(02-16-2012 11:39 AM)UofMTigerFan Wrote:  Memphis:

Sports - Fedex Forum for basketball and The Liberty Bowl for football. The new Tiger Lane is great for tailgating. You are all invited to A-25 for free adult beverages & some grilled dead animal.

Food- The best BBQ in the world, hands down. The BBQ Shop, Central BBQ, and Rendezvous are must stops.
Fine dining @ Iris. Casual eats @ Gus Fried Chicken.

Entertaiment - Beale St.- Baby bourbon street on the weekends. For the non-party people we have a world class zoo. A trip to Redbirds staduim for a AAA game with some BBQ nachos is a great way to spend a afternoon.

People= Southern charm. Stay in the right areas & Memphis is a fantastic city with equally fantastic people. Let us know when you are coming and we can and will help you with tickets & certainly buy a conference mate a beer.

When the Tigers aren't playing in the FedEx Forum, you can catch an NBA game or a great concert there, and walk to Beale street afterwards.

Memphis is creating a great venue right off of Beale on the waterfront. Memphis fans can help me with the name that's slipping my mind.

The triple A stadium is second to none in the nation. Always a good crowd and a good game at AutoZone Park

For you sensitive fans, pre-plan a visit to tour St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Truly a remarkable place. It is one thing about your visit you will NEVER forget.

For you golfers, Southwind is one of the nices golf courses there is.

Of course you have Graceland, great bbq, great music, a fantastic zoo, amongst other things. All included with a bit of Southern Hospitality.

(02-16-2012 11:43 AM)monty Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:02 AM)SmallVoice Wrote:  UofMTigers1 started a great thread on what would be everybody's favorite road trip. This one's kind of the opposite: Since I don't know most of the cities in the New Big East all that well (some I've never even been to), I want to hear from people who actually live there why we should want to see your city (or state).

So if a new Big East fan could make only one road trip per season, tell us why it should be to your place. I'm a Louisville fan, but I live in San Diego. There are a million reasons to visit both, and the attractions are located within both cities - no reason to go more than a few miles at a time. I'll just list the ten that seem best to me (others are free to disagree and add more, of course).

Louisville:

1. One of the nicest college stadiums around
2. A basketball arena second to none on earth, which is also the venue for major concerts
3. Campus located in the nation's largest Victorian historic district
4. Churchill Downs is a short walk from the football stadium
5. Valhalla Golf Club if you're a golfer
6. Kentucky in the autumn is gorgeous
7. Fourth Street Live! (a shopping & entertainment area downtown)
8. Louisville has more restaurants, nice hotels, and other amenities than most cities its size due to hosting major sporting events such as the Derby, Breeders Cup, Ryder Cup/PGA championship, etc.
9. If you're really only in town for a football game, the stadium, reasonably priced hotels, and tailgating are probably all closer to the airport than in any other city
10. Safe game day atmosphere for families or people who are by themselves - competitive fans who are nonetheless friendly and glad to welcome fans of other schools

San Diego:

1. The weather. San Diego weather is truly the best on the planet, especially during most of football season
2. Beaches. Our beaches range from the dramatic & isolated (Blacks, Torrey Pines) to the intimate little coves of the La Jolla area, to the broad classical ones like Pacific Beach & Imperial Beach, and more.
3. Sea World
4. San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park - none better in the world
5. Good restaurants located in several different neighborhoods (Gas Lamp, La Jolla, Hillcrest, etc.)
6. Everything's much more compact than you'd think for a city this big, and the airport is right in the middle of town
7. Petco Park downtown is a great place to catch a baseball game (if you're here before MLB season ends), and there are dozens of great restaurants within walking distance
8. If you're a golfer, Torrey Pines Golf Course.
9. The city of San Diego is literally on the Mexican border, so our Mexican cuisine is the real stuff.
10. Safe game day atmosphere for families or people who are by themselves - competitive fans who are nonetheless friendly and glad to welcome fans of other schools
    

To add to San Diego:
Pack your golf clubs, there are a lot of great courses. Torrey is expensive if you don't have a resident card (then it's super cheap). Other fun courses: Barona, Steele Canyon, Sycuan/Singing Hills(2 courses, each has a couple of the most fun holes in SD) there's a links style course for a change of pace, one right next to hotel circle in mission valley for ease of access, and lots more.

