Best places in America?

[sykgutt]

Before I set off on my trip, I want to plan out a bunch of different places to go. But I don't know where. I'm thinking of going to the bar where Hunter S Thompson, Johnny Depp, and various other people hung out. I want to see New Orleans, Washington DC, the Grand Canyon, and maybe visiting some famous punk clubs

So, where are some of the coolest/most beautiful/interesting places you've been? Any recommendations?

 

[Beegod Santana]

CARHENGE!!!!

www.carhenge.com

Proving that even Nebraska has something worth seeing.

BTW hitching there will be hell.

 

[sykgutt]

damn, i've always wanted to go to a punk festival. only festivals i've ever been to are hippy ones. they're good for the hallucinogenic experience and the sharing and the people, but the music is boring. too bad that's so close to the start of school, i plan on going to portland in july

 

[Labea]

i really liked ventura, california
its in the oxnard county, like, 50 miles north of L.A.

denver, co is alright if you know what you're doing and how to get around, but its hard to find a place to sleep. no where very safe, for sure. and i heard there are some squats there, but i never saw any, or met any longtime squatters there. oh yeah, and the cops are real big dicks on 16th st.

 

[veggieguy12]

Yellowstone?
Yosemite?

 

[NickCofphee]

Western Massachusetts...especially Northampton and also this little town, Turners Falls which is near greenfield. Oh, IN THE SUMMER. Unless you love snow, which can be cool of course in it's own right. Western Mass is a lot like Oregon. Green as shit but more genuine people overall. Less trendy kinda.

Arcata, Berkley, and Eugene on the west coast.

I loved small kansas highways as well. Not the traditional places to travel. Something about hitching in the middle of nowhere and getting picked up by every other car that passes you thats cool as shit. Of course, cars only pass every 15 minutes or so.

 

[cozmic]

I fucking love Austin, TX. Lots of cool people and a lot of things to do.

And I also have to agree with Western Massachusetts. People in Northampton can be kind of snobby sometimes, though.

 

[Matt Derrick]

I'm thinking of going to the bar where Hunter S Thompson, Johnny Depp, and various other people hung out.

what bar is this? and where is it located?

 

[MinedQuaranteen]

In Aspen, Co. It's called Woody Creek Tavern, I'm pretty sure

 

[Ravie]

well if traveling through nor-cal, i really enjoy arcata(humbolt county) and my hometown is redding where there are plenty of nice people to help you out downtown.

 

[jarsh]

new orleans. nuff said!!!

 

[jarsh]

goin to memphis tomorrow, and portland shortly thereafter. def two of my favorite places.

 

[1stcavmp77]

terlingua, tx in big bend country. cool ass bar in terlingua, reminds me of the bar from the movie from dusk till dawn. people are friendly as hell and they have a world championship chili cookoff in november. might be a pain in the ass to get there hitching west Texas desert country can be pretty desolate but big bend is beautiful. it's a state park so no campfires and it can get cold as hell at night.

 

[skiptown]

Chattanooga, the east bay, western Mass.

Western Massachusetts...especially Northampton and also this little town, Turners Falls which is near greenfield. Oh, IN THE SUMMER. Unless you love snow, which can be cool of course in it's own right. Western Mass is a lot like Oregon. Green as shit but more genuine people overall. Less trendy kinda.

Arcata, Berkley, and Eugene on the west coast.

I love western mass. I used to live in Northampton and spent alot of time in T falls and Greenfield. Also close by is Brattleboro, VT which I think is an awesome town. I was pretty fond of the coops in three of the four towns mentioned. Plus there is tons of really cool forrest and streams and old fields to lie around in in western mass and vermont. There are several artsy, liberal colleges around here where I think its pretty easy to use their facilities/printmaking studios etc. Also if you look young enough or can befriend some kid on campus, there are assloads of college prep type boarding schools in this area where it is super easy to go eat at the dining hall for free (Northfield Mount Hermon School is halfway between Northampton and Brattleboro in Northfield, Mass and it even has a pretty decent salad bar and they don't have a dress code so its pretty easy to blend in). If anyone gets in your face, just tell them you're an alum.

I grew up around Berkeley and Oakland and if you are there I would advise checking out the Piedmont Cemetery, the Albany Landfill Park, adventurekids playround and getting tacos from the Sinaloa Truck on 23rd ave and International (east 14th) or the Guadalajara truck on Fruitvale and San Leandro in Oakland (if you aren't vegan... ).

