Principia Discordia

TRIP'S USA TRIP

Yeah that's right! Your favourite Dutchspag is coming to you, this summer!

My girlfriend and I have both wanted to visit the USA for quite a while.

We only just started planning, though my gf's been reading books about the USA for a couple of weeks. We would really appreciate it if you guys could perhaps help us out a bit with advice on where to go, when to go and what do to, etc.

We both agree that it's important to try and meet as many of you spags as possible, because the best holidays are had by hanging out with the locals :)

Currently, we're thinking of going near the end of May or in June, for THREE WHOLE WEEKS (quite long for me, I usually prefer shorter trips, but then I usually don't go that far and your country is so big :) ). However this date is still quite flexible, if for instance it turns out you all are terribly busy during that time :)

Digging through Google Maps to check some distances (I really suck at topography, gf's rather good at it, though), we came up with a couple of options/ideas, so far:

(BTW we're thinking of renting a car to get around. Good idea yes/no?)

(Just for clarity, we're NOT planning to drive from the East to the West Coast, but indeed to pick a region in the USA and travel around a bit there. We're just not yet entirely sure which region, but probably the East Coast.)

EAST COAST

BOSTON - 90% certain we're going there, because so many of you spags live there. I would really like it if we could arrange a big meetup there (as you've done a couple of times before), and perhaps hang around for some more days with a couple of people.

NEW YORK CITY - If we're on the East Coast, we have to go to NYC. I know some of you don't like it very much, but my girlfriend really wants to see (part of) it, and we're tourists, after all :) Personally I think that most big cities are as good as any and it depends on the people you're with and the places you go (theoretically we could spend 3 weeks in Boston, see a lot of stuff, and have a good time, right? I know I'd have no trouble doing that in Berlin for instance. But we're on holiday so we should see as much stuff as possible). It's also not that far from Boston (about 4 hours by car?) and IIRC somewhere along the road lives Cramulus :) [so, Cram, depending on where we start, we could probably give you a ride if a Boston meetup is going to happen]. Additionally my gf found a car rental company called "Rent A Wreck", which we thought is a funny name, though perhaps a bit ominous.

FRED LAND - It wasn't entirely clear if she's in Columbus Ohio during that time. However, our idea is that from the East Coast (Boston or NYC), we might be able to plan a real proper ROAD TRIP, driving westward, to Ohio, see some of the big forests and nature stuff along the way, then meet up with Fred and check out Columbus. My girlfriend also got excited about the idea of seeing a real proper American college campus, as everything in the USA is supposed to be just like in the movies, right? ;-)

ANYWHERE ELSE? - Please, we're open to suggestions!

WEST COAST

Due to my lack of topographic skills, my idea of who exactly live on the West Coast, and where they are is really kind of blurry (East Coast people are mostly in or near Boston, easier to remember). So maybe somebody could help me out there (who/where), as well as how feasible it would be to visit them (distances).

We're unsure if it would be possible for us to visit both coasts. It really depends on how much a plane ticket would cost (where can we get a good deal for this?). There is one thing, my girlfriend read in one of the books, that it might be possible to book a trip to the USA that includes national flights to three locations in the US, but we haven't been able to get any details on this yet (anyone ever heard of such an offer?), again it depends on what it would cost.

PORTLAND OREGON - As far as I've come to understand, if there's one place on (or near) the West Coast we should go, it's here. Not only because a lot of PD spags live there (Nigel,Net,Sigmatic,Telarus,... more?), but also because it seems to be quite an awesome place to visit :)

CALIFORNIA - Jenne and Lizzy live here. That's about all I know.

TUCSON - Roger and Freeky live here!! Not really on the West Coast, and also quite far away from everywhere ... Even though I'd love to go, I've never seen a real desert in my life.

ANYWHERE ELSE? - As I said, my knowledge of the West Coast is kind of limited :)

FLORIDA - Squiddy lives here! But nobody else, really? The only way we could visit here is if we find that three-location-flights deal thingy.


Okay. Well as you can see, everything is still quite vague, only the East Coast option is kind of fleshed out so far.

We would really appreciate it if you could give us as much feedback as possible on this trip, so that we can make the most of it!! Also, if there's people that could offer us a place to stay for a couple of days, that would be truly awesome. In return I can offer my cooking skills (which are quite good even though it's been a while since I posted in the recipes subforum).

Come to Alaska. It's more west than the 'west coast' AND as the tip of the Aleutian Chain crosses a hemisphere, it's also more east than the 'east coast'. Think of all the savings in travel expenses.

Plus, BEARS!

All I will say is that it is a long-ass way from the East Coast to the West Coast. 

Kansas is still open as of now.

Yeah, if you plan on only getting around by car, you are best of picking one area and, generally, sticking to it.  You'll waste half your trip driving from the East Coast to the West Coast.  

I'm still here in St. Louis!  Charley and I are a few hours apart!

Yeah we're going to pick a side, and probably going to pick the East Coast. The only way around that is if we can get a really really good deal on a plane ticket, no way we're going to drive it (sorry if you got that impression?)

BTW I forgot to mention one other option that sort of crossed my mind

TORONTO (which is where Hoopla's at, correct?) if we happen to end up driving from Boston to Ohio, somewhere not too far north is Canada already, right? Except what I remember from Googlemaps is there's a big chunk of water in the way making it hard to plan it into a nice roundtrip without backing up a part.

Trip, I will TOTALLY come hang out with you guys in NY. My place is just outside of the city, only a ~30 minute train ride from grand central station. And HELL YES we could carpool to Boston. :)

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 18, 2011, 08:58:10 PM
Yeah we're going to pick a side, and probably going to pick the East Coast. The only way around that is if we can get a really really good deal on a plane ticket, no way we're going to drive it (sorry if you got that impression?)

BTW I forgot to mention one other option that sort of crossed my mind

TORONTO (which is where Hoopla's at, correct?) if we happen to end up driving from Boston to Ohio, somewhere not too far north is Canada already, right? Except what I remember from Googlemaps is there's a big chunk of water in the way making it hard to plan it into a nice roundtrip without backing up a part.

I think that is LHX's homebase too IIRC. 

Also, make sure you put a trip to Saratoga Springs on your itinerary. 

Quote from: Khara on January 18, 2011, 08:57:05 PM
I'm still here in St. Louis!  Charley and I are a few hours apart!

*sigh*

Stuck in the middle again.

:lulz:

It's totally understandable to want to see as much as possible, Trip, but what Hoopla said.  That's a huge drive, you're talking spending the better part of a week driving on flat, open nothingness instead of actually seeing anything.

I'd highly recommend breaking the US up into sections - Northeast, South, West Coast, Southwest, and Mid-west.  Focus on one, MAYBE two for the three week period.

Visiting cities, your best bet is the Northeast - we have Boston, NYC, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Providence.  Hopping from one to the other I think your longest streak in the car is probably 5 hours.

If you want landscape, though, the Southwest or the West Coast are probably the ways to go.  We have a lot of beautiful spots here in the NE, but they have way more national parks and just incredible views.

AND it looks like while I was typing this it was already addressed.

Quote from: RWHN, MPP on January 18, 2011, 09:00:43 PM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 18, 2011, 08:58:10 PM
Yeah we're going to pick a side, and probably going to pick the East Coast. The only way around that is if we can get a really really good deal on a plane ticket, no way we're going to drive it (sorry if you got that impression?)

BTW I forgot to mention one other option that sort of crossed my mind

TORONTO (which is where Hoopla's at, correct?) if we happen to end up driving from Boston to Ohio, somewhere not too far north is Canada already, right? Except what I remember from Googlemaps is there's a big chunk of water in the way making it hard to plan it into a nice roundtrip without backing up a part.

I think that is LHX's homebase too IIRC. 

Correct.  If you're going to Ohio from Boston you could always swing north around Lake Ontario to do so, though the scenery in that stretch leaves something to be desired...  Toronto is thankfully not too far away from the USA.

Hey, we have incredible views here in New England.

Though, my wife might get creeped out if you stare at her too long.  

Quote from: Hoopla on January 18, 2011, 09:05:04 PM

Quote from: RWHN, MPP on January 18, 2011, 09:00:43 PM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 18, 2011, 08:58:10 PM
Yeah we're going to pick a side, and probably going to pick the East Coast. The only way around that is if we can get a really really good deal on a plane ticket, no way we're going to drive it (sorry if you got that impression?)

BTW I forgot to mention one other option that sort of crossed my mind

TORONTO (which is where Hoopla's at, correct?) if we happen to end up driving from Boston to Ohio, somewhere not too far north is Canada already, right? Except what I remember from Googlemaps is there's a big chunk of water in the way making it hard to plan it into a nice roundtrip without backing up a part.

I think that is LHX's homebase too IIRC. 

Correct.  If you're going to Ohio from Boston you could always swing north around Lake Ontario to do so, though the scenery in that stretch leaves something to be desired...  Toronto is thankfully not too far away from the USA.

Says you.  :evil:

International Airlines sometimes offer vacation fares, where you can pick several destinations over a trip timeline that lets you hit major hub cities at less than the cost than you would have paid had you bought them all individually.

At least they used to..  It's been many many years since I worked for an airline.  They use a domestic partner airline for the in country flights and depending on the domestic partner, you can access many major hub cities.

Your best bet is talking to them directly, one the phone, with your itinerary ideas in hand.  A good ticketing agent should be able to come up with several alternatives within your pricing range in just a few minutes.

If everything they're selling is putting you in the red, have them try individual flight bookings.  Strangely, this can sometimes drop the fare way down.  Still too high then get your international flight day and time nailed down and hit the domestic airlines own websites.  Get some prices and then hit the discount airfare sites (travelocity, expedia) and dick with the days to see if you can get better fares.  

Airfares are cheaper when flying on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, FYI.  

Also, be sure all flights are booked as soon as you can, as fares go up daily based on the number of seats available on any given flight. (they rarely if ever go down, but keep checking after you book for a cheaper fare and the company may offer you the cheaper fare)

you need to book at least 7 days in advance, and stay at your destination at least a week before departing to be eligible for most discounted fares.  Keep this in mind when planning your jumps.


[EDIT] Stay out of Georgia if at all possible.  nothing good comes out of there (except maybe Outkast) and it's been leaking into north Florida for some time so we know how bad the smell can be.

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 18, 2011, 08:48:26 PM

PORTLAND OREGON - As far as I've come to understand, if there's one place on (or near) the West Coast we should go, it's here. Not only because a lot of PD spags live there (Nigel,Net,Sigmatic,Telarus,... more?), but also because it seems to be quite an awesome place to visit :)

This is the correct fixed gear bicycle.

I would have to check with the owner, but I'm 99% positive you two could stay in your own room here for a number of days.

I'll talk to a friend who is a flight attendant who knows about all sorts of tricks to get cheap airfare...

Quote from: Hoopla on January 18, 2011, 08:53:16 PM
All I will say is that it is a long-ass way from the East Coast to the West Coast.  

I'll just point out that the Canadian Long-Ass is no longer a viable method of transportation in America.

I just hope you get molested by the TSA.  :lulz:

Just for clarity, we're NOT planning to drive from the East to the West Coast, but indeed to pick a region in the USA and travel around a bit there. We're just not yet entirely sure which region, but probably the East Coast.

And now I'm giving the laptop to my gf who just came home so she can read my post and all your replies so far ;-)

Quote from: ☄ · · · N E T · · · ☄ on January 18, 2011, 09:13:48 PM
I'll just point out that the Canadian Long-Ass is no longer a viable method of transportation in America.

In the US, perhaps... there are many people here who still grab some Tim Horton's then long-ass it to the all weather drive-in.

You're welcome in Providence, and if nothing else I'll head to Boston or NY lcoales for the chance to meet you in person!

000 in the USA!  :eek:

Well, if you pick the East Coast I will be sorry to miss you. However, if you pick the West Coast, I will have a big party and invite my ex, just to convince him that there is some kind of huge conspiracy. Maybe we could even get St. Mae & Co. to travel up here to reinforce that sense of conspiracy. :)

Quote from: Charley Brown on January 18, 2011, 09:02:56 PM

Quote from: Khara on January 18, 2011, 08:57:05 PM
I'm still here in St. Louis!  Charley and I are a few hours apart!

*sigh*

Stuck in the middle again.

:lulz:

No fucking shit right!  :argh!:

Why doesn't everyone just meet in the middle.  We can do a 3 day PDfest!!!

Oh and, if you come to the West Coast there is a perfectly nice desert, complete with tumbleweeds, on the other side of the Cascade mountains, just a few hours drive. It doesn't have the amazing huge cacti that Arizona has, though. And the West has terrain that is truly unimaginably awe-inspiring. I've driven most of it and it still gobsmacks me.

The East is really pretty in a picturesque way, though. In fact, everything is really beautiful, but the big flat part in the middle of the country is kind of boring.

Quote from: Khara on January 18, 2011, 09:41:34 PM

Quote from: Charley Brown on January 18, 2011, 09:02:56 PM

Quote from: Khara on January 18, 2011, 08:57:05 PM
I'm still here in St. Louis!  Charley and I are a few hours apart!

*sigh*

Stuck in the middle again.

:lulz:

No fucking shit right!  :argh!:

Why doesn't everyone just meet in the middle.  We can do a 3 day PDfest!!!

I'd be into it if I have the money. As of right now, things are looking like they might be pretty good money-wise. We could all meet up in New Orleans, which is not exactly "the middle" but is a pretty damn cool place.

I would do that too.  Maybe we should plan something for 2012.

Oh hell yeah!  I could do Nawlins!!!

mmmmm chikory coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde mmmmmm.

La Bayou for cajun food mmmmmmm

Acme Oyster House, the best oysters on the half shell I have ever eaten.

:cry: I wanno go now!!!!!

If you're in fredland let me know, I live here too (as does Ratatosk)  I'd love a chance to meet you.

Providence is just south of Boston. It might be cheaper for you to stay here if you're looking for a hotel.


...That and the food is better. :D

Quote from: Suu on January 18, 2011, 10:44:56 PM

...That and the food is better. :D

:crankey:

Trip and TripGF should come to Tucson. We're not weird like all the other guys!

