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#1
07-28-2011, 05:11 AM
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My Trip in the States is in 2 weeks, and...
So, I'm leaving for my trip in the States in 2 weeks and I so cannot wait!
Don't know if some of you remember my old post asking for help... I build my itinerary thanks to some of your advice, and the result is that... we'll be for a couple of days in the BOSTON area, seeing the city and the area. 5 days in New York 1 days in Philadelphia, plus 1 day in the area 3 days in Washington. I've been planning for weeks, and I'm almost ready, besides the day we'll be in the Piladelphia area. We thought to go see the Dutch County (Lancaster...) but cannot really find any info or other direction. Were should we go? What should we see / cannot miss? We're curious about this Amish County, but don't really know where we're supposed to go to actually see something and not only drive for hours (which we don't mind, I've read the area is very pretty). Do you have ANY suggestion? Even regarding the Boston Area... (we're supposed to get to Gloucester / Rockport...). Thanks ladies!!! 
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#3
07-28-2011, 06:55 AM
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Dutch country is pretty much driving and seeing the countryside. It's more about the people than the landscape (which is beautiful, but honestly, not worth a wasted day if you're only spending 1 day in Philadelphia - spend the day seeing more of the sites IN town).
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#4
07-28-2011, 08:11 AM
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Darcy, thanks for the tips... We really wanted to see something in the countryside, now I'm torn...
 if you get to spend the day in the area, anyway, are there any places worth to see? We don't really mind to spend some time in a quite area, but since I cannot understand WHERE we should go, I cannot understand if that's worthy or not. I've read about: Lancaster, Columbia, Berlin... but not many info about them. mh. Indecision.... Another question, since we will get a car, that day, would that be easy for us to drive to Washington in the evening, or would that be easier to go back to Philadelphia and get a bus-train? I've been to the States already, but never got the chance to drive, so not sure how easy that would be for an Italian... lol.
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#5
07-28-2011, 08:37 AM
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Honestly..because the area is so precious to me (the history), I wouldn't bother with driving in the countryside unless you need a day off. Yeah - some people dressed differently than the rest of America, and riding in buggies, and you might find some good pies in a town, but that's really what there is to see. Some really good food, and some farms. You might find some crafts and quilts, too. To me, it's about gawking at people for their religious beliefs, and I'm just not into that. (but again, that's ME - I wouldn't enjoy it).
I'd rather spend time seeing the historical sites in Philly. I'd also take the train. I would have hated driving into DC. It was just so easy taking the train everywhere.
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#6
07-28-2011, 08:54 AM
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See?? I am glad I've asked, Darcy.
Everything I know about that part of the States is what I've read here and there, and that's why I was so torn about going or not. And I'm even really glad I've asked about the car, if that's so busy, we'll take the train for sure. So, what would you suggest, any places to go close to Philadelphia? We'll stay in Philadelphia and visit the city, but if there's something else we can do, I'll take the suggestion. Thanks Darcy!!!! 
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#7
07-28-2011, 09:02 AM
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I don't have any major advice except when you're in New York, you MUST visit Central Park.
I honestly thought it was stupid that we were planning a day to visit Central Park, thinking "So? It's a PARK. BORING!" But I wish I would have spent MORE than just one day there! It's so big and there is so much to see and do there! I definitely recommend it!
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#8
07-28-2011, 09:04 AM
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We're def going to see Central Park...
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#9
07-28-2011, 10:07 AM
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Yes the traffic here is realllllly bad. Rush hour is from 4 am to 8 am and 2 pm to about 7 or 8 pm every day, and weekends are on and off all day. (In DC) if you can take the train for sure. It will save you a lot of time and give you more time to see everything, in my opinion.
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#10
07-28-2011, 10:10 AM
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Thanks Tanyia, we def don't wanna be stuck in traffic for hours... We'll take the train.
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#11
07-28-2011, 10:41 AM
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See, I'd LOVE to see Dutch country and look at all the beautiful quilts and such, but that's me. If they CARED about being "gawked at" they wouldn't cater to the tourism
 It's a matter of preference. If I only had 1 day though I'd probably stay in the city.
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#12
07-28-2011, 10:50 AM
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The thing is, we have 2 whole days.
We'll spend one whole day in Philadelphia, seeing the city and walking around, but since we come from 5 days in NY and prevoiusly Boston (and we're headed to Washington right after...) we thought it would have been nice to see this "Dutch County" we've so much heard about... but really have no idea where we're supposed to go, in that case. If you're going to a city, it's clear, but they say "County"... they should be more specific...
