East Coast. Cruises along the east coast of the usa

• 1 day Moscow - New York

  Flight Moscow - New York. Arrival in New York. Self transfer and hotel accommodation. Free time.

  2 day New York - Niagara Falls

  Breakfast. Trip to Niagara Falls (~620 km) (American side of the Niagara River). Scenic road, magnificent panoramas of Niagara, Observation Tower, observation decks. Cruise on the Niagara River under the waterfalls at will for extra. fee (payment to the guide on the spot). Overnight in Niagara Falls.

  3 day Niagara Falls - New York

  Breakfast. Excursion to Kozliny Island with magnificent panoramas of the river and waterfalls; island of the Three Sisters; picturesque views of the Niagara beauties: the river, rocks, boulders, rifts and the Niagara Falls itself. Return to New York on a scenic drive through the state NY.(~620 km) Overnight at the hotel in New York.

  Day 4 New York

  Breakfast. Sightseeing tour around the city, which includes the main attractions of the city: Downtown, Battery Park, Wall Street, Ground Zero, a panorama of bridges, the UN, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue, Broadway and much more. The duration of the tour is 9-10 hours, including the time spent on gathering the group (about 2 hours). Rest at the hotel.

  Day 5 New York - Washington

  Breakfast. Moving to the capital of the USA - Washington. (~370 km) Accompanied by a guide, travel information on the way. Sightseeing tour of the capital. Evening tour with a visit to the Memorials and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is included in the main program. Overnight at Washington hotel.

  Day 6 Washington - Orlando

  Breakfast. Visiting the Arlington Memorial Cemetery, the Museum of Aeronautics and Cosmonautics, the National Art Gallery, and other attractions. Flight to Florida, Orlando. Self-transfer to the hotel. Overnight in Orlando.

  Day 7 Orlando - Walt Disney World*

  
  Walt Disney World Resort (often referred to as Disney World or WDW) is the largest park in the Disney empire. On the territory of Disney World, considered the world's best place to family vacation on the this moment are located
  4 theme parks:
  Magic Kingdom (Magic Kingdom),
  EPCOT Center (Epcot Park),
  Animal Kingdom (Kingdom of animals),
  MGM Studio (Pavilions - attractions of the film studio Metro Goldwin Meyer);
  3 water amusement parks:
  Tyhoon Lagoon (Typhoon Lagoon),
  River Country (Country of Rivers),
  Blizzard Beach (Hurricane Beach);

  Day 8 Orlando - Universal*

  Breakfast. Visit to one of the amusement parks.
  Universal Orlando consists of 2 theme parks: Universal Studios (Universal Studio) & Island of Adventure (Island of Adventure)

  Univbersal Studios Florida (Universal Studio) - The park is divided into several parts.
  Sector Hollywood (Hollywood): The most popular attractions: Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time.
  Sector New York (New York): The most popular attractions: Revenge of the Mummy ("REVENGE OF THE MUMMY").
  Sector Production central (Production Center): The most popular attractions: everyone's favorite giant Shrek and the romantic Donkey ("Shrek and the Donkey").
  Sector San Francisco (San Francisco): The most popular rides: Disaster - learn all the secrets of disaster films and experience for yourself.
  Beetlejuice's graveyard revue - monsters, dead people and other representatives of the world of shadows + cheerful rock and roll, at the Beetlejuice cemetery.
  Woodpecker's kidszone - A special children's corner!

  Islands of adventure (Island of adventure) - the second park of the complex consists of 5 "thematic islands".
  Marvel super hero island - super heroes and super attractions!
  Jurassic park (Jurassic Park) - one of the most beloved and visited "islands" of the park. The famous attraction, designed according to the plots of the film trilogy of the same name.
  The lost continent (The Lost Continent) - famous myths and legends, fairy-tale characters and mysterious creatures of all eras and peoples are brought together here on the Lost Continent - fairy tales of 1001 nights, the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, many attractions located here are stylized as giant multi-colored dragons.
  Toon lagoon - this part of the park is dedicated to water rides and entertainment.
  Citywalk is an entertainment complex with numerous bars and restaurants, cinemas and discos, nightclubs and shopping malls.

Well, we finally got to another continent. Thoughts to visit America wandered in the minds of the family for a long time, but somehow everything was too busy. And the flight is long and getting visas is a whole story. That is probably why few of our compatriots visit the United States for tourism purposes. But in vain. Now I can say this with absolute certainty. As always in my stories, I will describe the places we visited, tell what impression they made on us and what conclusions we drew from what we saw.

I repeat, in my story I express a purely subjective opinion of three people, I do not impose anything on anyone and I am not going to argue. I write what I saw, what I had time for and what we experienced during the journey. So, the introduction is over, let's start the story. Go.

Why USA?

And really, why? There are probably a number of reasons for this. First to last New Year we successfully closed Europe. They closed it all completely, even if in some countries not everyone looked, of course, to see everything and everywhere a human life is not enough, but I want to see as much as possible. We have closed the main sights of Europe.

Except for the UK so far. Not once in our trips did foggy Albion get in our way, I think London is a matter for the near future, but for now we are not up to it. Secondly, America has always attracted our family with its device.

We think this is how our homeland should have looked like, if there were not so many sad events in it from the first half of the last century to the present day. A country of absolute democracy, complete freedom, what is it like? We all read about it, watched it, heard about it, but few really imagined it. I wanted to understand why thousands of our compatriots annually try to leave, forgetting their homeland like a bad dream. What is the reason why this distant land beckons? How does it differ from the same madly loved Europe, after all, by us? These are the questions we set out to find answers to.

I am writing this story during the trip, so maybe I will add some things to the campaign, change something. So do not judge strictly, I write sincerely as best I can.

Visas, tickets, car and route.

Since August 1, 2011, the rules for applying for an American visa have undergone a number of changes.

It is difficult for me to judge whether it has become easier or more difficult, until now I have not submitted documents, but in general, the current process did not seem very complicated. We go to the embassy website, look for the necessary link, and as a result we end up filling out the DS-160 form. The form is large, very boring, with a bunch of questions. Knowledge of the language in this case is not necessary, the pop-up menus are translated into Russian, everything is not difficult to fill in, the main thing is to endure. Your electronic picture is also attached there and as a result we get confirmation that our form has gone to the embassy. This paper must be printed and kept with you. Next, we pay through VTB24 a payment system (in our case, 4200 rubles per person), it can also be found through the embassy website. Then on the same site we are looking for how to sign up for an interview. I must say right away that I didn’t succeed through the site, I called the embassy (did call for two days) and as a result, a nice girl signed us up for a certain date, suggesting that I choose a convenient one for us. By the way, when filling out the DS-160 form, questions constantly appear, the purpose of which is to find out whether you have acquaintances in the United States or not.

Since we don’t really know anyone in the states well, I honestly wrote everywhere that I don’t, I don’t know, and so on. It seemed to me that the presence of acquaintances does not guarantee the issuance of a visa, but rather, on the contrary, gives the consular officer an understanding that you have someone to stay in the United States, and they are unlikely to want to see an extra illegal immigrant there. In any case, at the interview, the task is to show (you can say and prove) that you are in no way going to violate US immigration laws and stay there to live. We took everything with us. Certificates for real estate, for cars, the presence of a dependent grandmother - a disabled person of the first group, certificates of business, etc. Looking ahead, I’ll say that nothing came in handy. Considering that we do not live in Moscow, we went to the interview, scheduled for nine in the morning, with a margin, having spent the night in a hotel not far from the embassy. The consular department met us the next morning with a line of a good hundred people, which, however, quickly moved through the police cordon to the door of the embassy. Why is our militia standing at the entrance ... Oh, sorry, the policeman scans everyone’s passports, I still don’t understand. Yes, I completely forgot, ALWAYS take a color photo 5 × 5 with you for a visa.

On the website of the embassy, ​​it is written very extensively about this, I thought the pictures in the DS-160 were enough, as a result, they ran to take pictures to the metro station. The Embassy does not provide such services. There are three security cordons at the entrance - lighters and phones are taken away without fail. Inspection as before boarding the plane. I will not describe the procedure further, it is rather tedious and, in principle, does not depend on us. I can only say that without fail they take fingerprints of all fingers. At the consular worker we were at most three minutes. He greeted everyone, got to know each other, found out what we were doing and what we would do in the USA, he didn’t ask for any papers, rummaged through the computer and approved the visas. By the way, what is more convenient - you can get a visa for two years, paying a hundred dollars. We did just that, we want to use them to the maximum.

Yes, still, it is not necessary to book hotels and plane tickets before obtaining a visa. The presence of tickets is not the basis for issuing a visa, and in case of refusal there will be monetary losses (in addition to those 4200 rubles, which are also not returned, regardless of the result of the interview). In general, when he said “Your visas are approved”, it was very pleasant. Somehow, I immediately felt that it was not in vain that we were going to Moscow, and for two days I filled out this stupid form of theirs and called them.

Are there many failures? It's hard to say. While we were waiting, someone left with passports and sad faces, someone more cheerful. I couldn't conclude. It seemed that they refused, and still many. Of course, I can be wrong, in any case, I don’t consider myself exclusive with an American visa. Passports with visas arrived four days later by express mail. By the way, I didn't have to pay extra money for it.

From that moment on, we started booking and ordering everything, starting, of course, with air tickets. I will not describe the selection process for a long time, I will only say that the direct flight seemed long and tiring, plus Aeroflot is a little expensive. As a result, a German Lufthansa flight via Frankfurt am Main was purchased. Three hours to Frankfurt, one and a half at the airport and less than eight to New York flew by quickly and quite pleasantly. The food was good, the planes were new, the flight attendants were friendly. Of the hotels I booked only in New York - Crowne Plaza Hotel Times Square Manhattan is a solid four with a good view of Times Square from the fortieth floor in our case. I book the rest of the hotels along the way, since we did not strictly tie the route to cities and dates, we estimated it approximately. I also ordered a car from Avis as always. They gave me a Kia Sorento. The car is new and good. I took my navigator with me. Regular cheap Lexand with iGo, Navitel and Garmin maps. We ride on iGo cards - very convenient and understandable. An approximate route looks like this: New York - Niagara Falls - Atlanta - Miami - Orlando - Washington - Atlantic City - New York. What will eventually come out I will write. Departure was carried out on September 17, return tickets on October 10.

Yes, just in case, before the flight I made myself international rights. So far, no one really needed them, even in the rental office, but let them be.

New York and everything connected with it.

A funny thing is the jet lag at eight o'clock I want to tell you. We didn’t really sleep for more than a day, we flew to JFK late in the evening, but we didn’t feel like sleeping normally. Although I vaguely remember the way from the airport, perhaps simply because it was already dark.

Our hotel was located in the very center - there is nowhere more central, exactly in the middle of Manhattan. Times Square certainly makes an impression, especially at night, especially when you see it for the first time. The number of luminous monitors and people around is so huge that in the first second you get lost and, in principle, you don’t understand where you are and what to do here. But beautifully crazy, I personally have never seen anything like it in Europe. Perhaps in Tokyo or in Singapore you can experience similar sensations, I don’t know if we haven’t been there yet.

So the first impression of New York was shocking. The hotel room is small, as I said on the 40th floor of a rather high tower. There is no minibar. There is no free water. The prices are exorbitant. However, I still liked the hotel. First of all, of course, the location and the view from the windows. I think if you approach the search for a hotel with the care inherent in many, you can choose both better and cheaper, probably, but to be honest, I dug into these hotels completely back in Lipetsk, so I pointed to the one that was a little cheaper than the others. In general, I think that I got it right. If we manage to stay in New York for a couple of days at the end of the trip, we will stop there.

Manhattan itself is arranged insanely simply, it has avenues - wide avenues along the island and streets - respectively, streets perpendicular to the avenue and there is Broadway, piercing the entire island from north to south. Avenues and streets are numbered. Streets are divided into western and eastern, depending on the location, respectively. Finding an address is a pleasure. For example, 1605 Broadway - the house number on Broadway is immediately clear, to make it easier, they write - at the intersection with west forty-second. Now it's not a problem at all to find the right house. By the way, this is how I described the address of our hotel.

