Stuff to see on the east coast of America

[GCH]

Matt Harper said:

I'm all confused about what is stated here. Philly is by no means my favorite US city - although I work there a lot. To say that the city is "small", at around 140sq miles for the metro area is a little strange. Philadelphia is one of the most significant metro economies in North America.

Additionally it is one of the most important historical sites in the nation, with some interesting and easily accessible attractions. Aside from Liberty Hall, the Historical Society of PA and the Franklin Institute are both renown, as is Fairmont Park and Valley Forge historical sites.

The city also has major league EVERYTHING, one of the best Chinatown districts in the country, a wealth of downtown options for eating, drinking and partying and their July 4th celebrations are bonkers.

It has a LOT more to offer visitors than a cracked bell, a monosyllabic pretend boxer and cheesesteak sandwiches.

That said, don't go in winter and never ever be tempted to pop over the river to Camden NJ unless you are impervious to gunshot wounds.

Agree.
30th st station, italian market, south st, some wonderful european influenced architecture, Pats, the museum itself once you climb the rocky steps,south 9th st market (aka italian market), the Magic Gardens (Isaiah Zagars work is also visible in many other places - for free), Love Park.
Sure there are some sketchy parts, but it there is still a lot to offer and see if you scratch the surface- although it is not as obvious as say, somewhere which is centered around mickey bloody mouse.

Edited by GCH on Tuesday 1st July 19:34

[offspring86]

So a quick update, we arrived on Monday and spent 3 days in NYC. What a city! The size is quite amazing, we did the usual Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza and Empire State Building. We walked most of Manhattan, ate ridiculous pizza and burgers and sampled a lot of beer (excellent IPAs). A last minute decision change meant we have headed to Atlantic City for the night which is where we are now. Philadelphia tomorrow for the day and then on to Washington after that. We also managed to find a deal on a rental car with National which means we're doing to trip in a Chrysler 300C, what noise! Even if it's 'only' the V6! I'll stick pictures up along the way when I get a chance, but tonight calls for some gambling first.

[smack]

I have a 300C right now. At the Avis desk in the carpark "What are my options?"
"A 300C, or a 300C... Look around, there are no cars left, it's all I got!" (About 10 cars left when they usually have 10 rows full!)

The auto gear shift selector on it is starting to piss me off!

[h0b0]

Not to be pedantic but you have a Chrysler 300. The "C" only comes with a V8 as is the trim level and not the model. I know this is different in the UK.

I'm a big fan of Boston but that's going in the wrong direction. When you go to Washington make sure you do the tours. Otherwise you are missing out on the city

[bad company]

Matt.. said:

I would say that it's a shame you're seeing a trip as purely one city to the next though (and some interesting choices, Jacksonville?!). You're basically driving straight past the Blue Ridge Parkway, Shenandoah National Park, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I would strongly suggest you try and visit a few of those. !

Agree 100% those are great places. I would add Charleston which is a fantastic and historic city stop.

[offspring86]

h0b0 said:

Not to be pedantic but you have a Chrysler 300. The "C" only comes with a V8 as is the trim level and not the model. I know this is different in the UK.

I'm a big fan of Boston but that's going in the wrong direction. When you go to Washington make sure you do the tours. Otherwise you are missing out on the city

Odd, ours definitely says 300C on the boot lid, it's AWD too. Looks like I'll have to look under the bonnet to check as the guy at the desk was adamant it was a V6.

[h0b0]

offspring86 said:

h0b0 said:

Not to be pedantic but you have a Chrysler 300. The "C" only comes with a V8 as is the trim level and not the model. I know this is different in the UK.

I'm a big fan of Boston but that's going in the wrong direction. When you go to Washington make sure you do the tours. Otherwise you are missing out on the city

Odd, ours definitely says 300C on the boot lid, it's AWD too. Looks like I'll have to look under the bonnet to check as the guy at the desk was adamant it was a V6.

Oh crap! They have changed it. The US C was always V8 only when the UK had the 300C as a name. It appears that they have diluted the brand in the name of sales but under the excuse of the environment.

