The Gipper's Guide to America

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Mostly. But because of all the cloud, we do get some gorgeous colours. Here's one I took the other day (from my phone, just for impressions):

 

I see a hazy sunset with varying colors of gray.......

[gftChris]

Yeah it's not a great picture, as I say. IRL, the orange spreads out across most of the sky, particularly when the clouds are sparse, you get reflection from the river (as well as the building on the right).

 

Not saying it's the best, but it's a decent standard every day.

[gftChris]

Nice, very nice. Is that pointy thing in the distance "The Shard"?

Yep, that's the one.

[The Gipper]

I see a hazy sunset with varying colors of gray.......

[Axe]

Some more Meh

 

 

Again, from right here in the 34217

[The Gipper]

In checking I see that I still have quite a number of "battlefield" or at least "war related" National Parks units which I have not been to. Here is a list of some I would like to visit at some point:

 

Revolutionary War related sites: Boston NHP (Bunker Hill, Old North Church). George Rogers Clark (Indiana)

 

War of 1812: Horseshoe Bend (really a battle with Creek Indians, but 1812 related)

 

Civil War: Pea Ridge, Ark. Andersonville Ga. Ft. Scott Kan., Peco, New Mex.

 

Indian Wars: Fort Smith Ark. Sand Creek Massacre, Colo. Fort Larned, Kan., Big Hole Battlefield, Mont., Washita Battlefield, Okla., Knife River, North Dak.

 

WWII: Tuskeegee Airmen Ala, Port Chicago Cal. Rosie the Riveter Cal., War in the Pacific, Guam.. Minidoka, Idaho (Japanese Internment camp)

 

Cold War: Minuteman Missile NHP, South Dakota.

 

I will be visiting the Big Hole battlefield in a couple of weeks....plus I may make a return trip to The Little Bighorn.

I did visit the Big Hole Battlefield this past October....and made a repeat visit to The Little Bighorn.

And I also plan to visit the Moore's Creek Battlefield in North Carolina....perhaps as soon as this coming Sunday (March 29, 2015)

That is a Revolutionary War Battlefield.

 

For those of you who mentioned Outer Banks/NC Coast sunrises.....I will be staying on a NC beach for a week starting Saturday. I will have to check out those sunrises/sunsets. Where I am staying they claim you can see the sun rise at one end of the beach and set at the other end.

[calfoxwc]

Just last week I watched the sunset from Bali over the eastern volcanoes of Java. Chris

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Say, is that like Sarah Palin can see Russia from her house?

[calfoxwc]

Are you talking about the MAPS Museum Cal? I thought that was a aviation museum...not strictly limited to WWII....unless we are thinking of something else? The old 356th Fighter Group restaurant is closed up now, no? Always liked that place.

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Actually, yes. It does have a lot of WWII stuff. I misspoke. And yeah, that restaurant is closed. Couldn't compete

with the Texas Roadhouses...

 

btw, next time you get near that airport. Email me, we aren't all that far.....

[The Cysko Kid]

I did visit the Big Hole Battlefield this past October....and made a repeat visit to The Little Bighorn.

And I also plan to visit the Moore's Creek Battlefield in North Carolina....perhaps as soon as this coming Sunday (March 29, 2015)

That is a Revolutionary War Battlefield.

 

For those of you who mentioned Outer Banks/NC Coast sunrises.....I will be staying on a NC beach for a week starting Saturday. I will have to check out those sunrises/sunsets. Where I am staying they claim you can see the sun rise at one end of the beach and set at the other end.

Is the outer banks far enough out to actually watch the sun set over the water to the west?

[The Gipper]

Is the outer banks far enough out to actually watch the sun set over the water to the west?

Parts of it certainly is. I took a ferry across Pamlico Sound and could not see land either to the east or to the west.

FYI, I saw a sunrise....it wasn't all that. Just a sunrise over water....same as any eastern facing. Nothing to compare to Haleakala.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Sunrise on Mt. Fuji. Priceless.