The most convenient way to get around Manhattan is by taxi, many use the subway, we did not. Taxis are cheap and plentiful. Do you remember the New York movies? That's right, some yellow sedans on the streets, in principle, very similar to the truth. Catch the car, sit down and say the address. It’s better to catch something fresh, the classic Ford Crown Victoria is clearly living out its life and if you go far enough in such a taxi it will not be very comfortable. Optimal to catch the Ford Escape, we really did not succeed even once. There are a lot of police on the streets, they are everywhere, at almost every step, at most intersections, on all avenues and squares. The police really behave modestly, so to speak. They are and it seems they are not. If you behave decently, do not violate public order - they are not there, I personally did not want to attract the attention of these guys with pistols. Apparently no one wants to, so in the city center you can feel safe.

By the way, one more fact, in America it is forbidden to smoke indoors in principle. In hotels, bars, restaurants. Even on street sites it is impossible. Specifically, in New York, there are very few smoking areas and you will rarely meet people who smoke on the streets. Nevertheless, people smoke, the police do not pay much attention to this, there is a formal ban, but it has not been brought to the point of absurdity. I think a couple more generations and Americans will quit smoking everything, at least smoking young people, and they look at smokers with frank pity, as if they were suicides. They drive terribly in the city, the algorithm of the traffic lights is very peculiar, as a result, pedestrians are not allowed to pass even when the pedestrian traffic light is on. The funny thing is that sometimes even the police won't let you through.

Everyone and everywhere honks for the slightest reason and without, no one gives way to anyone, everyone climbs ahead and at the same time - traffic jams are only at rush hour in the evening after work, and even then they are not as deaf as in Moscow. By the way, it’s almost impossible to catch a taxi at rush hour, the office plancon goes home and snatches the car from under your nose so skillfully that you don’t even want to swear at it. Here a taxi stopped, drops off a passenger, three seconds and a clerk in a suit is already sitting in it and dictating where to go. You can stand to vote for quite a long time, the locals somehow migrate at this moment between the streets and catch cars in the doorways. At this moment, local bombers begin to work - nimble kids on big Lincolns. This is not difficult to catch, but expensive. They carry within Manhattan for 30 bucks - three times more expensive than a taxi on the meter.

Food is sold at every step for every taste, mostly mobile wagons with a local analogue of shawarma. We ventured to buy only water, kebabs or something there that smells not appetizing and smokes wildly, nevertheless it is very popular among the natives. In general, where to eat in America is not difficult to find, establishments great amount and with the all-Russian myth about the tasteless American food, I am now ready to argue. Yankee steaks know how to cook in a way that few people in Europe, except perhaps the Italians, and scrambled eggs and potatoes for breakfast, albeit simple, but nutritious.

Breakfast in hotels, by the way, for an additional fee. We had breakfast there only on the day of departure from New York - the usual buffet for a lot of money. Once we had breakfast at Planet Hollywood in Times Square - the food is ordinary, but you can go even just for the sake of the interior, completely dedicated to the theme of Hollywood films. Of the restaurants, I would also mention Red Lobster at the intersection of Broadway and West 39th - in the evening you have to wait about half an hour to sit down at a table, but the excellent menu of seafood delicacies is worth it, as well as the Ben's establishment between Sixth Avenue and West 32nd - solid steaks and pickles, good local beer. Keep a close eye on whether service was included in your bill (usually 15-20% of the bill) if not, the waiter will ask you for tea, if not, leave the guy (girl) without a salary. The service, by the way, is friendly and very fast everywhere, the food is also prepared almost instantly, which, oddly enough, does not affect the quality.

Of course, to be honest, it is impossible to see even ten percent of the sights of a city like New York in three or four days. And I won't tell you that it's enough to go to the Statue of Liberty and climb to the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building and consider that you have looked at New York. In such cities, everyone chooses what to see in the first place and, of course, world-famous sights fall immediately under the sight of a tourist. We were no exception and immediately went to the southern part of Manhattan, where, following the signs, quite accidentally ran into the Empire State Building. I can warn you right away - you should not buy tickets from sellers on the street, they offer a bunch of all sorts of unnecessary services, such as skipping the line, some express tours, and so on. None of this is required. We stood in line at the official cash desk for a maximum of 15 minutes, and it took the same amount to go through the security system (everything is standard, phones, belts, bags, metal detector frame). Follow the signs to the elevator, again a short queue to the 80th floor, a souvenir shop, an elevator to the 86th floor and you get to a stunning platform for great photos of the New York skyline.

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Any self-respecting tourist should have a photo from this site, like a photo from the Eiffel Tower, for example. For an additional fee, you can buy a ticket for another elevator that will take you to the topmost, 102nd floor of the tower, but we didn’t go there, in the reviews of other tourists, I read that it was impossible to take pictures through the dirty glass of the 102nd floor. If anyone still wants to check, you are welcome, maybe 15 dollars and not the amount that is worth saving in this case. On the site of the 86th floor it is windy and there are a lot of people, for those who love the movie Sleepless in Seattle, the site will also be interesting because the final events of this wonderful, kind and very romantic film are developing on it.

There is a Madame Tussauds museum in Times Square, we went to it to compare with the Amsterdam one we visited a few years ago. There are clearly more exhibits, they are placed more competently and with scale inherent in Americans. In my opinion, it’s worth a visit, in any case, take a picture with Bill Clinton or Justin Timberlake, even if not very similar to yourself, but still you are unlikely to succeed anywhere else. Again there is a cute gift shop and a small photo shop offering photoshopped pictures of you and various characters like King Kong. We bought it for ourselves, there is clearly no other like it anywhere. By the way, they take pictures everywhere in the Empire State Building and on Niagara, but more on that later.

I can say that just walking around the city gets boring pretty quickly, it's still not Rome with the Trevi Fountains and the Coliseum, where every street is of historical value. You quickly get tired of staring at skyscrapers, and it’s basically impossible to get around the island on foot, it’s too big. It is optimal to take a taxi, from point A to point B and so on, even if the distance is relatively short. Spend five bucks, save an hour of time and, most importantly, your own legs. I know what I'm talking about, the walk from Times Square to the boats going to the Statue of Liberty took a good three hours and cost everyone a lot of strength and nerves.

For the entire journey, perhaps the most interesting was, again, a randomly found place where the WTC Towers used to stand. We did not get into the memorial complex - tickets are ordered online a month in advance. The excitement around this place in America is now crazy. On the site of the 5th and 7th buildings, new complexes are being erected and have almost been built. The speed of construction is impressive, the scale is also amazing. But it is typical for Americans, as we have already noticed, to amaze the imagination. No joke, the Empire State Building was built in, scary to think, one year and 45 days! It is quite difficult for me, as a builder, to imagine this, nevertheless, it is true and it deserves respect for the project executors.

We reached the boats to Liberty Island by two o'clock in the afternoon, at the box office they warned that from that time on we would not have time to visit Ellis Island, where boats also go after the Statue of Liberty. To be honest, I didn’t even look at what was there on this island, the statue was important to us. To be frank, it doesn't make an impression of something incredible, but visiting New York without it is the same as visiting Paris without the Eiffel or Rome without the Coliseum. We did not buy tickets inside the pedestal, anyway, they are not allowed into the crown now, maybe on other days, but on Sunday when we were not allowed into the crown.

It is worth visiting the island if not even for the sake of the statue, then for the sake of the magnificent view of Manhattan and Jersey that opens from it, and of course for the duty photos. Although the panorama of New York is actually very, very beautiful from there. In general, the very symbol of American freedom in the face of this French statue is certainly important, because millions of people sailed, persecuted for some sins in their native countries, unfortunate, sailing for weeks in the most difficult conditions across the ocean, and the first thing they saw was it - with a torch , as a guarantee that all their troubles will end here on this earth, and even if sometimes it was not so, it is still worth recognizing the importance of the Statue of Liberty in the development of America as a country of immigrants.

I write all these pathetic speeches only because I really can’t think of anything else about the statue, from the point of view of common sense, the Empire State Building personally impressed me both as an engineering and architectural structure.

I also noticed that there are a lot of squirrels in parks all over America and in New York in particular. They are everywhere where there is even the slightest piece of grass or a tree. Squirrels are fat, arrogant, completely not afraid of people and ignoring them. At the same time, squirrels are the only living creature we have found on the streets of American cities. No yard dogs or cats were found.

Yes, I forgot to say, the queue for the statue may seem very long, it can stretch for a good five hundred - seven hundred meters. This is due to the system of the same notorious American security, metal detectors and so on, but the line moves quickly and you still have to stand for about forty minutes, I think this fact should not confuse anyone much, nor is a Russian person used to such queues as it seems to me. From what we wanted, but did not visit, I would note Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art (I really wanted to see Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans. There is a chance that we will visit them at the end of our trip, since we planned three days before departure for New York again.

Of the stores, I will note SAKS on Fifth Avenue, but September is not best time for shopping. So we're leaving New York.

Niagara Falls. Waterfalls.

Avis in New York has a huge number of garages and my task was to find the nearest one. He was found in the West 54th Street area. A sweet woman in her sixties, without much emotion, issued a car that was driven out of the parking lot by a young neg ... sorry, African American. The Lexand navigator works and that's all I can say about it so far. The truth works so-so, looking ahead, I’ll say that the iGo cards passed out on the third day of the journey, while I was driving on Garmin cards.

The rather large SUV Kia Sorento turned out to be front-wheel drive, which is not a problem in the conditions of chic American roads, but somehow it's a shame, I ordered all-wheel drive, it's good at least an automatic transmission. We got out of New York easily and quickly, signaled plenty, they don’t drive there differently, after a few days on foot, driving, you feel a slight euphoria. They took the direction to the north of the state - the city of Niagara Falls on the border with Canada.

By the way, we missed the moment, if you get an American visa and there is time, get a Canadian one, I think there are fewer problems with it, but on Niagara you can see the waterfalls from the Canadian side, they say the view from there is more interesting. Alas, we were unable to verify this.

Wide highways (Interstate) stitch all of America up and down, highways are toll, though, as we understand, not in all states. The quality of the coverage is about the same as in Europe, and just like the Europeans, the Americans are constantly expanding and modernizing their roads. It is really sad to look at this, you understand that life is not enough to see such roads in Russia.

600 kilometers to Niagara flew by quickly and imperceptibly. The speed limit on almost all interstates is 65 - 70 miles per hour, the entire flow usually exceeds this speed by an average of 10 - 12 miles per hour, both cars and trucks. The police are not visible, but they are there, several times they saw how the police fined drivers along the road. You understand that America is a country on wheels as soon as you leave the city walls. Each congress is a celebration of the stomach and three or four gas stations. Gas stations with diesel, by the way, are rare, as are diesel cars.

There are clearly more hotels along the road than those wishing to spend the night in them. True, typically American fast food like McDonald’s, SubWay or Burger King prevails along the route, and of course KFC, nicknamed Rostik in Russia. If you want to eat normally, look for cafes like Friday's - a fairly large chain of pleasant eateries, mainly found in the state of New York.

Niagara Falls is a small village, as they would call it in Russia. Moreover, the village is seasonal and the season at the waterfalls is clearly coming to an end. Almost all restaurants and hotels are closed, even in the huge shopping center there is not a soul. But on the waterfalls themselves, life is in full swing and there are a lot of guests who want to look at this natural miracle. The hotel was booked from New York - Sheraton at the Falls. Please note that there are two hotels with this name and one of them is in Canada. If you do not have a visa, you will not get into your room under any circumstances. The hotel on the American side is old, but the rooms are clean, large enough and much cheaper than in New York. The most important thing is the walking distance to the park with waterfalls, and you are unlikely to need anything else in this town.

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The waterfalls make an impression, there are no words how beautiful the Niagara River, bending around the island with the park on both sides, falls from a height of fifty meters. The stream rages and dances over the stones, creating the impression of an incredible force of nature that can absorb everything in its path.

