Guys guys guys! I'm (more than likely) coming to America!

[The Bard Babe]

Who lives there? Anyone live anywhere near or trainable to New York? Or have any amazing travel tips or locations or things I should definitely do/not do in that sort of area? I'm so excited; it's for a music workshoppy thing, but I'll probably be heading over for a good few weeks-no way am I going to America for the first time and not sticking around for a bit. Only downside is that I'll have my cello, which'll severely limit my travel capabilities-as few planes as humanly possible, otherwise I would be flying all over the country to meet everyone-and it's the middle of winter so it's gonna be fricking freezing, but I really don't care. XD I maaaay be on the west coast for a little bit before New Year's though, depending on flights. I'm still not 100% on this trip, but it's highly likely.

 

Yayyyyy!  *does excited happy dance*

 

Also, how strict are they about entry to bars? There are some I want to go to purely for musical reasons, but I'm not 21 yet, so I get the feeling I'm not even going to be let in unless they only check IDs when you're actually buying? I know this can change a lot in Australia-some check on entry, others only care if you actually want to buy drinks.

[Shad_]

I think carding practices are going to vary wildly from city to city. In my experience, blue collar bars rarely card even when you buy, whereas more trendy places and those located near college campuses typically card at the door. Another thing to keep in mind is that if a bar sells enough food to qualify as a restaurant they aren't technically required to card except on sale, at least in the places I've lived. But I am not very familiar with the big tourist cities like NYC/Chicago/San Francisco.

As for what to do in NYC, I don't know, but it's the #1 tourist destination in America for foreigners so there have to be a billion sites with recommendations out there. As for travel, rail is not an option in the US but there are lots of cheap bus routes if you want to explore a bit. Greyhound and Megabus are the two most common. Keep in mind that bus stations are notorious for being located in ghettos, so you'll want to avoid layovers. In my younger days I crashed for the night at the Baltimore Greyhound station and a security guard actually kicked me until I woke up and told me I was begging to get robbed.

[Lanthirrhos]

I know nothing about NYC (not strictly true, but nothing useful ) I'm better at middle of nowhere places... old glacier paths and such... mostly those that are a few states away from New York. (Shad is a little bit closer to NY than I am). That said, you will be right next to the world's largest freshwater bodies in the Great Lakes (I believe the Caspian Sea is larger than any of the Great Lakes individually, but the Great Lakes are all connected making them the largest concentration of Freshwater in the world. Don't quote me. Meh. I just live here. I can't be bothered to actually KNOW this stuff. *Googles to make sure he isn't completely BSing this* Nope. We're good.) /Tangent.

 

Speaking of the Great Lakes, you'll also be right net to Niagara Falls... in the winter. Which has the potential to be amazing.

 

 

Niagara Falls is also one of those biggest/best things. Not really sure on its exact standings compared to other waterfalls, but it's easily worth a visit. Which you can do the the US side and the Canadian Side. Not sure what the US does around the time you'll be there but I know Canada has done some stuff in the past.

 

http://niagara.ca/winter-festival-lights-niagara-falls/

 

Niagara is also known for some Music Festivals, but they are all outside venues as far as I know (which means exactly nothing, fyi) and may not be running during the winter months. You'll have to check into it.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

If you're going to be in nyc you'll be an 8 hour drive from the falls. None of the Great Lakes is close. The finger lakes aren't a bad day trip and some nice little cities around there.

 

I grew up in the city a long time ago and nobody ever got carded anywhere, at least not young girls, but now idk. Drinking out is unbelievably expensive there.

 

There are wonderful museums in the city and you already know the music landmarks. If you have a place to stay in nyc you'll never run out of stuff to see.

 

The U.S. Is very big and not so easily traveled, so east coast to west coast in a few weeks will need a plane. There's some trains but not everywhere and not cheap.

