[OT] Where to go in the USA?

[EOL]

- I've never been, but Utah has some incredible canyons and rock formations that I'd love to see.

Not to get provincial, but southern Utah is widely regarded as having one of the highest concentrations of beautiful landscapes anywhere in the world. So if you do make it into this part of the country I would definitely swing through. It's not a big drive from either the Grand Canyon or Vegas.

I lived in the Netherlands for two years. Though I never made it to Arnhem. I hope you enjoy your time in the USA as much as I enjoyed my time there.

 

[Maldur]

thx, for the suggestions and keep them coming!

btw I know its a bit early to start planning this trip, but I plan it to be a monumental trip ( I might even do something rash and....)

 

[the Jester]

I really strongly recommend the immense redwood forests of northern California. I guarantee you've never seen anything like it. The most beautiful place on earth (as far as I've seen), and I've travelled a little bit. Hit the north coast- places like Humboldt County, while not full of fantastic big cities, are gorgeous.

Make sure you see San Francisco; it's my favorite city so far. And New Orleans and Boston (if time allows).

Heck, hit Boston and try to play Agar in PCat's game! I'm going to try that one myself one of these days here...

 

[Cedric]

Maldur,

I have experience here, I've been on 4-8 week road trip vacations across the U.S. on multiple occasions. In fact, I've driven in every state in the contiguous U.S. (never been to Alaska or Hawaii).

The best trip I've ever been on went like this...

Head South and West from Indianapolis to the coast.

Cross the Mississippi River at New Orleans, continue across to Texas.

Cut a bit north through Austin and San Antonio, across Texas to El Paso. Across New Mexico, through Santa Fe to Arizona.

From Arizona cut up across the Hoover Dam (stop for the tour of the dam) to Las Vegas. Spend 2 days in Las Vegas..

Then cut south into California to San Diego...see the San Diego Zoo

Head North then along the Coastal Highway (California highway 1) ...stopping at La Jolla Beach California

Also, a bit further north, stop at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Then cut a bit east and north in California and go through Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park to see the Giant Redwoods.

Continue up from their to Lake Tahoe and spend a day. From Lake Tahoe go North through Nevada to Utah...

Then North through Wyoming to Yellowstone National Park.

Across East from there to South Dakota and Mt Rushmoore (make sure you go through Wall, SD and stop at Wall Drug Store...heh, you'll get what I mean when you start seeing signs for Wall Drug when you're still 400 miles away).

East from there to Minnesota, stopping to see the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness...might want to plan when you'll be there and go to www.bwcaw.org and book a permit to enter...you can book a permit for next year after February 1st. You'll need a guide and outfitter most likely...dunno if The Great Outdoors is your sorta thing though.

At any rate, just a bit further east and south through Wisconsin to Chicago where you spend the last full day and catch a flight out for home...

Lemme know if you have any questions...I've been to all of those places. It's a fantastic trip

Cedric - King of the Great American Roadtrip

 

[Glyfair]

Well, it's not exactly unknown. However, if you are looking for an RPG tie-in & have played in the "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil," I'd recommend visiting the "Crater Lake National Park" in Oregon. http://www.crater.lake.national-park.com/

I've never been, having never been further west than West Virigina. However, it seems it would fit in a driving tour of the West Coast.

Glyfair of Glamis

 

[Phowett]

If you ever make your way towards California, then you gotta check out Herst's Castle. It's awsome!

 

[orbitalfreak]

New Orleans is great, and like the Cat said, the food is delicious. I've had several people that I've become frieds with who moved down to this area of Louisiana, and they have said that the food is a major reason in making the move.

Besides the history of the city, and Bourbon Street (not my kind of game, however), check out the Aquarium of the Americas and Audobon Zoo. Audobon is really nice quality, and the aquarium is decent.

Most of Louisiana has beautiful scenery, with live oaks draped in Spanish moss. Kisatche Forest, in the central part of the state, is pretty as well, lots of tall trees and rolling hills. One wor of caution driving through the state, though, is watch out on the roads; Louisiana has some of the worst roadways in the country. A minor inconvenience mostly, it only gets really bad if you live here for a while; passing through shouldn't be too bad.

Don't listen to them about the temperature, though. 95ºF, 100% Humidity, heat index of 110ºF+, nothin' to it.

San Antonio, Texas, is a beautiful city as well. Within an hour's drive or so is Schlitterban's, the world's largest waterpark if you're into that sort of thing. I had lots of fun there on senior trip.

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, is awesome. Real nice area.

Florida panhandle, around Talahassee and Pensacola, has some nice beaches, and Disney World in Orlando is always a good stop. Disney, though, would be a vacation unto itslef, not really something that can be experienced in just a couple days.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I'll add one spot I didn't see mentioned that I really liked from my many travels in the US. Mesa Verde national park in Colorado. Basically really cool native american cliff dwellings.

And while there you can swing by new mexico which has some great regional cuisine, oh and its been mentioned but san antonio texas, check out the alamo and the river walk, there well worth the visit. And mmm chilli, from the state that invented it, one of the few places where it's easy to find beanless chilli.