A very beautiful sight, but it is even more interesting to watch how the Americans, with their inherent scale, put on a show from everything that is on their land. For money, they will take you on a boat to the very heart of the large Horseshoe waterfall, where a flat-bottomed boat, stuffed to capacity with curious tourists in beautiful blue raincoats, will stand for about five minutes, allowing you to taste the charm of this beautiful wonder of the world; and they will let you run along the wooden decks to the very beginning of the “Veil”, where you will get wet from a huge amount of spray and at the same time wildly rejoice that you have climbed to the very top platform, kindly called “Hurricane” for your pride, where you definitely need to take a picture in yellow raincoat, raising his hands up in the pose of the conqueror of Niagara.

After that, in a souvenir shop, you need to buy a diploma with the inscription “I survived the most dangerous point of Niagara Falls”, enter your last name there and hang it at work in your office, showing it to all your colleagues. Finally, you can have a bite of a burger and french fries at a local eatery, where very nice provincial American women will gladly offer their simple assortment of dishes. Feed the impudent sparrows with a hamburger bun, who will beg all the time while you eat on the open veranda of the cafe.

The park on the American side is very large, you can even get tired of walking, but if you buy a special pass at the entrance that includes access to all the attractions, it will include a free ride on a bus that runs through the park, decorated in the style of old trams. By the way, almost certainly the hotel will have a table at which it is proposed to purchase special tours of Niagara, which include a bunch of all sorts of excursions and so on. It's actually a divorce. Everything that is indicated in the brochure, you can visit either by buying a ticket on the spot (several times cheaper than the cost of the tour), or even for free, just by buying a tour you will be taken there on a big bus and let you walk around.

The bus and tram that runs through the park will take you almost everywhere where it is proposed to go on this tour, but much cheaper and without a rigid time reference. So I would definitely not recommend buying. Judging by the helicopters plying back and forth, there are also helicopter tours, but we, as people who are not very extreme, did not go on it. What's bad about Niagara this time of year is the lack of open restaurants. At the time of our arrival, almost everything was closed, it’s good that Friday’s was functioning in the hotel.

But in general, one full day in Niagara is quite enough, as it seemed to us. They swam everywhere, went down, again, part of the park's pavilions did not work that day, perhaps it just happened, or maybe they had already closed in preparation for winter. Nevertheless, I definitely advise you to visit the waterfalls, you will get a lot of positive emotions and, from an aesthetic point of view, enjoy the magnificent nature of this place.

Atlanta, Kentucky and Tennessee passing through.

The way to Atlanta was not close - one and a half thousand kilometers, so they really did not rush, having booked a hotel in the capital of the state of Georgia, taking into account an overnight stay in the middle of the road.

As a result, daily runs in the region of four hundred miles were not so tiring and made it possible to enjoy the surroundings to the fullest. The fact is that interstates have one bad feature - it’s boring to drive along them for a long time. There is practically nothing along the tracks, all recreation areas are located at the exits at a small distance from the noisy flow of cars and there is practically nothing to see. The same problem on the German autobahns - boring. On the way, we entertained ourselves with periodic stops for a smoke break in various places along the road with light snacks and occasional gas stations. We must give the car its due, the fuel consumption is low and it quite confidently consumes the cheapest Regular gasoline with an octane rating of 87. By the way, the most expensive fuel at gas stations has an octane rating of 93, but I have never seen anyone refuel with it.

The principle of refueling is not the same as in Europe, but more similar to ours - first you go to pay, then you refuel, though you only need to tell the cashier the number of the dispenser, you choose the type of fuel yourself already when refueling, usually there is one pistol, and three buttons. I have never seen diesel fuel at a gas station. Rarely come across gas stations with boys who themselves fill up and take your money. As I have already said, it is wiser to move at the speed of the flow, not lagging behind or ahead of it.

Sometimes there are traffic jams on the highway, usually due to accidents or road workers (familiar, isn't it). All the way to Atlanta, we stood in traffic jams for two hours, although in principle it’s not very annoying, and you won’t scare Muscovites like that at all. On the first day of the journey, there were no special adventures, we drove all the way, the stop was drawn in the Cincinnati area - it became dark, and quite late in time. There are no problems with hotels - this is what real automobile power means, the only question is the level of the hotel and the amount of money that you are willing to spend on it, in fact, its level depends on this.

We rode around the outskirts of the capital of Ohio for quite a long time, somehow we didn’t want to stop at a primitive motel at all, accidentally came across a large and luminous Holiday INN in a town with a great name - Florence. Of course, I cannot call myself a perfect connoisseur of English, nevertheless, despite the long years of study, the lack of practice does its dirty work, nevertheless, at the everyday level, I always and with everyone I communicated normally with mutual understanding and without asking again. In Kentucky they speak anything but English language. With the girl at the reception, we patiently tried to understand each other for about ten minutes, after which we spat and she silently handed over the keys to the room. To be honest, I still didn’t understand what she wanted from me that evening, to sign or write something with a credit card, and what was not clear, the poor thing tried, but she couldn’t speak slowly and articulately in principle. A similar problem arose with the waitress in the hotel restaurant, if we were able to choose dishes on the menu by reading their names, then side dishes, drinks, etc. were specified three times, and I got the impression that the girl was talking about food more for herself than for us, because this muttering under one's breath was difficult to call communication, in vain did not turn away at that moment. Although at the same time, in principle, everyone is really friendly and sincerely wants to be useful, but somehow in their own way, in Kentucky. In this restaurant, a funny event took place that raised my self-esteem - when ordering a beer, they asked me for an identity card to check if I was 21 years old. Apparently at twenty-nine I look good, that's what a healthy lifestyle, gym and proper nutrition mean.

The hotel is clean, quite new, there are smoking rooms, which in itself is a rarity in the USA lately, parking is free, although it does not seem to be guarded. We didn’t have breakfast in the morning, for some reason we don’t eat in hotels at all on this trip, or rather, we eat extremely rarely, I’m probably tired of the buffet with bacon and orange juice. Long live scrambled eggs and fried potatoes with ham! In any roadside cafe to your taste, except for McDonald's and Burger King.

On this day, we decided not to rush anywhere at all, so we rode staring at the signs in search of something interesting. The sign with the inscription "The lost sea adventure" seemed curious, promising at least some kind of adventure. We boldly turn off the highway at the sign, drive ten miles and find ourselves in a parking lot near a fairly decent park with a picnic area and a lot of natives with children inside. The park itself was not very interesting to us, we didn’t go to the states to eat sandwiches on the grass. But in the depths it turned out to be the largest in North America an underground lake, a guided tour is offered for a few dollars, which we successfully managed to do. A pretty strong girl dressed as a Girl Scout led a group of two dozen assorted tourists, including, in addition to the holders of star-striped passports, our family and the family of never discouraged and always smiling Japanese, just like us, who got into this adventure obviously by accident. , deep into big cave, which was equipped with walking paths, it was a bit dark, but still interesting.

We wandered through the caves for about an hour - a tiring task, I must say. As a reward, we received a couple of minutes of absolute darkness (the girl turned off the light in the cave on purpose), I want to notice scary sensations and not very pleasant ones, and a walk along underground lake on a punt with an electric motor, in fact, the lake is large and beautiful, there are a lot of fish in it, which they really launched artificially there, as our companion said. To be honest, now knowing a little bit of Americans, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pump this lake by hand with pumps so that it doesn’t dry out, otherwise Tennessee would lose one of its sources of income, and groups of tourists come regularly and I won’t be surprised if these caves brought on purpose, and not just because we accidentally. This hole in the mountain is not necessary to visit, but if you go along a route similar to ours, still look, I think many will like this place, but it’s hardly worth going to it on purpose, there are many more interesting places in America.

Such as the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The biggest trouble that happened on the way to Atlanta was that the navigator was very glitched. iGo maps stopped loading (it’s a pity, it was a pleasure to drive on them) there was no time to figure out the reason, turned on the Garmin uploaded there and drove off. Garmin's cards are primitive, apparently some old ones turned out to be, but thank God that there are at least such ones. Without a navigator, there is nothing to do in the states by car, although, in principle, in any country that you don’t know, there is nothing to do without a navigator.

The location of the hotel in Atlanta is optimal for visiting the three main attractions, I’ll tell you about them, one day spent in the city didn’t allow us to see everything again, but by the way we liked the city, it’s much calmer than New York and at the same time it’s not even a remote province at all , everything is very cultural and civilized. We started with Georgia Aquarium - according to the description - the largest aquarium in the world. An amazing place, as always, everything is done monumentally, on a grand scale and with the aim of impressing. By far the most interesting pavilion - marine life - a huge, even an aquarium, it is difficult to call it, a huge glass pool or something, in which marine life of all sizes and types swim. The spectacle is mesmerizing, you can look at this beauty for a very long time, it is almost impossible to describe everything that happens there on paper, to convey the feelings that you experience when you see such animals too.

Perhaps the photographs will give at least the slightest description close to the truth, but in general, of course, this must be seen. Of course, this aquarium is more interesting to visit with children, but adults will also find it extremely interesting. There, for a fee, it is offered to watch a dolphin show, we did not go to it, we were afraid there would not be enough time for everything. There are open small aquariums with stingrays and similar animals - you can touch it, but this is not for everyone. There are many animators on the territory, constant children's competitions, the kids have a lot of fun, alas, the truth is only those who know the language, which means only local. There is a large and inexpensive dining room made on the principle of self-service. Of course, you can eat, but to be honest, the student canteen at Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, where I get my second higher education, surpasses this institution several times in terms of the variety of dishes. So in the aquarium it is better to look at the fish, entertain the kids if they are at the right age and boldly head to the World of Coca Cola, located on the territory of the same park with the aquarium.

Orlando. Parks. Ocean. Sunny Florida.

In Orlando, our path lay primarily due to the presence around it locality a wide variety of theme parks. Including the ones that most interested us were Universal Studios and Disney World (not to be confused with the Californian Disneyland - I got it mixed up, but these are generally different things).

Plus, I wanted to take a short break, for five days, to take a break from constant skiing, after all, moving every two days will tire anyone and the impressions will remain only from the road and roadside eateries. Therefore, the issue was approached radically, on the advice of friends (about them separately at the end of the story) and with their help, on the website www.vacationrentals.com, a condominium (an apartment or apartments, in other words) was rented from a wonderful and very responsive Russian girl Irina (rather an accident , we were not specifically looking for a compatriot), whom we had never seen, but we communicated well by phone and the Internet. I will describe the process of reservation and settlement separately, the process is interesting and unusual for us. On the above site, send a request for the property you like, indicating the length of stay and dates of arrival / departure. They answer you, they say whether there are free for these dates and how much it costs. If everything suits you, send your credit card details, receive an agreement in response, there are options for an electronic signature, or simply print, sign and return by fax. After that, you receive a letter with instructions for settling in which the code from the gate to the complex is indicated (if the territory is closed), the lock code where the key is located (usually this is a small box near the door to the apartment) and that's it. We arrived, entered, found the desired apartment, entered the code into the box, the key fell out, opened it and live. Leave - the key is back in the box, the door slammed shut. The money was deducted from the card, everyone is happy, everything is fine.

In my opinion, a magnificent system that allows Irina not to dangle from Miami to meet us 160 miles away, and we do not depend on anyone and come at a time when it is convenient for us. By the way, the rental system on the coast is very well developed and I would not recommend staying in a hotel either in Orlando or Miami or anywhere else on the coast. A small house or condo will be both cheaper and more convenient than any of the most luxurious hotels.

We settled in Orlando for five days, the goal is at least three parks: Universal Studios, Sea World and Disney World. Plus, relax and decide on the movement further. It is a long way to go to Miami and the worst thing is that it is in the opposite direction from Washington. And we should already be moving home, after all, most of the vacation at the time of departure from Orlando will be over. Well, yes, we will decide in the process, of course, as we always do. The apartment in the Vista Cay complex turned out to be truly luxurious, which, and the Americans know how to create an entourage. Protected territory, swimming pool, air-conditioned entrances.

