First thing's first - Hello all! I found this board through a recommendation from another website and joined because, even though I've only had the chance to do a few trips, I love to travel and discuss traveling.

So, next summer, July of 2010, I am going to be traveling the U.S. by car (I live in northern New Jersey), all different areas, in a series of four road trips. I will not be doing them nonstop, but coming back to home base after each one for various reasons. I would like to do this sometime between the beginning of July and the end of September, when I hope to finish up.

I am posting this in hopes for suggestions/advice/new ideas, and anything else to help me with my much anticipated travels. So, let's get right to it:

Trip # 1: I want to go northwest and hit Minnesota (Minneapolis and some sights and recreation on one of MN's famous lakes), Wisconsin (Spend a day in Milwaukee, go to the German Summerfest in Milwaukee, see some of rural Wisconsin, and if time allows, the Wisconsin Dells), Montana (Glacier National Park, The Battle of Little Bighorn site, Helena, some of the old mining/ghost towns, find some natural hot springs, and possibly hit Missoula), northern/central California (San Francisco and Yosemite National Park, some of the Redwood parks), Oregon (Astoria, Tillamook, Crater Lake National Park, and Portland), Washington (the Olympic coast and Olympia National Park, Seattle, and Leavenworth), and Vancouver in British Columbia, before returning home.

- I'd like possible suggestions on what to see in Wisconsin outside of the cities/urban areas, what to do in Missoula, one of the cheaper but still great places to stay in Montana, and just in general anything I shouldn't miss in the states I'm going through.

Trip # 2: I will be going southwest this time, first hitting Kentucky (Bardstown, Lexington/Louisville), then on to New Mexico (Albuquerque, the balloon museum, Roswell, some of the Pueblo villages, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park), Arizona (Sedona, Tucson, Flagstaff/Scottsdale, Tombstone, Saguaro National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park), and lastly, southern California (San Diego, Los Angeles - Hollywood/Venice Beach/Universal, and Disneyland).

- I'd really like suggestions on what to do in rural Kentucky, whether Lexington or Louisville is a better choice and what they offer, whether I should choose Flagstaff or Scottsdale and what fun things there are to do in those cities, and anything fun/enjoyable I should add to my stay in southern California.

Trip # 3: I will be going northeast this time, first stopping in Connecticut (Guilford), then on to Massachusetts (Stockbridge, the Berkshires, Cambridge, and Cape Cod), Rhode Island (Providence and one of the small beach towns, which I'd appreciate a recommendation for - I've already done Newport), Vermont (Burlington, Woodstock, and the surrounding Green Mountains area), New Hampshire (Portsmouth, Sugarloaf/one of the state parks, and Hampton Beach), Maine (Ogunquit, Bangor, Bar Harbor, and Portland), Quebec (Quebec City and possibly Montreal for a day), then down to northern New York (Niagara Falls, Lake Placid, Ithaca, the Finger Lakes, and Seneca Falls).

- I've heard Guilford was very nice and I'd like suggestions for Guilford and anything else to do in that area of Connecticut, some good suggestions on good attractions in the Berkshires, which beach town to see in Rhode Island, recommendations for a cool place to stay in Vermont in the Woodstock area, what to do/see in the White Mountains area of New Hampshire, anything I shouldn't miss in rural or coastal Maine, whether or not it's worth it to do Montreal after seeing Quebec City, and recommendations for upstate NY, especially the Finger Lakes.

And finally...

Trip # 4: I will be going southeast, starting in Virginia (Richmond, King's Dominion, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia Beach, Roanoke, and Jamestown), then on to North Carolina (the Outer Banks, Winston-Salem, Kitty Hawk, and possibly Asheville), South Carolina (Myrtle Beach, Congaree National Park, Charleston, and Saint James Island), Georgia (rural northwestern Georgia and Atlanta), and ending in Florida (Saint Augustine, Boca Raton, Miami, and Key West).

