The Rough Guide to the USA (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

1131 Pages·2011·2.84 MB·English

by  Nick Edwards, Samantha Cook

THE ROUGH GUIDE to
The USA
Iconic cities • National parks • Classic journeys
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Kauai Oahu
CANADA Honolulu MoMloakuai 15 CANADA
Vancouver
Big1 I6sland Anchorage Juneau
Seattle
Portland Helena Bismarck Montréal
14
Boise NYEALTLIONWASLT OPANREK 4 Toronto 2 B3oston
10
11 MOUNT Detroit NFaiallgsara 1
Salt Lake City RUSHMORE Chicago Philadelphia N
Yoerwk City
San F
YrOaSnEMciIsTcEo NATIONAL PARK Denver KanCsiatsy Cincinnati 5 WASHINGTON
13 DC
Las Vegas GNRATAINODN ACLA NPAYORNK
Oklahoma
Los Angeles City Memphis 6 ATLANTIC
San Diego 12 Albuquerque Charleston OCEAN
Dallas
Savannah
9 8
PACIFIC MEXICO
New Orlando
OCEAN
BIG BEND Houston Orleans
NATIONAL 7
PARK Gulf of Miami
Mexico
1 New York City 9 Texas
2 The Mid-Atlantic 10 The Great Plains
3 New England 11 The Rockies
4 The Great Lakes 12 The Southwest CUBA
5 The Capital Region 13 California
6 The South 14 The Pacific Northwest
7 Florida 15 Alaska
0 400 miles
8 Louisiana 16 Hawaii
About this book
Rough Guides are designed to be good to read and easy to use.
The book is divided into the following sections, and you should
be able to find whatever you need in one of them.
The introductory colour section is designed to give you a feel for the USA,
suggesting when to go and what not to miss, and includes a full list of
contents. Then comes basics, for pre-departure information and
other practicalities.
The guide chapters cover the USA in depth, each starting with a highlights
panel, an introduction and a map to help you plan your route.
Contexts fills you in on history, books and films, while individual colour
sections introduce the USA’s cuisine, music, architecture and great outdoors.
The book concludes with all the small print, including details of how
to send in updates and corrections, and a comprehensiveindex
This tenth edition published March 2011.
The publishers and authors have done their best to ensure the accuracy and currency of all
the information in The Rough Guide to the USA, however, they can accept no responsibility for
any loss, injury, or inconvenience sustained by any traveller as a result of information or advice
contained in the guide.
The Rough Guide to
the USA
written and researched by
Samantha Cook, J.D. Dickey,
Nick Edwards and Greg Ward
with additional contributions from
Jeff Benzak, Tim Burford,
Max Grinnell, Charles Hodgkins,
Sarah Hull and Andrew Rosenberg
www.roughguides.com
Contents
J California........................... 835
Colour section 1
K The Pacific Northwest ....... 945
Introduction ............................... 6 L Alaska ............................... 997
Where to go ............................. 10 M Hawaii ............................. 1029
When to go .............................. 13
Things not to miss ................... 16 Contexts 1051
History ................................. 1053
Basics 25
Books .................................. 1074
Getting there ............................ 27 Film ..................................... 1084
Getting around ......................... 30
Accommodation....................... 36 Small print & Index 1091
Food and drink ........................ 40
Festivals................................... 43
The outdoors .......................... 45 From burger bars to
Sports ...................................... 51 bistros colour section
Travel essentials ...................... 52 following p.216