The apartment itself - three bedrooms, a living room with a kitchen, a hall, two bathrooms for a total of about 150 square meters - is an oligarch's dream. Furnished with taste and light luxury, everything is competent, everything is comfortable and in its place. Large kitchen, a lot of household appliances, TVs in all bedrooms and in the living room. Super easy. Upon closer inspection and after a couple of days of living, of course, you begin to find flaws, where would you be without them, for example, the doors are very simple in themselves and creak strongly, the ceilings by the standards of even our Khrushchevs are the same as in them, the sculpture of dolphins turned out to be wooden instead of cast iron , but this is already particular of course. Beds a meter high are also very unusual and not very comfortable for a Russian person. Although, of course, I am now finding fault - a great apartment, exactly what we needed on this trip. So again, I can recommend it to everyone, especially looking ahead, I will recommend Orlando to those who have small children, and if there are several children, then it’s a fairy tale.

A trip here will be remembered by them for many years, although in this case it is better to go for a week at least, and then you are unlikely to have time to visit everything. I, too, in my story will not delve into the description of each attraction in each park that we visited, because in this case my story will drag on for two hundred pages, I will describe the impressions of each park and try to explain for which audience they were created mainly, how it is again it seemed to us.

So Universal Studios - visited first, drive from our condo about 15 minutes. Parking is $12, it's more convenient to drive the car onto the roof, it's closer to the entrance there. Tickets are about $100 per adult. In general, all the parks around Orlando are distinguished by a high cost of an entrance ticket, so if you are traveling with your family and specifically walking in the parks in the vicinity of this Florida town, it makes sense to purchase a Pass that gives you the right to multiple visits to several parks at once. Check the most profitable programs at the customer support desk of each park. Pass also gives the right to visit all attractions without a queue, which sometimes saves time quite significantly (the queue for the most popular attractions stretches for 30-40 minutes). In general, it's up to you to decide anyway, all prices for standard entrance tickets for adults range from 80 to 100 dollars. There are an incredible amount of people in the parks, they come from all over America, which is not surprising, because in these huge entertainment complexes there is actually something to see.

Universal Studios are luxury world Hollywood films collected in themed attractions. The rides themselves are different, but usually funny in their naivete, though if you look from the side of a Russian person, Americans laugh, get scared, admire. Truly children at any age. Since from the moment you enter the park, access to all attractions does not require an additional fee, it certainly makes sense to visit all the shows offered by the park. The only inconvenience is that some have to hand over bulky items (backpacks, bags, cameras) to a special storage room. Usually these are the ones on which you will be twisted in some kind of chair. Again, everything in the park is done on a grand scale and with typical American megalomania. Of course, children will enjoy much more than adults, for adults the park will seem naive and toy (for example, frankly puppet sharks in the attraction based on the famous film "Jaws"). Nevertheless, I definitely recommend visiting, if only because I have never seen anything like it in our homeland. Be sure to visit Shrek 4D - the feeling of spiders running down your legs is not comparable to anything.

In general, the park is wonderful, but in terms of the level of the attractions themselves, in a number of points it is inferior to another local attraction - Disney World Hollywood Studios. It will be discussed below. The next park in our program was Sea World - I think the name speaks for itself. It seemed to us that the park is quite old and, accordingly, not as popular as the same Universal Studios. There are enough visitors, but there is no hype, some of the rides do not work for some reason. we have an aquarium with sharks, built on the principle of the Georgia Aquarium, however, it is inferior to the one described above in Atlanta both in size and saturation with exhibits. There is also a good pool with dolphins, judging by the pictures you can swim with them, but no one did this with us, the mammals themselves do not pay much attention to visitors, living in the pool with their dolphin life.

Of the interesting and memorable things, I will tell you about the imitation of the polar station - firstly, everything is very realistic, and secondly, there is an opportunity to observe beluga, walrus and polar bears in conditions close to their real habitat. It takes your breath away from these magnificent animals, gracefully swimming past you behind the armored glass of the pool, you can watch them endlessly and all that remains is to admire the wisdom of nature that created such majestic creatures. In addition to the station, I advise you to visit the penguins - the best penguin world I have ever seen. And a rich collection of these same waterfowl. From small to very large and some healthy brown ones covered with wool - I saw these for the first time, alas, I’m not very torn in penguins, but I looked at them with all my eyes with undisguised curiosity. The park has a large children's playground and a pizza buffet. I do not recommend visiting the cafe. Expensive and very little food. In general, I am ready to partially take back my words on the topic of good food in the states.

After Atlanta, the number of establishments with normal cuisine began to decrease sharply and practically disappeared to the south of Florida. The basis of food at all interstates after New York is McDonald's and Burger King. True, something positive was also discovered - Red Lobster turned out to be a chain of restaurants throughout America, though a very popular chain, but if you have a little patience, you can eat delicious seafood in almost any state. In the south, in general, fish is prepared quite well, even in America, the country of hamburgers in our view. But I digress from the main topic of this part of the trip, sorry. So, we continue to walk in the parks of Orlando.

The third in our conditional list was the Disney World park, which turned out to be a whole complex of various parks and entertainment facilities with an area equal to the Lipetsk region (relatively, of course, but the scale is similar). It seems to me that a week is not enough to get around the whole world of the great Grandfather Disney, as it seems to me, here you need to take a guidebook, a map, money and live on the territory of the “world”, since he also has plenty of hotels. We did not have such a large supply of free time, as a result, I moved towards the index that I liked the most, logically considering that for three adults, the youngest of whom will soon be thirty, Hollywood Studios will be somewhat more interesting than Magic Kingdom at least based on the name.

I dare to believe that my intuition did not fail me, since this entertainment center left us perhaps the most vivid impressions it depends on the design and richness of the rides, as well as their thoughtfulness and realism. In terms of receiving useful information and a touch of history, much more impressions from the Kennedy Space Center, but about it a little lower, but for now, Disney and its Hollywood studios. Here I will perhaps dwell on a couple of rides that truly amazed me to the core. This is an excellent tour of Hollywood films, including mostly Disney ones - the essence of the tour is in a slow ride on a special trolley through episodes of various films, scenery has been created inside each hall and the most interesting thing is robotic mannequins, so professionally and realistically made that if you do not look closely, some can be mistaken for living people. Here you have Indiana Jones and Alien and the greatest Wizard of Oz and the classic Hollywood Mary Poppins and several gangster films, I can’t remember everything. Everything is bright, spectacular, albeit a little naive, but at the same time insanely beautiful.

I also really liked the attraction based on Star Wars, I'm generally a big fan of the whole saga, and to feel, albeit not for long, but the presence inside it is incomparable with anything. The attraction, judging by the inscriptions, was opened this spring, so we were lucky, its essence is as follows. They put you in a capsule depicting a passenger space shuttle, fasten you with a seat belt like in an airplane, the lights go out and away you go. The feeling of presence is complete, I have never experienced anything like it, the shuttle under the control of C3-RO (who knows he will understand) is doing something incredible, the screen in the entire front panel and 3D glasses create a complete visualization of the ongoing flight, and how the capsule moves in space , creating g-forces, turns, decelerations, even a slight feeling of weightlessness when you fall from the orbit of Coruscant at the moment of the battle of Republic clones with Separatist droids, down to the foot of the planet's skyscrapers. WOW! Fantastic feeling! Thanks to the creators of this miracle of modern computer graphics and robotics. You can also go to a performance of a parody of Indiana Jones, but it is done quite naively, in places I would even say primitively. It’s worth going only for the only time in your life to see a black man on a motorcycle in German uniform. The Negro is a true Aryan, it's so American.

The park, of course, produces a much more expensive enterprise than the same Universal Studios, the approach is clearly with a soul and they do not spare money for attractions. Of the minuses - there are very few places where they sell water, given the heat at forty degrees, this is a big omission. We were generally lucky with the weather in Orlando, it all rained either past us or at night, and during the day the weather was magnificent, it could even be ten degrees cooler, it hurts hard to wander around the parks in such heat, salvation is only in souvenir shops, but there If you come in, you can't leave empty-handed. All three of the parks described above are recommended for everyone to visit, without exception, especially if you have children, if they are small and you like such easy adventures.

It’s easy to kill a day at the park, it’s not worth it anymore, there’s nothing to do there too much time, everything should be in moderation. History lovers, those who know who Neil Armstrong is and what he is famous for, everyone who watched the film Apollo 13, who heard about the brilliant designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who are interested in space and everything unknown, as well as fans of the wonderful series Star Trek (Star Trek ) I recommend visiting the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, just fifty miles from Orlando. We moved there on our last day in this city, in fact already on the way to the ocean, to the coastal town of Siesta Key recommended by our friends, I will talk about it a little later.

The cheapest entrance ticket we bought is about 30 dollars and you get into the world of American astronautics, the pride of NASA, where the era of space exploration began in parallel with our Plesetsk, where the famous shuttles, missions to the Moon and much more started their expeditions more. In the rocket park there is a real Saturn 5, which launched the Apollo program ships, the landing module of Armstrong and his expedition to the moon, a full-size model of the shuttle and a simulated flight on it, two iMAX cinemas with great 3D films about space, several interesting attractions dedicated to my favorite Star Trek , felling the Enterprise after all, from the set of the first season of The Original Series! Ten years ago, I would have sold my homeland for the opportunity to sit in Captain Kirk's chair on the bridge of NCC 1701 A (here, few people will understand me, and whoever understands should die of envy). And soon the real shuttle Atlantis, decommissioned after the closing of the program, should be transferred to the museum of the center!

This is an exhibit that is definitely worth seeing. In general, I went to Siesta Key with a complete feeling of absolute bliss and euphoria from touching the history of human space exploration and thanks to NASA for this opportunity. Highly recommend to anyone who is not indifferent. We certainly wanted to end our stay in Florida by the ocean, but the way to Miami seemed too long and in the opposite direction from our next goal - Washington, DC. In this connection, again following the advice of our New York friends, we decided to drop by for a day in the resort town of Siesta Key, located a hundred miles from Orlando. The experience of ordering apartments through the same site www.vacationrentals.com this time turned out to be extremely unsuccessful. Compared to Irina's, the condo was quite dirty, very old and insanely expensive.

The only plus is the proximity to the ocean - a five-minute walk to the beach through the closed territory of the complex. By the way, in this regard, Siesta Key is very wonderful - all access to the beach is blocked by complexes stuck along the coast perpendicular to the beach in huge quantities and equipped with signs with all sorts of threats to those who illegally enter the territory. In fact, there is only one access to the beach in the city, there is also a lot of free parking and showers, but there are no changing cabins at all. By the way, they don’t exist in Bulgaria either, maybe it’s so fashionable now and we are behind the times, but it’s fundamentally uncomfortable, especially for women, of course. The Atlantic Ocean at this time of the year is warm and calm, the sand is white and not at all hot. The width of the beach is amazing - in wide places up to half a kilometer of the sandy zone, we have not seen this even in the Maldives. There are very few people - apparently not the season, although strangely, the weather is beautiful and the water is amazingly warm. In general, the impression was that there were much fewer people on the beach than seagulls and pelicans, these are the real owners of the coast at this time of the year. By the way, there are also a lot of fish along the coast, the water is very salty, but the waves were small and it was pleasant to swim. In any case, for us personally, there was nothing very impressive on the coast, but there can be no consensus here, we are not amateurs at all beach holiday, it is still possible that the impression was spoiled not by the most the best place where we lived. The beach itself is beautiful, the sand is simply amazing, there are no words and I think it’s very cool to relax on the coast, again with children, again when you want to sunbathe in the sun.

Siesta Key is a typical resort town, even the number of expensive convertibles meets global standards. In Miami, I think it’s much noisier, probably more fun, so everyone makes the choice for himself, as well as the choice of whether it’s worth getting a visa and flying so far for a beach holiday. If you do not like to travel, do not like to explore the world, get new experiences, but prefer to lie quietly on the beach with a cocktail in your hand, then you should hardly be going to Florida. On the other hand, if you at least partially repeat our route or for some other reason end up in the states, I highly recommend that you visit the beaches of Florida and plunge into the Atlantic Ocean. So, goodbye Sunny State, our path lies to the north, most of the journey is behind us, the capital is ahead, a little bit of New York and, as usual, summing up my story aboard the Boeing 747 Lufthansa.

Washington. Columbia region.

