My buddy and his mom is visiting the US from Australia for a month, and I’m looking for things that are distinctly American for him to experience while here. It’s hard for me to think of things that he overall would not know about or be able to do while here.
Any suggestions? I’m good on the generic museums and must sees (white house, independence hall, etc) but suck on the out of the box recommendations.
They’ll be here in November, traveling primarily on the East coast, with a few stops in CA and TX.
I was thinking of:
College football game
Misc ‘american’ food: ribs, burgers, etc.
some sort of campy rodeo cowboy thing
get together some guys for a pickup baseball game
we’re mid 20’s, some thing can be with just us two, some with his mom, and some with a larger group. Can be lame or raunchy.
If you’re in NYC for the museums, you have to have a burger at Jaskson Hole on East 64th St between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Best damned American burger ever
I hope they are bringing a huge budget for plane tickets, rental cars, and gas. The East Coast, California, and Texas is an unusally aggressive iterary for a one month. You can’t actually drive that whole loop in a month. Well, you might be able to as an endurance stunt but it would be a terrible vacation.
I would suggest Washington D.C in general. There are all of the government things, the monuments, and of course the Smithsonian museums (there are so many of those that you literally could even see only parts of all of them).
There are lots of cowboys in Australia and rodeos are really boring. NYC and DC are can’t miss destinations. Have him do a Rocky at the Philly Museum of Art.
A Nascar Race.
Tractor Pull.
Montster Trucks.
Motorcycle ralley. www.lonestarrally.com
Las Vegas.
Roadside attractions. www.roadsideamerica.com
“…or perhaps you don’t want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?”
I’m not saying these are America at its best, but they are very American.
[elitist hijack]Hell, with that itinerary, they’ll think we all support the war, too. :)[/elitist hijack]
Definitely do some of the above, but don’t miss NYC and DC. DC is way more interesting, as I understand it, then the ACT. If flying to CA, I’d see SF before LA…
I assume cities are more attractive to the OP than natural stuff? I guess if you want snow-capped mountains then NZ is closer than Colorado.
I agree that East Coast, Texas, and California is a honkin’ big itinerary. Why Texas?
I’m an American and I’ve never done any of those things other than Vegas (nor do I want to). I wouldn’t want a foreigner to form an opinion of the US based on those things. YMMV
Here’s my List:
Disneyland/world
Las Vegas
A Ghost Town, with some sort of living history gunfight or something. Knotts Berry Farm could sub for this. Calico is what I am thinking of. Colonial Williamsburg would be OK.
Yes, a MLB game certainly.
Redwoods.
Times Square, NYC stuff.
Other than LV, RedSwinglineOne’s list is more “Redneckworld” than America. However, Aus does have Roadside attractions I have been told.
A firm recommendation would be to go to the Air and Space and Natural History Smithsonian museums. I have never met anyone that didn’t love those and I was in awe when I first went.
I am still curious about how they expect to pull off this itinerary in one month. There is a significant percentage of Americans that have never done that much domestic travel and experiences in their lives. I know that Australians get pissed off when you say this but do they fully conceptualize HOW BIG the U.S. is? Australia is almost as big as the U.S. in terms of land area but the population is tightly packed into a few areas. Australia has less than 7% of the U.S. population and Australia is often called the most urbanized country in the world which may have a big impact on perceptions.
As their friend, I would gently probe them about the itinerary you listed. I don’t know of any American that would attempt such a thing although I tried it once by car from Boston and never got West of Eastern Texas and considered that a marvelous feat of my own endurance. I cannot see how “the East Coast” (whatever that means"), Texas, and California is anything but a laughable itinerary for a one month trip. Europeans often get burned by this same type of thinking so you should find out what their actual plans are and guide them to make things actually enjoyable.
A drive down the East Coast from Boston to Washington D.C. is doable for the first part. It is about a 12 - 14 hour drive and I have done it myself many times. Stopping first in Boston for the New England experience is a good start, From there, New York City, is only a 4 or 5 hour drive. The next day, Philadelphia might be a good place to hang out. Then it is down to Washington D.C. where I would devote at least 3 days.
This notice is just for disaster control and I hope they already know this but no reasonable person, even an American, would opt for a vacation drive from the upper Northeast to California via Texas. It would probably take over a week just with constant driving and there is no good to come from that. In fact, I don’t know how you could fit Texas in there at all with any kind of pleasure. The reasonable thing to do is to take a 6 hour flight from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles or San Francisco and spend the rest of the vacation touring California (which is also quite huge) and maybe the Pacific Northwest if there is time which I doubt there would be.
