Travel to the USA

[BLUEinTheUSA]

NOLA is, IMHO, a smelly shithole, where the ONLY thing it has going for it is good food! Loves me a shrimp or oyster Po Boy and some beignets, but it’s a “one night on the town” place for me….unless you are doing two nights and spend the intervening day here:

Plan Your Visit | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

Plan your visit to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. View museum hours and purchase tickets.

www.nationalww2museum.org

Loved Portland for years, but the downtown is getting to be a bigger shithole every year. Seattle similar. Lots to see and do, but the joy of wandering around downtown quickly loses its allure when your senses are assaulted on almost every street corner. Denver turning the same way.

Last time I was in Seattle, I was almost pissed on by a guy whom I apparently surprised as I walked by an alley.

In Denver, I was waiting to cross a street and a family pointed out the guy sitting against the store was literally masturbating in broad daylight in the street, middle of the afternoon. Shopkeeper came out and told him to get lost or the police were going to be called. He threw his water bottle and big Budweiser can across the street as he struggled to hold his pants up.

BOTH of those events happened on the busiest “tourist” streets in town!

Never seen so many rats on the streets as NOLA. Food was very good, but for me it was just a long weekend too. Much of it spent leaning over the Hustler club balcony :)

 

[idahoblues]

Pittsburgh is better. And my lad is there so you'll have a local guide.

Got some friends in Pittsburg, looks like a nice City

 

[BLUEinTheUSA]

Got some friends in Pittsburg, looks like a nice City

Primanti Bros! Best sandwich ever.

 

[BLUEinTheUSA]

Wherever you go, you'll have a great time. If you need any recommendations in DC, just let me know.

 

[idahoblues]

Gary looks pleasant too

 

[asgoodasitgets]

Had a brainwave and thinking of doing a trip over the pond in March, just do cheap accom like hostels and motels, good way of meeting people and flight prices looking loads better than summer.

Too many places I'd like to visit. Have brainstormed flights in and out of Miami and internal flights to Texas, toying with the idea of 2-3 nights in each of the big cities in Texas, with a few days either side in Miami. Other trips could be a week or so in Miami, Boston, or up to Canada in either Toronto or Vancouver. Anyone done similar short trips over the pond and/or any city recommendations?

There used to be a Singapore Airlines flight to Houston that stopped in Manchester that had amazing business class flights . Circa £500 round trip in 2019ish . It could have been a seasonal thing but it might be worth signing up to their website/app for the offers.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

That's why I equated the two. Actually, Pittsburgh has cleaned itself up remarkably since the US steel industry ate itself. When I played soccer in college, we played U of Pittsburgh out there twice, it honestly was a struggle to breathe during the match the air was so dirty. Today, it has repositioned itself as a financial center and a home to many corporations.

I was gonna say — USED to be a steel town!

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

No it isn't. Saying Sheffield is better than Manchester would be like saying Baltimore or Richmond is better than Philadelphia. Pittsburgh isn't the equivalent to Sheffield.

Thought it was more like Scunthorpe....

 

[Barcon]

Gary looks pleasant too

Been through thereon my way to Chicago. Same as Hamilton Ontario. Steel towns.
An old girlfriend of mine once said, make me bleed where it stinks. So I took her to Hamilton and punched her in the mouth.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Aren't they both steel towns?

They're twinned, as both were huge steelmaking centres of course. But Pittsburgh has a very Mancunian vibe as, like Manchester, it suffered greatly from the decline of its traditional industries but has reinvented itself as a pretty cool place with a real buzz. Plus the inhabitants are largely working class people, who are incredibly friendly & generous, sports crazy (and I mean crazy), very proud of where they live and their history and have a dialect all their own.

And their equivalent of LS Lowry is Andy Warhol.