If you’re hanging out in a touristy area, you’re visiting the state. If you’re driving through the state and your only stop is the Ruth’s Chris in a touristy area? Not a visit.
An authentic visit to Four Corners is when you lean over the monument, and put a hand or foot in each State. Extra bonus points if someone takes your picture while you are in this most undignified position.
~VOW
Isn’t most of Las Vegas or Orlando a touristy area?
Nope, I’m still going with NFL rules; one foot inbound is not a catch. Setting foot in a state counts, setting a foot in a state doesn’t
To truly experience Las Vegas/Nevada, you have to lose $50!
When I was 18 I took a Greyhound Bus from Pittsburgh to Sacramento. For some states I was only off the bus at a bus station, but I walked around Cheyenne, Wyoming for an hour or so at 3 am. No idea what counts.
ETA: it was 1976 and there was a promotion. IIRC I paid $76 dollars for a “west” ticket.
I’m with the “boots on non-airport ground” crowd. I wouldn’t have counted North Carolina if we hadn’t stopped for snacks on the drive from Raleigh-Durham to Virginia Beach when visiting relatives, but we did. I also count NC for that little stay because I have no need to return.
Montana, on the other hand, I’d love to visit again. My first time there was a few hours of shopping in West Yellowstone before continuing to the horse ranch in Wyoming where our actual vacation would be.
I need to travel more widely, I’m only counting eleven states. It doesn’t help that I’m a West Coaster. A four-state road trip I took covered the same miles that would hit fifteen or more on the interior side of the country.
Yeah, I’ve driven from L.A. to the SF Bay Area or the Eureka area a ton of times, and I’ve probably put in more miles than someone in New England who’s been in 9 or 10 states.
Me, too. I’ve made the run from 2 counties from Mexico to Is that the border to Canada more times than I can count. I wish I could say I’ve never visited Oregon because of their stupid no-pump law but a childhood trip to Ashland checked that state off the list.
You can drive some long distances in the east without hitting too many states as well. Going from Buffalo NY to Fort Kent Maine is 850 miles and only 4 states. You can drop it to 2 states but you have to add 2 provinces, so that’s a wash. Heck, Key West to Pensacola FL is 830 miles and you don’t cross a boarder.
I was thinking New England, and your NE example is still four states.