- I'd like suggestions on the best things to see in Richmond, whether Asheville is a worthwhile stop as I've heard mixed reviews, the coolest things to see in Charleston, any ideas for the best way to see rural northwestern Georgia, and fun things to do in Boca Raton.

Also, any dining suggestions on any of my locations would be appreciated. I realize this is a lot to tackle. I've been saving for this trip forever and will finally have the money and time to embark on it next year, so I'm beyond excited. I have a goal of visiting all 50 states (So far I only have 12) and even though I won't be hitting every one in my plans, this trip is just the beginning, a way to see what I'm most interested in. Thank you for reading.

Well, first off, Kentucky is literally over 1,000 miles away from New Mexico. I've driven that far in a straight-shot, but it's not fun and doesn't make for much sightseeing. You're better off adding that to the northeast or southeast schedule. And it'll fit better geographically into those two.

Still, Colonel Sander's grave is in Louisville, and the first KFC (Sander's Cafe) is in Corbin. Just don't break down there, it's a town dominated by a local Christian college, so the county is dry. Some of the interesting signs I saw while driving through Kentucky was a copy of the ten commandments between the breakfast and lunch menus at a Burger King (Can I get a #7?) and a campaign sign in Corbin that read: "Pro-life. Pro-gun. Pro-Nunn". Nunn was the gentleman's name.

Personally, for that particular trip, I'd say you're better off starting in Albuquerque, or Salt Lake City, or Denver, even if you're hauling ass back and forth across the country before then. Easier to go from "driving like a maniac" mode to "touring" mode.

Also, this is a lot to see over the course of a summer. How long are you planning to take in each place? With returning to Jersey every time, I don't see how you can have a very relaxing or enjoyable trip when at any point in time you need to drive 3,000 miles back home. 3 months isn't a lot of time, and while in theory you can drive non-stop and cover that much territory in a few days, it doesn't allow much room for error, such as car trouble. It seems like you're budgeting about 3 weeks for each trip, and 1-2 days for each destination (and sometimes less!), and the rest for driving. That also doesn't leave much time for spontaneous destinations. When do you plan on sleeping? Or relaxing on any of those beaches?

I'd combine the northwest and southwest trips, and hit up Burning Man along the way (I've always wanted to go, but it's always during Fall semester. Damn you, hippies!), and save the other two trips for next year (by the way, you've left out most of the south. Which can be an eye-opening trip in and of itself.) Take it slow. If a place doesn't interest you, move on, if it does, stick around. There's always next summer (there is, right? You're not joining the military or dying of a terminal illness? That may change my advice.)

Are you driving your own car? Unless you have amazing insurance and roadside service, this is tough on even a good vehicle. What you might consider is shopping around for a clunker (good condition, but one you won't miss if disaster strikes) at your first destination. Get a cheap train ticket or plane ticket out there, get a car, and drive it around. At the end of your trip, sell it for whatever it's worth. Then fly/train back to Jersey.

Edit: Oh! And knowing where you've been (ever checked out Vegas? I stopped there once. The Hoover Dam, the strip, the Valley of Fire, Cirque du Soleil, it was fun) will make it easier to suggest places you might want to check out that you've never seen. What's your budget? Are you staying in motels or hostels? Couchsurfing? Rideshare?

Hey, Scritch. First off, thank you for your prompt reply.

Interesting point about Kentucky. I could picture the map, but I wasn't too sure about its distance from New Mexico. I think I'm going to incorporate KY into the southeast trip. It will divert me a bit from the East Coast, but will likely be better than shoving it into the Western-oriented trips. Kentucky is just kind of in an awkward position compared to the other states I'm visiting, but I've been wanting to see it for quite some time. Based on what you told me, I think I will look into choosing Louisville and possibly incorporating Corbin - Big KFC fan here. Oh, and thanks for the heads up.

With cutting Kentucky out of the Southwestern trip, I think I'll base the beginning of that trip in Albuquerque. I have scores of things I would love to do in Colorado and Utah, but there's not enough time for it all, so I will limit that trip to New Mexico, Arizona, and (southern) California.

