US trip!

[Jorge]

Im going over the big pond on tuesday!

Im landing in Chicago and after a few days there I will drive to New York, so here is the question - What should I see in Chicago, New york and everything in between. Just throw ideas at me!

[Joe M]

In Chicago, you've got to stop at Chicago Music Exchange and drool for a while. Scott has got a lot of gear there, from Squiers to vintage Teles, Strats, Gibbys, Rics, etc. Also tons of amps from boutique stuff like /13 to tweed Fenders. That's the first, and only, place in Chicago I stop several times a year when I'm there. I always walk out with a unique CS Tele that usually can't be found anywhere else.

[jazztele]

maken music always has cool custom shop stuff too, as well as some other goodies...a little hard to find, but a mapquest'll do ya.

but ditto on CME. where are you stayin' in chicago?

[Guitarzan]

Les Paul at the Iridium Club.

Now, where is that big ball of twin? Or the big wad of chewing gum?

[superbadj]

you could go see my brother in nyc!

Kidding.

Never spent much time in Chicago, but in NYC, Umanov Guitars is a great place to stop. Cool people, nice stuff. Small, but good. There are tons of others whose names escape me right now.

For food, Luna (little italy) has great stuff.

[guitarbuilder]

#1 Niagara Falls at Niagara Falls, NY . It is more popular to go over on the Canadian side. Maid of the Mist boat tour is cool and not too expensive.
#2 House of Guitars in Rochester NY( Irondequoit actually). They are about 2 hours apart on the south side of Lake Ontario.

Somewhere in Syracuse is the Erie Canal museum.

Baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown NY between Syracuse and Albany.

[Unseen]

I"m not going to take the time to read the entire thread, but between Chicago and NYC is Cleveland, Ohio, where the term "rock and roll" was first used by Alan Freed. It now houses the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Also in Cleveland is the Cleveland Museum of Art, which houses the best collection of Asian art in the United States, as well as one of the best collections of medieval armor in the world.

If you like classical music and can arrange to get tickets, The Cleveland Symphony has a reputation as one of the best in the entire world, and of all US symphonies, the one which is most like a European symphony.

[jimd]

Unseen, for a Portlander, you sure sound like a Clevelander.

Cleveland is almost halfway between Chicago and New York (about 6 hrs from Chi. and 7. to NY). It would make a good place to stop over for a day or two. The Rock and Roll HOF is good (but its hard to put music into a display case). The Art museum is really good. But it is undergoing renovations. Not everything is open. There is a special arms and armor show there now. You could catch a baseball game if the Indians are in town. If you plan on stopping in Cleveland, post or PM and I can give you some more specifics.

Niagra Falls is cool. Pittsburgh is also a great place to go. It is a beautiful city. The Carnegie Museum and Andy Warhol museum are there.

[Jorge]

Thanks guys! I am open for everything, so tell me cool places to visit too, not just guitar stores eventhough that is obvious choices and I will visit them. The only thing I have planned is to visit my fathers grandfathers grave in Evanston. After that im open for EVERYTHING!

Originally Posted by jimd

If you plan on stopping in Cleveland, post or PM and I can give you some more specifics.

So Cleveland is a good place to hang out? Not to be rude in any way (!) as a foreigner the only information I have about Cleveland is the one Drew Carrey has shown me, sooo tell me the truth!

[jimd]

The Drew Carey show is pretty accurate. But that is cool right? I wouldn't go out of your way to go to Cleveland. But since it is on Interstate 80 between your 2 main destinations it makes a lot of sense. And it is summer, so the chance of a snow storm is low (although that might make you feel at home).

Quite honestly, you should spend most all your time in New York and Chicago. Those cities are both awesome places. The most direct route between the two cities is Interstate-80. It is about a six hour drive from Chicago to Cleveland. Stop for the rest of the day. Go to the Rock Hall of Fame and see some cool guitars and memorabilia. Go to the Great Lakes Brewery and get some very good beer and a good dinner. Then drive the next day to New York. That is about 7 hours worth of driving.

I don't want to sound anti-Cleveland, but it is hard to recommend many Cleveland sites over those in the other two cities.