And here I am again driving a Kia Sorento for many days now, grinding with wheels the magnificent asphalt of wide interstates to the music of real country music and rare comments from the iGo navigation system suddenly working again. This time the system took us on surprisingly picturesque country roads. Of course, they can be called country roads very conditionally, there are at least four lanes in both directions, by Russian standards, a real autobahn. But the landscapes along the roadsides are much more picturesque, as we understood, it is forbidden to build on large highways, everything is at the congresses, but here please - on the right, on the left, there are shops, gas stations, old motels, parking lots of used cars, and anything.

You know, this is a real American province. It is no longer as glossy as large cities such as Atlanta, not like the resort of Orlando, but nevertheless very clean, well-groomed and very loved by its residents. It’s a paradox, there is poverty in America too, you can see it in poor houses along the highway, in simple and not very new cars, in provincial cafes with separate toilets, but this poverty, I don’t know, proud or something. You take it for granted, not as something negative and negative, no, they don’t live like that out of hopelessness, it’s just that this level suits them and they don’t see anything humiliating in it.

I noticed a lot of people drive pretty old cars. Old but in excellent condition. This car suits them and that’s enough, it is serviced on time, it doesn’t fall apart on the go, and none of those around it point a finger at it - look what a wreck it has.

Poverty in America is radically different from poverty in Russia, in our country poverty borders on wretchedness, on poverty, and this, in my opinion, is the worst thing. There is poverty in America, but there is no poverty, there is nothing that could disgrace both the country and those who live in it, at least we did not see it. We bought five pounds of real, fresh Florida oranges from a roadside stand and ate them all the way to Washington—almost 1,600 miles. And to spend the night, as well as on the way to Atlanta, we stopped in Florence, though that Florence was in the state of Kentucky, and this one in North Carolina, I won’t be surprised if there are Florences in Minisot or Ohio, for example, there are a lot of Petersburgs all over the country in our capital waiting with sparkling lights Grand Hyatt, very well located in the middle of all major museums and attractions.

I will dwell on Washington in detail, it deserves it.

Well, where is the first thing a tourist will go to in Washington? Well, of course, look at the place of residence of the presidents of the state in which he is currently located. The White House is currently surrounded by several security rings, concrete block barricades and more police. Access inside is completely closed, as far as I understand, and there are no tours inside the White House at the moment, tourist centre, engaged in this, during our stay in the US capital, bl is constantly closed.

I suspect that there are special days for excursions, perhaps now you need to sign up for them, in any case, we limited ourselves to a few duty photos against the backdrop of the world-famous house with a semicircular colonnade and moved on. If there is no task to visit shops, of which there are as many in the capital as elsewhere in the United States, then it makes sense to take a walk from the White House, bypassing the Washington Monument, towards the Capitol. Firstly, you also need to take a picture with the Capitol, after all, one of the symbols American democracy, and secondly, along this peculiar alley there are the main museums of the city, the entrance to which, by the way, is free, which, after the crazy expensive parks in Orlando, seemed like the height of delicacy on the part of the US authorities.

In general, in Washington, all museums are free and everyone deserves to visit them, alas, again, this requires a huge amount of time. I will dwell on the ones we visited, first of all - the Museum of Natural History - a huge collection of dinosaur skeletons already deserves that you turn your attention to this museum, and finding inside and several rooms dedicated to the development of man and almost all large animals of the United States and creatures of the underwater world, a stuffed elephant , whale (I still haven’t figured out whether it’s actually a stuffed animal or a polymer copy, if a copy, then it’s incredibly accurate). There is definitely something to see there.

Next, go to the Central Art Gallery, unfortunately part of the exposition was closed when we arrived, but in the gift shop you can buy cool posters - copies of paintings by famous artists, which we immediately did. Next, you should definitely go to the most visited Aerospace Museum, which houses the spacesuit of the First Astronaut of the planet, as well as an excellent exposition of aircraft of all times, from the model of the first glider of the Wright brothers, to the cockpit of the Boeing 747-100, various rockets and landing capsules of the Apollo project of different years. A large exposition of aircraft of I and II World Wars (it's a shame there is not a single Russian), a lot of things civil aviation, in general, this museum is a great addition to the Kennedy Space Center. Interestingly, judging by the exposition, the Americans recognize our common leadership with them in space exploration, one full-scale mock-up of the famous Soyuz-Apollo docking is worth what and they have our rockets and, as I said, the spacesuit (suit) in which Gagarin flew into space too, photographs of Korolev and von Braun.

In general, even some kind of pride for the Motherland appears (for the first time during the trip). However, in what is devoted to the Second World War, there is not a word about us at all in any of the paragraphs. Why do the Americans fundamentally refuse to recognize, if not the dominant role of the USSR in the war, then at least its participation, otherwise it’s a shame for the country and for the veterans and for the millions of dead (here I became some very patriotic). Of course, this is not correct, but we will not change anything here. Although criticism is criticism, the museum is still amazing, a must visit.

And finally - the Museum of the American Indians - a very peculiar place, for our person it is completely incomprehensible, but it has a cafe with national cuisine (very good by the way) and is already familiar to anyone tourist place in America, a souvenir shop that contains a variety of national goods that you can hardly buy anywhere else, given that the museum is free - you can easily visit it for the sake of the store and cafe, I think it will be interesting.

There are still a lot of museums, as I wrote above, in order to visit all the time it takes many times more than something that we had. I briefly described where we were, what everyone decides to see for himself, they say the Postal Museum is very interesting, for example, we simply didn’t have enough time for it, as well as for the Lincoln Monument and the Library of Congress. So it makes sense to return to Washington once again. The city itself is stunning, like no other American city it looks like a Western European one, and in fact it is just as calm, quiet and very inviting. Perhaps this is due to the small size and some general culture of the inhabitants of the capital, it’s hard to say, but the city quickly attracts you and you start to miss it at the mere thought that you will soon have to leave it.

And in Washington, there are a lot of people involved in sports, namely running, everyone and everywhere, from small to large, of any build, it seems like a very sports city, I have never seen so much running anywhere in America. And again squirrels, a lot of fat self-satisfied squirrels and homeless people on benches along the streets in large numbers, also by the way a spectacle that was not seen anywhere else. However, the fact that the capital city is felt, a couple of times I came across motorcades, apparently delivering some important government officials somewhere, I won’t say who exactly, I just don’t know, but judging by the motorcades, five cars are hardly lower than vice- president (correct if I'm wrong).

It is surprising that such a number of institutions and structures within a relatively small urban settlement, purely visually, does not cause inconvenience to city residents, it seems that officials actually want to make life easier for citizens and cause as little inconvenience as possible with their presence (it’s amazing, after all, is not it). You can also take a taxi to a very large shopping center- Tysons Corner Center, it's really far away, but all the brands are in one place and for almost any level of income, just keep in mind that around Washington there is an intensive repair of roads and the construction of viaducts, as a result - a taxi can be expensive, it may be reasonable to go to car. Still, we liked Washington, it was a nice breath of fresh air at the end of the trip before getting back into the web of crazy New York.

Hello again or I LOVE NY!

From the administrative capital to the financial capital (or maybe the capital of the World? Have you thought about it?), the distance, by the standards of what has already been covered, is simply ridiculous - 220 miles. Surprisingly and unbelievably, there were no seats in Crowne Plaza, which we were already familiar with on our first visit almost three weeks ago, so it didn’t work out to settle in Times Square again, we booked a room in the extremely hectic Hilton at the intersection of 5th Avenue and West 53rd.

After quiet cities, to which, to some extent, I would include Washington, not to mention Orlando and Siesta Key, New York met with a huge traffic jam near the Lincoln Tunnel (and who came up with the idea of ​​​​letting such large buses there, and even in such numbers), in which taking into account traffic jams at the entrance to the city, I had to spend an hour and a half. It’s good that Russian ingenuity, driving experience in the capital (I mean Moscow) and a bit of impudence inherent in a Russian person, allowed me to successfully bypass neighbors downstream in some places, although I must say there is quite a lot of rudeness in traffic jams in New York, mainly from bus drivers and taxi drivers . Finally, already on Fifth Avenue, I almost hit a gaping Yankee at a traffic light in the back of his Chrysler and with a light heart drove the car into the Avis garage, the result of the automobile part of the trip is 3605 miles (an entry on the rental office receipt), they never checked my car and this time was no exception, I’ll give you another piece of advice - be sure to mark “unlimited mileage” when ordering a car, because you are going to drive and drive a lot, so you don’t need additional payment for overmileage, at least I ordered with unlimited mileage.

We used to travel around Europe for a vacation and more, but taking into account the truth is always quite a long way home through the territory of our homeland, well, I personally like to drive my car more. Eh ... There would be a bridge or a tunnel under Atlantic Ocean… Dreams, of course, that’s all, but there would be a bridge… We ended up driving a lot or a little, I don’t dare to say, it’s enough for the first time, it’s a pity that Miami and Atlantic City fell out of the original plan, well, what are our years, we want to come again.

But there was an opportunity to get into the Museum of Modern Art in New York - an impressive institution, I must say, one collection of paintings is worth something or halls with a photograph that you can walk around for hours. Yes, there are exhibits that are frankly incomprehensible and alien to common sense, where would we be without them, but on the whole the exposition is interesting and extremely informative, only I never found Cans of Campbell's soup there, perhaps I overlooked it, or maybe they were not there, although they should have been maybe I didn’t understand, I looked at the portrait of Marilyn Monroe by the same Warhol as a consolation. There is a lot of beautiful designer furniture, there is an excellent hall dedicated to architecture and design in construction, I appreciated it with a professional look, everything is very worthy.

By the way, during our stay, a very interesting parade took place in the city, I would even say a whole carnival. For several days, the entire Fifth Avenue was blocked for traffic and people were walking along it, as far as we could understand, representatives of various communities of the city, all kinds of schools, municipalities, and so on. The spectacle is fantastic, it was not necessary to see so many people united in a single impulse.

It's nice to see that people can be so proud of the country they live in. The rest of the time in wonderful New York was spent on a little shopping and buying regular souvenirs. On the last evening, we walked around Times Square - fantastic, of course, though there could be fewer people, and how to explain to Americans that it’s not worth walking in such a crowd with one-year-old kids in strollers, it’s very dangerous, children can simply be crushed, plus in such crowds you can It's easy to get lost, and it's really uncomfortable to walk, unfortunately.

And yet, Times Square is one of the most stunning places on earth that I have ever seen, and New York ... I can’t even convey all the storm of emotions that boil in me after visiting this city admiring its magnificence. I can only say that I put it on a par with my beloved Rome, the pearl of the Mediterranean. Yes, it is impossible to compare Rome and New York, how difficult it is to draw parallels between America and Italy in general, but on my personal pedestal best cities a new star appeared in the world, and although it did not shift Rome to the second stage, it is difficult to defeat the love for Italy in me, but New York made the capital move slightly ancient civilization, for which many thanks to him, there is nothing better than to learn new things, and even more so such a great new one. Well, Big Apple, we are leaving you, but something tells me that I will come back here and maybe more than once.

God bless as they say and God bless America, she deserves it.

A little bit of emotions and what do we think about it.

So what is it, America? Of course, this is a great country, perhaps the greatest on the planet, but first of all, it is a great people, citizens of the United States of America, taxpayers, those on whom the future of the state in which they all live fully depends. It’s hard for me to judge America as a country of opportunity, about the realities of realizing the notorious “American Dream” or something like that, we were there as tourists, we weren’t going to stay, we didn’t try to earn money, in other words, we didn’t try to live. I think, of course, there are difficulties there, perhaps not even peculiar to us, only those who live there can judge this, though for the entire trip and even before it, if you had to communicate with people whose friends or relatives live in the USA, never from one person I did not hear the desire to return to their homeland, and if such cases do occur, then this is more an exception than a rule.

The main thing that catches your eye is almost perfect cleanliness everywhere on the roads, clean roadsides, mowed lawns around. I already wrote, we drove through different America, and glamorous Manhattan and the most beautiful Niagara Falls and relatively provincial Atlanta, the same state of Kentucky or the Florida outback. The main feeling in any place is pride in one's country, for the right to be called a Citizen of the United States of America. The number of flags is huge everywhere, they are put in the yards, hung on the balconies of houses, glued to cars, on license plates, people are thoroughly saturated with patriotism, they are incredibly cultured, very friendly, and even if they don’t really care how I’m doing, looking at that as they ask it, you always want to answer.