In reference to time issues, you're probably right about pacing, but the good thing about car vs. air travel is that nothing is set in stone. If I feel things are moving too fast on one leg of the trip, I may chop parts out accordingly. I do after all want to spend some time in the places I'm seeing and enjoy the culture. If I have to axe a trip as things get closer, that's a possibility too, but I'm not exactly sure about the final decision, which is why I thought it would be good to post all my initial plans and take it from there. In reference to the South, I can't get enough of it! I stayed in eastern Tennessee for about a week in August. The day after Christmas, I'm driving to New Orleans, LA, for a few days, doing a few days in Cajun country (Lafayette, Breaux Bridge, Avery Island), and then heading back via stops in Natchez, Mississippi (a day), going slightly northwest to Hot Springs and Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, and then east through Tennessee, stopping in Memphis and Chattanooga for about a day or two each. I'm looking forward to this trip a great deal (mostly for Louisiana, as it's one of the states I'm really anticipating) and it's going to serve as a prelude to my more spread out road trips in the summer of 2010.

I planned on using my 2000 Toyota Camry LE, but I'm going to look into car swaps/rentals/cheap purchases for the two Western trips.

As to where I've been? Well I've seen much of my state (New Jersey), New York (mainly just New York City and the suburbs such as Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown in Westchester County), Pennsylvania (Hershey and Easton), Connecticut (Mystic/Mystic Seaport, Madison and the coast, and Hartford), Massachusetts (Boston, Salem, Sturbridge), Rhode Island (Newport), Vermont (Burlington and Waterbury), Maryland (Baltimore), Virginia (Williamsburg and Busch Gardens), Florida (Orlando, Disney, Tampa, Sarasota, Saint Petersburg, and a lot of the coast), and Tennessee (Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Knoxville). I've been to Georgia and North Carolina, but didn't really see anything leisure-wise.

In reference to Nevada, I'd like to see Las Vegas, Reno, and some of the outlying towns, but with Arizona, New Mexico, and California, I probably won't have time to incorporate it into my Southwest trip, but I want to do a Colorado/Utah/Nevada trip possibly the year after.

I really appreciate your suggestions and they're helping me a lot. Perhaps you can even toss me a few suggestions for when I hit Louisiana in December.

I'd also like to add that if anyone can give me any recommendations on attractions/things to see in northwestern Georgia, that would be great, as I'm going to be driving through that area en route to southeastern Louisiana, and have been wanting to do something in Georgia for a while.

When I went to Congaree this summer (which is a cool park) I had a really great Jamaican meal at a restaurant in Columbia. I'll see if I can find the name for you. It had the look of a dive, but the food is fantastic.

Edward, I'm getting crushed by my current semester, but once it's over I'll rack my brain for some things to do when you get to New Orleans. I actually don't spend many Christmas/New Year's seasons here, because it's one of the few times my school schedule and work schedule are in sync and I can take a vacation. When exactly are you rolling through Louisiana?

Kathryn, that would be great if you happen to locate the place. I'm very much looking forward to that aspect of the trip from the pictures I've seen, and I haven't had decent Jamaican food in 5-6 years now.

Scritch, I'm leaving December 26th, the day after Christmas, and plan to arrive on the 27th. I will be in New Orleans for a total of nine nights. I'm looking forward to visiting at this time of the year. I appreciate you keeping me in mind. Whenever you get a chance, I'm sure your input will be great. Thanks

I would actually suggest Santa Fe over Albuquerque. Depending on how much time you have, you could easily do both. Santa Fe is only about a 40 minute drive north of Albuquerque. Santa Fe is one of the most unique cities I've ever been to (I went to college there), and it's gorgeous. If you're a foodie, Santa Fe will steal your heart. Load up on the green chile. Albuquerque is just a city, like any other. Hopefully you're planning on doing your Southwest trip toward the end, because it gets HOT and car troubles ie: overheating and blown out tires can be serious issues on the hot roads.

