Home » Italy » East Coast of the USA: what you can't miss. Cruises on the East Coast of the USA What to remember before you go

East Coast of the USA: what you can't miss. Cruises on the East Coast of the USA What to remember before you go

Where is the best place to go on your first trip around the country?

Most people who are planning their first trip to Russia wonder: which coast of America to choose? After all, the USA is a huge country and a huge number of attractions and desirable objects that you want to see are located on both sides of the country!

To immediately answer the main question, which coast to choose, I will say this. If you love cities, choose the east; if you love nature, turn your attention to the west!

US East Coast

New York

Let's start with the fact that the east coast of the United States has a big advantage - it's New York. A huge and incredibly interesting city, which can hardly be compared with any other city in the United States or on the entire planet. It is very difficult to talk about New York in a few words. But, if you want to get to the most sleepless metropolis, if you dreamed of walking along such familiar streets where they filmed "Sex and the City", "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "Autumn in New York" and hundreds or even thousands more of your favorite films, meet people of different nationalities and religions, come to New York! This city charges you with energy, positive emotions and the belief that you can really do everything and achieve success!

Niagara Falls

If you find yourself in New York, then organize a trip to Niagara Falls. From New York to Niagara it takes about 5-7 hours by car or 9 hours by bus. I won’t talk about the beauty of Niagara Falls, you just have to see the waterfall! Instead, I'll give you some practical advice. Many argue that there is no point in looking at Niagara from the United States, since the waterfall is located on the US side and is better visible from the shores of Canada. That's right! The waterfall is actually better visible from the coast of Canada. But, the magical steamboat Maid of Mist goes to the waterfall, which collects passengers from both Canada and the States. Having taken a ticket for such a boat, you sail straight to the waterfall and see everything perfectly!

Washington

If you're on the east coast, don't miss out on a trip to the capital! However, before you go, do some research on museums in the city. If you are not a big fan of museums, then one day will be enough for you - you will visit the Capitol, stroll along the National Mall to George Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, you'll see White House and this, in principle, may be enough. If, while preparing for your trip, you realized that you are interested in several museums in the capital, then do not hesitate and take 2 days for Washington - one for the sights, the second for the museums.

Miami

Sunbathe on one of the beaches Miami Beach the dream of beach lovers all over the world! And those who love hot and cool parties dream of going to one of them in Miami - a city where the fun never ends. There is also no winter in Miami, the ocean here is always warm, unlike west coast, where you can swim “without pain” only in southern California. Also, many cruises to exotic islands begin their journey in Miami.

Orlando

Orlando is a beautiful city in the state of Florida, which is home to Disney World and Universal Studio Park. Not worth considering Disney World like a park for children. In this magical place, everyone becomes a child, including adult uncles and aunts. Both parks have a huge number of attractions and entertainment. The difference is that Disney attractions are based on popular Disney cartoons and films, while Universal Studio attractions are based on popular Universal films. Choose what you like best and go on an adventure.

Florida Keys

Florida Keys is a chain of small islands in the southern United States, connected by one large bridge. The color of the water here is “from a bounty advertisement”, the atmosphere of complete relaxation and bliss is very quiet, calm and peaceful. Spend time on one of the beaches of the Florida Keys, take an excursion on a glass-bottom boat, and get acquainted with the beautiful underwater world of the Atlantic Ocean. And, of course, rent a convertible and drive to Key West - the southernmost city in the USA and enjoy the sunset!

West Coast USA

Los Angeles

If you are planning your trip to Los Angeles, I highly recommend you rent a car. Because despite the fact that Los Angeles is a city, getting around by public transport is very difficult.

In Los Angeles you can organize a very interesting and rich program. Go to the famous beach Santa Monica. If you're lucky, you might even be able to swim in the ocean - if the water is warm or if you're not afraid of cold temperatures. You can also go to Disneyland or park Universal. Universal is located in the city itself, DisneyLand is 30 minutes south of Los Angeles.