I have also had a fun time whenever I've been to Arcata and but thought Eugene was kind of just a bunch of crappy bars (but there is this amazing sushi restaurant with the most kinds of veggie rolls I've ever seen.. like at least 20 different kinds of vegan ones there).

If you are into hanging in the forrest Washington is awesome. The evergreen forrest in Olympia has some cool treeforts and stuff. I haven't been up to the rainforrest here but everyone tells me how amazing it is.

Coastal Oregon is awesome (but kinda rainy and cold in the winter). I am personally down with Twin Rocks and Garibaldi.

Chattanooga, TN is probably my favorite place in the country. Tons of totally down ass wild Southern punks having a good time all the time (at least when I've been there). I felt like everyone was having an excellent time and also starting bands, getting grants for their screen printing projects, building decks for their 20 person kiddie pools etc. Everyone I know there is wild as all get out but also getting shit done. My favorite kind of people. Also, every day there was basically punk day: its almost humorously easy to sneak into the aquarium through the gift shop, getting into the movies is a breeze (three of us, two much more crusty and disheveled than I, were able to see two movies by picking one already torn ticket out of the trash and saying we'd lost the others) and the popcorn has free refills so just grab one of those bags while yer fishin for tickets. Also the Ben and Jerry's seems like its always kind of busy and we were able to just waltz out with $7 ice cream cones. Plus this town has some of the only pizza I've ever been down with. Out in the middle of nowhere about two hours from Chattanooga there is this amazing queer punk commune called Ida that has the raddest kids living there and tending crazy gardens and having punk shows in the barn (Dos Tornados and Black Rainbow was possibly the most fun show I've ever been to) and there is fire flies everywhere and an outhouse that looks like a tiny victorian mansion.

 

[Beegod Santana]

Western MA can be great, but be careful if you're squatting there. The cops have an over-sized budget and can be utter jerks. Last year I was squatting in Leverett (inbetween Amherst and T falls) and woke up to choppers one morning hovering over my camp. Within 45 minutes I was having a face to face with the DEA. Basically, its a liberal college area run by yippies who talk a lot of liberal bullshit, but still hate travelers and dirty kids. PM me if you have any questions about the happy valley. I grew up in Springfield MA and know several ex-travelers living in T falls, they'll help you out.

 

[severegout]

Lawrence, KS
Denver, CO
Asheville, NC (only if you know people... not friendly to travellers at the moment)
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
Richmond, VA
Baltimore, MD (if you know people otherwise sleeping outside there suuuuuucks)
Chicago, IL
Kansas City, MO
Athens, GA
Boston, MA
Bangor, ME
Mattawamkeag, ME
Minneapolis, MN
Milwaukee, WI

Places I wouldn't visit:

Memphis, TN
St. Louis, MO
St. Paul, MN (only on Sunday's because the bus service is extremely lacking between there and Minneapolis on Sundays)
Durham, NC (check out the "Welcome to Durham" documentary)
Philadelphia, PA (this place has always rubbed me the wrong way)
Los Angeles, CA (keep on keepin' on!)

 

[Benny]

Lawrence, Kansas is a good place to live but being homeless there is not so good. If you end up there, try the Replay lounge. Very cheap drink specials and live music through out the week. I miss working there.

 

[Tailz]

Lawrence, Kansas is a good place to live but being homeless there is not so good. If you end up there, try the Replay lounge. Very cheap drink specials and live music through out the week. I miss working there.

i havent been to lawrence, cept on the way to wichita. wichita is a pretty cool small town. tons of punk bars and tat shops for the type of place it is. cops are a little overbearing but a cool place to for local music.

Ft. collins, colorado is awesome. bike community, gollege town. lotta headshops, and new belgian breweries home. you can go to the brewery and they always have a taste testin thing goin on. you get 4 like 6 oz. cups of your chosen poison, then you can change tables and do again, and again, until your shwilly... for free! well it was free when i went.

 

[Tailz]

hey benny... bein around lawrence im sure youve heard about splitlip rayfield, right? fuckin awesome bluegrass. sucks about their guitar player, he had personality.

 

[Benny]

I knew all those guys....they used to have a band called Scroat Belly before Split Lip Rayfield. His name is Kirk Rundstrom and He was my roommate years ago in Wichita. We are lucky we didn't end up in prison after all the stupid shit we used to do. It's unfortunate he passed away...alot of crazy memories.