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
    

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.

Cincy I'll let someone else handle. I haven't lived there in a few years and there are a ton of UC people around.

DC:
1. Monuments/museums/tours. Smithsonians are great, and I adore the west wing tour of the White House if you can arrange it. If you're looking to spot some famous people, you can go into the House and Senate office buildings and roam the halls. You'll see plenty. I love going to the top of the Washington Monument - you can't right now because of earthquake damage but hopefully it opens back up soon - and unfortunately the reflecting pool has been drained for renovation for the next couple years. But the Jefferson Memorial is amazing, although tough to get to, and the WWII Memorial is always moving. I'd say avoid the MLK Memorial. I was thoroughly unimpressed with it. Not creative at all, especially compared to the jewels around it.
2. Underrated restaurant scene. DC'ers have hilarious inferiority complexes, esp. towards our big brothers in NYC, so a lot of people trash our restaurant scene, but I think there's some excellent ones. The crown jewel of Penn Quarter is the new Hamilton restaurant by Clyde's, which has become my favorite in the city. Has a very "DC feel" to it and phenomenal food for not over the top prices. But there are good ones scattered all around town.
3. Eclectic and unique neighborhoods & suburbs. Alexandria, Georgetown, Penn Quarter, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, Waterfront, Gallery Place/Chinatown, Columbia Heights, Cleveland Park, Clarendon, Silver Spring, Bethesda, Falls Church, Tysons Corner, Fairfax....something fun and different for everybody.
4. Kennedy Center. It has the best view in the city from its rooftop, and there is a free performance every night.
5. Library of Congress. They force the tourists to view all the cool stuff through a window, but if you're sly and know how to get a free Researcher card, you can explore all the stacks and the main reading room at your leisure. One of a kind.

Stuff I wouldn't recommend:
1. The DC Metro. I don't know who they're paying for PR, but all that jazz about it being "safe," "efficient," and "clean" is completely false. Horrendously designed and ran by an army of incompetent union hacks. Unless you're heading to a suburb, I'll always recommend a cab.
2. DC in summertime. It gets insanely humid here (we're in a swamp, so yeah) and the crowds around the common tourist traps are insufferable. My friends and family always come visit me in the fall once it starts getting cooler. Fewer people, prettier, and a better experience.
3. DC "people." The levels of unchecked arrogance and general douchebaggery around here are palpable. Basically, we're all complete dicks who love the smell of our own farts because we open an obscure Congressman's mail for a living and get paid for the pleasure of doing so. It sucks and I miss the midwest. Plus, DC is known as "the Hollywood for ugly people" and that's a very accurate stereotype.

Memphis
=======
ducks, burglaries, alcohol, pandas, trains, the house of a dead guy, and dead pig meat.

Rutgers (New Jersey/NYC/Philly) has three or four main areas to see.
Jersey Shore (don't let that awful show influence you, there's plenty of nice places along the Jersey shore: Belmar, Manasquan, Point Pleasant, Wildwood, Cape May, Ocean City):
1) Great beaches.
2) The Boardwalks in Point Pleasant, Wildwood and Ocean City are great.
3) Good seafood.

Atlantic City (could lump this into the Jersey Shore category)
1) Speaks for itself, great beach, interesting boardwalk, casino gambling, great restaurants, all around debauchery and outlet shopping too.

New York City
1) All the touristy stuff.
2) The new High Line Park running from the West Village through Chelsea to Midtown West.
3) Great restaurants and bars.
4) If you like clubs its one of the global meccas.
5) Bronx Zoo (slightly under the radar to non-locals)
6) Yankee Stadium and Citi Field are two of the cream of the crop stadiums in nation. I'm partial to Citi Field even if the Mets are terrible, even some Yankee fans like it better.
7) It truly is the city that never sleeps. The 5 boroughs and surrounding urban core are very much 24/7 kinda places.
8) Best (Neapolitan-style) Pizza in the country.

Philadelphia:
1) All the touristy/historical stuff.
2) Cheesesteak and Roast Pork Sandwiches. (Pats or Jims remains the best cheesesteak. A place in Reading Terminal Market has the best Roast Pork.)
3) Old City/Penn's Landing

(02-16-2012 10:32 AM)CD11 Wrote:  Stuff I wouldn't recommend:
1. The DC Metro. I don't know who they're paying for PR, but all that jazz about it being "safe," "efficient," and "clean" is completely false. Horrendously designed and ran by an army of incompetent union hacks. Unless you're heading to a suburb, I'll always recommend a cab.

Having ridden the DC metro scores of times, I'd beg to differ. It has its drawbacks such as a lack of express services and/or passing tracks like the NYC subway has. Overall a good system that is realistically still in its infancy. Rich Sarles is doing better than his last few predecessors by most accounts.

