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2 day vacation: NYC or DC?

JC Callender

JC Callender

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I live in Detroit and am thinking of taking a couple of days this spring to check out NYC or Washington DC by myself. Do you favor one of these two or anything else within 500 or so miles of Detroit? If so, where would you go and why? Thanks!
 
JC Callender said:
I live in Detroit and am thinking of taking a couple of days this spring to check out NYC or Washington DC by myself. Do you favor one of these two or anything else within 500 or so miles of Detroit? If so, where would you go and why? Thanks!
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DC- the White House, Smithsonian, monuments, and various museums. I visited DC a few times when i was younger- without a doubt the White House and Smithsonian could take a month to see completely... :peace
 
notquiteright said:
DC- the White House, Smithsonian, monuments, and various museums. I visited DC a few times when i was younger- without a doubt the White House and Smithsonian could take a month to see completely... :peace
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That's what I've heard. I thought about Nashville as well, but only really like Alison Krauss (Bluegrass) and not much country. I assume they probably have some Elvis and rockabilly stuff there too. I'd like to go someplace that's not super congested which is why I thought of Nashville, but I guess any place with awesome sights is going to attract swarms of people.
 
JC Callender said:
I live in Detroit and am thinking of taking a couple of days this spring to check out NYC or Washington DC by myself. Do you favor one of these two or anything else within 500 or so miles of Detroit? If so, where would you go and why? Thanks!
Click to expand...


DC. The museums and monuments are free. Definitely visit the National Cathedral.


We stayed in Alexandria, VA and took the subway into DC so we didn't have to deal with traffic and parking. Then we used a Trolley Tour to get around to the major sites. The trolleys come by every 10 minutes or so and you hope on / hope off as you like. The trolleys run all day.


Best to go before summer and families start taking vacations there.


Washington DC Tours and Sightseeing by Old Town Trolley Tours



>>>>
 
JC Callender said:
I live in Detroit and am thinking of taking a couple of days this spring to check out NYC or Washington DC by myself. Do you favor one of these two or anything else within 500 or so miles of Detroit? If so, where would you go and why? Thanks!
Click to expand...

DC. You can see almost everything worth seeing in 2 days. NYC, I believe, deserves a bit more time than that.

You mentioned Nashville above, and that is also a very cute little city. Much more of a "walking around enjoying the ambiance" kind of place than the destination-driven tour of DC. I enjoyed my week down there quite a bit. Damn good food. Music, obviously. Even if you usually don't like the genre they excel at, go anyway -- I think just being in Nashville makes you enjoy it no matter what.

In full disclosure, my "traveller personality" leans much more towards street-level experiences than destination touring, thus why I think NYC deserves more time than DC does, while notquiteright evidently disagrees.

So, before deciding, perhaps reflect on what it is that you enjoy about travelling. That may change your decision.
 
WorldWatcher said:
DC. The museums and monuments are free. Definitely visit the National Cathedral.


We stayed in Alexandria, VA and took the subway into DC so we didn't have to deal with traffic and parking. Then we used a Trolley Tour to get around to the major sites. The trolleys come by every 10 minutes or so and you hope on / hope off as you like. The trolleys run all day.


Best to go before summer and families start taking vacations there.


Washington DC Tours and Sightseeing by Old Town Trolley Tours



>>>>
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Great, thanks for the link!
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
DC. You can see almost everything worth seeing in 2 days. NYC, I believe, deserves a bit more time than that.

You mentioned Nashville above, and that is also a very cute little city. Much more of a "walking around enjoying the ambiance" kind of place than the destination-driven tour of DC. I enjoyed my week down there quite a bit. Damn good food. Music, obviously. Even if you usually don't like the genre they excel at, go anyway -- I think just being in Nashville makes you enjoy it no matter what.

In full disclosure, my "traveller personality" leans much more towards street-level experiences than destination touring, thus why I think NYC deserves more time than DC does, while notquiteright evidently disagrees.