Also, if you're really into rides at amusement parks, I would do Six Flags in LA instead of Disneyland. The rides are ten times better. If you really want to do the Disney bit, I suggest Disney World instead.

So it’s kind of late, but I remembered.

As I mentioned, I haven’t spent my Christmas seasons in New Orleans. It seems like for every other time of year, we have something unique and fun going on, whether it’s an event, or a festival, or what have you, so by comparison Christmas is low key. But the good news is you can still do everything else that’s fun all year round, so if I’ve ever recommended any of these before it might seem redundant.

There’s music all about town, but you might want to check out the Preservation Hall on St. Peter in the French Quarter. The show starts at 8 p.m., and the Preservation Hall itself is right next door to Pat O’Brien’s, home of the Hurricane (a rather potent rum punch drink), which also has a nice outside patio bar and has music inside at times as well. They’re also both right around the corner from Bourbon Street, which everyone should at least get a taste of, even if that taste is the nearly overwhelming stench of stale beer, garbage, and bodily fluids.

On Tuesday nights the Rebirth Brass Band plays at a bar Uptown called the Maple Leaf, and on Thursday nights Kermit Ruffins plays at Vaughan’s in the Bywater. Both play other shows around town, so you can check our local weekly to find out where they’re going to be (http://www.bestofneworleans.com), but those two venues are the “it” places to see both of those bands. There’s also a string of nice bars, restaurants, and venues on Frenchmen St., which is in the Marigny just one block outside of the French Quarter. Start on Decatur and keep walking until you hit Esplanade and the fire station. There’s also one of the few vegan-friendly establishments nearby here called the Bamboo Café (I can’t give an opinion on that, as I rarely eat vegan food), and it’s underneath a bar/club/venue called the Dragon’s Den right near the Decatur Esplanade intersection. Some of the bars and venues have closed on Frenchmen recently, but many of them have either re-opened under new management (Ray’s Boom Boom Room as “La Maison de Musique” and the Spotted Cat as “Spotted Cat Music Club”) or relocated (the Hookah is now in the French Quarter near Iberville and Decatur). The Spotted Cat is a cramped, but enjoyable venue, as is the Apple Barrel. There’s also a cool little Creole/Italian restaurant above the Apple Barrel called Adolfo’s, which is easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. Snug Harbor has a good burger and it’s a nice place to sit for awhile and listen to music, when there’s a show going on.

The WWII museum (bet you didn’t know we had a big WWII museum, New Orleans was the home of Andrew Higgins, the designer of the flatboat that we stormed Omaha beach with on D-Day, and Stephen Ambrose of “Band of Brothers” fame was a professor at UNO) has recently opened a new wing, there’s a big exhibit of Disney art at the New Orleans Museum of Art (and NOMA also has a sculpture garden), and our children’s museum recently acquired Mr. Roger’s neighborhood, which I haven’t stopped by to see but I’ll admit I’m a little excited about. The Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Contemporary Arts center are right across the street from each other, and they’re both a stone’s throw away from a nice little bar called, appropriately enough, Circle Bar, which is located at Lee Circle (it’s a roundabout on St. Charles with a big statue of Robert E. Lee in the center, you can’t miss it.) There’s also a number of smaller museums throughout the city dedicated to various subjects such as Mardi Gras and the Mardi Gras Indians, neighborhoods like the Treme, African American culture, and historical houses throughout the city like the Degas and Pitot houses.

There’s plenty of art galleries and guided tours through the city. For popular sites like the cemeteries, it might be worth taking one, as long as you’re willing to keep a sharp ear for bullshit. Some of the tour guides are extremely dedicated and research their spiels pretty thoroughly, others just either make shit up or take the first source they can find that tells the best story. But both are trying to entertain you. Plus, a tour guide of the cemeteries will usually ward off the shysters that prey on tourists around sites like this. Just remember, there’s no “guard” for the cemeteries, you don’t have to pay an entrance fee because it’s “about to close”, and you got your shoes on your feet. Not that getting scammed out of a few dollars doesn’t add to the atmosphere and stimulate the local economy at the same time.

