Reasons to Come to America
This is a current precis.
There may be more.
Oh - and I've been to the US twice already. But that was BC, if you get what I mean.
Dwellars of course, above and beyond anything else
(this list is mostly superficial)
Theme Parks
Real BBQ
Taco Bell (what?! we don't have that here)
Larger clothing sizes
The spread of opinions I get on the Cellar
Great service
Local food I've never heard of
Extraordinary scenery
Being foreign (don't knock it - you'd get it over here too!)
Tasting things I've only read about
Nice toilet paper. Cushiony soft. Absorbent.
Great coffee. The tradeoff, though is execrable tea. In styrofoam cups.
Our history is shorter than yours, but no less rich.
Should you come to Philadelphia, in addition to meeting a LOT of Dwellars, you can see exactly where the colonies flipped the bird at King George. And where Rocky ran up the steps.
Great service?
LOL
[quote=wolf;795544]
Great coffee.
Great service?
LOL
Great coffee.
Ditto.
What are plane tickets going for these days? I bet you'd have a blast.
Our wonderful national parks where you can go back in time much further than 1600 or 1700. Mesa Verde for example. It has 600 cliff dwellings that were created by Pueblo Indians between AD600 to AD1300. Come on out West and I'll show you some incredible stuff. I won't even make you camp unless you want to. ;)
I'll take you skinny-dipping in the old sewage lagoon!! Not many women can resist that
I'll take you skinny-dipping in the old sewage lagoon!! Not many women can survive that
FTFY
Really
good all you can eat buffets
Films showing months before they are released at home
Cheap petrol (so people will drive miles to meet me)
Powerful showers
Nice toilet paper. Cushiony soft. Absorbent.
um.... it's crap (pardon the pun) compared to the UK stuff. And expensive.
Great service?
LOL
Great coffee.
Ditto.
WHS
...But there are many good reasons. These are just not they.
I have to question the coffee thing. Dazza has been to the US a couple of times, and he reckons he has yet to find a place that serves good coffee. I wouldn't know having never been there myself.
All I have is here-say from pretty much everyone.
Theme Parks
Wooden rollercoasters would be the only reason to come -the rest is just Alton Towers on a bigger scale -queues and all.
Real BBQ
prolly a good one -I hate it, but beest seems quite enamoured
Taco Bell (what?! we don't have that here)
mmmkay....
Larger clothing sizes
yebbut only on Walmart-shopper styles....
The spread of opinions I get on the Cellar
This is awesome but........ the cellar is in NO FUCKING WAY representative of the majority of the US. That's why we like it. it's a worldly release at the end of the day. Look at us dwellars -we're all people who need a little extra mental stimulation outside our everyday lives. Most of America is sat in front of American Idol or some such. Same as Most of UK is watching Corrie. And the Aussies are watching their didgeridoos and the French are watching paint dry.......
I have to question the coffee thing. Dazza has been to the US a couple of times, and he reckons he has yet to find a place that serves good coffee. I wouldn't know having never been there myself.
All I have is here-say from pretty much everyone.
The coffee thing is crazy. It's kind of like freedom. Americans are taught from birth that they have the best kind and they just can't consider any other suggestion.
(Sorry Guys, I do love you and I love living here, but American coffee sucks and you are not the freeest nation on Earth)
Reasons to come: Depends why you're coming!
but as a tourist.....
The fantastic scenery: From deserts to ice highways. tumbleweed. old Route 66. Death Valley. Grand Canyon. Car Henge. Old Faithful. Lake Michigan. Niagara falls. the Everglades.
The stuff you thought was only in movies: yellow traffic lights hanging from wires, steam coming out of grids in the street, Halloween in a suburban neighbourhood, drive-thru liquor stores
When you say 'the coffee', which coffee are you talking about?
If you really want to experience America, you need to get some experience of an American high school. They are soooooo different from UK high schools and they are the most formative years. So much we thought was fiction is fact...... I'm not bitching, it's not bad -Hebe is having a blast and doing well, but it's so different from the UK -and now I suddenly find myself understanding Americans so much better. Now I get the references they make.... etc.....
