Where to visit in the USA?

[smitthhyy]

....
Go back next year and do the West Coast! (anyone for a convoy?)
....

I'm definatally in. Been over there 8 times in the last 8 years and still heaps more to see.

[johnc]

An interesting thread, unlike Oz you can at least drive across three states before smoko. We've done the Washington, New York, Philly, Providence leg by train which was great as you see parts of America you do not see by road. Like here the view from the train is seldom the upmarket sections of town. Almost got to Warren Maine as we have relatives with a holiday cottage on the shores of Booth Bay which is about 40 miles away but we went there on a 4th July weekend and missed out, great seafood and more lobster buoys than you can poke a stick at. Did get to the falls and drove up into Canada and checked out LV.

Most of what I've seen has already been covered, so I would only say both the East and West coasts have a lot to offer, but look at the time available and don't try to do everything badly settle for fewer things well.

New York and Washington have a lot to offer but so do the other places mentioned it depends what your interest are really.

John

[jow104]

Most of all Alex makes from friends in the USA.

[MurrayD99]

About an hour North of LAX - The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (and Air Force One (707) - all very well done and spectacular. If in Manhattan - the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If in Wyoming, The Tetons/Yellowstone. The rest, like the other said, especially Grand Canyon. Charlotte is nice on a wet Sunday! (Sorry Bob)

[AlexS]

Coast, simply buys a "junker" for next to nothing, drives it for a few weeks, then leaves it at the airport with the keys in the ignition, and a sixpack on the driver's seat. Eventually he'll get arrested as a result of something one of his cars did, I'm sure, but it makes a great dinner story.

Cheers,

P

I was planning on walking around the airport until I find a car that looks unloved and has a six pack on the seat and the keys in the ignition, and borrowing it. Of course, I'll return it to the airport when I'm finished.

[PPW]

What about San Francisco? The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the Trams, the Hippies, wow what a place, and the folks there are laid back & easy going, as opposed the the breakneck speed of Las Vegas

[rrich]

As for how to get round, a friend of ours who is a regular visitor to the West Coast, simply buys a "junker" for next to nothing, drives it for a few weeks, then leaves it at the airport with the keys in the ignition, and a sixpack on the driver's seat. Eventually he'll get arrested as a result of something one of his cars did, I'm sure, but it makes a great dinner story.

The trick is not to change the title. As long as the license tags are current, you can drive it. If you're ever stopped, the signed title document is good to prove ownership. The sob story that you just emigrated and are still living in a hotel without a permanent address should suffice.

When I moved from the east to the Los Angeles area, I kept the key fob of the hotel to prove that I didn't have a permanent address. (I put the house key on the key fob.)

[Andy Mac]

If you want to see some woodwork while you're there, check out this place, the Wharton Escherick Museum in Pennsylvania. Apparently he was known as the Dean of American craft.
Visit is by appointment but well worth the effort if the photos are anything to go by... I can't find the museum's own website, just lots of links from other people: http://www.levins.com/esherick.html

Cheers,

[joe greiner]

The Mercer Museum, near Philadelphia, has a large collection of old tools and other artifacts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Museum

http://www.fieldtrip.com/pa/53489461.htm (Boink Mercer Museum)

Joe

[Gingermick]

If in Wyoming,

Brokeback Mountain

[Howdya do that]

Yosemite National Park has the most amazing trees, sequoia (spelling is probably not right, pronounce secoya).

New Orleans is the most fun place I have visited in my life

[Honorary Bloke]

New Orleans is the most fun place I have visited in my life

Not any more.

[Toymaker Len]

Yes the giant redwoods are fantastic and the giant sequias. We camped at Yosemite about seven weeks ago to see the trees. The biggest tree on earth is a sequoia called "General Sherman" in California south-west of LA. There are some fantastic wooden sculptures in some beautiful galleries on the coast road between LA and San Francisco, sorry I can't name them right now.
Check out hiring a car from oz via yr travel agent before you go. That way you have a car reserved at the airport and it costs about 35% less than hiring them on the spot.
We've just been there for a month selling our toys and looking for wood galleries. Fantastic place. but... My partner and I never bought more than one meal between the two of us. The food portions are so big that one meal was always enough for two aussies. There was somthing slightly obscene about a country full of obese people obsessed with food driving around in grossly oversized cars to grossly oversized shopping centres... What the hell they make great customers for aussie wood and the landscape is beautiful. Good luck, have a great trip.

[keju]

If you're going to New Mexico anyway it would be criminell to miss Texas!
I lived there for over 20 years.... beautiful place ( mostly lol) specially the hill country ( specially around April/may)
Go see the Alamo in San Antonio ( very small .... in the middle of town) and across from it the beautiful riverwalk... if you happen to be there on the 17th they dye the water green!
Corpus Christi is absolutely wonderful.... the beaches on Padre Island are out of this world..... unbelievable empty! Miles and miles of wide beaches!
Galveston has a old fashioned charm and from there you just have to go to the Space Center.... they will show you the room they use to communicate with the space shuttle!
In New Mexico... go to Alberqueque and Santa Fe..... now I totall forgot which one has the absolutely breathtaking winding staircase made without nails or screws.
So much to see ...... so little time.....

Juvy ( you could stop and see my grandkids in TX?)

[joe greiner]

The biggest tree on earth is a sequoia called "General Sherman" in California south-west of LA.

Mostly water SW of LA. Sequoias are NNW. Upover here, the sun is to the south, so you'll need to adjust your portable sundial.

Joe