East Coast Road Trip this September: Suggestions?

[chadomac]

My ladyfriend and I are probably doing an east coast road trip this

early September. If any of you guys have any tips on places to eat (we would

love to eat as much seafood as possible during this trip) or places to

check out in/between the following areas, please feel free to chime in.

 

Cleveland, OH

Niagara Falls, NY

Cooperstown, NY

Waterbury, VT

Boston, MA

Hartford, CT

Washington, DC

Baltimore, MD

Pittsburgh, PA

 

As

of right now I wanna do the R'n'R HOF, the Baseball HOF, The Ben &

Jerry Factory Tour, Fenway Park, Camden Yards, and see a game at PNC

Park in Pittsburgh. This trip will be very food and baseball based,

which just so happen to be two of my main interests.

 

Thanks for any tips or guidance you can give me, guys.

[pitchleague]

If you go to Cooperstown, make sure you eat at the Doubleday Cafe, right down the street from the HOF. Order the Beef Spiedie sandwich. It is absolutely delicious. They were so good that we had those sandwiches for lunch each of the 3 days that we were in town.

 

We still talk about how good they are and how we wish we could have it again. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

[Baldkin]

If you're a history buff, there is a great bit of walking to do around Boston seeing things like Sam Adams grave, amongst many other things.

 

As for the Fenway tour, make sure (if possible) to get one of the tours that goes up to the Monster seats. That's just too cool to miss.

[brwrsfan]

I've been to Boston and Niagra Falls a couple of times.

 

Niagra Falls is actually pretty boring, I wouldn't plan on spending more than a day or two there. It's neat to see but that's about it. Not much else around there other than a casino. Make sure to bring your passports, as the Canadian side is much nicer with a better view (it's also where the casino is). Buffalo is pretty close by, I can recommend lots of wings places there.

 

As far as Boston goes, just walking around downtown and the city in general will take you to some pretty interesting places. The Fenway tour is alright (I've done it twice) but other than going up on the monster, there isn't really much else that you see there that you couldn't see just by going to a game, it's just a walk around the stadium basically. Sam Adams tour is alright if you want to drink some free beer.

[Menotti80]

If you're a history buff, there is a great bit of walking to do around Boston seeing things like Sam Adams grave, amongst many other things.

 

As for the Fenway tour, make sure (if possible) to get one of the tours that goes up to the Monster seats. That's just too cool to miss.

 

 

 

I believe this is called the freedom tour. Totally worth doing the whole thing if you have a 1/2 day available.

[sveumrules]

Check out the Happy Dog in Cleveland. Five bucks for a huge Kosher dog and you get to pick from like 100 different toppings. Think I got their homemade killer steak sauce, crunchy peanut butter, cheese whiz and bacon. They also have a great beer selection with a bunch of Ohio micros.

[LouisEly]

Two notes about Niagara Falls:

 

1) If you go there, the Canadian side is much better. Nice hotels and restaurants. There's a steakhouse with an amazing view in the main casino. And for breakfast go to the Flying Saucer Cafe.

 

2) While you don't need a passport to go to Canada, you need one to get back into the United States.

[tristarscoop]

In Boston, it's called the Freedom Trail. There is literally a line painted on the ground and you follow it all around the city to different landmarks, including the Old North Church, Ben Franklin's Grave and Fanueil Hall. It takes anywhere from 3 to 6 hours, depending on how long you spend at any one place and its free.

 

The JFK Library in Boston is also pretty cool.

[bucks2281]

The Hawk 'n Dove (a Packer bar) and Good Stuff (great quick service burger joint) are two of my Capitol Hill favorites. If you aren't able to catch a Nats game in DC, you're not missing much.

[owbc]

Eat at the ballpark in Baltimore. They had some really good looking BBQ pulled pork in the outfield by the warehouse for only $6 or $7.

[chadomac]

Is Niagara Falls easy to navigate? I guess I'm just worried I'm going to get out in that region and not be able to figure out how to get to the good viewpoints in Canada. Is there a lot of signage to guide you through the Canadian border or do I need to figure that stuff out in advance?

 

Also, what wing places do you recommend in Buffalo? I am a picky wing guy, but the place I like I really like a lot. Around here that's Points East and Magoo's. I've read about Bar Bill and Elmo's both of which are in the Buffalo area but not in Buffalo.

[brwrsfan]

You cross the border basically right by the falls, it's almost impossible to miss. Literally the entire area is based around the waterfall for the most part, you should be fine there. Just remember the passport.

 

As far as wings, the Anchor Bar probably has the best wings I've ever had, at least in the top 5 without question, though it is more expensive than I would normally pay for wings. It's supposedly the place or one of the places that invented the "buffalo wing". A lot of my coworkers there really like Duff's but I thought the wings there were just average. There are wings everywhere though.

