Help! Travel to US

[Stewart P Evans]

Main Attraction

The main attraction for me to travel into the United States would be to see Ally again.

[Ally]

Well, if he meant "immediately" south, like Montana, or Northern Minnesota, no, not that much.

Yes of course, not that much. Glacier National Park, Big Sky... YELLOWSTONE, why who in the world would ever want to spend a few hours hiking/viewing some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Montana, piffle. Hardly worth being a state.

[RivkahChaya]

No; it's not worth it. There's absolutely nothing to see in the whole of the United States.

Well, if he meant "immediately" south, like Montana, or Northern Minnesota, no, not that much. There's Niagara Falls, but I don't know that you can see anything on the US side you can't see on the Canadian side. I haven't actually been there, though, so I don't know. If you can be coaxed as far as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, or something, that's different. Try not to come in the winter.

[Errata]

We have some lovely mystery spots. And fantastic roadside attractions. Like why everyone in this country hasn't been to Weekie Watchee I will never know.

[Beowulf]

Actually Ally, there's the Desert of Maine, which has a tour. A long time ago, there used to be a camel, but they had to get rid of it because it bit and spit at everybody. Now they only have a couple of camel statues and a gift shop.

http://www.desertofmaine.com/

Dave

A tour of the United States on a spitting and biting camel, yike! That must've been a rough one.

[Dave O]

Actually Ally, there's the Desert of Maine, which has a tour. A long time ago, there used to be a camel, but they had to get rid of it because it bit and spit at everybody. Now they only have a couple of camel statues and a gift shop.

http://www.desertofmaine.com/

Dave

[Ally]

Hello you all!

I am planning a trip to Canada and starting a thread with requests about it soon.

Maybe I will pay a visit to their souther neighbours too. Is it worth it?

All the best
j.r-ahde

No; it's not worth it. There's absolutely nothing to see in the whole of the United States.

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

I am planning a trip to Canada and starting a thread with requests about it soon.

Maybe I will pay a visit to their souther neighbours too. Is it worth it?

All the best
j.r-ahde

[Errata]

Has anyone warned you about "Tilapia" yet? Or is the same in Britain?

[Beowulf]

Thanks, Beowulf. I'm going to New Orleans next week and may just take the wife here. We try to go to New Orleans every other year (having been married there during Mardi Gras - another story) but we've never eaten at this place.

I recommend the 25 cent martinis during weekday lunch at Commander's Palace. Of course lunch for two will end up costing 80 bucks but somehow that seems reasonable after you each have three martinis. Good deal!

The, uh...'coffee's' look pretty good. Wish I could join you!

[Barnaby]

Here is a cute little restaurant in New Orleans, there are lovely pictures on the site and the menu is pretty good.

http://www.feelingscafe.com/

...and it's haunted (atmosphere)

Thanks, Beowulf. I'm going to New Orleans next week and may just take the wife here. We try to go to New Orleans every other year (having been married there during Mardi Gras - another story) but we've never eaten at this place.

I recommend the 25 cent martinis during weekday lunch at Commander's Palace. Of course lunch for two will end up costing 80 bucks but somehow that seems reasonable after you each have three martinis. Good deal!

[Beowulf]

Here is a cute little restaurant in New Orleans, there are lovely pictures on the site and the menu is pretty good.

http://www.feelingscafe.com/

...and it's haunted (atmosphere)

[RivkahChaya]

Oh, when you are driving, and you see a sign that says "last rest stop 50 miles," it means you are going to past the last set of public restrooms (toilets) specifically for people driving on the highways, not the last set of restrooms, period. There will be gas stations, truck stops, and fast food places before the next 50 miles, almost with certainty, unless your map shows a 50 mile bridge (a good reason to have a paper map).

Americans take a dim view of peeing off the side of the road. We understand emergencies, but the police may ask you what's up anyway. There are generally so many places to pull over, that unless you have a bladder infection, you should be fine (and I get a lot of bladder infections, and always manage to make it to a public restroom).

I really don't know what the convention is in Britain, but I know some people from France and Germany (those two countries, specifically), who have gotten into trouble for public urination in pretty secluded areas, mainly because they argued with the state police, or park rangers, or whoever, who told them to move along, by insulting America and its stupid laws.

[RivkahChaya]

Oh, yeah, on the rental thing. You can book an economy car, the kind that gets 34 miles to the gallon, and you will lock into the price of the economy car ($130 dollars a week, or something), but they may "upgrade" you to another car if they have a lot of bookings. They will not charge you more for the car-- you'll get the economy price, even if you end up with a Lincoln Continental, or an SUV, but it might end up getting 18 miles a gallon.

If that happens, you can tell the company you really need a gas efficient car, and you want to exchange as soon as one becomes available. They will probably argue with you, but insist, and then you will probably have to drive in to the nearest branch of the rental place at the end of the first leg of your trip, but it's doable. Gas is about $3.75 right now. It's fluctuating between $3.15 and $4.00, but you see where you really need the smallest car that suits your needs.

I just booked a car to go to Pennsylvania. I'm going to have my six-year-old with me, and my husband is not coming, so I really want someone to just come bring me a new car if it breaks down, or I get into an accident. I did some research on GPSs. Apparently, most of them are US-specific, so you need to get one here, and not bring one from home. They cost about $5 per day to rent, or $80 for your trip. The bottom-of-the-line ones are about $90 at Walmart (and bottom-of-the-line is what you get from the rental company-- they work fine, they just have no frills, and a small screen), so you really might want to buy one here, and then sell it on eBay when you are done.

[sleekviper]

If you drive around New Orleans for any length of time, fill up before leaving. The Causeway is a 30 mile bridge over water.