What to see between NY and SF?
May 6, 2012 6:11 PM Subscribe
Road trip from NY to SF... what to see in the "middle bit"?
We're going Rt.50, picking it up west of DC. I know the eastern part reasonably well and we've got *lots* of things to do once we get to the Rockies, UT and NV, but what about the *big* bit in the middle?
We're going Rt.50, picking it up west of DC. I know the eastern part reasonably well and we've got *lots* of things to do once we get to the Rockies, UT and NV, but what about the *big* bit in the middle?
If you're into pretty drives, consider taking U.S. 40 through the Maryland panhandle — including the scenic alternate bits weather permitting — rather than U.S. 50 right out of DC. It's only a little out of your way and it's some really gorgeous winding mountain road. It's historical too, if you're into that sort of thing.
You'll be passing right through St. Louis and Cincinnati. There's plenty of stuff to do in both towns, but one thing to keep in mind is they both have really distinctive local foodways. If I were doing this drive I'd arrange to eat at least one meal and ideally more in both places.
You'll also be passing through the northern part of the Ozarks, which are also really pretty. There's a bunch of caves in that part of Missouri, including some you can take tours of.
And for what it's worth, in this thread I got some fantastic advice for things to do and see further south in the Ozarks and on into SE Oklahoma. That's off your route — but it's no further off your route than Carhenge or Wall Drug would be, and it's just way cooler than that stuff. Carhenge is sort of cute and kitschy. The Ozarks and the Ouachita mountains are genuinely stunning.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:04 PM on May 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
You'll be passing right through St. Louis and Cincinnati. There's plenty of stuff to do in both towns, but one thing to keep in mind is they both have really distinctive local foodways. If I were doing this drive I'd arrange to eat at least one meal and ideally more in both places.
You'll also be passing through the northern part of the Ozarks, which are also really pretty. There's a bunch of caves in that part of Missouri, including some you can take tours of.
And for what it's worth, in this thread I got some fantastic advice for things to do and see further south in the Ozarks and on into SE Oklahoma. That's off your route — but it's no further off your route than Carhenge or Wall Drug would be, and it's just way cooler than that stuff. Carhenge is sort of cute and kitschy. The Ozarks and the Ouachita mountains are genuinely stunning.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:04 PM on May 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
In Kansas, Route 50 goes past the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve just west of Emporia. I have not been there personally, but have heard it's a great way to see how much of the Plains states used to look.
Hutchinson, Kansas has some interesting museums. The Cosmosphere and Space Center has some great artifacts from the space program, including the Apollo 13 command module. The Underground Salt Museum takes you down into the unused portions of a salt mine, where you get to wear a hard hat and take some rock salt home that was once part of the Permian Sea millions of years ago.
Dodge City is also on 50, but having lived there for 7 and a half years, I'm sorry to report that Boot Hill is pretty much a tourist trap.
(Sorry about no links, typing on my phone)
posted by weathergal at 7:16 PM on May 6, 2012
Hutchinson, Kansas has some interesting museums. The Cosmosphere and Space Center has some great artifacts from the space program, including the Apollo 13 command module. The Underground Salt Museum takes you down into the unused portions of a salt mine, where you get to wear a hard hat and take some rock salt home that was once part of the Permian Sea millions of years ago.
Dodge City is also on 50, but having lived there for 7 and a half years, I'm sorry to report that Boot Hill is pretty much a tourist trap.
(Sorry about no links, typing on my phone)
posted by weathergal at 7:16 PM on May 6, 2012
Does it have to be 50? The NOrthern Route (80) is ridiculously full of scenic landscape and awesome attractions.
posted by Miko at 8:08 PM on May 6, 2012
posted by Miko at 8:08 PM on May 6, 2012
This looks like a job for ROADSIDE AMERICA!!! (Or maybe not depending on your taste in goofy roadside atractions.)
If you thought it might be a job for Superman, the Superman Museum is a little out of your way to the south and might not be all that exciting for you unless you are a major league comic book geek. You're kind of going through a "not much going on" Swath of Illinois. If you're going to see only one kitchy Rt. 66 era novelty water tower, I can not recommend The Worlds Largest Catsup Bottle enough.