Of course, it’s worth taking a walk along Hollywood Boulevard along the Avenue of Stars, going to the inscription Hollywood, drive around the Beverly Hills area, take a tour of celebrity homes, or visit the theater where the Oscar ceremony takes place.

San Francisco

San Francisco is a special, cozy and very sunny city. Be sure to take a walk on Pier 39, eat fish soup Clam Chowder and watch lazy fur seals sunbathing in the sun right next to the pier. Be sure to take a ride on the famous tram along the steep slopes of the city, and walk down the steepest street in the world - Lombard Street. And of course, take a walk to the Golden Gate Bridge and take pictures with the real symbol of the city.

Las Vegas

It's very simple. Do you want to get rich suddenly? Go to Las Vegas! If you don't like gambling, just take a walk around the casino and get acquainted with this huge industry. Be sure to wander around Las Vegas at night, it shines like a Christmas tree. Visit several shows, including singing fountains. Well, if you want extreme sports, then go on a cool attraction on the roof of the Stratosphere tower.

Grand Canyon

The beauty and uniqueness of this place is hard to forget! Even those who have never been here admire it! There are many ways to spend time at the Grand Canyon. You can take a walking tour or book a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and enjoy all the beauty of this place from a bird's eye view (by the way, I highly recommend it)

Redwood Park

This is where the redwood trees grow bigger and thicker! Some trees are so large that a car can easily drive through them, and to hug such a tree, you will need a company of 10-15 people. This is an incredibly beautiful and green place where you can truly understand the grandeur, power and beauty of nature.

Well, we finally got to another continent. Thoughts of visiting America had been wandering in the minds of the family for a long time, but somehow there was no time. And the flight is long and getting visas is a whole story. In fact, this is probably why few of our compatriots visit the USA for tourism purposes. But in vain. Now I can say this with absolute confidence. 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 narration I express the purely subjective opinion of three people, I do not impose anything on anyone and I do not intend to argue. I am writing what we saw, what we had time for, and what we experienced along the way. So, the introduction is over, let's begin the story. Let's go.

Why USA?

And really, why? There are probably a number of reasons that can be pointed out here. Firstly, last New Year we successfully closed Europe. They closed it all completely, even if in some countries they didn’t see everything, of course, there isn’t enough human life to see everything and everywhere, but I want to see as much as possible. We have closed the main attractions of Europe.

Except for the UK for now. Never on our trips Foggy Albion didn’t come across our way, I think London is a matter of the near future, but for now we have no time for it. Secondly, America has always attracted our family with its structure.

We think this is what our homeland should have looked like if there had not been so many sad events in it from the first half of the last century to this 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 try to leave every year, forgetting their homeland as bad dream. What is the reason, what attracts this distant land? How does it differ from the same madly beloved Europe, after all? These are the questions we set out to find answers to.

I am writing this story during the trip, so perhaps I will add some things to the trip and change something. So don’t judge strictly, I write sincerely to the best of my ability.

Visas, tickets, car and route.

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

It’s difficult for me to judge whether it has become easier or more difficult; I haven’t submitted documents until now, but overall the current process did not seem very difficult. We go to the embassy’s website, look for the necessary link, and end up filling out form DS-160. The form is large, very tedious, with a lot of questions. Knowledge of the language in this case is not necessary, the pop-up menus are translated into Russian, filling everything out is not difficult, the main thing is to be patient. Your electronic photograph is also attached there and as a result we receive confirmation that our form has been sent to the embassy. You need to print this piece of paper and keep it with you. Next, we pay via VTB24 payment slip (in our case, 4,200 rubles per person), it can also be found through the embassy’s website. After that, on the same site we look for how to sign up for an interview. I’ll say right away that it didn’t work out for me through the website, I called the embassy (it took two days to get through) and in the end, a nice girl signed us up for a certain date, inviting me to 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 friends in the USA or not.