Also, I'mma put a Tucson curse on you if you don't.

*slaps forehead* duh okay, I was confused for a moment and thought Suu and Richter also lived in Boston, but that's Providence. Who else lives in Boston then? LMNO and ... :?



Everybody thanks for all the advice so far! :D

After some more thinking, we're pretty sure we'll be heading to the NYC/Boston/Providence area. Only if we can find a very good deal on a flight, we might be able to go elsewhere (we're going to look into that, but don't hold your breath, sorry West Coasters :( ).

One of the foremost things we need to plan is the date. Because my girlfriend needs to request the weeks off from her work, and for a better chance of actually getting those weeks, she needs to file the request as soon as possible.

So, what's the weather like in Boston/Providence/NYC during the end of May, beginning of June? :)

If you come to the west coast
ill give you one of my ATR vinyls (small one has kids are united and midi junkies)

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 18, 2011, 11:53:14 PM

So, what's the weather like in Boston/Providence/NYC during the end of May, beginning of June? :)

It could be anything.

Expect anywhere between 50-80F (10C-26C), it could be sunny, it could be raining. It could be windy. A cold front could come through and make it colder, we could also have a heat wave and make it really hot.

New York City is a convention oven and a wind tunnel AT THE SAME TIME. Whatever temperature it is, assume it could be 10-20 degrees hotter/colder in different parts of the city.

Providence in June is nice, you'll be catching it before we get too swampy, and Boston will be about 10 degrees colder. Roger caught a cold front. before he came, it was hot and nasty, the entire time he was here, he got to see the quintessential New England bullshit of spitting rain for days on end.

We may be able to go to the beach, we may not...but you should see the Atlantic Ocean from the other side, regardless. ;)

Your best bet would be to try to get a flight into JFK (New York) and working out an itinerary from there. Providence and NYC are exactly 150 miles apart, and Boston and Providence are exactly 50 miles apart on the highway. There's a great bus and train system that connects all of them. It's the highest traveled corridor in the nation, and also one of the busiest in the world.

I also live in Boston, as does Pope Tom and I think a couple of others.

I could be mistaken, but isn't the next Providence/Boston meet up going to be around the time that Trip comes over?

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 01:02:48 AM
I also live in Boston, as does Pope Tom and I think a couple of others.

I could be mistaken, but isn't the next Providence/Boston meet up going to be around the time that Trip comes over?

SO THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE WHEN WORLD'S COLLIDE!!!!

If it weren't so close to the April 1 meetup in Tucson I'd consider flying back east for your visit, because I could make it a two-fer and visit my mom and sister while I was at it. I'm making the Tucson trip my highest priority, though.

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 01:02:48 AM
I also live in Boston, as does Pope Tom and I think a couple of others.

I could be mistaken, but isn't the next Providence/Boston meet up going to be around the time that Trip comes over?

DCup and I live in Boston, too!

Quote from: Eve on January 19, 2011, 01:59:25 AM

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 01:02:48 AM
I also live in Boston, as does Pope Tom and I think a couple of others.

I could be mistaken, but isn't the next Providence/Boston meet up going to be around the time that Trip comes over?

DCup and I live in Boston, too!

I knew I was forgetting someone. For some reason though I thought DCup lived in New York.

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 18, 2011, 11:53:14 PM
*slaps forehead* duh okay, I was confused for a moment and thought Suu and Richter also lived in Boston, but that's Providence. Who else lives in Boston then? LMNO and ... :?



Everybody thanks for all the advice so far! :D

After some more thinking, we're pretty sure we'll be heading to the NYC/Boston/Providence area. Only if we can find a very good deal on a flight, we might be able to go elsewhere (we're going to look into that, but don't hold your breath, sorry West Coasters :( ).

One of the foremost things we need to plan is the date. Because my girlfriend needs to request the weeks off from her work, and for a better chance of actually getting those weeks, she needs to file the request as soon as possible.

So, what's the weather like in Boston/Providence/NYC during the end of May, beginning of June? :)

Well, I'm only a couple hours drive from Boston, but between kids, work, and generally being a bum, I probably wouldn't make it down.  But I'll be there in spirits, or something. 

Actually Trip, Maine's a nice place too, and you could easily hit it up for a couple of days if you wanted to see some woods and possibly moose.

Also, avoid moose. In car vs. moose, moose always wins.

Aw, I was so excited. 

Yanno, if you drove in shifts nonstop, you could get here in two days.

:lol:  That would kill me though, so I can't suggest it in seriousness.

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 02:25:18 AM
Actually Trip, Maine's a nice place too, and you could easily hit it up for a couple of days if you wanted to see some woods and possibly moose.

Also, avoid moose. In car vs. moose, moose always wins.

Boston could always get a moose in the subway tunnels again.

Quote from: Suu on January 19, 2011, 03:39:44 AM

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 02:25:18 AM
Actually Trip, Maine's a nice place too, and you could easily hit it up for a couple of days if you wanted to see some woods and possibly moose.

Also, avoid moose. In car vs. moose, moose always wins.

Boston could always get a moose in the subway tunnels again.

I think Orange Line wins in that scenario. But it slows down the commute.  :)

Also, I should warn you.

The US and Canada is not like the EU (at least not anymore). If you attempt to cross the border in a rental car with a passport that is NOT of the US or Canada, get ready for some bullshit, at least from the US side. I had looked into it before and they aren't cool with the idea of a rental crossing national borders (some companies don't even let you cross state lines.) I'm sure it's possible, but I don't want to cost your trip delays, so that's something to really look into.

I'm pretty miffed I need to get a passport just to go to Montreal.  :argh!:

Rent a wreck?? Oh god no!! it's literally just what it sounds like. if you need a car you're better off going with Budget or Enterprise.

As far as Florida goes, there isn't much here except for the theme parks, so if you're not really interested in going to those, I wouldn't waste your time coming all the way down here.
It's a 2 1/2 hour flight from NYC (or like a 26 hour drive or some shit) to here and impossible to get around without a rental car. Everything is very spread out. Tourists often think they can go to disney for a bit, pop down to miami and then make it back in time for dinner. Except miami is a 6 hour drive. Oops.
In May/June this place turns into a human melting swamp foot armpit funk machine. It's awful.

However, if you're really into po-dunky redneck hickerbilly swamp crawls, then this is the place for you.

BUT, I love NY in May/June (or any time) so I totally would try to figure out a way to make it up there.

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 02:25:18 AM
Actually Trip, Maine's a nice place too, and you could easily hit it up for a couple of days if you wanted to see some woods and possibly moose.

Also, avoid moose. In car vs. moose, moose always wins.

That's the goddamn truth.  Proof positive that God invented tanks before man did. 

If the proper temporal alignment is achieved, I may be able to show my ass tentacles face if you're in Boston.

Also Suu, "the best food is in Providence"?  What sort of criteria are you using?

The criteria where the rest of New England runs out of food. 

Quote from: RWHN, MPP on January 19, 2011, 01:24:39 PM
The criteria where the rest of New England runs out of food. 

:roflcake:

In the interest of being fair, I've never actually eaten food in Providence, or anywhere in Rhode Island.  I'm just going with my gut. 

Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 19, 2011, 01:23:54 PM
If the proper temporal alignment is achieved, I may be able to show my ass tentacles face if you're in Boston.

Also Suu, "the best food is in Providence"?  What sort of criteria are you using?

AAA...and bias.


Dude, I LIVED ON FEDERAL HILL. Sorry, Federal Hill > North End...EXCEPT for Mike's Pastry. Our pastry place just doesn't compare. It's fantastic, but it's no Mike's.

Al Forno over on the East Side is spotlighted all the time on Food Network.

When I worked at Steeple Street before it closed, we have women who would take the Acela from NYC JUST to have dinner there, and we were a rinky dink nobody bistro.

If that's not a fair reason for bias, I don't know what is.

Weren't you and Richter just talking about how terrible the food in Rhode Island was a couple of days ago?

If you want to compare the North End with Providence, I'll give you that.  But it's been common knowledge in Boston for some time that good Italian food can no longer be found there.  

I don't want to get into a pissing match about it, and I'm sure there are good places in RI, but... I dunno.

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 02:06:31 PM
Weren't you and Richter just talking about how terrible the food in Rhode Island was a couple of days ago?

Um...no? Find me a link if I was. I don't think I've ever said the food here was terrible. EVER.

Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 19, 2011, 02:07:38 PM
If you want to compare the North End with Providence, I'll give you that.  But it's been common knowledge in Boston for some time that good Italian food can no longer be found there.  

I don't want to get into a pissing match about it, and I'm sure there are good places in RI, but... I dunno.

I'm sorry our "suburb" doesn't exactly fit your exquisite Bostonite tastes.

Quote from: Suu on January 19, 2011, 02:19:50 PM

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 19, 2011, 02:06:31 PM
Weren't you and Richter just talking about how terrible the food in Rhode Island was a couple of days ago?

Um...no? Find me a link if I was. I don't think I've ever said the food here was terrible. EVER.

I was hoping you knew for sure. I wouldn't even know where to begin to look. Eh, I was probably mistaken then.

Quote from: Suu on January 19, 2011, 02:22:00 PM

Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 19, 2011, 02:07:38 PM
If you want to compare the North End with Providence, I'll give you that.  But it's been common knowledge in Boston for some time that good Italian food can no longer be found there.  

I don't want to get into a pissing match about it, and I'm sure there are good places in RI, but... I dunno.

I'm sorry our "suburb" doesn't exactly fit your exquisite Bostonite tastes.

Yeah, I had a feeling you'd react badly.

painkillers administered.



...I love you guys! Let's not argue about yummy foods! GROUP HUG!

(http://xdb.xanga.com/710f151a28232220973707/b173315568.gif)

I'll get in on that.




And now we return you to Trip's USA Trip.

Yes.

Once he gets back in the thread, we'll see where he's flying into, and what he wants to do.

Trip, if you make it to Tucson, don't worry about lodging.  We will have a very comfortable bedroom available.

Then we'll take you downtown and return you with bloody stumps for hands and weird welts all over you.

Trip, don't let these spags foist their selfish agenda on you.

The truth is, the east coast of the USA SUCKS BALLS.

It's crowded, dirty, ugly, old, and crowded. If you wanted all of that, you'd have stayed in Europe, right?

If you are only going to see ONE part of the USA, I'd suggest the west coast. Washington, Oregon, and Northern/Central California contain a stunningly diverse array of cities, mountains, lakes, beaches, rivers, deserts, and rain forests.

With 2 weeks to roam around in, you could see Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, the Cascade Mountains, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Columbia River, the Olympic Peninsula, Multnomah Falls, Lake Shasta, Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake, Yosemite National Park, the San Juan Islands, the deserts of eastern Oregon and eastern Washington, hell you could even work a weekend in Vegas into your itinerary without too much trouble.

And there are spags everywhere. Portland and the SF Bay Area are both full of spags, and there are a handful in Seattle as well along with various others scattered around the place.

If you want to see the America that evolved from the Old World, go to the East Coast. If you want to see something spectacularly different from anything you're used to and see the America that almost vaguely still resembles what America was supposed to be, go West.


Oh, and New York City is an epic shithole. Don't get your expectations up too high.

Much as I hate to say it, ECH has a point.

Also, the West not only shows you what America was supposed to be, it also shows you both the very best and the very worst of Americans.

The west has good scenery, the east has interesting cities.
NY isn't so bad (when you come from FL)

The east has crappy cities.

Boston is cool, Portland ME is OK, Savannah and Charleston are decent. That's it.

Quote from: Rip City Hustle on January 19, 2011, 06:19:03 PM
The east has crappy cities.

Boston is cool, Portland ME is OK, Savannah and Charleston are decent. That's it.

I liked Providence.

Yeah, but your standards for cities have been artificially lowered.

Quote from: Rip City Hustle on January 19, 2011, 06:42:52 PM
Yeah, but your standards for cities have been artificially lowered.

True.  Phoenix makes Gary, Indiana look good.

Wonder how many spags can fit into port townsend
(isn't there a ferry or was that when bridge was being repaired)

Hi folks,

I'm Trip's grilfriend.
Well, first of all, thank you guys lot for all you kind invitations and considerations where to go best on our All American HoliDay Trip!
Trip showed me your posts and I guess it gave us for now quite a feeling for what to expect, where to go and some deeper insights on some regions. At least I hope so.. still have to see it though. But whatever we will decide, it will be GREAT, because we are going three weeks to AMERICA! yeah! Trip is really looking forward to go and see some of his friends* which he knows quite a while now.
*girlfriend-language for 'spags'

I got 5 travelbooks form the library and I´m studying hard on this subject. (You heard about it, I´m the main planner and if you have to convince Trip to visit YOUR town, you first to have te convince me  :mrgreen: )

Until now we have several options:
- go on a 'real' holiday and visit scenery-things on the west coast
- hang around in New England
- hop from city to city by plane tot visit as much places as possible
- road trip: NYC - Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh - Niagara falls- Toronto - Boston/Providence - Portland, ME
- go to Iowa watching cows

If we would know when the Boston/Providence meeting is, this would help a lot in having a fixed date, so we can plan our holiday around it a.s.a.p.

SO far from me, thanks a lot again and see you soon. We´ll keep you posted.

TRIP! D/N/T! TUCSON CURSES ARE THE WORST!

http://www.weirdwashington.us/the%20cut.htm

John Wayne's bath tub :lulz:

Quote from: Khara on January 18, 2011, 09:41:34 PM

Quote from: Charley Brown on January 18, 2011, 09:02:56 PM

Quote from: Khara on January 18, 2011, 08:57:05 PM
I'm still here in St. Louis!  Charley and I are a few hours apart!

*sigh*

Stuck in the middle again.

:lulz:

No fucking shit right!  :argh!:

Why doesn't everyone just meet in the middle.  We can do a 3 day PDfest!!!

Fly Over Country always gets left out.  :cry:

RCH speaks the truth.

