Seeking advice: Visiting the US North-East

A NYC (actually upstate) must see is Bear Mountain. It is one my favorite places on earth. If you do brave the NYC traffic you have to get a slice of pizza. Go to 5th avenue and 59th street in Brooklyn. There is a Huge Church that looks like a castle. (OLPH). About one block over is the best pizza in town. The place is called Johnie's Pizza. Tell em Franco sent you.

Unlfranco

You know, all these decades on the East Coast ... never visited Bear Mountain.

I'm storing your advice away in long-term memory. Eventually, I am going to retire.
 
Its been a while since I have been there but I would go to the Blue Ridge Mountains In western Maryland. Especially if you are going in the Fall. Sooo Beautiful. Sorry I don't have any more info but just google it and you will find all you need. You also have Luray Caverns in that area, nice place for kids, well at least I had fun when I was there back in the day.
BlueRidgeParkwayblueridgemountains12jpg.jpg

Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River...

I sang this song before I even understood the lyrics (German mothertounge :o). Blue Ridge Mountains have been added to the list :thumbup:

Get to P-Town when you are Cape Cod!

If you mean "Provincetown" then we'll get there.

One tip if you are in the woods in the N.E. with the motorhome ... check out what the locals do to avoid "tick bites" ... Lymes disease was started in that region and it is well worth avoiding ... I know because I caught it when I was over there ...

It is'nt worth getting paranoid over ... but a little prevention is a lot better than suffering the "cure" ...

Have a great time :thumbup:

Thanks for the heads up! I'll get educated what precautions to take in order to keep us safe.

Try the Delaware water gap area. Really beautiful. Lots of outdoors activities/camping, hiking, white water rafting (not for the 2 yr old). Border of NJ/PA. This is also where you can find the AT. When going to Maine, check out Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Make sure to go whale watching, eat blueberry pie and lobster rolls.

Delaware Water Gap added. Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park added. On my trip to Norway last year I was watching blueberries and eating whale. In Maine it will be the other way 'round ;)


if youre coming through Maryland...stop and get some steamed crabs! theyre like nowhere else on earth (and Ive tried them all over)

Steamed crabs in Maryland. Roger that.

Pittsfield Ma is a dump. However, they are in the Berkshire mountains. Head north to mount graylock in North Adams Ma for some great views and hiking.

Added: Mt. Graylock to make Pittsfiled worth the trip. It's a relief to know that there is actually something beautiful to see.

Northern New Hampshire is great. The White Mountains remind me of the west. Mount Washington, windiest place in the world, is cool. Cars can drive up, not an RV...but there may be rides to the top. Really cool. This would fit in while heading up to Maine.
The Vermont country side is incredibly beautiful. Definitely worth taking a drive through. I've been all over the U.S. and the little towns there are one of a kind.

Will pass the White Mountains on our way to Maine. Mt. Washington Rail Road seems to be fun for the family :thumbup: Added to the list. Thanks for the tip!

Let me chime in on NYC :)
Forests and BBQ... I don't know, this is really tough. BBQ sure, there are lots of restaurants and even the middle ground five-star BBQ in your OP. But forests, not likely. You can check out Central Park for some greenery, but it's right in the middle of high-traffic Manhattan, so you probably wouldn't want to drive into there with your motor home. You probably wouldn't want to go into Manhattan at all. That leaves the other four boroughs, and, to be honest, you'd be missing out on NYC if you visited just them. A good plan might be to find somewhere you can leave the motor home and take a ride on public transportation into Manhattan. You can give me a call if you want--just PM me for info--but no pressure, I can understand if you'd rather hang out just with your family.

However, Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks and are about an hour away. Again, you might have trouble lugging around that huge motor home with the small, rural roads and limited parking for hikers, but if you find a spot, you can get some good hikes. I recommend going over to the Wilderness & Survival Skills subforum and looking up posts by JV3.

Haha, yes. NYC is a different beast. We'll arrive JFK airport and spend a couple of days in the city before picking up our RV. Here our program is completely different: shopping, dining and urban chaos to the max. This should keep the wife happy for the rest of the trip :p Your offer is very much appreciated. Would be great if we could meet for a coffe so you can introduce us to the mores and practices of the locals. Await my PM.

+1 on Bear Mountain. I would also recommend West Point for the history and incredible architecture, as well as being the prettiest Army post I've ever seen. And the surrounding area, The Hudson river valley, is beautiful!

Bear Mountain and West Point might be our last stop before NYC on the way back from Maine. The route starts forming in my head...

You'll be passing through Buffalo, NY, on your way to Niagra Falls. While there, you should stop at the Anchor Bar and order the Buffalo wings.

You'll probably also be passing by Letchworth State Park on your way to the falls. It's definitely worth a stop.

A couple of days before opening this thread I was browsing google earth with my wife just to decide on the major landmarks of our trip and was joking about "having buffalo wings in buffalo". Do the chicken wings seriously originate from this city? That would be like eating a piece of history :cool: Letchworth State Park added to the list.