The Alamo. Austin. Dealy Plaza. New Braunfels. Padre Island. Galveston. Lots and lots and lots of historical tidbits. I don’t even like Texas, and I can think of plenty to see there.
Dealy Plaza = The size as seen in person makes you realize that Oswald could have killed Kennedy with a slingshot. The “grassy knoll” is a highish point of grass across the street.
Padre Island = Not that easy to get to. I might have been conceived there.
Galveston = Brown water and weird people. I spent my first two birthdays there.
Texas has a ton to offer as my Fort Worth raised mother will tell everybody in earshot but, lets face it, the state is a little bigger than France and the true tourist areas are rather far apart. It would be a little hard to get the feel of in a week or even a month. You have to take planes to get from one part of Texas to another in any reasonable amount of time. Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. yet it is sprawling and mostly not superficially attractive. Dallas is flat and has a lot to do but it isn’t set up for casual tourism much. Granted, Austin is good for tourism but you need to like live music and bars. I think New Orleans would be far superior for an international tourist.
Once upon a time I would have strongly suggested New Orleans but I don’t know if it’s sufficiently recovered. I’ve read that the French Quarter is fine but I haven’t heard any first hand reports.
No it has. As a former resident and Louisiana native, much of the New Orleans area is still destroyed but the French Quarter, Garden District, and Uptown areas are doing just fine. The parts that were destroyed were the less desired poor areas because they were built on the most unattractive land. It is still a great time these days and the core of New Orleans is alive and hopping just as it always was 24/7. I would recommend it to anyone and we are vacationing there in a month.
But then, how many Americans do you know who get a month’s vacation?
I’ll second the Air & Space museum. I’ve never been there myself (my one trip to DC was to make a delivery and then head back to L.A.), but from what I’ve seen it’s incredible.
Pick up baseball or softball? The trip is in November; even the new winter-scheduled World Series is generally over by Hallowe’en.
OTOH, speaking of Hallowe’en, if they land early, they ought to get that experience. If they stay late enough they need to experience Thanksgiving (and Black Friday shopping ).
For American, I vote the Mall in D.C., (Lincoln, Wahington, Jefferson, Vietnam monuments with associated pools (even in November), then one or more Smithsonian museums depending on their interests. (White House and Capitol are OK if you have time, but I’m not sure how exciting they are to someone less than interested in U.S. history–although I would recommend the National Archives.)
Arlington is impressive , although I suspect Aussies also have memorial grounds for their war dead. Mount Vernon is OK, although Monticello, while farther, is more interesting. (Of course, one needs to read Sampiro’s rant on Jefferson to really appreciate that property in an historical context.)
If they go to Boston, the walking tour (Freedom Trail) wanders through a rich conglomeration of (sometimes re-created) 18th century Boston intermixed with 21st century stuff–and across the river is Old Ironsides.
Lots of the really good stuff in NYC has been limited since the WTC/Pentagon attacks. I think the empire State Building observation deck has re-opened, but the Statue of Liberty has not. (You can go to Liberty Island and look up.)
If you’re traveling to Southern California, there’s one restaurant you can’t miss.
It’s in Huntington Beach, and it’s called the Longboard Cafe.
Make sure you try the Clam Chowder. IMNSHO, it’s the finest in the West.
Another great place to eat in Huntington Beach is Ruby’s Diner at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier. Great ocean views, and last time Kathy and I were there, we saw a pod of dolphins frolicking in the waves outside our window.
The Queen Mary in nearby Long Beach is fun, especially around Halloween. If you can afford it, a night on the Queen is unforgettable.
And if you wish to see some huge movie star houses and movie locations, take Sunset Boulevard through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Westwood, and out to the coast to my hometown, Pacific Palisades. While you’re there, visit my alma mater, Palisades High School, the school written about in the book What Really Happened to the Class of '65?, and has been the set of numerous movies and TV shows, such as Freaky Friday and the forgettable soft-porn epic The Cheerleaders.
Now, if you come to Southern Utah, drop me a note and we’ll do lunch or something.
East coast: College football game, taping of Late Show with David Letterman or Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Colonial Williamsburg (in high gear for Thanksgiving season), White House tour.
than America. However, Aus does have Roadside attractions I have been told.
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