Visiting the US- advice please!

I am thinking about coming to the US for a visit in a while. My plan is to start in New York, go to Florida by Amtrak stopping of at places on the way, then to see a friend in New Mexico, onto Monument Valley, then Las Vegas, to see a friend in California and finally San Francisco, I am spending my children's inheritance! At the moment it is just into the planning stages and I keep adding things to it. The latest is to see a basketball game or a football game, I know nothing about either and would appreciate some advice about going to watch a game. Also any advice that anyone thinks I might need for visiting places. Thankyou very much to anyone who takes the trouble to reply.

Hey Kay, what a wonderful trip idea you have! And while I could write a novel about all the places you could go and things you could see... you might want to start with a website or two, like tripadvisor.com.

they have all kinds of ratings of things to do in every destination possible here in the states. (and also places to stay, restaurants, etc.)

I am sure if you ask the 'friends' where you will be visiting - every area of the country has it's own favorite teams, and they will be able to hook you up with how and where to go to a game! They may even go with you if they are sports fans!!!

What fun! ENJOY your planning, and your trip!!!

If you are taking the Amtrak from New York to Florida, might I recommend at least a short layover in Washington DC. Union Station in DC is beautiful, has great shopping and if you walk out the front door of the station you can see the Capitol Building.

i took a train trip from connecticut to florida years ago.very good memories.it would be cool to see a little of each section.northeast,midwest,southeast,mountain,west,southwest,west coast,north west.i hope i mentioned everybody.what about baseball? i am sure your friends will have their opinions of favorite teams.ENJOY!!!

The best part of DC that most things are free!

I see everyone else has already mentioned DC the museums are amazing, even if museums sound horribly boring to you, those ones aren't. But if you have a chance to see Yosemite I cannot downplay how amazing that place is. San Francisco is wonderful, make sure to spend some time in Golden Gate Park, and they offer day tours out of San Francisco to the Napa Valley and North coast, which is definitely worth your time, it is a beautiful area. Try CityPass for New York, they have one pass that will give you tickets to a lof of the attractions for a low price.

San Francisco is very good for walking. I'd allot 4 days for walking all the various districts.

Oregon Coast in its entire length is a great place to slowly travel. (requires a car)

Portland is worth two days of walking its districts.

Seattle is called the emerald city, quite the experience to see, just take the ferry out of and then back in the evening.

From there the Ferry to Victoria, B.C. is terrific. And/or a ferry ride up to Alaska is an amazing trip.

Also you can't go wrong with a National Parks tour, so many great ones out West.

San Francisco and Portland have excellent public transportation, pretty much sucks everywhere else out West.

I live in San Francisco; drop me a private message if you'd like tips for while you're here. I'm in Vegas right now, and I also know this stupid city pretty well.

Football and basketball are seasonal. Football runs through the fall and early winter, and basketball is a winter game.

As a native to the SF area, here are my own experiences:

Places
1)Muir Woods is lovely! A great plus to it is the exercise. (Free on Sept.29)
2)Try the SF Exploratorium.Very fun although it might be a bit juvenile
4)If you don't get to see a lot of beaches, you should most definitely visit Baker Beach. Plenty of sand and a great view of the golden gate bridge although pretty chilly year-round.
5)Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39. It's very touristy so I don't like it much as a local, but I remember that I loved it the first time I went there so I figure visitors love it as well.

Food
1)Kiss Seafood: perfect sashimi. Very expensive, but the best fish I've tasted so far
2)Golden Gate Bakery: Very fattening (all Chinese bakeries are), but they have very good stuff, esp. their egg custard tarts. Just get one to try, I guess.
3)Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant: Chinese , vegetarian, and pretty darn good for vegetarian food.
4)Swan Oyster Depot : Great seafood, but you'll probably have to either stand or wait a while for a seat.

What month do you plan on getting here to SF? There are a lot of free/cheap events running through the summer into the fall that you might be able to attend. Just a while back, there was a fantastic color race, and in a bit SF City Hall is hosting free Rotunda performances.