So, before deciding, perhaps reflect on what it is that you enjoy about travelling. That may change your decision.
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I like your description of Nashville, I am kind of looking for something low stress, kind of a nice walking town but brought up NYC and DC because of guaranteed interest in sights. I figure Nashville probably looks lovely in early spring and the weather is probably great for walking. I also want to make sure there's enough to do for 2 days in Nashville, but I'm sure there is.
 
JC Callender said:
I live in Detroit and am thinking of taking a couple of days this spring to check out NYC or Washington DC by myself. Do you favor one of these two or anything else within 500 or so miles of Detroit? If so, where would you go and why? Thanks!
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NYC. DC is full of clowns and assholes. More people wear bow ties in DC than in any other place in the world. That should tell you all you need to know about DC. NYC is real, DC is more plastic than LA.

For my money I have had more fun more times in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin than I have in DC. Baltimore is more fun than DC, in my opinion. NYC is lightyears away from anything within 500 miles of Detroit, however.
 
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Risky Thicket said:
NYC. DC is full of clowns and assholes. More people wear bow ties in DC than in any other place in the world. That should tell you all you need to know about DC. NYC is real, DC is more plastic than LA.
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That's one of the reasons I considered NYC, because it seems very real in such a big way. It's almost more of a challenge. :lol:
 
JC Callender said:
I like your description of Nashville, I am kind of looking for something low stress, kind of a nice walking town but brought up NYC and DC because of guaranteed interest in sights. I figure Nashville probably looks lovely in early spring and the weather is probably great for walking. I also want to make sure there's enough to do for 2 days in Nashville, but I'm sure there is.
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I went in spring, actually. It was absolutely gorgeous. Pleasantly warm, lots of sun, lots of flowers in the decorative areas of the city. Definitely a good time to go.

I think Nashville might be a winner, here.

DC is really two cities. There's the government/museum/tourist part that's quite immaculate, but rather soulless. Then there's the city proper, most of which, frankly, is not a pleasant place in my opinion.

And NYC, of course, is enormous and busy. There's peaceful places within it, but again, you really need more than 2 days to do it properly.

Yeah, I'd vote Nashville. It still *has* sites, but they're of a variety that will fit the bill for low-stress and something that'll just make you feel generally happy. Go have a better time than you expected to at a country show. ;)
 
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DC.

You won't even get the Cliff's Notes version of NYC in two days. You'll barely get that much in DC but at least in two days you can see the monuments (hop a tour bus) and blow through the Air and Space Museum and even the Natural History museum as long as you really don't care what you see. If you really just want to snap a lot of pics and move along then you can probably catch Ford's Theater too.
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
I went in spring, actually. It was absolutely gorgeous. Pleasantly warm, lots of sun, lots of flowers in the decorative areas of the city. Definitely a good time to go.

I think Nashville might be a winner, here.

DC is really two cities. There's the government/museum/tourist part that's quite immaculate, but rather soulless. Then there's the city proper, most of which, frankly, is not a pleasant place in my opinion.

And NYC, of course, is enormous and busy. There's peaceful places within it, but again, you really need more than 2 days to do it properly.

Yeah, I've vote Nashville. It still *has* sites, but they're of a variety that will fit the bill for low-stress and something that'll just make you feel generally happy. Go have a better time than you expected to at a country show. ;)
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I'm leaning towards Nashville now. I think NYC may be a little later down the road when I get a little more experience travelling, as I haven't much over the past 20 years.
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
I went in spring, actually. It was absolutely gorgeous. Pleasantly warm, lots of sun, lots of flowers in the decorative areas of the city. Definitely a good time to go.

I think Nashville might be a winner, here.

DC is really two cities. There's the government/museum/tourist part that's quite immaculate, but rather soulless. Then there's the city proper, most of which, frankly, is not a pleasant place in my opinion.

And NYC, of course, is enormous and busy. There's peaceful places within it, but again, you really need more than 2 days to do it properly.