Guide 63
American music
1 New York City ..................... 65 colour section
2 The Mid-Atlantic................ 111 following p.456
3 New England ..................... 163
4 The Great Lakes ................ 245
5 The Capital Region............ 327 The great outdoors
6 The South ......................... 397 colour section
7 Florida ............................... 491 following p.656
8 Louisiana .......................... 551
9 Texas................................. 585
G The Great Plains................ 631 Building America
H The Rockies ...................... 679 colour section
I The Southwest .................. 751 following p.896
3
왗왗 Leo Carillo State Beach Park 왗 Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park
| CONTENTS |
C A N A D A
12
11 1
10 2
9 3 12
8 4 11 1
7 6 5
910 23
8 4
Vancouver PACIFIC 7
6 5
STANDARD
TIME MOUNTAIN
STANDARD
Seattle TIME
15
90
W A S H I N G T O N
N O R T H
Portland M O N T A N A
Helena D A K O T A
Butte 94
Bismarck
5
I D A H O
O R E G O N
Boise
S O U T H D A K O T A
84 YELLOWSTONE
Rapid City
NATIONAL PARK
25 MOUNT RUSHMORE 90
W Y O M I N G
80 N E B R A S K A
Reno Cheyenne
Salt Lake City 80
San Francisco N E V A D A U T A H
70
Denver
K A N S A S
YOSEMITE
NATIONAL 15 C O L O R A D O 70
PARK Las
5 Vegas
Wichita
C A L I F O R N I A
GRAND CANYON
NATIONAL PARK
Flagstaff 25
OKLAHOMA
Los Angeles 40
A R I Z O N A Santa Fe Amarillo
Albuquerque
17
10 Phoenix Oklahoma
San Diego City
8 N E W
Tucson M E X I C O
T E X A S Dallas
P A C I F I C 10 El Paso
20
O C E A N
35
BIG BEND 10
NATIONAL PARK
San
Antonio
MEXICO
CANADA
ALASKA
HAWAII-Kauai Oahu
ALEUTIAN
Molokai
Anchorage STANDARD
Juneau TIME Honolulu
Maui
12 12
11 1 11 1
910 23 ALASKAN 910 23 HAWAI I
4 8 4 STANDARD 8 4
7 6 5
TIME 7 6 5 Big Island
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
00 200 miles
12
11 1
10 2
9 3
8 4
7 6 5
12
11 1
CENTRAL 10 2
STANDARD 9 3
8 4
TIME
7 6 5
EASTERN
u
STANDARD
MAINE
TIME Montréal
M I N N E S O T A
95
Lake VERMONT
Huron
87 NEW Portland
W I S C O N S I N HAMPSHIRE
NEW
75 Toronto Boston
Minneapolis-
St Paul Niagara 90 YORK MASSACHUSETTS Cape
Cod
MICHIGAN Falls
RHODE ISLAND
CONNECTICUT
Madison Detroit
80
I O W A PENNSYLVANIA
Des Moines Chicago Philadelphia New York City
Cleveland Pittsburgh NEW JERSEY
INDIANA Atlantic City
I L L I N O I S
DELAWARE
35
71 O H I O MARYLAND
Cincinnati WEST WASHINGTON DC
M I S S O U R I 70 VIRGINIA
65 Richmond
Kansas St Louis 75 VIRGINIA
City
44
KENTUCKY
81 77 NORTH 95
Nashville CAROLINA
A R K A N S A S T E N N E S S E E
Memphis
40
85 SOUTH A T L A N T I C
Atlanta CAROLINA
65
Little Rock
20 O C E A N
55
30 Birmingham Charleston
MISSISSIPPI
Savannah
20 A L A B A M A GEORGIA
75
65
59
10
LOUIS IANA
95 Feet
Houston 10
New Orleans
9800
Orlando
6500
FLORIDA
3300
Miami 1600
G u l f o f 700
M e x i c o 330
0
CCUUBABA
5
e
p
r o i r

| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
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Introduction to
the USA
Lauded as a beacon of freedom, reviled at times as bent
on global domination, the United States has many faces,
and leaves no one short of opinions. The images of the
country that named itself after a continent are embedded
in the mind of every traveller: endless highways cutting
through bleak deserts; forests of skyscrapers towering
over urban jungles; acres of beaches dotted with
surfboards and sun worshippers; high mountain peaks
and green river valleys; magnificent feats of engineering,
from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Hoover Dam. The country’s
emblems are so familiar that they constitute as much a
part of the world’s culture as its own – Lady Liberty, the
Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building, the US Capitol,
the “Hollywood” sign…the list goes on.
For over five hundred years, travellers have brought
their hopes and dreams to America. The first European
explorers were followed by millions of immigrants,
escaping the hidebound societies of the Old World.
Eventually, they were joined as free citizens by the Native
Americans – the continent’s true pioneers – and the
slaves who had been shipped over from Africa and the
Caribbean. Together they formed a nation that not only
ofered something genuinely new, but has continued to re-invent itself in the
face of each fresh challenge, with a capacity to inspire that remains undimin-
ished. The combination of a shoot-from-the-hip mentality with laissez-faire
capitalism and religious fervour can make the US maddening at times, even to
its own residents. But what’s most surprising, perhaps, is how such an initially
daunting land can prove so enticing – its vibrant mix of peoples, striking
6
landscapes and city skylines, and rich musical, cinematic and culinary heritage
seduce almost every visitor in the end.
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
The sheer size of the
country prevents any sort of
overarching statement about
the typical American experi-
ence, just as the diversity of its
people undercuts any notion
of the typical American.
Many of the stereotypes do
hold true – this is a place
where you can find real life
cowboys, gangsters and other
Hollywood standbys – but
they are far from widespread.
And yet, there are a few
common bonds between
residents. For one, vigour and
passion are animating forces in politics and culture here. While this tendency
has deep roots in the country’s religious heritage (modern evangelism was
perfected here), it afects everything from the firm opinions people hold over
even trivial matters, to the public stand they make over God, government, guns
and other incendiary topics. There is, in short, no such thing as the stif upper lip
in American life – that was left behind a few centuries ago on the voyage west.
While the US is one of the world’s oldest still-functioning democracies and
the roots of its European presence go back to the 1500s, the palpable sense
7
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
왖 Church choir, St Louis
왖 Bryant Park, New York City
Five iconic road trips
One of the best ways to see the US is to devote several hours, or days,
to an in-depth tour of its highways or byways. The old stretch of Route 66
has since been carved up into smaller sections by interstate freeways and
these days, the following roads are the finest the country has to offer:
Hwy-1/Pacific Coast Highway This stunning, serpentine road travels
from Los Angeles past the surf beaches of the Central Coast and intriguing
sights like Hearst Castle up to the foggy reaches of the Bay Area.
Overseas Highway A hundred-mile stretch connecting the major islands
of the Florida Keys, you pass countless waysides for fishing, snorkelling,
kayaking and scuba diving before arriving at laidback Key West.
Blue Ridge Parkway This route’s golden foliage is splendid in the
autumn, but you can enjoy excellent year-round hiking in evocative Great
Smoky Mountains National Park and take in lively towns like Asheville.
Hwy-100 A perfect rural stretch for experiencing historic small-town
America, this Vermont route passes beautiful villages, dazzling autumn
trees, vibrant ski resorts and the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory.
I-40 A memorable transcontinental journey passing the Grand Canyon
and Ancestral Puebloan sites, oil-and-cowboy landscapes in the Texas
Panhandle, and Tennessee, cradle of blues and country music.
of newness here creates an odd sort of optimism, wherein anything seems
possible and fortune can strike at any moment. The country’s history – from
the Gold Rush to the Space Race – testifies to this mentality, and it’s still
evident whether Americans are constructing towering skyscrapers, trans-
forming their landscape with massive dams and highways or trying to win
the jackpot in Las Vegas – or in the stock market. Americans relocate at a rate
greater than people of any other society as they try to advance themselves
economically and socially, although this wanderlust can create an equal sense
8
of dissatisfaction, as expectations are left unmet and friends left behind in the
search for the next golden opportunity.
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO