Holiday in the States

[Damini]

My family are planning a two week break in America this year. This first week is going to be spent in San Francisco, and the second week we're still not sure of. It would preferably be on the eastern side, because it means the trip home is shorter and less of a time jolt, but not necessarily. We've done new York before, and the Gran Canyon, so somewhere else would be good.

So I thought I'd prod you mottley lot and see if any of you have had nice holidays in America, and where you'd recomend. Is Hawaii as nice as it sounds? Is Washington deadly dull? Is there anywhere that simply must be visited? Thank you muchly,

Lou x

 

[dysfunction]

You could go over to Las Vegas. San Diego is nice for a day or so and you could also nip down to Tijuana (Mexico) while you're that way. You could also check out Death Valley, Palm Springs, Yosemite National Park....They are all near/In California

Seattle might be worth a look...

Washington is ok...a day or so there would be plenty.

 

[throdgrain]

Holiday in Cambodia

its tough kid but its life

















































(sorry )

 

[DaGaffer]

What time of year?

From SF you can go north and visit Seattle and cross the border to Vancouver - both very nice and some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

Or, go south, visit LA (lots of 'touristy' stuff - e.g. Universal tour etc) and San Diego (partic. Seaworld). La Jolla is the best place to stay in SD. Tijuana is an eye-opener; not sure I'd take the family there though.

If you do want to go East; imho DC is a dangerous shithole but you could do the monuments and stuff in a day - very humid in the summer though. Personally I'd go to the northeast; hire a car in NY and drive up through New England to Boston - Connecticut, Rhode Island, Mass. Its a nice drive, plenty of scenery and a lot of history by American standards (Plymouth Rock, Martha's Vineyard etc.)

 

[Lazarus]

did this years ago dam.

From Memory : for sightseeing

Death Valley
Vegas
Solvigne (sp) - dutch village in the states
Paige (and hoover dam although they do not do the tours any more)
Moab (and white water rafting)
monument valley
Arches National Park
back to airport - flight to boston.

Up and down the east coast, taking in Kennybuncktport onm the way.

If you want, ill look back over the route we did and the parks we visited - did about 4,500 miles in 3 weeks

 

[Tom]

Well it would be a bit of a drive, but Hollywood is shit. Don't even bother.

 

[Damini]

We went to LA last year (which might have been useful for me to say) and so that's why we're doing San Fran this time, for a bit of a change, and because I've heard very good things about the place. Boston might well be a good idea, and I have no idea at all where Death Valley is. Las Vegas unsettled me - on a basic, scratch at your subconscious, hard to vocalise way, that place is deeply sinister. We'd be heading out in September, so no idea what the weather is like in differnet places at that time, but I have heard that it's hurricane season in places, and my deepest fear in the world is ever having to see a tornado. So, no hurricanes, no tornados, pretty things to look at, nice restuarants, and good shopping please!

What's Seattle like Gaffer? As an old school grunge girl, I've harboured a desire to visit there since I was 12. And Laz, if you could let me know which parks you found the loveliest, that would be great. Is it in America where there are trees so big you drive through them?

 

[DaGaffer]

I really liked Seattle; its got a nice vibe to it (long time since I've been though - Nirvana were in their heyday ). The market area is great and there's lots of touristy stuff like the Space Needle and even Boeing (I know, but its worth going, trust me). In September the weather could be a bit iffy - Pacific Northwest is a bit damp at the best of times. I've been to Vancouver more recently (last year). Very nice town, but you don't really go for the city, you go for the scenery all around (ditto Seattle to an extent - get out to the Cascade mountains and Mt. St Helens).

September is the perfect time to go to New England because its at its prettiest; unfortunately everyone knows that, so it can be hard to get accomodation before Labor Day (Sept 4). Ironically, after Labor Day it can sometimes be hard to find nice restaurants etc because they close at the end of the season (its not too much of a problem though).

If it was me, as you're already on the West Coast, I'd probably do Seattle (maybe drive up through Oregon) because you'll have more time, and it's a lovely part of the world (if you're in SF I'd try to get out to the Napa Valley wine country as well), but I don't think you'd regret New England either.

