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Post by Hurricane on Oct 24, 2009 4:47:08 GMT -5
Next June, my brother and I are heading on a two-month American Road Trip and we would like some ideas on things we should do, see as well as travel tips (we are Australian!) and tips to save money where possible.
We are spending two weeks in Los Angeles, California (one week in Hollywood, one week in Venice). Things we have planned for LA include music scene and the Walk of Fame as well as other sight seeing along the way.
Then we head down to San Diego, California where we are staying for three days, hitting up Sea World and the San Diego Zoo while we are there. Then we head down to Tijuana, Mexico for one night just soaking in the culture.
After that we start our actual road trip when we pick our car up in San Diego. We will spend about two weeks going from LA to Chicago, taking our time and soaking everything in. On the way we have planned stopping at Las Vegas, Nevada, though we can't really do much since I'll be underage. South Park, Colorado (haha), St Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois are on the drive through.
HERE IS WHERE WE ARE AFTER ALOT OF INPUT. Any cool places to stop, anything you recommend for the actual road trip between LA and IL? Any ways to save money on food, whatever?
Once we get to Chicago, Illinous, we have about two weeks to bum around there, doing whatever. We will be checking out the city, heading to Six Flags and at the end of our trip there, hitting Lollapalooza 2010. Any cool things to do in Chicago we could look at doing apart from Willis/Sears Tower?
After that we fly to Manhattan, New York where we spend another two weeks. In New York, we plan on getting tattoos to represent the trip. General sightseeing around central park, Times Square, etc. Any good things you recommend in NY? We are trying to see something at MSG just to say we have.
Then we are heading down to Washington DC for one day, doing the general things (monuments, memorials, buildings). We have paid for most major accomodation there, flights, etc.
Need ideas on things to do in the cities I've mentioned as well as other random/general tips and tricks to making our money last, while having fun! Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.
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Post by Grumpyoldman on Oct 24, 2009 7:20:23 GMT -5
Be very VERY careful when you go to Tijuana. If possible, go before dusk. A co-worker of mine went with a few friends and they were shaken down by a couple of policemen.
The rest of your trip sounds awesome though. Have fun!
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Post by layton on Oct 24, 2009 9:25:44 GMT -5
You've mentioned money several times, and I am very curious as to how much you've saved up/how much you hope to have saved by then, because this isn't like a normal vacation. This is looking incredibly expensive.
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Post by Hulkamaniac on Oct 24, 2009 9:26:08 GMT -5
I wouldn't spend a week in LA myself. To me, there's just not a lot to do there. You can see the Hollywood/show biz stuff in like a day or so. To me there's not much more to see and you're wasting your time there a whole week.
I don't know that you can see San Diego in 3 days. You can easily spend 2 days just at the zoo. Then you've got all the museums in Balboa park. Then there's the Wildlife Park outside of town as well.
Vegas is awesome, but you really have to be 18. I've not been there when I was underage in many, many years so I can't comment on what there is to see when you're not 18. You can take in a show though. The Phantom and Jersey Boys both get excellent reviews. The Cirque shows are amazing I hear and I think Copperfield may be there when you'll be there if you're into the magic at all.
All I've ever seen in St Louis is the Arch. That's worth seeing. It's one of those things that you see once and you probably never go back. I've heard they've got a nice zoo and a nice aquarium, but I've never seen either. Springfield has a ton of stuff to do with Lincoln since it's his hometown. Again, one of those things that's worth seeing, but that you'll probably not see again afterwards. Chicago is worth spending a couple of days. The Field Museum is an all day thing IMO and you can also get a tour of Wrigley, take in a Bears game if you get there on the right Sunday and there's all kinds of other stuff to see. The Field Museum is next door to the Shedd Aquarium which I was not overly impressed with, but it does have a dolphin/whale show if you're into that type of thing. Medieval Times is in one of the suburbs and is worth the price of admission IMO. Eat Garrett's popcorn. Ship me some. Traffic there is terrible. You were warned in advance.
I've not been to NY since I was a child so I can't say whether there's enough stuff to keep you busy for two weeks or not. I suspect there is, but I would cut it short and spend some more time in DC. The Smithsonian museums are world class museums and they're free. The monuments are also free. If you schedule way, way, way, way in advance, you can get a tour of Congress and the White House as well. There's a lot to see there and it's all free. You can even take in a play at Ford Theatre (where Lincoln was shot) but that's something you have to pay for of course.
What route are you taking? That'll give everyone a better idea of what there is to see along the way.
