On 2 Mar 2006 12:56:51 -0800, wrote:

Hi All

First time poster. I've just stumbled across this group and am looking
for advice. I live in England and have visited many cities in America,
absolutely love the country. I have plans to go back this September but
this time I will be taking my mum and 19year old cousin.

I am looking for suggestions on where we should visit. It is going to
either be New York, Washington and down the East Coast as far as South
Caroline. Alternatively I was thinking California, Vegas and the Grand
Canyon.

My mum has been to New York once but it rained constantly for the 6
days she was there and I was so full of flu it took all my strength
just to walk around so she missed out on seeing some of the areas
around the city. My mum can't decide where to go as she says there is
so much to see. The one thing she always says to me is she wants to see
real America. I think what she means is a town with a real community, a
town with maybe a small shopping area with a few places to eat.

If you want to visit the east coast, you could arrive in New York and
spend a few days there. Then you could take a commuter train from New
York to Trenton, stopping off in Princeton, which is a small
university town, with good shopping and fair restaurants, and a very
nice university campus. You actually have to get off the train at
Princeton Junction and take a little shuttle train into Princeton, but
be sure you buy tickets all the way to Princeton, as the individual
tickets just for the shuttle are expensive.

Then I would suggest taking the train to Philadelphia and staying
there a few days. Philadelphia has a very nice historical center,
unlike most American cities, and some very interesting historical
sites. There is also a good art museum. Just north of the art museum
is the beginning of Fairmount Park, a truly vast urban park. Some
parts of it are difficult to get to, but the stretch north of the
museum is very nice, as is the Wissahickon Valley stretch.

It might be interesting to visit the nearby Pennsylvania Dutch
country. You could take a train from Philadelphia to Lancaster, and
there you can find day tours by bus. If you are interested, I could
help you find something small-scale, as the large tour buses don't
really give an intimate view of the area, and focus heavily on
shopping and huge (and unauthentic) banquets.

Washington would also merit a several-day stopover. There are many
museums worth visiting, and all are free. There are several Washington
residents who participate in this group and they can offer better
advice than I.

I will also defer to others for suggestions to the south of
Washington.
--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.