Any coffee really. Dazza reckons what you get from chains like starbucks is more or less the same as here, but he hasn't had a decent one in a restaurant or cafe ever.
When you say 'the coffee', which coffee are you talking about?
"American" or "house" or "breakfast"
"French/dark roast" is closer to European coffee, but still has a hint of.... um, well... dirt? in the main
I have no idea what Aussies drink.
Sorry, I know how much all y'all loved me 'til this point.
Yeah, that's what Dazza reckons. It tastes like dirt, and very bitter.
The whole coffee shop scene is pretty big almost everywhere here, and people very quickly decide if it's good or not. If you don't have a decent barista you're fucked.
Literally thousands of excellent microbreweries.
20 fuckin' weird-ass landscape types in one single nation.
1000 television stations (although nothing is any good).
Gourmet-quality supermarkets.
Guitar Center: an actual chain of retail stores where they sell guitars. (Yes real musicians mourn the loss of the independent music store. But, Guitar Center.)
The Krispy Kreme donut when the HOT sign is on.
Personal treatments. Our many
independently-owned nail salons will mani-pedi you until your cuticles are silken! Our day spas will put vegetables on your face and heated stones on your body! Our literally millions of trained, licensed massage therapists will relax your tension points!
Burning Man or the personal local equivalent such as the
Philadelphia Folk Festival.
Broadway and Vegas shows where $50 million has been spent to put on a production to blow you away. Spectacle more than art - mmmmaybe, but it's an experience, anyway.
I look at your list UT and there's only a couple of things on it that we don't have here in Oz. The biggy being guitar center. We don't have thousands of TV stations either, but as you say, most of what's on is crap anyway. We probably only have hundreds of microbreweries, but that's enough for a sparsely populated nation. ;)
Australia - just like America only smaller.
Yeah you guys have a lot of fuckin' weird-ass landscape types, I would like to see that. You're heavy beer people too.
Let me say though that the freshly hot Krispy Kreme doughnut is on a higher plane than Guitar Center. It is a unique and amazing thing.
We have Krispy Kreme here too. I don't know much about their hot donuts though. My sons work in bakeries, so we don't buy bread products these days.
They do sound yum though. I like KK donuts in general.
There are a zillion good reasons to come to America, but you guys ain't touching the spot.
here are some more:
The Amish
Salt Lake City
Old Route 66 (yes i know i mentioned it already, but it is everything america)
Ice hockey
Monster Truck racing and Demolition Derbys with yellow schoolbuses
Never understood the Krispy kreme thing. Should't i get skinnier just typing that?
You might be surprised at how 'american' some of our culture has become.
Thankfully we've managed to stay very Australian in the main though, which is important for the national identity. I listen to the kids though and it's clear our culture is becoming very homogenised which bothers me somewhat, simply because we're not american. On the flip side, some traditions which signify being australian are growing which is nice to see.
Did you have a fresh hot one when the hot sign was on?
Old Motels, the endless cornfields and freeways that just disappear into the haze of the horizon...
Did you have a fresh hot one when the hot sign was on?
me? No. But I will next time I see one. Just because of you.
Old Motels, the endless cornfields and freeways that just disappear into the haze of the horizon...
We have that, although you'd probably swap the corn for wheat (or barley or cotton...)
VEGAS
We were underimpressed by Vegas :(
....but the Hoover Dam was very impressive
We have that, although you'd probably swap the corn for wheat (or barley or cotton...)
but Sundae doesn't.......
I am really curious about the Amish lifestyle. I don't believe we have those communities here.
Plenty of hippies though. And beach bums and bludgers. We even have our very own special kind of trailer trash type people. Sometimes they actually live in houses, but they usually wreck them.
but Sundae doesn't.......
Oh yeah, I know. I'm just trying to convince her to come here too. ;)
[COLOR="White"]Or instead...hehehe[/COLOR]
"American" or "house" or "breakfast"
"French/dark roast" is closer to European coffee, but still has a hint of.... um, well... dirt? in the main
I have no idea what Aussies drink.
Oh, I was thinking you meant the swill you get a fast food joints, or even the coffee you get in the cans at grocery stores...like Folgers. Cuz that stuff is bad.
but Sundae doesn't.......
... true dat.