Beach - I love Ocean Beach, the main drag has an eclectic group and it has a cool vibe, Hodads is a hamburger staple; Mission beach is more toursity, Pacific beach has a long strip of bars and hotties

Old Town is a tourist trap but has the best sit down mexican restaurants in town - can't throw a rock without hitting great mexican

Hole in the wall mexican/taco joints - they're everywhere, everybody has their favorites, the variety and ubiquity of them is the best part of SD to me.

as you said Hillcrest has great restaurants, more for the foody and hipster type (it's also the gay area so don't be shocked)

Viejas Arena - we've had a number of double headers the last few years, if it falls on one, hit up a bball game before or after by taking the trolley from Qualcolm to campus

The trolley - you can get around from gas lamp/padres, old town, qualcolm/mission valley, SDSU on the trolley


Also, if you're going to be in town for a while, look into renting a beach house. I have some Zony (Arizonans that infiltrate San Diego in the Summer) relatives that do it every year and it works out about the same as staying in a nice hotel and you can be right on the beach, or even save a bit and be in the next row off the beach.

Add these to you list in San Diego...

-Coronado and the Hotel Del Coronado. 5 minutes from downtown with gorgeous views, beaches, and the world famous Hotel Del. Quite a sight to see.

-San Diego Harbor. Great Harbor view and Downtown. USS Midway Museum, Seaport Village, Star Of India (Oldest sailing vessel in the world), and a Russion Sub to tour.

-Balboa Park. The Zoo has already been mentioned and it is in Balboa Park itself. Balboa Park is a day long event in itself with its Museums of all kinds. A must for any visitor that likes History.

And after being in the tourist buisness for a decade, the comment I heard more than any other from tourists. The people of San Diego are the friendliest people they have ever encountered while on a vacation.

Boise

Obviously we're a newer and rural city so most of our attractions will be centered around nature. Anyway ...

- World Center for Birds of Prey: if you like wildlife, especially birds, this is a great place to spend a couple of hours

- The Sawtooth Mountains (Stanley): a little out of town, takes about 2.5 hours to drive there but some of the most scenic views in America

- McCall, Idaho: north of town, takes about 2 hours to drive there due to the mountain roads. Great summer town and offers excellent skiing in the winter

- Hells Canyon: West of town, the deepest gorge in North America

- South Fork of the Payette River: some of the best early summer whitewater rafting anywhere

- The Basque District + 6th & Main: offers a nice selection of restaurants and bars, great night life for a small remote town

- The Owyhee Canyonlands: some spectacular lava rock hoodoo formations within easy driving distance of Boise

- Old Idaho Penitentiary: if you want a feel for how the old West justice system operated, this place is well worth a visit

- The Boise River: a number of great parks throughout the town, excellent for bikers, joggers, and kids

- The Blue: the original Blue football field :)

(02-16-2012 12:14 PM)adluther Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 11:39 AM)UofMTigerFan Wrote:  Memphis:

Sports - Fedex Forum for basketball and The Liberty Bowl for football. The new Tiger Lane is great for tailgating. You are all invited to A-25 for free adult beverages & some grilled dead animal.

Food- The best BBQ in the world, hands down. The BBQ Shop, Central BBQ, and Rendezvous are must stops.
Fine dining @ Iris. Casual eats @ Gus Fried Chicken.

Entertaiment - Beale St.- Baby bourbon street on the weekends. For the non-party people we have a world class zoo. A trip to Redbirds staduim for a AAA game with some BBQ nachos is a great way to spend a afternoon.

People= Southern charm. Stay in the right areas & Memphis is a fantastic city with equally fantastic people. Let us know when you are coming and we can and will help you with tickets & certainly buy a conference mate a beer.

When the Tigers aren't playing in the FedEx Forum, you can catch an NBA game or a great concert there, and walk to Beale street afterwards.

Memphis is creating a great venue right off of Beale on the waterfront. Memphis fans can help me with the name that's slipping my mind.

The triple A stadium is second to none in the nation. Always a good crowd and a good game at AutoZone Park

For you sensitive fans, pre-plan a visit to tour St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Truly a remarkable place. It is one thing about your visit you will NEVER forget.

For you golfers, Southwind is one of the nicest golf courses there is.

