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A Geek's Tour Of North America?
PlanetThoughtful writes "Later this year I'm taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to backpack around the U.S. and Canada (Sept 2003 to whenever I have to come home again). Being a lifelong Australian geek (think of Steve Irwin and then stop, because I'm nothing like that and neither is anyone else, Steve Irwin included) I'm desperately curious: what would make it to the travel itinerary of Slashdot's all-time geek-tour of North America? Think electronics, architecture, astronomy, enlightenment! Think gadgets, bookstores, software, comics, The Library Of Congress, The Smithsonian, Wanting To See Really Amazing Things! Think travelling on a budget, then forget about that if it's a 'You Must See This Before You Die' sort of suggestion. And then stop thinking about these things, and actually tell me!"
Of course, there are many, many other places to see, but I'm a space program nut and highly recommend seeing NASA, and do your best to time your arrival during a launch (of course, they launch may not happen, but you can check in "Florida Today" to see when the next launch is due).
Plus nice beaches on the Cape, although it is kind of crowded sometimes. Whale watching is fun too.
-- ac at work
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash
35 Broad St
Red Bank, NJ
Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite are some of the real highlights. They're not geek spots, but DAMN, they're gorgeous.
c fm so you can hit the ones you'll be near.
See also http://www.nps.gov/. Looks like they have a good interactive map at http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parksearch/state/usamap.
backpacking has about as little to do with hiking through the wilderness as television ratings have to do with quality programming.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Well, everyone should read that book, but you in particular might enjoy it, since it's chock full of bizarre touristy attractions that you might enjoy.
Too bad the Archives building is currently "Closed for Renovation". I keep expecting them to put up a sign "Closed for Revision" . . .
"gadgets, bookstores, software, comics,"
Chuck that stuff and cut loose. TAKE A VACATION FROM BEING A GEEK!
Sure the Smithsonian etc. wouuld be great, but I would suggest a non geek vacation... who knows, maybe you'll find something more enjoyable than a 20 hour codeing marathon or a weekend of watching SciFi network.
Go to Yellowstone National Park in September when all the school kids and boy scout troops are gone.
Spend some time biking in Moab (Southern Utah). While you're their check out Zion, Bryce and Arches National Park then jaunt over to Colorado and check out Mesa Verde NP.
Check out local festivals in the midwest. I know in my state ever other town seems to have a "Strawberry/Corn/Dairy/Watermellon days" frestival.
Find out if you like fly fishing, hikeing, rowing, swimming, running, boating, water skiing, or basket weaving. GO CLIMB A TREE!
Read some Thoreau at Walden Pond.
Go to Canada and visit their national parks (Banff is an INTERNATIONAL treasure). Go to some the the AWESOME festivals in Edmonton.
But please... turn off you cell phone. If I hear it ring while I'm watching a wolf pack in near Yellowstone this fall I'll be very upset.
~Z
Nearly all the monuments and museums in Washington DC are free to the public. Some require waiting in line for tickets, but again those tickets are generally free, they're just used to limit the number of visitors per day. Plan to spend at least a few full days in the DC area, to see everything. Natural and American History museums, various Art museums, war memorials, the Air and Space museum, Air and Space II out in Dulles, VA (a 30-45 minute drive from downtown DC), and much, much more. Northern VA also has the Spy Museum, which might be fun if you're into cryptography and the like. I think they even have a hands-on exhibit of the Enigma machine.
So, let me see if I've got this right. You have an indeterminant amount of time to spend in the US. You can go anywhere you want to go and do anything you want to do. And you want to spend it in computer museums, big bookstores, and the Smithsonian? Granted, these are all neat places to visit, but why do you want to geek up a perfectly good vacation?
My advice? Ditch the nerd stuff and do something outside.
Learn to kayak in Colorado.
Hike in one of the last beautiful places on Earth.
Play in the water at a beautiful beach in Florida.
Or go to one of the best beaches in Mexico.
Slide around on snow on purpose.
Go to one of the last truly wild places.
There is so much to see in North America. Please don't spend your whole trip at Frys.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog, its too dark to read.
We WILL laugh and make fun of you at the gate if you try this, and we have.
Who was it that said burning man is for pretentious faggots? Oh god. After this post I am going to end up getting another one of these:
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Burning Man is where all the real assholes go every year to hone their skills at being even bigger, greater, assholes.
Like everything else in this god forsaken country it's something that was good when it started, but then got ruined by pretentious suburbanites. It's so fucked up that the only original people there are the ones wearing normal clothes. Everyone else is just a sad representation of each other. It's an fuck fest of the worst kind of American herd mentality you'll ever see.
Don't go.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
Naturally, the size of Canada dwindles roughly to that of a medium pizza if you discount all the uninhabated/under ice portions.
Yeah, but you still can't readily backpack across it, which was really my point (and no, I didn't miss your attempt at humour :) ). Unless, of course, you really enjoy hiking through uninhabited and iced-over areas (which some people quite enjoy). Personally, I prefer to live in a country that is dominated by wide-open spaces, as opposed to one that is dominated by other human bodies :).
On a serious note though, I find it interesting that people seem to be pointing out a good bit of cultural activities and sites as well as 'geek' ones.
Well, I guess one of the difficult things is that the OP didn't really mention what type of geek they are. A history geek would probably be more interested in a fort from the War of 1812 than a science centre, which might be heaven for a science geek.
Of course, some things transcend the different stratii of geekness, and might even, parry the thought -- appeal to NON-GEEKS! :)
Yaz.