 

[anattic]

I'd have to agree with DaGaffer on this one. If you aren't too bothered by the weather, I'd also recommend driving up through Portland, Seattle and Vancouver (if visas allow a quick trip to Canada).

Mt. St. Helens (which is about two hours from Portland by car) is awesome in the litteral sense - the sheer destructive power of the Volcano has to be seen to be believed. The countryside west of Interstate-5 (the north-south road linking most of the west coast cities, which follows the line of the Cascade mountains) is also very beautiful. The cities themselves are great too - very friendly, with lots going on, although driving in Seattle is horrible.

Boston and Cambridge are a good choice too. If you do fly into Boston, take the river taxi from the airport to downtown. It blows away the cobwebs of the flight.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Yellowstone park before the fooker takes us all out

 

[Lazarus]

We went to LA last year (which might have been useful for me to say) and so that's why we're doing San Fran this time, for a bit of a change, and because I've heard very good things about the place. Boston might well be a good idea, and I have no idea at all where Death Valley is. Las Vegas unsettled me - on a basic, scratch at your subconscious, hard to vocalise way, that place is deeply sinister. We'd be heading out in September, so no idea what the weather is like in differnet places at that time, but I have heard that it's hurricane season in places, and my deepest fear in the world is ever having to see a tornado. So, no hurricanes, no tornados, pretty things to look at, nice restuarants, and good shopping please!

What's Seattle like Gaffer? As an old school grunge girl, I've harboured a desire to visit there since I was 12. And Laz, if you could let me know which parks you found the loveliest, that would be great. Is it in America where there are trees so big you drive through them?

Dams,

The trees you are referring to (I think) are the Sequoia (sp) and I believe they are up over the Golden Gate bridge (heading North)

As for the parks:

Yosemite (a must)
Death Valley (Between SF and Vegas)
Paige
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Monument Valley
Arches
Kings Canyon
Mono Lake is a fantastic View.

When are you heading out Dams - I could rustle up some photos of when we were there and where the parks are (state).

Its been that long (BC {Before Children})- ive forgotten half of them

 

[tRoG]

Oh, come on. We all know the answer to this question.

DISNEYLAND!

I find the climate more bearable up north, anyway. Couldn't breath when I went to Texas; humidity kills kittens.

 

[Tom]

Yeah, lets go to Disneyland!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6GKHX_s5Yuk

 

[Ch3tan]

San Fransisco is nice, but a week may be too much -lots of poverty in that city, which starts to get to you after a few days of being hounded by beggers.

Washington for more than a day would bore you to death.

 

[old.user4556]

Well it would be a bit of a drive, but Hollywood is shit. Don't even bother.

Agreed, it was nice to say "i've seen it" but it was generally shit.

LA is also a shithole. You know that way when you get a built up image in your mind of what a place is like and it ends up being the complete opposite and a total let down? That's what happened to me. Perhaps the media and movies painted an image in my mind of what LA should be like, but it was a total dump.

As soon as you drifted off the affluent downtown area, it quickly degraded into biker bars and Hispanic ghettos.

Vegas, on the other hand is an absolute must see, but again it suffers from the same problem as LA - as soon as you're off that "Oceans 11" strip with all the top casinos, it rapidly becomes sleazy motels, neglect and deprivation.

 

[Ch3tan]

Venice beach on the weekend is makes LA worth it.

 

[WPKenny]

http://www.wpkenny.com/usa2k5

That's a selection of photos from the last trip to USA. Some photos aren't labelled right but I just cobbled it together in a rush.

 

[Uncle Sick]

Actually... try the New England states - where all the fun began.

Massachusetts:
Boston is great - Salem (where the last 'witches' were burned) is close by.
Vermont:
is great because of the ice cream..
Maine:
is great because I live there (and a bunch of bears and moose).
New Hampshire:
is great because there is no sales tax - in case you want to buy something cool and don't feel like paying extra on top of it.

Etc.

 

[NaveT]

Agree with New England, but stay clear of Salem. Huge let down.

Boston is a fantastic city, and a good base to get around from. You can get to Montreal in 4.5 hours drive. NY in 4 hours. The Cape in 1 hour.