Of course you have Graceland, great bbq, great music, a fantastic zoo, amongst other things. All included with a bit of Southern Hospitality.

Beale Street Landing.

And I second both of these cited posts above. Memphis is an absolutely great place to visit for fans of other teams.

(02-16-2012 11:50 AM)SmallVoice Wrote:  Oh - UofMTigerFan mentioned "mini Bourbon Street" which reminded me of something both Louisville & SD offer: Alcohol.

Louisville: Bourbon. If you love bourbon, Louisville is heaven. If you do not, Kentucky can teach you why you should. There's no real reason to leave Louisville if you make a road trip there, and most people who mention leaving town for anything mention Keeneland as the destination. Me? If I were to recommend one trip outside of town, it would be for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. My favorite bourbon on the trail is Woodford Reserve (Versailles). My all-time favorite (not on the trail) is Blanton's (Frankfort).

San Diego: Beer. Believe it or not, San Diego is the place to go if you want good craft beer. There are a lot of places throughout the city where you can sample a large variety of beers (and they'll literally bring you a tray of small sample size glasses of it) - my favorite place, Karl Strauss, will even surprise you with a complimentary sample of their featured beer if you show any interest at all - and the beers at most of these places change on a regular basis so you'll always get something different.

I can honestly say I had a great time on every visit to Louisville. The fans always treated us with civil disgust in football and hoops. I loved that bourbon was sold in airplane bottles at the football game!

I agree how wonderful Woodforf Reserve is as well. That said, once you pickle the old liver you might try Early Times. Dirt cheap but still smooth.

(02-16-2012 12:59 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 12:14 PM)adluther Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 11:39 AM)UofMTigerFan Wrote:  Memphis:

Sports - Fedex Forum for basketball and The Liberty Bowl for football. The new Tiger Lane is great for tailgating. You are all invited to A-25 for free adult beverages & some grilled dead animal.

Food- The best BBQ in the world, hands down. The BBQ Shop, Central BBQ, and Rendezvous are must stops.
Fine dining @ Iris. Casual eats @ Gus Fried Chicken.

Entertaiment - Beale St.- Baby bourbon street on the weekends. For the non-party people we have a world class zoo. A trip to Redbirds staduim for a AAA game with some BBQ nachos is a great way to spend a afternoon.

People= Southern charm. Stay in the right areas & Memphis is a fantastic city with equally fantastic people. Let us know when you are coming and we can and will help you with tickets & certainly buy a conference mate a beer.

When the Tigers aren't playing in the FedEx Forum, you can catch an NBA game or a great concert there, and walk to Beale street afterwards.

Memphis is creating a great venue right off of Beale on the waterfront. Memphis fans can help me with the name that's slipping my mind.

The triple A stadium is second to none in the nation. Always a good crowd and a good game at AutoZone Park

For you sensitive fans, pre-plan a visit to tour St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Truly a remarkable place. It is one thing about your visit you will NEVER forget.

For you golfers, Southwind is one of the nicest golf courses there is.

Of course you have Graceland, great bbq, great music, a fantastic zoo, amongst other things. All included with a bit of Southern Hospitality.

Beale Street Landing.

And I second both of these cited posts above. Memphis is an absolutely great place to visit for fans of other teams.

Autozone Park is gorgeous, best minor league ballpark on the continent, I truly mean that.

Other cool attractions:
- The Stax Museum (of American Soul)
- Sun Studios
- The Gibson Guitar Factory
- The Civil Rights Museum

There's also riverboat rides (and dining), as well as casinos just up the river in Tunica.

And how any of you chuckleheads forgot to mention the blues I'll never know, but this is a music city (Memphis, as a city, is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) and there's nothing we do better than the blues, clubs across the city (though mostly around Beale St) are filled with some of the best in the world.

(02-16-2012 11:50 AM)SmallVoice Wrote:  Louisville: Bourbon. If you love bourbon, Louisville is heaven. If you do not, Kentucky can teach you why you should. There's no real reason to leave Louisville if you make a road trip there, and most people who mention leaving town for anything mention Keeneland as the destination. Me? If I were to recommend one trip outside of town, it would be for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. My favorite bourbon on the trail is Woodford Reserve (Versailles). My all-time favorite (not on the trail) is Blanton's (Frankfort).