I love our limited horizons and the safety of knowing where you are at any given point.
But I'd love to experience so much s p a c e.
S'funny. I'm currently wondering where to go that isn't Europe for a road-trip experience ... If you don't persuade Sundae maybe you'll get the booby prize (=wooden spoon, before you guys get all excited!!) and Mr Limey and I'll come to visit instead ...
Australia - just like America only smaller.
Yeah, we're both England's rejects, aren't we? Youse guys talk funnier, though. And get your drunk on better. I've been out with Aussies.
Other reasons to come to America:
Cheesesteaks
Hoagies
Pizza.
Yes, pizza is Italian, but it underlines something Americans excel at ... taking another culture's cuisine and making it uniquely our own. And Better. That's the American Way.
Because America is determined not to come until you do.
Oh yeah, if I ever come to America, I'm going to Philly and one of you lot is taking me out for a cheesesteak. A good one. The best one ever.
[COLOR="LemonChiffon"](then I'm stealing the recipe and introducing them to Australia)[/COLOR]
S'funny. I'm currently wondering where to go that isn't Europe for a road-trip experience ... If you don't persuade Sundae maybe you'll get the booby prize (=wooden spoon, before you guys get all excited!!) and Mr Limey and I'll come to visit instead ...
That would be most awesome. For a real road-trip experience you need to get your kicks on Route 66.
S'funny. I'm currently wondering where to go that isn't Europe for a road-trip experience ... If you don't persuade Sundae maybe you'll get the booby prize (=wooden spoon, before you guys get all excited!!) and Mr Limey and I'll come to visit instead ...
One of the best road-trips ever...
The TransCanada Hwy from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta, then
- Highway 93 from Calgary north to Jasper, then
- Highway 16 (Yellow Head Hwy) from Japsper to Mt Robson and Tete Jaune, then
- Highway 5 all the way back to the TransCanada and Vancouver, BC
It's only 3,245 km :rolleyes:
But you will have driven only half way across Canada,
so you should plan to do the eastern half next year.
.
Yeah, that's what Dazza reckons. It tastes like dirt, and very bitter.
The whole coffee shop scene is pretty big almost everywhere here, and people very quickly decide if it's good or not. If you don't have a decent barista you're fucked.
Don't buy your coffee at Starbuck's, and you won't that over roasted crap. American coffee is the best in the world. And I have had coffee in European countries.
Luckily, I am not allowed to drink coffee anymore, so I can't enter this debate.
Because from the opinions I've heard IRL it is divisive to the point of being cliched.
I want to go to a real Glee Club show.
And one of Monster's swim-meets (did I say it right?)
And for brined turkey - forgive me if I skip the candied yams, can you just roast some for me instead?
And hunting. Really. With a Dwellar that eats what they catch, not a chinless wonder who chses the inedible on a horse.
Don't buy your coffee at Starbuck's, and you won't that over roasted crap. American coffee is the best in the world. And I have had coffee in European countries.
As I said, the Starbucks type chains were the same as over here, and he went to restaurants and cafes and diners etc and couldn't find a cup he'd call good compared to what we have here.
Maybe it's just what you're used to calling coffee. ;)
What's the alcohol content of coffee in the US? If you're used to 8 to 10%, American coffee might seem a bit weak.
(Sorry Guys, I do love you and I love living here, but American coffee sucks and you are not the freeest nation on Earth)
Honey, I've been outside the US and I know for a fact we don't have the best of anything when it comes to food or bevvies. Better than England, I'd wager, but I know we suck. The only times in my life when I've experienced "culture shock" were when I returned to the US.
The coffee is tolerable if you really apply yourself.
Our wonderful national parks where you can go back in time much further than 1600 or 1700. Mesa Verde for example. It has 600 cliff dwellings that were created by Pueblo Indians between AD600 to AD1300. Come on out West and I'll show you some incredible stuff. I won't even make you camp unless you want to. ;)
As soon as I get my life in order I'm going to come out there and ahve you show me around. I've only been to Mogollon/ Gila cliff dwellings.
:blush:
Because America is determined not to come until you do.
Never understood the Krispy kreme thing. Should't i get skinnier just typing that?
