| Monday, April 09, 2007 |
| The states I've been in |
There's a TV show called something like "1,000 Places To See Before You Die" -- I haven't seen it, but the title makes me imagine somebody running around frantically, checking destinations off a list: "Dammit, just one more day in Paris -- I've got to make it to the Louvre before it closes! I could drop dead at any moment!"
My personal travel goal is to visit all 50 states. I have visited just over half of them, though I haven't quite made up my mind what constitutes a "visit." One thing's for certain: changing planes in a state's airport does not count. I thought perhaps I had to spend a night in a state for it to count, although that would disqualify Wyoming and West Virginia, states I have driven through. I did stop and eat a meal in both states, though. The jury's out. Maybe I'll count them, but with an asterisk.
Next week I am going to visit Minnesota for the first time, not counting the many times I've stopped over at MSP Airport. Last year I was able to cross three states off my list (Arizona, New Mexico and North Carolina). What's left?
The non-continental states: Alaska and Hawaii. I do have a trip to Hawaii planned for 2009, and I'm excited about that.
The upper midwest: Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, North & South Dakota, Nebraska. Sorry, Idahoans, but for some reason only two things come to mind when I hear the name of your state: potatoes and white supremacists. I'd love to see Mt. Rushmore, but is there anything to do in North Dakota? Some friends of mine have a running joke that the state actually doesn't exist.
The south: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina. Lots worth seeing here: Nashville, Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans, Graceland... though I'd be hard-pressed to come up with any tourist-worthy attractions in Arkansas. Bill Clinton's presidential museum, maybe. Sorry, conservatives, but the Counter-Clinton Library never panned out, though it was the subject of one of my all time favorite "Daily Show" segments.
New England: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut. I have taken Amtrak through Rhode Island & Connecticut, but I should really make a proper visit to both states. Vermont is high on my list because I feel a strong need to make a pilgrimage to the Ben & Jerry's factory. I'd also like to stay at the "Newhart" inn. |
posted by 125records @ 12:59 PM  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Hawaii is an interestingly surreal place to visit, especially if you're on one of the non-Oahu islands. You definitely feel like you're on a tropical island (because, you know, you are) and it's a definite jet-lag inducing distance to go (from the east coast, anyway), but every once in a while you turn the corner and are confronted with the fact that you are, in fact, in the United States -- when you see a US post office, or a Wal-Mart, or something.
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There was a Wal-Mart in Cancun, Mexico -- they're everywhere!
I get that same cognitive dissonance whenever I see, say, an Applebee's in London. Geez, limeys, can't you start your own crappy chain restaurants?
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Personally, I'm looking forward to the eventual and inevitable opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library...simply because the very name is sure to inspire comedians to new heights.
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Hawaii is an interestingly surreal place to visit, especially if you're on one of the non-Oahu islands. You definitely feel like you're on a tropical island (because, you know, you are) and it's a definite jet-lag inducing distance to go (from the east coast, anyway), but every once in a while you turn the corner and are confronted with the fact that you are, in fact, in the United States -- when you see a US post office, or a Wal-Mart, or something.