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Vacation USA

Randy Daytona

Cold War Relic
pilot
Super Moderator
As there is thread for European vacations, thought a similar thread for here at home would be good.

Visiting The Black Hills of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore is impressive, sculpted by Gutzon Borlund (who was also at the beginning of Stone Mountain as well). Interesting that Jefferson was initially to be to the left of Washington but after starting, the rock proved unsuitable and thus the decision was made to move Jefferson. For those who are movie buffs, Hitchcock set a good portion of the incomparable "North by Northwest" in the area.

On an exponentially bigger scale nearby is the ongoing carving of Crazy Horse and the Native American museum.

Finally, if you own a Harley and are headed to Sturgis, take a ride on Highway 16A through the Custer National Forest - beautiful.
 

mad dog

the 🪨 🗒️ ✂️ champion
pilot
Contributor
Buffalo, NY...home of the Anchor Bar where the 'Buffalo Wing' was created in 1964...and...there are several Dunkin' Donuts vendors there...good times! :D

mad dog in the Anchor Bar gift shop...
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Fantabulous Dunkin' Donuts vendors...
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brownshoe

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Buffalo, NY...home of the Anchor Bar where the 'Buffalo Wing' was created in 1964.:D

My nieces were raised on Grand Island (many visits), so of course I've had the original wings. My preferred local bar however was Del & Herb's!:)
 
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Homer J

I'm with NAVAIR. I'm here to help you.
As there is thread for European vacations, thought a similar thread for here at home would be good.

Visiting The Black Hills of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore is impressive, sculpted by Gutzon Borlund (who was also at the beginning of Stone Mountain as well). Interesting that Jefferson was initially to be to the left of Washington but after starting, the rock proved unsuitable and thus the decision was made to move Jefferson. For those who are movie buffs, Hitchcock set a good portion of the incomparable "North by Northwest" in the area.

On an exponentially bigger scale nearby is the ongoing carving of Crazy Horse and the Native American museum.

Finally, if you own a Harley and are headed to Sturgis, take a ride on Highway 16A through the Custer National Forest - beautiful.

It's just a short hop out to Devil's Tower in Wyoming too. Well worth the trip.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Zion, Arches and Canyonland are all amazing in their own ways, then there's Moab if you're into mountain biking. Things every American should experience.
 

xj220

Will fly for food.
pilot
Contributor
I did my trip through REI. They're not cheap but well worth the money. They have several trips in the US and around the world and I highly recommend looking into them.
 

HuggyU2

Well-Known Member
None
If you're going to go to Sturgis, at least go to Oshkosh, which is usually the week prior... then head over to Sturgis.
 

Randy Daytona

Cold War Relic
pilot
Super Moderator
As a heads up for those with toddlers, check the weight of your stroller. On our most recent vacation - no problems on the flight over, but on the flight back, we were forced to check the stroller at the ticket counter (not the gate) as it weighed more than 20 lbs (24.5 lbs). Out of the 15 most traveled airlines in the US, only American Airlines has that rule - the next closest stroller weight limit was AeroMexico at 44 lbs and Hawaii at 50 lbs - the other 12 airlines had no stroller weight limits at all. Plan accordingly.

http://www.tsatraveltips.us/flying-with-a-stroller/
 

Randy Daytona

Cold War Relic
pilot
Super Moderator
Catching up from a busy summer but we did manage to take a vacation: started in Pensacola (check on my rental houses and then to the beach). Whatever else you may say about Pensacola, the beaches are gorgeous and the seafood is fantastic. When on vacations now, I try to make it to any ship museums for a few hours if I am close - thus a drive over to Mobile to see Battleship Park:


Battleship USS Alabama (BB-60)
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Submarine USS Drum (SS-228)
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Over to Savannah / Hilton Head / Charleston and went by Patriots Point Museum https://www.patriotspoint.org/ which included USS Yorktown (CV-10)
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as well as the Destroyer USS Laffey (DD-724)
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Anyone got recommendations for other naval museums?
 
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Notanaviator

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Not specifically Naval, but the WWII Museum is outstanding. One of the great honors of my life was to volunteer there the summer it opened as the National D-Day Museum in 2000... I was a high schooler, one of about 40 volunteers, most of whom were D-Day/WWII vets. Got to give tours of the unopened museum to D-Day vets, including some of the Band of Brothers guys. Great opportunity to keep my mouth shut and both ears very very open.

The museum is massive- spoke with the CEO (a Scotsman by birth, interestingly, terrific guy) once and he remarked they have three categories of visitor: the guy or gal who tries to roll through it in an hour or two, the folks who will spend four or five hours, and the diehards that will spend three full days rolling through. There is a huge volume of oral history stations you can dive into, on top of immersive experiential exhibits (not unlike the WWI trench exhibit at the Imperial War Museum in London- nuts experience). You can really spend a lot of time there.
 
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