I haven't seen one simple yet so important thing in Russia for a very long time — I haven't seen smiling people. Nowhere at all, neither in cafes, nor on the streets, nor in cars, have we forgotten how to rejoice in the fact that we live, but the Americans do not, they are like children rejoicing at the plastic shark that swims up on them, which in our compatriots causes only a feeling of disgust and desire go away, close inside your own little world and so that no one tries to get out of there. And tell me again that I'm wrong, a tourist (I emphasize, it's a tourist and it was on a ticket who came through a travel agency) from Russia that can be seen a mile away in any country in the world and, alas, not from the best side. I do not want to offend anyone, again, my personal opinion, though based on the facts I have seen. A Russian person does not feel free, unfortunately, and this is the main difference between us and them, and this is the misfortune of our people and our country, and the main misfortune, I think, and from it the disorder and so on ...

Well, I digress. Did we like America? Of course yes, one hundred percent, and this vacation was perhaps one of the most interesting in recent years, definitely the most informative. I am happy that there are such countries and God forbid there will be only more of them, I am glad that we have the opportunity to travel and explore the world, and definitely the best part of it. Would I personally like to live in America? A very difficult question. It was sad to fly away from there, on the other hand, having a two-year visa allows you to return there if you wish, there would be time and opportunity. Go live there? At this stage, it is unlikely that there are still enough worries and work in the homeland, and living here is, of course, more familiar and understandable for a Russian person. Although I certainly do not blame people who move here.

To strive for the best is a completely natural human instinct. And why, after all, they killed normal healthy patriotism in us, the desire to develop and develop our country, it is not clear why and who needed it. And it's easy to be proud of America, you go to any rest area (Rest Area) on any interstate, go to the toilet - and bursting with pride - I have not seen such cleanliness anywhere, except perhaps in Germany with its autobahns, but the Germans are generally a different story. Clean, cultured, cola machines, sandwich machines and no attendants, of course there are cameras, the police pass sometimes, but with a huge number of cars, nothing is broken or stolen.

And now we are switching to the newest Russian highway M-4 DON, which has been expanding with pomp for several years, even up to two lanes in each direction, thank you for that, are there toll sections? Yes. How much are? Enough to make some citizens billionaires very quickly. What about the road infrastructure? This is also the problem, which we are not yet able to solve. In general, I think I came up with such a theory that the State begins with a public toilet, this is the form of a public toilet, especially in a busy place and when it is free, such is the state of the state and the people living in it. So the conclusion suggests itself disappointing for the umpteenth time, where are we still, and where are they already and how long are we before them, the question is open, I think my life will not be enough. No, I am not afraid for myself and for my parents too, we will live our centuries and perhaps even within this country, but for the future of my children, who have not yet been born, I am of course worried, because our homeland is also unpredictable, which is even more makes you think about going abroad, not necessarily to the states.

And one more, this time the last argument, how many Russians have left the country over the past five years? And how many Americans came to live with us? Here is the answer to any question about what is America and what is Russia. Nevertheless, I urge you not to despair and not to run headlong, but I urge you to sit down and think, go outside and try to smile, hold the door at the entrance to the store to the girl walking behind, apologize when you were pushed, stand in line, and not squeeze through your heads everyone, and there is so much more that can be done. You need to start small, start with yourself, think about why abroad you throw a bottle in the trash, but at home you throw it on the road, why you smile at a foreigner, and come into conflict with a compatriot, do not hide behind masks, do not be outcasts, believe , dream, try to work in the end. And put a small tricolor in the organizer at work to remember that after all we are a great nation, we live in a great country and only we have to change something in it, that we can and simply must live no worse than people in developed countries, overcome servility in yourself and become better, more honest with yourself, with your country, with those who are nearby, there are many of us, we are able to change history, even if not immediately, even if more than one generation will pass, but I dream that my children carry their a passport with a double-headed eagle with the same pride with which US citizens carry their Stars and Stripes passport. Otherwise, I'm afraid they, and I'm closer to retirement, will raise the Stars and Stripes on the Ohio ranch in the morning and sing a different anthem in a different language, and if they ask me why, I will answer that I did my best, but they left me no choice, I didn’t leave the Motherland, but she left me ...

And at my work, I will put my native tricolor and the star-striped dream in the organizer so that I always know what to strive for. The plane flies up, I will round off, sorry if the last part came out not very constructive, but it is from the bottom of my heart. I hope I was able to tell you enough about the East Coast of the USA that you want to visit it, if my story is useful to someone, this is the main happiness for me. If we have enough time and opportunity in the winter, in about three months I will write a similar story along the West Coast of the United States.

Often, tourists traveling around the United States choose cities and interesting places along the coast of the country - East or West - as their route. About the ways you can move around the USA (airplanes, trains, buses, car rental and car routes), we wrote here: . Today we will talk about interesting places which are definitely worth your visit on the East Coast of the USA.

Do not forget that this region is the cradle of American culture, because it was here that the first colonies of migrants arose, which later became the first to gain independence from Great Britain. In our today's article - cosmopolitan and diverse New York, classic Boston, Philadelphia filled with history, cheerful Orlando and its famous amusement parks, beach Miami and not at all a beach, but insanely interesting Florida state reserve - the Everglades, and finally, the island resort of Key West - all this is the main backbone of the attractions of the East Coast of the United States.

Landmarks of New York

Read information on how to fly to New York on a budget here: New York is administratively divided into 5 districts: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island. Each of the districts is colorful in its own way, and each has something to see. For example, in the Bronx there is a famous zoo, one of the largest in the United States, in Brooklyn - the famous Brooklyn Bridge, where you can walk (the presence of a pedestrian zone), or you can watch from the shore how it is filled with the magic of light in the evenings.

People come to Staten Island to admire the views of Manhattan from the opposite shore, but you can admire it directly from the famous ferry, the views become especially impressive in the evening. Of course, the Manhattan area is the most dense in terms of the number of attractions in New York per square meter; financial and business centers, museums, art galleries, churches, parks and much more are concentrated here. How to get around the city public transport can be found here: . Well, we will list 3 reasons why you should definitely go to New York.

1. Skyscrapers of New York

Skyscrapers in New York are considered to be calling card cities. The World Trade Center is considered the most tall building not only in the largest apple, but throughout the western hemisphere. The height of its towers is 417 meters, the opening took place in November 2014. The observation deck of the center is open 7 days a week and offers stunning views of the financial part of the city. Tickets for the observation deck can be purchased online, the ticket price starts from $32, for an evening visit you will have to pay 2 times more - $59.

Another postcard skyscraper in New York is the Empire State Building. Built in the Art Deco style and located in the heart of a large apple, the building is considered to be America's most famous skyscraper. Opening hours from 8 am to 2 am. There are as many as 2 observation decks in the building - the main one on the 86th floor and the observation deck on the top of the tower on the 102nd floor! The issue price starts at $32.

Clue: and although it is believed that the Empire State Building observation deck offers the most stunning views, few people know that the nearby Rockefeller Tower has a Top of the Rock observation deck, which offers the same views + a view of the Empire State Building itself, therefore experienced tourists tend to get to the observation deck of the Rockefeller Center. Plus, Top of the Rock has a 360-degree view! Ticket prices also start at $32. In addition to the ticket to the observation deck, you can purchase a combo ticket, which will take you on a tour of the entire building of the center.

Jerry Ferguson/flickr

2. Museums of New York

Despite the fact that Europe with its Louvre, the Hermitage and other world-famous museums is considered to be the cradle of art, it would be a mistake to assume that there are no exhibits worthy of attention in the museums of New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has more than 2 million famous works in its collection. Mentions of artists such as Wag Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, Rembrandt already give an idea of ​​the scale of this New York museum. A pleasant surprise of the museum is its conditionally free admission.

What does shareware mean? This means that you can pay the recommended fee of $25, but this fee is not mandatory, you can pay as much as you see fit, or you can get a free admission stamp. The museum is open 7 days a week, on weekdays until 17.30, on weekends until 9 pm. The American Museum of Natural History is world famous for its life-size exhibits of ancient animals and early humans. Especially popular among tourists is the wing with exhibits of dinosaurs. No less popular is the suspended exhibit of the blue whale. The museum has a planetarium, imax theater and other tourist attractions. The museum is open daily from 10.00 to 17.45. The asking price is $22.

If you are a fan of modern installations, then you should visit the MoMa Museum. The Museum of Modern Art in New York (namely, as it stands for English MoMA) presents compositions by Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Warhol, Kahlo and many others. The museum is open until 17.30, on Fridays - until 20.00. The entrance fee is $25. Clue: Friday evening from 16.00 to 20.00 admission is free.

Another museum of modern art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum impresses both with its expositions of Chagall, Kandinsky, Picasso and Van Gogh, and with its cylindrical interiors. A walk through such a museum will definitely not become a formality. Museum opening hours: 10.00-17.45. The recommended entry fee is $25.

Sharon Mollerus/flickr

3. Statue of Liberty in New York

The Statue of Liberty is, without exaggeration, the most recognizable landmark in New York and the United States. The statue once donated by the French is located on the island of Liberty. To get to the crown of the Statue of Liberty in New York, you need to go through no less than 356 steps. You can get to the statue itself on a shuttle ferry. The ferry departs from Battery Park (Lower Manhattan) and Liberty State Park (New Jersey).

There is also a Freedom Museum on Liberty Island, and on neighboring island Ellis - Museum of Immigration. A visit to these museums is more suitable for those who are interested in the history of the emergence of the United States. Tickets are recommended to be purchased in advance on the official website, because. high risk of long queues. There is another option to admire the New York Statue of Liberty from a fairly close distance - take a ferry ride on the Manhattan - Staten Island route. It will cost you nothing, because. the passage is free, but the views of the bay, the area of ​​​​skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty will open up simply unique.

A. Strakey/flickr

When completing the mandatory program, do not forget to just walk a lot through the streets and parks, go to cozy cafes, listen to street musicians, watch the residents of the never-sleeping metropolis in a hurry and enjoy all this turmoil around, because such a pleasant fuss and striving forward into the future may no longer exist. no other city in the world. And if you are wondering what to do in New York on Christmas Eve, then we have a few ideas on this subject in the article: Find out more about the availability and cost of living in hotels in New York for specific dates on the booking site Booking.com.

Boston Attractions

One of oldest cities The USA was founded in 1630 on the coast of Massachusetts Bay. Today, Boston is part of the so-called "New England" region and is its largest city, with a population of almost 6 million people, including suburbs. How to characterize Boston? Americans themselves often joke: "In New York they will ask you how much money you have, in Philadelphia - who your ancestors are, and here in Boston - how much do you know." This capacious statement, probably, can characterize a city in which the main emphasis was placed on knowledge.

Boston can be called a city of students, about 250 thousand people become students here every year, and this is not surprising, all in the vicinity of the city there are such world-famous institutions of higher education as Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University and College. Even if you did not come here to study, then just walking, breathing the sea air, is also pleasant here. A walk along the bay or in the numerous parks of the city (and Boston is a very green city) will bring you many wonderful moments. So, there are at least 3 reasons not to pass by this wonderful maritime city on your journey through the East of America.

1.Boston maritime

Since the city is located on the shores of the bay, it is not surprising that many of the activities here are related to water. One of the most memorable excursions can be a boat trip to the places where whales and dolphins live. Such excursions are carried out almost all year round except for days when weather do not allow access to the water. Boats depart from Boston Harbor, the walk lasts about 3 hours. During the trip, you are almost guaranteed to be able to admire the life of mammals under the guide's story. Boats conduct excursions about 5 times a day, it is better to check the exact schedule on the official website. The cost of an adult ticket is $ 29, it is possible to purchase online on the official website.

