We have already seen so much of America, and we're only a month in and so much more to see. We started in New York City, with temperatures so cold and it so windy; I got wind burnt almost instantly. We visited the Empire State, got a boat around Staten & Ellis Island to catch a view of Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Skyline and Lady Liberty herself. Notable places of interest: - New York Budget Inn (where we stayed) - The F.R.I.E.N.D.S building - El Luchador (the best taco I've ever eaten) - Shake Shack (they're all over America, and they're incredible) - Times Square - The Empire State Building - Brooklyn Bridge Next we travelled to Boston, staying in the HI Hostel which I can highly recommend. With spacious, clean dorms, a massive kitchen and dining area and even with breakfast included - all within a 5 minute walk from South Station, it's safe to say I'd recommend staying here. Boston was a beautiful city, with fantastic architecture, the worlds oldest restaurant (where we had fantastic Clam Chowder & spoke with a man who is in the top 10 fastest Oyster de-shellers) and many tours and natural history surrounding it & the home to Harvard & MIT. Notable places of interest: - Harvard University - M.I.T - HI Hostel - Union Oyster House And for a cheap drink or two try: - Side Bar - The Tam - Hub Pub From there was Philadelphia, just Tom and myself as Ollie stayed in Boston for a little longer. We stayed at The Philadelphia House which is far more like staying at a friends house than a Hostel. They have a strictly no shoes policy, so you remove your footwear at the door and are encouraged to bring slippers and get comfy! The staff are all super friendly, the beds are very comfy, the social events were always fun and well attended and the social spaces of the hostel were always full of people to chat too. Visit the Liberty Bell & The Rocky Steps and oh sweet Jeebuz visit Reading Terminal Market for some amazing food. Notable places to eat: - Carmen's Famous Cheesesteaks - Percy's BBQ - Pat's King Of Steaks (for the best Philadelphia Cheesesteak) After Philadelphia we got the Greyhound Coach to Baltimore where Mike (known as Mikeydude on Couchsurfing.com) picked up Tom and myself. He drove us over to Dulles to pick up Ollie, who was flying from Boston, and then on to see the sights! The Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, The Air & Space Museum, The White House and much more. We weren't in D.C long enough to give you any notable places of interest other than the obvious tourist hotspots. Make sure to check out Mike if you're gonna be Couchsurfing. He is a very generous, kind, knowledgable and approachable man. From Washington was the gruelling overnight Greyhound bus journey to Indianapolis! We stayed with our good friend, Blake, who was very hospitable and generous - and we even got Dinner at his parents house. THANK YOU ELLIOTTS! Notable eat/drinks spots: - The Tamale Place - Daredevil Brewery Chicago was next up, starting well with our friendly, informative and hilarious Lyft driver. He told us about the history of buildings as we drove past, the best place to try Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (Piquods) and got us to our Hostel (The Chicago Getaway Hostel) with ease! Other than that however, it was basically too cold to do anything. With it being -16c it was blistering cold. We visited The Bean in Millennium Park and witnessed a frozen Lake Michigan. A big shout out to The Todd for giving us Hand Warmers. We would surely be frozen without you! Notables: - Piquods Pizza (BEWARE they only accept walk-ins and we had over an hour wait for a table, followed by another hour for the Pizza to arrive - But if you want Traditional Original Chicago Deep a Dish - this is the place!) - Millennium Park We travelled back to Indy for one night and then on to Nashville the next day! Nashville (or Music City as it's known) is exactly that, a Music driven city. With almost every bar and restaurant hosting musicians and bands at all hours of the day it's a Music Lovers Paradise! We were originally planning on visiting the Jack Daniel's Distillery on our trip to Nashville, however due to time and cost constraints we were unable to. It's around $90 to get the 'tour bus' to and from Lynchburg so the only affordable option is to drive. I headed to the Johnny Cash Museum on my first Nashville morning and was pleasantly surprised. It's an inspiring story, and a great exhibit of the man himself. Notable Places: - The Johnny Cash Museum - The Tennessee State Museum - The Rock & Roll Walk Of Fame From one Music City to another we next found ourselves in Memphis. Again due to money constraints we were unable to visit Elvis' Graceland. We did however manage to visit the Bass Pro Pyramid, The Rock & Soul Museum & Beale Street! Memphis was also home to he strangest accommodation, search on Hostelworld for Memphis and just, take a look.. Notable place to eat: - The Local (get the pulled pork sandwich and thank me later, it's incredible) Onward to New Orleans we took the AMTRAK most the way (the Mississippi was due to flood so we had to continue onward on the bus. New Orleans was fantastic! Bourbon Street and surrounding areas, The French Quarter etc are completely full of life at all hours of the day, with music pumping from every door and window. This was also the best we had stayed in together: India House. Get it booked. Do it. The common areas are fantastic, with a big kitchen, dining areas inside and out. There's a pool, cheap tasty cooked meals available at all hours of the day, friendly staff and spacious, clean and great dorm rooms. Notable places: - India House Hostel - Katie's (5 minute walk from India House, it's also featured on Food Networks: Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives - and Ollie still dreams about the Cheese Pizza here) From New Orleans to Texas my next post will be all about our trip to Texas.
