Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with roadtrip

Food for the road. Not road food.

peachfuzz — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:27:28 -0800

-t and I are driving across the country to see the home folks! We'd like your suggestions on food to take on a road trip. While we'll probably eat a handful of meals in restaurants, we'd like to pack plenty of food, too, and keep gas station/fast food feedings to an absolute minimum. Specifically, we want:

- foods that are mostly portable/not too messy;
- shelf-stable or at least not-too-delicate;
- stuff that could be pulled together for an improvised meal, not just snack stuff;
- maybe ideas for things that can be prepped with just hot water

Ideas we've got already:

- we'll bake a bunch of filled breads (-t makes these amazing loaves filled with savory goodies)
- we'll bake some pound cake or banana bread or some other sturdy dense energy-packing sweet thing
- grab a bunch of good hard cheeses and sausages, olives, hummus, tapenade, etc;
- maybe carry some things that could turn into salads - greens in a tub, cut-up raw veggies, roasted vegetables, nuts, dried fruit, olive oil and lemons
- lots of apples, pears, other sturdy fruit
- an electric kettle, loose tea, dried dashi stock and miso paste for soup, dried rice noodles, instant oatmeal and farina

We have (limited) cooler space, and we're looking at a 3-day drive. All my stuff so far feels snacky - do you have ideas for more meal-like things that travel well and can be eaten cold or at room temp in a pinch? We like things on the not processed end of the spectrum, don't need to eat a lot of meat, and are always willing to spend some time prepping/cooking/generally keeping up with a food situation if it helps us feel like human beings.

Help me plan a BBQ road trip

soonertbone — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:25:56 -0800

A friend of mine are planning a "BBQ Road Trip." Hitting up five or six major cities in the South, with the aim of getting a representative taste of the various styles of American BBQ. What cities would you include on this list, and what restaurant in each city would you choose to go to? Our idea for an itinerary, so far, is this:
--leave NYC
--St. Louis
--Kansas City
--Memphis
--Atlanta
--Somewhere in North Carolina
--Back to NYC

Again, what we're looking for is a representative sampling of American BBQ. I don't think we'll have time to make it down to Texas, but I'm interested in hearing if there are other cities that might be better, along the general route I've outlined above.

Once you've identified a city that should be included, what's your favorite restaurant in the city?

2 weeks driving around Europe at Christmas - what not to miss?

allkindsoftime — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:12:48 -0800

European road-trip for the holidays (filter). Meeting up with a friend in Paris on the evening of the 19th - both of us traveling there from different continents and wrapping up on Jan 2nd back in Paris. Here's the current plan:

Week 1 (Road Trip!):
12/19 - Arrive Paris, stay overnight.
12/20 - Drive to Munich, staying with friends.
12/21 - Explore Munich, Christmas markets, etc.
12/22 - Drive to Vienna with a stop in Steyr, Austria*.
12/23 - Explore Vienna, Christmass markets, etc.
12/24 - More Vienna, Christmas Eve Mass at St. Stephansdom*.
12/25 - Drive to Venice.
12/26 - Explore Venice.

Week 2 (based out of Geneva, where we have a free apartment):
12/27 - Drive to Geneva.
12/28 - Ski Chamonix, stay in Geneva
12/29 - More skiing, still in Geneva.
12/30 - More skiing, last night in Geneva.
12/31 - Drive to Paris for New Years.
1/1 - Explore Paris
1/2 - Friend flies out, I'm off to London for a day then flying out myself on the 3rd.

*Both of these were "local recommendations" given by friends - cool things to see and do. I am particularly interested on these around our route.

My questions:

1. Cheap / decent hotel near the airport in Paris - any suggestions?

2. Driving - we're both pretty set on it because a) we both love driving / road trips, and b) we crave the flexibility of being able to stop off in this or that place along the way, stay at a B&B outside the city rather than a hotel in it, etc.. We realize trains are good around here but would really need a strong argument against driving to sway us at this point. Any tips on tolls / etc. appreciated, as well as things along our routes not to miss.

3. Hotel in Vienna - same as above, we are looking for something more local / small, preferably on the city outskirts. From what I understand most of Europe will shut down on the 25/26th, so I figure on spending Christmas day on the road.

