A Geek's Tour Of North America?

PlanetThoughtful writes "Later this year I'm taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to backpack around the U.S. and Canada (Sept 2003 to whenever I have to come home again). Being a lifelong Australian geek (think of Steve Irwin and then stop, because I'm nothing like that and neither is anyone else, Steve Irwin included) I'm desperately curious: what would make it to the travel itinerary of Slashdot's all-time geek-tour of North America? Think electronics, architecture, astronomy, enlightenment! Think gadgets, bookstores, software, comics, The Library Of Congress, The Smithsonian, Wanting To See Really Amazing Things! Think travelling on a budget, then forget about that if it's a 'You Must See This Before You Die' sort of suggestion. And then stop thinking about these things, and actually tell me!"

Cape Canaveral, Florida!

[ClippyHater]

Of course, there are many, many other places to see, but I'm a space program nut and highly recommend seeing NASA, and do your best to time your arrival during a launch (of course, they launch may not happen, but you can check in "Florida Today" to see when the next launch is due).

Are you bringing warm clothes?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why in god's name would you want to come up here during the winter? (Hint: don't visit South Dakota in January.)

You might visit the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City Utah. It's just a stone's throw from Linden :-)

Marconi wireless station on Cape Cod..

[Anonymous Coward]

Standing on the edge of the ocean, by the slowly decaying towers he used, and looking across out over the ocean he sent the messages across was, for me, an EE, a moving experience.

Plus nice beaches on the Cape, although it is kind of crowded sometimes. Whale watching is fun too.

-- ac at work

NY

[Anonymous Coward]

Whilst almost all of NY State is worth seeing, I really was blown away by Niagra Falls. It really is best from the Canadian side. The awesome power of nature is humbling.

The Secret Stash

[sys$manager]

Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash

35 Broad St
Red Bank, NJ

Our National Parks

[kwerle]

Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite are some of the real highlights. They're not geek spots, but DAMN, they're gorgeous.

See also http://www.nps.gov/. Looks like they have a good interactive map at http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parksearch/state/usamap.c fm so you can hit the ones you'll be near.

Playdium!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're a gaming geek and plan on going through Canada (Toronto, specifically) then you have to check out the Playdium. [playdium.com] It's like a huge video arcade where you'll see things you may never have seen before, as you're not likely to see anything like it anywhere else. I've been to the one in Mississauga (just west of Toronto) and I had a great time there. Check it out.

Re:The US is not made for back-packing

[DNS-and-BIND]

backpacking has about as little to do with hiking through the wilderness as television ratings have to do with quality programming.

Read Neil Gaiman's American Gods

[HeywoodJablomi69]

Well, everyone should read that book, but you in particular might enjoy it, since it's chock full of bizarre touristy attractions that you might enjoy.

Re:Something to see-

[micromoog]

Too bad the Archives building is currently "Closed for Renovation". I keep expecting them to put up a sign "Closed for Revision" . . .

take a vacation from geek stuff

[drayzel]

"gadgets, bookstores, software, comics,"

Chuck that stuff and cut loose. TAKE A VACATION FROM BEING A GEEK!

Sure the Smithsonian etc. wouuld be great, but I would suggest a non geek vacation... who knows, maybe you'll find something more enjoyable than a 20 hour codeing marathon or a weekend of watching SciFi network.

Go to Yellowstone National Park in September when all the school kids and boy scout troops are gone.

Spend some time biking in Moab (Southern Utah). While you're their check out Zion, Bryce and Arches National Park then jaunt over to Colorado and check out Mesa Verde NP.

Check out local festivals in the midwest. I know in my state ever other town seems to have a "Strawberry/Corn/Dairy/Watermellon days" frestival.

Find out if you like fly fishing, hikeing, rowing, swimming, running, boating, water skiing, or basket weaving. GO CLIMB A TREE!

Read some Thoreau at Walden Pond.

Go to Canada and visit their national parks (Banff is an INTERNATIONAL treasure). Go to some the the AWESOME festivals in Edmonton.

But please... turn off you cell phone. If I hear it ring while I'm watching a wolf pack in near Yellowstone this fall I'll be very upset.

~Z

Things in Washington DC

[Galen Wolffit]

Nearly all the monuments and museums in Washington DC are free to the public. Some require waiting in line for tickets, but again those tickets are generally free, they're just used to limit the number of visitors per day. Plan to spend at least a few full days in the DC area, to see everything. Natural and American History museums, various Art museums, war memorials, the Air and Space museum, Air and Space II out in Dulles, VA (a 30-45 minute drive from downtown DC), and much, much more. Northern VA also has the Spy Museum, which might be fun if you're into cryptography and the like. I think they even have a hands-on exhibit of the Enigma machine.

Down with the computer museum

[nadador]

So, let me see if I've got this right. You have an indeterminant amount of time to spend in the US. You can go anywhere you want to go and do anything you want to do. And you want to spend it in computer museums, big bookstores, and the Smithsonian? Granted, these are all neat places to visit, but why do you want to geek up a perfectly good vacation?

My advice? Ditch the nerd stuff and do something outside.

