Things to do in America

[Caliga]

I thought they were cool.  I also liked that they had Patton's staff car (the one he was in when he had his fatal accident) there.  But yeah, by far the coolest part of the museum were all the tanks, self-propelled artillery, and tank destroyers.

[Tonitrus]

Though, since you have 3 1/2 weeks, and 90% of the stuff east of the Rocky Mountains to Atlanta is crap, you could wind a bit out of the way around the southern portion of Utah before heading up to SLC.  Zion, Bryce, Monument Valley, Canyonlands, and Arches, the Grand Staircase, Capitol Reef (maybe even northern side of Grand Canyon) would all be well worth it, and you could cover most of those in a week or a bit more.  Assuming you just hit the drivable highlights...not sure hiking would be all that advisable for that area in July.

Great Smokey Mountains is also kinda on the way-ish.

[Ed Anger]

Plus one of the cool thinks about Ft. Knox was you'd be driving down the road and you'd see M1's out in the fields.

Or you could go into the gas station and get a greasy chicken chunk and Hep B on a stick.

[jamesww]

I thought they were cool.  I also liked that they had Patton's staff car (the one he was in when he had his fatal accident) there.  But yeah, by far the coolest part of the museum were all the tanks, self-propelled artillery, and tank destroyers.

I live 25miles from:

http://www.tankmuseum.org/

time I paid it another visit. 

[Lettow77]

 Plan to go to Berkeley, you say? From there Salt Lake City, with eventual plans to enter the South, you say?


At any rate, if you want great barbecue, you best be going to Memphis. Fried okra, sweet potato fries, some good chicken & dumplings, peach cobbler- these are things I would recommend trying.

[Caliga]

Excellent barbecue can be had in Nashville as well, especially on Music Row.

Cal's recommendation:

http://www.jacksbarbque.com/

[Ed Anger]

For those that don't like BBQ, you can watch your hamburger float in grease at Dyer's in Memphis on Beale.

[Pishtaco]

Thanks for the suggestions, and for the barbeque recommendation. Is watching your hamburger float in grease a good or a bad thing?

I've been around the west coast before, and to New York and a couple of places near there, but not to the interior or the south.

I'm not much inclined to visit St Louis for the arch, but Cahokia sounds interesting. What does one do at the Grand Ole Opry? The civil war stuff in Chattanooga sounds good.

Is the aircraft museum in Dayton worth the visit? And where did the tanks go?

[Ed Anger]

Is watching your hamburger float in grease a good or a bad thing?

Yes, once. If you are in Memphis for other things.

Is the aircraft museum in Dayton worth the visit?

If planes give you a murder boner, yes. Plus it is free. Watching German tourists gaze wistfully at the Kraut planes is a hoot.

And where did the tanks go?

The Armor school is being moved to Ft. Benning in Georgia. So they are moving the tank musuem down there too. Ft. Knox is becoming the HR base. bleh.

[Ed Anger]

If you do go to Dayton, You can stand on the hill that they flung gliders off of. Some people think it is exciting. I never did. You get to look across 444 to Huffman Dam.

http://wikimapia.org/11120366/Wright-Brothers-Hill

Other aviation stuff:
http://www.aviationdayton.com/places/wright-memorial.html

[alfred russel]

I've been around the west coast before, and to New York and a couple of places near there, but not to the interior or the south.

I'm not much inclined to visit St Louis for the arch, but Cahokia sounds interesting. What does one do at the Grand Ole Opry? The civil war stuff in Chattanooga sounds good.

I like St. Louis as a town and a place to visit, but the tourist attractions in the city tend to suck. It is one of the best places to catch a baseball game--probably the best after Chicago (Cubs), New York (Yankees), and Boston. Other than that, it has good food and good people (though only if you stay out of the rougher areas). Cahokia gets surprisingly little press and tourist investment--I think that is because it is outside the city and actually in another state so it doesn't have a business community to lobby for it. Be sure to get the ipod tour if you go. There is another major mississippian culture site outside Atlanta (Etowah) which is not nearly as impressive, but I enjoyed seeing both. If you go to Cahokia, Etowah is going to be on your way into Atlanta and (at least to me) is interesting to see the cultural continuity between sites so far apart.

I was recommending Chattanooga, but that is because it will be right off the interstate as you drive into Atlanta. I've been to Chattanooga, and if you are interested in Civil War sites, it really doesn't compare to the east coast battlefields such as Gettysburg. The east coast is probably well out of your way, but I've heard that the Shiloh battlefield is very well done and is in Tennessee.

Perhaps rather than heading south from Ohio into Kentucky it would be better to head east to Washington DC? That is where they will have the best museums and has a cluster of the best civil war sites. If you want planes, they have the Air and Space Museum, which is going to be better than anything in Ohio. You will still get to see the south as you go into atlanta, and could even stop to see the arguably the best southern city (charleston) on your way.

[LaCroix]

i thought the air and space museum was incredibly kiddie, along with most of the other smithsonians in dc. the american history museum's obsession with edison annoyed me

[Admiral Yi]

What does one do at the Grand Ole Opry?

Listen to country music.

[The Brain]

What does one do at the Grand Ole Opry?

Listen to country music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJawSgdvFZc

[Zeus]

Your best bet would be to leave Kentucky. IMHO those sister-fuckers need to be booted out anyway.