Your favourite things in the US

[Keys]

Las Vegas - Get to the outlets, this is a great place to shop. See a Cirque show. Go to the Cheesecake Factory (my favourite restaurant ever).

LA - Universal studios. No need for a front of line pass in Jan/Feb. Hollywood/Beverly Hills tour.

Defintely agree with the bolded bits

Driving from Vegas to San Francisco - you'll probably want to allow two days for this unless you're happy with a 10+ hour drive. A stopover in Yosemite if you have time will be well worth it.

Take the coast road from San Fran to LA - ****ing awesome drive. Can be done in a day, took me about 8 hours, but I wished I had time to split it over at least two.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

Day 2 - Universal Studios. There were long lines out the front so we panicked and bought Front of Line passes. Turned out we didn't need to as wait times were 10-20 mins max throughout the day, and there are not that many things to go on. Studio tour is a must as the King Kong part is awesome, and the Simpsons ride is also a must.

I think we went the same day. Did you end up going Friday October 1? (Grand Final day). I didn't get the front of line pass and glad I didn't. The only thing I had to wait for was the studio tour which was about 15 mins. Everything else I walked straight up. I went on the Simpsons ride as soon as the park opened as i thought that might have a wait.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

The 9/11 walking tour sounds interesting. I was in New York in November 2001. We went down to ground zero, it was still smoking, the grey dust was still everywhere and what was left of the buildings was yet to be pulled down. There were survivors around who were telling their story. It was a very strange experience and something that I will never forget. I fell in love with New York on that trip.

 

[Ghostwriter]

Noticing that ppl are only visiting cities, I was opposite (see sig), I did a tour of the national parks, Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Zion, Yellowstone and finished it off with a drive through the Oregon high desert to Mts Hood, Jefferson, Adams, St Helens and Rainier.
The US shits all over Australia with natural wonders.
Yosemite is the number one.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I think we went the same day. Did you end up going Friday October 1? (Grand Final day). I didn't get the front of line pass and glad I didn't. The only thing I had to wait for was the studio tour which was about 15 mins. Everything else I walked straight up. I went on the Simpsons ride as soon as the park opened as i thought that might have a wait.

Yes, we went on the Friday. Didn't go as soon as the gates opened though as we were a bit sluggish after walking for miles in downtown LA the day before.

Wasn't LA warm at the time? Not too hot but quite warm. I was told that week was hotter than anything they had the whole summer.

My wife went shopping in Citywalk and we had lunch there and coupled with two of the four in our party not wanting to walk much, we probably ended up using our passes a bit anyway, and just leaving early.

We were flying out early the next morning so didn't want to take the chance and not see much (as happened at Disney). I pretty much made the wrong call with both parks in the end, wrong days or bought passes we didn't need.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

The 9/11 walking tour sounds interesting. I was in New York in November 2001. We went down to ground zero, it was still smoking, the grey dust was still everywhere and what was left of the buildings was yet to be pulled down. There were survivors around who were telling their story. It was a very strange experience and something that I will never forget. I fell in love with New York on that trip.

They take you into the World Financial Center for some great views of the construction, and show you tributes to people that worked for a company in that center but were based in the towers. They show you what parts of these buildings were damaged. They take you to the nearest fire station and show tributes there. To the display shopfront for the new construction and more memorials. Also to a couple of local churches, the main one being St Paul's Chapel which is right next to Ground Zero and was probably the only neighbouring building to sustain no damage at all. Apparently a massive tree fell over and protected the church. This is the third occasion this church has gone through something devastating around it but remained intact. Locals think it is divine intervention obviously. Plenty of tributes and things to see in this church.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

Sounds interesting, I'd do the tour if I was there. I saw the church, it still had all the tributes and photographs. I'm pretty sure I walked down the street of the fire station but didn't realise until later when I saw a documentary. Actually not sure it was the closest but it was a highly publicized one and they lost a lot of people. That one was in Tribeca a couple of blocks from ground zero.

LA was warm the first few days. I think the day before we arrived it got to 45. It then got really cold on the Sunday and was about 15 brrr.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

Noticing that ppl are only visiting cities, I was opposite (see sig), I did a tour of the national parks, Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Zion, Yellowstone and finished it off with a drive through the Oregon high desert to Mts Hood, Jefferson, Adams, St Helens and Rainier.
The US shits all over Australia with natural wonders.
Yosemite is the number one.

Oh yeah I went to Yosemite in my recent trip but didn't mention it. It's amazing. I went to the Grand Canyon 2 years ago, for me that was better than Yosemite. Yosemite is beautiful but the sheer size if the Grand Canyon is amazing.

 

[footylover18]

Has anyone been to the outlet stores just outside of New York? It's called Woodbury or something. I hear good things about the place but i'm skeptical. Anyone been?

