U.S. Government map of the continental United States.

U.S.A.

Travel in the U.S. can be pretty expensive. Here are some suggestions based on places I've stayed.

For cheap places to stay, get "The Hostel Handbook". It has the HI hostels (with the HI stamp of approval and the HI rules, both pro and con) plus a lot of independent hostels (which tend to be more fun):
The Hostel Handbook
722 St Nicholas Avenue
New York NY 10031
+1-212-926-7030
http://www.hostelhandbook.com/

Table of Contents

• Transport suggestions:
  • Bus
  • Train
  • Car
• Alaska
• Atlanta
• Baltimore
  • Baltimore in general, where to stay, transport, some things to do
  • Edgar Allan Poe sites and the House of Omnivores
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• New York
  • New York in general, where to stay, transport, some things to do
  • My Encounter with NYPD (The Counterfeit Coffee Caper)
  • The "Ghostbusters" locations
  • Looking for the home of the last Ottoman Sultan
  • Hunter S Thompson's residences in New York
  • Humphrey Bogart's childhood home in New York
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Home in New York
  • Edgar Allan Poe's home in the Bronx, and finding Soviet electronics along the street
  • Finding the American Black Chamber — The New York locations of the US cryptanalysis operation between WWI and WWII
• Philadelphia
  • Philadelphia in general, where to stay
  • Edgar Allan Poe's home in Philadelphia and Two Scoldings
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Washington DC
  • Washington DC in general, where to stay, transport, some things to do
  • Looking for the National Christmas Tree (but mostly finding government paranoia)
  • Naval Security Station, U.S. Navy cryptanalysis center during World War II
  • Arlington Hall, U.S. Army cryptanalysis center during World War II
  • The National Security Agency's museum.
  • Historical Electronics Museum
  • Some goofy Masonic sights

If you're a foreign visitor planning your first visit to the US, there are three things you should know.

First, the place is enormous. See below for some transport suggestions.

Second, while I've traveled quite a bit (several times to Russia, even more times to Turkey, Cairo-to-Istanbul overland, south-eastern China), it's my own country, the U.S., where I feel most at risk.

Most major U.S. cities have a large number of aggressive panhandlers. Many are obviously con artists, and some are uncomfortably close to using force. For example, the groups of youths in Washington DC who somewhat angrily demand that they need a dollar. Egypt is the only place I've gone with a (just barely) higher level of constant panhandling and demands for baksheesh.

Most of the huge numbers of "street people" are obviously mentally disturbed. In 1955 there were 340 public psychiatric hospital beds per 100,000 population. By 2005 that had dropped to just 17 — the availability of institutionalization and long-term care for those who need it has dropped by a factor of 20.

Also, many cities have serious crime problems. They tend to have areas that are no-go zones. Ask at the place you're staying and heed their advice.

Third, while I have crossed a lot of borders (Russia many times, Syria four times, the People's Republic of China four times), my most unpleasant border experiences — by far — have been inbound into the U.S. But once you get past the rude, clueless, and intentionally intimidating border guards, the locals are much nicer.

U.S. Transport — Bus

The best bus rides in the U.S. are what are called the "Chinatown Buses", a sort of Sino-diesel Stargate system that quickly and cheaply links pairs of Chinatowns on the east coast. It's the cheapest way to travel between Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, and I recently saw that the long Atlanta-Washington leg is now covered.

There is nominal service to Baltimore, but the station is far outside the city. Between Baltimore and Washington it makes far more sense to take the MARC commuter train — it costs around US$ 7-8 and it runs about every hour.

Megabus has started a U.S. operation, and sells some very cheap tickets for fast rides in nice modern buses.

Foreign visitors beware — the Greyhound bus company heavily markets 30-day and 90-day unlimited passes overseas. They're cheap, but....

Greyhound bus terminals tend to be located in the most dangerous parts of the city. In some way, they may define the most dangerous spot. And, the Greyhound clientele tends to be, ah, interesting. When a US prison releases a prisoner (if your brother Elwood is not picking you up) you get a bag with the clothes you were wearing on arrival plus a Greyhound ticket.

I've taken Greyhound six times for trips of 70 to 120 miles. On three of the first four, a passenger was thrown off the bus for some mixture of aggressive behavior and substance abuse. I guess that the good news is that they throw people off.