4. Hotel in Venice - see above.

5. Best skiing recommendations within reasonable driving distance of Geneva? I'm pretty set on Chamonix as I've been reading about skiing there my entire life, and extreme skiing is my "thing," although not my friend's, so I'm only pushing for one day there - the other 2 days we're looking for something more enjoyable to ride together.

6. New Years Eve in Paris - where to go? What to do? Where to stay?

Any input on the above or anything I'm not thinking of is appreciated in advance. I've only been to the UK and Greece before so if parts of (hopefully not all!) my plans are idiotic, please hope me. We're pretty much going off of the Lonely Planet guide and the AskMe tags (i.e. Vienna, Venice, etc.) for things to do in the cities we are at, but any other suggestions on stops along the way that are don't-miss are appreciated.

Florida or Bust!

meeshell — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:26:35 -0800

Recommendations for traveling south of Miami. We are planning to fly into Miami, rent a car and drive south down Highway 1 toward the Keys. We want to go down in Feb or March. Where should I focus my research on the area to decide which destination to go to and what we must see or do along the way. We want the adult version of spring break. That means fun parties in the evening, exploring historical or interesting places during the day. Warm sandy beaches at some point are a must. Anyone know anything about that area? There is just so much there I don't know where to start.

Plan the best road trip EVER

pyrom — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:53:36 -0800

Help me plan the most epic road trip from Wisconsin to Aspen, Colorado! Three friends and I have just been given an awesome opportunity. We're going to visit an uncle who lives in Aspen, Colorado. He's invited us to come over the winter holidays and stay at his house and ski, provided we can get there ourselves. We want to leave the day after Christmas and come back on the 3rd of January, giving us 9 days total for the trip. We figure we'll allot two days for travel both ways, which will give us plenty of time to do some sightseeing while getting there.

I know that one stop will be Colorado Springs, because I really want to visit the Air Force Academy there. Otherwise, everything else is open.

With a quick google mapping, this will generally be the route we'll take.

Where can we stop along the way? What cities are worth walking around in? Google puts us through places like Des Moines, Omaha, and Denver. Of these cities, what are some cool things to see or places to eat?
For those of you who've been on long road trips, what should we bring to make the experience easier or more enjoyable?
What should I expect as far as driving conditions in late December through these areas?
What can we see once we're in Aspen? We figure we'll ski most days, but I'm planning on one or two off days where we'll bum around town or drive somewhere nearby. Where do you suggest we go?
Any other fun advice you can give us?

Thanks!

quiet beachy birthday romance

pearl228 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:41:49 -0800

Awesome, romantic getaway in proximity to nyc? Secluded, autumn beach spot preferred... So, I'm looking to take my man on a sweet trip outside of the city for his birthday this weekend. I can rent a car, or we can take a train then rent a car. I was thinking Montauk, which remains a possibility, but would prefer something a little more unexpected if I can figure it out.

Does anyone have any specific suggestions in terms of towns, transport, lodging, and things to do when we're not taking long walks on the beach..?

Thanks in advance!!

Best Time for Yellowstone Visit to Avoid Crowds

aabbbiee — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:11:22 -0800

What's the best time in late spring for a Yellowstone/Grand Tetons visit? I want to plan a road trip to see Yellowstone NP and Grand Tetons NP in late spring 2010, but I'm flexible on dates so far.

I want to beat the crowds of summer/Memorial Day, but I want to have nice weather & conditions for photography.

I was in Yosemite in early April, which was perfect timing for what I like to do, photography-wise. The trees were greening up and there were lovely poppies blooming in the lower elevations. Waterfalls were at high capacity. The roads at high elevations weren't open yet, but there were very few crowds mid-week.

Can you recommend a timeframe for me that would give me similar conditions in Yellowstone & Grand Tetons?

Any other advice would also be great.

How do we fit all this stuff in a Hyundai?