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becca
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 13, 2005 11:20:18 GMT -5
Posts: 4,042
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Post by becca on Oct 24, 2009 9:52:41 GMT -5
Definitely go to the City Museum in St. Louis, there's TONS to do, and it has an awesome section where you can crawl around in wire tunnels over the city: www.citymuseum.org/monstrocity.htmlAlso, in Chicago, eat Giordano's pizza. From Las Vegas to Colorado is a long drive with not a hell of a lot in between. You could break it up by taking a detour to the Great Salt Flats in Utah (about 6 hours from LV) and cutting back through Salt Lake City, or the Grand Canyon (about 4.5 hours from LV) and cutting back up through Southern Colorado. If would make the drive longer, but you'll see more stuff either way. And realize about South Park, Colorado that there's like nothing there, so it's going to be pretty much a 30 minute stop on your journey. There's a lot to do in Colorado Springs or the Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park area, so I'd wrap that into the Colorado leg of your journey, otherwise you'll be quite disappointed with it. Colorado Springs - you can go to Manitou Springs where there's a completely badass outdoor arcade, also there's Cave of the Winds if you think caves are cool, and Seven Falls waterfalls, plus you can go to Pike's Peak, I'd take the train, it's a fun ride. Estes Park - there's the Stanley hotel, which is what the Shining is based off of and is pretty cool, a lot of neat shopping, and entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park where you can just drive up into the mountains, it's real pretty and there's a good chance there'll still be some snow up there in June if you go all the way to the highest point in the park, might be cool since I don't think you get snow in Australia, right? |
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Post by ß®å¢K$ßâ¢k on Oct 24, 2009 9:56:55 GMT -5
Yea...Tijuana isn't safe to go to. Not now it's not.
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Post by ygb on Oct 24, 2009 12:18:05 GMT -5
Next June, my brother and I are heading on a two-month American Road Trip and we would like some ideas on things we should do, see as well as travel tips (we are Australian!) and tips to save money where possible.We are spending two weeks in Los Angeles, California (one week in Hollywood, one week in Venice). Things we have planned for LA include music scene and the Walk of Fame as well as other sight seeing along the way. Then we head down to San Diego, California where we are staying for three days, hitting up Sea World and the San Diego Zoo while we are there. Then we head down to Tijuana, Mexico for one night just soaking in the culture. After that we start our actual road trip when we pick our car up in San Diego. We will spend about two weeks going from LA to Chicago, taking our time and soaking everything in. On the way we have planned stopping at Las Vegas, Nevada, though we can't really do much since I'll be underage. South Park, Colorado (haha), St Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois are on the drive through. HERE IS WHERE WE ARE AFTER ALOT OF INPUT. Any cool places to stop, anything you recommend for the actual road trip between LA and IL? Any ways to save money on food, whatever? Once we get to Chicago, Illinous, we have about two weeks to bum around there, doing whatever. We will be checking out the city, heading to Six Flags and at the end of our trip there, hitting Lollapalooza 2010. Any cool things to do in Chicago we could look at doing apart from Willis/Sears Tower? After that we fly to Manhattan, New York where we spend another two weeks. In New York, we plan on getting tattoos to represent the trip. General sightseeing around central park, Times Square, etc. Any good things you recommend in NY? We are trying to see something at MSG just to say we have. Then we are heading down to Washington DC for one day, doing the general things (monuments, memorials, buildings). We have paid for most major accomodation there, flights, etc. Need ideas on things to do in the cities I've mentioned as well as other random/general tips and tricks to making our money last, while having fun! Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks. That seems like a really cool trip. In my opinon I do believe you going to have Fun in La & NY. Ny is great for sight seeing. Make sure when you're in ny you view MSG, times square hearld square empire state building and mainly manhattan because of all the things they have. You'll have a great time. Enjoy your trip if you have any questions or want to talk feel free to send me a P.M. |
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Post by Hurricane on Oct 24, 2009 18:53:53 GMT -5
You've mentioned money several times, and I am very curious as to how much you've saved up/how much you hope to have saved by then, because this isn't like a normal vacation. This is looking incredibly expensive. We'll have about $8000 each. I've paid for all flights/accomodation, then I'll have about $4000-$5000 left. Petrol for the trip is about $450, which we will split half each. Car hire is all paid for. Flights from NY/Chicago and DC/LA are all going to be done in advance. Just really have to pay for random accomodation on the road trip, food and entertainment. I wouldn't spend a week in LA myself. To me, there's just not a lot to do there. You can see the Hollywood/show biz stuff in like a day or so. To me there's not much more to see and you're wasting your time there a whole week. I don't know that you can see San Diego in 3 days. You can easily spend 2 days just at the zoo. Then you've got