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Old 09-07-2016, 06:21 AM
 
11,610 posts, read 10,300,647 times
Reputation: 7213

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Quote:
Originally Posted by 601halfdozen0theother View Post
The best thing for "foreigners" to think about when planning a trip to America is - Do I want to see the variety of communities that make up America? Or do I only want to see urban areas that represent only a fraction of American life?

Here are 10 places I'd go to see the "real" America:

1) New York City

2) Lancaster, Pennsylvania

3) Duluth and the Boundary Waters, Minnesota

4) The Iowa State Fair

5) Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation

6) Olympic National Park

7) Los Angeles

8) Las Vegas

9) The Mississippi Delta (AR/MS border)

10) Washington, D.C.
Interesting list, but 2) pales against Ohio Amish Country.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...h.Country.html

And while the Amish are unique, for someone interested in seeing the real America, they should visit the devastation of Detroit or Gary, IN.

On a more positive note, it's tough to top a game day with tickets to Ohio Stadium on a football weekend in Columbus, OH. The TBDBITL, Skull Session, etc., complements top-notch university football to provide some of the best rituals in the world.

The ramp entrance and "Buckeye Battle Cry" kicks off every home football game.

TBDBITL RAMP ENTRANCE - TourTheTen.Com

This past weekend's show, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the alumni band, which participated in the performance, featured the debut of a Giant Script Ohio and the annual Quad Script Ohio, arguably the most famous band routine in the U.S.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B047IxMn5ak

See Ohio State marching band in giant Script Ohio - and just out of elevator (video) | cleveland.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oh..._Marching_Band

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Stadium
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Old 09-07-2016, 07:02 AM
 
242 posts, read 237,405 times
Reputation: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by ()_T View Post
1.NYC
2.LA
3.Chicago
4.SF
5.Houston
Same list as me. See how americans actually live in Houston + Top Notch Food.
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Old 09-07-2016, 10:54 AM
 
234 posts, read 141,271 times
Reputation: 122
NYC
LA
SF
Vegas
Miami
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Old 09-07-2016, 01:07 PM
 
Location: Providence, RI
12,615 posts, read 21,761,835 times
Reputation: 14058
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bloomfield1 View Post
NYC
LA
SF
Honolulu
Miami
This is close to what I would suggest, my only adjustment would be the bolded (drop Vegas).

Although if I were truly making vacation suggestions, I'd suggest doing it in separate trips where you visit a single cluster/region or in one long trip w/ Open Jaw tickets. For example, I'd suggest flying into New York, and hitting up the biggies in the Northeast Corridor (DC, Philly, Boston and NYC) as well a stop in a place like Annapolis, Newport RI, Portsmouth NH, or Portland ME. Florida is an easy flight from the NE so head from the final city in the NE itinerary down to Miami and do Miami Beach, the Everglades, and pick from either the Keys or Orlando/Parks if they're inclined (not for everyone). I'd suggest flying from Miami (or Orlando if they bunch it in) to LA and do LA, San Diego, the SoCal coast, and Las Vegas if they're inclined (also not for everyone). Then hop a flight to Honolulu, do the Hawaii thing, then back to SF and explore the Bay Area/Napa/Big Sure, and hop a flight back home.

Obviously that's a lot of travel, but Europeans tend to do month(s) long vacations and you could book the whole thing on one itinerary if you did it right. If they're only stateside for a week/10 days, I'd suggest picking a region and doing it that way. When you're already limited on time, flying across the country is kind of a waste.
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Old 09-07-2016, 02:07 PM
 
Location: 78745
4,482 posts, read 4,540,431 times
Reputation: 7974
Quote:
Originally Posted by WRnative View Post
Indianapolis over Chicago, the capital of the Midwest? Ridiculous IMO. Cleveland is a much better visit than Indianapolis, especially with Cedar Point and Ohio Amish Country nearby.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...h.Country.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Cleveland.html

Chicago is not your typical Midwestern town, either. I don't think it's necessary to show Chicago if the tourist has already seen New York City, Philly, LA, Dallas or Houston. One huge megalopolis per visit is plenty. I would reccomend Cleveland over Chicago, but Indy over Cleveland, because Indianapolis is so much more stereoypical Mid America then Cleveland is.