Ahh the Bourbon Trail. I've been to Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill and Jim Beam myself. Jim Beam is extremely underwhelming. Maker's Mark is the best of those 3. My goal is to swing down and do the rest someday. And yes if you love bourbon Louisville is a great place to be.

(02-16-2012 12:36 PM)SteveAztec Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 11:43 AM)monty Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:02 AM)SmallVoice Wrote:  UofMTigers1 started a great thread on what would be everybody's favorite road trip. This one's kind of the opposite: Since I don't know most of the cities in the New Big East all that well (some I've never even been to), I want to hear from people who actually live there why we should want to see your city (or state).

So if a new Big East fan could make only one road trip per season, tell us why it should be to your place. I'm a Louisville fan, but I live in San Diego. There are a million reasons to visit both, and the attractions are located within both cities - no reason to go more than a few miles at a time. I'll just list the ten that seem best to me (others are free to disagree and add more, of course).

Louisville:

1. One of the nicest college stadiums around
2. A basketball arena second to none on earth, which is also the venue for major concerts
3. Campus located in the nation's largest Victorian historic district
4. Churchill Downs is a short walk from the football stadium
5. Valhalla Golf Club if you're a golfer
6. Kentucky in the autumn is gorgeous
7. Fourth Street Live! (a shopping & entertainment area downtown)
8. Louisville has more restaurants, nice hotels, and other amenities than most cities its size due to hosting major sporting events such as the Derby, Breeders Cup, Ryder Cup/PGA championship, etc.
9. If you're really only in town for a football game, the stadium, reasonably priced hotels, and tailgating are probably all closer to the airport than in any other city
10. Safe game day atmosphere for families or people who are by themselves - competitive fans who are nonetheless friendly and glad to welcome fans of other schools

San Diego:

1. The weather. San Diego weather is truly the best on the planet, especially during most of football season
2. Beaches. Our beaches range from the dramatic & isolated (Blacks, Torrey Pines) to the intimate little coves of the La Jolla area, to the broad classical ones like Pacific Beach & Imperial Beach, and more.
3. Sea World
4. San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park - none better in the world
5. Good restaurants located in several different neighborhoods (Gas Lamp, La Jolla, Hillcrest, etc.)
6. Everything's much more compact than you'd think for a city this big, and the airport is right in the middle of town
7. Petco Park downtown is a great place to catch a baseball game (if you're here before MLB season ends), and there are dozens of great restaurants within walking distance
8. If you're a golfer, Torrey Pines Golf Course.
9. The city of San Diego is literally on the Mexican border, so our Mexican cuisine is the real stuff.
10. Safe game day atmosphere for families or people who are by themselves - competitive fans who are nonetheless friendly and glad to welcome fans of other schools
    

To add to San Diego:
Pack your golf clubs, there are a lot of great courses. Torrey is expensive if you don't have a resident card (then it's super cheap). Other fun courses: Barona, Steele Canyon, Sycuan/Singing Hills(2 courses, each has a couple of the most fun holes in SD) there's a links style course for a change of pace, one right next to hotel circle in mission valley for ease of access, and lots more.

Beach - I love Ocean Beach, the main drag has an eclectic group and it has a cool vibe, Hodads is a hamburger staple; Mission beach is more toursity, Pacific beach has a long strip of bars and hotties

Old Town is a tourist trap but has the best sit down mexican restaurants in town - can't throw a rock without hitting great mexican

Hole in the wall mexican/taco joints - they're everywhere, everybody has their favorites, the variety and ubiquity of them is the best part of SD to me.

as you said Hillcrest has great restaurants, more for the foody and hipster type (it's also the gay area so don't be shocked)

Viejas Arena - we've had a number of double headers the last few years, if it falls on one, hit up a bball game before or after by taking the trolley from Qualcolm to campus

The trolley - you can get around from gas lamp/padres, old town, qualcolm/mission valley, SDSU on the trolley


Also, if you're going to be in town for a while, look into renting a beach house. I have some Zony (Arizonans that infiltrate San Diego in the Summer) relatives that do it every year and it works out about the same as staying in a nice hotel and you can be right on the beach, or even save a bit and be in the next row off the beach.

Add these to you list in San Diego...

-Coronado and the Hotel Del Coronado. 5 minutes from downtown with gorgeous views, beaches, and the world famous Hotel Del. Quite a sight to see.