Houston

NASA - Saturn 5 Rocket, Moon rocks, space stuff
Beer Can House - What can I say, its a house covered in beer cans
Galveston - Beaches 30 minutes away
Lots of Museums
Lots and Lots of restaurants
In the running for the strip club capital on the nation

BOSTON
1. go see fenway park in boston, lansdown st one of the parks entry
points, has great restaraunts an bars, hit the cask an flagon, in college we drank their often.
2. nearby is kenmore sq, massive disco's and great rock bars w/ great bands. good food and home to boston u, wich is huge.
3. take the "T" to fanuel hall by the sea, big tourist attraction, has everything, including bostons anchiant homes and stores.
4. w/in walking distance is theatre district awesome theatres, the italian north end with worldclass italian food and historical buildings and crowded walking streets
5, visit the famous new england aquarium, right there on the waterfront.
6. visit china town, great food, shops, markets
take the train to revere beach where i'm from, eat at kelly';s roast beef awesome seafood, best roast beef sandwitch. head to salem mass on the ocean for you witch lovers, marblehead is wealthy, huge homes, right on bostons north shores
7. for you BC haters visit the campus its nice in chestnut hill, head to newton go to a jewish deli, best corned beef sandwitch ever.
8. visit uconn a 1.5 hour drive nice field and campus.
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.

(02-16-2012 10:43 AM)brista21 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:32 AM)CD11 Wrote:  Stuff I wouldn't recommend:
1. The DC Metro. I don't know who they're paying for PR, but all that jazz about it being "safe," "efficient," and "clean" is completely false. Horrendously designed and ran by an army of incompetent union hacks. Unless you're heading to a suburb, I'll always recommend a cab.

Having ridden the DC metro scores of times, I'd beg to differ. It has its drawbacks such as a lack of express services and/or passing tracks like the NYC subway has. Overall a good system that is realistically still in its infancy. Rich Sarles is doing better than his last few predecessors by most accounts.

Agree to disagree. I'll pay more for a driver or a cab every time. But that's me.

(02-16-2012 11:13 AM)CD11 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:43 AM)brista21 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:32 AM)CD11 Wrote:  Stuff I wouldn't recommend:
1. The DC Metro. I don't know who they're paying for PR, but all that jazz about it being "safe," "efficient," and "clean" is completely false. Horrendously designed and ran by an army of incompetent union hacks. Unless you're heading to a suburb, I'll always recommend a cab.

Having ridden the DC metro scores of times, I'd beg to differ. It has its drawbacks such as a lack of express services and/or passing tracks like the NYC subway has. Overall a good system that is realistically still in its infancy. Rich Sarles is doing better than his last few predecessors by most accounts.

Agree to disagree. I'll pay more for a driver or a cab every time. But that's me.

Having only been there as a visitor, it seems like a great way to get into the touristy areas of the city from the suburbs. This is probably most people's experience of it, and most people I know give it a thumbs-up for that specific purpose. I have no idea what it would be like if you were to try to use it consistently as a commuter.

(02-16-2012 11:13 AM)CD11 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:43 AM)brista21 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:32 AM)CD11 Wrote:  Stuff I wouldn't recommend:
1. The DC Metro. I don't know who they're paying for PR, but all that jazz about it being "safe," "efficient," and "clean" is completely false. Horrendously designed and ran by an army of incompetent union hacks. Unless you're heading to a suburb, I'll always recommend a cab.

Having ridden the DC metro scores of times, I'd beg to differ. It has its drawbacks such as a lack of express services and/or passing tracks like the NYC subway has. Overall a good system that is realistically still in its infancy. Rich Sarles is doing better than his last few predecessors by most accounts.

Agree to disagree. I'll pay more for a driver or a cab every time. But that's me.

Yea I may just get lucky when I'm in town. I know when there are delays from a broken down train or damaged track they can be horrific because of the lack of passing sidings and express tracks and such.

For those coming to San Diego, there's also Tijuana. It's like Freemont Street in Vegas...with less rules.

(02-16-2012 11:18 AM)SmallVoice Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 11:13 AM)CD11 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:43 AM)brista21 Wrote:  

(02-16-2012 10:32 AM)CD11 Wrote:  Stuff I wouldn't recommend:
1. The DC Metro. I don't know who they're paying for PR, but all that jazz about it being "safe," "efficient," and "clean" is completely false. Horrendously designed and ran by an army of incompetent union hacks. Unless you're heading to a suburb, I'll always recommend a cab.

Having ridden the DC metro scores of times, I'd beg to differ. It has its drawbacks such as a lack of express services and/or passing tracks like the NYC subway has. Overall a good system that is realistically still in its infancy. Rich Sarles is doing better than his last few predecessors by most accounts.

Agree to disagree. I'll pay more for a driver or a cab every time. But that's me.

Having only been there as a visitor, it seems like a great way to get into the touristy areas of the city from the suburbs. This is probably most people's experience of it, and most people I know give it a thumbs-up for that specific purpose. I have no idea what it would be like if you were to try to use it consistently as a commuter.

^^What SmallVoice said. Although I was there one time when they had shut down a key part of the metro, and people had to be shuttled by city bus from one station to others...

(02-16-2012 11:24 AM)k5james Wrote:  For those coming to San Diego, there's also Tijuana. It's like Freemont Street in Vegas...with less rules.

¡Y además un reloj monumental!

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.

(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.

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.

Dallas: If you want to see some of the best basketball in the world, skip Moody and head over to the American Airline Center and catch the Mavs

(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.

I'm gonna have to take you up on that invite at some point. Loved my trip to Memphis for the game last season, but didn't get to do as much tailgating as I could have.

(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.