Coming to America...

[oliosky]

soooo... been a while since i've been around

well we've finally made a rough plan of where we're gonna be going. We fly out of Australia 27th aug, spending a few days in LA, then drive to Vegas for labor day weekend, then drive to SF and oakland... then fly to texas and prob drive louisianna, mississippi, alabama, tennessee, arkansas back to texas (or the other way around) possibly fly to miami while in that region to break up the driving a little then fly home on the 24th sept.

why are you going to Oakland and all those redneck states? No NYC?

After driving through the USA for a couple of months a year or so ago I say drive along the west coast as much as you can. Also make sure you at least have a look at the grand canyon while you are in the vicinity of nevada/arizona.

[VanGogo]

Redneck states? Rednecks are all over the US. But for the states mentioned Mississippi and Alabama have more than their fair share.
In Louisianna it's coon asses. Hillbillies in Tennessee. Arkansas is just country folk.

For the states mentioned in the south I would probably skip Arkansas. The Ozark mountains are nice, but that's about it.
In Tennessee, Memphis is worth a visit on the west end, and the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east end. Nashville if you like country music.
Natchez Mississippi is nice if you want to see some old southern plantation mansions, but there are plenty of those in Louisianna as well.
Of course New Orleans is a must see.
I live in Mobile, Alabama and there isn't a whole lot to see. some old southern homes, a battleship, Bellingrath Gardens, and that's about it. The beaches on the border with Florida are nice. In the rest of the state the only major thing I can think of is the NASA Space Center in Huntsville in the northern part of the state.
For Texas, Dallas and Austin are nice places to visit. Photojojo lives in Texas and can probably steer you to some good places.

Guess it all depends on what you are interested in seeing/doing.

[josh@firestorm]

arkansas was only gonna be a cut through from dallas to memphis and not a stop over... oakland - i have a buddy that lives there, and we were gonna see steelers @ raiders as my mate im travelling with is a steelers fan and tickets to see steelers at home arent as easy to get. we arent travelling to the states specifically to go clubbing or see the sights, we are going to see some football and sample some great southern foods (somewhat of a research trip - im travelling with a chef).

we will see some of the touristy things along the way for sure - but they arent our priority

[josh@firestorm]

Is it difficult for an Australian to work in America, coming from Canada?

we're only going for a month's holiday, not for work.... and as far as aussie's working in the states you can get a green card if you get sponsored by a business for i think a term of 4 years- and theres also a program the US offer for aussies that have done a minimum of 1 year's tertiary education.

[audiolive]

If I was you try and squeeze NY city in there as well. The place rocks. You'll be shitty with your self afterwards it you don't go

[photojojo]

we are going to see some football and sample some great southern foods (somewhat of a research trip - im travelling with a chef).

Are you going to see a Cowboys game? If you're not in Dallas when they're playing they still do tours of the stadium. We have two places in Sherman to eat. One is a BBQ place that was voted one of the top 10 in Texas a few years back. They have no dining room, just a single bench under a tree out back. He's got a for sale sign up so it may not be worth it by the time you get here. The other is a soul food cafe called Slap Yo Momma's. I haven't eaten at this one, but it's run by the same guy that had a soul food restaurant called Gory to God that was pretty good.

[josh@firestorm]

Are you going to see a Cowboys game? If you're not in Dallas when they're playing they still do tours of the stadium. We have two places in Sherman to eat. One is a BBQ place that was voted one of the top 10 in Texas a few years back. They have no dining room, just a single bench under a tree out back. He's got a for sale sign up so it may not be worth it by the time you get here. The other is a soul food cafe called Slap Yo Momma's. I haven't eaten at this one, but it's run by the same guy that had a soul food restaurant called Gory to God that was pretty good.

we may or may not see a cowboys game, but a stadium tour would be well worth it either way!

slap yo mamma's will be a must purely based on the name

hopefully it'll still be business as usual at that bbq joint when we roll into town (prob 2nd week of sept)

[kidkage]

Here where I live in mississippi theres this place that people seem to like http://www.doeseatplace.com/

And I'm close enough to Memphis that I commute there quite a bit. There's a joint there called "kooky canuck" http://www.kookycanuck.com/

[ksandvik]

Renting cars in USA is cheap. But beware the distances, they look short on map but take time when you are on the road, due to stopping, eating and otherwise maintaining the proper speed on highways. You could easily spend two weeks in California and just see a fraction of the place.

[audiolive]

Renting cars in USA is cheap. But beware the distances, they look short on map but take time when you are on the road, due to stopping, eating and otherwise maintaining the proper speed on highways. You could easily spend two weeks in California and just see a fraction of the place.

So true. We drove around the US original time planed was 2 months. We ended up staying for 4 months Best holiday I've ever had though