The Smiley Smile Message Board

USA holiday nr. 2 is coming up. In a couple of weeks the wife and I are heading of to NYC. From there we're going to make a little 3-week round trip. See map for a roughly sketched route.

So far we've chosen Boston, Montreal, Toronto / Niagara Falls, Grand Rapids, Gettysburg, ,Washington DC (and back to NYC) as part of the route. But that is all still open for discussion... (except for Grand Rapids, sister-in-law lives there...)

Obvious question (and of course you guys know best where to find those hotspots): any specific places we shouldn't miss? Cities, (national) parks of forests, historical locations? Don't mind a pointer for a good record store here and there.  ;D

(http://i47.tinypic.com/2hwz4ld.jpg)

You should go to Philadelphia, if only for the "historical value". Just don't ask any of the locals for directions. They'll tell you to go f*** your mama.  :lol

If you're in the Booths Corner area of SE Pennsylvania (just north of the Delaware border) on a Friday or Saturday (only two days it's open), you have to go eat at the Amish market (Bill Haley used to live there iffn you need a R&R connection). Details here - http://www.boothscorner.com/ (http://www.boothscorner.com/) - and thank me later.  :)

Baltimore is also a nice city, especially Inner Harbor, Fells Point and Federal Hill (view of IH from FH):

(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/32/103/854765509/n854765509_3206975_7536.jpg)

Another great local eatery in Bawlmer is Harry Attman's - http://www.attmansdeli.com/index.php (http://www.attmansdeli.com/index.php)

Philadelphia is bung full of history and is pretty walkable.

Your trip through Ohio looks none too exciting.  Canton has the Football Hall of Fame, but that's American football so probably not anything you would be too interested in.  In Findlay through, there is a totally awesome BBQ place called Tony's.  It is right off of I-75 at St. Rt. 224.  They win all the rib cook offs in the area, I've never had a bad meal there.

OK, Philly and Baltimore are now added.  :)


Good point, but as we're going for a round trip (we land in NYC, have rented a car, and will fly back 3 weeks later from NYC again), and Grand Rapids is an obligatory part of the trip, so we have to travel through Ohio anyway. We've changed the rout a bit btw, and for a good reason. Chance is very big we take a small detour to Ironton ...  :)

i'll be waiting...  ;D

beer will be on ice awaitin'  ;D ;D

 :drunks  Grolsch please !   :lol

Have you noticed that pretty much all the advice thus far concerns stuffing your face ?  ;D

Speaking of which, if you've not been to an Arby's yet, please do - you'll never eat at Micky D's again.

I don't mind a culinary recommendation, as part of my education on the American cultural heritage.  ::)

[quote author=Andrew G. Doe link=topic=8937.msg151268#msg151268 date=1279272352

Speaking of which, if you've not been to an Arby's yet, please do - you'll never eat at Micky D's again.
[/quote] Fuckin' A. The bacon and swiss cheese chicken sandwich with curly fries, with a side of "pizza poppers" is a gift straight from heaven. Or you can do the five roast beef melts for only five dollars deal. Five roast beef sandwiches covered in chedder cheese for only $5.

Also, if you stop by Sharon Pennsylvania, I will gladly welcome you into my home. We can spend the day listening to various Beach Boys recordings of dubious origins.  ;D

That would indeed be great (one of my hobbies as well !   :)

Unfortunately:

a) my wife is not exactly the biggest BB fan in the world - and she already suffers many a day with me "listening to various Beach Boys recordings of dubious origins"  ::)

and

b) the route has changed a bit: we're now travelling from Washington DC to Grand Rapids via Huntington/Ironton, so suddenly Sharon PA is not that close anymore...

But thanks for the invitation, I appreciate it very much!

O, and Arby has definitely been listed for a visit.  ;D

OK, route has changed a bit:

NYC
Philly / Baltimore / Washington DC / Gettyburg
Ironton
GrandRapids / Michigan / Chicago (or Detroit)
Niagara Falls / Toronto
High Peaks / Lake Placid
either White Mountain NF or Boston
back to NYC

(http://i25.tinypic.com/wlaafl.jpg)

Plans are getting more definite by the day... can't wait for the holidays to start !

