Help! Travel to US

[Fleetwood Mac]

You'll have to tell me how it is (oak alley), I've wanted to go for ages and not made it. Jealous.

Yes you can drop off at different airports (just make sure whichever firm you rent from has a station in both airports, Enterprise, Avis, Budget, etc), didn't realize you were considering flying out of Tennessee. Much easier.

Cheers, Ally.

We'll be planning the car in advance, so won't end up in a situation where we're driving around lost for a place to drop it off.

Will definitely be going to Oak Alley and will report back.

[RivkahChaya]

I hear you. I have known a lot of people who fly into New York's JFK, and do some touristy things in Manhattan, and expect to be able to drive out to Disney World, spend the day there, and drive back, in a day, or do the same thing for Niagara Falls, or the historical sites in Virginia.

Now, you could actually go to Philadelphia in a day, but I'd still stay overnight, or take a train.

Of course, I'm still blow away by people in London who talk about going to Paris for a day.

I will say that if you are going to take a long car trip, the US is the country to do it in.

[Fleetwood Mac]

In Nashville, I'd recommend visiting President Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage. Since it's Nashville, if you like country and western music, just go downtown near the riverfront.

Other Civil War sites: Near Nashville, about a forty-five minute drive away, is Murfreesboro. There you can visit Stones River Battlefield, as well as Oaklands Historic House and Museum that you can tour and they'll tell you about the fighting that took place on the front lawn there. They had slaves there as well, it's been a long time since I've been and don't remember how much they tell you about it. Also in Murfreesboro, there's the old courthouse on the public square that Nathan Bedford Forrest stormed during the war, but there's no museum or tour there, just historical plaques outside.

Nearby in Smyrna is the Sam Davis Home, where a confederate who was hanged for spying was from, and they give tours of the house.

There's also Franklin, not far away, where another battle was fought. I don't know Franklin well, but I'm sure there's a museum there and like Murfreesboro, they have a pretty public square with an old courthouse (old for the United States, young to anyone from Great Britain). It's also lovely country around there.

I haven't been, but I see that in Memphis there's the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum.

If you wind up driving around or near Murfreesboro and find yourself needing to charge equipment, or you require internet access, stop by Linebaugh Public Library (near the public square). Ask for me and I'll take care of you, or if I happen to be out, anyone else working there will.

Dave

Don't particularly like Country and Western, Dave, more a case that in our minds it's a part of US history. The riverfront sounds ideal because really we just want to go to a few pubs, listen to some music, get a feel for the place and chat to the locals.

I was aware of the slave haven museum, which again is just what we're looking for.

I'm noting all this down, so thanks for the offer of looking after us and if we're around that way we'll say hello.

[RivkahChaya]

I don't know how much Mac likes camping, or how old he is, but if he rents a van, instead of a car, he can get a charcoal grill, and a very small fridge and microwave that the van can power at a truck stop. He can sleep in the van or in tents at camp sites that have outlets and showers, and not have to spend money in hotels. He probably will save money in the long run, and the camp sites will probably be closer to the tourist sites he wants to see.

He says he'll be there for 16 days. Car rentals usually go by the week. If he flies into New Orleans, and takes a shuttle to an hotel, stays there while he is seeing the city, then after two days, takes public transport to pick up the car, and starts the two week rental, he'll be golden.

If he gets tired, he can always pull into a truck stop for a nap.

ROAD TRIP!

Man, now I wish I were going.

[Fleetwood Mac]

When you rent a car, sometimes there's a fee for taking it out of state.

No problem. I expected it. What sort of business would drive a car back to the place of origin or organise the logistics of having the right fleet in the right places without passing the cost on to the customer?

You will also have to purchase insurance from the company, since you won't have your own. They will require a credit card for the deposit. Some companies won't accept a debit card.

That's very useful information because we keep cards to a minimum, so we'll make sure we have what we need.

No one rents cars with standard transmission, so if you've never driven a car with automatic before, just be ready for it. I learned on auto, but most of my cars have been standard, and when I drive a rental, it's weird for a while.

Never driven an automatic, but as long as it gets us around at a decent pace it could be a horse drawn cart for all I care.

If you trash the car in any way, including leaving a cigarette smell, so that it needs to be steam-cleaned, they'll charge it to your credit card, and have the right to do so even after you have turned the car in and left.

Quite right, too. If someone trashed my car and I'd run over his head.

[Fleetwood Mac]

Be sure to enjoy New Orleans. I vacation there every other year or so, probably because I have a drinking problem, but there is a certain charm to the Quarter.

If you do happen to fly into Atlanta, Charleston SC is 4 hours away and rich in Revolutionary War and Civil War history.

Charleston was one of the places we really wanted to go, but when we looked at the map we felt it was just out of range. It came down to choosing between New Orleans and Charleston.

I like a drink like the next man, but drinking problems are relative. Wouldn't like to state my alcohol consumption, but then I'm never drunk. Suppose tolerance levels tell a story here. I'm not one for spirits. Can get away with Southern Comfort at a push. Nearly always drink English ale, not European lager, but US ale is building something of a reputation, so maybe it'll all fall into place.

[Fleetwood Mac]

Be warned that Shiloh is not as well marked as it could be, so wandering around for hours lost is a possibility.

It's not an enticing prospect. Surely there will be someone around to ask?

[Fleetwood Mac]

Hello Mac. Good luck with the heat and humidity when you get here.

