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 dogma wrote:
No one has mentioned the Intrepid Museum, for shame.

My mom never took me to the Intrepid museum when I was a kid and to be frank I am still more than a little butthurt about this.

A couple of years ago she took my teenage nephew and posted the pictures to Facebook and I was reduced to leaving a bunch of passive aggressive comments about how fun it looked.

Maybe the next time I go back I'll check that off the bucket list.

I remember the first time I took my wife back to Maine. I told her that she should be prepared to be in a very isolated area. Once I took her the 300 miles from Bangor to Houlton and seeing maybe 20 cars, she realized I wasn't kidding.

Wow, thanks for all the great advice so far guys. Yesterday I confirmed my place at the job, so I'll definitely be heading out there at the start of June.

A couple of you mentioned going to a shooting range. I admit, I wanted to go to a gun shop, see if the whole "'Muricans love our guns" thing in as the media portrays it, but the idea of going to a range is even better. How much would such a thing be, and would there be complications because I'm a tourist?

Food: Yeah, I've head all the stories about how the food is just grease and salt, but if I were to find a proper pizza place or steakhouse I'd have to give in to temptation.

In terms of going to Maine, I'll spare you the details but that may be crossed off my list soon. At least I'll be able to try the British accent that you 'Murican girls apparently love ;-)

There are a lot of ranges which have guns available for you to shoot. Maybe call around to a few and see if they have any.

I don't think you being a foreign national would cause problems but I'm not 100% on that.

For food, just don't go to McDonalds or Taco Bell. The stereotype is true of fast food, food in general isn't like that. Although the portion sizes will be larger than you are accustomed to.

 Valkyrie wrote:

A couple of you mentioned going to a shooting range. I admit, I wanted to go to a gun shop, see if the whole "'Muricans love our guns" thing in as the media portrays it, but the idea of going to a range is even better. How much would such a thing be, and would there be complications because I'm a tourist?

In most states going to a range as a tourist is just fine if you are in the company of a legal local. I don't know about exactly where you will be. Here in Illinois, you simply have to shoot with someone who has a FOID (Firearm Owners ID) card if you don't have one. Most states out there are probably have looser laws, but local Dakkaites could tell you and going shooting with an experienced shooter is really the way to go.

I don't know if anyone spelled it out, but the "Intrepid" museum is the USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier! You can actually walk on an aircraft carrier whose flight deck is stocked with historic aircraft. Something I've wanted to do for a while.

 Valkyrie wrote:


A couple of you mentioned going to a shooting range. I admit, I wanted to go to a gun shop, see if the whole "'Muricans love our guns" thing in as the media portrays it, but the idea of going to a range is even better. How much would such a thing be, and would there be complications because I'm a tourist?

Usually, Gun shops are affiliated with a range either in-store or near by. For the most part, you pay a fee, watch an instructional video and get a few tips, and then they usually have an array of fun guns you can buy ammo for and shoot.

As for being a tourist... I am unsure. Here is the range which we do bachelor party shooting at:
http://www.gilbertindoorrange.com/
http://www.gilbertindoorrange.com/Beginner.html

But some of their classes for more advanced gun certs need:
Finger printing $60 for the Federal & State background, gun rental and ammo extra

So your mileage may vary... but being able to get your hands on a gun to recreational shoot while supervision is pretty easy to do even in very liberal states with strong gun laws still have public gun ranges.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Although the portion sizes will be larger than you are accustomed to.

There are more differences than just portion sizes as well..

This probably depends on country and traditions, etc. but when I was in Germany, the thing to get used to wasn't even so much the portion sizes, it was in the spices/seasonings. I'm not talking like things being done in weird combinations or whatever. Take for instance in the US, at most steakhouses, if you order a steak it will probably be encrusted in seasonings that are a "restaurant/family secret recipe" in Germany, they MIGHT put a tiny bit of pepper or salt on. In the US, at that same restaurant, if you want seasonings on vegetables, you do it yourself (ie, salt and pepper), in Germany most of the restaurants I frequented put a ton of seasonings and the "secret recipe" seasoning powder stuff on the veggies.

Will be a good experience for you, regardless.

I spent a few months over there. So a few things about the east coast from me.
Boston is meh.
Intriped is alright. The Orbiter on it is only the demo rig so hasn't really been to space. Some cool planes and stuff though.
The big free museums in DC are awesome! I spent 2 days at the natural history museum and it wasn't enough for me.
DC is really cool to wander round.
New York is New York. WYSIWYG. Not much to it. A boat trip around all 5 of the NY bits, manhattan etc was good. I didn't try the pizza as the Chicago deep pan was wrank and i don't really eat pizza much anymore cause of it.
Tbh England isn't too far from America's ott food, shops etc now. The people however are cool, but the usual city rudeness is also very evident. You'll notice that they have a lot more homeless than us and there's a certain feeling of racism grudges around too unfortunately.