There’s a big park in Mid-City called, well, City Park. City Park is actually much larger than Central Park, but a lot less well maintained and manicured. It’s great to walk around in though, and whole parts of it are pretty wild. Not as in bears roaming around, but as in just miles of trees and grass and shrubs and incredibly stupid ducks, which sometimes sleep on the bike path. During the holiday season they have “Celebration in the Oaks” (http://celebrationintheoaks.com/)

The Reveillon (http://frenchquarter.com/dining/reveillon.php) dinners, although traditionally a fast-breaking meal on Christmas Day/Morning, are served at a variety of restaurants all through December (the custom lapsed, died, and has now re-surfaced as a fun season long tradition for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.) I’m actually going to have my first Reveillon dinner at Tujague’s on the 27th.

For restaurant recommendations in general, one of my previous posts has some of my favorite places (local-food-hot-spots-t43993.html#p408629). If you’re a vegetarian your dining options will be slightly different, as sometimes even the vegetables are cooked or prepared with animal products. Eating at Middle Eastern or Mediterranean restaurants will usually net you some options (hold the cheese if you’re with vegans), there’s a place called Salt N’ Pepper in the Quarter that doesn’t look like much but has great Pakistani food, Mona’s on Frenchment Street (they also have Uptown and Mid-City locations), the previously mentioned Bamboo Café, there’s a bar on Frenchmen called 13 that has “Tater Tachos”, which are nachos with black beans and tater tots instead of chips, and if you eat seafood you can pretty much find good eats anywhere. If you’re not a vegetarian, I highly recommend Elizabeth’s in the Bywater for Sunday brunch. If you’re hungover, you can get a bloody mary and some praline bacon. Booze and grease to treat what ails ya. The roast beef po-boy at Parkway Tavern in Mid-City (not Parkview, which is a bar on Carrollton) is delicious, and you can get cheese and gravy on your fries, which will be the closest thing to poutine in the entire city.

Some goofy fun things to do include riding the streetcars, taking the ferry (it’s free! And you can get some cool pictures of the Quarter from the other shore or on the boat) from the French Quarter to Algiers (it’s a pretty neighborhood, and there’s some interesting shops, bars, and restaurants), having a drink at the Carousel Bar on the first floor of Hotel Monteleone, Carousel Gardens in City Park if you have kids (http://neworleanscitypark.com/), getting a Sno-Bliz at Hansen’s on Tchoupitoulas (Chop-eh-too-less) or at Plum St. Snoballs, getting beignets at Café Du Monde, walking along on the levee in the French Quarter, the aquarium, walking up Canal Street and seeing a once well-respected shopping avenue turned into abandoned buildings, souvenir shops, and package stores, having your fortune told in Jackson Square, visiting any of the numerous bookshops in the French Quarter (http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworle ... tores.html), note that this list isn’t completely up to date. Kaboom closed years ago), grabbing a po-boy at a corner store (Verti Mart has a half shrimp/half oyster, but Quartermaster is good too), having a couple drinks on the gay area of Bourbon (the “fruit loop”, there’s a diner called Clover Grill here that’s great for drunken eats), having a hand grenade on Bourbon (they’re foul, but potent) and following it up immediately with a Hurricane from Pat O’s, taking a carriage ride (I’ve never actually done this. Mostly they just irritate me because the mule shit ends up everywhere on the streets and they block traffic, but if I didn’t live here it seems like it’d be fun), and going on a ghost/vampire/swamp tour.