[The Bard Babe]

Oh dear Shad XD ah well, at least he woke you up rather than just leaving you. So, random carding practices, sounds good :p

Rail isn't a thing? Grr, cellos and buses don't mix all that well, but hey, better than planes. And yay for megabus! They got us around the UK :p

 

Yeah, we were thinking about Niagara, but it's all going to depend on where we're going. Haha, yeah, I'm not worried about running out of things to do in New York. Theoretically I'll be spending the first week or so in NY and then striking out in some random direction, probably up. I'm really very open with where I want to go, cause I haven't been anywhere, so everywhere sounds awesome, but I may be doing my Masters at Yale (one of a few options I'm going to audition for), so I wanna check it out.

[Nikonis]

I've only flown over New York once on a trip to Canada back in 2002 so no idea where to go other than possibly the World Trade Center memorial and the Statue of Liberty.At least on the West Coast, some clubs allow you in at 18 and then have the bar area for the 21 and up though others are just for the 21 and up crowd... Depends on the club and their policies.  Best to call them ahead of time once you arrive in town and check so you don't make the trip to the club if you can't get in. Not exactly close to New York but if going anywhere near Florida you could check out Disney World and the Harry Potter Theme Park.

 

If visiting the west coast which city/state would you be going through? If near LA and staying there a day or two you might take a trip through Anaheim to visit Disneyland and California Adventure.  Since you are on the trip for music you could probably also go by the Disney Concert Hall though I doubt you could go inside unless there is an event and you had tickets; Cool place to walk by though and right in LA. If stopping in or near San Francisco there are a couple of places you could probably check out there like Angel Island, Alcatraz or Pier 39.

[The Bard Babe]

Chances are it'll be LA; it depends where my stopover is with the flights. But wherever it is, I'm going to try and spend a day or two there if I can. I'm thinking LA. :p And I reeeeeally wanna go to Disneyland. XD I definitely crossed my mind, but I'll have to see how I'm going for funding. And yeah, the Disney concert hall would be great just to see. LA is quite a likely career location for me, so checkin it out would be awesome. And also, it's LA XD

 

I'm hoping at least a couple of the American orchestras are doing shows while I'm over there. *fingers crossed* I'm already going to spend all of my money seeing musicals, but meh :p

[Shad_]

Niagara is a great place to visit, but a lot of the attractions shut down in the winter and it is ridiculously cold due to the mist if the falls aren't completely frozen yet.  I stopped by there in winter once and had a two inch icicle hanging from my nose by the time I got back to the car.  I wasn't on the Canadian side during the winter, but during tourist season it is definitely the side to be on.  Stop on Goat Island before you cross the bridge because the US side has some pretty sweet views, but go to Canada if you want to do anything beyond looking at the water.  It's way more developed.  And as far as carding goes, I know the Canadian side didn't card 13 years ago because we'd sometimes go there in high school to party. 

 

Rail does exist in America, but mainly as a tourist attraction rather than a practical mode of transportation.  Well, let me put it this way.  When my wife and I went to Italy we flew out of Philly and looked into taking a train there from Pittsburgh.  Not only was it substantially more expensive than driving across the state and paying to park for two weeks, but there was only one departure per day so if the time doesn't work for you you're out of luck.  I recommended busses because they're usually substantially cheaper than other options and they do depart fairly frequently, but really if you want to travel across the country a bit rental car is the way to go.  I imagine a car would be a nightmare in NYC, but in a lot of cities it's kind of the assumed mode of transportation and public transit is hard to come by.  Plus it gives you a lot more freedom to stop whenever you feel like it.  This country's built around private transportation and you can't go ten miles without finding a hotel and gas station.

 

Oh, and one last very important word of advice.  Never eat at Denny's.

 

Lanthirrhos, I probably drove real close to your town last month.  We were out near Canton visiting some of my wife's relatives.

[Nikonis]

Yeah, LA is a cool place to visit with plenty to do. I love to stop off at Little Tokyo whenever I can on my way to Disneyland or when going there for an Anime convention they hold there each July. A few blocks from Little Tokyo LA Union Station where the busses and one of the trains goes to the Anaheim station, just about a mile or two from Disneyland. Living just a few hours away and owning a year pass I try to go there at least a few days every couple of months, very fun place to visit... especially if you don't live near one or have never been.