Not sure if there's a Six Flags park near the north east but if there is it's worth going.

Anyway just my observations so it's best to go see for yourself and make up your own mind.

In NYC you can find monster slices of pizza for cheap. Kennedy's Fried Chicken and Pizza has $1.50 slices that are huge, and I've even seen places that are $0.99. And they're good, too. There are also tons of Peruvian restaurants, Thai restaurants and Indian restaurants around. I can recommend quite a few down where I live that are seriously delicious. Actually, the city I live in has every type of food I've heard of, except Cajun.

Do new York. I went there and loved it, Guggenheim, Natural history museum, Rose Planetarium (Try and see if Neil Degrasse Tyson has a lecture planned), Do Central Park, and head on the tourist bus. The Big Red Bus tour is the best. Also, watch out for celebs. I saw Sarah Jessica Parker there!

shooting and fireworks are must dos, Shooting at a RANGE is definately something, because you have someone to help when things feth up.

See if you can go to any comic conventions or even a renn faire just to experience those sides of US culture (Reinactment is just....amazing over there)

 Valkyrie wrote:

Food: Yeah, I've head all the stories about how the food is just grease and salt, but if I were to find a proper pizza place or steakhouse I'd have to give in to temptation.

Be warned, in the US pizza is a food group; there are more preparations than there are people.

 Doctadeth wrote:
Do new York. I went there and loved it, Guggenheim, Natural history museum, Rose Planetarium (Try and see if Neil Degrasse Tyson has a lecture planned), Do Central Park, and head on the tourist bus. The Big Red Bus tour is the best. Also, watch out for celebs. I saw Sarah Jessica Parker there!

shooting and fireworks are must dos, Shooting at a RANGE is definately something, because you have someone to help when things feth up.

See if you can go to any comic conventions or even a renn faire just to experience those sides of US culture (Reinactment is just....amazing over there)

Funny you mention Sarah Jessica Parker; she lives in Long Island, East Hampton to be exact. I was visiting my grandparents there last year, saw a woman walk out of a high end clothing store, laughed and said "look, it's SJP". Turns out it was. She forgot her makeup that day though.

Ok, I've made up a broad plan of what I'm aiming for. I know I've resurrected this thread a bit but it seems a bit pointless to make a new one when all the details are already here:

- I finish work on the 27th August, I then have graduation on 24th September so I ideally want to be back in Blighty by the 20th.

- I'm hoping to spend 1-2 weeks in 'Murica, so my plan is to visit Boston and New York, and possibly D.C. if I have enough time and money.

- I'm also planning on going across the border to Canadia, as Conneticut is pretty close to Ottawa and Niagra Falls judging from Google Earth. Can any native Canadians give me any tips? Can I just get a coach to the border and get a Visa there and then or is there any planning beforehand.

- Once I'm done in Canada, I thought of flying back to Europe, perhaps Germany, and visiting Berlin. Once I'm back there I can easily get a train or coach back to London.

Thoughts? Any do's and don't's that anyone has to give?

It's about a 6 hour drive to get to Buffalo/Niagara Falls, but the scenery across upstate NY is rather pretty. The Falls are also pretty spectacular. Of course visiting Niagara Falls itself is a two-day affair (minimum). If you do make the trip out this way, I would definitely try some of the local food. Buffalo has its own style of pizza, and of course we're the originating location for Wings.

Whenever I am back Stateside and in that area I am sure to stop at Duffs. 30 wings half medium half hot bbq. DAMN I miss that! Cheap pints stateside too

Since you will have 1500 dollars, I'd like to give you some more European student traveler / budget minded advice. Also, cooler and more fun, I think.

Skip the American museum of natural history. It's expensive. It's a zoo as far as families of shouting children in a small place. The exhibits are very dated, they have been mostly unaltered since well before I ever went in about 1990. It's a kids' place and good if you have some university classes in whichever field.

If you're going to a museum in the city, go to the Whitney. It's cheaper, there are fewer families running around, and it's more actively curated. It is still one of the big name, well funded museums.

I was originally going to put this on Reddit but I couldn't find a suitable subreddit for this, so considering the overall-friendlier group on here

You should definitely read reddit informationally. I meet people at shows sometimes who say they came because it was a reddit meetup. You can find a half full bar on a Tuesday with a band. Its going to be nice to be around people.


The problem with going to Canada usually isn't getting into Canada, it is getting back to the U.S. If you're flying back from the same place you came in, you might want to skip Canada. Unfortunately, it is really disappointing to make the trip all the way to Niagara Falls if you don't see them from the Canadian side.

One of the problems with his travel is that some carriers have a reputation for tourism but many others are known mostly for people who are visiting spouses in distant prisons. I'm not sure how distinct they really are though.

My advice is to not move around so much. The travel times are long and if you prefer the train it will be expensive.