 

[VicO]

Am about 1/3rd through my road trip, it's been fantastic but very tiring. Am currently in West Yellowstone in Montana. It's cold and snowing but absolutely magnificent.

So far have visited NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, WI, IA, NE, SD, WY and MT. The highlights have been the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Millers Brewery in Milwaukee, Deep Dish pizza in Chicago, Mount Rushmore and seeing a bear today in Yellowstone.

And it's only been a week and a half!

Still to come -> Salt Lake City, Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, LA, San Fran, Portland and Seattle.

 

[VicO]

If you're driving I have 3 suggestions:

1. Buy a GPS for $100 at a Best Buy. Save so much time and effort.
2. Take a road atlas. Excellent books for planning.
3. priceline.com <- excellent site that has had us staying in amazing 4/5 star hotels for peanuts.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

How far away was the bear? What is your plan if you encounter one close up? I would never get my wife anywhere where she might encounter wild animals of the non-human variety.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

I'll be at Yosemetie but I will only have 1 full day. Where are the best places? We will pretty much be at the West entrance.

 

[Ghostwriter]

Am about 1/3rd through my road trip, it's been fantastic but very tiring. Am currently in West Yellowstone in Montana. It's cold and snowing but absolutely magnificent.

So far have visited NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, WI, IA, NE, SD, WY and MT. The highlights have been the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Millers Brewery in Milwaukee, Deep Dish pizza in Chicago, Mount Rushmore and seeing a bear today in Yellowstone.

And it's only been a week and a half!

Still to come -> Salt Lake City, Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, LA, San Fran, Portland and Seattle.

Sounds like you're going well, was in Yellowstone before it snowed, one word of advice, book accomodation ahead for Grand Canyon, and stay a little while in Seattle too, my only regret was I was only there for 24 hours.
As for Yosemite, valley floor is cool, but try and do the drive around to Glacier point, awesome view.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Sounds like you're going well, was in Yellowstone before it snowed, one word of advice, book accomodation ahead for Grand Canyon, and stay a little while in Seattle too, my only regret was I was only there for 24 hours.
As for Yosemite, valley floor is cool, but try and do the drive around to Glacier point, awesome view.

Cheers mate

 

[Dont be a lemon]

If everyone is over 18, try to get Letterman tickets online.

**** Letterman. Colbert or Stewart please

 

[VicO]

How far away was the bear? What is your plan if you encounter one close up? I would never get my wife anywhere where she might encounter wild animals of the non-human variety.

It wasn't too close, across a field close to the east entrance. It looked like a grizly. Tbh we were lucky to see it with the snow setting in. A lot more I'm the Grand Tetons where we were today so that was a bit scary but didn't come across any thankfully.

 

[VicO]

Sounds like you're going well, was in Yellowstone before it snowed, one word of advice, book accomodation ahead for Grand Canyon, and stay a little while in Seattle too, my only regret was I was only there for 24 hours.
As for Yosemite, valley floor is cool, but try and do the drive around to Glacier point, awesome view.

Thanks mate! Hope it doesn't rain when I'm in seattle. Yellowstone is so
quiet when it's snowing as well. No crowds. Although we got stuck on ice today and when we tried to move forward we started skidding off the road. Luckily the rangers were close by and they called in a sandtruck to help us out.

 

[Bucks Boy Jett]

After some dramas with my visa my trip to the US is now only a week away, to say I'm excited would be an understatement.

 

[Bucks Boy Jett]

Also what is the cost of young kids( 2 yr old and a 4 yr old) clothing like over there?

 

[Ghostwriter]

Also what is the cost of young kids( 2 yr old and a 4 yr old) clothing like over there?

I though clothing was cheap, seemed to be lots of sales.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

Also what is the cost of young kids( 2 yr old and a 4 yr old) clothing like over there?

It's cheap. I've bought a lot of kids stuff at Macys Dept store in the past. You can get Guess, Ralph Lauren stuff at about 1/4 of the price you'd pay here.

Baby Gap also has some nice stuff and some great sales.

* a tip for those that aren't aware. If you go to Macys gift card/registry section and show them your license or passport, they'll give you a 10% off discount card. This is an out of towners discount and is available at all stores.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

After some dramas with my visa my trip to the US is now only a week away, to say I'm excited would be an understatement.

ESTA is a pretty straight forward online process. What on earth could go wrong with it?

Soak everything up. You know it will go fast.

 

[SonOfScray]

Leaving in a few days. Right now New York is the main attraction but I am sure memphis and Boton are going to be great laces as well.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Leaving in a few days. Right now New York is the main attraction but I am sure memphis and Boton are going to be great laces as well.

Depending on who you are travelling with, if you are going to Las Vegas at all, you need not bother with Beale St in Memphis. Unless of course you are going for Blues music and not just to party.

If you are going to Graceland, do the VIP tour. They absolutely treat you like royalty.