RobotVoodooPower — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:17:34 -0800

What's the best way to carry cargo on extended road trip with a mid-size SUV? We are going for an extended road trip (>6 months) and are taking all essential possessions needed to work, live, and play on the road. We will need to take clothes, camping gear, personal stuff, computers, portable bikes -- about 70 cubic feet of stuff, we estimate. We also need the cargo secured when we can't take it all indoors (hotels, for instance).

Our ride is a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe with two passengers. The initial idea was to just pull a small cargo trailer, but is there any other combination of roof racks / trunk racks that would maximize our rolling storage capacity?

When solo road-trips get old...

forallmankind — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:35:19 -0800

I have a week vacation for Thanksgiving. Usually I take off for a road-trip, but last year - British Columbia - I found for the first time the thrill of the open road being overtaken by a sense of loneliness and (somewhat) isolation. I'm single and have travelled a lot on my own, but now I kinda don't wanna, but I would like to have an experience with my week off. And it's been a pretty tough year (right?) and I could use a break. How do single people navigate this? Additional info:

a) I live in LA & all my friends live in LA, so the option of visiting a distant friend is not available.
b) No, I don't have a friend I can take with me - everyone's working and/ or has family commitments.
c) I'm European, so I have no relatives in this country to visit, and also don't have Thanksgiving commitments.
d) For visa reasons I can't leave the US (don't ask).
e) I've already road-tripped to the following states: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, KY,LA, MS, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, WY
f) I could drop $1-1.5K
g) I'm 37
h) I know - I should check into a hotel on the Vegas strip for a week. Does it make any difference that I don't drink or gamble?

God only knows what I'll do for Xmas!

Things to Do and See and Eat on the Western Side of the Green Mountains

foxy_hedgehog — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:47:27 -0800

My sister planned a trip for us to Vermont next weekend, and we are driving up from the Boston area on Friday morning. We will be heading to the western side of the Green Mountains (in between Arlington and Manchester), and I'd love your recommendations for everything and anything in the area and along the way. I did a search for Vermont on the sight, but there doesn't seem to be any info on this specific part of the state.

I'd be particularly keen on recommendations for particular hiking trails in the Green Mountains or elsewhere, other potentially fun outdoor antics, and any strong opinions on local restaurants, roadside attractions, alpaca farms etc. in the area or places to stop or eat or sightsee along the way.

Our likely course will be Route 2 through W. Massachusetts, and then Route 9 through Vermont. And it looks like it is going to be cold.

Thank you!

Roadtrip Ideas

octomato — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:39:18 -0800

Where to stop between Cancun and Belize City? Hi! I'm taking my first real vacation in 3 years. (wooooo!!!) Doing a roadtrip starting and ending in Cancun. We have 7 days. We want to stop in Tulum maybe Punta Allen and down to Belize City back up stopping in chichen-itza.

Do you guys have any recommendations for:
stops
hotels
restaurants
shops

I'm female in my mid-twenties going with my best friend also female in mid-twenties. So we're on a bit of a budget.

We're starting and ending in Cancun because we have friends there and tickets were cheaper than flying to Belize.

Thanks!

East Lansing hotels?

rocket88 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:16:41 -0800

MSU Football road trip advice: Where to stay in or near East Lansing, MI? I'm planning a trip to Michigan State this November for some football, and need advice on where to stay. Some of the prices I'm seeing make me suspect that local hotels/motels jack up their prices on home game weekends. Is this true? If so, how far away do we need to stay to avoid this? My group just wants a couple of nice clean rooms in a non-sketchy neighborhood but not too pricey. We're traveling from Southern Ontario.

Where should we go on our roadtrip?

slowcat — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:40:34 -0800

My friends and I want to take a weekend roadtrip from Oberlin (close to Cleveland, OH). Where should we go? What should we see along the way? None of us are from Ohio, so we have no ideas! Thanks!

Places to see, people to go... wait... is that right?

Nice Guy Mike — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:03:13 -0800

RoadTripFilter (again): D/FW to Southern MD. Anything unmissable inbetween? I'll be moving up to southern Maryland from north Texas in a couple of weeks' time, and I was wondering if the collective had any "must see" places or good (fun and/or scenic) roads they could recommend?

I have some flexibility in routing and timing, and am considering anywhere between 3-6 days on the road.