My dear future ex-husband and his lovely girlfriend (That sounds horrible):

Whatever you want, I'd be happy to help. I took a few classes to be a travel agent out of boredom a few years back and never did anything with it. I'm actually serious. I have NOT been to the Pacific Northwest, but if you choose to go there, we have enough board spags that can probably give great advice.

Let's find out when the Providence/Boston Meatup is with Roger and the Tucson gang making their pilgrimage to my sacred city of Providence, and we'll plan accordingly.

If you want to talk to me off-board, we can do that too as to not get assaulted by suggestions. We can come up with 3 different itineraries based on your budget and see what you like. (That's the typical action plan, anyway.)

Love and kisses,

Suu

Oh! Forgot to mention, and this is an open invitation to all local, national, and international spags. My art is going to be exhibited in a gallery here at the university in June. This isn't a school-based exhibit, our gallery rotates every month and showcases a whole bunch of stuff for our urban arts and culture program that we have here, for instance, this month is Mother Africa. June is a spotlight on Rhode Island artists. I may have a pretty big area to myself, so I'm pretty excited. I also have no idea what I'm putting in it yet, so I'm also kind of nervous. I'm going to ask the coordinator if it's possible for me to put up some costumes on dressforms as well as artwork.

Providence does a Gallery Night on the 3rd Thursday of every month, so for June, it would be the 16th. You tour a TON of art galleries in Providence and it can be kinda cool. They sometimes do a Waterfire with it too, but they haven't released the Waterfire schedule yet. I kinda hate the thing, since I've been around it a lot and it creates a clusterfuck, but for visitors it's definitely worth seeing. Once.

I'll keep you guys posted on it. Even if Trip or Roger isn't here for that, I'd still like as many of my loyal subjects to come and support me. :)

Quote from: Suu on January 20, 2011, 12:36:40 PM
Let's find out when the Providence/Boston Meatup is with Roger and the Tucson gang making their pilgrimage to my sacred city of Providence, and we'll plan accordingly.

Due to events beyond my control, I shall not be making to the East coast this year.   :sad:

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 20, 2011, 03:31:06 PM

Quote from: Suu on January 20, 2011, 12:36:40 PM
Let's find out when the Providence/Boston Meatup is with Roger and the Tucson gang making their pilgrimage to my sacred city of Providence, and we'll plan accordingly.

Due to events beyond my control, I shall not be making to the East coast this year.   :sad:

:argh!:

TUCSON CANNOT HOLD YOU FOREVER!

Actually, I'll need to know when the Boston/Providence Meet up is too. Looks like I'll be going back to Ireland this summer.

Last 2 weeks of June are blacked out for PTO so hopefully 000 will be visiting before then.

I have no vacation planned for this year, so a travel would be nice. Even if only for a few days

I suggest if everyone is in town for a Friday night that we go to the German-American Cultural Society in Pawtucket. EoC's testimonial of the place was something along the lines of, "Happiest place on Earth" or something.

$3 German beers on draft and cheap authentic foods surrounded by old men singing and playing accordion.

Holyshit, that sounds awesome.

ECH, you're dead on.  I loved every spot on the East coast I visited, mostly because it did remind me so totally of Europe.  San Fran is that way too, tbqh.  Seattle not so much.  I've only ever ridden through Oregon, though (on a train, twice), so all I saw there were beautiful huge forests, green green green.

I think ECH's itinerary is a good way to get a larger sense of a good chunk of America.

But really, you CAN'T do it all in one trip, Trip.  You just can't.  You'll have to come back.  :D

If we plan this correctly, we can see about a weekend in Montreal, where I can do horrible things to the Quebecois for existing with the aid of spaggotry.  :evil:

Count me out of that


i do want some cheap german foods though

we'll try to bring some, then ;-)

Quote from: Suu on January 22, 2011, 04:53:38 AM
If we plan this correctly, we can see about a weekend in Montreal, where I can do horrible things to the Quebecois for existing with the aid of spaggotry.  :evil:

:lulz:

Remind them that if Benedict Arnold did it right then they're be Merkins now too.

Also, now that I have a proper apartment with a living room, I plan to get a sofa bed for crashers. :D

You got the room? Congrats!! Last I heard (in your thread posted 2hrs ago) you were still haggling?

I got it lowered! :D

It will work out in your best interest to crash with whomever you can in Providence and Boston. That time of year is when the universities graduate and hotels will be at a premium, if they aren't all booked already. We have 7 university campuses in Providence ALONE.

First, Suu, you're absolutely AWESOME :D

Second, despite ECH's very convincing arguments in favour of the West Coast, we decided to go to the East Coast after all, for several other reasons (which I can explain if you want to know, but not in this post).

Third, my girlfriend is going to need to pick a date this week:

- we're sort of looking at end-of-May / June (but we'll be there for three weeks total),
- Squiddy said she might make it but not in the last two weeks of June,
- and Cram is on a bachelor party in Vegas (Cram You Damnulus) during 1-5 June.

Which leaves these weekends for a Boston/Providence/NYC/Eurospag meetup:

* 20/21/22 May,
* 27/28/29 May,
* 10/11/12 June

Is that right? Is this possible? Yes/no/maybe/okay then!

my vote is for either of the may dates! May 20, 21, 22 being my top choice for the discordian meet up. This would also put us right next to the 5/23 holyday. :fnord:

The 20-22nd is the Steampunk World's Fair and the Providence contingent will be in New Jersey.

So I vote for that last weekend in May. It's Memorial Day too, that means we'll all have Monday off. We can treat you to a classic American Memorial Day Barbecue!

Quote from: Suu on January 25, 2011, 04:07:58 PM
The 20-22nd is the Steampunk World's Fair and the Providence contingent will be in New Jersey.

So I vote for that last weekend in May. It's Memorial Day too, that means we'll all have Monday off. We can treat you to a classic American Memorial Day Barbecue!

Spag barbecue sounds.  So.  Awesome.

Quote from: Suu on January 25, 2011, 04:07:58 PM
The 20-22nd is the Steampunk World's Fair and the Providence contingent will be in New Jersey.

I might be there, actually. I'm friends with one of the coordinators, she said she could probably get me a free badge and room if I help run some events and play a character of some sort. I'm kind of unclear on what it entails but it sounds like a trippy scene.

If I don't do that, there are TWO possible LARPs I might attend, (Mirror Mirror near Boston and Karuath in Milford CT) but trip's trip would trump that.

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 25, 2011, 04:12:18 PM

Quote from: Suu on January 25, 2011, 04:07:58 PM
The 20-22nd is the Steampunk World's Fair and the Providence contingent will be in New Jersey.

So I vote for that last weekend in May. It's Memorial Day too, that means we'll all have Monday off. We can treat you to a classic American Memorial Day Barbecue!

Spag barbecue sounds.  So.  Awesome.

I know the backyard for it too. We could bring back the BOUNCE HOUSE.

I you end up going to Pittsburgh i will drive over and say hi
but i think you should go west coast too cause its awesomer lol

The may dates look good.
any of them


Edit-

Why is it so expensive to fly into Providence?? Fuck you RI.

Quote from: ☂ The Fred ☂ on January 25, 2011, 05:08:34 PM
I you end up going to Pittsburgh i will drive over and say hi
but i think you should go west coast too cause its awesomer lol

Yeah, I forgot to say in my previous post, that it just means we'll have to come back another time to check out the West Coast :)

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 25, 2011, 05:36:28 PM
The may dates look good.
any of them


Edit-

Why is it so expensive to fly into Providence?? Fuck you RI.

Don't look yet. Give it another...*looks at calendar* full month. Best fares are purchase 2 months or 2 weeks before flight.

Also: SOUTHWEST. FFS.

If anything, fly Jet Blue into Boston.

Okay I just talked these over with boyfriendzerozerozero, about the options.

I didn't immediately realize my birthday is the 20th of May :oops:

Basically if the Meetup is at a certain weekend, we'll have to fly the weekend before that, because we'll probably arrive in NYC Airport, and it'll be a bit stressfull to drive to Providence/Boston straight away.

This means that the 20/21/22nd May weekend is a bad date for us, both because it means we'll be in the USA quite a bit earlier than we wanted, and because I want to have my birthday in the Netherlands.

However, it is possible to fly that weekend (I think), so we could have the meetup the after that, sometime during the 27/28/29+30th May long weekend, plus a Memorial Day BBQ sounds awesome :) This is probably the best option for everybody. (Meaning we'd fly on 21st or 22nd of May and go back to Europe 11th or 12th June)

One slight problem could be that the Dutch May School-holidays are in the week of 30th May to 3rd June, and this could mean that a lot of my colleagues will want that week off because of their kids and thus the chances of getting that week off might be smaller (as opposed to the weeks before and after that). I am going to apply and try, however.

But IF by sheer bad luck I can't get that week off, then I'll have to take the weeks of 6ht,13th and 20th June off. Meaning we'd arrive 4/5th of June, we could have the meeting in the weekend of 10/11/12th june (12th and 13th of June are Pentacost, you probably don't get Monday 13th off, right?) and back to Europe on 25th of June.

Ok, this basically this means for everybody who wants to come along, there are two options, which still have to be narrowed down:
- the 27/28/29+30th May long weekend
- 10/11/12th June (but can Squiddy make this?)

So, please check your calendar and shoot right away about it!

Both weekends are fine with me.

Maybe I could even try to make a Schwarzwälderkirschtorte and wish you a late Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

Both are fine with me, as I have no particular plans to be outside of Boston at that point, but can make arrangements to be in Providence for some of it.

Also, you guys get Pentecost off over there?

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 25, 2011, 08:30:55 PM
Both are fine with me, as I have no particular plans to be outside of Boston at that point, but can make arrangements to be in Providence for some of it.

Also, you guys get Pentecost off over there?

They get all sorts of cool Christian holidays off in Europe we don't, but we have the secular ones they don't.

If you're coming to the East coast, I will make absolutely certain that I'm around, regardless of whether or not my presence is desired  :wink:

VISIT ME TRIP

Quote from: Cuddlefish on January 25, 2011, 08:51:16 PM
If you're coming to the East coast, I will make absolutely certain that I'm around, regardless of whether or not my presence is desired  :wink:

If he's extra lucky, maybe there'll be a Paraplegics show.

Quote from: Suu on January 25, 2011, 08:33:52 PM

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 25, 2011, 08:30:55 PM
Both are fine with me, as I have no particular plans to be outside of Boston at that point, but can make arrangements to be in Providence for some of it.

Also, you guys get Pentecost off over there?

They get all sorts of cool Christian holidays off in Europe we don't, but we have the secular ones they don't.

Yeah

The 40th day from Easter, always a Thursday, is Jesus Ascension Day, when he zoomed off to space. So we get that day off.

The 50th day from Easter is Pentacost, always a Sunday, but we get the Monday after that off as well--called "Second Pentacost Day". This one is also space related, in the sense that the Disciples had a littlebit too much spacecake on the Sunday and were tripping balls. So we get the Monday off.

---

And yeah, Dimo, looking forward to meeting you!

And SARAH PALIN you're in Alaska. It's far too cold and too far.

NOOOOO


CALIFORNIA
:cry:

Quote from: SARAH PALIN on January 25, 2011, 09:04:59 PM
NOOOOO


CALIFORNIA
:cry:

YOU SHOULD COME VISIT TOO

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 25, 2011, 03:55:42 PM
Second, despite ECH's very convincing arguments in favour of the West Coast, we decided to go to the East Coast after all, for several other reasons (which I can explain if you want to know, but not in this post).

It makes sense—you guys want to meet the most pd.com spags possible, and they're just in a higher density on the Wrong Coast.

On the West Coast we're spattered across a much larger area (from Tuscon to Seattle) which would involve a lot more travel and expenses.

10/11 June is also out for me, that's actually my buddy's wedding. Jesus that's going to be a hell of a month! Going to vegas, then a wedding, then meeting you spags... then a larp... then on the fourth weekend, cram rested. Kick ass!

Quote from: ☄ · · · N E T · · · ☄ on January 26, 2011, 12:02:35 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 25, 2011, 03:55:42 PM
Second, despite ECH's very convincing arguments in favour of the West Coast, we decided to go to the East Coast after all, for several other reasons (which I can explain if you want to know, but not in this post).

It makes sense—you guys want to meet the most pd.com spags possible, and they're just in a higher density on the Wrong Coast.

On the West Coast we're spattered across a much larger area (from Tuscon to Seattle) which would involve a lot more travel and expenses.

When discussing options, it came up that Zip is not licensed to drive, and that his girlfriend didn't want to drive, in that case, the West Coast is a terrible idea, especially since they haven't seen American roads in action yet. The Northeast at least has a very widespread and efficient mass transportation system that's at least CLOSE to what they have in Europe and there's all sorts of perks and tours they can get for being a foreign tourist that even us Americans can't touch (I would KILL for the deals they can get on Amtrak.) I guarantee there's some sort of organized tour on a bus that goes from Manhattan to Washington that's entirely Dutch, for example. (Just as Americans can get tours overseas.) I've really never found that kind of package out West except for in the LA area, and there's no way we're letting him go to Los Angeles just yet. *I* won't even go there unless I'm drugged, bagged, and dragged.

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 03:36:56 AM

Quote from: ☄ · · · N E T · · · ☄ on January 26, 2011, 12:02:35 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 25, 2011, 03:55:42 PM
Second, despite ECH's very convincing arguments in favour of the West Coast, we decided to go to the East Coast after all, for several other reasons (which I can explain if you want to know, but not in this post).

It makes sense—you guys want to meet the most pd.com spags possible, and they're just in a higher density on the Wrong Coast.

On the West Coast we're spattered across a much larger area (from Tuscon to Seattle) which would involve a lot more travel and expenses.

When discussing options, it came up that Zip is not licensed to drive, and that his girlfriend didn't want to drive, in that case, the West Coast is a terrible idea, especially since they haven't seen American roads in action yet. The Northeast at least has a very widespread and efficient mass transportation system that's at least CLOSE to what they have in Europe and there's all sorts of perks and tours they can get for being a foreign tourist that even us Americans can't touch (I would KILL for the deals they can get on Amtrak.) I guarantee there's some sort of organized tour on a bus that goes from Manhattan to Washington that's entirely Dutch, for example. (Just as Americans can get tours overseas.) I've really never found that kind of package out West except for in the LA area, and there's no way we're letting him go to Los Angeles just yet. *I* won't even go there unless I'm drugged, bagged, and dragged.

