Goin' on a roadtrip in the US... yehaaa....

[cooder]

Hi guys, my son is planning to get married to a lovely girl from Missouri, that means there is a roadtrip on the cards with some wedding cake thrown in.
This is at this stage schedule for Oct,  wedding tentative date 17 Oct (in Missouri).
My partner and I would like to make it into a holiday 3 week or so roadtrip covering some interesting ground in the States.
Nothing booked yet, we're starting to think which ways to go, what to check out, so please burst out with some ideas. What you'd recommend some folks from sleepy dreamy New Zealand?
We would like to see some things a bit off the beaten track, grabbing some cool music vibes on the way would be great.
One basic idea was to start in New Orleans, go north through Missouri, check out Chicago... (ah, yeah, I'm into Blues btw...).
Or maybe start in San Francisco, cross Rockies to Missouri, up Chicago leaving from there? Or down south, leaving from New Orleans?
What cool things and places, even clubs etc would you guys recommend?
What music stores to check out (I saw a video from Chicago Music Exchange... drool....)
What do's and don'ts?
What way to travel? Hire a car, I spose...? Or how about an RV or the much loved campervan as we call it down here?
Where to stay reasonably priced?

Cheers guys!

[alanp]

I've been told that it takes several days of driving to get through ONE state, although that may have been an American trying to impress an Englishman (several hours of driving to get to the tip of Scotland.)

[juansolo]

That's got to be exaggeration, I've made it to Austria in a day before... (admittedly dual driving, but we did have a trailer on the back so hardly blasting along).

[jubal81]

Depends on the size of the state and how far you drive each day. Just the two Carolinas are size of the UK.

You can see a lot in 3 weeks, though. The new Orleans to Chicago route actually sounds like a great idea. Lots of music venues and shops and some great barbecue and other american food. Should be enough time to do some exploring in each town. I think the biggest mistake is underestimating the distances and you spend all your time in the car.

Renting an RV might save money, but it'd be tough to navigate in the cities and finding a place to camp each night could be a pain. Also, you might not see snow, but it will definitely be chilly in October in Chicago.

[dont-tase-me-bro]

If you want to see New York City, you can save a lot of money by staying in New Jersey, which is just on the other side of the river.  Jersey City and Hoboken both have a train called the PATH, that goes right into NYC in around 20 minutes or so.

[dont-tase-me-bro]

PATH:

http://www.panynj.gov/path/

[televisiondown]

New Orleans to Chicago sounds like a great road trip with Memphis and St. Louis in the middle. Also, Austin, Texas is less than 8 hours from New Orleans. A little bit of planning and I'm sure you could fit it all.

NYC is great, but Northeast/New England is a trip of its own. And nowhere near Missouri. I'm from NJ and definitely agree that Hoboken and Jersey City are excellent choices for a NYC trip. I also work for PATH, so thanks for the plug, don't-tase-me-bro!

[jimilee]

If you're going to Chicago, I'd say start there, then Memphis then nolens then St Louis


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[Leevibe]

I'm a little sad the wedding won't be on the west coast. It would be fun to have you over.

[pryde]

3 weeks can cover a lot of ground here in the States for sure. For a swath of music culture your route from New Orleans up to Chicago is good.

I am just south of Chicago a bit 

I also recommend stopping in Memphis, TN. for great music and check out Gibson headquarters while there.

If you want scenery and mountains then driving straight up through the middle of the country is not going to be pleasing. Pretty flat for the most part. 

[jimilee]

Nashville would b a great stop, but if going to Missouri, wouldn't I b easier to start in Chicago instead of New Orleans?


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[wgc]

Congrats!

Austin city music fest is in early October.

It would be shame to spend your days driving though, but flying makes it doable. You've seen one Midwest plain for an hour, you've seen it for the next 3 weeks.  . That said driving gets you out of the touristy stuff so I always like to shoot for a mix.

With that in mind, I'd hit Austin first, then Tennessee and/or NO, enjoy the wedding in St. Louis (no jet lag at that point) then drive to Chicago. Amtrack may be an option from St. Louis to Chicago too. There's a blues bar in Evanston (just north of Chicago suburb) that has a great blues bar, don't remember the name atm.

Dress in layers, the weather will be all over the place.

[billstein]

I've been told that it takes several days of driving to get through ONE state, although that may have been an American trying to impress an Englishman (several hours of driving to get to the tip of Scotland.)

That would be an exaggeration if you're talking about just pushing through stopping only for food etc.
Example. I live in California which is the biggest state to travel from North to South borders. If you drive the 5 freeway all the way it is almost 800 miles. That's over 12 hours of drive time without any stopping for gas, bath room, eating.
I've reached the age where I don't push it like that any longer. So for me to drive from where I live in Southern California to Oregon (the next state to the North) is at least two days, maybe more, depending upon how much I want to meander.

[davent]

Depends on the size of the state and how far you drive each day. Just the two Carolinas are size of the UK.

You can see a lot in 3 weeks, though. The new Orleans to Chicago route actually sounds like a great idea. Lots of music venues and shops and some great barbecue and other american food. Should be enough time to do some exploring in each town. I think the biggest mistake is underestimating the distances and you spend all your time in the car.

Renting an RV might save money, but it'd be tough to navigate in the cities and finding a place to camp each night could be a pain. Also, you might not see snow, but it will definitely be chilly in October in Chicago.

RV to an Eurpean/New Zealander i'm guessing would be the size of your classic VW van, Westfalia?, our North American behemoths would be unfathomable. I think what cooder envisions as a rv (the campers he's built, great thread if you haven't seen it) would be no problem to use anywhere over here. Weather and camping, how late in the season do parks in northern states stay open?

Took us 53 hrs straight to drive from southern Ontario Canada through the US to Monterrey Mexico, so it's big but not that big.

[G.G.]

New Orleans to Chicago would be a great BBQ tour, and from what I hear going up the West Coast is a great craft beer tour. Either route would be a lot of driving though, if you're OK with that and not in a hurry. And both of those routes have very different scenery. You could easily spend a week in Chicago, it's a beautiful city with a lot to see and do.