[The Gipper]

Sunrise on Mt. Fuji. Priceless.

You mean in the Land of the Rising Sun? I am sure it would be.

[Browns149]

Parts of it certainly is. I took a ferry across Pamlico Sound and could not see land either to the east or to the west.

FYI, I saw a sunrise....it wasn't all that. Just a sunrise over water....same as any eastern facing. Nothing to compare to Haleakala.

The sunrise is different, if you got up early to see it, or you haven't gone to bed yet, and you saw it

[gftChris]

People - I have tentative plans to visit Cedar Point for a few days later in the year (may get pushed to 2017). Obviously, swinging by for a Browns game is a must, but is there anything else in the area? I suspect we would end up flying in to detroit as it's direct for us, picking up a car and going from there, in a round trip. I suspect Niagara is on the list as well, and maybe Toronto.

 

Anything I might not know about worth taking a look at? Nature and astronomy would be a big plus as well.

[gftChris]

And maybe a visit to put in bay to see our resident musician in concert

[The Cysko Kid]

You can come by my place chris. I live about half hour from cedar point but I'm so far out in the sticks the stargazing is incredibly cLear and the sky is wide open. I have a pretty nice telescope as well.

 

Well...I don't expect you'll take me up on that but if you're in the cedar point area the lake erie islands are right there and they're worth a day trip. Bonus: steve plays at put in bay a lot. As for nature, if you're in the Cleveland area you have the metroparks and the Cuyahoga valley but it's not, like, an American landmark or anything. Pretty nice though.

 

I'd skip the rock hall but the pro football hall of fame is pretty close by in canton. An hour and a half from cedar point, perhaps.

[The Cysko Kid]

Cedar point is the shit though. If you go on a day when the crowds aren't too heavy you're going to have a great time. Make sure you ride the millenium force.

[gftChris]

Were I on my own I'd take you up on it for sure, but I'll be bringing a couple of friends at least. What telescope do you have? I'm relatively new to the field and just recently got my first proper pair of binoculars (and mount). Didn't want to go full on scope for hundreds of pounds if I wasn't sure I'd use it a lot. In London we have 'issues' with light pollution...

 

The last 4 years or so a few friends and I have been visiting different theme parks, once per year. Started with the two biggest in the UK, then the two biggest non-disney ones in Europe (Port Aventura, Europa Park), but now we're short of ideas. It's either step down in size/quality and stay in Europe, or just fuck it and go big. My GF has always wanted to go to Cedar Point, so that ties in nicely with Cleveland football.

[gftChris]

Cuyahoga valley looks very nice.

[The Cysko Kid]

A meade. It essentially looks just like this

 

[gftChris]

Nice. What kind of things do you normally look for?

 

We went to an event at the royal observatory in Greenwich (as in Greenwich mean time) where they had a few scopes set up, and binoculars to hand out to everyone, plus looking through the great equatorial telescope - that thing is massive! 28-inch refractor, the scope is 28 feet long. Not as powerful as modern telescopes of course, but still pretty impressive engineering for 150 years ago.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/see-do/we-recommend/attractions/great-equatorial-telescope

[The Gipper]

Cuyahoga valley looks very nice.

The Cuyahoga Valley is a gem. It is one of only 59 National Parks in America.

 

As for your itinerary, if you are coming into Detroit, there are a number of things you can do while you are here.

Taking somewhat of a "Lake Erie" Circle tour would be very cool:

Start in Detroit where the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village complex, which are right next to each other

http://www.thehenryford.org/museum/index.aspx

http://www.thehenryford.org/village/index.aspx

The Motown Museum

https://www.motownmuseum.org/

Then run over to Put-in-Bay and then Cedar Point.

https://www.putinbay.com/

https://www.cedarpoint.com/

Then, of course Cleveland. Beyond the game, yes the RRHOF IS a must place to see, no doubt.