I'll be driving alone in a pretty reliable car, so fun roads (with those "curve" things in them that you don't find in Texas) and scenic drive suggestions are welcome.

What to do in Cape Code when its dismal out?

miasma — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:46:16 -0800

I've been living in Boston for the last 7 years and I still haven't made it down to the Cape! I'm headed down there this weekend with a few friends, staying in West Yarmouth not far from Hyannis. It's going to be quite a rainy weekend. Anyone have any suggestions of what we should do? What's not-to-miss even when the weather is crappy? All suggestions welcome, especially those awesomely random. We're geeky people in our late-20s who enjoy random adventure.

Cheap driving trip from LA?

ValkoSipuliSuola — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:03:00 -0800

Where can I go in SoCal for a 3 day weekend? My husband has next Monday off and we would like to take a driving trip somewhere. We live in LA and would like to see some nature - at least what hasn't caught fire yet. A 3-4 hour drive would be ideal, maybe longer.

We don't have any camping equipment, but could conceivably purchase some. The biggest problem is we have a Miata, which has a very small trunk. I'm not sure we could fit a tent and cooler in there even if we wanted to. On the plus side, the car is a hoot and a half to drive, hence the desire to drive somewhere. We also need to do it on the cheap. Any suggestions?

We've looked at Big Sur and Yosemite, but everything's booked.

Roadtrip! Only in a responsible parent sort of way.

Morydd — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:53:56 -0800

We are traveling from Chicago to Columbus, OH next week and to keep things interesting we'll have our 15-month-old in the back seat. I'm wondering if people who have made this drive have advice in terms of routing, avoiding traffic tie-ups and stopping points. The little one travels well for the most part. The commute to day care is almost an hour each way, and we've taken him to Iowa a few times (5 hours each way). However, this is the first trip where we don't reasonably expect him to sleep for the great majority of the drive. Our thought was to leave just after lunch (his usual nap time), take an early dinner/get-out-and-run-around-a-bit break either at a rest stop or a local park, and continue on. My fear is that if we go through Indianapolis we'll hit it during rush hour and add significantly to our travel time. We'd like to get into Columbus at a reasonable hour as well. Thanks for any suggestions.

SF to Portland Roadtrip

mrunderhill — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:21:39 -0800

Pacific Northwest Roadtrip: SF to Portland and back. 6 days. Which roads to take? Which towns and parks do we have to see? Your favorite spots along 1? We're interested in anything and everything. Thanks!

forking over a good drive

yonation — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:04:28 -0800

i'm driving from nyc up to forked lake in the adirondacks tomorrow morning, following a pretty direct path from the city. can someone recommend some nice stops along the way and/or a nice drive that digresses from google's? i'm going with somebody who's never seen the region, but the thing is, its about a 6 hour drive according to google, and we dont want to spend all day in the car, so i would love something along the way OR a nice suggestion for how to drive back to the city where i can show this person a thing or two about the upstate region.

Nomad with a van needs a plan

youcancallmeal — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:54:02 -0800

I am entertaining the idea of selling almost everything I own, buying a van and becoming a temporary nomad, going from farm to farm around North America for work. Is this an inherently horrible idea? If it's not, does anyone have tips on making it work? I'm fascinated by the idea of spending a year or so driving around with my dog and spending a month or two at a place, working and learning and then moving on. I'm 27 years old, a single female, in reasonably good health and with minimal debt, but also with minimal savings. I'd like to try living very cheaply and exchanging work for food and perhaps a little cash on farms. (Think WWOOFing, not ConAgra)

What supplies would I need? What sort of van would be best for this? Are late-1990s American minivans reliable? (This is what I usually see for sale in my price range.) What am I not thinking of?

RoadTripFilter: In search of wide open spaces

The Shiny Thing — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:50:36 -0800

Another "where to go in America" question (who needs a travel agent when you've got Mefi?). This time, it's a road trip - I want to get away from the cramped little island I'm living on, and the Southwest seems like the place to go. Where should I go and what should I see? The general plan is for a 10-day drive across the Southwest and west into California, avoiding the interstates for the smaller roads, staying in quiet little towns with quiet little BnBs, and stopping every five minutes to gape at the scenery and get my Ansel Adams on - and then finish up with the drive up CA-1 to San Francisco.