-San Diego Harbor. Great Harbor view and Downtown. USS Midway Museum, Seaport Village, Star Of India (Oldes sailing vessel in the world), and a Russion Sub to tour.

-Balboa Park. The Zoo has already been mentioned and it is in Balboa Park itself. Balboa Park is a day long event in itself with its Museums of all kinds. A must for any visitor that likes History.

And after being in the tourist buisness for a decade, the comment I heard more than any other from tourists. The people of San Diego are the friendliest people they have ever encountered while on a vacation.

Good points. Balboa park is great - beautiful setting, wonderful architecture. Museum of Man is a different take on the anthropology museum, and the little Timken museum has a great collection for it's size.

The Midway is certainly worth seeing

Brunch at the Hotel del

Balboa Park is fantastic and has most of the city's museums, a really good restaurant (El Prado), and little cottages maintained by the different ethnic groups in town so you can learn about other countries (they're usually only open on the weekends - always on Sundays - though). The Midway is also a must-see for most people (though not necessarily everybody).

In Louisville, I also forgot 2 big-deal sports fan locales: The Muhammad Ali Center and the Louisville Slugger Museum. There's also a fine AAA ballpark in Louisville called, appropriately enough, Louisville Slugger Field.

(02-16-2012 01:35 PM)brista21 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 11:50 AM)SmallVoice Wrote:  Louisville: Bourbon. If you love bourbon, Louisville is heaven. If you do not, Kentucky can teach you why you should. There's no real reason to leave Louisville if you make a road trip there, and most people who mention leaving town for anything mention Keeneland as the destination. Me? If I were to recommend one trip outside of town, it would be for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. My favorite bourbon on the trail is Woodford Reserve (Versailles). My all-time favorite (not on the trail) is Blanton's (Frankfort).

Ahh the Bourbon Trail. I've been to Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill and Jim Beam myself. Jim Beam is extremely underwhelming. Maker's Mark is the best of those 3. My goal is to swing down and do the rest someday. And yes if you love bourbon Louisville is a great place to be.

Well if that's the case, drive from Louisville to Memphis. You'll have to drive through Nashville. Take a 30 minute detour and head to Lynchburg which is just outside of Murfreesboro and visit the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Top notch. George Dickel's Distillery isn't far form it.

(02-16-2012 12:58 PM)BSUTOP25 Wrote:  Boise

Obviously we're a newer and rural city so most of our attractions will be centered around nature. Anyway ...

- World Center for Birds of Prey: if you like wildlife, especially birds, this is a great place to spend a couple of hours

- The Sawtooth Mountains (Stanley): a little out of town, takes about 2.5 hours to drive there but some of the most scenic views in America

- McCall, Idaho: north of town, takes about 2 hours to drive there due to the mountain roads. Great summer town and offers excellent skiing in the winter

- Hells Canyon: West of town, the deepest gorge in North America

- South Fork of the Payette River: some of the best early summer whitewater rafting anywhere

- The Basque District + 6th & Main: offers a nice selection of restaurants and bars, great night life for a small remote town

- The Owyhee Canyonlands: some spectacular lava rock hoodoo formations within easy driving distance of Boise

- Old Idaho Penitentiary: if you want a feel for how the old West justice system operated, this place is well worth a visit

- The Boise River: a number of great parks throughout the town, excellent for bikers, joggers, and kids

- The Blue: the original Blue football field :)

You forgot our Bums and Mormons

(02-16-2012 03:30 PM)spc_ops Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 12:58 PM)BSUTOP25 Wrote:  Boise

Obviously we're a newer and rural city so most of our attractions will be centered around nature. Anyway ...

- World Center for Birds of Prey: if you like wildlife, especially birds, this is a great place to spend a couple of hours

- The Sawtooth Mountains (Stanley): a little out of town, takes about 2.5 hours to drive there but some of the most scenic views in America

- McCall, Idaho: north of town, takes about 2 hours to drive there due to the mountain roads. Great summer town and offers excellent skiing in the winter

- Hells Canyon: West of town, the deepest gorge in North America

- South Fork of the Payette River: some of the best early summer whitewater rafting anywhere

- The Basque District + 6th & Main: offers a nice selection of restaurants and bars, great night life for a small remote town

- The Owyhee Canyonlands: some spectacular lava rock hoodoo formations within easy driving distance of Boise