 

As for Denny's I've only had a few bad ones though not sure if the ones on the West Coast are any worse than those here.

[Rasheta Ardashir]

Also, how strict are they about entry to bars? 

 

Depends on the place, I've been places where they don't card and places where I walk in and they ask for ID before I sit down. (This is in Seattle though not NYC) 

 

 

 

Living just a few hours away and owning a year pass I try to go there at least a few days every couple of months, very fun place to visit... especially if you don't live near one or have never been.

Jealous! Also yeah if you go to LA yea go to Disneyland. It's worth it to spend a day or two there. Spend the full day there and then take another day just to see as much of it as you can. 

[Guest]

Ooh BB, exciting!

 

I'm better at middle of nowhere places... old glacier paths and such... mostly those that are a few states away from New York.

... those are the only places I'd ever visit.

 

I have no desire to ever set a foot in America, unless accidentally from the North or South. Teehee!

 

Good luck, BB! Take care of your cello first and foremost though

[The Bard Babe]

Haha, yeah, don't worry, I will. XD Although by that point I should have a kevlar case, so that'll help.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Um lol yeah I missed the part about winter.

 

Niagara, the whole northwestern frontier, is not a good place to be in winter. Kevlar or no. But good luck.

[Lanthirrhos]

Hah, yeah Canton is only 40 minutes or so south from me.

 

Speaking of winters, global warming has caused the north eastern US (including New York) to have especially bad winters the last few years. Hot air for the rest of the world has been pushing cold air off the ice cap directly onto us (pun intended). And Canada is Canada, made worse by the same situation. I love it, because I love winter and walk everywhere no matter what anyways, but it's something to keep in mind. You may not be able to do much of anything outside of a city.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

7 feet of snow in two days last November. shudder.

[Nikonis]

Should mention that, if winter...

 

October is Disneyland's Halloween Season... Giant pumpkin in town square as you walk in and Haunted Mansion + Space Mountain are redone for Halloween.

November / December is Christmas time at Disneyland with Christmas Trees and the Haunten Mansion (Nightmare before Christmas) remains open til new year.

[The Bard Babe]

I'll be coming early Jan :( yeah, it wouldn't have been my choice to come in winter, but that's when the workshop is and that's when the uni holidays are, so it'll do :p Mmm, and the snow will be great for the first couple of days XD once the novelty's worn off I'll just find indoor things to do for a while. I'm sure there'll be some decent wintry things for us to do.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

The snow won't bother you in the city. It's warmer when it snows. Shame you miss Christmas, it's really pretty. But it'll still be very nice.

[The Bard Babe]

Yeah, I'll make it elsewhere for Christmas some day, but I'm too attached to my family for that atm :p

 

But I will hopefully make it to New York for New Years, so that should be awesome

[Daruya]

I have no desire to ever set a foot in America, unless accidentally from the North or South. Teehee!

 

 

Oy!  Yes you do, so you can come visit some of us!  Like me, here in Florida. 

 

Imagine not wanting to come to America to meet us . . . *shakes head*

 

BB, sounds like fun!  Too bad NYC is so far away from NW Florida!

[WWWwombat]

I like Boston, but you don't wanna come here in the winter :(

[The Bard Babe]

Aww no, don't say don't come to Boston in winter! Why, just cause it's gonna be cold, or because it's better in the not the winter, ooooor everything'll be shut?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Because we get massive snowstorms in the northeast that make travel dangerous and unpredictable, and even when it's not snowing, it's windy, and damp and bitterly cold. But it may be a mild winter, you never know.

[Basel Gill]

And Boston got hit with the brunt of last winter, although Buffalo wasn't far behind.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Ya but if that's when the trip is, you just see how it is then. You might luck out, but be prepared is all. I think the U.S. Is bigger and more difficult to navigate than visitors expect at first. But you can probably get here and there if it's not a repeat of last winter, and that was an unusually awful one.