Critique my last min American road trip
Discussion
Byff said:
That's a good point regarding one-way rental fees.
SanFran to LA is a common rental so you don't normally get stung but it's worth checking the small print. You can google the companies the don't charge extra.
'Dollar rent a car' don't seem to charge, at least it wasn't mentioned when I booked it . . .SanFran to LA is a common rental so you don't normally get stung but it's worth checking the small print. You can google the companies the don't charge extra.
Looks like an awesome trip to me OP, the only thing I would change is spend more time in each place!
I'm going to disagree with an earlier post, I thought Vegas was fantastic, we were there 5 days (and could happily have stayed longer) with a total of less than an hour gambling I reckon, and most of that was just to sit down after spending a day walking!
Rent a car, head up to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, watch some drag racing, drive a Nascar, drive a supercar round the infield circuit.
Watch the awesome array of planes going in and out of Nellis AFB.
Go to the Gun Store and have some fun.
Shelby museum and tour
Loads of shows and exhibitions to go to.
Lunch or dinner up the Stratosphere tower
Helicopter ride over the strip at night
Old Vegas and Freemont Street
Helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon
Car museum in the Imperial Palace hotel
And probably a load more I've forgotten!
We literally spent two solid days walking up the strip just going into the hotels, seeing what was there, shopping, eating and drinking.
Happened to be there on my 32nd birthday... drove a Lamborghini Murcielago round a racetrack, saw F15's, F16's and A10's landing, shot a Desert Eagle, AK47 and an Uzi, then dinner at the Hard Rock cafe and a strip show in the evening. Best f
king birthday ever!
I'm going to disagree with an earlier post, I thought Vegas was fantastic, we were there 5 days (and could happily have stayed longer) with a total of less than an hour gambling I reckon, and most of that was just to sit down after spending a day walking!
Rent a car, head up to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, watch some drag racing, drive a Nascar, drive a supercar round the infield circuit.
Watch the awesome array of planes going in and out of Nellis AFB.
Go to the Gun Store and have some fun.
Shelby museum and tour
Loads of shows and exhibitions to go to.
Lunch or dinner up the Stratosphere tower
Helicopter ride over the strip at night
Old Vegas and Freemont Street
Helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon
Car museum in the Imperial Palace hotel
And probably a load more I've forgotten!
We literally spent two solid days walking up the strip just going into the hotels, seeing what was there, shopping, eating and drinking.
Happened to be there on my 32nd birthday... drove a Lamborghini Murcielago round a racetrack, saw F15's, F16's and A10's landing, shot a Desert Eagle, AK47 and an Uzi, then dinner at the Hard Rock cafe and a strip show in the evening. Best f
king birthday ever!5potTurbo said:
Be careful on 1 way car rentals. There can be considerable fees payable to move the car back to its renting location, e.g. collecting to SF levaing in LV. A lot of car rental places are franchises, so need ot get their cars back, and can charge $300-400 to do so.
A couple of years ago we flew into North Carolina (were seeing "The Who" in that area and then going via friends in Georgia on route to the last NASCAR race of the season in Miami) so this was a one way rental out of state and it was definately around $300 premium for the one way) we'd rented a compact sized saloon and the guy on the rental desk was trying to get us to upgrade to full size saying he's do us a great deal - I said to him "look if you have a Florida or Georgia tagged car that you want to send back that way I'll take it for free but I've paid $300 surcharge for a one way rental so you aren't screwing me to pay for an upgrade on a car you want to get back that way....."Guess what the upgrade suddenly became free because he hadn't actually got a compact avaliable and we got a Florida tagged Camray V6 with leather and all the toys to enjoy for the two weeks - so if the guy on the desk starts offering you apparent good deals on upgrades - there could be a reason to stick it out....
5potTurbo said:
Also, check the mileage you're doing vs. places to stay along the way. There's not a whole lot on the roads from 'Frisco to Vegas, as I recall .... or we were unlucky with our route from Yosemite to LV.
We stayed in Tonopah, NV, en route to LV.
Don't stay in Tonopah.
It's a sthole!
Several years ago we did SF to LA along the coast road - much more a fun route than an interstate if you like driving......We stayed in Tonopah, NV, en route to LV.
Don't stay in Tonopah.
It's a s
thole!We then did LA to Phoenix for a NASCAR race then onto Vegas before going back to SF via the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam back to SF and that was enough driving for me - apart from Highway one the rest was boring
Have to agree with Matt on NOLA, the french Qtr is populated by the same people the LV strip is, the only difference is LV has casinos, shows and other attractions, NOLA just has other bars and crumbling streets and buildings. The drunkenness and vomit is the same.