Valid points. The Morass that is a City-Thing that covers several counties is not something to inflict upon people.

Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 26, 2011, 03:43:23 AM

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 03:36:56 AM

Quote from: ☄ · · · N E T · · · ☄ on January 26, 2011, 12:02:35 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 25, 2011, 03:55:42 PM
Second, despite ECH's very convincing arguments in favour of the West Coast, we decided to go to the East Coast after all, for several other reasons (which I can explain if you want to know, but not in this post).

It makes sense—you guys want to meet the most pd.com spags possible, and they're just in a higher density on the Wrong Coast.

On the West Coast we're spattered across a much larger area (from Tuscon to Seattle) which would involve a lot more travel and expenses.

When discussing options, it came up that Zip is not licensed to drive, and that his girlfriend didn't want to drive, in that case, the West Coast is a terrible idea, especially since they haven't seen American roads in action yet. The Northeast at least has a very widespread and efficient mass transportation system that's at least CLOSE to what they have in Europe and there's all sorts of perks and tours they can get for being a foreign tourist that even us Americans can't touch (I would KILL for the deals they can get on Amtrak.) I guarantee there's some sort of organized tour on a bus that goes from Manhattan to Washington that's entirely Dutch, for example. (Just as Americans can get tours overseas.) I've really never found that kind of package out West except for in the LA area, and there's no way we're letting him go to Los Angeles just yet. *I* won't even go there unless I'm drugged, bagged, and dragged.

Valid points. The Morass that is a City-Thing that covers several counties is not something to inflict upon people.

Technically New York City covers 5 counties. New York, however, is only one county.

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 03:54:49 AM

Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 26, 2011, 03:43:23 AM

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 03:36:56 AM

Quote from: ☄ · · · N E T · · · ☄ on January 26, 2011, 12:02:35 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 25, 2011, 03:55:42 PM
Second, despite ECH's very convincing arguments in favour of the West Coast, we decided to go to the East Coast after all, for several other reasons (which I can explain if you want to know, but not in this post).

It makes sense—you guys want to meet the most pd.com spags possible, and they're just in a higher density on the Wrong Coast.

On the West Coast we're spattered across a much larger area (from Tuscon to Seattle) which would involve a lot more travel and expenses.

When discussing options, it came up that Zip is not licensed to drive, and that his girlfriend didn't want to drive, in that case, the West Coast is a terrible idea, especially since they haven't seen American roads in action yet. The Northeast at least has a very widespread and efficient mass transportation system that's at least CLOSE to what they have in Europe and there's all sorts of perks and tours they can get for being a foreign tourist that even us Americans can't touch (I would KILL for the deals they can get on Amtrak.) I guarantee there's some sort of organized tour on a bus that goes from Manhattan to Washington that's entirely Dutch, for example. (Just as Americans can get tours overseas.) I've really never found that kind of package out West except for in the LA area, and there's no way we're letting him go to Los Angeles just yet. *I* won't even go there unless I'm drugged, bagged, and dragged.

Valid points. The Morass that is a City-Thing that covers several counties is not something to inflict upon people.

Technically New York City covers 5 counties. New York, however, is only one county.

Greater LA Area 33,954 sq. mi.
New York Metropolitan area 6,720 sq. mi.

Our counties can DEVOUR your states Easterner. But I think you have us beat on population density.

Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 26, 2011, 04:03:41 AM

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 03:54:49 AM

Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 26, 2011, 03:43:23 AM

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 03:36:56 AM

Quote from: ☄ · · · N E T · · · ☄ on January 26, 2011, 12:02:35 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 25, 2011, 03:55:42 PM
Second, despite ECH's very convincing arguments in favour of the West Coast, we decided to go to the East Coast after all, for several other reasons (which I can explain if you want to know, but not in this post).

It makes sense—you guys want to meet the most pd.com spags possible, and they're just in a higher density on the Wrong Coast.

On the West Coast we're spattered across a much larger area (from Tuscon to Seattle) which would involve a lot more travel and expenses.

When discussing options, it came up that Zip is not licensed to drive, and that his girlfriend didn't want to drive, in that case, the West Coast is a terrible idea, especially since they haven't seen American roads in action yet. The Northeast at least has a very widespread and efficient mass transportation system that's at least CLOSE to what they have in Europe and there's all sorts of perks and tours they can get for being a foreign tourist that even us Americans can't touch (I would KILL for the deals they can get on Amtrak.) I guarantee there's some sort of organized tour on a bus that goes from Manhattan to Washington that's entirely Dutch, for example. (Just as Americans can get tours overseas.) I've really never found that kind of package out West except for in the LA area, and there's no way we're letting him go to Los Angeles just yet. *I* won't even go there unless I'm drugged, bagged, and dragged.

Valid points. The Morass that is a City-Thing that covers several counties is not something to inflict upon people.

Technically New York City covers 5 counties. New York, however, is only one county.

Greater LA Area 33,954 sq. mi.
New York Metropolitan area 6,720 sq. mi.

Our counties can DEVOUR your states Easterner. But I think you have us beat on population density.

Plz. The county I grew up in is bigger than the state of RI.....................it just doesn't have 2 million people squeezed in it like we do. What's a yard? I haven't had a home with a yard in years.

My ass is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. AND it has a larger population.

Quote from: Nigel on January 26, 2011, 04:13:04 AM
My ass is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. AND it has a larger population.

(http://www.gifbin.com/bin/6401703g69.gif)

LOL Nigel!

June is out for me as well. Checking in the calendar, our conversion from proof to image has a lot of web class hours that are mandatory and very involved.

May is awesome, cause if I can't schedule it, I can call in if need be (boss's idea believe it or not)

I really wouldn't mind flying into NY. I still can't figure out why, but I friggin love that place. Whatever state you guys wanna meet up in is cool though, but I can tell I'll hate RI already.

We're going to do our best to aim for the 27/28/29+30th May weekend (meaning we'll fly on the 21/22nd). Frau Torte is going to enter the dates into THE SYSTEM^TM today, and will probably/hopefully hear whether she gets them or not before the end of this week.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 26, 2011, 05:30:56 AM
LOL Nigel!

June is out for me as well. Checking in the calendar, our conversion from proof to image has a lot of web class hours that are mandatory and very involved.

May is awesome, cause if I can't schedule it, I can call in if need be (boss's idea believe it or not)

I really wouldn't mind flying into NY. I still can't figure out why, but I friggin love that place. Whatever state you guys wanna meet up in is cool though, but I can tell I'll hate RI already.

RI is the same shit as NY, just smaller and angrier and half full of Boston fans (which typically explains the angriness.) Federal Hill looks like Brooklyn too.

Squid, On Southwest I just found a RT from MCO to PVD with a layover in BWI on the way home. $262.10.

Depart May 26
Return May 31

You can get them cheaper too, depending on what times you want to leave. Those were just convenient times.

WHOOHOOO YEAH IT'S ON

Just got an email from my girlfriend that she got approval for having the weeks off between 21th May and 12th June!! :D

                :hammer:

SOOOOOO THAT MEANS BOSTON/PROVIDENCE MEETUP IN WEEKEND OF 27/28/29+30th MAY!!! Which of those four days exactly it's going to be is up to you guys and what fits most people best, of course. We're good as long as we're on the correct continent.

WHAT IT ALSO MEANS: SQUIDDY MIGHT MAKE IT (http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3706/dancingcarrot.gif) Which is good because she really needs a good holiday, from what I've heard :)

It also means we can seriously start looking for the best flights. so far we've found retour flights about €500 to €570 p/p, the more expensive one is a direct connection, and the cheaper one has an intermediate stop + 8 hour wait in Madrid, Spain--we're not sure yet, if it was really significantly cheaper I'd take the wait, but €70 is sort of, kind of exactly on the line of what I'd consider 8 hours in an airport worth my time. On the other hand, 8 hours is just about enough time to get out of the airport, eat some Paella in Madrid (or whatever) and get back in time to continue the flight. Maybe we should see it as a bonus: you don't just get to fly to the USA, but also see Madrid for a short while. Not sure if I ever been there before, just Barcelona and Valencia (pro-tip: when in Spain go to Valencia, nicest people, beautiful architecture, clean streets, great mojitos--Barcelonians have more "spanish temperament", in my experience).
I'm going to look to see if I can find cheaper flights though--who knows, maybe we get even more stops at cool places we can check out. Somewhere in the UK maybe, so I can satisfy my IRN BRU cravings.

Awesome news!!

You're right. I do need a vacation.
Y'all keep me posted on where I need to be and when. I'll be there.

The Spain stop sounds pretty .. well, pretty. My dad got to stay there for a couple of days when we were stationed in Germany and he had a lot of nice things to say about it.

Madrid's awesome.  Spend a week or so myself there a while back (like a long while, 16 years ago while). 

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 12:42:35 PM
RI is the same shit as NY, just smaller and angrier and half full of Boston fans (which typically explains the angriness.) Federal Hill looks like Brooklyn too.

No ma'am. The rest of the sentence contradicts this. There's a feeling to NY that makes it what it is to me.
If I want small and angry, I'll go downtown here.
Sports fans I ... what are those? ~shrug~

But if we're all meeting there, I'll go.

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 26, 2011, 02:02:48 PM
WHOOHOOO YEAH IT'S ON

Just got an email from my girlfriend that she got approval for having the weeks off between 21th May and 12th June!! :D

                :hammer:

SOOOOOO THAT MEANS BOSTON/PROVIDENCE MEETUP IN WEEKEND OF 27/28/29+30th MAY!!! Which of those four days exactly it's going to be is up to you guys and what fits most people best, of course. We're good as long as we're on the correct continent.

WHAT IT ALSO MEANS: SQUIDDY MIGHT MAKE IT (http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3706/dancingcarrot.gif) Which is good because she really needs a good holiday, from what I've heard :)

It also means we can seriously start looking for the best flights. so far we've found retour flights about €500 to €570 p/p, the more expensive one is a direct connection, and the cheaper one has an intermediate stop + 8 hour wait in Madrid, Spain--we're not sure yet, if it was really significantly cheaper I'd take the wait, but €70 is sort of, kind of exactly on the line of what I'd consider 8 hours in an airport worth my time. On the other hand, 8 hours is just about enough time to get out of the airport, eat some Paella in Madrid (or whatever) and get back in time to continue the flight. Maybe we should see it as a bonus: you don't just get to fly to the USA, but also see Madrid for a short while. Not sure if I ever been there before, just Barcelona and Valencia (pro-tip: when in Spain go to Valencia, nicest people, beautiful architecture, clean streets, great mojitos--Barcelonians have more "spanish temperament", in my experience).
I'm going to look to see if I can find cheaper flights though--who knows, maybe we get even more stops at cool places we can check out. Somewhere in the UK maybe, so I can satisfy my IRN BRU cravings.

Try IcelandAir. I hear good things.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 26, 2011, 05:10:18 PM

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 12:42:35 PM
RI is the same shit as NY, just smaller and angrier and half full of Boston fans (which typically explains the angriness.) Federal Hill looks like Brooklyn too.

No ma'am. The rest of the sentence contradicts this. There's a feeling to NY that makes it what it is to me.
If I want small and angry, I'll go downtown here.
Sports fans I ... what are those? ~shrug~

But if we're all meeting there, I'll go.

AND I AM TAKING YOU TO THE GERMAN CLUB. YOU NEED THIS.

Plus, you've been more than a gracious host when I'm down yonder, now I can repay the favor.

I'm kinda wondering what might happen to the place with a bunch of east coast spags and a couple from abroad meeting up in one place.

continental rift?
some kind of tectonic disaster??

MYSTERY!

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 26, 2011, 06:43:52 PM
I'm kinda wondering what might happen to the place with a bunch of east coast spags and a couple from abroad meeting up in one place.

continental rift?
some kind of tectonic disaster??

MYSTERY!

When Roger visited, the zodiac changed as a result. They just now found out about it.

Quote from: Suu on January 26, 2011, 07:11:51 PM
When Roger visited [the Sovereign Principality of Kaousuu], the zodiac changed as a result. They just now found out about it.

newsfeed

You know 000, if you managed to smuggle a bottle or two of Westvleteren over here you'd be AN FUCKING FOREVER AWESOME SUPER HERO!

lol.


*sigh

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 27, 2011, 06:58:26 PM
You know 000, if you managed to smuggle a bottle or two of Westvleteren over here you'd be AN FUCKING FOREVER AWESOME SUPER HERO!

Which one do you like:
    * Westvleteren 6 (blond), 5,8% vol., green bolltecap
    * Westvleteren 8 (brown), 8% vol., blue bolltecap
    * Westvleteren 12 (brown), 10,2% vol., yellow bolltecap

Hrmmm, may have to change my plans for that weekend!

OMG. Where are we going to put all these people?!  :lulz: :lulz: :lulz:

Quote from: Schwarzwälderkirschtorte on January 27, 2011, 07:48:58 PM

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 27, 2011, 06:58:26 PM
You know 000, if you managed to smuggle a bottle or two of Westvleteren over here you'd be AN FUCKING FOREVER AWESOME SUPER HERO!

Which one do you like:
    * Westvleteren 6 (blond), 5,8% vol., green bolltecap
    * Westvleteren 8 (brown), 8% vol., blue bolltecap
    * Westvleteren 12 (brown), 10,2% vol., yellow bolltecap

Any! Cause we can't get any here unless we order them off the Internet. I found and awesome deal but the shipping was a hundred dollars. I was crushed. I will gladly make a trade :D

Quote from: Suu on January 27, 2011, 08:03:42 PM
OMG. Where are we going to put all these people?!  :lulz: :lulz: :lulz:

I'm just going to throw this out there in case people bite


a few years back we had planned on doing a HAUNTED CT MEET UP at a bed and breakfast somewhere in new england. I found a few places where you can rent out a townhouse for the weekend for relatively cheap. (Captain Grant's Inn (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=16927.msg551572#msg551572) has a three bedroom guest house that they rent for $500/weekend)

here was the thread:

http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=16927.msg551380#msg551380

I'm totally down for that kind of thing!

