insert big city here) and get gunned down. Less of a problem because you are a native English speaker, but still a problem.

Boston is, by far, the easiest not to wander off into the fringes. You really have to go look for it. It’s a city designed for drunk college students, so they have been reasonably good at keeping things OK. Chicago or DC, you can get killed by holding a subway map upside down and getting off on the wrong stop.

But, yes, if you want to go to the best museums in the world, DC is where it’s at. Air & Space is my favorite. If you want local flavor and reasonably safe drunken wanderings, Boston or the better parts of Manhattan.

[/quote]

Yes yes, there are certain parts of DC that you would want to avoid. Even if you’re from there, let alone being a tourist. This is very true. That’s why I said it’s not ALL a shithole, haha.

But as previously stated, pretty much any major city is going to have it’s bad parts that should be avoided. I’m sure cities in Australia are the same way.

I don’t have a lot of experience in Boston, but it sounds like I may have to visit at some point just to get drunk and wander around without worrying about my safety (I visited my friend at Temple once in Philly and ended up doing that, haha, luckily we ran into cool random strangers instead of violent ones on that particular drunken night).

The Air and Space Museum is my favorite, too. I still have an origami paper airplane book that I got from their gift shop on a middle school field trip that I’ve always loved.

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[quote]chillain wrote:

Would also highly recommend lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian - Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe Menu & Hours

[/quote]

WTF? That’s what they tell people is Native food? This Apache grabbed a coffee at Starbucks for breakfast (after 4 eggs, 3 pieces of turkey sausage, 2 pieces of Ezikiel bread, and a protein drink) and lunch at Sonic down at the foot of the reservation (triple burger, no cheese).

May eat Chinese for dinner. Or sushi at Great Wall. Maybe a nice fillet with green beans and a sweet potato.

We don’t eat the shit on that menu. At most, we eat more elk than other others, but that’s because when you kill a fucking elk, you end up with a deep freeze full of elk. I bought my deep freeze at Sears.

And for the record, we don’t live in fucking teepees, either.

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^^ Heh, fair enough.

That cafe remains memorable to me because I’ve otherwise never found medium-rare buffalo/bison available in a food court type setting.