Travel in the U.S.A.

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

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
hostelhandbook.com

Table of Contents

• Transport suggestions: Bus, Train, Car

• Alaska

• Atlanta

• Baltimore
  • Edgar Allan Poe sites and the House of Omnivores
  • Baltimore in general, where to stay, transport, some things to do
  • Baltimore, Otakon, Camden Yards, and the Bromo-Seltzer Tower
  • The National Security Agency's museum
  • Historical Electronics Museum

• Boston

• Chicago

• Detroit and its post-apocalyptic architecture

• Fort Bragg and Fayetteville, North Carolina

• Los Angeles and Venice Beach

• Montgomery, Alabama

• New York
  • Arrival by air, views of Manhattan and the harbor
  • The "Ghostbusters" locations
  • Fictional Architecture of Manhattan
  • Thomas Crown's view: Walking to work along the East River, 31st floor views of the harbor, East River, Status of Liberty, and Staten Island
  • My Encounter with NYPD (The Counterfeit Coffee Caper)
  • McGee's Pub is MacLaren's Bar in "How I Met Your Mother"
  • Where Barack Obama lived, studied and hung out in the early 1980s
  • Skating the Length of Manhattan by Longboard
  • Humphrey Bogart's Childhood Home
  • Lower East Side: Stanton Street
  • Lower East Side: Rivington Street
  • NYC Internet infrastructure: sites normally seen only as traceroute hops
  • Edgar Allan Poe's home in the Bronx, and finding Soviet electronics along the street
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Home
  • Finding the American Black Chamber — The New York locations of the US cryptanalysis operation between WWI and WWII
  • Hunter S Thompson's Residences
  • H.P. Lovecraft's home in Brooklyn and Nicholas Roerich's museum in Manhattan
  • Looking for the home of the last Ottoman Sultan
  • Cortlandt Alley is the only alley in all of Manhattan
  • The many connections between Marvel Comics and Manhattan
  • New York in general, where to stay, transport, some things to do

• Philadelphia
  • Edgar Allan Poe's home and Two Scoldings in Philadelphia
  • Philadelphia in general, where to stay

• San Diego

• San Francisco
  • Haight-Ashbury, homes of The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, Big Sur

• Washington DC
  • 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 site of Herbert Yardley's restaurant in 1942
  • The National Security Agency's museum.
  • Historical Electronics Museum
  • Some silly Masonic sights
  • Washington DC in general, where to stay, transport, some things to do

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
atlantahostel.com

Baltimore

Edgar Allan Poe sites And The House of Omnivores	Baltimore and Otakon And West Baltimore, Camden Yards, and the Bromo-Seltzer Tower
National Electronics Museum Radar antennas, electronic countermeasures, and other military electronics	The National Security Agency's Museum Enigma machines, scraps of the only surviving Japanese Purple machine, a USN bombe, and much more

The MARC commuter train runs about every hour between Baltimore and Washington, it costs around US$ 7-8. However, it is intended for working commuters, not visitors, so it only runs Monday through Friday with no weekend service! Baltimore also has frequent Amtrak service, at least once an hour 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, which figures prominently in the career of Edgar Allan Poe:
HI Baltimore, 17 West Mulberry, +1-410-576-8880, baltimorehostel.org

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.

You can take the light rail line to the BWI airport, and then it's about a 20-minute walk to the Historical Electronics Museum if you're interested in radar, radio, military communications gear, or information security. Click here to see my pictures.

Boston

The HI hostel is pretty nice: 12 Hemenway Street, +1-617-536-9455.

Detroit

Detroit is filled with some amazing architecture in a post-apocalyptic setting. Much of the city appears as if humanity largely died off several years ago.

I stayed at Hostel Detroit in the northern part of the Corktown neighborhood, just a short walk from the Michigan Central Station seen here.

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
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.

Fort Bragg and Fayetteville, North Carolina

I ended up in Fayetteville, North Carolina with some free time on my hands. I was to have done a cybersecurity course for some staff at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, but the class got called off half-way through.

So, what to do?

There are the old buildings of Fayetteville and its history. Also, there are three military history museums in the area: the 82nd Airborne Division Museum and the John F Kennedy Special Warfare Museum, both on Fort Bragg, and the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum on the edge of the old downtown in Fayetteville.

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
venicebeachcotel.com

For transport from the LAX airport, take the airport 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 #733 bus to Venice. Just $1.50 for the Santa Monica bus plus $0.30 for the transfer.

Click here for lots of my pictures from Venice.

Montgomery, Alabama

I have some suggestions if you happen to find yourself in Montgomery, Alabama. You can see the bus stop where Rosa Parks boarded a bus, sat down, and later refused to give up her seat just because a man who had boarded happened to be white. For this she was arrested and fined, but that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and a major step forward for Civil Rights. That's the bus stop itself at right.

There are other sites related to Civil Rights history including Martin Luther King's church and the exact spot where George Wallace made a point of standing in Jefferson Davis' footprints to rant about "segregation forever", the Confederate White House, and some Hank Williams locations.

