Travel USA travel tips and tricks

[alex_is_on_fire]

Definitely the racism!

Ageism and sexism but not racism.

 

[mickelboy182]

Ageism and sexism but not racism.

Anything like my other half probably be annoyed at the extra financial loss too... Can't win

 

[thejockey]

The whole notion of tipping made it all seem fake and contrived to me, one thing I didn't like over there.

Initially I didn't like it but got used to it after a few days

Given the service we got was so good in restaurants by the end I was pretty much all for it

 

[Magnum27]

If you are a drinker of alcohol - especially in Vegas, give the waiter a generous tip after the first round and then they will patronise your services all night. You will then get very good service all night.

Do a buffet in Vegas - they are brilliant but do some reserach as everyone has different taste. We did the Rio All star hotel and loved it.

Wife has decided we are going to Bacchanal buffet at Caesars Palace.

 

[00Stinger]

My wife and I did a day trip to Washington DC in January 2014 and we took that Amtrak train that derailed yesterday. We went from Washington to NYC and it went thought Philadelphia.

We saw it on the news last night as i was cooking dinner and she just screamed.

I caught the same train. From memory it was a pretty rough ride

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

I caught the same train. From memory it was a pretty rough ride

They reported today, the train was doing 170 KPH when the bend only allowed it to take 70 KPH.

bloody idiot driver.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Wife has decided we are going to Bacchanal buffet at Caesars Palace.

Nice - report baxck please as we are heading to Vegas in April next year.

NYC, Wash, Boston, Texas or Chicago (still making our mind up) and then vegas over 4 weeks.

 

[thejockey]

Wife has decided we are going to Bacchanal buffet at Caesars Palace.

Can recommend this one , food was superb !

 

[thejockey]

Nice - report baxck please as we are heading to Vegas in April next year.

NYC, Wash, Boston, Texas or Chicago (still making our mind up) and then vegas over 4 weeks.

Not sure if you've been to Chicago before but have heard great reports about it , we just couldn't fit it in

Washington was a big surprise packet for us

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Not sure if you've been to Chicago before but have heard great reports about it , we just couldn't fit it in

Washington was a big surprise packet for us

Washington was excellent. I literally got goose bumps at the Lincoln Memorial.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Not sure if you've been to Chicago before but have heard great reports about it , we just couldn't fit it in

No, never been to Chi town. I'm trying my hardest to hit up the two the Jordan built. But I think Texas may win out. I may have left my run too late.

 

[Richo is God]

Chicago is great. Would be heaps better now than December when I went

 

[NitroFan]

i'm not sure if australians are too welcome in chicago right now

 

[Richo is God]

i'm not sure if australians are too welcome in chicago right now

Why is that?

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Why is that?

https://www.google.com.au/?gws_rd=cr&ei=HJlGUtfTK8KikAWg9YCQDg#q=matthew+dellavedova

 

[krisholio14]

Chicago is awesome if you like food, beer, sport and art

 

[dales.girl38]

I went to Chicago in May, it was a real highlight for me and the weather was perfect.

 

[Kakkle]

Can't speak highly enough of Chicago.

Had a cute girl hit on me in the book store at the museum as well

 

[Buzzasto DaSilva]

Can't speak highly enough of Chicago.

Had a cute girl hit on me in the book store at the museum as well

Same thing happened to me funnily enough.

 

[deltablues]

Initially I didn't like it but got used to it after a few days

Given the service we got was so good in restaurants by the end I was pretty much all for it

I'm sure that this has been mentioned somewhere here before - but the very low hourly rates for service workers here in the US means that tips are a significant part of their take-home pay. A 15 - 20% tip is usual (but on an expensive meal I then look at the actual dollars, not the percentage). I lived in Japan for a number of years where tipping is considered to be a bit of an insult and they return the money. The opposite here. When in Rome...

 

[deltablues]

No, never been to Chi town. I'm trying my hardest to hit up the two the Jordan built. But I think Texas may win out. I may have left my run too late.

I would choose Chicago (not in winter). Texas is not really a touristy state (even though I spent a lot of my life living in Texas and love the Texan attitude - I would not go there for a holiday).

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

I would choose Chicago (not in winter). Texas is not really a touristy state (even though I spent a lot of my life living in Texas and love the Texan attitude - I would not go there for a holiday).

Awesome. Can you list a few tourist places in Chicago?

 

[Richo is God]

Awesome. Can you list a few tourist places in Chicago?

The bean (cloud gate)
Chicago Bagel Authority
Hancock tower/Willis tower observation deck
Wrigley Field
Lincoln Park Zoo (should be better than when I was there in winter)
Michigan Ave

 

[deltablues]

Most posters here go to US major cities, as tourists. But there is a lot more to the USA than the big cities (I have posted about this earlier on this thread). Rent a car and get out into the real America - the scenery is amazingly varied, the travel costs are cheap (cheap gas/motels/food) and the country folk are friendly. Try sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway; Natchez Trace; Highway 1 (especially San Francisco to Portland OR); the Upper Mississippi Valley from Hastings Minnesota south along the river on the Wisconsin side; upper Michigan Peninsula and thru Traverse City; up-state New York; Gulf coast of Florida thru Appalachicola (sit in an oyster bar as they shuck fresh oysters just off the boats - $5.00 for a dozen and a $2.50 beer); Mt Rushmore area in SD; Amish country in Ohio; the rivers and country roads in Tennessee; horse country of Kentucky; parts of Route 66; Vermont; and many more.

 

[deltablues]

There are some Oz expats living in the US who dip into this sub-forum who may respond to your query, but as to why: for me it was a professional decision, work-wise, and one I never regretted. Plus I have US extended family, more so than in Oz, so there was a link, albeit not a main driver.

If I did it again, at this time, as to why, I would also take into account USA:Oz disposable income/cost of living. Now that I am retired I visit Oz each year and wow, everything is so expensive. House prices are insanely high (noting also that primary residential mortgages are tax-deductible in the USA); cars, food, restaurants, booze, gasoline, clothes, travel, utilities, services costs are high. My US cost of living would be at least a third cheaper than in Oz (but admittedly I don't live in a high tax/cost area like California or New England).

Plus (and I am now straying into topics best discussed in a different forum/offline/whatever) I find the USA freer and more laissez-faire (or at least, it was) than Oz, which imo is now over-regulated, is losing its freedom of speech for PC political reasons, is now a nanny state where the philosophy seems to be - if it moves, legislate it- and has extremely high labor/wage/regulatory costs of doing business. The high costs, in the oil and gas and mining sectors (my area of work) are now impacting many major projects in Oz, where there is downturn and a re-focusing on cheaper TW sites such as Africa (despite the political risks). Anyway - not for this forum....

Fantastic place to visit for an Aussie, sure, but I am genuinely curious why an Aussie would ever want to move to the States?

Somewhat late to my earlier response, but shooda added that I am Aussie/American:American/Aussie - US mom Oz dad. Feel at home in both countries. So maybe not a "genuine" Oz expat.