all the museums in Balboa park. Then there's the Wildlife Park outside of town as well. Vegas is awesome, but you really have to be 18. I've not been there when I was underage in many, many years so I can't comment on what there is to see when you're not 18. You can take in a show though. The Phantom and Jersey Boys both get excellent reviews. The Cirque shows are amazing I hear and I think Copperfield may be there when you'll be there if you're into the magic at all. All I've ever seen in St Louis is the Arch. That's worth seeing. It's one of those things that you see once and you probably never go back. I've heard they've got a nice zoo and a nice aquarium, but I've never seen either. Springfield has a ton of stuff to do with Lincoln since it's his hometown. Again, one of those things that's worth seeing, but that you'll probably not see again afterwards. Chicago is worth spending a couple of days. The Field Museum is an all day thing IMO and you can also get a tour of Wrigley, take in a Bears game if you get there on the right Sunday and there's all kinds of other stuff to see. The Field Museum is next door to the Shedd Aquarium which I was not overly impressed with, but it does have a dolphin/whale show if you're into that type of thing. Medieval Times is in one of the suburbs and is worth the price of admission IMO. Eat Garrett's popcorn. Ship me some. Traffic there is terrible. You were warned in advance. I've not been to NY since I was a child so I can't say whether there's enough stuff to keep you busy for two weeks or not. I suspect there is, but I would cut it short and spend some more time in DC. The Smithsonian museums are world class museums and they're free. The monuments are also free. If you schedule way, way, way, way in advance, you can get a tour of Congress and the White House as well. There's a lot to see there and it's all free. You can even take in a play at Ford Theatre (where Lincoln was shot) but that's something you have to pay for of course. What route are you taking? That'll give everyone a better idea of what there is to see along the way. Uhh, route is debateable so far. I've actually forgotten it, as Australians use a very different system. I-15 and I-70 were on there I believe, and I think route 66 for the end. * Dr Hulk, I hear what your saying but the 2 weeks in LA is to see concerts, get in the beach (since we'll go from winter to summer in a matter of days) and just soak in the culture. We at least split it up with half in Venice Beach, half in Hollywood. Also going to be checking out the Santa Monica Pier. * San Diego in 3-days will be tough, but we don't want to spend half our trip in California. Our main "places" if you will, are LA, Manhattan and Chicago. * Vegas is just a passing trip. We're just spending a few hours there, then going on to stay somewhere for the night. * We will mainly be in Manhattan during NY. * Thanks for the Tijuana tips! It's my brother who really wants to go there. You think someone who's nearly 18 and a 28 year old could handle themselves fine there? * We just planned on a small trip to South Park, just to say we've been there. Will most likely spend the night at Grand Junction. * We DO get snow in Australia, but in the mountains. I live in a valley-type flatland area and it last snowed where I live in... uhh... 2005ish? * I would have loved to spend 2-3 days in DC, but it came into our plans really late, so one day (with a tour) is better than none! Yea...Tijuana isn't safe to go to. Not now it's not. Can you clarify that? I realise theres more danger there than in the American cities for the most part, but any reasons why? Thanks. Thanks all, any more tips welcome! I will discuss things with my brother and use alot of your input, since we Australian's really have no clue what to do except the major attractions you see on TV, etc. I'll take the Colorado tips, thanks Becca. I realised South Park was quite small. I'll look into Colorado Springs. |
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Post by Hulkamaniac on Oct 24, 2009 20:14:30 GMT -5
I-70 does straight through Denver. You definitely want to stop there. It gets flat out boring through Western KS though. It looks like God took an iron and flattened everything out. You could stop in Dodge City though and see the Boot Hill museum. It's kind of cool. Dodge is the city made famous in Gunsmoke and had a lot of real life gunslingers who called it home at one point or another. I-70 also goes through Kansas City which has a pretty cool science museum (although probably not nearly as good as the one in Chicago) and is home to a Jazz museum and the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame. If you're going by NY and you're a baseball fan at all, it may be worth a side trip of a 3-4 hours to Cooperstown. Philly is not too far from NYC either and there's tons of historical stuff to see.
Edit: I just saw where you mentioned you planned to only spend a few hours on Vegas. I would change that to at least a day and plan to spend the night. If you go on an off-night (basically any day but a Friday/Sat/Sun) you can get rooms on the strip for $30-50. The Strip has a ton of free stuff to see too.
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Post by Hurricane on Oct 24, 2009 20:55:45 GMT -5
May look into trying to spend a night in Vegas. I'll be underage though, so I don't know how much I can do there. We'll be driving through Denver and Kansas City. May check out that Science Museum. I can't really say I've seen much Baseball, nor know anybodies names who plays. I know Babe Ruth and that's all I can think of at the moment. I want to check out either American Football or Baseball live, depending on how much it costs and how much free time we have.