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#13
07-28-2011, 11:18 AM
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My parents live near Lancaster and driving near their house you can see Amish farms and horse & buggies driving by. If you are into shopping Lancaster has 2 large Outlet malls (that's where I spend most of my time when visiting
) The only other thing to see there is http://www.hersheypa.com/ you know the chocolate place. It is about a 30 minute drive from Lancaster. They have a tour about making the chocolate and some kind of museum along with an amusement park. Just a thought, if you're into that. Don't miss the Museum of Natural History in NYC (it's awesome) it's located along one side of Central Park.
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#14
07-28-2011, 11:25 AM
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Here's some more info about the wheres and such on Dutch Country:
http://www.padutchcountry.com/index.asp
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#15
07-28-2011, 11:31 AM
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Quote:
So, I guess you've been around there a few times... If we decided to go, WHERE should we go? We may have a rented car... If we don't find enough informations about the places we may just have to skip this country trip and go somewhere else that day... But if you can give me some info, I'd appreciate that! 
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#16
07-28-2011, 11:31 AM
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#17
07-28-2011, 11:39 AM
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lol - see, I'd rather spend the extra day in DC and go see Mt. Vernon
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#18
07-28-2011, 11:45 AM
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Yeah I'd love to see al that too but I think someone from another country might not be as interested in political history? Who knows? lol
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#19
07-28-2011, 12:03 PM
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In Boston, you should check out Quincy Market, it's awesome
There are other places within an hour of Boston that are really cool, they're historical places so I don't know if you're interested in that stuff... but Plimoth Plantation is really cool (like 45 minutes away), and Salem, Mass (where the Salem witch trials took place) is about 25 miles away.
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#20
07-28-2011, 12:15 PM
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Most of your itinerary is being spent in large cities. I think it would give you a very good contrast to see some of the countryside. In my opinion, the countryside and huge wide open spaces is one of the biggest geographical differences between Europe and North America and definitely worth seeing.
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#21
07-28-2011, 12:36 PM
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My father's family is from around Lancaster and it is a beautiful area -- lots of farms and rolling hills, but not really a single "destination" per se.
If you are looking to get out in the country, you might consider going from DC to see Monticello, the former home of Thomas Jefferson. It is in a beautiful, historic area of Virginia and the house itself is fascinating. Jefferson (in addition to the scandalous history of his relationships with his slaves) was an inventor and his life and activies were really interesting to "discover".
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#22
07-28-2011, 01:07 PM
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And we're going to Salem and up to Gloucester and Rockport, if we'll have enough time.
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#23
07-28-2011, 01:18 PM
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I'm Checking out Mt. Vernon now... That is a really cool thing to visit... I may need to check it out... Ugh. Now I'm more torn than ever... lol Thanks ladies, you've been precious as always!
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#24
07-28-2011, 02:02 PM
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Hershey would be cool to go to... but our "chocolate" is mostly sugar. Yours is better
 Of course, it wouldn't be bad for you to try it, I suppose, and the tour would be really cool!
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#25
07-28-2011, 03:31 PM
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gloucester and rockport are super pretty. prepare for lots of walking. i hope you enjoy boston! (: and the rest of your trip. i love washington DC. i wanna go back next summer.
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#26
07-28-2011, 06:10 PM
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I have only drove through PA once, but when I did I saw lots of Amish people, just setting up their stands and driving their buggies. It wasn't even somethng I went looking for. They were just around a lot.
Have fun!
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#27
07-28-2011, 07:20 PM
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I am totally mesmerized by most things Amish. We recently drove through Lancaster and I live close to a large Dutch community in Ohio so we visit there often. However, if I had limited time, I don't know that I would spend a day just driving around visiting the country side. It is gorgeous and there are tons of yummy foods but it isn't really exciting.
Traci, I have to disagree with you. The bulk of Amish don't cater to tourism or the things that attract the "English" to them like exhibits in the zoo. There are those that do capitalize on the tourism but the majority of Amish do not. In large Dutch communities, you'll find that most Amish will not interact with the "English". We are friends with an Amish family and we've asked a lot of questions about this because we found that as a whole, the Amish people seemed incredibly rude. They explained to us that it has to do with the way "we" stare at them and seek them out because of their religion and their differences that makes them feel judged by the English and prefer to not interact with us.
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#28
07-28-2011, 07:30 PM
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