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Velvetvandal v. America - the all-important dates!

17:38 / 06.07.03

Okay, now, as some of you colonial chaps on this here message board may or may not be aware, I'm bally well taking a little jaunt across the pond for a few days of jolly good fun at the end of July. Now, up until yesterday the dates for this venture have been nebulous, fuzzy little things, rather like an Ewok's testicles, but I can now confirm that the itinerary looks like this:

July 23rd/24th - Washington DC
July 25th/26th - Baltimore
July 27th - 29th - NYC

followed by me flying back to Dear Old Blighty on the evening of the 29th, and arriving in the morning of the 30th.

So: any of you stateside 'Lithers able to suggest what I should do to while away the time during this little trip? I'm obviously going to do the major tourist stuff - the Guggenheim, the Empire State - but can anyone suggest anything else? I'm thinking about little hidden treasures that most tourists never check out, things like that. So all suggestions welcome. A guide to some decent bars in NYC would probably be a good idea as well, and if anyone wants to invite me to sample the dubious pleasures of drinking in America with them, well, that would be okay too...But I need to warn you that I can talk an incredible amount of sheer nonsense when pissed.

20:30 / 06.07.03

No Philly?

Actually, I probably know Baltimore better than Philly, though not nearly as well as someone who actively lives there. The thing that I enjoyed most was the American Visionary Art Museum on the harbour - be sure to check that out. There are some decent bars and venues near Fells Point (though there are quite a lot of shit ones too) as well as the station where they shot Homicide: Life On The Streets, if you're interested. Fletcher's is quite a good one. The Aquarium's supposed to be very good, though I never actually went there. There's a very good Japanese/sushi place called Kawasaki that has two branches, but the best one is on Charles Street, along with several cool shops.

I don't know whether you have access to a car so I'm only talking about city centre things here. It's quite easy to get around the city on foot, but further afield you're in trouble. In any case, most of the good stuff is in the centre.

Pick up a copy of the City Paper (free) when you're there or check the website and it'll have listings etc. It's not bad for gigs, though obviously DC and NYC will be better.

I predict that it will be ridiculously hot. It is already on the east coast, I'm sitting here with the A/C on full, July's just going to be worse.

12:52 / 07.07.03

hey, I'm from bmore!

well, fridge is pretty dead on - for touristy good times, you'll need to go to the harbor. the aquarium is fantastic, there's decent food and plenty of gift shopping areas. but I wouldn't spend more than a few hours there, because it's...well, all tourists and yuppies.

federal hill's AMA is definitely a must-see. and for architecture and other good things, mount vernon.

you want food? little italy is far overrated, but I'd still stop by vicarro's for a lovely and way-too-large to eat dessert. or another sweet spot would be patisserie poupon (sp), a fantastic french pastry place. for an all night night alternative to crap places like denny's, you'll want to go to the papermoon cafe. you like greek? greektown's samos is the only place to go. japanese? kawasaki. I know em all.

show venues? the ottobar and the recher are the best, but there are plenty around. like fridge said, check out the city paper - they can be found in little yellow boxes all over the place

if you want something specific, you'll have to tell me - email me at luckigrrl@excite.com, let me know what you're interested in, and I'll be glad to help.