US East Coast trip - Tips welcome

[MadImmortalMan]

Avoid Baltimore until it gets colder.  I'm serious.

Seconded.

[Zanza]

Oh, and don't go to Georgetown for your DC drinking.  Go to Adams Morgan.

Another good place we went twice in Washington was the southern part of Connecticut Avenue. It had several bars and night clubs.

By the way, Larch, there are also some quite nice places on Long Island, especially if you want a beach day inbetween visiting big cities. Jones Beach state park is great.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Oh, and don't go to Georgetown for your DC drinking.  Go to Adams Morgan.

Another good place we went twice in Washington was the southern part of Connecticut Avenue. It had several bars and night clubs.

By the way, Larch, there are also some quite nice places on Long Island, especially if you want a beach day inbetween visiting big cities. Jones Beach state park is great.

Anacostia is a nice place for a friendly drink too.

[katmai]

Well i was thinking of coming back to visit family around then

what?

I'm getting guilt tripped for not visting since 2005.

[The Larch]

Update:

I'm getting my plane tickets today, and after some thinking, I'll most probably alter my plans a bit. Boston will have to wait for another trip, as I'll concentrate on the Washington - Philly - (Baltimore ?) for the second week of my trip. Also, I've been discouraged from renting a car, so my question is, how's travelling between Philly and Washington?

[Admiral Yi]

Update:

I'm getting my plane tickets today, and after some thinking, I'll most probably alter my plans a bit. Boston will have to wait for another trip, as I'll concentrate on the Washington - Philly - (Baltimore ?) for the second week of my trip. Also, I've been discouraged from renting a car, so my question is, how's travelling between Philly and Washington?

I've never taken Amtrak to Philly but I gotta believe trains are leaving on the hour.

Still think rental is the way to go.

[Caliga]

I've never taken Amtrak to Philly but I gotta believe trains are leaving on the hour.

That is correct.

[DontSayBanana]

I've never taken Amtrak to Philly but I gotta believe trains are leaving on the hour.

Still think rental is the way to go.

Yep. The Acela runs fairly frequently from 30th Street Station to Union Station for around $130, Northeast Regional is about $30, but takes almost twice as long to get there.

[DGuller]

Also, I've been discouraged from renting a car, so my question is, how's travelling between Philly and Washington?

In what way were you discouraged?  America can be a pretty hard place to navigate without a car.  Then again, both Philly and DC have subways, so you may be OK.

[Admiral Yi]

FYI Larch the DC train station is in a pretty good part of town so you don't need to worry about getting capped if you pull in late.  It's just north of the Capitol.

[The Larch]

Also, I've been discouraged from renting a car, so my question is, how's travelling between Philly and Washington?

In what way were you discouraged?  America can be a pretty hard place to navigate without a car.  Then again, both Philly and DC have subways, so you may be OK.

The thing is that I basically wanted the car to move between the different cities I want to visit, not to move around in them. After axing the Boston part of the trip, and being Philly and DC nearby, it's probably more practical to stick to public transportation, as I was told that internal flights were cheap-ish. Also I don't really know how easy or not is to enter the big cities of the East Coast by car. One wrong turn in Albuquerque and I could end up in some inner city projects surrounded by friendly dazzling urbanites. 

Right now my plan would be:

Saturday September 26th: Arrival in NYC.
Oct. 2nd or 3rd: Leaving NYC to Upstate NY (by plane).
Oct 5th: Leaving for Philly (by plane, probably).
Oct 6th or 7th: Leaving for DC (train, I guess).
Oct 9th or 10th: Back to NY (plane, I guess).
Oct 11th: Back to Spain.

Comments?

[The Larch]

FYI Larch the DC train station is in a pretty good part of town so you don't need to worry about getting capped if you pull in late.  It's just north of the Capitol.

That's good to know, thanks. Any tips regarding acomodation in DC for a couple of days?

Also, does anyone know how visiting the white House works? I've been browsing their site a bit and it seems that you have to go through plenty of hoops to get a tour.

[DGuller]

The thing is that I basically wanted the car to move between the different cities I want to visit, not to move around in them. After axing the Boston part of the trip, and being Philly and DC nearby, it's probably more practical to stick to public transportation, as I was told that internal flights were cheap-ish. Also I don't really know how easy or not is to enter the big cities of the East Coast by car. One wrong turn in Albuquerque and I could end up in some inner city projects surrounded by friendly dazzling urbanites. 

Right now my plan would be:

Saturday September 26th: Arrival in NYC.
Oct. 2nd or 3rd: Leaving NYC to Upstate NY (by plane).
Oct 5th: Leaving for Philly (by plane, probably).
Oct 6th or 7th: Leaving for DC (train, I guess).
Oct 9th or 10th: Back to NY (plane, I guess).
Oct 11th: Back to Spain.

Comments?

We do have GPS here.    Although I agree that being outside the car makes you so much less isolated from what you're trying to experience.

[Admiral Yi]

That's good to know, thanks. Any tips regarding acomodation in DC for a couple of days?

You'll need to do a search.  See what deals you can get and I'll tell you what's good location-wise.

Don't repeat Seefor's mistake and get a motel way out on Bladensburg Rd. NE.  Or New York Ave.  They're way out in the middle of nowhere and slightly scary for walking around.  First thing you want to look for is "NW" (for northwest) on the street address.  There's also a Holiday Inn in Southwest DC that's in a boring ass part of town (I used to live there) but which is convenient to the Smithsonian and metro.  Don't get a place on Capital St. south.  The kids in the projects will throw rocks at you as you walk home from the metro.  If you get a monster deal and nightlife is a low priority Crystal City Virginia is the most convenient of the suburban hotel/motel clusters.  Best for your purposes would be something right on Dupont Circle or on Connecticut just a little north of Dupont.

Also, does anyone know how visiting the white House works? I've been browsing their site a bit and it seems that you have to go through plenty of hoops to get a tour.

No clue.  Never felt the urge to go.  It's just a big house.

[Admiral Yi]

Also, DC is a very tourist friendly town but please reciprocate the good feeling by standing to the right on subway escalators.  The left side is for residents to hurry to their important power lunches.