Some other final suggestions are having dinner or drinks at the Roosevelt, which re-opened recently (http://www.therooseveltneworleans.com/). Hearing about the Roosevelt always makes me smile because we have a picture here at the library of a menu from the Roosevelt signed by Wernher Von Braun (Nazi missile scientist that is responsible for our space program). It reads: “Like all good things in life, the Saturn-Apollo program started with an excellent meal.” He was thrown an honorary dinner at the Roosevelt in 1961. Cochon is another semi-fancy restaurant in the C.B.D. that’s gotten rave reviews, though I have yet to eat there (I’m a poor simple librarian. Emphasis on the poor.) There’s quite a few art galleries opening up on St. Claude, which runs through a less-tourist friendly area between the 9th and 8th Wards, but you can probably spot a few on the Gambit Weekly’s website under events, as they sometimes throw shows or opening parties.

Some interesting bars include the Mother-in-Law Lounge, Ms. Mae’s (24 hours) Uptown, Snake and Jakes Christmas Club Uptown (it’s lit by Christmas lights, it’s not really a Christmas themed bar. I’ve never been here when I’m sober, so I’m unable to give you directions), the Saint Uptown, Finn McCool’s in Mid-City on Monday nights for trivia, and there’s a whole string of good bars on the downriver end of Decatur, which pretty much runs into Frenchmen Street, so you could easily start at Molly’s and work your way down to the John, or wrap it up with a daquiri at Gene’s on Elysian Fields and St. Claude. The Hi-Ho on St. Claude has Red Beans and Bluegrass Night on Mondays, Mimi’s in the Marigny has DJ Soul Sister on Saturday nights, Saturn Bar on St. Claude has Mod Dance Party once a month, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop (not to be confused with Lafitte in Exile, a gay bar) is on Bourbon and is the “oldest contintually operating bar in New Orleans”, which means it’s not the oldest, but it’s the oldest one to remain continually open without closing, and the Rubyfruit Jungle on Decatur is a goth bar turned gay bar and is New Orleans’ only lesbian bar. They have a Wii games night, but I can’t remember what day it actually is.

If I think of anything else, I’ll post it here. Here’s hoping you have a great time.

General Information:
http://nola.humidbeings.com/
http://www.neworleansonline.com/
http://frenchmenst.com/

Museums and Art:
http://www.neworleansmuseums.com/
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworle ... eries.html

Food:
http://www.nomenu.com/
http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/9
http://www.veganorleans.com/

Local Papers and Weeklies/Music
http://www.bestofneworleans.com
http://www.offbeat.com
http://antigravitymagazine.com/
http://www.whereyat.net/
http://www.noladiy.org
http://www.nola.com

Christmas:
http://celebrationintheoaks.com/
http://frenchquarter.com/dining/reveillon.php
http://www.nola.com/holidays/
http://www.neworleansonline.com/christmas/
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworle ... /cnos.html

Wow Scritch, what a fantastic reply. I haven't been thinking about going back to New Orleans but you have certainly got me thinking about how much I have missed. Nice going!

It took me awhile (sorry for the delay). The Jamaican restaurant in Columbia is: Negril Caribbean Restaurant Bar & Grill, 7314 Parklane Road, Columbia, SC 29223, (803) 736 - 3116
http://www.restaurant.com/NegrilCaribbe ... tBar&Grill

Very good food. Not a fancy place.
.

If you're in New Orleans for New Year's Eve, you might want to check out the Art House party.

Art House New Year's Info

NOLA Art House

I'm not associated with them, but people might find the treehouse a cool thing to check out. 25 bones though.

Albuquerque is an awesome town. My wife, Jodie, grew up there. I got to visit the city with her back in 2007 and had an amazing time. Couple of tips...

• Take the Tramway up to the top of Sandia. Beautiful vistas. http://www.sandiapeak.com/
• Have dinner at Sadie's. Jodie and her grandma took me there and I proudly earned my honorary New Mexican stripes. Killer margarita (in a pint glass), and the green chile is phenomenal. Jodie's family often sends us care packages of Sadie's green chile and red chile, and it is always a happy day when those arrive. http://www.sadiessalsa.com/

I'll ponder some Oregon tips for you too. Eugene is my stomping ground, and we get out and about every chance we get.