Nautical lovers can continue their acquaintance with the history of the United States on the combat sailboat "Constitution". This sailboat is neither more nor less than 200 years old. The sailboat has long been laid up in Boston Harbor, but has not yet been decommissioned. Today, the sailing ship has turned into a museum, and the crew members have become guides who are happy to talk about the battles in which the ship took part. The museum is open daily from 9.00 to 18.00. Admission is free, but you can leave a donation. Brewster Island, located in Boston Bay, is home to the oldest lighthouse in the United States. You can either just walk around the island or climb the lighthouse during the tour.

There is also an oceanarium on the Boston waterfront, this option is more suitable for those who do not like to be in direct contact with water, but would like to admire underwater world bay. In the aquarium you can watch the life of sea lions and seals, penguins, exotic jellyfish and turtles. Also here is a large collection of fish, incl. sharks A ticket for an adult costs 27 dollars, for children - 18. The aquarium is open from 09.00 to 18.00.

Vladislav Bezrukov/flickr

2.Boston park

The first urban park in the United States is the Boston Common in Boston. oldest park inferior in size to its fellow Central Park in New York, but surpasses it in age. The park spreads along the financial street Freedom Trail, diluting the skyscrapers with its magnificent view. The park is especially beautiful in autumn, when the trees are painted in unusual colors. In winter, a skating rink is equipped here, and vocal festivals are held in summer. The first subway station in the United States, Park Street Station, is also located here.

After walking through the park, you can continue your walk through the Boston Public Garden. An artificial lake is located here, on the water surface of which swans and ducks importantly swim. Here in the garden there is a monument to little ducklings crossing the road, as well as a dozen other larger monuments. Native Bostonians often rest here.

The Freedom Trail originates from the Boston Common. The trail stretches for 4 km. Walking along it, you can learn about all the significant buildings of the city associated with the struggle for independence. The trail runs through the central part of the city and ends at the sailboat "Constitution" on the waterfront of Massachusetts Bay. Often along the Freedom Trail are held excursion tours, however, you are free to choose whether you want to join a group or walk these 4 significant kilometers for the city on foot.

Jeff Gunn/flickr

3.Boston Scientific

There are neither more nor less than 100 institutions of higher education in the city, incl. such famous ones as Harvard or Massachusetts Institute of Technology. To feed on new ideas, you just need to go on excursions to these scientific places. Tours are conducted in groups, but you can walk alone, accompanied by an audio guide. Harvard is located in the Boston suburb of Cambridge. Getting there is simple - using the subway to the Harvard Square stop. On the territory of 85 hectares, in addition to the university buildings themselves, there is a library, an astronomical observatory, laboratories, a book publishing house, a botanical garden and as many as 7 (!) Museums.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is also located in the suburbs of Cambridge. Lincoln Laboratory is located on the campus of the university. artificial intelligence, Media Lab, Simmons Hall, and Kresz Auditorium. The territory of the suburbs of Cambridge is not only a campus, hundreds of tourists come here every day to see the famous educational institutions. The atmosphere of openness and democracy is conducive to this.

YuefengD/flickr

Boston - at the same time historical city, and modern. Here a rich history and new technological approaches are combined, traditional architecture and impressive skyscrapers coexist here, here it is not money or pedigree that comes to the fore, but, above all, knowledge. It is a must to come here, the city has its own soul, unlike any noisy New York, or cold steel Chicago, or any other city in the world. You can find out more about the availability and cost of living in Boston hotels for specific dates on the booking site Booking.com.

Attractions in Philadelphia

Philadelphia - oldest city United States, located on the East Coast, rich history formation of statehood in the country and numerous cultural attractions. The city was founded in 1682. It is worth going here in order to understand how much their history means to Americans, because the main historical sights involved in the formation of the country's statehood are concentrated here, for example, Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were adopted at one time. Philadelphia also treasures the Liberty Bell, which once heralded the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The Hall of Congress is also located here, where the Bill of Rights was signed. All these historical values ​​are very important to Americans, so it is not surprising that they are so careful about their storage. Philadelphia can rightly be called the cradle of American independence. In addition to political history, tourists will be interested to get acquainted with the glorious maritime history of the city and modern architecture Downtown, but first things first.

1. Philadelphia historical

The historical part of the city consists of narrow, quiet, well-groomed streets with low-rise brick buildings. Despite the apparent provinciality of the area, it is fraught with the power of history, because Philadelphia is one of the first US cities that rebelled against British colonization, it is not surprising that this particular city became the site of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. It is not surprising that Independence Hall, in which documents so dear to the heart of Americans were adopted, is included in the list world heritage UNESCO. And today the place is popular among tourists, the attraction is open daily from 09.00 to 17.00.

Before you enter the building, you will have to go through a serious security check, which can take up to half an hour, so it is recommended to arrive early. The excursions themselves are conducted only in organized groups. Entrance tickets are free. The only fee that you may be required to pay is one and a half dollars for an advance reservation of a place on an excursion, because. The number of tickets is limited, and there are always plenty of people who want to.

In addition to Independence Hall, there are many other architectural attractions in the historic part of the city, such as the First and Second Banks of the United States, the customs and exchange buildings, Christ Church, the house of Betsy Ross (they say that it was she who invented the first American flag), the monument to J. Washington, here is also popular among local residents Girard Fountain Park.

Michael Righi/flickr

2. Glorious naval victories of Philadelphia

On the waterfront of the Delaware River, you can find many interesting things related to the city's maritime history. It is believed that it was in the town of Penns Landing that the founding father of the city, William Penn, once landed. There is also a museum of maritime military glory, where you can see the cruiser Olympia and the Bekun submarine. The Independence Seaport Museum is open daily from 10.00 to 17.00. Entrance ticket for adults - $15. The battleship New Jersey, located on the other side of the river, is also open to the public. This battleship is one of the few surviving armored ships.

Kevin Burkett/flickr

3. Futurism of the Downtown area

Philadelphia is a major American financial center, it is not surprising that such a large downtown business district is located here. The tallest building in Philadelphia is considered the Comcast Center, its height is 297 meters (that's 58 floors). Inside the building, tourists are interested in the winter garden and the huge LED screen located in it, broadcasting panoramic views of Philadelphia. Another outstanding architectural structure is the One Liberty Place building. Here it is viewpoint from the 57th floor of the building. You can buy tickets to the observation deck online, the cost of an adult ticket is $19.

There are several other observation decks in the city, for example, City Hall Tower Observation Deck, which offers a 360-degree view of the city, or Top of the Tower, located in Three Logan Square, in the fifth tallest skyscraper in the city. The observation deck is located on the 50th floor, but the cost of tickets is quite high - $ 50 for an adult, but this price includes the opportunity to have breakfast at the buffet and get a cocktail.

Dominic Lacivita/flickr

Dominic Lacivita/flickr

Why go to Philadelphia? Then, to see for yourself how strong the spirit of patriotism is in America, to see how eternal values ​​are carefully preserved, to plunge into the traditions and values ​​of American society, at least for a short time. And of course, Philadelphia will delight you with the weather, sea air, beautiful architecture, both classical and futuristic.

No wonder they say it's always sunny in Philadelphia. There is a reason to check it out for yourself, and then go south to the realm of fun, entertainment, beaches and relaxation. Ahead on the course is Orlando with the world-famous Disney Park and the year-round resort city of Miami, from which it is easy to get to the beloved American vacation island - Key West. You can find out more about the availability and cost of living in Philadelphia hotels for specific dates on the booking site Booking.com.

Attractions Orlando

Orlando is the capital of the world in terms of the number of entertainment events and theme parks per square meter. The famous Disney World is located here, as well as Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld, GatorLand, Holy Land Experience and Wet and Wild parks. Millions of tourists come here every year with their children to fulfill their dream (and theirs too). Moreover, Orlando is the center of attraction not only foreign tourists, domestic tourism is very developed here. Every middle-income American family strives to take their children to this childhood holiday at least once in their life. Why go to Orlando? The answer is quite obvious: to at least briefly return to childhood. But what exactly to expect from theme parks, we will now tell.

1.Disney park

Disney Park consists of 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, numerous hotels, shops, cafes and restaurants. All these entertainments are located on 100 square kilometers! The entertainment center is located not in Orlando itself, but 34 km from it, in the town of Lake Buena Vista. At Disney Park, you can visit the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Park, Disney Hollywood Studios, and the Animal Kingdom. In the Magic Kingdom theme park, perhaps, the largest number of attractions, here is the very Cinderella Palace, which we used to see on most postcards dedicated to Disney fairy tales, here you can take a short river cruise and ride a real railway.

Each attraction is dedicated to a fairy tale: The Little Mermaid, Tom Sawyer, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and many, many other heroes of fairy tales. Numerous shows are also held here throughout the day, incl. the famous parade of cartoon characters (at 3 pm), and in the evening a real fireworks celebration begins. On the official website of the Disney Park, you can clarify what kind of entertainment, at what time, so as not to miss the main thing.

Epcot is a territory of scientific research and experimentation, it is here that children can not only have fun, but also try something new and learn something new. A learning lab, an imaginary room, an innovation room, space adventures, all sorts of future projects, test tracks and much more will suit curious children and adults. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, visitors can plunge into the magical world of creating movies, cartoons and their characters. All sorts of tours are provided here, telling about the creation of a particular film or fairy tale.

Well, in the Disney Park Animal Kingdom you will find yourself in a huge thematic zoo, where you can see with your own eyes the animals that became the prototypes of the heroes of fairy tales and cartoons. You can also plunge into the world of dinosaurs during a special tour, explore the island on a time train. Now a little about the prosaic. Visiting Disney Park is not cheap. A one-day ticket for an adult will cost $105, for a child under 10 years old - $99. This ticket only allows you to visit the Magic Kingdom. To visit one more of the theme parks in one day, you will have to pay an additional $ 97. You can take tickets for 2,3,4,5-10 days, for each day you need to pay a little less than 100 dollars.

To get into the water parks, you need to pay an extra $64. You can buy tickets with the necessary options directly on the site. Magic Kingdom is open from 9 am to 7 pm, Epcot Future Park until 9 pm, Hollywood Studios until 7 pm, Animal Park until 6 pm, Water Parks until 5 pm. If you plan to stay in the park for a few days, you can stay in numerous hotels, the cheapest room starts from $98. There are also many restaurants and cafes here, prices for obvious reasons can be somewhat overpriced. Despite the high cost of local entertainment, such an experience can become the main memorable event in the life of a child.

JeffChristiansen/flickr

2. SeaWorld Orlando Water Amusement Park

SeaWorld Orlando is both a water amusement park and a large aquarium where children and adults can get acquainted with the life of marine life. Caribbean. In the amusement park, you can experience hitherto unknown sensations on the crazy water rides Manta, Kraken and Journey to Atlantis. Also, all kinds of water shows are regularly held here, in which dolphins, killer whales, fur seals are involved, the Christmas show is especially memorable.

Perhaps, this park is also good because here you can communicate with marine life up close - there are special tours that include communication with dolphins, beluga, penguins, fur seals and other mammals. In the aquarium you can get acquainted with the life of turtles, dolphins, sharks, penguins, as well as see very tiny inhabitants of coral reefs. The park is open daily from 9 am to 5:30 pm. Entry fees start at $70 on weekdays and $87 on weekends.

It is possible to purchase combo tickets for which you can combine visits to several parks. You can also buy a single ticket for food inside the park. A full-day ticket for children will cost about $ 20, for an adult - $ 35. Tickets for the show of your choice are also paid extra. Tickets can be bought online on the website, or at the ticket kiosk at the entrance.

Jeremy Thompson/flickr

Another theme park - Universal Studios Florida - is dedicated to the American film industry. In the park there is an opportunity to be on the "shooting" of your favorite films, to play the role of a cameraman, director or even an actor! For fans of the Potter series, a whole separate platform and there's even the famous Hogwarts Express! In addition, here you can become a hero of the Simpsons family, or a member of Transformers and Terminator, Men in Black or Shrek. Each themed area has a variety of attractions for both children and teenagers. During the day, several shows are held in the park, incl. parade of favorite cartoon characters - SpongeBob, Minions, Despicable Me, Dora, Agnes, Gru, Margo and many others.