Oh, and don't forget to misspell words and mispronounce them. (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC

Yeah, I'm fair and blue eyed so not remotely approaching a sun worshipper. Hoping the weather will have calmed down a bit by the time we get there.

On the words, Lynn, I'm from the North East of England so we can hardly lay any claim to being wordsmiths. It'll be like home from home.

[Fleetwood Mac]

Country music? Oh blimey.


"My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk."

Harsh that, Robert.

Country and Western music tells a story, unlike a lot of the nonsense that passes for music over here.

[Fleetwood Mac]

On pronunciation, though, in my limited experience of the South, I have learned that if you order "tea," you will get iced tea. You have to specify "hot tea."

Good tip. I would have expected tea is tea.

Give me iced tea and I'll look at them funny.

Just out of curoisity, how do you look at someone funny in the US?

If it isn't breakfast, they may look at you funny, too.

This is exactly the sort of thing I need to prepare for. I've never been looked at funny for just ordering a bevarage. I mean, everything here is just "very nice", even when the food is raw and the waiter announces that there's no drinks because the water supply has been cut off.

Tough crowd over there. Demanding consumers. This is what I need to get my head round.

Food called "Cajun" is really, really spicy. If you don't like the hottest, most capsaicin-y options in Indian restaurants, be careful in the Cajun restaurants.

Can't wait for this! Love food, love spicy food.

Also, the US is very, very serious about littering laws in state parks and historical sites.

Quite right, too. Wouldn't dream of going anywhere and dropping rubbish on the floor.

[RivkahChaya]

If there's no running water, the place has to shut down, although, I've gone into restaurants where the soft drink machine isn't working, so they are giving Cokes in cans, and the waitress ducks when she tells you this, because she's been getting crap all day about it.

If you've also never driven on the left side, you might want to tool around a parking lot and practice. The brakes on automatics are really touchy, and for the first day that I drive one, I keep stomping on the non-existent clutch. It's mostly the touchy brakes that are hard to get used to, although, if you are going down a long mountain, you actually can put an automatic in second or first, and you should. Riding the brake for several miles can blow the wheel cylinder.

People generally tip servers 18-20%. Waiters don't get paid minimum wage, and are expected to make it up in tips. The federal government actually taxes them on 15% of their wages, on the assumption that they have been tipped at least that, so if you tip less than 15%, they lose money. Also, if you put the tip on the credit card, then they get taxed on the full tip, even if it's over 15%, so if you can tip in cash, even if you pay by credit card, they appreciate it.

I tend to ask for substitutions and special things in restaurants, and if the servers gets them right, I tip 20%, plus rounding up to a whole dollar. If I was a special pain, or she did me a favor, like figuring a way to make the meal cheaper-- my "build you own omelette with three items is cheaper if I just order the sunrise special without the bacon," for example, or my kid made a mess, I'll tip even higher.

Just mentioning that, because the last time I was in London, I apparently wayyyyy overtipped cab drivers, because they kept asking me if I knew a certain coin was a pound.

[Errata]

It's not an enticing prospect. Surely there will be someone around to ask?

Last I was there the ranger station was about half an hour drive from the battlefield. The tours are self guided. You pick up headphones and go. So there's no one with you in the woods. If you get lost, you hike out until you either find a road or another group. Fortunately its only about 4000 acres so it's very hard to stay lost for more than several hours. Eventually you end up either on a road or in one of the cemeteries. But we were lost for six, and I know someone who was lost for eight, so go early, bring a days worth of water. Just in case.

Of course there's always the Oak Ridge tour. Which is perfectly safe, but there is some residual contamination in the groundwater in the woods surrounding it, so every few years 17 legged frogs start hatching.

[lynn cates]

north east

Hello Mac. Thanks.

Northumberland, perhaps?

Cheers.
LC

[RivkahChaya]

Last I was there the ranger station was about half an hour drive from the battlefield. The tours are self guided. You pick up headpho nes and go. So there's no one with you in the woods. If you get lost, you hike out until you either find a road or another group. Fortunately its only about 4000 acres so it's very hard to stay lost for more than several hours. Eventually you end up either on a road or in one of the cemeteries. But we were lost for six, and I know someone who was lost for eight, so go early, bring a dayôns worth of water. Just in case.

Of course there's always the Oak Ridge tour. Which is perfectly safe, but there is some residual contamination in the groundwater in the woods surrounding it, so every few years 17 legged frogs start hatching.

Did you go before there were cell phones with GPS, or is there no service out there? Mac, take the GPS from the car with you, but in addition to the water, carry a compass and flashlights.

[Errata]

Did you go before there were cell phones with GPS, or is there no service out there? Mac, take the GPS from the car with you, but in addition to the water, carry a compass and flashlights.

It was before cell phones with GPS. However, if we had had service, we would have called the rangers to come get us. We tried to rig something with an umbrella, a cannon, and a cell phone but it was a ridiculous course of action, and naturally failed.

In the end we were really only about 15 minutes from our car. We had accidentally taken a Ranger trail that cuts through sectors, so we would have come to the cemetery had we walked another ten minutes. It was just the perpetual problem of knowing when to keep going and knowing when to quit. And then being right about it. Most people get lost for maybe 20 minutes. My family and my friend's family were sort of spectacular outliers.

Of course my Mom once came home from the mall completely forgetting that she had taken me with her, so maybe we went into Shiloh handicapped (so to speak).