Quote from: Cramulus on January 27, 2011, 08:33:55 PM

Quote from: Suu on January 27, 2011, 08:03:42 PM
OMG. Where are we going to put all these people?!  :lulz: :lulz: :lulz:

I'm just going to throw this out there in case people bite


a few years back we had planned on doing a HAUNTED CT MEET UP at a bed and breakfast somewhere in new england. I found a few places where you can rent out a townhouse for the weekend for relatively cheap. (Captain Grant's Inn (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=16927.msg551572#msg551572) has a three bedroom guest house that they rent for $500/weekend)

here was the thread:

http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=16927.msg551380#msg551380

Sounds fun...

...This is Memorial Day weekend in beach states, not October. I guarantee all B&B's have been booked for a year already, I know there isn't a campground in RI that has vacancy either. Not to mention all the college commencements in the cities. Brown is graduating that weekend, which means a guaranteed Waterfire at least.

not necessarily.. It's still January right now, I'm positive there are B&B's in new england which havent' been booked yet. The place I pointed at is in Preston CT - not a beach town.

I'm kind of unclear about whether this has three or six bedrooms, but the rate is actually really nice, considering we'd get our own kitchen, porch, grill, etc : http://www.rentstagecoachinn.com/



I don't want to try to seize the gathering if you're intent at having it at your place! I just think it'd be cool if we had our own house for the weekend in the middle of nowhere - and we could actually do it real cheap if we split the cost. (the benefit of having a large group)


how big of a group are we talking about, anyway?

Quote from: Cramulus on January 27, 2011, 09:21:27 PM
not necessarily.. It's still January right now, I'm positive there are B&B's in new england which havent' been booked yet. The place I pointed at is in Preston CT - not a beach town.

I'm kind of unclear about whether this has three or six bedrooms, but the rate is actually really nice, considering we'd get our own kitchen, porch, grill, etc : http://www.rentstagecoachinn.com/



I don't want to try to seize the gathering if you're intent at having it at your place! I just think it'd be cool if we had our own house for the weekend in the middle of nowhere - and we could actually do it real cheap if we split the cost. (the benefit of having a large group)


how big of a group are we talking about, anyway?

That depends on how many people actually make it. Trip and Torte are only 2. If Squid comes, chances are she'll bring Mr. Squid, that's another 2...If Rat comes with Sjaantze...another 2.

In Rhode Island, you have me, Richter, Dimo and GS. in Mass you have EoC in New Bedford, Leln in Worcester and then the entire Boston contingent. In CT we have Mangrove and Cainad, and then you're in NY. We also have another friend in Providence that's within walking distance of the Monastery and Angband-Beyond-the-Pineapple that has offered housing as she has a huge living room and an empty bedroom. You know at least where the Monastery is. We can get them on a bus or train to wherever they need to go pretty much on foot, including buses directly to TF Green and Logan.

Also, if we rent a house in CT, especially in small town CT, it's going to be hard for us to all go to Boston for a day or 2, or to get the Dutchspags and other out-of-staters where they need to go public transportation-wise. New London isn't far, but it isn't cheap to get in and out of on the train either, and it's damn near impossible to get anything to Norwich.

Sure, it's practical and worth it, but they want to see America, not spags in a house in the middle of nowhere. Just sayin'.

Also think about if you're definitely going to have Memorial Day off. I'm guaranteed, I'm a state employee...but not everyone may be that fortunate.

So things to ponder: Affordability, availability, accessibility, and allowed amounts of spaggotry.

I don't know about your summer plans, but Richter, GS, and myself are planning for Pennsic, and that's a finance drainer. This is also the weekend after SPWF, and I'll have summer classes.

Quote from: Suu on January 27, 2011, 08:49:52 PM
...This is Memorial Day weekend in beach states, not October. I guarantee all B&B's have been booked for a year already, I know there isn't a campground in RI that has vacancy either. Not to mention all the college commencements in the cities. Brown is graduating that weekend, which means a guaranteed Waterfire at least.

Shouldn´t we have considerd this in the first place BEFORE picking a date? There was the option om 12 June.
I thougt this area was only full booked during the Indian summer? I still can change my vacation days...

Quote from: Suu on January 27, 2011, 09:55:59 PM
Also, if we rent a house in CT, especially in small town CT, it's going to be hard for us to all go to Boston for a day or 2, or to get the Dutchspags and other out-of-staters where they need to go public transportation-wise. New London isn't far, but it isn't cheap to get in and out of on the train either, and it's damn near impossible to get anything to Norwich.

Sure, it's practical and worth it, but they want to see America, not spags in a house in the middle of nowhere. Just sayin'.

We are fine! We'll get a rental car. I can drive, just got my international drivers licence, so I can drive in America. The things was, I did't want to be the only driver on a three week stay on the West-coast. But it defnitly was my intention to get a car for two week or so to drive through New England and surroundings (New York State/Toronto/Pennsylvania).

We are NO WAY the usual tourists. So far, the best times I had abroad were hanging out with the locals. I like to study the customs and habits of the REAL people, just as they are: maori, inuit, mexicans and spags! It will be a great field study.
  :cheers:

No, but seriously, we are three weeks in the US of A, so a relaxing weekend is quite the best thing to do after one week of NYC!
And isn't 99% of America called: 'middle of nowhere'? So, we should check out what this part of America is all about  :D

Only problem is... I don't like haunted houses  :aaa:

O and by the way:

for those who can´t get a sleep cause they were wondering how to pronaunce Schwarzwälderkirschtorte, think about

shwarts-well-der-kirsh-tort-ee 

http://www.google.com/images?q=schwarzw%C3%A4lder+kirschtorte&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=de&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=645 (http://www.google.com/images?q=schwarzw%C3%A4lder+kirschtorte&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=de&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=645)

If you organize a good weekend, you get cake!

I like her already!

I wouldn't mind renting a car either, since I'm not all about staying my whole trip in RI. I'd love to see Boston and NY too if I can squeeze em all in.

Also Suu, I'll definitely be staying in hotels since I don't want to be awake for days at a time on a vacation. I have a weird ass sleep disorder than I can't even explain and sleeping in someone's house is an absolutely impossible thing. So no worries about where to put the 2 of us.

NB isn't exactly centrally located - half hour from Providence and an hour from Boston - and my only furniture is a love seat, but if anyone's hard up for a place to crash I can offer up floor space.  Bring your own floor padding!

I'm inclined to believe along with Suu that Memorial Day reservations will be damned near impossible to make, even this far back.  Graduations are huge, and it's a big kick off for most people's summer activities.

Ok, I just have been told that 'haunted' in America just means an attrackion. Every house that is older than 100 years is called haunted.
So I'm fine with it.

Quote from: Schwarzwälderkirschtorte on January 28, 2011, 08:17:35 AM
Ok, I just have been told that 'haunted' in America just means an attrackion. Every house that is older than 100 years is called haunted.
So I'm fine with it.

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 28, 2011, 03:11:54 AM
NB isn't exactly centrally located - half hour from Providence and an hour from Boston - and my only furniture is a love seat, but if anyone's hard up for a place to crash I can offer up floor space.  Bring your own floor padding!

I'm inclined to believe along with Suu that Memorial Day reservations will be damned near impossible to make, even this far back.  Graduations are huge, and it's a big kick off for most people's summer activities.

What is NB?

Also, about impossibility of reservations, that's mainly for Memorial Day + weekend, right? Cause eh, we're still in the process of figuring out where we're going to stay for the three weeks we'll be in the US. Hopefully crash a couple of nights at some PD spags place to save a bit on costs, but we're probably going to have to glue it all together with some nights at hostels and such.

BTW is that Captain Grant's Inn place a real option then, or not? Because $500 / 6 people = $83.33 / person for two nights is a pretty sweet deal, especially considering it's quite beautiful, and that Poquetanuck Cove (http://goo.gl/maps/keMi) water body is only a few 100m away :)

---

I've just been browsing through the Haunted CT planning thread ... That's right about when Kirsch and me just were together for a month or so (http://a.imageshack.us/img716/8725/orangegrin.png)

I kind of ignored that thread after a couple of pages back then because, well, I wasn't going :) But since we are going (at least to the general area) it contains all sorts of useful tidbits that I can pick off.

I'll just crosspost a bit here, for general reference and such:

Strange New England (http://strangene.com/home.htm) -- Suu's link, seems like a nice site to browse for some non-standard sights to see.

A Useful map of Connecticut:

(http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb163/wompcabal/ct.jpg)

Quote from: Darth Cupcake on October 21, 2008, 09:47:25 PMI also want a rockin' teeny sidecar for my bicycle so that everyone has to sit with their knees around their ears, praying for salvation while I bike like a crazed idiot.

Everyone who rides in the rumble seat will be obligated to wear those leather aviator helmets, goggles, and a white scarf blowing in the wind.

DCUP DID YOU BUILD THIS ALREADY BECAUSE KIRSCHTORTE AND ME WILL NEED THIS VEHICLE TO GET AROUND IN NYC

Quote from: Cramulus on October 20, 2008, 03:07:33 PM
I really really like beer.

:mittens:

Good man.

Quote from: Cramulus on October 20, 2008, 03:07:33 PMBut if my friends found out I went to a party with a cider keg, they'd wonder if a smirnoff ice keg was also considered.

0. Cramulus friends are strange, if they can't tell smirnoff ice from apple cider.
1. Can you buy kegs of smirnoff ice in the US???
2. No seriously where can I get those?
3. You just .. a KEG OF SMIRNOFF ICE???? :lulz:

All this talk about cider is inspiring me to mix a jar of honey, apple juice, blend in some frozen strawberries and pitch a packet of yeast on it and see what happens...

In the end it's all about what you want to do, just do NOT rent that car until you're ready to leave New York City, it will do you no good while you're there and the cost of finding parking for a few nights will be outrageous. You should have no problem with hotels there though, it's New York, they have enough housing for something like twice their population. It's Providence that could be a bitch UNLESS you stay near the airport, it's out of the way more and not right downtown. You won't really feel the crowds, because they'll be concentrated on one corner of town, but they'll buy up the rooms. We can even take a spin up to the Eastside to see the festivities, because Brown does put on a hell of a show.

If you are looking for a hotel, definitely check the downtown ones first and see what rates you can get and book them ASAP. I'd recommend the Hilton on Atwells Ave:

http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/PVDPRHF-Hilton-Providence-Rhode-Island/index.do

After that, the next closest one is the Westin. Immediately downtown is the Courtyard by Marriott, and a newer Hampton Inn. There's a boutique hotel called Hotel Providence, as well as the Biltmore, which was built in the 1920s. There's another Marriott that's on the other side of the state house closer to the train station. Hotel Dolce Vita is a block away from me and about 3 blocks from Richter, but probably on the $$$ side. Stay away from the Sportsman Inn. That's NOT a hotel and they charge by the hour if you get my drift.

Boston will be more pricy, but staying in like, Cambridge MIGHT make it cheaper, unless Harvard is graduating the same weekend as Brown. There's enough hotels up there that you're bound to find something, just run it by us first before booking so you're not in a bad area.

And if you definitely go with the car, you have the option of picking a suburban location like Foxboro or Warwick too.

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 28, 2011, 12:09:28 PM
(http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb163/wompcabal/ct.jpg)

:spits coffee:

I totally forgot about that image... still  :lol:'ing @ "CONNECTICUT: KINGDOM OF BLOOD"

Quote from: Cramulus on October 20, 2008, 03:07:33 PMBut if my friends found out I went to a party with a cider keg, they'd wonder if a smirnoff ice keg was also considered.

The reference here is that Smirnoff Ice and Cider are preferred by people who don't like beer - the stereotype of people who drink smirnoff ice is that they're underage girls. More people drink cider, but it's still pretty unusual to see it as the main drink at a party. Usually if there's a keg, people go with cheap beer.

...Keg of PBR, Beachhouse, and like 15 spags from around the world. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 28, 2011, 12:09:28 PM

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 28, 2011, 03:11:54 AM
NB isn't exactly centrally located - half hour from Providence and an hour from Boston - and my only furniture is a love seat, but if anyone's hard up for a place to crash I can offer up floor space.  Bring your own floor padding!

I'm inclined to believe along with Suu that Memorial Day reservations will be damned near impossible to make, even this far back.  Graduations are huge, and it's a big kick off for most people's summer activities.

What is NB?

New Bedford, old whaling city, now a rundown shithole.  It does have some legitimately pretty spots, but not worth any kind of drive unless people are already here after being desperate for crash space.

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 28, 2011, 03:05:46 PM

Quote from: Triple Zero on January 28, 2011, 12:09:28 PM

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on January 28, 2011, 03:11:54 AM
NB isn't exactly centrally located - half hour from Providence and an hour from Boston - and my only furniture is a love seat, but if anyone's hard up for a place to crash I can offer up floor space.  Bring your own floor padding!

I'm inclined to believe along with Suu that Memorial Day reservations will be damned near impossible to make, even this far back.  Graduations are huge, and it's a big kick off for most people's summer activities.

What is NB?

New Bedford, old whaling city, now a rundown shithole.  It does have some legitimately pretty spots, but not worth any kind of drive unless people are already here after being desperate for crash space.

It smells too. I wasn't sure what it was that we smelled on the way to the Cape last year, I thought it was residual Fall River, but New Bedford definitely has it's own smell...unless Buzzards Bay was at REALLY low tide.

Quote from: Suu on January 28, 2011, 03:01:48 PM
...Keg of PBR, Beachhouse, and like 15 spags from around the world. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!

The fifth seal being open?

(http://rentstagecoachinn.com/images/IMG_0029.gif)

I just checked - The Stage Coach Inn (http://rentstagecoachinn.com) is still available for Memorial Day Weekend.

If we're interested, this would be the breakdown...

$350 per night

gets us 5 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms.