So yeah NOLA is great if your young and into booze and stumbling around the street in the french qtr, but at the end of the day its full of people who get too drunk to gamble or are not cultured enough to enjoy a LV show and the locals 1/4 mile away aint to friendly to visitors.
If you want something different there are plenty of small towns along the Mississippi with old buildings, civil war left overs and old world charm, back on the beaten track there is Savannah which is a good mix of tourist, old world and yet more or less safe.
End of the day though US airports are more or less as depressing as each other and the inside of a 737 isn't that much different to an MD80 or A320 and the OP's trip has a lot of time sitting on one or other of those several times.
The OP could bounce around the west cost and get more variation in culture, scenery and still pick up a few quaint old towns by starting in LA > LV > DV > Yosemite (stop at bodie ghost town beforehand) SF, redding, oregon coast, portland, Mt St Hellens, Rainier, Seattle, plus a few old towns in the cascades around Rainier or out whale watching on the sound. then when all is done its a day or two drive back down I5 to return the car to LA.
swerni said:
I spent a week in New Orleans last year and loved it.
Walked most places at no point felt uncomfortable.
I'm sure there are places you wouldn't feel safe, but we didn't manage to find them ( thankfully), no different in this respect to LA and many other places.
Don't get in a car there then, its VERY easy to get into a dodgy area, we were there for less than 24hrs and found ourselves driving through what looked like a rather dodgy area (later research suggested it was only about 50% dodgy by NOLA standards!) after a simple right turn from an area full of nice old buildings. It was probably the least safe i have ever felt as a male in the US and that includes getting lost around the back of Miami airport at midnight at the time when it was all the craze to car jack tourists in rental cars around the back of Miami airport, or the occasion of visiting an LV off strip (and what turned out to be a rather basic warehouse) sex shop and as an early transitioning and obvious transwoman complete with denim mini skirt and heels, and i could have sworn there were noises of chains and screams from the other half of the warehouse. Walked most places at no point felt uncomfortable.
I'm sure there are places you wouldn't feel safe, but we didn't manage to find them ( thankfully), no different in this respect to LA and many other places.
So yeah NOLA is great if your young and into booze and stumbling around the street in the french qtr, but at the end of the day its full of people who get too drunk to gamble or are not cultured enough to enjoy a LV show and the locals 1/4 mile away aint to friendly to visitors.
If you want something different there are plenty of small towns along the Mississippi with old buildings, civil war left overs and old world charm, back on the beaten track there is Savannah which is a good mix of tourist, old world and yet more or less safe.
End of the day though US airports are more or less as depressing as each other and the inside of a 737 isn't that much different to an MD80 or A320 and the OP's trip has a lot of time sitting on one or other of those several times.
The OP could bounce around the west cost and get more variation in culture, scenery and still pick up a few quaint old towns by starting in LA > LV > DV > Yosemite (stop at bodie ghost town beforehand) SF, redding, oregon coast, portland, Mt St Hellens, Rainier, Seattle, plus a few old towns in the cascades around Rainier or out whale watching on the sound. then when all is done its a day or two drive back down I5 to return the car to LA.
Edited by p2c on Monday 22 February 22:15
p2c said:
If you want something different there are plenty of small towns along the Mississippi with old buildings, civil war left overs and old world charm, back on the beaten track there is Savannah which is a good mix of tourist, old world and yet more or less safe.
Any suggestions/recommendations for places to visit along the Mississippi? I'll be heading along that way later this year (Memphis - New Orleans) and a bit of inspiration would be appreciated 
(sorry for the thread hijack also - this has made for interesting reading!)
Just follow the river, to be fair none of them are mega touristy, just sleepy old towns hanging on to life by a thread with old churches and buildings and the odd paddle steamer casino or tiny park with an old cannon in looking over the river and the sort of bridge you typically associate with the Mississippi (Riverfront park, Vicksburg). The Natchez trace parkway is worth a bit of a drive, extra credit if you make it all the way, The section just outside Natchez was a quiet meandering road surrounded by deep green Forrest with the odd stop off attraction, although we were unable to really stop. Memphis has a nice downtown river front area, but its also Americas distribution center so some of the outskirts are a bit iffy. The St Louis arch is worth a look but the best view point is across the river in an industrial area/rail yard along with the safety feeling you'd expect of such a location, despite being a purposely built park and view point.
If your driving into NOLA take the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway for a truly long bridge experience, in the middle you cant see land in front or behind.
If your driving into NOLA take the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway for a truly long bridge experience, in the middle you cant see land in front or behind.
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