KK sucks. Visit us and we'll take you to the best donuts on earth
I guess it's what you're used to (same with coffee?)
I'd never claim hot dougnuts in a bag are haute cuisine, but they are a taste of my childhood, and a million miles from Krispy Kreme.
Bro loves Krispy Kreme, but has been to America every year since he was in his early twenties - sometimes twice - and has a far sweeter tooth than I do besides. He used to empty a tube of Smarties onto a plate and call it dinner.
I think it is an acclamation thing. I like a lot of different coffees, everything from Turkish to Maxwell House. I'm not a fan of the ever present drip type coffee maker though, it can take quality coffee and ruin it. I use a press at home. Instant doesn't count as coffee unless you're at least 1 solar unit from home
KK sucks. Visit us and we'll take you to the best donuts on earth
Bro loves Krispy Kreme, but has been to America every year since he was in his early twenties - sometimes twice - and has a far sweeter tooth than I do besides. He used to empty a tube of Smarties onto a plate and call it dinner.
I rest my case.
[YOUTUBE]N-4YF7S7rHo[/YOUTUBE]
For some reason, when the Pakistanis took over the Dunkin Donuts concessions, they didn't get the coffee recipe handed over to them, or they just ignored it.
Consensus hereabout is that Wawa coffee is the best. I have never had a bad or burnt tasting cup (not the case at 7-11, CircleK Drunkin' Donuts, or an assortment of no-name gas station coffee pots). Yes, yes, I know most of you don't have the opportunity to sip this sweet nectar ... but there are more chances than there used to be ... expansion has put them in Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and ... I heard yesterday that they are opening a store in Florida.
I've read about the Pacific Coast Trail since I was a kid,
but never seriously thought about actually doing it.
Our family has done a bit of back-packing in the Canadian Rockies,
back when our girls were still willing to follow their parents wherever.
Here is a little article I enjoyed about a local resident's journey this past summer...
The Columbian
Susan Parrish
1-07/12
Vancouver [WA] woman tests her limits on Pacific Crest Trail
Lena Sessions pulled off her shoes, then peeled off her socks and winced.
Blisters had formed on the bottoms of all 10 toes.
Putrid, yellowish skin was peeling off in big chunks. Walking was painful.
But not walking wasn't an option. She'd already hiked 200 miles, but another 2,433 miles
of the Pacific Crest Trail stretched ahead of her on a Mexico to Canada journey.
So she pulled a tube of Superglue from her backpack and glued her blistering toes.
Gingerly putting on her socks and shoes, she hoisted her pack onto her back and continued her trek north.<snip>
[ATTACH]41084[/ATTACH]
At least every seven days, the trail is near a town with a post office or a small store to purchase supplies.
She mailed herself resupply boxes along the trail, including four new pairs of hiking shoes.
Instead of carrying an entire trail guidebook, Sessions divided her books into sections
and mailed them to herself. Her parents and friends mailed her care packages along the trail.
<snip>
On Sept. 21, the new Vancouver resident completed the biggest
challenge of her life: thru-hiking the 2,663-mile Pacific Crest.
Hiking 25 to 30 miles a day, she completed the journey in 149 days, just under five months.<snip>
Dayum. She's lucky she didn't develop Tolio or Kneasles.
But how was she hiking 25-30 miles a day if 2,663 ÷ 149 = 17.87? Did she take every other day off?
There is a lot of pot that needs smoked between Mexico and Canada. [COLOR="White"]That is a odd Scranton conjugation, I felt compelled to use.[/COLOR]
Dammit, my bucket list just keeps getting longer.
I've read about the Pacific Coast Trail since I was a kid,
but never ...--snip
WANT.
I want this too. Perhaps this other item on my bucket list would be a good warm up.
The Wonderland Trail.
The Wonderland Trail is an approximately 93 mile (150 km)[1][2] hiking trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, United States. The trail goes over many ridges of Mount Rainier for a cumulative 22,000 feet (6,700 m) of elevation gain.[1] The trail was built in 1915.[3] An estimated 200 to 250 people a year complete the entire trail[1] with several thousand others doing shorter sections of it. The average time taken to complete the entire trip is 10 to 14 days.[3]