Since we actually don’t know anyone in the states well, I honestly wrote everywhere that no, 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 USA, and they are unlikely to want to see an extra illegal immigrant there. In any case, at the interview the task is to show (one can say and prove) that you are under no circumstances going to violate US immigration laws and stay there to live. We took everything with us. Certificates for real estate, cars, the presence of a dependent grandmother who is a disabled person of the first group, certificates of business, etc. Looking ahead, I’ll say that nothing was useful. Considering that we do not live in Moscow, we went to the interview, scheduled for nine in the morning, with a reserve, spending the night in a hotel not far from the embassy. Consular Section the next morning he met us with a line of about a hundred people, which, however, quickly moved through the police cordon to the door of the embassy. Why is our policeman standing at the entrance... Oh, sorry, the policeman scans everyone’s passports, I still don’t understand. Yes, I completely forgot, ALWAYS take a 5x5 color photo with you for your visa.

The embassy's website writes about this in great detail, I thought the photos in the DS-160 were enough, and as a result we ran to the metro station to take photos. The Embassy does not provide such services. There are three security cordons at the entrance - lighters and phones are required to be confiscated. The search is like before boarding an airplane. I will not describe the procedure further; it is quite tedious and, in principle, beyond our control. I will only say that it is mandatory to take fingerprints of all fingers. We were with the consular officer for about three minutes. He greeted everyone, got to know each other, found out what we were doing and what we would do in the USA, didn’t ask for any papers, rummaged through the computer and approved the visas. By the way, what’s convenient is that you can get a visa for two years by paying an additional hundred dollars. That's what we did, we want to use them to the maximum.

Yes, and you don’t need to book hotels and plane tickets before receiving a visa. Availability of tickets is not a basis for issuing a visa, and in case of refusal there will be financial losses (in addition to those 4,200 rubles which are also not refundable regardless of the outcome of the interview). In general, when he said “Your visas have been approved,” it was very pleasant. Somehow I immediately felt that it was not in vain that we were going to Moscow and I spent two days filling out this stupid form of theirs and calling them.

Are there many refusals? It's hard to say. While we were waiting, some left with passports and sad faces, others more cheerful. I couldn't draw a conclusion. It seemed that they were refusing, and still to many. Of course, I could 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 any extra money for it.

From that moment on, we started booking and ordering everything, starting, of course, with air tickets. I won’t describe the selection process at length, I’ll just say that the direct flight seemed long and tedious, plus Aeroflot was a little expensive. As a result, a German Lufthansa flight was purchased via Frankfurt on the Main. Three hours to Frankfurt, an hour 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 - a good four with good view in Times Square from the fortieth floor in our case. I book the rest of the hotels as I go, 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 not bad. I took the navigator with me. Regular cheap Lexand with iGo, Navitel and Garmin maps. We use iGo cards - very convenient and understandable. An approximate route looks like this: New York - Niagara Falls - Atlanta - Miami - Orlando - Washington - Atlantic City - New York. I’ll write what comes out in the end. The flight took place on September 17th, return tickets on October 10th.

Yes, just in case, before departure I made myself an international license. So far, it’s true that no one has needed them, not even in the rental office, but let them be.

New York and everything connected with it.

I want to tell you a funny thing: jet lag at eight o'clock. We didn’t really sleep for more than a day; we arrived at JFK late in the evening, but we still didn’t want to sleep properly. Although I vaguely remember the road from the airport, perhaps simply because it was already dark.

Our hotel was located in the very center - it couldn’t be 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 glowing monitors and people around is so huge that in the first second you get lost and basically don’t understand where you are and what to do here. But it’s beautifully crazy, I personally have never seen anything like it in Europe. Perhaps in Tokyo or Singapore you can experience similar sensations, I don’t know, 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 better and cheaper, probably, but to be honest, I completely dug into these hotels back in Lipetsk, so I pointed to the one that was a little cheaper than the others. Overall, I think it turned out okay. If we manage to stay in New York for a couple more days at the end of the trip, we’ll stay there.

