Community for asking and answering any question related to the life, the people or anything related to the USA. Non-US people are welcome to provide their perspective! Please keep in mind:
The landscape of the US is one of the most gorgeous landscapes on earth!
Yeah we have tried to destroy that beauty and overlay it with endlessly repetitive stroads...
My advice is avoid the crushing weight of places like this, go to the cities where culture is allowed to flourish and go far out into nature where the landscape hasn't been destroyed by suburban sprawl and car brain.
If I had to give one place, I recommend the Oregon Coast!
Yeah I can't think of a single reason that anyone would ever go to either suburbia or a rural spot for a vacation, but perhaps it's good to clarify the obvious occasionally:-P.
Would be easier to help if we knew what type of things you enjoyed doing.
Idk... like just looking at nature I guess.
I have a local city park nearby and its by a river... its kinda chill, but I've been there like 20 times already and its boring.
Like I was thinking of some place a bit less city and more wilderness... but not too much wilderness that I get eaten by an animal.
I’ve been stunned by how many cool parks there are in my area. Have you thought about exploring other parks you haven’t been to before?
I went to the Valley Forge national park thing... boring...
Got any interesting ones like within 2 hour driving distance from Philly?
Oh I actually liked a bunch of things in that area! Especially Southwest of Philadelphia, because I was driving north from Maryland. I remember there are some areas that are hilly and literally just have a tower on top for viewing!
I would definitely go further southwest than Valley Forge. I feel like eastern Pennsylvania can be super pretty but Valley Forge ain’t it for me.
Gettysburg is actually a cool little town and area to look around. I’m not a history buff (I literally didn’t look) but I found the Gettysburg area so pleasant I went back multiple times.
Same with Harrisburg, which had a really cool vibe (the bridges are so cool!). I would go there to have lunch because Appalachian Brewing Company has excellent craft soda!
I also recommend stopping by Amish markets but you might already be familiar with those.
If you want to go toward the Baltimore area I can be more specific there too. Andy Nelson’s barbecue in Cockeysville has amazing food (I loved and miss the cornbread especially).
Annapolis is just about two hours south of Philadelphia too, and it is a really pretty city.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary or any number of trailheads for the Appalachian Trail.
Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge, DE
Jersey Shore
Cape May County Zoo
Luray Caverns, VA is 4 hours, but very cool and there are a ton of other great caves along the same highway for about an hours. We went to 6 on a long weekend.
And Philly is one of the top museum cities in the world. Stuff like the Mutter Museum of crazy medical stuff is very one of a kind!
Every national park is worth it imo
If you haven't hit up the southwest doing a week or so hitting up national parks in New Mexico and Arizona is fun. Honestly, yeah national parks are just a great trip idea
Check out Savannah (and Tybee Island), Georgia or New Orleans, Louisiana.
Fun, beautiful, walkable, mostly warm year round.
Boise Idaho is cool! The city is chill and if you like anything outside there are tons of mountains and hiking spots everywhere. Had some killer ice cream there. The Space Bar has a speak easy!
Portsmouth NH is like the day trip city for people in the Boston area. It's small but has lots of nice restaurants. You can walk across one of the draw bridges to Maine!
Key West Florida can be a great time too. It's one of several small islands (there are bridges that connect them all) that you can explore on foot. Lots of small expensive homes and some military facilities but it's got a party atmosphere. Lots of places to drink, eat and relax and you can snorkel out in the Gulf of Mexico to see some beautiful reefs.
Where can I go that is fun and that I wouldn’t have to encounter ICE?
So you send him to Washington.
Ice isn’t anymore in DC than any other city.
When? What do you like to do? And what travel options do you have?
IIRC from past posts you're in NYC. If you have a car, drive north and embrace winter. Go skiing or tubing at a mountain resort. Look for live music and food events in the Berkshires or up in Burlington, VT. Grab some friends and rent a cabin in the woods for a weekend of games and drinking. Find someone who operates sled dog tours and go for a ride.
In the spring/summer you can go whale watching out of Connecticut or Rhode Island.
If you have the funds to fly, find a national park that's open and accessible in winter. You'll avoid the crowds and get a very different experience than most people. Or visit the US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico for a beach vacation, and make sure you hire someone with a boat to take you around for a day trip (fishing or snorkeling is optional if you're into that).
No, OP, don't do it!!!!!! (/s)
Grand Canyon? Niagara Falls? Yellowstone Park? Mount Rushmore?
Touching grass may do us all more than a little bit of good. Also, see those places while you can! (Like passports, there might be entry fees added in the future? Or they could even be sold into private hands. Or in the case of Mount Rushmore... never mind, nothing will happen to that, ever, r-r-right?!)
Normally people enjoy visiting places like New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, and so on but I would presume there is less chance of running into either ICE or the National Guard out in nature.
Also go on walks in local parks wherever you are. The more that touching grass moves closer to a daily occurrence, possibly the better?
You can only do so much as one person, and it is important to keep your sanity in such trying times. Whatever else you might also do, I hope you enjoy yourself during your vacation!:-)
Mount Rushmore isnt worth it unless you're doing the badlands or it's on your way to Yellowstone
Isn’t worth it even then imo.
I suggest you look for local groups that are interested in travel.
Where can you go that you won’t have to deal with ice? Your basement probably. Anything outside your house? Yeah you’re probably gonna run into those assholes.
:/