tonyh29 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Looking at maybe doing a US fly drive this summer Anyone got any must see places they would suggest ? I'm keen on DC and my mate is an Atlanta Braves fan so it seems we have to head out that way even if it does appear to have bugger all else to see / do Will probably do a few internal flights so distance is not a huge obstacle(though price could be !!) but where should I be looking to visit ... Our trips are usually a bit of culture ( yeah I know that could be hard in America :winkold:) sight seeing and a fair bit of drinking (ok lots of drinking)... Not really into beaches as my mate lives next to one in Thailand and I can't sit still long enough yet alone lay down in the sun... Other than that pretty much anything really ... JFK stuff is always of interet to me so Dallas will probably get a shout and Id like to see some space stuff so should I head to Houston or Cape Canaveral or somewhere else ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Washington is a great city and can cover a number of different fixes. The Smithsonian has various museums in the city, my favourites of which are the American History museum and, naturally, the Air & Space Museum.The latter has a companion facility out at Dulles for larger exhibits, including a Space Shuttle and various rockets. This is called the Udvar Hazy Center. Back in Washington you have the Arlington National Cemetary, with the Kennedy grave site of interest. For drinking and eating Georgetown was pretty nice, although its a long time since I was there. Washington in general is pretty nice, with no building being taller than the Capitol, and with lots to do. Once you get out of the centre though, the place is a toilet! For onward flights Southwest have a fairly big hub at Baltimore-BWI. Beware that domestic flights in the US have become more expensive, as the 5 major carriers have become two and half (the half being a very sick AA). Nevertheless SW have reasonable fares and they are a really good airline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Why did I read that as the uber lazy center :-) Washington sounds like my sort of place and maybe does away with the need to visit cape Canaveral ? One of my suppliers has offered me his place on Lake Michigan ...is it worth some time on the great lakes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usvilla Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 if in Dallas i would say a short hop to San Antonio is worth a shout San Diego is as nice a city as you will find in US Chicago is best big city IMO Air Tran uses Atlanta as a hub and is a decent cheap airline Southwest i have always found to be good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Washington is dangerous and not worthy of much time IMO. As Trees says outside of the few things it has in the centre it really is a toilet, and more like a French one, smelly and you constantly wonder what the **** will happen next. San Antonio is the bets place in Texas out of the "cities" IMO. Chicago, I love the place. Travel a bit more off the usual tourist track. We spent a fair time in North Carolina and it was superb. Mountains and Ocean within easy drive. Then you can go North to Virginia etc. California is worthy of a long holiday by itself Go down to Florida Keys if possible really good down there. Also South Beach in Miami is a great Saturday night out if you are around that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 if in Dallas i would say a short hop to San Antonio is worth a shout San Diego is as nice a city as you will find in US Chicago is best big city IMO Air Tran uses Atlanta as a hub and is a decent cheap airline Southwest i have always found to be good Air Tran have been taken over by Southwest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 South Beach in Miami been to Miami /South beach twice before all be it briefly both times , but Florida keys could be worth exploring ..isn't that where Gentle Ben lives ? I can get a BA/ Iberia flight straight into Panama now (always wanted to see the canal ) and then Spirit air :shock: fly directly to Fort Lauderdale or I think AA fly direct to Houston , which would work for me seeing the Space centre and moving up to Dallas (got to see the book depository) San Antonio has had a couple of mentions now .. is there anything worth seeing there or is it just a nice place to chill out .. from memory isn't that where the Alamo was , is there anything left of it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usvilla Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 where on Lake Michigan ? i live on Lake Michigan ! didnt know about Air Tran being taken over by Southwest - a good aquisition ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 San Antonio has had a couple of mentions now .. is there anything worth seeing there or is it just a nice place to chill out .. from memory isn't that where the Alamo was , is there anything left of it ? Yes there is a good bit of the Alamo to look at - I will show you a pic on FB when I was over there. There is a good area around some canal / river - San Antonio riverwalk that you can find a good beer / food As said if you get chance drive into NC and do the mountains bit. I particularly liked it around Chimney Rock (film place of last of the Moheicans - I know spelling is wrong) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Chimney Rock Hmmmm that could work as I like my hiking and one of my mates is into his bird watching which seems to be quite good there (he is also a Braves fan and wants to go to Atlanta so not a million miles away) all I could find on your FB was that photo of you dressed a as womble :-) where on Lake Michigan ? I'm not 100% sure at this stage he just mentioned it in passing as he was trying to get me to sign a lease on 4 Konica Minolta copiers :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usvilla Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 driving around lake michigan is a nice trip ! upper peninsular is like another country and of course you get chicago & milwaukee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 i liked DC. yes there are bad parts like any other city but overall thought was a great city. go check out boston what a great place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 as we