If we end up having 10 people (off the top of my head ... me, eve, suu, richter, trip, torte, squid, mr. squid, rat, sjaante) --- that's only $35 per night apiece. If we end up spilling over, there's probably enough crash space in the living room that we could fit some more people in.

and look at this sweet grill space:

(http://rentstagecoachinn.com/images/IMG_0528A.gif)

BAD ASS



---PLEASE NOTE: this doesn't exclude hanging out in providence too!

Also: if we end up with fewer than 10 people, we can just rent the lower floor (2 bedrooms) for $150 a night, or the upper floor (3 bedrooms) for $250 a night.

Check availability with them. Remember that in order to reserve it's a non-refundable deposit, I believe I read that somewhere.

We also need to solidify our numbers before agreeing to any financial commitment. I'm going to be taking summer classes, so I have no idea how I'll be money-wise until after I run a budget over with my FAO.

I did check availability -- it is available!

Tax also applies, and we may have to put down a deposit.

But here's their Cancellation policy: If you cancel within one week of your scheduled arrival, you are held responsible for all of the nights that we are unable to resell.





also:  from http://www.damnedct.com/captain-grants-inn-preston/

(maybe kirchetorte should skip this post because it pertains to ghosts)

In Preston sits Captain Grant's Inn, a rustic bed-and-breakfast that for over two centuries has succeeded both as a temporary refuge for travelers and a permanent home ... to ghosts!

In 1754, Captain William Grant built a "suitable" home in Poquetanuck Village for his beloved wife Mercy and their children. Even though Captain Grant later died at sea, the abode served the family well — Mercy lived there well into her 80s, followed by three generations of Grants.

According to the inn's website, during the Revolutionary War, soldiers of the Continental Army were garrisoned there; during the Civil War, escaped slaves were sheltered there. The house underwent a significant renovation in the mid 1990s, and now features numerous named rooms, six working fireplaces and a three-story porch. Poquetanuck's first cemetery is also located behind the inn.

Apparently, one room in particular — the Adelaide Room — is a hotspot for paranormal activity. One guest claims to have awakened in the middle of the night to see next to her bed a woman dressed in Colonial-era garb, holding hands with two children. There have also been claims of the TV turning itself on and off as well as the shower curtain being knocked down without provocation.

Some visitors have reported hearing random knockings and seeing unusual shapes; one guest described the sensation of having her face caressed by invisible hands, another told of the shade of a young child passing through them. Paranormal investigators have also allegedly recorded EVPs here, including the voice of a young girl. Phantom footsteps have been heard in the attic.

The owners of the inn have described their supposed ghosts as "protective" spirits, and have only reported positive — if eerie — experiences.

Captain Grant's is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been featured on Home & Garden TV and in Yankee Magazine as well as being listed as a haunted inn by CNN and USA Today. It has also been in an episode of A&E's "Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal."





___
I looked up the show it was on. Apparently it's Psychic Kids - season 2 episode 7. Still digging for the video. :P

I'm surprised Ghost Hunters hasn't been all over that.

Hell, I can show you the trailer and building in Warwick where they used to be based (and still used as a set), INCLUDING the Roto Rooter they used to work for!  :mrgreen:

Now that's touristy.

Oh, we should consider a trip to Swan Point Cemetery to visit our good friend Howard Philip. I've only been ONCE, and the grave is not easy to find.

Put me down for two folks!
I'm totally in on that shit.

BTW- I'm coming up there for certain. So for any events, consider me two people.

and $35 bucks a person split up to stay there with a grill and shit?? That's cheap as hell.

I am very much in for this.

Quote from: Suu on January 28, 2011, 12:53:08 PM

Boston will be more pricy, but staying in like, Cambridge MIGHT make it cheaper, unless Harvard is graduating the same weekend as Brown. There's enough hotels up there that you're bound to find something, just run it by us first before booking so you're not in a bad area.

And if you definitely go with the car, you have the option of picking a suburban location like Foxboro or Warwick too.

Dedham is also a possibility, though I don't know what the rates are there. Dedham is right outside of Boston/next to the part of Boston where I live (West Roxbury) though I might not be living in West Roxbury at that time. If you do Dedham though, you will need a car, since MBTA service is not as extensive.

Which reminds me, this might be helpful when you get here:

www.mbta.com

The trip planner is pretty handy. It might also help narrow down any accommodations you're looking for.

Yes. Important websites to know:

http://www.mbta.com like Blight just mentioned. Boston commuter rails and subways.

http://www.mta.info/ The NYC Subway is your friend while you're there. Try to avoid taxis, they'll hear your accent and suck you dry.

http://ripta.com Just in case for whatever reason, we can't get you somewhere in RI, the bus pretty much goes everywhere, including the beach and airport, for $2 one way.

http://www.septa.org/ This is Philadelphia, should you go down there. Lots of great history.

http://www.wmata.com/ Washington DC Area Metro. It's pretty thorough and easy to navigate.

http://mta.maryland.gov/services/lightrail/ This is the Baltimore Light Rail. Though I have no idea why you would go to that city EXCEPT to see the Inner Harbor.

Mr Squid and I stopped in Baltimore for the harbor. We took a wrong turn and ended up in I swear what looked like a "bad movie" set. Like, clothes lines from one building to the next and everything.
Found some great seafood though.

Damn I wanna see Boston.
I need a map.

Baltimore is awesome, like a John Waters film.  Also, the American Visionary museum, which houses an enormous collection of "Amateur" and "Outsider" art.  People who never sold their work, schizophrenics, OCD cases, prisoners.  It's pretty stunning.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 28, 2011, 07:15:45 PM
Mr Squid and I stopped in Baltimore for the harbor. We took a wrong turn and ended up in I swear what looked like a "bad movie" set. Like, clothes lines from one building to the next and everything.
Found some great seafood though.

Damn I wanna see Boston.
I need a map.

Boston is easy. We won't drive there though, even if you rent a car. That's what trains are for. Parking in Boston is worse than parking in New York. Yeah...Think on that one for a bit. We don't really have room for cars in the Northeast, but because we already have so many cars, we don't exactly have room for bikes either.  :x

Boston is amazingly walkable, though.  At least in Spring and Fall.

Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 28, 2011, 07:19:22 PM
Baltimore is awesome, like a John Waters film.  Also, the American Visionary museum, which houses an enormous collection of "Amateur" and "Outsider" art.  People who never sold their work, schizophrenics, OCD cases, prisoners.  It's pretty stunning.

Some of the coolest bums I've ever met were in Baltimore. This one dude could recite Shakespeare on command for a burger. I asked him to knock off Act 2 Scene 3 of King Lear and he did it without breaking a sweat.

So you can hop a train from RI to Boston then another to like Connecticut and NY??
Does it take a whole day to get from one to the next? Hold up. How many miles across is Mass and RI??

(see it's hard to imagine this shit when you live in FL cause this place is so damn spread out and there's nearly no public transit)

Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 28, 2011, 07:20:56 PM
Boston is amazingly walkable, though.  At least in Spring and Fall.

Troof. So is Providence because it's so small, it's just that the hills can be a little intimidating. Even Roger was like, "WTF" when him and Richter walked up to Thayer to see me at work.

Hell, even Manhattan is walkable, you just need to stay focused, which is, unfortunately, going to be extremely hard to do for anyone who's never been there before.

On a normal amtrak train, it takes about 4 hours from Boston to NY.  Suu has probably done it more recently than I, so she probably has better details.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 28, 2011, 07:25:40 PM
So you can hop a train from RI to Boston then another to like Connecticut and NY??
Does it take a whole day to get from one to the next? Hold up. How many miles across is Mass and RI??

(see it's hard to imagine this shit when you live in FL cause this place is so damn spread out and there's nearly no public transit)

Train from Boston to Providence: 45 minutes on Amtrak, an hour and change on the commuter line.
Providence to NYC: 3 hours and change on Amtrak. Commuter line requires a drive to New Haven, CT, and from New Haven to Grand Central is 2 hours. Amtrak goes to Penn.

Bus and driving is about the same. It's only 150 miles exactly from Manhattan to Providence, and then another exact 50 miles from Boston to Providence. The post roads were designed like this for a reason, so you could make them in a day by stagecoach. Rte 6 connects Hartford, CT to Providence. It's almost a straight line and exactly 60 miles. We can be in Montreal in 6 hours on a good day. It took 6 hours to get out of the state of Florida on a good day from TAMPA, not even the full length of the state.

If you take the Acela, which is the high speed train (don't, because it's stupid expensive) it's 35 mins from Providence to Boston.

Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 28, 2011, 07:20:56 PM
Boston is amazingly walkable, though.  At least in Spring and Fall.

I agree.  Though I recommend some planning, especially in terms of where you put up for the night.  My wife and I usually go to one Red Sox game a year and we found this great little brownstone inn that is in just the right spot so we can walk to Fenway and hit some other spots. 

Also, if it comes down to it, I can totally bus it to NYC to escort spags. A same-day roundtrip from Providence to New York is 30 bucks on Peter Pan.



...Plus it's an excuse to go to the City.  8)

Oh, and aside from Strange New England (We can arrange to see almost everything on there if you want), this is another FANTASTIC RI guide made by locals: http://www.quahog.org/

And there's always Art in Ruins for those that love architecture: http://artinruins.com/

holy cow that is incredibly small  :eek:

I could theoretically do all the places in one day if I really wanted to (which I don't)

Cool, so going from one place to another will be a breeze.
Walking is something I really enjoy. We walked the length of Manhattan just for the hell of it. (in the rain) The less driving I have to do the happier I am.
Shit. This should be a lot of fun.

LMNO- you gonna hang?

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 28, 2011, 07:54:02 PM
holy cow that is incredibly small  :eek:

I could theoretically do all the places in one day if I really wanted to (which I don't)

Cool, so going from one place to another will be a breeze.
Walking is something I really enjoy. We walked the length of Manhattan just for the hell of it. (in the rain) The less driving I have to do the happier I am.
Shit. This should be a lot of fun.

LMNO- you gonna hang?

There is no shortage of shit to do here, which is why I'm against the house idea for now, especially since we're narrowing it down to a 4 day weekend. If you guys come in on Friday, we GOTTA go to the Ratskeller (German Club bar), and that leaves us with 3 full days. Boston is one full day. Providence CAN be a full day depending on what you want to see, and the ocean/beach is going to be 3-4 hours to get down there, see the water, ooh, ahh, get clam cakes, doughboys and chowdah, and head back up. So it's going to go really fast.

If ya'll come in on Thursday night, we can spend Friday in Providence, Saturday in Boston. Drive down to the beach on Sunday morning, head over to Connecticut for a night at the house and BBQ Monday if they let us stay to do it. That's one option.

There's also places like Newport or Mystic to consider as well.

........We didn't even think about trying to get a place down in the Nizzle Pizzle Newport. That could be even MORE ridiculous.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 28, 2011, 07:54:02 PM
LMNO- you gonna hang?

Possibly.  I'm gonna have to play it by ear.

I'm gonna try to smuggle a bunch of homebrew in my suitcase and cigar city is having a special release the weekend before so i have to bring some of that.

A Bostonian Saturday works perfect for me of course, and I see no reason not to spend a Friday in Provvy.

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 29, 2011, 01:27:09 AM
A Bostonian Saturday works perfect for me of course, and I see no reason not to spend a Friday in Provvy.

WTF is a Provvy?

Nigga plz.
\
(http://www.gonomad.com/features/0705/providence-images/RogerWilliamsStatue.jpg)

Quote from: Suu on January 29, 2011, 10:38:22 AM

Quote from: Doktor Blight on January 29, 2011, 01:27:09 AM
A Bostonian Saturday works perfect for me of course, and I see no reason not to spend a Friday in Provvy.

WTF is a Provvy?

Nigga plz.
\
(http://www.gonomad.com/features/0705/providence-images/RogerWilliamsStatue.jpg)

I would top that if I had a pic of a statue of John Winthrop. I'll have to suffice with a painting then.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/JohnWinthropColorPortrait.jpg)

Puritans. :vom:



COME TO PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS! WE LET JEWS AND CATHOLICS IN HERE! ESPECIALLY IF BOSTON OR PLYMOUTH KICKED YOU OUT!
\
(http://iangoddard.com/roger01.jpg)

Why would those Indians name themselves after such a horrible beer??
::ducks::

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 01, 2011, 04:42:37 PM
Why would those Indians name themselves after such a horrible beer??
::ducks::

Said tribe also is not a recognized nation under the federal government, since they sold all their land willingly to RI or some shit. Which is why the smoke shop was raided...or some shit. I dunno. Narragansetts are assholes. The Wampanoags are where it's at, yo.

Quote from: Cramulus on January 28, 2011, 04:47:28 PM
(http://rentstagecoachinn.com/images/IMG_0029.gif)

I just checked - The Stage Coach Inn (http://rentstagecoachinn.com) is still available for Memorial Day Weekend.

If we're interested, this would be the breakdown...

$350 per night

gets us 5 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms.


If we end up having 10 people (off the top of my head ... me, eve, suu, richter, trip, torte, squid, mr. squid, rat, sjaante) --- that's only $35 per night apiece. If we end up spilling over, there's probably enough crash space in the living room that we could fit some more people in.

and look at this sweet grill space:

(http://rentstagecoachinn.com/images/IMG_0528A.gif)

BAD ASS



---PLEASE NOTE: this doesn't exclude hanging out in providence too!

hi, some more travel info from us for you.

So, Trip and me narrowed down some flight options (on the whereabouts of INTERNET FLIGHT BOOKING HELL)
The cheapest option is with Swiss Air with a stop-over in Zürich:
- Arrival at sunday the 22nd of May at New York JFK at 15:50 h
- Departure from Boston on thursday the 9th of June at 21:40 h.
The most fun option is via Madrid, where we can spend a day on our way back with a hell of a jetlack eating paella en drinking mojitos.  :transmet:
Money talks, so it probably will be Swiss Air.




Perhaps it is a good idea to rent the house a.s.a.p.? Otherwise it WILL be taken on Memorial Day. Just saying. Who is going to organize this? And when/where do we pay for this stuff anyway? On the weekend itself or in advance? Since in America one pays everything with a creditcard, how do you split money? If it's in advance, will somebody be in charge of collecting the money?
More important: are we staying one (29/5 - 30/5) or two (28/5 - 30/5) nights?