In St. Louis you run about 10 miles south of the City proper, but the City Museum which Mefites all over the world tend to recommend, is there with a pretty good (and free) zoo, a giant piece of abstract art and a bunch of Mefites who would do lunch with you if you asked.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 10:22 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you thought it might be a job for Superman, the Superman Museum is a little out of your way to the south and might not be all that exciting for you unless you are a major league comic book geek. You're kind of going through a "not much going on" Swath of Illinois. If you're going to see only one kitchy Rt. 66 era novelty water tower, I can not recommend The Worlds Largest Catsup Bottle enough.
In St. Louis you run about 10 miles south of the City proper, but the City Museum which Mefites all over the world tend to recommend, is there with a pretty good (and free) zoo, a giant piece of abstract art and a bunch of Mefites who would do lunch with you if you asked.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 10:22 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah, does it have to be US 50? Its kinda lackluster in the middle parts... Missouri is okay what with the ozarks and the caves and the surreal experience of Branson, MO (It's like if Las Vegas was designed by Ned Flanders) but in Kansas, US 50 is a LOT cattle processing plants and the tourist hell of Dodge City. I dunno, I guess I'm more of a natural scenery type of guy and burn out quickly on roadside attractions, and I tend to just try and skip Kansas or go through SD and the badlands whenever I road trip (no offense Kansas).
posted by midmarch snowman at 10:52 PM on May 6, 2012
posted by midmarch snowman at 10:52 PM on May 6, 2012
The trip through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia is going to feel like one long road. I've done that leg maybe 10 times and just try to enjoy the monotony of it all (granted I have always taken I-70 for the KC - East Coast leg, but I assume 50 is the same).
St. Louis is pretty underrated. The City Museum is a good suggestion. There's also Blueberry Hill, Ted Drewes for frozen custard, maybe Budweiser Brewery Tour or Schlafly Bottleworks? Forest Park is full of awesome stuff, especially during the summer, and there are several summer concert series to check out. (Live on the Levee is a big one, and there is also Twilight Tuesdays in front of the Missouri History Museum at Forest Park or Jazz at the Botanical Gardens on Wednesdays.)
Have fun! And do embrace the country music along the way.
posted by ariela at 11:25 PM on May 6, 2012 [3 favorites]
St. Louis is pretty underrated. The City Museum is a good suggestion. There's also Blueberry Hill, Ted Drewes for frozen custard, maybe Budweiser Brewery Tour or Schlafly Bottleworks? Forest Park is full of awesome stuff, especially during the summer, and there are several summer concert series to check out. (Live on the Levee is a big one, and there is also Twilight Tuesdays in front of the Missouri History Museum at Forest Park or Jazz at the Botanical Gardens on Wednesdays.)
Have fun! And do embrace the country music along the way.
posted by ariela at 11:25 PM on May 6, 2012 [3 favorites]
Check the Atlas Obscura to find a plethora of interesting sights along the way.
posted by Kloryne at 11:26 PM on May 6, 2012
posted by Kloryne at 11:26 PM on May 6, 2012
Hit as many National Parks as you can.
The National Park system is amazing. You can not go wrong there.
posted by Flood at 4:45 AM on May 7, 2012 [2 favorites]
The National Park system is amazing. You can not go wrong there.
posted by Flood at 4:45 AM on May 7, 2012 [2 favorites]
I second Flood and would also recommend that you take random 15 minute breaks every 3-4 hours to explore historical monuments and landmarks and to dance like a kid that swallowed twenty packets of sugar. Let your hair down, keep your sunroof open, turn up the volume on the mixtapes you bring with you, and take photographs of anything and everything.
Remember to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on the destination! Have fun! :)
posted by lotusmish at 7:44 AM on May 7, 2012
Remember to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on the destination! Have fun! :)
posted by lotusmish at 7:44 AM on May 7, 2012
I have a thing where I stop for DQ in those wide spots in the road. You might want to have a thing that y'all stop for.
I second Roadside America, it's just awesome!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:14 AM on May 7, 2012
I second Roadside America, it's just awesome!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:14 AM on May 7, 2012
*pulls up chair and sits down*
This section of the Road Trip USA web site is exclusively about Route 50 in its entirety. I followed pieces of US-50 on a road trip some years ago, and can recommend the following bits:
* Seymour, Indiana was where John Mellencamp was born, if you want to wave as you go through. I stayed there for the night, but only remember it for a quick stop in a hotel.