Then there's the schedule inconvenience. I saw the itenerary for someone who had come cross-country from New York to Los Angeles. They changed buses in Chicago, Denver, and some other city, and in each one their bus arrived between midnight and 5 AM. My conclusion: Greyhound is part of some conspiracy to make America look bad to foreigners.

But hey, Greyhound goes a lot of places, and it is relatively cheap.

U.S. Transport — Train

In some regions, the U.S. national train system Amtrak has excellent service. Especially the "eastern corridor": Washington — Baltimore — Philadelphia — New York — Boston. The west coast service is also said to be good: San Diego — Los Angeles — San Francisco — Portland — Seattle, although I've only ridden it between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Otherwise, carefully check the Amtrak maps and schedules.

Do not rely on the train sticking to its schedule. The problem is that Amtrak owns its own tracks only in the eastern corridor. In the rest of the country it has to use the tracks owned by the freight lines. The track owners charge Amtrak for the use, but violate federal regulations by making Amtrak the lowest-priority trains. Amtrak trains frequently have to stop and wait for an opportunity to move. For example, it is quite common to leave Chicago precisely on schedule, but then sit motionless for an hour on the south side of the city waiting for a free space between freight trains.

U.S. Transport — Car

One thing to check into is automobile delivery. Many times retirees want to have their car driven for them between, say, the northeast and Florida, while they fly. More commonly, car dealers will want a car delivered from another dealer in another city to where a customer wants that precise model.

Search around on the web for this. You just have to buy the fuel and get the car there. You aren't allowed much time to stop along the way, but for transport between cities separated by a few hundred to several hundred miles, it can be a good deal.

One of many places I've seen offering transportation services to car owners is http://www.autodriveaway.com/

I've also seen about (but not used) the GishiGo ride-sharing service.

Alaska

Alaska has its own page.

Atlanta

The Carter Center is interesting. So is the Martin Luther King historical site, although it's embedded in a downright scary neighborhood. But one of the most memorable features of Atlanta is the shuffling zombie army of vagrants and beggers. It's the place that I've most felt like I was in a Bruce Campbell movie.

Corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Boulevard Avenue, 10 AM on a Monday.
#4 & #5 are across the road, partially hidden by signs and utility poles.
#9 & #10 are just out of sight to the right.

Atlanta Hostel, a former brothel on Ponce de Leon Avenue.

They congregate in the parking lots of fast-food restaurants and abandoned businesses, especially near intersections. If you're on foot, they will see you coming and move to intercept. Then when you cross the street, you're hit by the cluster on the opposite corner. They don't take "no" for an answer, and may follow you for some distance.

Creepy and threatening? You bet.

On the somewhat positive side, I was there once during the mild Georgia winter, when some charity had distributed thousands of serapes to the homeless. That gave the atmosphere a little more Clint Eastwood and a little less Bruce Campbell.

Anyway, a very nice place to stay is the Atlanta Hostel, in a former brothel:
Atlanta Hostel
223 Ponce de Leon
+1-404-875-9449
+1-800-473-9449
http://www.atlantahostel.com/

Baltimore

The MARC commuter train runs about every hour between Baltimore and Washington, it costs around US$ 7-8. Baltimore also has frequent Amtrak service, at least hourly for the Washington — Baltimore — Philadelphia — Trenton — Newark — New York — Boston route.

I stayed at the HI hostel in Baltimore, in a nice location in the same block as the Latrobe House:
HI Baltimore
17 West Mulberry
+1-410-576-8880
http://baltimorehostel.org/

Click here for pictures of my visit to some Edgar Allan Poe sites and The House of Omnivores.

If you have a car you might check out the National Security Agency's museum if you're interested in WWII history or information security. It's between Baltimore and Washington, a little closer to Baltimore. Click here to see my pictures.

If you have a car, or otherwise have spare time at BWI Airport, you might check out the Historical Electronics Museum if you're interested in radar, radio, military communications gear, or information security. Click here to see my pictures.

Chicago

My favorite place place to stay is the Chicago Getaway Hostel, formerly the Arlington International House, between De Paul University and Lincoln Park. Cheaper than the HI and a less sterile atmosphere, the place has some real character:
Chicago Getaway Hostel
616 West Arlington Place
Chicago IL 60614
+1-773-929-5380
http://www.getawayhostel.com/

The International Youth Hostel in the southeast corner of The Loop is one of the best official HI places I've ever stayed. Very nice rooms, many en suite, a nice breakfast, a nice lounge area, and a real atmosphere to the place.