Learn to kayak in Colorado. [coloradokayak.com]
Hike in one of the last beautiful places on Earth. [nps.gov]
Play in the water at a beautiful beach in Florida. [usatoday.com]
Or go to one of the best beaches in Mexico. [frommers.com]
Slide around on snow on purpose. [snow.com]
Go to one of the last truly wild places. [state.ak.us]

There is so much to see in North America. Please don't spend your whole trip at Frys.

degenerative offtopic ramblings

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a UK nerd who spent a brief time in Pittsburgh P.A, Washington and New York - not a fully rounded American experience I'm sure, but a fun opportunity that I'm still greatful for. I have to say that I love Washington as a city, but by far the most interesting things I found were those that no-one tells you about:

fireflys - Americans seem to hate these things, or at best be very indifferent - I loved them - wandering around all the mad touristy bits in Washington at night it was very pleasant just to sit back and watch them dance a little in the dusk. I'm sure all the monuments are very stirring for partriotic American folk, but for outsiders there is little interest beyond the quality of the sculpture and the history, which whilst interesting can get very dry. Take some time to look around you for little gems like that.

new york - was visited towards the end of our trip. Very impressive city, but probably not for the weary. Also note that it absolutely honks on hot days - the sewers do actually steam like in those teenage mutant hero turtle films. Beware of overly pleasant men bearing Siny or Kompak PDA's who shout, "What country you from?" and then tell you how they love Northern Ireland, and desperately want to sell whatever they happen to be holding to you for a "special" price. To pass time in a peurile manner, try making up words and asking if they're compatible with it. Good fun with uk swear words, although they are a lot more widely used now - curse you Austin Powers. "Does this support wanking?" if further questioned, just make something up along the lines of "Wide Area Network Conferencing". Of course if does, it supports everything - I never quite worked up the courage to ask if they found me more attractive when I was holding it, but it would be fun to see the reaction. If they won't leave you alone just tell them how much it costs at home if you shop around and they'll back off nervously.

Pittsburgh - a great place, which I really liked, but found a little homely, which was a bit disappointing. In one of the places we stayed there was a maid, which I really hadn't expected. I felt incredibly guilty and chased the poor woman around trying to help - I think she was a little confused. She couldn't quite get my accent nor I hers, so a lot of time was spent doing cleaning charades. I suppose it would have saved her time and effort if I'd left her alone, but I'm still not sure I could, tree hugging bleeding heart linux zealot vegetarian hippy that I am.

Ben and Jerrys - remember to try the chocolate milkshakes. Frown at the price then give in and order another. Remember, this will be your only decent encounter with chocolate - americans just do not understand the stuff - even common brands such as M&M's, Mars etc. just taste awful. The Ben & Jerry's milkshakes were the only satisfactory chocolate hit I could find.

Prices that may confuse:

Get films developed when you go back - they seem to cost loads to do in America.

Petrol is astoundingly cheap. Cars are just like European ones, only twice the size and half as efficient. We have travel chess to play in the back seats, they can probably manage travel badminton. All seem to have air conditioning systems which could blast the car along at an even thirty on their own without the engine being started.

oh yes:

Get accomodation with air conditioning. No matter how broke you are, this you must do. Hrmmm, have just remembered that you're Australian, but I really did have trouble with the heat.

I'll shut up now.

Re:can someone explain what Burning man is?

[Anonymous Coward]

We WILL laugh and make fun of you at the gate if you try this, and we have.


Who was it that said burning man is for pretentious faggots? Oh god. After this post I am going to end up getting another one of these:

Due to excessive bad posting from this IP or Subnet, comment posting has temporarily been disabled. If it's you, consider this a chance to sit in the timeout corner. If it's someone else, this is a chance to hunt them down. If you think this is unfair, please email [e-mail] with your MD5'd IPID and SubnetID, which are...

Re:can someone explain what Burning man is?

[SpacePunk]

Burning Man is where all the real assholes go every year to hone their skills at being even bigger, greater, assholes.

Like everything else in this god forsaken country it's something that was good when it started, but then got ruined by pretentious suburbanites. It's so fucked up that the only original people there are the ones wearing normal clothes. Everyone else is just a sad representation of each other. It's an fuck fest of the worst kind of American herd mentality you'll ever see.

Don't go.

Re:Geek things to see and do in Canada.

[Yaztromo]

Naturally, the size of Canada dwindles roughly to that of a medium pizza if you discount all the uninhabated/under ice portions.

Yeah, but you still can't readily backpack across it, which was really my point (and no, I didn't miss your attempt at humour :) ). Unless, of course, you really enjoy hiking through uninhabited and iced-over areas (which some people quite enjoy). Personally, I prefer to live in a country that is dominated by wide-open spaces, as opposed to one that is dominated by other human bodies :).

On a serious note though, I find it interesting that people seem to be pointing out a good bit of cultural activities and sites as well as 'geek' ones.

Well, I guess one of the difficult things is that the OP didn't really mention what type of geek they are. A history geek would probably be more interested in a fort from the War of 1812 than a science centre, which might be heaven for a science geek.

Of course, some things transcend the different stratii of geekness, and might even, parry the thought -- appeal to NON-GEEKS! :)

Yaz.