Aussie coming to the US!

[Alpine]

G'day, well, my family and I are yearning for a damn good holiday so since our dollar is so strong against the US$, we've decided to go to the good ol' US!

We have never been there but my wife has relatives living in Philadephia so that's where we'll fly to initially to meet up with them. However I don't intend to stay with them for the whole duration of our holiday. We'll probably be there for three or four weeks.

So...please tell an Aussie who's never been to the US what's good to do on the east coast, what I should see, where to go, etc! Any usual customs with the culture I need to know about, eg tipping, jaywalking, etc. I think the culture is quite similar to Australia, but you never know - there are always subtle differences and I don't want to offend any Americans! And areas to avoid would be useful too. Is shopping good over there, and the food?

Also, how long would the flight be from Brisbane to Philadelphia? I have a three year old daughter so I'm also wondering how she will cope with such a long flight and the large difference in timezones. I imagine we'd also need to catch a domestic flight from LA to Philadelphia?? Is American Airlines safe to fly (thinking of 9/11)?

Thanks for all your expert advice. :)

[T Mac]

Not sure about the duration of the flight or some of the precise details for the East Coast since I live in the Midwest. However, if you are flying into Philadelphia, you probably should take the time to head to New York - even New York City. I'll let others chime in for advice beyond that.

Tipping - if you are dining out, 15-20% is typical (for me). Jaywalking....again, around me...no big deal. Not sure about bigger cities in the East.

Good luck and enjoy your trip. I hope you have a good time.

[Craving This]

if you're only going to be in the North eastern corner of our grand ole states definitely make sure you get up to NY. from Philly to NY I'd say it's about a 4-5 hour drive. There is so much to see in the City... Empire state building, rockerfeller center (esp around xmas time with the tree and all), chinatown (great knock off designer bags), little italy (great pastries), times square (broadway shows! and one of the biggest TOY R US i've ever seen- it's like 3 floors and has a ferris wheel in it), then there is FAO SHWARTZ (although the newly designed store isn't as cool as the older version), Central park (horse carriage rides), all the museums (museum of natural history, MET, MOMA, guggenheim), 5th ave (Shopping!!!) If going around xmas time you can always go to Radio City music hall and see the christmas show that they do- my family and I would go every year... PLUS the city is AMAZING around xmas time!!
If you stay in Pennsylvania- they do have the Amish Country- which might be a lil boring for your daughter but still interesting none the less, Hershey park will be closed in the winter time (yet again not too sure when you'll be visiting), Poconos has great places to go skiing and tubing and snowboarding. NOT TOO sure what there is to do in philly but i'm sure your wifes relatives would know better since they live there.
Jersey has Atlantic City- a great little gambling place- NOT AS BIG AS LAS VEGAS but for northerners it's a quick get away to gamble away your money- and sometimes they have great shows there too if you catch some acts.. Connecticut also has a casion foxwoods- haven't been there but i hear it's nice- it's a resort with the casino in it- pretty big from what i heard
I think it pretty much all depends on when you'll be visiting the states because there are so many things to do when it's warmer... IF you come any time from now to like MARCH or even APRIL bring warm clothes... I know the north has had a pretty mild fall so far but when those winter months come on it can get pretty cold..... now if you dont plan to stay in the northern states come on down to FL and visit the BIG RAT mickey mouse.... there are so many parks to visit and i'm sure your daughter would love that! Magic kingdom, animal kingdom, epcot (is a little boring for kids- but probably more fun for the adults) MGM, and you also have seaworld and universal...

good luck planning your trip and you're lucky that you're staying for so long.... but you have to when the flight is so long.... I have a friend who is originally from Australia and she says a flight from FL to Australia usually ranges about 24 hours... I guess thats with the stop off in LA etc... I almost fell off my chair when I heard that. I thought a 12-13 hour plane ride to Japan was bad when i did it I couldn't imagine traveling 24 hours.... well hope this helps sorry it was so long i got to rambling...

ALMOST forgot i wanted to add about flying AA- i think it's fine, after 911 A lot of new precautions have been put in place and it is safer to fly. I fly quite often and have flown AA and Delta, both fine, but you can also check out Jetblue.com- they're flights can be a little cheaper depending where you're flying to (they may not have as many destinations as AA or delta) but, they have tv's in each seat so that's good- meanwhile delta didn't have tv's on all their flights...

[07CRVOWNR]

Welcome to the States. I got the same impression that Australian and US cultures are pretty similar when my wife and I sat next to an Australian woman in a train trip in Italy. When talking I believe that the person said that from Italy it would be a 13 hour flight (at minimum).

Don't forget, the Washington, DC which is the Capital of the United States is only 2.5 hours (by car) south of Philadelphia. I take frequent trips up north to Philadelphia from the Washington, DC area. The weather is similar to what you will experience in Philadelphia, although my area usually doesn't get as much snow in the winter. I would bring long sleeves and coats to be warm. The good thing about the northeast corridor from DC to New York City is served by train or a short plane flight if you don't want to drive. However, our train system, in my opinion, isn't as efficient as the train system in Italy.

The only thing that I would add to advice is that if you do drive, don't drive slow in the left lane, stick to the right particularly in Highway driving. I am not sure on what side of the road Australians drive on, in the States we stick to the right side of the road.