- Old Idaho Penitentiary: if you want a feel for how the old West justice system operated, this place is well worth a visit

- The Boise River: a number of great parks throughout the town, excellent for bikers, joggers, and kids

- The Blue: the original Blue football field :)

You forgot our Bums and Mormons

I would also add in, Ski resorts in the winter.
Sun Valley, Brundage, Tamarack, and Bogus Basin.

plus Boise North end - Hyde Park.

i'll have to agree whoever said that dc's transit isn't bad. we had a great time riding it when we were there round nye. no problems, pretty easy to navigate. i flew in to baltimore, hopped on the bus onto the terminal and made it to the hotel we were staying at (navy yard) under a few hours. and the tunnels are simply beautiful. loved dc, though finding a sports bar was tough. or just any bar really.

(02-16-2012 04:21 PM)Lush Wrote:  i'll have to agree whoever said that dc's transit isn't bad. we had a great time riding it when we were there round nye. no problems, pretty easy to navigate. i flew in to baltimore, hopped on the bus onto the terminal and made it to the hotel we were staying at (navy yard) under a few hours. and the tunnels are simply beautiful. loved dc, though finding a sports bar was tough. or just any bar really.

I'm guessing part of your problem was staying in Navy Yard. There's absolutely nothing there. There's a nice outdoor bar outside Nats Park but only during baseball season.

(02-16-2012 12:06 PM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 11:39 AM)UofMTigerFan Wrote:  Food- The best BBQ in the world, hands down. The BBQ Shop, Central BBQ, and Rendezvous are must stops.
Fine dining @ Iris. Casual eats @ Gus Fried Chicken.

And Jim Neely's Interstate BBQ...where the food is as good as the part of town is bad.

Amen, best BBQ anywhere, just don't forget the sidearm.

Orlando

Most people automatically think of Disney when they come to Orlando. If you take the toll roads UCF is about 30-40 minutes from the parks. Universal Studios and Seaworld are a little closer and are near International Drive which is a strip of tourist traps including stuff like Ripley's Believe it or Not, SkyVenture indoor skydiving, and Medieval Times dinner and show. That's the touristy stuff to do. It's pretty expensive but it's probably worth it to do the touristy stuff at least once.

If you don't have kids checkout Church Street Station in downtown Orlando, where most of the bars and nightclubs are located. There's also the Amway Arena where the Magic play, so it may be worth seeing if there is anything going on there you would be interested in. If you want to escape the crowds then it's a short drive to Daytona Beach or Cocoa Beach. In addition to being great beaches, Daytona has the International Speedway for NASCAR fans, and Cocoa is near Cape Canaveral where you can get a tour of Kennedy Space Center.

(02-16-2012 12:58 PM)BSUTOP25 Wrote:  Boise

Obviously we're a newer and rural city so most of our attractions will be centered around nature. Anyway ...

- World Center for Birds of Prey: if you like wildlife, especially birds, this is a great place to spend a couple of hours

- The Sawtooth Mountains (Stanley): a little out of town, takes about 2.5 hours to drive there but some of the most scenic views in America

- McCall, Idaho: north of town, takes about 2 hours to drive there due to the mountain roads. Great summer town and offers excellent skiing in the winter

- Hells Canyon: West of town, the deepest gorge in North America

- South Fork of the Payette River: some of the best early summer whitewater rafting anywhere

- The Basque District + 6th & Main: offers a nice selection of restaurants and bars, great night life for a small remote town

- The Owyhee Canyonlands: some spectacular lava rock hoodoo formations within easy driving distance of Boise

- Old Idaho Penitentiary: if you want a feel for how the old West justice system operated, this place is well worth a visit

- The Boise River: a number of great parks throughout the town, excellent for bikers, joggers, and kids

- The Blue: the original Blue football field :)

This is what I love about the open west. Folks think nothing of driving a couple of hours for something to do. Out east, drive a couple of hours and you've passed through at least one other major city.

When we moved to Tampa 2.5 years ago our options were Tampa, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Houston, and West Monroe, Louisiana (??). My wife wanted Tampa, I wanted Salt Lake City. I love it here so I don't regret the decision but there is a part of me that would love to spend a couple of years out there.