http://www.rockhall.com/

(if you want to spend more time here there are a dozen other sites to see: Severance Hall, the Museum of Art both world class venues) and the rest of University Circle

http://www.universitycircle.org/

I don't know if you consider this "astronomy" but the NASA Glenn Research Center is by the Cleveland Airport (yes, after John Glenn). It is probably one of the 5 most important locations in the country when dealing with space.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/home/index.html

The Cuyahoga Valley is a must place to see....particularly if you are into nature. You can see beaver ponds and everything. Great hiking.

http://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm

The Pro Football HOF is a must see for your group in Canton.

http://www.profootballhof.com/

Then roll up the coast of Lake Erie to Niagra.....you will even go through Buffalo on the way (and there are places to see there believe it or not). There are a number of things to see/do beyond the falls themselves in Niagra, including Old Fort Niagra...I was just there last summer.

http://www.oldfortniagara.org/

Then on to Toronto....world class city. We love to visit there.

 

(I will let you do your own websearch Toronto)

 

If you can get your flight into Detroit...and back out from Toronto that would be a way to do it. If not, then enjoy a drive through southern Ontario back to Detroit

http://www.soto.on.ca/

 

Hope this is helpful.

[The Gipper]

More on doing a Lake Erie Circle tour. I have not done this completely myself, but perhaps would like to some day.

 

http://www.great-lakes.net/tourism/circletour/erie/

[One Post]

I would love to go to Cleveland and hang out with the freaks. See the town.

[The Cysko Kid]

Im in cleveland day in and day out for work and you couldn't drag me there for anything extracurricular that wasn't sport related with one exception. I do love the museums and the university area. One of my favorite cleveland restraunts is in university and the other is on nearby coventry. As for the rest of cleveland...Fuck that place.

[gftChris]

Thanks gip. I had toyed with the idea of a lake erie tour, I think if I go from one end to the other (detroit to niagara), and have to drive back again, I might as well go the other way around.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Thanks gip. I had toyed with the idea of a lake erie tour, I think if I go from one end to the other (detroit to niagara), and have to drive back again, I might as well go the other way around.

Lake Erie, where Perry defeated Barclay.

 

http://www.nps.gov/pevi/learn/historyculture/battle_erie_detail.htm

[One Post]

Im in cleveland day in and day out for work and you couldn't drag me there for anything extracurricular that wasn't sport related with one exception. I do love the museums and the university area. One of my favorite cleveland restraunts is in university and the other is on nearby coventry. As for the rest of cleveland...Fuck that place.

Im considering my vacation in Aug. I get three weeks but wont take that much but have time to play with. Cleveland seems to be one of the stopping points.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Cuyahoga Valley National Park will disappoint you. It used to be a National Recreation area until some politician used his influence to have to become a National Park. Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoia, etc. are national parks. This is at best a State park. Some hiking trails, very small falls and hills. Mostly fields and trees. Not something I would travel far to see.

[The Gipper]

Cuyahoga Valley National Park will disappoint you. It used to be a National Recreation area until some politician used his influence to have to become a National Park. Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoia, etc. are national parks. This is at best a State park. Some hiking trails, very small falls and hills. Mostly fields and trees. Not something I would travel far to see.

I have been to 52 of the 59 National Parks.

Of the 7 I have not been to, 5 are in Alaska accessible only by float plane. 1 is in Samoa. And there is a new one in California

They come in all shapes and sizes and variances.

There are 409 National Park Units. I have been to about 300 of those. I will be traveling to Alabama and Georgia to see 7 more before this month is up.

Those too are of all types and sizes, ranging from a single house in a city to vast grasslands/deserts/mountains.

 

I can tell you all about them if you like.

I have gone to all kinds of lengths and distances to get to some of them....including a 70 mile one way trip in a catamaran, plus another in a boat that went only 8 mph that took 3 hours one way to make 22 miles.

So I guess it is up to each individual to determine how far and to what lengths he would go to see them.

 

For gft......he doesn't have to worry about that. To get to the CVNP he just has to drive down the road a bit. It is the only National Park that sits between two major metropolitan areas.