My original plan was to start in Dallas and head west toward El Paso - but apparently that's six hundred miles of not very much? Would it be better to start in Phoenix or Vegas or somewhere similar?

After that, the plan was to head north through New Mexico, make a left toin at Albuquoique, head through Flagstaff (and see Meteor Crater), through the Grand Canyon and Vegas and Mojave, then hit the coast somewhere around Santa Barbara (carefully avoiding LA traffic) and take the coast road north to San Francisco.

So, the questions:
1) Is the drive west from Dallas worth it, or should I start from Phoenix and head east then north? It adds up to about 2,000 miles either way, which sounds do-able in 10 days.
2) What's on the NM-AZ-NV-CA section of the route that I absolutely shouldn't miss? Mind-meltingly expansive scenery is the main thing I'm after - wide open spaces and big blue sky and long open roads, all that sort of thing.
3) I'm thinking of early-mid October for this little escapade - what's the driving like around that time of year? Is there any danger of snow and ice and such?

Thanks in advance,

Audiobooks for a roadtrip

BradNelson — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:47:32 -0800

Recommend audiobooks for a four-person roadtrip, about 10 hours each way. I'm driving from WI to MO with my brother and my parents and since all our musical tastes vary to the extremes, I thought it might be better to listen to audiobooks instead. We're all grown-up adults, so I'm thinking something informative/interesting or something quaint/comical.

As far as informative audiobooks go, my brother and I are both history majors and my parents both enjoy history. But obviously for a roadtrip, we wouldn't want any detail-driven book, rather something that is more of a narrative/story. (For example, we all enjoyed Band of Brothers and Ghost Soldiers.)

For comical/entertaining books, we've all enjoyed the works of Patrick McManus. So, basically good, clean humor.

Question on power inverter.

Cosine — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:12:18 -0800

Electricity Filter: Roadtrip starts tomorrow, picked up a 400w power inverter to run laptop in car for road tunes, question... Picked up an inverter with an integrated power switch to avoid the clumsy and awkward need to dig around in the centre console for the 12v cig lighter plug every time we shut off the car. Made the mistake of reading the manual and noticed "When the power inverter is not in use, unplug it from the 12v outlet to prevent a slight discharge of the battery." Really? Isn't the switch enough? If the switch on the inverter is off and the 12v plug is left in what are the chances of clicky-click-click tomorrow morning when trying to start the car?

Regional cuisine/restaurants in Utah, Montana, Idaho?

unknowncommand — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:32:03 -0800

I'm a big fan of foods and restaurant chains that are region-specific (think Moxie soda, whoopie pie, Petro's, and Maid-Rite). I'm taking a roadtrip through Montana, Utah, and Idaho next month. What should I check out?

Road trip suggestions?

obliquicity — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:46:48 -0800

Road trip! My mom and I are driving from Eastern Long Island to Stillwater, OK, via (tentatively) Harrisburg PA, Charleston WV, Mammoth Cave State Park KY, St Louis MO, and Bartlesville OK. I'd like suggestions of things we might do along the way, as this breaks down to only about 5 hours of driving per day, so we have some touristy time! So at the moment we have a night at the Price Tower in Bartlesville, OK, set in stone -- but apart from that, our itinerary is mostly flexible. The current list of stops is based on searching through AskMe archives for road trip suggestions, and then dividing the distances without recommended stops into 5-hour chunks to fill our time before arriving in Bartlesville. To give you an idea of what we like, when I googled Harrisburg and Charleston I made notes of the following intriguing-sounding tourist attractions:

Harrisburg: National Civil War Museum, Sunken Gardens at Riverfront Park
Charleston: Beckley exhibition coal mine, Craik-Patton house, South Charleston Indian Mound, New River Gorge National River

As I said, apart from Price Tower, nothing, including our route, is set in stone -- we've never driven through these parts of the country before, so we're open to all suggestions.

Oh, and bonus (for me!) if you have vegan dining suggestions along that route...