If you do want the Drew Carey experience, I do know where the bar is that they use for the outside shots in the Drew Carey show. I don't think it looks anything like the inside scenes. You could also go bowling in Parma.

[Robin Nahum]

I hope its okay for an Australian to talk about NY.

Why not take the ferry to Staten Island and then the #48 bus to Mandolin Brothers?

www.mandoweb.com

You have the jazz clubs like the Vanguard and the Blue Note etc.

http://www.villagevanguard.net/frames.htm
http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/index.shtml

I was hoping that the online New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/

would have the gig guide but I can't see it.

A search in Google

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...G=Search&meta=

revealed

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by jimd

r those in the other two cities.

If you do want the Drew Carey experience, I do know where the bar is that they use for the outside shots in the Drew Carey show. I don't think it looks anything like the inside scenes. You could also go bowling in Parma.

Thanks alot! That is really helpful. I have been thinking about it, and I do want to see Chicago and NY really badly too but I figure that that isn't the "real" american experience. I want to see the countryside and small towns to if you catch my drift. So it is all good advice! I have about 3 days in NY, 3 days in Chicago and 3-4 days on the road.

And oh, there is NOTHING wrong with the way Cleveland is being portrayed in Drew Carrey show, I absolutely love it, I just meant that it might be a more "stereotypical" view.

[Unseen]

Originally Posted by jimd

Unseen, for a Portlander, you sure sound like a Clevelander.

Cleveland is almost halfway between Chicago and New York (about 6 hrs from Chi. and 7. to NY). It would make a good place to stop over for a day or two. The Rock and Roll HOF is good (but its hard to put music into a display case). The Art museum is really good. But it is undergoing renovations. Not everything is open. There is a special arms and armor show there now. You could catch a baseball game if the Indians are in town. If you plan on stopping in Cleveland, post or PM and I can give you some more specifics.

Niagra Falls is cool. Pittsburgh is also a great place to go. It is a beautiful city. The Carnegie Museum and Andy Warhol museum are there.

I grew up in Cleveland, but moved to Portland about 30 years ago. Actually, I'll be visiting Cleveland in early July and plan on seeing an Indians game while there in what is probably the best baseball venue in the country.

I might do some jamming as well while in Cleveland, which is somewhat scary since I'm pretty much a guy who plays by himself at home.

Something else to do in the Northern Ohio area for someone who likes to take pictures is to do a one-day tour of the covered bridges of Northern Ohio.

Cleveland has a large Italian community, and in the Murray Hill area one can find any number of fine restaurants where you can have mostly Southern Italian (read: tomato-based) dishes. Spaghetti and meatballs, ravioli with marinara, and some of the best pizza you can find anywhere).

Another thing to do in Cleveland is to have good Jewish deli corned beef. My own choice: Corky and Lenny's on Cedar Blvd.

As for music, if you can track down where Mr. Stress is playing, he's one of the best blues harpists (harmonica players) in the country.

Yeah...I know Cleveland.

POSTSCRIPT: While I'm proud of my new home in Portland, OR, for its reputation as not only the premium coffee capital of the US (Stumptown Roasters and a few others) but as the microbrew capital of the US as well (Sam Adams is far too commercial for our taste: it's the Budweiser of craft brews), Northern Ohio's Great Lakes Brewing makes excellent beer which I encourage you to try, though a European coming to the US should know that 95% of the craft microbrewing going on in the US is of ales, not lager beers. (And, to the consternation and disgust of the Brits, we tend to drink our ales very, very cold here.)

[goldtopper]

In Chicago I'd go to:
1) Wrigley field for a Cubs game
2) the Aquarium
3) Natural History museum

[jimd]

If you have 3 or 4 days of road-trip planned between NY and Chicago you might want to consider going Chicago to Cleveland on I-80 and then I-80 to I-76, to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and NY. There is pretty much nothing in between Cleveland and New York on I-80. But going a little more south will get you to two very nice cities in Pittsburgh and Philly. It will also take you through Amish country (Lancaster, PA). If history is your thing, the Gettysburgh battlefield is not too far off the main route.