* Somewhere just outside St. Louis you can get to the Cahokia Mounds site; it'll be a slight detour from Route 50, but it's well worth it. It's just 15 minutes east of St. Louis, which IS on Route 50.
* There will be a lot of roadside stuff through Kansas - I have a theory that that is because otherwise the sheer flatness and emptiness would make you go crazy. If you have an opportunity to pull over and look at something, take it. Among the things you will find are Kinsley, KS, which is the exact centerpoint of the continental US, and Dodge City, whose "Boot Hill Museum" is cheeseball kitschy fun. (And I totally would have stuck around for the free cancan lessons if it weren't so hot out.)
* You're gonna have a lot in Colorado - two national parks (Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Colorado National Monument), and the observation tower at Monarch Pass, where Route 50 hits its highest point on the Continental Divide. There also was a recreated trappers' musuem somewhere west of the Rockies, but I can't find info on it and it may be closed...(it was called "Fort Uncomphagre," if you see signs for it.)
* In Utah, you've got Arches and Canyonland national parks a short detour off 50.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:12 AM on May 7, 2012
This section of the Road Trip USA web site is exclusively about Route 50 in its entirety. I followed pieces of US-50 on a road trip some years ago, and can recommend the following bits:
* Seymour, Indiana was where John Mellencamp was born, if you want to wave as you go through. I stayed there for the night, but only remember it for a quick stop in a hotel.
* Somewhere just outside St. Louis you can get to the Cahokia Mounds site; it'll be a slight detour from Route 50, but it's well worth it. It's just 15 minutes east of St. Louis, which IS on Route 50.
* There will be a lot of roadside stuff through Kansas - I have a theory that that is because otherwise the sheer flatness and emptiness would make you go crazy. If you have an opportunity to pull over and look at something, take it. Among the things you will find are Kinsley, KS, which is the exact centerpoint of the continental US, and Dodge City, whose "Boot Hill Museum" is cheeseball kitschy fun. (And I totally would have stuck around for the free cancan lessons if it weren't so hot out.)
* You're gonna have a lot in Colorado - two national parks (Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Colorado National Monument), and the observation tower at Monarch Pass, where Route 50 hits its highest point on the Continental Divide. There also was a recreated trappers' musuem somewhere west of the Rockies, but I can't find info on it and it may be closed...(it was called "Fort Uncomphagre," if you see signs for it.)
* In Utah, you've got Arches and Canyonland national parks a short detour off 50.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:12 AM on May 7, 2012
Annnnnd I'm seeing that you've already got the Rockies/UT/NV segments set. So I will offer another pitch for the middle bit:
* The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is gonna come across as a little hokey, but do it anyway. If you can swing it so you do Cahokia and the Gateway Arch on the same day, it makes for a really interesting contrast. (As will the photo you take of the arch if you take a similarly-composed photo of an Arch in Arches national park.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:14 AM on May 7, 2012
* The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is gonna come across as a little hokey, but do it anyway. If you can swing it so you do Cahokia and the Gateway Arch on the same day, it makes for a really interesting contrast. (As will the photo you take of the arch if you take a similarly-composed photo of an Arch in Arches national park.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:14 AM on May 7, 2012
One more suggestion -- Depending on when you travel, you can probably find a good pick-your-own fruit/berry farm along the way (I think strawberries and raspberries are available now-ish?). Just make sure to call ahead before you veer off the highway -- I was determined to get blueberries on my last road trip through the Upper Midwest and ended up taking a 20 minute detour that resulted in a "closed until next week" sign.
Also, when going through the heartland be sure to fill up with gas before you think you need to. There are some stretches that can go on for dozens of miles before another gas station sign pops up, and sometimes that station is blocked by construction or is a mile off the highway in god-knows-which-direction. (I'm talking to you, Ohio!) GPS helps. :)
posted by ariela at 7:44 AM on May 8, 2012
Also, when going through the heartland be sure to fill up with gas before you think you need to. There are some stretches that can go on for dozens of miles before another gas station sign pops up, and sometimes that station is blocked by construction or is a mile off the highway in god-knows-which-direction. (I'm talking to you, Ohio!) GPS helps. :)
posted by ariela at 7:44 AM on May 8, 2012
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posted by alms at 6:24 PM on May 6, 2012 [5 favorites]