Last edited by Ivory Lee Spurlock; 09-07-2016 at 02:17 PM..
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Old 09-07-2016, 04:18 PM
 
6,772 posts, read 4,431,530 times
Reputation: 6066
New York City, NY
Washington, DC
San Francisco, CA
Chicago, IL
Orlando, FL
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Old 09-07-2016, 04:21 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,219,944 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by lrfox View Post
This is close to what I would suggest, my only adjustment would be the bolded (drop Vegas).

Although if I were truly making vacation suggestions, I'd suggest doing it in separate trips where you visit a single cluster/region or in one long trip w/ Open Jaw tickets. For example, I'd suggest flying into New York, and hitting up the biggies in the Northeast Corridor (DC, Philly, Boston and NYC) as well a stop in a place like Annapolis, Newport RI, Portsmouth NH, or Portland ME. Florida is an easy flight from the NE so head from the final city in the NE itinerary down to Miami and do Miami Beach, the Everglades, and pick from either the Keys or Orlando/Parks if they're inclined (not for everyone). I'd suggest flying from Miami (or Orlando if they bunch it in) to LA and do LA, San Diego, the SoCal coast, and Las Vegas if they're inclined (also not for everyone). Then hop a flight to Honolulu, do the Hawaii thing, then back to SF and explore the Bay Area/Napa/Big Sure, and hop a flight back home.

Obviously that's a lot of travel, but Europeans tend to do month(s) long vacations and you could book the whole thing on one itinerary if you did it right. If they're only stateside for a week/10 days, I'd suggest picking a region and doing it that way. When you're already limited on time, flying across the country is kind of a waste.
That would be a very tiring trip, but I guess do-able if you had a month. I do think Miami and Honolulu are kind of "same but different" in that both are tropical cities and both very different from mainstream US cities. Maybe from Miami to Denver, just to see it, and then maybe Vegas, which despite living here in the Denver area for 36 years, I've never been to. Then off to Cali.
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Old 09-08-2016, 03:04 PM
 
Location: Providence, RI
12,615 posts, read 21,761,835 times
Reputation: 14058
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katarina Witt View Post
That would be a very tiring trip, but I guess do-able if you had a month. I do think Miami and Honolulu are kind of "same but different" in that both are tropical cities and both very different from mainstream US cities. Maybe from Miami to Denver, just to see it, and then maybe Vegas, which despite living here in the Denver area for 36 years, I've never been to. Then off to Cali.
Oh it would be exhausting. I would say a month at a minimum, but preferably more. I know a vacation for a month or more is strange for us, but Europeans often vacation for large chunks of time. My Greek friends were gone from the end of June to Mid-August this past year. We had family on her side visit from Italy last summer who stayed with us and used Boston as a home base to see NYC, DC, Niagara Falls, New Orleans, Orlando (Disney), Chicago San Francisco and LA. They were here for about a month (their verdict was: SF was the favorite by a good margin, followed by NYC and Boston- they really didn't like New Orleans, "it feels unsafe").

I still think the best way to "see America" if you don't have 1+ month at a time is multiple trips picking specific regions within the country. Even during a 2 week vacation I think it makes more sense to travel within a certain region rather than head across the country. And by "region" you could open it up to an entire coast if you're closer to two weeks. But if I'm visiting the U.S. for a week, I don't want to spend the better part of a whole day traveling from the East to West Coast (6 hours of flight time plus travel to/from airports, check-in/security, baggage claims, etc.). I think it would be a much better use of time to explore, say NYC, catch the Acela to DC, Philly or Boston for a day (a few hours of travel downtown to downtown without the airport hassle), then maybe do another day trip based on personal interests (Adirondacks for the outdoorsy types, Atlantic City or Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun for gamblers, Long Island or Jersey Shore for the beachy folks, or some of the cuter/more historic villages and towns along the hudson or in CT/NJ for culture/history buffs). that'll give a visitor a better look at America than trying to jump all over the place in a short time.
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Old 09-08-2016, 04:00 PM
 
2,029 posts, read 2,337,508 times
Reputation: 4702
Quote:
Originally Posted by benice66 View Post
Orlando is the number ONE vacation spot. Why even mention, Chicago-boring.
I suppose if you were Mickey, Minnie or Goofy, Chicago would be boring.
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Old 09-08-2016, 08:18 PM
 
15 posts, read 15,766 times
Reputation: 20
1. New York City

2. San Francisco

3. Chicago

4.St Louis

5. Washington
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