(02-16-2012 11:05 AM)Stookey57 Wrote:  HARTFORD
9. head to hartford, lots to due, bars, food, adrians landing on the conn river, take a river cruise, i used to have a boat docked on the river, it goes from hartford to old saybrook, witch is georgeous, mansions, castles, 23 miles by boat.
10. saybrook is At the end of the river witch witch flows into long island sound (ocean)
11. go to mystic conn, new london, home to the submarine base and general dynamics, military ship building.
12. the mohegan son and foxwoods casinos are nearby in ledyard conn.

In Hartford, there's also the Mark Twain House, where the author lived for much of his adult life. That's where he raised his kids, and it's where he lived when he was most productive as a writer.

About an hour south is Mystic Seaport, an 1830's New England fishing village. Great for history buffs.

Just north of Hartford is the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

And as I pointed out in another thread, drives through Vermont & New Hampshire are beautiful in October. God's country. If you make it a week, I would recommend going to Cape Cod and Nantucket; fun places to see if you've never been to the New England.

Everything is pretty close in the Northeast ... from Hartford, Boston is a little more than 90 minutes away, and NYC is a little more than two hours away.

(02-16-2012 10:24 AM)CalallenStang Wrote:  Dallas:

1. The Boulevard (SMU's tailgate scene)...one of the best in the country
2. The two-time World Series runners-up play in the beautiful Ballpark in Arlington, so go catch a game out there if you can. It's right by JerryWorld and Six Flags, so even if they aren't playing, you can have a lot of fun in that area.
3. From late September through mid-October, the State Fair of Texas takes place at Fair Park in Dallas. Many of you may have been to your own state fairs, and think that this is no big deal. But it is a big deal. It's the largest state fair in the country and has all sorts of musical acts (right on up to big-name headliners), a great car show, etc. etc. etc. If you're in town during the Fair, you absolutely MUST go experience it.
4. For fans of great art, SMU's own Meadows Museum has the largest collection of Spanish art outside of Spain. Also, in downtown Dallas, the Arts District (largest in the country) hosts several top-rated museums as well. I personally recommend the Nasher Sculpture Center due to the large outdoor sculpture garden which is like a relaxing park right in the middle of the city.
5. The food. Do you want some good Texas BBQ? Dallas has it (not the best in Texas, but you can find some great BBQ if you know where to look...post before heading down and the SMU fans will be sure to give you recommendations). Do you want some great Tex-Mex? Dallas has it. Do you want some great authentic Mexican? Dallas has it (harder to find than Tex-Mex, though). Do you want some other ethnic cuisine? Dallas has it. Would you like to eat at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant that revolves and has 360-degree views of downtown from its perch 560 feet in the air? You can do that in Dallas.
6. Your wife (or you, if you're female) will love the shopping. Between NorthPark and Highland Park Village, there are literally infinite ways within a very short drive of SMU's campus to run up the credit card bill.
7. The weather. In the fall, it will probably be warmer in Dallas than anywhere else in this conference except for Houston, Orlando, and Tampa. But they have ridiculous humidity, and Dallas doesn't. I'm not going to lie and say it's anywhere as nice as San Diego weather, however.
8. Can't make it for anything other than the game? No problem...Love Field is only 4 miles from SMU's campus, and there are lots of hotel options nearby (some literally across the street from SMU).
9. The SMU "scenery." Ask anyone who has been to SMU before about this.
10. Safe game day atmosphere for families or people who are by themselves - competitive fans who are nonetheless friendly and glad to welcome fans of other schools. And SMU's located in the Park Cities, so you don't have to worry about the safety of your car while you've got it parked and you're tailgating or inside the stadium.

There's also the Sixth Floor Museum in downtown Dallas, dedicated to studying the Kennedy assasination. A bit creepy, but interesting.

Fort Worth is just 30 miles west. The Fort Worth Stockyards is a fun tourist area. Be sure to wear your Big East colors in TCU's backyard.

Cincinnati:

Off the top of my head...

Fountain Square
The Banks
Union Terminal
Findlay Market
Taft Museum
UC
Any Cincinnati Park (Eden Park for sure, and the Riverfront Park, soon to be completed near the Banks)
Kings Island (in the Suberbs)
Jungle Jim's
Casino (2013)
Music Hall
Playhouse in the Park
Cincinnati Symphony

Thats all I can think of right now, there is plenty more (I didn't even mention Northen Kentucky)