Trip suggestions anyone?

[Heartsease]

Hi all,

If you were travelling across the US for 8 weeks which cities would you simply HAVE to visit (from a vegan perspective and otherwise) ??

Here's where we're going so far:

Definites:

Buffalo
Seattle

Highly probables:

New York
San Francisco
Flagstaff
Portland

[KrissStress]

NYC hands down. You could be there for a whole week and still not see the bulk of it...

[Heartsease]

NYC hands down. You could be there for a whole week and still not see the bulk of it...

Thanks KrissStress....however this begs the question: If you were going to New York for a week which things/places would you HAVE to visit?

[RubyDuby]

why Buffalo?

[Heartsease]

why Buffalo?

Oh no! Is it really awful there?

Heh...well...long story...actually, no, it's quite short....we're getting the bus from Toronto to Buffalo in order to catch the train to Seattle.

[RubyDuby]

oh

I just asked bc I was born in upstate NY and lived there til I was 22 and never heard anything great about Buffalo. The one time I went it was all grey and there was a lot of construction. seemed dirty... but I didn't really go anywhere so I could be completely wrong about Buffalo!

wondered what i missed!

If you go to NC you should stop in Asheville. heard it was a great place.

[Roxy]

The grandparents in "7th Heaven" lived in Buffalo.

[KrissStress]

Thanks KrissStress....however this begs the question: If you were going to New York for a week which things/places would you HAVE to visit?

Well...that depends on yr interests.

The selection of vegan spots is obviously a huge highlight. Two of my favourites are Zen Palate (a bit pricier) and Red Bamboo (which is actually better AND cheaper).

as for everything else, you could go the touristy route and take the Staten Island Ferry to go past the Statue of Liberty (the ferry is also located a few blocks from Ground Zero - which is something you should see if you'd like a reason to flare up yr social injustice radar with NYC's bureaucrats and politicians) and of course there's always Time's Square.

If yr not interested in any of that (that stuff is a bit boring in my opinion), there's tons of great shoppes in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. One of my favourite spots is St. Marks Place inbetween Avenues 2 and 3 on 8th Street. Tons and tons of great shoppes (wonderful falafel joints, a few really good record stores, some overpriced but interesting clothing places and a bunch of other stuff) and good atmosphere that hasn't been quite as gentrified as the rest of the city (yet atleast...)

If yr any artsy type, the MOMA is open for free on (I think) Fridays. And there's also all the other art museums too, but the MOMA is my favourite.

man...that's only scratching the surface. There's alot. hahah

[harpy]

I've only been to a few places in the US but one I really liked was Boston - so pretty, and there's lots of history. It's been a while so I can't vouch for the vegan catering. Washington DC is also very interesting, especially if you like museums...

[xrodolfox]

Yellow Springs Ohio is really nice to visit... small town goodness.

[Heartsease]

Thanks KrissStress....much to think about. Generally the things I like most when travelling are natural landscapes and encounters with wild beasties....but I was wondering what else I might like.

I might also do 'my thing' of walking around aimlessly and finding cool things by accident. Has worked very well in the past.

But, yeah....maybe the Straten Island Ferry would appeal to my son.

Harpy, RubyDuby and Xrodolfox: Hmm....so *scribble scribble* I have jotted those down. I like the sound of 'small town goodness' Xrodolfox!

When I have scribbled a few names down I will go back to the AMTRAK website and see where these places actually are!

[ellaminnowpea]

Well, if you haven't gone yet, I'd suggest my favorite places or places I've planned on visiting:

CA bay area
Yosemite
Grande Canyon
Houston
New Orleans
Boston
NYC
Chicago
Portland, Seattle
Florida Keys
Denver

[Heartsease]

Ellaminnowpea: Thanks for those....but I've already been and come back again.

We spent a few weeks in the US then took a long detour to Vancouver.

[RubyDuby]

where did u go?

[Heartsease]

We flew into Toronto (where I lost my wallet) then took a greyhound bus to Buffalo where we caught the train to Seattle. We unintentionally visited Spokane (where the train broke down) on the way. After a few weeks in Seattle we went to Vancouver where we stayed for a month. Then we reluctantly went back the same way we arrived (the train broke down on the way back too!)

"We apologise for our tardiness - we hope you travel with AMTRAK again"

P.s. The train journey was great actually - around 3 days - and so cheap.