I had a V6 300 last generation which, in the US, was one of the best motorway mile cruncher I have ever driven. And, this includes my mother in law's 2002 merc S430.

I found it funny that the European market had the V6 300C and then the 300 estate. The 300 estate was a Dodge magnum with a 300 front end.

Also, the previous generation 300 rental cars were de-tuned crap. This was the same for the charger. It seems that you have a nice version of a 300. The US rental companies often have specific spec cars. For example the Jeep Grand Cherokee 2wd. The models then filter down into the company car world. We had both versions of the charger and the rental car version was crap.
Finally, the 300 normally costs 2-3 times as much as a similar sized car to rent so if you got a free upgrade it was a deal

[HenryJM]

GCH said:

Agree.
30th st station, italian market, south st, some wonderful european influenced architecture, Pats, the museum itself once you climb the rocky steps,south 9th st market (aka italian market), the Magic Gardens (Isaiah Zagars work is also visible in many other places - for free), Love Park.
Sure there are some sketchy parts, but it there is still a lot to offer and see if you scratch the surface- although it is not as obvious as say, somewhere which is centered around mickey bloody mouse.

It's strange how of you don't like Philedelphia much the implication is that you must be into theme parks, I can't stand them.

Going to Philedelphia is the US equivalent of going to Birmingham, there is nothing wrong with doing it and you'll find some good things there, but it's not top of most people's hot destination list. No doubt the OP will have a good day there though.

[offspring86]

Well it's taken me the best part of 5 months but I've finally got round to sorting through all the photos. I'll try not to bore too much by only showing the main parts of each stop!

Firstly a few notes about the trip, overall it was amazing! The best 3 weeks of my life. Our original list of cities to visit was:

New York
Philadelphia
Washington
Charlotte
Atlanta
New Orleans
Jacksonville
Orlando
Miami

Throughout the course of the trip we made various changes because of recommendations from people we met along the way. As a result by the end the route we took looked like this:

New York
Atlantic City
Philadelphia
Washington
Charlotte
Atlanta
Nashville
New Orleans
Orlando
Miami

We booked the flight to New York, the flight back from Miami, the hotel in New York and the car for 3 weeks. The rest of it we decided to do when we were actually in the country. This turned out to be a great idea as our plans changed both in terms of which cities we visited and how long we were in each city for.

As someone who enjoys photography I decided to take along both my snap happy compact and my DSLR. As we were out from morning until night I didn't once take my SLR as I preferred to not lug my rucksack around for 10 hours each day. Thankfully my compact was more than up to the job.

So, New York:

Looking back at our hotel an hour after we landed. We stayed on the north west corner of Central Park


Inside Central Park


Fire engine


Looking up at One World Trade Center


National September 11 Memorial




Looking back at the city on the boat to The Statue of Liberty


The Statue of Liberty




Sam was determined to not smile in any photo for the 3 weeks we were there


In the city, Wall Street


Cop car


Times Square


The Late Show


Inside Grand Central Station


The view from The Empire State Building




Underneath the Brooklyn Bridge




Sam not smiling on the subway


The most ridiculously large pizza I've ever eaten


Sam failing at remaining serious


Pizza


After 3 days it was time to get to National Car Rental, get our car and hit the road! Next on the list was Atlantic City!

[offspring86]

So Atlantic City. A last minute change of plan as we fancied a night of beer and gambling (instead of just beer in New York!). Not a whole lot to see, away from the beach front it's a s**t hole. On the beach front isn't much better to be honest. But its entertaining!







The car for the next 2 and a half weeks




Invisible building




Our next stop was Philadelphia!

Edited by offspring86 on Tuesday 2nd December 18:47

[offspring86]

What to say about Philadelphia? Well the first thing that struck me was the space, there's loads of it! It's also a very clean city and the architecture is fantastic! We arrived late morning, and spent the day wandering around.

The drive in


The fountain in LOVE Park (JFK Plaza)












Those steps






Came across one of these in every city