[edhead]

If you have the time, I'd take route 6 instead of the Interstate hwy I-80.

You'll have a lot of stoplights, but you will go through small towns, farm lands, Lake Erie shoreline, amish country and the woods of Pennslyvania.

You see shopping malls, trailer parks, beautiful old buildings, delapidated old buildings, factories, farms and about everything else.

On the Interstate system, it all tends to look the same. Fast food and hotel chains at every exit.

[hekawi]

i've never been to New York, but if i were going for the first time i'd be all touristy:Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park, Letterman Show (taped in the Ed Sullivan Theatre), Yankee Stadium.

[Slow Reflexes]

I'd say if you're heading to Cleveland, check Major Hoople's on a Thursday night for Glenn Schwartz.

If you can get there when he's playing, you're sure to see some of the most incredible guitar playing around - interspersed with varying quantities of fire and brimstone or misogyny.

Advice: Don't laugh. Don't let him see you try to take pictures. Be prepared for possible psychotic ramblings.

I believe it's always a free show.

[hockey_head]

if you are driving to nyc on the Interstate 90 (ny state thruway), stop in rochester ny and find your way to the world famous(?) HOUSE OF GUITARS. this is probably the coolest music store anywhere.
while in rochester you should probably eat at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. fabulous place.

at any rate, safe trip and enjoy

[AnthemBassMan]

-Also if you want to see a bunch of small towns/farmland, about 1 1/2 hrs south of Cleveland is arguably the largest Amish settlement in the country. Lancaster County, PA claims to be the largest, but Holmes County, Ohio definitely has more. I live about 15 minutes away from all of this. Sugarcreek, Walnut Creek, Berlin, Charm, all great. But once off the main road through them, you really start seeing all of the Amish farms. And Keim Lumber in Charm is one absolutely amazing lumber yard. It's almost like a museum. They have a section of slabs of imported woods that will make you drool dreaming of all of the guitars you could make from them.

-When you get to Cleveland, head directly south on I-77 until you get to the Dover/Sugarcreek exit #83. At the bottom of the ramp, turn right and drive for about 15 minutes to Sugarcreek, aka "Little Switzerland." Then through there starts the rest of the Amish experience. Before you get into Sugarcreek, stop at Dutch Valley Restaurant for lunch. Excellent food. As is Der Dutchman in Walnut Creek. Also a variety of local cheese houses and wineries will keep you busy. You'll have to try our baby Swiss cheese and Trail Bologna. You can't get Trail Bologna anywhere else in the US except in this region. Tasty!

-Although I haven't driven on I-80 to New York, my Wife and I drove I-90 through NY on our way to Maine. Absolutely beautiful drive. You get to drive through the wine country part of the Finger Lakes Region. Rolling hills along the way are so peaceful you can just get lost in them.

L8R,
Matt D.

[Joisey]

Stay out of the flooded areas In Illinois.

[6942]

US 6 through Pa. is indeed a beautiful road.

Steve

[charlie cash]

I do want to see Chicago and NY really badly too but I figure that that isn't the "real" american experience. I want to see the countryside and small towns to if you catch my drift. So it is all good advice! I have about 3 days in NY, 3 days in Chicago and 3-4 days on the road.

The US is a very big country and the "real" American experience is going to be different from place to place. The experiences you will get in NYC and Chicago are as real as anyplace elso, just different. I wound try to make the best of those with the limited time you have.

[Unseen]

Originally Posted by charlie cash

The US is a very big country and the "real" American experience is going to be different from place to place. The experiences you will get in NYC and Chicago are as real as anyplace elso, just different. I wound try to make the best of those with the limited time you have.

A lot of people live in the big cities. There isn't anything "unreal" about them, and in many ways the people in the small towns are sometimes out of touch with the reality of the wider world.

[shades]

Pittsburgh is an incredible city, very much a blue collar shot n' a beer kinda place with a very high-tech edge to it. Great music venues and a couple excellent guitar shops...I could go on and on as I really love the 'Burgh.
We'd be happy to show you around town n'at.