Hi guys,

I just found this forum & thought I would say hello.

I'm going to the USA for 3 months in March 2008, from the 5-10th of March I will be attending a Convention in Texas

After the Con I'm heading through the East Coast stopping off in Different places, before heading up into Manhattan NY.

Since I am traveling by-myself for the first time & I dont know anyone in the States, I was wondering if any ex-pats from the UK would maybe like to meet up & say hello.. and basically point me in the right direction.

If anyone's interested then please let me know, thanks for reading guys.

PS sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum, I wasn't sure where to post it.

"Point you in the right direction"? What do you mean?

Which city in Texas will the convention be held in? This is an awfully big state!

If you're okay with posting dates and the names of cities you'll be visiting, then people can see whether or not they'd be able to meet up, or failing that, recommend some events/places to see/stay/eat.

I think it's basically North.

ish. :-)

Thanks for the replies guys.

The Con is in The Westin Park Central Hotel, in Dallas. I'm staying in the Hotel for about 5 days (I'm meeting up with some online friends from Texas who are also going to the Con)

After the Con I am traveling by Amtrak, stopping off at different states. Some of the places I would like to visit are Tennessee, Chicago, PA, Washington DC & NY.

While I'm there I want to see some of the sites/tourist attractions, find out wheres the best places to eat/drink that are reasonable in price & also find out what places not to go to, that maybe arent to safe.

I'm sorting out accomadation before I head over there, just staying in Hostles... as staying in a motel/hotel every night for 3 months is to expensive (although I will stay in a motel the odd night here & there)

I'm in the Chicago area:

Well Bob will probably come along and say it's rubbish, but try Chicago-style deep-dish pizza - Uno's and Due's are in downtown Chicago. Lou Malnati's is also a favourite of mine. Sausage and veggies is what I get - the sausage is the best part of it.

The Billy Goat Tavern downtown Chicago is also kind of cool - double cheezeborger lol (not a huge thing, it just sounds like it). It's a dive kinda bar/restaurant - quite famous, was a hangout of the newspaper crowd.

Go up to the top of the Hancock and/or Sears tower on a nice day - or at night. An amazing view. There is a bar at the top of the Hancock - nice, but $$$$. Both buildings just have an observatory floor though.

If the weather is nice the boat tours down the Chicago river and out on to lake Michigan are nice. They explain what all the buildings are and talk a little about the architecture.

Chicago has good museums - I liked the German submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry.

There is a Chinatown - I haven't been there in a long time, but it was nice. Dim Sum on sunday mornings if I remember correctly.

Try a Chicago Red Hots - hot dog. It isn't spicy, just pretty good for a hot dog. Italian Beef sandwiches are nice too. Many places downtown and all around have them. Gyros are a thingy similar to a donner kebab (I think).

Watertower place (north of downtown) is a nice shopping district (and mall). The old watertower building is there, a famous Chicago structure.

Don't wander outside of the loop or basic downtown area, particularly at night, unless you know where you're going.

Does Chicago HAVE hostels? I haven't heard of hostels much in the U.S., although I suppose they might exist. Make sure the neighborhood is safe if you find one...

Take care when booking hostels in the US. If you're used to hostelling in Europe, Asia, Aus/NZ etc. then you may get a bit of a surprise. There are a few around but they're by no means as prolific as in other countries and the standards aren't often the same. Also some places called 'hostels' here can be places for folk who are down-on-their-luck (there's a euphanism) rather than for travellers.

There are plenty of cheapo motel chains (e.g. Motel 6, Econolodge) which go quite cheap depending on location - stayed at one for just $32 in northern CA in the summer. If you're travelling by Amtrak though this may be a problem as many are outside of town and best accessible by car. But with Amtrak though you may be able to stitch together an itinerary in which you spend quite a few nights on the train.

I didn't think we really had hostels - but thought maybe I was missing something.

Hey, Tracy, I make it to Chicago a few times a year and someone told me to try some place that cook chips (fries) in goosefat...any idea where that is?

I'm sorry, I haven't heard of that. Tried a google search, and didn't find it that way either.

I'm out in the burbs actually, and it's a pretty big place...

Ah, nevermind, thanks anyway.

Chicago is one of my favourite cities. I would love to live there, but the prices are a bit prohibitive...think i'll have to settle for being within driving distance.

Where's Appleton? I'm not horrendously far from the Wisconsin border.

I'm not a city type at heart, worked downtown for years but no more.

Thanks guys for all the advice,

I joined a world travel group on Myspace & a-few people on there told me about this site called (www.hostelworld.com)

There are some Hostels in the USA, but only in some States... not all of them.

So if there are no Hostels in any of the places that I plan to stop off at, then I will be booking in a cheap-ish motel.

Appleton is about half hour South of Green Bay, right on Lake Winnebago. 72,000 people which is the smallest place i've ever lived. It's very nice; cheap property, low crime, good schools, etc, but I miss the big city.

Sounds lovely to me (pretty far up north!). although I think I'd like an even smaller town, if near a bigger one.

Now I'm near the city, but never go there - different strokes isn't it?