Manhattan itself is designed incredibly simply, it has avenues - wide avenues along the island and streets - respectively, streets perpendicular to the avenues and there is Broadway, piercing the entire island from north to south. Avenues and streets are numbered. The streets are divided into western and eastern, depending on their location, respectively. Looking for an address is a pleasure. For example, 1605 Broadway - the number of the house on Broadway is immediately clear; to make it easier, they write - at the intersection with West 42nd. Now finding the right house is not a problem at all. 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 people use the subway, but we didn’t. Taxis are inexpensive and there are a lot of them. Does everyone remember films about New York? That's right, there are only yellow sedans on the streets, in principle it is very similar to the truth. Hail the car, sit down and give the address. It’s better to catch something fresh; the classic Ford Crown Victoria is clearly reaching its end and if you drive far enough in such a taxi it won’t be very comfortable. It’s really not possible to catch a Ford Escape optimally 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 exist and they seem to be not there. If you behave decently and don’t disturb public order, they don’t exist; I personally didn’t want to attract the attention of these guys with pistols. Apparently, no one wants to, so you can feel safe in the city center.

By the way, one more fact: in America it is forbidden to smoke indoors in principle. In hotels, bars, restaurants. It’s not even allowed on street areas. In New York specifically, there are very few smoking areas and you rarely see people smoking on the streets. Nevertheless, people smoke, the police do not pay much attention to it, formally there is a ban, but it has not been taken to the point of absurdity. I think in a couple more generations, Americans will all quit smoking, there will be a minimum number of young people who smoke, and they will look at smokers with outright pity, as if they were suicides. Driving in the city is terrible, the traffic light algorithm is very unique, and as a result, pedestrians are not allowed through even when the pedestrian traffic light is on. The funny thing is that sometimes even the police don’t let you through.

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

Food is sold at every turn for every taste, mostly in mobile trailers with the local equivalent of shawarma. We took the risk of buying only water, kebabs or something that smells unappetizing and smokes wildly, but nevertheless it is very popular among the aborigines. In general, it’s not difficult to find where to eat in America, there are a huge number of establishments, and I’m now ready to argue with the all-Russian myth about tasteless American food. Yankee steaks can be cooked in a way that few people in Europe, except perhaps the Italians, can cook, and scrambled eggs and potatoes for breakfast, although simple, are nutritious.

Breakfast in hotels, by the way, is for an additional fee. We only had breakfast there on the day we left 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 even go just for the interior, completely dedicated to the theme of Hollywood films. Among 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 get a table, but the excellent menu of seafood delicacies is worth it, as well as Ben's between Sixth Avenue and West 32nd - good quality steaks and pickles, good local beer. Carefully monitor whether service is included in your bill (usually 15 - 20% of the bill amount); if not, the waiter himself will ask you for a tip; if you don’t give it, you’ll leave the guy (girl) without a salary. By the way, the service everywhere is friendly and very fast, the food is also prepared almost instantly, which, oddly enough, generally does not affect the quality.

Of course, to be honest, in three or four days it is impossible to see even ten percent of the sights of a city like New York. 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’ve seen New York. In such cities, everyone chooses for themselves what to see first and, of course, world-famous attractions immediately fall under the tourists’ sights. We were no exception and immediately went to the southern part of Manhattan, where, following the signs, we quite accidentally came across the Empire State Building. I can warn you right away - you shouldn’t buy tickets from sellers on the street, they offer a bunch of all sorts of unnecessary services, such as letting you skip the line, some kind of express tours, and so on. None of this is required. We stood in line at the official ticket office for a maximum of 15 minutes, and it took the same amount of time to go through the security system (everything is standard, phones, belts, bags, metal detector frame). Then follow the signs to the elevator, again there is a short queue to the 80th floor, a souvenir shop, an elevator to the 86th floor and you find yourself on a stunning platform for magnificent photographs of the New York skyline.