New York Travel Destinations

Arrive by air Pictures of the approach over Staten Island and Brooklyn, view of the harbor and Manhattan, and videos of day and night approaches.	Visit the "Ghostbusters" locations Their headquarters is in a current New York Fire Department station.	Fictional Architecture of Manhattan Avengers Mansion, the Baxter Building, and other movie and situation comedy locations.	The East River and New York Harbor Walking to work along the East River, 31st floor views of the harbor, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Staten Island.
The Counterfeit Coffee Caper How I got a ride across town from the NYPD. (there isn't much room in the back seat)	McGee's Pub The model for MacLaren's Bar in "How I Met Your Mother".	Barack Obama Where the future U.S. President lived, studied and hung out in the early 1980s.	Skating Manhattan 15.5 miles from the Bronx to Battery Park on a longboard.
Humphrey Bogart's Childhood Home It's a nice brownstone on the Upper West Side.	Lower East Side Stanton Street across the L.E.S.	Lower East Side Rivington Street across the L.E.S.	NYC Internet Infrastructure See the sites you normally see only as traceroute hops.
Edgar Allan Poe His home in the Bronx, plus some Soviet electronics.	Franklin Delano Roosevelt His home on the East Side.	The American Black Chamber Manhattan locations of the U.S. cryptanalysis programs between WWI and WWII.	Hunter S Thompson The places where he lived 1957-1962.
H.P. Lovecraft & Nicholas Roerich Lovecraft's home in Brooklyn and Roerich's museum in Manhattan.	The Last Ottoman Sultan The Manhattan home in exile of the man who would have been the Sultan.	Cortlandt Alley Pretty much the only alley in all of Manhattan. Really.	Marvel in Manhattan The many connections between Marvel Comics and Manhattan.

Get an MTA pass for transportation, good on the subway and the buses. A 7-day pass is cheaper than 13 rides, so if you just make one trip out and back each day, you're ahead.

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.

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
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 so verify the address. If you're traveling with the family or a group, you can also rent unused timeshare weeks at hotels like the Manhattan Club from their owners online for much less than renting through the resort.

I've also seen about these places:

• 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, 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 is 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. In late 2008 it was purchased and turned into Apple Hostels, and they no longer allowed Americans to stay there. Then it became re-affiliated with Hostelling International, and Americans are allowed to stay but only if you are an HI member. If you're foreign or have a current university student ID, you are also allowed to stay there:
32 South Bank Street
+1-877-275-1971
18S 0487606 4422118 (WGS84)

The alternative is HI's Chamounix Mansion hostel, in the fantastic facility of a historic mansion in a park. However, being a historic mansion in a park, it is something like a one kilometer walk in the dark from the closest bus stop.
West Fairmount Park
3250 Chamounix Drive
Philadelphia PA 19131-3710
+1-215-878-3676 or +1-1-800-379-0017
philahostel.org

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. It's 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
sandiegohostels.org

San Francisco

San Francisco and especially its Haight-Ashbury district was the epicenter of the Summer of Love in the late 1960s, and the source of many musicians and groups including The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. It was also associated with the Hells Angels and the Symbionese Liberation Army. The district has changed a lot, but it still retains a little of its 1960s vibe.

What else — Golden Gate Park, the Mission District, the vintage streetcars, great views from the waterfront and the many hills, and side trips to the Marin Headlands, to the Muir Woods, and even to Big Sur.

Washington D.C. Travel Destinations

The National Christmas Tree If you're there in December...	Masonic sights in Washington See secret sights in the Shrine of the Temple	Arlington Hall Where the U.S. Army did cryptanalysis work during World War II
Naval Security Station World War II headquarters of OP-20-G, the main USN cryptanalysis group during World War II	Herbert Yardley's restaurant Where the FBI suspected him of running a Fascist meeting point in 1942	July 4th Fireworks See my video of the July 4th fireworks on the National Mall, including the grand finale

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 a limited distance or cost during rush hour, but it covers most trips.

There is a lot to see and do in Washington! 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: events.georgetown.edu.

Hilltop Hostel in the snow.

The best place to stay is the Hilltop Hostel near the Takoma Park Metro Station in the northern tip of the District of Columbia:
300 Carroll St NW, Washington DC 20012, UTM 18S 0325318 4315894 (WGS84), +1-202-291-9591, hosteldc.com. Unfortunately, as of July 2012 it appears that the Hilltop Hostel has closed.

Or, for a little more you can get a bunk in a shared room at the HI international hostel. It's three blocks north of the Metro Center metro station on 11th Street:
1009 11th St NW, Washington DC 20001, +1-202-737-2333, hiwashingtondc.org

A newer place to stay is DC Lofty. They have two locations and are aimed at longer-term stays. I've seen about them, but haven't seen the places.

Cheaper hotels in Washington 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

As for a downright creepy place to stay, ask for suite 122 at the Residence Inn in Herndon, Virginia. That's where one group of 9/11 hijackers stayed before flying out of the nearby Dulles Airport. I end up at that Residence Inn a few times a year, teaching Linux and networking and information security courses in Reston. It's a very nice place to stay, but I always stay away from the upstairs rooms in the first building.

Also see the Baltimore suggestions as it's just a short and cheap commuter ride away on week days.

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