Yeah, I'd vote Nashville. It still *has* sites, but they're of a variety that will fit the bill for low-stress and something that'll just make you feel generally happy. Go have a better time than you expected to at a country show. ;)
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Nashville is a hell of a lot of fun. Good choice, Smoke.
 
Lutherf said:
DC.

You won't even get the Cliff's Notes version of NYC in two days. You'll barely get that much in DC but at least in two days you can see the monuments (hop a tour bus) and blow through the Air and Space Museum and even the Natural History museum as long as you really don't care what you see. If you really just want to snap a lot of pics and move along then you can probably catch Ford's Theater too.
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I'd love to see the Smithsonian and maybe check out the White House if there's a tour going on while there. Have you ever been to Nashville?
 
JC Callender said:
I'd love to see the Smithsonian and maybe check out the White House if there's a tour going on while there. Have you ever been to Nashville?
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Never been to Nashville. I've hit DC a few times over the years. I'm pretty sure that to actually tour the White House now you need Congressional approval but if you can get it it's well worth it. Back when I did that you just stood in line but those were the Carter years.
 
JC Callender said:
I like your description of Nashville, I am kind of looking for something low stress, kind of a nice walking town but brought up NYC and DC because of guaranteed interest in sights. I figure Nashville probably looks lovely in early spring and the weather is probably great for walking. I also want to make sure there's enough to do for 2 days in Nashville, but I'm sure there is.
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Take your guitar, JC - you never know if you'll get the chance to play it! Goshin recently sent pictures on another thread showing people just having fun playing on street corners at some kind of fair in SC, to the delight of the crowds who gathered around to listen! :thumbs:
 
JC Callender said:
I'm leaning towards Nashville now. I think NYC may be a little later down the road when I get a little more experience travelling, as I haven't much over the past 20 years.
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I think NYC definitely deserves at least a week, if you want to do anything other than just ride around on a tour bus and hit a couple museums (which is a big disservice to such a huge and diverse place, I think).

Again, think about (or if you don't know, pay attention to) what you enjoy about seeing new places. I personally don't care much about destinations. That's something I do after I've been living somewhere for months. I care about holes in the wall, interesting people, new stuff to do -- that's how you really experience a place, to me.

There will be plenty to do in Nashville. You'll just do it a bit more slowly. And ain't nothin' wrong with that, especially if you want to feel lighter when you return.
 
polgara said:
Take your guitar, JC - you never know if you'll get the chance to play it! Goshin recently sent pictures on another thread showing people just having fun playing on street corners at some kind of fair in SC, to the delight of the crowds who gathered around to listen! :thumbs:
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I just read an article detailing how beautiful Charleston is. Thanks for the tip Polgara! :mrgreen:
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
I think NYC definitely deserves at least a week, if you want to do anything other than just ride around on a tour bus and hit a couple museums (which is a big disservice to such a huge and diverse place, I think).

Again, think about (or if you don't know, pay attention to) what you enjoy about seeing new places. I personally don't care much about destinations. That's something I do after I've been living somewhere for months. I care about holes in the wall, interesting people, new stuff to do -- that's how you really experience a place, to me.

There will be plenty to do in Nashville. You'll just do it a bit more slowly. And ain't nothin' wrong with that, especially if you want to feel lighter when you return.
Click to expand...

Great description, just what I'm looking for. Thanks! :)
 
I'm biased against he Big Apple (Ive been there twice and hated it both times- NYC is like a sardine can) so I vote for DC- you can go to the Air and Space museum, Vietnam and Lincoln memorial and the Smithsonian. Try to book a White House tour too.

Also remember that Washington DC straddles VA and Maryland so you have plenty of stuff to do there too. My father's side is from there and I grew up in the VA area (as well as in California) and would stay there in the holidays. You can head to colonial Williamsburg and visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home and Mount Vernon, George Washington's place. Jamestown and Yorktown is good historical stuff too. And if you like sports, there's whitewater rafting in Harper's Ferry.
 
Only two days? Go with DC. Lots to see right within walking distance of each other.
 
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