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

There is a Madame Tussauds museum in Times Square, we went to it to compare it with the Amsterdam one we visited a few years ago. There are clearly more exhibits, they are placed more intelligently and with the typical American scale. In my opinion, it’s worth a visit; in any case, you’ll hardly be able to take a photo with Bill Clinton or Justin Timberlake, who doesn’t look much like you. Again there is a nice gift shop and a small photo workshop offering photoshopped photos of you and various characters like King Kong. We bought it for ourselves; there are obviously no other ones like it anywhere else. By the way, they take photographs everywhere, both in the Empire State Building and in Niagara, but more on that later.

I can say that just walking around the city gets boring pretty quickly; this is still not Rome with the Trevi fountains and the Coliseum, where every street is of historical value. You quickly get tired of looking at the 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 effort and nerves.

During the entire journey, perhaps the most interesting thing was, again, accidentally found the place where the World Trade Center Towers used to stand. We didn’t get to 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 are almost completed. The speed of construction is impressive, the scale is also amazing. But this is typical for Americans, as we have already noticed - to amaze the imagination. It's no joke, the Empire State Building was built in, scary to think, one year and 45 days! It’s quite difficult for me, as a builder, to imagine this, however, it is so and it deserves respect for the project’s implementers.

We reached the boats to Liberty Island by two o'clock in the afternoon; the ticket office warned that from that time on we would not have time to visit Ellis Island, where the 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. Frankly speaking, it doesn’t give the 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 didn’t buy tickets inside the pedestal; anyway, they’re not allowed into the crown now, maybe on other days, but on Sunday when we were there they weren’t allowed into the crown.

It’s worth visiting the island, if not for the statue, then for the magnificent view of Manhattan and Jersey that opens from it, and, of course, for the regular photographs. Although the panorama of New York is actually very, very beautiful from there. In general, the very symbol of American freedom in the person 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 difficult conditions across the ocean, and the first thing they saw was her - with a torch , as a guarantee that all their troubles will end here on this earth, and even if sometimes this was not the case, it is still worth recognizing the importance of the Statue of Liberty in the establishment of America as a country of immigrants.

I’m writing all these pretentious 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 as an 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 patch of grass or tree. Squirrels are fat, arrogant, completely unafraid of people and ignore them. At the same time, squirrels are the only living creature we found on the streets of American cities. No yard dogs or cats were found.

Yes, I forgot to say, the queue for the statue can seem very long, it can stretch for a good five hundred to seven hundred meters. This is connected with the same notorious American security system, metal detectors and so on, but the line moves quickly and even though you still have to stand for about forty minutes, I think this fact should not confuse anyone much, Russian people are not accustomed to such lines, it seems to me. Of the things we wanted, but didn’t visit, I would mention Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art (I really wanted to see “Campbell Soup Cans” by Andy Warhol. There is a chance that we will visit them at the end of our trip, since we had planned three days before departure New York again.

Among the stores, I would like to mention SAKS on Fifth Avenue, but September is not the 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 closest one. He was found in the area of West 54th Street. A nice woman of about sixty, without much emotion, registered a car that had been driven out of the parking lot by a young black man... excuse me, an African-American man. The Lexand navigator works and that’s all I can say about it for now. It really works so-so, looking ahead, I’ll say that the iGo maps turned off on the third day of the journey, while I was driving using Garmin maps.

The rather large Kia Sorento SUV turned out to be front-wheel drive, which is not a problem in the conditions of luxurious American roads, but it’s somehow a shame, I ordered all-wheel drive, it’s good to have at least an automatic transmission. We got out of New York easily and quickly, I honked a lot, they don’t drive there any other way, after several days as a pedestrian, you feel a slight euphoria behind the wheel. We headed to the north of the state - the city of Niagara Falls on the border with Canada.

By the way, we missed the point, if you get an American visa and have time, get a Canadian one, I think there will be fewer problems with it, but in Niagara you can see the waterfalls from the Canadian side, they say the view of them from there is more interesting. Unfortunately, we were unable to verify this.