+1 for Delaware water gap, Worthington national park is on the gap with campsites on the new Jersey side, lots of hiking in the area, access to Appalachian trail.
Also cape may, nj. I will come up with plenty more.

Have been dreaming about the Appalachian trail for a long time. Hiking a couple of miles on this trail is very high on my list. Keep it coming :thumbup:

Also, as long as you're going to be in Western New York, why not drive a little further west and make the pilgrimage to Wauseon? It's only about five and a half hours from Buffalo. :drunk:

I would seriously consider a pilgrimage to Wauseon but I'm afraid to expose my daughter to radiation from the busse nuclear treatment ;)

The views of Niagara Falls are much better from the Canadian side. But I also enjoyed Goat Island, part of the state park on the NY side.

We were thinking about a side visit to Canada, but I'm too lazy to go through another visa procedure. Canada will be a trip on it's own sometime in the future :thumbup:

Seconded. You can drive alone Skyline Drive for quite a few miles ... a beautiful view and, this year, you might even see our black bears. I've seen about a dozen (mostly cubs) myself the past few months. Luray is fun for kids and there are other caves along the mountains. You might enjoy the Massanutten area and the Shenandoah River. If you want to go a bit further west, the mountains of West Virginia are lovely at that time of year.

Provided you're not against another big city, there's an enormous amount for adults and children to see in the monuments/museums area of Washington, DC. Of course, you're not driving a motorhome there -- but there are places to park that big beast in Metro parking lots ... and then you can take the Metro into DC proper and see some amazing sights.

If you like the seaside, try Eastern Maryland. Great sights, interesting people, wonderful seafood.

Note to myself: take the skyline drive from Luray southwards.
The caverns in Luray look beautiful :thumbup:. Maybe a good area to spend a night or two.
In Italy I was dragging my family from one monument to the next. "No watching stones" was a promise I had to make for this trip.
Note to myself: Washington DC has to be sold to wife as something good for daughter.

Anchor Bar wings. Be sure to investigate the various sauces before making a big order.

Hope you like 'em spicy.

I like 'em hot :D

A NYC (actually upstate) must see is Bear Mountain. It is one my favorite places on earth. If you do brave the NYC traffic you have to get a slice of pizza. Go to 5th avenue and 59th street in Brooklyn. There is a Huge Church that looks like a castle. (OLPH). About one block over is the best pizza in town. The place is called Johnie's Pizza. Tell em Franco sent you.

Unlfranco

Have a pizza in NYC, 5th ave at Johnny's: "There really is a John inside Johnny’s Pizza in Sunset Park, Brooklyn — John Miniaci Jr., whose father, John Sr., founded the neighborhood pizzeria in 1968." Nothing better than a family-owned restaurant :thumbup:


Thank you sooo much guys. I'll put these bits and pieces in a sequence, check the distances and derive a time schedule. If you have more ideas please keep them coming. Any tips are welcome. All I can give you in return are pictures. And that's what I promise: Busse content guaranteed :thumbup:
 
A couple of days before opening this thread I was browsing google earth with my wife just to decide on the major landmarks of our trip and was joking about "having buffalo wings in buffalo". Do the chicken wings seriously originate from this city? That would be like eating a piece of history :cool: Letchworth State Park added to the list.

Wikapedia says there are four stories on how Buffalo wings came to be. All are in Buffalo, and three out of four have them starting at the Anchor Bar. The locals seems to agree that it was the Anchor Bar.
 
It won't hard to get into Canada if you have a Passport. If you are going to Niagara falls it only makes sense to walk across the boarder.
 
A NYC (actually upstate) must see is Bear Mountain. It is one my favorite places on earth. If you do brave the NYC traffic you have to get a slice of pizza. Go to 5th avenue and 59th street in Brooklyn. There is a Huge Church that looks like a castle. (OLPH). About one block over is the best pizza in town. The place is called Johnie's Pizza. Tell em Franco sent you.

Unlfranco

Wikapedia says there are four stories on how Buffalo wings came to be. All are in Buffalo, and three out of four have them starting at the Anchor Bar. The locals seems to agree that it was the Anchor Bar.

Speaking of pizza and "first one" stories... you'll get lots of conflicting opinions about the best pizza in NYC, but whatever you do, don't go to Lombardi's, the purported first pizzeria in the States. Tourist trap, not that great pizza, always crowded. Even L'asso just down the street is a ton better. Other than that, I'd recommend you to avoid 2 Bros Pizza.
 
Passing through NY state you should take a stop and check out the Adirondack Mountains, a beautiful area!! You have to stop and see 1st through 7th lakes. I would second Letchworth park and also check out Stoney Brook park, they are close to each other. Maybe also see the Finger Lakes region also, lot of vineyards and wine tours. Also if passing through Rochester you should stop and get a Garbage Plate at Nick Tohou's and pick up some white hot dogs!!! If you decide to go father up north, the coast of Maine is always fun!!
 
I forgot to mention Arcadia National Park in Bar Harbor Maine, just a wonderful place!! You should go up to Cadillac Mountain and see the sunrise, its the first spot in the USA that gets hit with the sunrise.
 
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