And new orleans is really cool, it has some cool walking toors of the old areas of town, nearby you have swamp toors and plantation toors. Oh and drunken debauchery, and you can't miss the drive through margarita stand, even though they aint great the novelty factor is cool. Hit Pat Obrians in the french quarter for a huricane from the place that invented that wonderful booze filled drink, and maybe even goggly at the group that purchases the giant and I mean giant sized version, its like 3 feet tall and filled with booze. Also as is in most places I think the danger is over-rated. Yes if a single female don't wonder around in certain areas at night, if a single male the same thing can be true but for a different reason. If you're with someone and not stumbling drunk down dark alleys chances are you'll be safe.

Also while in the south in general it's easy to find some cool civil war sites, good food, oh and don't forget graceland

I only got the dakotas and hawaii left and then I've hit every state, but the dakotas have what mount rushmore and? to offer us, so I'll probably pass on them unless I feel the need for finishing it.

 

[Celebrim]

Hmm... 'What to do in the USA' is a pretty big list:

1) Washinton DC: See the Smithsonian. See all the Patriotic stuff. National zoo is ok. More historical stuff than you'd be able to see in a week. Most things are free or nearly so. Food is excellent and cheap. Transportation via Metro or Bus is convienant, clean, safe, and cheap. For lunch, I'm particularly found of Nam Viet on 3rd street.

1a) Take a slow trip through Applachia.

1b) The Aleghanny's are great too. New York is a surprisingly beautiful state. Stay away from NYC unless you have alot of money. You are better off in DC.

2) Great Smoky Mountain National Park (and surrounding recreation area): Gorgeous, especially in the fall. Some of the best hiking in the country. While in the area, raft the Ocoee, Nantahalla, and Chatooga. Knoxville is a nice town with some of the best restraunts for a town its size in the nation. Chatanooga, TN has one of the nicest aquariums in the world.

2a) Avoid Gatlingburg. Avoid Atlanta, GA altogether.

2b) Avoid New Orleans, LA altogther. If you must see French culture in NA, plan a trip to Montreal. New Orleans is ugly, touristy, expensive, smelly, crowded, frequently hot and humid, and the food (which is inevitably greasy and poorly cooked) will not live up to the reputation for unless you are willing to spend $100 dollars a person (at Commander's Palace, Galatoire's, or other expensive 5 star). The Aquarium of the America's isn't worth the trip, and the Audobon Zoo is outclassed by at least 10 zoos elsewhere in the country. The French Quarter is like a shopping mall without trash pickup and security.

2b) Avoid Orlando, FL altogether. Heck, avoid FL. If you really must go to the beach, take a trip down through Alabama to Gulf Shores/Pensacola. Or head east across NC to the Atlantic and stay at a bed and breakfast on one of the islands. When on the Atlantic coast eat fish. When on the Gulf coast you are going to hate yourself if you don't order the fried shrimp.

2d) Head west across TN into Arkansas.

3) See the Ozarks. Particularly, you want to see Blanchard Springs Caverns and float the Buffalo National Scenic River. Branson is ok if you are into that Family Blue Collar scene (see the Shephard of the Hills and go to Silver Dollar City, catch a show if you like). I wasn't that impressed by Eureka Springs.

3a) Avoid Hot Springs, AR altogether unless you are big fan of water skiing (some of the best water skiing in the country).

3b) Kansas and Texas are large and ugly and there isn't much way around that. As someone mentioned, San Antonio is a very nice town. Corpus Christi isn't bad either.

3c) The Nebraska - South Dakota border region is pretty nice. Black Hills, Native American History, Niobara River valley (great canoing), two great cave systems to explore, Devil's Tower, etc.

4) Ultimately, you want to end up in either Yellowstone or The Grand Canyon (or both). In between, Rocky Mountain National Park is pretty cool.

I don't have alot of experience with the far west, but I hear Oregon and Washinton are great. Utah is supposed to be fantastic, as are Yosimite, the Redwoods, and the Sequoia's. I understand everyone needs to drive US Highway 1 at some point in their lives.

States to avoid if you can: Indiana, Illinios (outside of Chicago), Missuirri (outside of the Ozarks), Louisianna, Mississippi (not a bad state, just anything it has can be found better somewhere else), Kansas, Kentucky, Texas (too big for its own good), Nevada, and Ohio (outside of Cincinatti. Speaking of Cincinatti: King's Island is probably the world's premier coaster park.).

 

[Mark]

Me and my girl plan on making a long roadtrip through the usa next year. Starting at GENCON we would like to see the nicest places in the states. Can you give us some suggestions for places we would not find in travel guides?

(snip)

Do spend some time in Chicago, there's tons to do. Other museums and attractions aside from the Art Institute: Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum (dinosaurs), Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, Sears Tower, the original Uno's Pizzeria (people from outside of Chicago don't know what pizza is ), and tons of other great restaurants.

I live in St. Louis, but I know enough about Chicago to suggest a thing or two. The Art Institute of Chicago is Chicago's Art museum, but it also hosts an impressive array of medieval hardware (which tend to be huge nasty looking swords) in the basement. Chicago also has a Medieval Times, which is possibly a little cheezy, but somehow very neat at the same time. The one in Orlando Florida's supposed to be better, but Chicago's closer to GENCON. And if you wanna see how far out you can see from your villian's thousand foot tall tower, there's a couple of nice buildings there that would be more than happy to demonstrate.

That's some good advice! Seriously, there's lots of great ideas in this thread but if you plan on being at GenCon, and so close to my hometown, then I'd be happy to include you in some plans that are being made. It appears that a number of folks should be in the area from all points in the world and I think that several post-GenCon Chicago events will be planned for next year. We'll talk more as things get closer...