There is so much entertainment here that tourists often come here for more than one day, since there is an opportunity to rent a hotel, dine in a restaurant, go to the store, in general, all the necessary infrastructure is organized here. A one day ticket will cost $147 for adults and $142 for children, a ticket for 2 days will be $98 per day, a ticket for 3 days will be $69 per day, a ticket for 4 days will be $54, such a progressive price scale . By the way, with such a complex ticket you can visit not only Universal Studios Florida, but also the Universal Islands of Adventure theme park. If you want to visit only one thing, then the price of a ticket for 1 day will cost $102. You can buy tickets on the official website.

Jeremy Thompson/flickr

Orlando is not just a concentration of amusement parks, it is a whole world created by man for man. Finding yourself in such a fabulous place will be interesting not only for a child, but also for an adult, which is why travelers so often include this item - the point of visiting Orlando - on their Must See list in the USA. You can find out more about the availability and cost of living in Orlando hotels for specific dates on the booking site Booking.com.

Attractions Miami

Miami for tourists is traditionally associated with beaches and recreation, this city is often called a resort city. And although tourism occupies a significant share of the region's economy, Miami is still one of the important financial centers USA, science, industry, international trade, real estate and even the music industry are also developed here. Miami is divided into several large areas, and in order to better navigate this large agglomeration, you need to know that the South part is historical residential areas, the West part is mainly migrant neighborhoods, the North and East parts are elite high-rise areas, then how financial and business circles are located in the center of the city. Famous south beach Miami is located in the Biscayne Bay area, in the central part of the city.

Miami itself is located between the bay and the Everglades wetlands, which is now declared a protected area, the so-called National Park, and deserves special attention and a visit. The climate of Florida makes the nearby Gulf Stream so mild, and if you wish, you can swim here all year round. They go to Miami the best beaches country, for exploring the mysterious Everglades and for a rich culture that mixes traditions of indigenous peoples, Hispanics and ethnic majority.

1.Miami Beaches

All Miami beaches are well-equipped from changing cabins to lifeguards at special rescue beacons, just like in the Baywatch series. Numerous training centers located right on the beach promise to teach you how to stand on a board, snorkel or scuba diving, as well as play any beach games from badminton to volleyball. In the same areas, various events and festivals are held annually, attracting a huge number of tourists: wine and food festivals, Miami Automotive Fashion Weeks, sports events and much more. Whatever you say, Miami beaches are good at any time of the year.

alex de carvalho/flickr

2.Culture of Miami

Curious in terms of culture Miami Overtown. The Lyric Theater is organized here, the so-called little Broadway in the local way. Most often, African-American artists perform here, because. historically, it is an area of ​​emigrants from Africa. Eretha Franklin herself once performed here. In the neighborhood of the theater, various art projects, song festivals, farm exhibitions and many other interesting things are held. There are also such ethnic areas in the city as Little Havana and Little Tahiti. These areas are the centers of ethnic culture of the city.

Tourists can get to know Latin American culture closer, because. there are centers for studying the culture and history of nationalities, art galleries, book and music shops, monuments to the heroes of the past and present, not to mention numerous cozy restaurants serving ethnic food. These 3 districts are truly colorful, but at the same time they are friendly and open to tourists and everyone who is interested.

Pietro Valocchi/flickr

3. Everglades Reserve

The Everglades National Park is made up of three main climate zones: rainforests, swamps, and the mangroves of the Gulf of Mexico. Rare species of plants and animals are found in the region: cypresses, Spanish mosses, cladium (saw grass), pelicans, manatees, cougars, and deeper into the prairie - huge turtles, alligators and even sharks, often swimming on the shallows. The park offers a huge amount of entertainment and ways to explore the region for tourists: here you can ride a boat, bus, kayak, you can go on a hiking tour to see rare birds, or you can go fishing. Most tours are conducted with experienced guides, and there is a reason for this, given how rare and dangerous animals and plants are found in the depths of the park.

At the entrance to the park there is a tourist center with all the necessary information, maps, audio guides and travel guides. The Everglades is an hour's drive from Miami itself and is the third largest National Park in the United States. Visiting such a biologically diverse place will be a special highlight of your trip along the East coast of the country. You can find out about this and other US National Parks here: Find out more about the availability and cost of living in Miami hotels for specific dates on the booking site Booking.com.

Carolyn Sugg/flickr

Attractions Key West

Key West is considered American for a reason tropical paradise. The air temperature here never gives out negative indicators here, but all because it is the southernmost city of the south island USA. The archipelago is connected to the mainland by a bridge 11 km away, so you can also get here by car. Key West is a small island - only 3 by 6 km, so it will not be difficult to go around it either. Despite its compact size, Key West may surprise you and not only great beaches, but also eclectic Caribbean-American architecture (be sure to look into the house of E. Hemingway, where he lived for 8 years), absolutely unimaginable water attractions and entertainment (starting from a jet ski, parasailing, kayaking and ending with a yacht tour), its stunning sunsets (the island famous for them all over the world, many prefer to go on an evening cruise to enjoy the sunset from the sea).

Of the interesting things worth visiting in Key West, one can single out the Butterfly Observatory, where rare tropical species of these insects are collected. A visit to this place can be interesting for both adults and children. Entrance ticket - $ 12, the observatory is open daily from 9.00 to 17.30. There is also an aquarium in Key West with tropical inhabitants such as alligators, turtles, sharks, different types fish Atlantic coast, jellyfish, starfish. The aquarium is open daily from 10.00 to 18.00. The cost of tickets for adults is 13.54, for children - 7.73 (this is if you buy tickets online on the site), at the entrance to the aquarium it will be somewhat more expensive. Adult tourists interested in the history of the United States may be interested in visiting the tour in the "little white house" of F. Roosevelt. Different tours are held on different days, so it is better to familiarize yourself with the schedule in advance on the official website.

Ed Schipul/flickr

Traveling along the East Coast of the United States, you will understand how diverse America is, how many features of different peoples are combined in it, you will see the contrasts of the north and south, which are still strong.

And if you have already done a similar route along the East Coast of the United States, then advise us to add or change it?

As always,

Practical and eventful travels for you!

East coast of the United States of America(also East Coast or East Coast; English east coast; English Eastern Seabord) - historical and geographical region of the United States, coverage. eastern states with access to the Atlantic Ocean, from the border with Canada in the north to the peninsula of Florida in the south. The lowlands along the shores of the ocean and its numerous bays and river estuaries gradually narrow as you move north. From the west, the region is bordered by the Appalachian Mountains.

Story

This area, especially the state of Virginia, is the cradle of American culture in its modern Anglo-Saxon sense. The northern half of this area, where the first 13 colonies emerged that gained independence from Great Britain in 1783, most often constitutes the East Coast proper. For clarification, the term Northeastern United States is used, in which New England stands out. The southern half of this area, inhabited and developed already in our time (XIX-XX centuries), can be attributed both to the South of the USA (Florida) and to the Southeast of Georgia, Carolina). Some time before this, unsuccessful attempts to colonize this territory were made by Spain and France.

Cities

Major East Coast Cities: Boston, Portland, Providence, Hartford, New York, Newark, Buffalo, Albany, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Richmond, Norfolk, Raleigh, Charlotte, Columbia, Charleston, Atlanta, Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami. The population of this area, stretching from Maine to Florida, comp. approximately 111,508,688 people according to comp. as of 2008 (about 36% of the country's total population). The coast is also hit by tropical hurricanes during the annual Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30).

Source: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_coast_USA

Fort Lauderdale, USA from
303 €

The city of Fort Lauderdale with a population of 186,000 is located in the US state of Florida. Due to its large number of canals, Fort Lauderdale is often referred to as the Venice of America. The city became famous in the 1970s, when students came here en masse to celebrate spring break. They were later replaced by vacationers traveling on cruise ships. In addition to beautiful beaches and museums, Fort Lauderdale offers a huge flea market and the world's largest car theater with 13 screens.

New York, USA from
499 €

New York is one of the largest and busiest cities in the world. Many different nationalities and cultures live side by side in this stunning city on the Hudson River. The most famous and popular sights of the city are: Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Broadway, central park and the Statue of Liberty. Amazing museums and parks, panoramic views, gardens and stone jungle await you. It is worth visiting the unusual restaurants and bars of the city, as well as heading to Coney Island.

Key West (Florida), USA from
252 €

The city of Key West is located on the island of the same name, the westernmost in the Florida Keys archipelago. Tourists are attracted here, first of all, by the azure sea and white sandy beaches. Fans of snorkeling and diving should definitely visit the underwater snorkeling park. Mallory Square and Duval Walking Street are lined with shops and restaurants, the latter of which is a must-try Key Lime Pie with its unique taste of sweet lime. Fans of a more relaxing pastime will be able to ride around the city on a resort train.

Boston, USA from
522 €

Boston lies on east coast United States and belongs to the oldest and most culturally rich cities in the country. Along with historically important sights, you can also admire the architectural structures, as well as the fabulous landscape around Boston. The two most important attractions are: the Freedom Trail and the National Historical Park with monuments and buildings. You will be enchanted by the Little Italy district and the city garden, the ancient university and the narrow streets of the old part of the city will impress you.

Bar Harbor, USA from
499 €

Bar Harbor is located in Maine and was considered in the 19th century, with its Victorian manor houses, the summer residence of high society. Today, the port city is popular thanks to the Acadia National Park. A visit to the National Park will remain an unforgettable and intense experience. You can go cycling, hiking, horseback riding and admiring the seascape. From the cliffs there is a beautiful view of the amazing Bar Harbor.

Port Canaveral, USA from
256 €

Huge and modern cruise port, from where millions of tourists annually go on cruises to caribbean or come here along the route. Florida is famous for its amusement parks and great weather, while Port Canaveral is also famous for launching satellites and cargo space rockets. NASA built a real rocket station here. You can visit the Space Center with a museum, a park and a cinema. Along with this, you will find wonderful nature, many beaches, a lighthouse and numerous amusement parks in the vicinity.

Portland (Maine), USA from
499 €

Portland is located in the US state of Maine, known for its old harbor and numerous lighthouses, the most famous of which is Portland Head Light. Especially fans of art will be happy to stay here: the museum of art exhibits works of the Impressionist era and modern works. On the streets of the city and in its environs, you can admire the mansions of the 18th-19th centuries, be sure to try the famous local cuisine and visit one of the festivals. The famous writer Stephen King was born in Portland.

Newport, USA from
499 €

Newport is located in Rhode Island and is considered the sailing capital of the East Coast. rich architectural history is reflected in the narrow streets and colonial houses. It is worth seeing the magnificent villas at Beechwood and Rosecliff. Along the 16 km ocean road Drive, passing through Bellevue Avenue, you will see very interesting summer houses. beautiful coast, wonderful beaches, great restaurants and bustling city center life make this place amazing tourist destination and a favorite vacation spot for Americans.

Cape Liberty, New Jersey, USA from
664 €

One of New York's three cruise ports, Cape Liberty is located in Bayonne, New Jersey. Being a large suburb of New York, people settle here for a more calm and measured life, and tourists first of all go to see the main attractions of the Big Apple. If you manage to visit the cities of the state of New Jersey, then you are waiting for resort places, campuses and industrial centers, beautiful parks and picturesque coast, nature reserve and numerous casinos - a state of contrasts and numerous attractions.

Tampa (Florida), USA from
274 €

On the west coast of Florida, the city of Tampa is a city with a variety of opportunities for recreation and entertainment. The city with two universities offers a vibrant nightlife and bright vacations. Attractions such as the Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens, the zoo, and the Museum of Science and Industry attract many tourists every year. Good weather awaits you developed infrastructure, many restaurants, eateries and cafes, amusement parks, a popular festival and various holidays.

Charleston, USA from
324 €

There are many old estates in the city with large gardens that create that charming flair. southern city old times. The city has many cultural and historical attractions, as well as various festivals that annually attract a large number of tourists. In several museums of the city you can learn a lot about the history of the city. Particularly picturesque are the parks of Charleston: Waterfront Park and White Point Gardens. Here you can sunbathe on the beach, stroll through the old market and see the numerous churches.

Baltimore, USA from
531 €