The University of Chicago has rented out rooms for in the International House dorm during the summers, but they don't always do that. You could try asking about the International House:
1414 East 59th St
Chicago IL 60605
+1-312-327-5350
i-house-programs@uchicago.edu

Get around on the CTA. You can get a one-day pass good on the subway, Elevated and buses for $5.75. It's good for 24 hours from first use, not midnight to midnight as in many cities. They also have 3-day, 7-day, and 30-day passes ($14, $23, $86 respectively). Any of them makes it cheaper if you take at least two or three rides per day.

Los Angeles

Stay right on Venice Beach at the Venice Beach Cotel. A very nice location, and a very cool place to stay!
Venice Beach Cotel
25 Windward Ave
+1-310-399-7649
http://www.venicebeachcotel.com/
For transport from the LAX airport, take the shuttle bus to the bus terminal in Lot C. Take the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus #3 to where Lincoln crosses Venice Boulevard, then change to the LA Metro #33 or #333 bus to Venice. Just $1 for the SM bus plus transfer.

New York

Get an MTA pass for transportation, good on the subway and the buses:
— A 1-day pass is cheaper than 3 rides.
— A 7-day pass is cheaper than 4 day passes.
You could ask the NYPD for a ride, but you probably won't get one. Click here to read how I got a ride from the NYPD.

Two of New York's Finest.		The view from the back seat. There's not much leg room back there...

As for things to do, you could visit the "Ghostbusters" locations.

Or you could try to find the home of the last Ottoman Sultan.

Or look for the places where Hunter S Thompson lived.

Or Humphrey Bogart's home.

Or look for Edgar Allan Poe's home in the Bronx and Soviet electronics along the street

Or Franklin Delano Roosevelt's home in New York

Or maybe look for The American Black Chamber — The locations of the US cryptanalysis operation between WWI and WWII.

Another thing you can do is walk around Manhattan. I mean literally walk all the way around it. Plan for two long days or maybe three. According to GPS, the straight-line distance between Kings Bridge, just north of where Broadway crosses the Harlem River from the Bronx at the northermost tip to the Battery at the southern tip is 21.690 km.

Take the #1 MTA train to the first station in the Bronx. Then walk south on Broadway across the bridge over the Harlem River and keep going.

The best place I've found is the Whitehouse Hotel. It's a very cool place, equal parts the opening chapters of The Beach and Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions. Just-big-enough private rooms (!!) and shared toilets and showers. Closest subway: #6 at Bleeker. Click here for some pictures.
White House Hotel
340 Bowery
http://www.whitehousehotelofny.com/.

Other places I've stayed:

Other non-HI cheap places in Manhattan include the following. The nychostels.com places keep changing their names.

I've also see about:

• Washington Hotel, 2289 3rd Ave (125th and 3rd Ave), +1-212-426-4600, http://www.washingtonhotelnyc.com/
• Chelsea Center, 313 West 29th Street, +1-212-643-0214.
• Gershwin Hotel, 7 East 27th Street, +1-212-545-8000.
• International House, 500 Riverside Drive, +1-212-316-8436, open 15 May - 15 Aug only.
• International Student Center, 38 West 88th Street, +1-212-787-7706, http://www.nystudentcenter.org/ and info@nystudentcenter.org
• New York Bed and Breakfast, 134 West 119th Street, +1-212-666-0559.
• Uptown Hostel, 239 Lenox Avenue (Lenox Ave and 122nd St), +1-212-666-0559,

Philadelphia

The Bank Street Hostel was nice and in a great location, walking distance to all the historical, right in the night-life of the Old Town district, and the $1 Phlash Bus can get you to more distant places like the art museum. However, in late 2008 it was purchased and turned into Apple Hostels, and they no longer allow Americans to stay there. If you're foreign or have a current university student ID, you can stay there:
32 South Bank Street
+1-877-275-1971
18S 0487606 4422118 (WGS84)

Click here for pictures of my visit to Edgar Allan Poe's house and Two Scoldings From Authority Figures.