Another question on car rental. Maybe you could help us by telling if this a good deal:
I have two car options (two weeks, fr the 27th of May untill thr 9th of June), incl. full insurance coverage and no-risk policy:
- Via Wow Car Rental, a Pontiac G5 for $ 600.
- Via Alamo, a Nissan Versa for $ 620.
Both companies are located at F. Green Arpt. 2053 Post Road, 2886 Providence.
What do you think? I will, by the way, book the car in advance in Europe, cause the insurance is more clear in case something happens.

If you need a vehicle in which we squeeze 7 people, we can rent a Dodge Caravan. For $60 pp we can arrange this for you.
[ ($900-$600)/5 = $60 ]

Quote from: Suu on January 28, 2011, 08:08:20 PM

There is no shortage of shit to do here, which is why I'm against the house idea for now, especially since we're narrowing it down to a 4 day weekend. If you guys come in on Friday, we GOTTA go to the Ratskeller (German Club bar), and that leaves us with 3 full days. Boston is one full day. Providence CAN be a full day depending on what you want to see, and the ocean/beach is going to be 3-4 hours to get down there, see the water, ooh, ahh, get clam cakes, doughboys and chowdah, and head back up. So it's going to go really fast.

If ya'll come in on Thursday night, we can spend Friday in Providence, Saturday in Boston. Drive down to the beach on Sunday morning, head over to Connecticut for a night at the house and BBQ Monday if they let us stay to do it. That's one option.

There's also places like Newport or Mystic to consider as well.

This sounds cool!

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 28, 2011, 07:54:02 PM
Cool, so going from one place to another will be a breeze.
Walking is something I really enjoy. We walked the length of Manhattan just for the hell of it. (in the rain) The less driving I have to do the happier I am.
Shit. This should be a lot of fun.

Yeah, I don't mind walking at all either. Dutchbag's got long legs :)

But--the length of Manhattan is like .. 20km (12.5mi), that would take at least 5 hours at a comfortable pace?

Still sounds like fun though, but including stops and breaks, it's a full-day expedition :)

Quote
LMNO- you gonna hang?

Yes LMNO, how's your ear playing already?

Quotewe GOTTA go to the Ratskeller (German Club bar)

What kind of German Club is this? More like the Kraftwerk U96 Das Boot 123 Tekno (:fap:) or does it specialise in Lederhosen, Oktoberfest and Schlagermusik and stein-carrying wenches ( :lol:/ :x/ :lulz:/ :argh!:/ :)) ?

I found a car rental comparing site called:

www.vroomvroomvroom.com (http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com)    :D

Quote from: Triple Zero on February 07, 2011, 12:08:10 PM

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 28, 2011, 07:54:02 PM
Cool, so going from one place to another will be a breeze.
Walking is something I really enjoy. We walked the length of Manhattan just for the hell of it. (in the rain) The less driving I have to do the happier I am.
Shit. This should be a lot of fun.

Yeah, I don't mind walking at all either. Dutchbag's got long legs :)

But--the length of Manhattan is like .. 20km (12.5mi), that would take at least 5 hours at a comfortable pace?

Still sounds like fun though, but including stops and breaks, it's a full-day expedition :)

Quote
LMNO- you gonna hang?

Yes LMNO, how's your ear playing already?

Quotewe GOTTA go to the Ratskeller (German Club bar)

What kind of German Club is this? More like the Kraftwerk U96 Das Boot 123 Tekno (:fap:) or does it specialise in Lederhosen, Oktoberfest and Schlagermusik and stein-carrying wenches ( :lol:/ :x/ :lulz:/ :argh!:/ :)) ?

It's the German American Cultural Society. http://www.gacsri.org/

They have a bar in the basement called the Ratskeller, which is open to the public on Friday nights. They serve tasty German import beer cheap and they have food there and such. There's also a group of old men that sing amazing traditional songs and the occasional accordion. They've been trying to get General Stuart to sing with them now for about a year. They also help me with my language studies and have been pretty awesome about it and don't laugh TOO hard when I screw up. ;)

For you guys, it's probably pretty meh, but for us, it's a lot of fun, considering some of those beers we can't get on tap anywhere else, ESPECIALLY at the prices they charge ($3-$5 depending on the brew.) They also have a pool table and darts. It's really relaxed and casual and beats going out to a TGI Fridays or something horribly cliche.

If you don't want to spend the money with a car rental, we can work around it. There's a lot of public transportation between New York and Boston.

Quote from: Schwarzwälderkirschtorte on February 07, 2011, 01:10:52 AM
Perhaps it is a good idea to rent the house a.s.a.p.? Otherwise it WILL be taken on Memorial Day. Just saying. Who is going to organize this? And when/where do we pay for this stuff anyway? On the weekend itself or in advance? Since in America one pays everything with a creditcard, how do you split money? If it's in advance, will somebody be in charge of collecting the money?

More important: are we staying one (29/5 - 30/5) or two (28/5 - 30/5) nights?

I'll be happy to reserve the house. What I need is a list of who's definitely in for this idea.

Because I suspect the logistics of this might take up some space, I started a thread for it here (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=28320.0)

I'm in Providence, and this sounds like a blast.  I've got couch and floor space for a couple-few people if needed (though no place to park cars for free).  This sounds like a blast.

I will have May 26-30 or 31.

All I need to know is who will be where on those dates and then I can set my itinerary.
I'm not too keen on staying in Butt-Town Providence for too long, so ... I'd like to see Boston? Always NY, still in for the place in Cuntneticurt.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 09, 2011, 08:18:08 AM
I will have May 26-30 or 31.

What does that mean? You can get the days off, but you have to pick between either 26-30th or just the 31st?

In that case, I'd go with the longer option :)

QuoteAll I need to know is who will be where on those dates and then I can set my itinerary.
I'm not too keen on staying in Butt-Town Providence for too long, so ... I'd like to see Boston? Always NY, still in for the place in Cuntneticurt.

Sounds like it's time to make some sort of who-will-be-where-when-and-what-shall-we-do calendar thingy?

Oh sorry. I meant I will have from the 26th until either the 30th or 31st. Not sure which one yet, as those days aren't technically available and I will have to use my boss' suggestion of calling out sick. "Sick".

Yes, a calendar of who-will-be-where-when sounds good  :)

Things I was told to bring up for you to know:

Make sure you get an adapter for our plugs, or alternate power supplies for things like cell phones and laptops. North American outlets are different, but I'm sure you knew that.

IN AMERICA, OUR TOILET AND SHOWER/BATHTUB ARE IN THE SAME ROOM. My German professor last night made the point of having me tell you guys because it's not the norm in Europe and can often be shocking. This is why we will say "have to go to the bathroom" instead of "have to go to the toilet/WC", even in public places where the restrooms are just WCs.

For even more weirdness, our washer and dryers are not in our kitchens and for the most part not in our bathrooms (I have seen a couple of houses like that). I don't even own a washer or dryer, I have to go to a laundromat, so you'll have to expect to do the same for clean clothes. Fortunately our local place is pretty cool and has nice TVs and wifi to keep you sane. :)


Also, I'll need to know what dates people are planning to convene in Providence, whether we get the house in Connecticunt or not. This is so housing can be arranged (And Squiddy once you get dates we'll find you a hotel). I'm planning on a futon in the living room, but not sure if it will be single or double yet, but I do have a queen sized airbed that I'm using right now that is actually pretty comfy.

Oh, and my classes will be on Monday and Wednesday. Apparently I've been told it's a bad idea to do 2 summer classes during the same 5 week session...let's see if they can break me.  :D I will have Memorial Day off all day, and I may be eligible to work all day, but I can take whatever time off I need.

Hey--help us decide, we're still busy booking the flight cause the previous cheaper one was gone when we tried to book it (stupid site :argh!:) but no worries cause they're still plenty cheap.

Except we got a crazy idea because a bunch of those flights have in-between stops for more than 6 hours, so why not check out that place. Our options are:

* We leave Amsterdam Airport at 8am, stopping on the way and have paella and mojitos for lunch in Madrid, before resuming our flight to NYC/JFK.

* On the way back, we leave June 11th--which happens to be our 3 year anniversary--from Boston at 21:30 in the evening, four hours later the plane lands for some serious mid-night chilling the fuck out in a hot geyser pool in Reykjavik -- even though it's broad daylight there at that moment, but they only got 3 hours of darkness that time of the year anyway. Another option is a bunch of hours earlier on a friday night which would allow us to watch the sunset, have some drinks, watch the sunrise, and get on the plane again! :) :) [if we hurry, sunset's 20 minutes after landing]

* Third option, either on the way to NYC or the trip back, we can spend an afternoon in Philadelphia chillin' out max, and relaxing all cool, shooting some b-ball outside of the school or whatever it is they do over there.

wheeeeeeeeee decisions decisions :mrgreen:

actually all the numbers and times and days and dates and timezones are dancing in front of my eyes now, fortunately, Ms.Torte is able to make some sense out of it, and I trust her to pick something cool and affordable.

(also I secretly worry whether I'll have the energy to actually enjoy a between-stop on such a long trip, but since it doesn't cost any extra, why not?)

Philadelphia is very historical, it's worth the trip. They have things there like the Liberty Bell!

http://www.visitphilly.com/


Also, are you going to be able to leave the airport(s) on layovers? And do you REALLY want to deal with security that often? Think about that.

Oh, but whatever you do, DO NOT FLY INTO/OUT OF/LAYOVER IN PHILADELPHIA. That airport is a nightmare.

If you're in Philly, skip terrible cheesesteaks (or if you MUST, do Tony Luke's) and go to Reading Terminal Market - eat at Dinic's Roast Beef and order a Yeungling on draught nearby.

No. Cheesesteak from a street vendor or GTFO. If you're going to have one, do it in the most filthy way you can. That is the correct Philly cheesesteak motorcycle.

Quote from: Suu on February 12, 2011, 12:24:03 AM
No. Cheesesteak from a street vendor or GTFO. If you're going to have one, do it in the most filthy way you can. That is the correct Philly cheesesteak motorcycle.

I SPIT on your fluorescent orange cheese.  Sharp provolone or nothing.

This reminds me, important cliche foods of note, for your gastronomical pleasure:

Philadelphia - The cheesesteak. Shaved steak, yellow American cheese, and typically onions. They probably have about 3000 calories a piece, but to get one IN Philly is a treat.

New York - There's not just one think in New York that is awesome, but while you're there, any corner $1 a slice pizza place is worth it, and for Chinese food, go to Mott St. in Chinatown and eat at Wo Hop. It's nothing special, but it's probably the best "American" Chinese food you will ever have.

Providence - We're more famous for our fine Italian dining, but gems to hit are Ricotti's for grinders (what these here locals call sub sandwiches), and a trip to the beach for clam cakes and New England clam chowder from Iggy's. I will take Benedryl for the sake of Iggy's chowder even if it means sleeping the rest of the afternoon, if that tells you something. Stay away from clear Rhode Island chowder or bakery pizza strips. I still haven't figured those out. If you want to do clams, we'll go to the docks and get them fresh or from our friend Enzo. Heck, we could do a clambake in his back yard on Memorial Day if the house-thing doesn't work out.

Boston - Cannolis and gelato from Mike's Pastry in the North End are one of my favorite "touristy" things to get. I don't do baked beans, but I'm sure there's someone on this board that can tell you where to get an awesome batch. I can show you where "Cheers" is, but it's not worth eating there.

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on February 12, 2011, 12:33:58 AM

Quote from: Suu on February 12, 2011, 12:24:03 AM
No. Cheesesteak from a street vendor or GTFO. If you're going to have one, do it in the most filthy way you can. That is the correct Philly cheesesteak motorcycle.

I SPIT on your fluorescent orange cheese.  Sharp provolone or nothing.

SHUT UP. I DON'T WANT THAT GOURMET SHIT, WHEN I WANT A CHEESESTEAK IN PHILLY, I WANT THE FUCKING CHEESE WHIZ.


However, places that put mayonnaise on them need to DIE.

Quote from: SuuAlso, are you going to be able to leave the airport(s) on layovers? And do you REALLY want to deal with security that often? Think about that.

Quote from: Suu on February 12, 2011, 12:10:17 AM
Oh, but whatever you do, DO NOT FLY INTO/OUT OF/LAYOVER IN PHILADELPHIA. That airport is a nightmare.

Hmmmm okayyy very good points. It's better to have a layover in Europe then (including Reykjavik).

Now I kinda wonder what horror US airport security must be.

I mean, I did read all the TSA shit that went on, but we got pretty much just the same in Schiphol, I thought. Including the nude scanners. They don't make you take off your shoes, though (just the belt, if it's got metal in it). Every airport in other countries have been more relaxed with security (Turkey, Spain, Germany, don't think I flew anywhere else recently).



Warning - while you were typing 5 new replies ABOUT CHEESE STEAKS have been posted. You may wish to review your post. ALSO, CHEESE STEAKS.

You almost convinced the (vegetarian) Miss Torte to go to Philly, just for the cheese steaks, though :lulz:

OH. MY. GOD. Now I was wondering WTF a "cheese steak" was .. I mean, must probably be something like an inverted cordon bleu, right?

BUT NO

NOOOOOO

IT'S NEITHER CHEESE NOR STEAK

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/PatsCheesesteak.jpg/512px-PatsCheesesteak.jpg)

... so it's either THAT or ...

Quote from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HákarlHákarl or kæstur hákarl (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhauːkʰartl̥]) (Icelandic for "fermented shark") is a food from Iceland. It is a Greenland or basking shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. Hákarl is an acquired taste[citation needed] and has a very particular ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste, similar to very strong cheese slathered in ammonia.

OR ...

(http://www.bahiamarina.net/images/food3/mojito.jpg) (http://media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/UNtK7e328As7alroI1Vdzg/l)

:lulz:




anyway, we choose the one with a layover in Reykjavik on the way back, because we don't expect to get a chance to see Reykjavik again any time soon, if ever [unlike Madrid]. And seriously, it sounds like an adventure, and we're going to feel sorry if we don't do it :) And finally, it doesn't actually cost anything extra, so at the very worst, we're just going to be extra hungover and jetlagged when we get back.