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Post by Hulkamaniac on Oct 24, 2009 20:59:31 GMT -5
May look into trying to spend a night in Vegas. I'll be underage though, so I don't know how much I can do there. We'll be driving through Denver and Kansas City. May check out that Science Museum. I can't really say I've seen much Baseball, nor know anybodies names who plays. I know Babe Ruth and that's all I can think of at the moment. I want to check out either American Football or Baseball live, depending on how much it costs and how much free time we have. June is baseball season so you won't be able to catch a football game. There are pro baseball teams in LA, San Diego, Denver, KC, and NY. Tickets are probably going to be cheapest in KC because the team blows and has for years. Both LA teams won their divisions and made it to the semi-finals in the playoffs so tickets could be expensive. Denver made it to the playoffs. San Diego blows, but I'm told the ballpark is amazing. I'm thinking cheap tickets run about $40, but you can probably get them cheaper on the day of the game if it's not a sellout. |
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Post by Hurricane on Oct 24, 2009 21:09:16 GMT -5
Don't know if I can justify spending $40 on a game I don't really like. Thats two days worth of food, so who knows. Maybe I'll just do a tour of one of the stadiums or something.
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Post by Hulkamaniac on Oct 25, 2009 8:28:11 GMT -5
Looking at your post again, I don't know what "culture" you plan to soak up in LA. Personally, I'm not a fan of LA at all and I borderline loathe and hate it. The people there are all plastic and fake. Everyone's out trying to impress someone and look beautiful. No one's really real and everyone there seems obsessed with fame. I have a client who lives and works out there. When she calls for help she always tells me all the celebrities she's seen right by her house. This is a major thing for her that she lives in a neighborhood w/celebrities. It just seems so fake to me. I don't think I could tolerate it for two weeks.
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Post by Rant Casey on Oct 25, 2009 15:44:18 GMT -5
You said that you would like to do something at Madison Square Garden right? They do a daily tour most of the time, I wanted to take it last year but didn't get a chance to. You can buy tickets for it on Ticketmaster.com.
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becca
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 13, 2005 11:20:18 GMT -5
Posts: 4,042
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Post by becca on Oct 25, 2009 16:10:28 GMT -5
Preseason American football starts in August, so you might be able to catch a game at the very end of your trip if it's a two-month trip.
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Post by Gore on Oct 25, 2009 16:28:18 GMT -5
Like they mentioned, South Park isn't big at all, and by that, I mean it's literally like a block long. You can be in and out of the "town" in less than 5 minutes. If you really want to get your "South Park" Experience in, take the Kipling exit on I-70, go south to Colfax, which is the longest paved street in the US, and go east about a half mile until you get to Casa Bonita. Yes, it's real, and yes, it's as ridiculous as the show makes it out to be, with cliff divers and black bart's cave.
I definitely recommend spending some time in Denver as well. There are some awesome shops on the 16th street mall downtown, and just some overall fun things to do.
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Post by Hulkamaniac on Oct 25, 2009 17:47:28 GMT -5
I can't believe I hadn't thought of Casa Bonita. It's definitely worth seeing if you're going through Denver. Great atmosphere and the food isn't that bad either if I remember correctly.
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Post by Gore on Oct 25, 2009 17:59:21 GMT -5
The food is much improved since they changed ownership a few years back. It used to be the only thing you could safely eat were the sophapillas. Still not the epitome of mexican food, but the food is a small part of the experience.
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Post by Hulkamaniac on Oct 25, 2009 20:52:31 GMT -5
The food is much improved since they changed ownership a few years back. It used to be the only thing you could safely eat were the sophapillas. Still not the epitome of mexican food, but the food is a small part of the experience. It's been at least 8-10 years since I've gone. I remember the atmosphere far more than the food. The atmosphere is what you're paying for, not the grub. |
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Wrigley15
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Go Cubs Go
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Post by Wrigley15 on Oct 25, 2009 22:52:11 GMT -5
Being in chicago myself definatley go to Giordannos Pizza for the best pizza in America. Also tour Wrigley Field on a nice day though considering you'll be at your destinations for a while. But stick to the basics in chicago because you DO NOT WANT TO GO TO THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO UNLESS YOU WANT TO LIVE AND LEAVE WITH YOUR POSSESSIONS. Also stay away from Cabrinie Green (far west side). I wouldnt do a bears game considering id imagine your a soccer (futbol) fan plut its a living hell getting both in and out of soldier field. All major attractions are all remotley close plus definately go to Navy Pier, you cant miss it. (big ferris wheel.) Wrigley is about 5-10 minutes north of downtown in Wrigleyville on the corner of Addison and Clark/Waveland and Sheffield ave. Just ask if your lost though.
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