are now detouring via panama (as you do ) I'm having to drop a location current plan is to drop Philadelphia ... any reason why I really really shouldn't ? currently hitting Gettysburg , Franklin for civil war stuff Washington ,Smithsonian etc Atlanta - Atlanta braves Dallas - JFK stuff New Orleans - Mississippi and some more civil war stuff not that keen on the civil war stuff myself , but have to keep my mate happy seeing as i'm dragging him off to see a Canal :-) but based on that list would anyone say ..stuff XXX goto Philadelphia instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted February 29, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted February 29, 2012 Philadelphia is a half-scale New York, basically, with better food and history (it's second to Boston in terms of history...). What kind of trip duration are you looking at? If you're driving in the Philadelphia-Atlanta corridor, I would strongly suggest I-81 in preference to I-95/I-85, not least because it allows you tick at least the edges of Appalachia off your cultural exploration list. If you're keeping Philadelphia in and flying into DC, then I'd suggest something like this itinerary: Train (e.g. Acela) from DC to Philadelphia Hire car to go west to Gettysburg (would probably use US-30 aka The Lincoln Highway) South along I-81... for Civil War purposes, Harpers Ferry is an important site and not too far off the highway, which has some generally great scenery To get to Atlanta from 81, I'd probably head south on I-77 and catch I-85 in Charlotte and go through Dom Wren's stomping grounds. Get some Carolina barbecue somewhere in NC. The drive from Pennsylvania to Georgia can be done in a day (I've done from just outside Atlanta to Harrisburg in a day). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Thanks Levi ..Harpers ferry was a new one on me and will please the civil war buff in our party !! looks like around 17 days all in all .. trouble is the more we look the more we find ... Yellowstone Park looks pretty amazing but is of course nowhere near where we will be and seems like we'd have to fly to Salt Lake City , then Jackson Hole and then drive a few hours ..and then of course do it in reverse ... or we could head on to Vegas from Yellowstone ...it's only a 15 hour drive after all :shock: Ian mentioned Chimney Rock which looks quite interesting , but Appalachia may tick the same sort of boxes so I'll have a play with that New York is our assembly point as the 3 of us are coming in from different countries , I've been 4 times but the others haven't so maybe I'll come in via Philadelphia and have a day or 2 there whilst they explore New York decisions decisions .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted March 4, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 4, 2012 One idea: While your friends are in NY, you could explore Montreal (yes, I know that there's a lot of francophones there...) or Toronto (or even, perhaps, Boston), then join your them in NY. So: day 1: tony -> Montreal/Toronto/etc., friends -> New York day 2: as above... tony flies to New York in evening day 3: NY -> Philly (would recommend the train, either Acela or Northeast Regional (the Acela is only about 15 mph faster, but costs a lot more, though the accommodations are a bit better) day 4: Philly (and if you need a reason to visit Philadelphia, Dalessandro's should be reason enough... ) day 5: Philly -> Gettysburg -> DC (drive... you're approaching DC from one of the best two or three angles as far as traffic etc. is concerned)... between Philly and Gettysburg, especially if you take US-30, you're going through Pennsylvania Dutch country, including the Amish/Mennonite areas. day 6: DC day 7: DC day 8: DC -> Harpers Ferry -> somewhere in southern Virginia or North Carolina day 9: -> Atlanta day 10: Braves game day 11: Atlanta -> New Orleans (if you're willing to drive at night, you might be able be move this up a day to follow an afternoon Braves game... I'd personally rather spend an extra day in New Orleans than in Atlanta!) day 12: New Orleans day 13: New Orleans then New Orleans -> Dallas I'm not sure how much time you'd really want to spend in Dallas, from everything I've heard, it's the most boring of the main cities in Texas (all of which are reputed to have a different vibe: Houston is Southern, Dallas is Midwestern, Austin is is, well, Austin (it's the liberal enclave of Texas), San Antonio is the only one with any history to speak of, etc.) Denver is probably the best choice for a next city, especially since it's big enough to make a good terminus. It's about a half-day's drive from Dallas, but the drive can be memorable on US-287. Between Denver and the surrounding mountains, you can easily spend a few days. Rocky Mountain National Park is a possible idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 much appreciated Levi .. Thanks yeah , i've considered the Toronto option for seeing Niagara falls , only minor flaw being that Mrs H is fine with my travelling whilst she and the kids have a month back in Hungary ... upon pain of death that I don't go to Canada without her ... tempting though , maybe death is over rated :-) Dallas is literally gonna be a 1 day jobbie ..just want to see the book store depositary building ... but it's the first place that gets dropped if we run out of time I suspect PS no idea why but I always thought a hoagie was as cigar not a sandwich :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usvilla Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Charleston SC is worth a look as well - colonial history Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted March 28, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted March 28, 2012 So, tony, is July 18 in Philadelphia a possibility? The cheesesteaks and Yuengling will hopefully make up for having to watch McLeish's football... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Sadly July is too early Levi (wife and kids don't go to Hungary until Aug) Looks like I'll be arriving in Philly on the 10th Aug .. I may come in via Bermuda and miss New York as I've been a few times... But if that's close to you then we can def meet up for a beer or three ( 2 of us are villa fans the other one a reading fan :shock:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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