[whizkid]

Niagara Parkway runs along the river on the Canadian side and all the viewpoints are on that road. Check out the street view in Google Earth and you will see everything, where the parking is etc. You can use it to see the border crossing as well.

[lcbj68c]

In Boston, it's called the Freedom Trail. There is literally a line painted on the ground and you follow it all around the city to different landmarks, including the Old North Church, Ben Franklin's Grave and Fanueil Hall. It takes anywhere from 3 to 6 hours, depending on how long you spend at any one place and its free.

 

The JFK Library in Boston is also pretty cool.

Yep. Did the Freedom trail thing back in Dec when a buddy and I went to Gillette to watch, errr..Matty Flynn http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif As our first time to Boston, we just took about 4 hours and walked the entire freedom trail. The line is literally painted on the ground like she said. Starts at a large park, though I couldn't tell you the name of it. The best stop might have been on the end, the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill. Also, we found the Cheers on the way back and had a bite to eat there. I really enjoyed the tour at Fenway even though it was Dec and I knew little about Red Sox history. Heard all about the history of the green monster and the views were amazing. It was neat to really see how large right field is and how much ground a RF has to cover. While there wasn't any clubhouse access, the tour was well worth it. The large financial tower there (john hancock maybe?) offers an amazing view of the city I heard, but it was closed when we made it back. P.S., when you get back, please advise on Baltimore/DC. Going there for the first time and will be knocking Camden Yards and Nationals Park off my list at the end of Sept.

[chadomac]

Anyone been to the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland? And if so, did you just walk up and enter or did you buy your tickets in advance? Thank you for all the information thus far!

[hawing]

Anyone been to the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland? And if so, did you just walk up and enter or did you buy your tickets in advance? Thank you for all the information thus far!

We just walked up. It was a weekday in July, a few weeks after Michael Jackson died so there was still a big shriney thing for him in the lobby.

Don't bring a camera, though; they'll ask you to check it.

[tristarscoop]

P.S., when you get back, please advise on Baltimore/DC. Going there for the first time and will be knocking Camden Yards and Nationals Park off my list at the end of Sept.

We went to DC to do all the tourist stuff there and this was before Nats Park opened about 5 years ago, so we decided to just do Camden. We took a commuter train from DC to Baltimore and they offered a service where for (I think) $5 you could take a bus back into DC after the game. Found out about it directly from the Orioles. It was a nice, greyhound-style bus, not a school bus. It was awesome and totally worth it. Since it's purpose was to get you home from the game, you didn't have to worry about how long the game was or catching some mass transit to get home.

 

We did the Harbor, Fort McHenry, ate crabs on a roof here(seriously, best meal I've ever had) and the game in less than a day and it wasn't too much. It was cool to have the day in Baltimore, but still be able to do a long weekend doing the touristy stuff in DC.

[prophet]

When you're in Pittsburgh, you have to eat at the original Palmantii Bros. (butchered the spelling, help?). Ate at the one in Ft. Lauderdale and it is the most amazing sandwich ever. It's world famous, so I'm sure you'll be able to find where it is. When I went to Cooperstown a few years ago, we stopped at Gettysburg on the way back. If you're a history guy like me, Gettysburg and Philly (Independence Hall) are must sees. Great time. As far as the sandwiches, they take the french fries and coleslaw and put it right on the sandwich. Don't knock it, it is absolutely unbelievable. Definitely have to be hungry though, cause they are huge.

[laserbomb]

If you're going to be out in that area with that kind of time, NYC sticks out by not being on your list, my suggestion would be maybe let it on your radar if you have any interest at all. A 1- or 2-day stop there wouldn't really do you justice but don't let that stop you.

[chadomac]

tristarscoop, I'm going to try and eat crab at LP Steamers, thanks for the tip. It has good reviews and the rooftop sounds very cool.

laserbomb, we've been to NYC and don't really want to be there with a car, so we're going to skip it this time. Also, it may be hard to get my girlfriend to leave NYC if we go there.

While trying to priceline my first two nights of this road trip... I've discovered that we're in Buffalo / Niagara Falls during National Buffalo Wing Fest. What incredible luck! Not! Hotels are ridiculously expensive the night of September 3rd. So lame. Anyone happen to know any cheap but clean hotels/motels in that area? Just thought I'd give it a shot. We may end up getting a private room at a hostel for $80... but that's a lot of money for a hostel. We may also just drive around and call places late at night hoping they'll cut us a break since we'll just be showing up at midnight, sleeping for 8 hours, and leaving in the morning.

[tristarscoop]

I hope LP Steamers is as good for you as I remember. We were a bit rushed from going to Ft MHenry to getting to Camden in time for the game, but even so, it was like a pause that hour or so in there lives in my head like a perfect moment. The weather was perfect, the view was to die for, the food was mouthwatering. I'll have that place on a pedestal for a very long time.