OMG SHE CLICKED THE BUTTON AND NOW WE GOT THE BOOKING W00T (we can't go back now hihihi)

Quote from: Triple Zero on February 12, 2011, 01:45:08 AM
OMG SHE CLICKED THE BUTTON AND NOW WE GOT THE BOOKING W00T (we can't go back now hihihi)

You have just crossed the event horizon of fuxxored!   :lulz:

:mittens:

Quote from: Cuddlefish on February 12, 2011, 02:10:27 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on February 12, 2011, 01:45:08 AM
OMG SHE CLICKED THE BUTTON AND NOW WE GOT THE BOOKING W00T (we can't go back now hihihi)

You have just crossed the event horizon of fuxxored!   :lulz:

What's the itinerary!?!

I'm excited to know just what the hell you Eurospags are gonna do in this god-forsajken country!!


(stray j left for Eurosplaglandianese)

Quote from: Suu on February 12, 2011, 04:14:51 AM

Quote from: Cuddlefish on February 12, 2011, 02:10:27 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on February 12, 2011, 01:45:08 AM
OMG SHE CLICKED THE BUTTON AND NOW WE GOT THE BOOKING W00T (we can't go back now hihihi)

You have just crossed the event horizon of fuxxored!   :lulz:

What's the itinerary!?!

You mean the times and flight numbers and such? I'll post them tomorrow, don't have em right now.

Also where you will be on what dates

Will pop my head in to say the cheesesteaks in Philly are worth losing the last ten years of life for. And enjoy your trip, 000 and 000GF. Wish I was close enough to drop in and see ya'll. (and hit up Suu's list of eats. Damn.)

Times and dates will come tomorrow. I'll set my phone a reminder.

Question to Suu, what are now exactly our plans for the Friday before the weekend in the Stagecoach Inn? Well, not exactly, but what is decided upon so far, and with who?

I'm going to dig up my headset, this stuff needs talked over via Skype (with Suu, Cram and possibly Squid).

(edit: not right now, of course, it's 3AM here)

Also see my reply in the other thread.

Friday we can go up to Boston for the day and come back to Providence, or rather, Pawtucket to go to the Ratskeller for dinner. It's the German American Cultural Society bar, it's only open on Friday nights, the beer is good AND CHEAP, and they have authentic German food.

You know...exactly what you want on your trip to the states.  :|

I'm actually just curious to get your opinion. Lol.


Or, depending on when you arrive, we can just relax Friday night at the bar, and then Saturday roam Providence before heading to CT. And Monday we can do Boston.

I'm up for that.
How cheap??

okay ... what group/people/spags is going to be there at Friday in Providence/Pawtucket then? cause I thought Torte and me were going to carpool Cramulus out of New York ... but that's all changed ... Is there still a meetup in Boston between the people who live there, or, or has that all moved to the Stagecoach Inn now? Cause at the beginning of the thread there was talk about "the next Providence/Boston meetup" but if that's replaced what about the people that can't come to the Stagecoach Inn? It's all about as many spags meeting as many spags as possible, after all.

It'll probably all be fine and we'll figure it out and have a great time.

I worked out the most confusing part for me, which is the placenames, it must sound real stupid to admit, but when I hear "Providence" I keep thinking about a region not a city (probably cause it sounds like Provence) and when I hear Connecticut I keep thinking about a city not a state (for no good reason) and then New England which is not a state but a region, and Rhode Island confused with Long Island and THEN there's the matter of which one contains the other one. But now I know what's been slipping my mind all the time, I memorized them: Boston is in Massachusetts, Providence is in Rhode Island, the Stage Coach Inn is in a weird Indian-named village in Connecticut, Long Island is in New York City which is in New York State. And all of that is in New England. Phew.

So now you know, why I won't ever ever blame people for forgetting Belgium is the capital of Kopenhagen, famous for its sprouts. Or indeed, never join the dogpile on people unable to locate Iraq.

Is there a word for that or something? Dysgeographia? Used to have the same problem when I was little, confusing Dutch provinces with the places inside them.

So never mind, it's not really important, just needed to get it off my chest, just so you all know it's not that I don't care or anything, cause I do.

----- (crosspost) -----
If you have a landline phone number, we can also call that with Skype, rates are real cheap for calling landlines all over the world. We'll do that tomorrow then. And speaking English is no problem for her, so don't worry about the German (you can practice on her when we meet, though).

Kirschtorte will be back home today and tomorrow at 16.30 our time / 10.30 your time. I hope I can catch Cramulus on IRC today, (but you're usually online during that time, right Cram?).

I talked to her this morning in the short bit between waking up and her leaving for work and it seems we're both unclear on what the plan actually is, for the whole weekend, but on different bits, and right now it's really stressing me out. And this is just a few days of the time we'll spend in the USA. It'll probably all be fine.
----- (crosspost) -----

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 16, 2011, 04:49:31 AM
I'm up for that.
How cheap??

$3 Franziskaner drafts cheap enough for you? $5 Korbinian on draft too.

To add to your confusion, Long Island is not part of New York City, but Brookyn and Queens are PART of Long Island.  :|





Yeah, we all have to sit down and chat and figure out what is going on. I will PM you my cell number, Trip. I'm going to be upgrading to an international plan soon once I find out the rates so it'll be easier when you're actually here to keep in touch and not cost a fortune...Hopefully.

I need to talk to Cramulon as well so we can figure out who's going to plan what and we can get this less confusing for everyone.

To further confuse, New York is not in New England (however it borders 3 New England states), but is actually in the Mid-Atlantic states region.

No it isn't. It's a Northeastern state.

Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 16, 2011, 03:16:31 PM
No it isn't. It's a Northeastern state.

Shit, your right. I stand corrected.

Well, either way it isn't New England. And a lot of New Englanders would agree that Connecticut is New York's attempt to infiltrate us and keep tabs on us, as evidenced by all the Yankees fans.

Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 16, 2011, 12:33:51 PM

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 16, 2011, 04:49:31 AM
I'm up for that.
How cheap??

$3 Franziskaner drafts cheap enough for you? $5 Korbinian on draft too.

That's an outrage! (kiddin)

also, I just realized this "cheese steak" is Paella
(http://media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/UNtK7e328As7alroI1Vdzg/l)
:lulz: :lulz: :lulz:

Also also, here's where I'll be and when:
Thursday the 26th-- fly into Boston
Friday-- Providence
Sat/Sun-- the cottage in CT

Mon/Tues-- not sure, gonna try to squeeze in NY, maybe I'll fly home from there, who knows, if not, back to Boston to fly out by Tues.

Quote from: Doktor Blight on February 16, 2011, 03:21:03 PM

Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 16, 2011, 03:16:31 PM
No it isn't. It's a Northeastern state.

Shit, your right. I stand corrected.

Well, either way it isn't New England. And a lot of New Englanders would agree that Connecticut is New York's attempt to infiltrate us and keep tabs on us, as evidenced by all the Yankees fans.

According to RI, CT is in the way of us actually interacting with culture, instead of fat rich people who bitch a lot. CT is NOT NY, and should not attempt to be it as thus. If it was, we'd have fucking Yuengling a lot closer.  :argh!:

Connecticut is what's standing in my way of conquest west of the Hudson. Infiltrating through Long Island only got me so far before the Great Wall of Elizabeth.

Yuengling is piss.

PISS!!!





god damned piss.

Yes, but it's piss we can't get in New England.


LMNO
-Still dreams sometimes about National Bohemia.

The hell is there to do in Boston anyway??
Any good pubs? Good seafood?

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 16, 2011, 06:15:36 PM
Yuengling is piss.

PISS!!!





god damned piss.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!


IT'S CONTRABAND PISS! IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IF YOU'RE CAUGHT BRINGING ALCOHOL OVER THE LINE THAT IS NOT CURRENTLY SOLD WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE STATE (or you know...didn't pay taxes on because you did a border run to NH) YOU GET FINED.


It makes me feel like Han Solo.

-Suu
Has done the Jersey run in less than 12 parsecs...obviously it was a holiday and there were no tolls on the GeeDub.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 16, 2011, 06:22:41 PM
The hell is there to do in Boston anyway??
Any good pubs? Good seafood?

That depends on your definition of good.

Good as in...fine dining...or good as in...Only the locals know about the place, it's filthy, you can't understand a word from that boy from Southie but it's totally worth it?

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 16, 2011, 06:22:41 PM
The hell is there to do in Boston anyway??

Things and stuff.

QuoteAny good pubs? Good seafood?

Yes.  Yes.

Need window of hours you are available, budget, and things you condsider interesting.

Squid, between Boston and Providence, you are NOT going hungry. The food up here is one of our primary attractions.

Ooooh, depending on when you're staying, I should take you to Trinity Brewhouse. It's a microbrewery we have downtown. Union Station/John Harvard's is good, but they can get expensive. Trinity is a Providence tradition.

Contraband piss or not. It's nursty.


things I find interesting are .. shit the locals like to do. I hate touristy shit.
Beer. Show me to the beer, and good food. That includes fine dining.
Budget is open.


no idea about hours yet

Also, since you seem to want to fly into Boston, don't rent a car. Parking there is near impossible, and parking in Providence is no better. When you're ready to come to Providence, let me know, I will meet you there and give you the public transit experience on the commuter rail. It's cheaper. By A LOT. It's seriously nothing for me to go up there to escort you down, plus I got my best naps on the Purple Line.

From Providence you can take the bus to Manhattan unless you really want to take the Amtrak. The train is nice, but the fares are pretty high considering the volume that goes between the cities daily (I know people who commute the 3 hours. I shit you not.) You can get a non-stop bus for about $70 tops round trip from Kennedy Plaza to the Port Authority. (the Megabus actually drops you off closer to Penn Station) It's super easy.

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 16, 2011, 06:32:39 PM

things I find interesting are .. shit the locals like to do. I hate touristy shit.
Beer. Show me to the beer, and good food. That includes fine dining.
Budget is open.

Nearly every street corner in Providence has a bar, tattoo shop, or brothel. Across the street is always a Dunkin Donuts. Somewhere in between each you'll find a significant amount of bums and hipsters, though mostly you can't tell them apart.

Also, us locals don't particularly like tourists anyway, so you'll be able to see shit that they won't. Maybe we all can go to Lovecraft's grave.

I will develop a list for Boston things.

Quote from: LMNO, PhD on February 16, 2011, 06:52:07 PM
I will develop a list for Boston things.

Cool :)

You can PM it to me if you want, instead of spaggin up the thread

Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 12, 2011, 04:14:51 AM

Quote from: Cuddlefish on February 12, 2011, 02:10:27 AM

Quote from: Triple Zero on February 12, 2011, 01:45:08 AM
OMG SHE CLICKED THE BUTTON AND NOW WE GOT THE BOOKING W00T (we can't go back now hihihi)

You have just crossed the event horizon of fuxxored!   :lulz:

What's the itinerary!?!

This is our flight schedule:

arrival:       fr 20/05    19:00h       New York (JFK) JF Kennedy
departure:  fr 10/06    14:05h    New York (JFK) JF Kennedy   

It does look there there will be a Waterfire scheduled for that weekend, because they always have one for Brown graduation, but you're not missing much. You get about 5 minutes of "ooh and ahh" before the smoke inhalation sets in.

This is what it looks like:

(http://americanepali.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/waterfire2.jpg)
(http://aprilandalex.com/pix/Waterfire1.jpg)

Now imagine being surrounded by 40,000 people looking at wood burning. Smell the smoke, feel the claustrophobia. That is Waterfire. Good, let's get a beer.

It seems really pretty when the sky is clear, for those precious few minutes when the sunset looks exactly like that and you got a HDR camera or long exposure time or what is it that they did to make those pictures look like that :) Otherwise, yeah I can imagine it's just wood burning.

Pics are gorgeous though :)

But what about the smoke? It's just a few fires in a really large open space? I assume I'd breathe more smoke next to a campfire?

It's pretty...  but, what's the use of a campfire if you can't get close enough to make s'mores?

xposting this to keep the logistics thread non-chattery:

Quote from: Suufor those coming in through the NYC airports (There are 3) go through Cram for travel needs.

3? Me, 000GF and who is the third?

Quote from: Triple Zero on February 18, 2011, 03:50:26 PM
xposting this to keep the logistics thread non-chattery:

Quote from: Suufor those coming in through the NYC airports (There are 3) go through Cram for travel needs.

3? Me, 000GF and who is the third?

3 airports in NYC, I believe.

ooooooooooohhhh DUH *slaps forehead* :)

Easy mistake to make if you don't know NYC, could have been read either way.  English can be imprecise.

JFK, LaGuardia and Newark.  :x

Waterfire's most interesting aspect is the atmospheric dissonance.  On the one hand you have the picturesque views like in the photos above, and on the other hand you're surrounded and have that view obscured by drunks, street hawkers, glow sticks, and drunks.

I think we're gonna fly up as well. I don't want to drive 20+ hours and try to go back to work on Tuesday. :)

Will be getting tickets as soon as the next monies check shows up.

Quote from: Ratatosk on February 18, 2011, 04:36:39 PM
I think we're gonna fly up as well. I don't want to drive 20+ hours and try to go back to work on Tuesday. :)

Will be getting tickets as soon as the next monies check shows up.

Most excellent. :)

Does Boston just have that one airport?

Yup.  Logan.

However, you may see "Boston Area" listed. That would include Providence Warwick (T.F. Green) and Manchester-Boston Regional.

DO NOT MANCHESTER.

what's Manchester and why should I stay away?

Squid- doesn't listen.

I was told to stay out of the Bronx and Harlem too. Did I? No.

Quote from: Ratatosk on February 18, 2011, 04:36:39 PM
I think we're gonna fly up as well. I don't want to drive 20+ hours and try to go back to work on Tuesday. :)

Will be getting tickets as soon as the next monies check shows up.

Rat!! Did I mention how excited I am about that? (No) But I am! I'd not have expected to be able to meet you (this time) so thaat's extra super awesome :D