1. I know the type. She probably likes Summer In Hell...er, I mean Paradise.  ::)

2. The offer still stands. If you ever get the chance to stop in Pennsylvania, you're always welcome in my house. :) Hell, that goes for the entire Smiley Smile board.  ;D

ROAD TRIP !!!  ;D

Other things you should try to fit in:

Minor league baseball game - the more minor, the better...

Local farmer's market - anywhere, but preferably in an Amish region...

Annapolis, Maryland - nice old colonial town, great seafaring heritage, home of the US Navy college...

National Air & Space Museum, DC...

A beach in Connecticut - any beach...

Hm, funny, just this morning one of my collegues at work said exactly the same!



Annapolis sounds like a good idea. Connecticut beach as well. Thanks AGD.

You can take the train from NYC to Beacon, NY to Dia:Beacon, one of the largest contemporary art museums in the world... I'll make sure you get in for free. Only an hour north and makes a great day trip...sits right in the Hudson River.

http://www.diabeacon.org/sites/main/beacon

-Go to the inner harbor in Baltimore. Absolutely beautiful.
-Try a slice of pizza in NY. Best food ever made  :3d
-The Franklin Fountain in Philly is a great place for sweets. I had something there called a cherry bomb (Chocolate ice cream cherry soda.) It literally lived up to it's name as I promptly spilled some of it on myself.

Lucky you're going to Gettysburg. Been wanting to go there for awhile now.

I live an hour southeast of Lake Placid...a little hole on the New York side of Lake Champlain called Port Henry. Make sure to hit Burlington, VT in your travels...nice university town...PurePop Records, the waterfront, Church Street.

And over on the New York side of the "Sixth Great Lake" (Champlain), there's a good chance you'll encounter hot dog stands selling somehting called a "Michigan" or Michigan Hot Dog...similar to a chili dog, but the sauce is a bit different from chili...made from ground beef and a tomato sauce and it's can be sweet or spicy depending on where you go...some people like it topped with chopped onions and even mustard.

I'm a little horrified that Arby's is somehow considered a must-stop place to eat in the States. Of course, i'm also shocked that ANYONE would willingly eat at McDonalds, so what do I know?
But if it's fast and greasy you like you might make a slight detour to Allentown PA and stop at Yocco's hot dogs, where you will find the weirdest (and best!) hot dogs anywhere.
Have fun (and avoid Arby's)!

We're planning on taking the boat from Port Kent to Burlington, so that shouldn't be a problem.


I'll try to (but I can't garantee it  ;D  )

Thing about Arby's is, it ain't a burger. That and the curly fries.

ANd the pizza poppers. And the orange milkshake.  ;D

Flying of tomorrow. Back in 3 weeks.

Again, thanks for the good advise (includes the food-tips  ;D ), we'll try to visit some of the recommendations you gave us. Hopefully another great experience, like in 2006 (when we visited California and Arizona).

first week's almost over... time flies when you're having fun!

We're now at a camp side near Baltimore (Catonsville, near the Patapsco river) and enjoy the cities and it's culinar higlights, including Baltimore's Altmanns!  ;D , the surroundings, etc. Annapolis is on today's programme. Again thanks for all good advises. We managed to throw in a few of your advises already!

angela and i want to thank you and your wife for stopping by today. we really enjoyed it. sorry i had been sick the past few days, in addition to the heart attack. it meant a lot to me that you would drive here and say hello. glad you did!
and thank you for the gifts. timing was perfect. and as soon as 2 of them cool down i will try those out also.....  ;D
hope the rest of your vacation goes well and you enjoy your time here.
once again..thank you for everything and for stopping by. always nice to see a fellow smiley smiler in person!

It was a real pleasure meeting you Steve. Much too short, but I really enjoyed the afternoon in Ashland. I hope the 'cold' gifts didn't hit you too hard (like most canons do  ;D  )
If you ever go to Holland, know that our guest room is always vacant. :)

Got back home today. Bit tired now, but I'll try to post a lengthy review of our adventures in the USA asap.