San Diego

The HI San Diego Hostel is right in the Gaslight District, and is a very cool place. Much more laid-back than most HI places, probably due to the location.
San Diego Hostel
521 Market Street (corner 5th & Market)
1-800-909-4776 ext.156
+1-619-525-1531
http://www.sandiegohostels.org/

San Francisco

The best place I've stayed there is the Pacific Tradewinds Guest House, one block down the hill from Chinatown. Not with HI, so far fewer rules. I've stayed there on a couple of trips — a fantastic place!
Pacific Tradewinds Guest House
680 Sacramento Street
San Fancisco CA 94111
+1-415-433-7970
http://www.sanfranciscohostel.org
info@pactradewinds.com

Almost as good, the Green Tortoise:
Green Tortoise Guest House
494 Broadway San Francisco CA 94133
+1-415-834-1000
http://www.greentortoise.com/

Washington DC

Get a WMATA pass for transportation, good on the subway:
A 1-day pass is cheaper than about 3 or 4 rides.
A 7-day "short rail pass" is cheaper than 4 day passes and can be used at any time (1-day passes cannot be used before 9:30 on weekdays). The only restriction is that it only covers the first $2.65 or so during rush hour, but that covers most trips.

Lots to see and do! Check the Friday or Sunday Washington Post and the free weekly City Paper for details on what's up at the many museums, most of which are free.

Also see the many free events open to the public at Georgetown University: http://events.georgetown.edu/

If it's near Christmas you could look for the National Christmas Tree, although if your experience is like mine it may be largely hidden behind several layers of government paranoia.

Unexpected recommendations of things to see:

• Arlington Hall, in Arlington, Virginia, where the U.S. Army did cryptanalysis work during World War II.
• The Washingon DC Naval Security Station, where the U.S. Navy did cryptanalysis work during World War II.
• In the area, although a little closer to Baltimore, are the National Security Agency's museum and the Historical Electronics Museum. Interesting stuff if you're into WWII history, radar, radio, or information security.
• Some extremely goofy (at least to me, the unworthy and unenlightened outsider) Masonic sights in Washington.

SOME (So Others May Eat) is an organization doing good work to get people off the street. They run a "soup kitchen", really serving more than just soup, they run a shelter, and they offer training and assistance to get people employed and off the street. The HI hostel (see below) organizes work groups to help run the meal program for a day. Very interesting and very worthwhile. http://www.some.org/. It also makes it fascinating to stop and try to talk to one of the many Washington panhandlers. After working at the kitchen one morning and through lunch, I made it a point to stop and talk to every panhandler who asked me for money that day, to tell them where they could get meals, a place to stay, and a hand up off the street. The score:

• 21 panhandlers asked me for money between mid-afternoon and late evening.
• 20 of them became angry with me for bringing up SOME, and even yelled at me to be quiet or hurried away before anyone else head them turn down an offer of anything other than currency.
• 1 of them went so far as to say that they wouldn't eat the food given out there, it wasn't good enough for him. "That's strange, it was good enough for me, they gave us lunch early before we opened." If you do volunteer at a soup kitchen, my experience is that they all have you eat there first, to make sure that none of the volunteers see the food (and people) as somehow below them. Like this "homeless" guy obviously did...
• 1 out of the 21 was honestly in a bad way, and wanted to know how to find SOME. I was very happy that I could help him.

Hilltop Hostel in the snow.

The best place to stay is the Hilltop Hostel (formerly India House Too), near the Takoma Park Metro Station in the northern tip of the District of Columbia.
Hilltop Hostel
300 Carroll St NW
Washington DC 20012
+1-202-291-9591
http://www.hosteldc.com/
UTM 18S 0325318 4315894 (WGS84)

Or, for a little more you can get a bunk in a shared room at the HI international hostel. Three blocks north of Metro Center metro stop on 11th.
Washington Hostel
1009 11th St NW
Washington DC 20001
+1-202-737-2333
http://www.hiwashingtondc.org/

A newer pair of places that I haven't seen is DC Lofty. Two locations, aimed at longer-term stays.

Cheaper hotels include:
Hotel Harrington, 436 11th St NW (11th & E), +1-202-628-7681
Allen Lee Hotel, 2224 F St NW (Foggy Bottom — GWU), +1-800-462-0186
Gallery Inn, 1850 Florida Ave NW (Dupont Circle), +1-202-234-2340

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