Wide highways (Interstate) cross the length and breadth of America; highways are tolled, although as we understand, not in all states. The quality of the surface is approximately the same as in Europe, and just like the Europeans, the Americans are constantly expanding and modernizing their roads. It’s really sad to look at this, you understand that a lifetime will not be enough to see such roads in Russia.

The 600 kilometers to Niagara flew quickly and unnoticed. The speed limit on almost all interstates is 65 - 70 miles per hour, the entire traffic 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 the police were seen fining drivers along the road. You understand that America is a country on wheels as soon as you leave the city walls. Each convention is a festival for the stomach and three or four gas stations. Diesel gas stations, by the way, are rare, as are diesel passenger cars.

There are clearly more hotels along the road than there are people willing to spend the night in them. Along the highway, it’s true that typical American fast food such as McDonald’s, SubWay or Burger King predominates, and of course KFC, nicknamed Rostiks in Russia. If you want to eat well, look for a place like Friday's, a fairly large chain of nice eateries mostly found in New York State.

Niagara Falls is a small village, as it would be called in Russia. Moreover, the village is seasonal and the season at the waterfalls is clearly coming to an end. Restaurants and hotels are almost all closed, even in the huge shopping center there is not a soul. But at the waterfalls themselves, life is in full swing and there are very, very many guests who want to see this natural miracle. The hotel was ordered 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 walking distance to the park with waterfalls, and you’re unlikely to need anything else in this town.

The waterfalls make an impression; there are no words for how beautiful the Niagara River is, bending around an island with a park on both sides, falling from a height of fifty meters. The stream rages and dances over the rocks, creating the impression of an incredible force of nature, capable of absorbing everything in its path.

It’s a very beautiful sight, but it’s even more interesting to watch how the Americans, with their inherent scale, stage a show from everything that is on their land. For money, you will be taken by boat to the very heart of the large Horseshoe waterfall, where a flat-bottomed boat, filled to capacity with curious tourists in beautiful blue raincoats, will stand for about five minutes, allowing you to fully taste the beauty of this beautiful wonder of the world; and they will let you run along the wooden flooring to the very beginning of the “Veil”, where you will get wet from a huge amount of splashes and at the same time wildly rejoice that you climbed to the very top platform, kindly called “Hurricane” for your vanity, where you definitely need to take a photo in yellow raincoat, raising his arms 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 at the most dangerous point of Niagara Falls”, write your name there and hang it in your office at work, showing it to all your colleagues. Finally, you can have a burger and fries at a local eatery, where very nice provincial American women will be happy to offer their simple assortment of dishes. Use a hamburger bun to feed the impudent sparrows, 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, which includes access to all the attractions, it will include free travel on a bus that runs around the park, decorated in the style of vintage trams. By the way, there will almost certainly be a table at the hotel where you can purchase special tours of Niagara, which include a bunch of different excursions and so on. It's actually a scam. Everything that is indicated in the brochure can be visited either by purchasing a ticket locally (several times cheaper than the cost of the tour), or for free, simply by purchasing a tour, they will take you there on a large bus and let you explore.

The bus tram running around the park will take you almost everywhere you are offered to go on this tour, but it is much cheaper and without a strict time limit. So I definitely don’t recommend buying it. Judging by the helicopters plying back and forth, there are also helicopter excursions, but we, as not very extreme people, did not go for 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 operating in the hotel.

But overall one full day in Niagara it seemed quite enough. We swam and went everywhere, again some of the park’s pavilions were not open that day, perhaps it was just a coincidence, or maybe they had already closed in preparation for winter. Nevertheless, I definitely recommend visiting the waterfalls, you will get a lot of positive emotions and from an aesthetic point of view it is worth enjoying the magnificent nature of this place.

Atlanta, Kentucky and Tennessee passing through.

The journey to Atlanta was a long one - one and a half thousand kilometers, so there was really no rush, booking a hotel in the capital of the state of Georgia, taking into account an overnight stay in the middle of the journey.

As a result, daily runs of about four hundred miles were not so tiring and allowed me to enjoy the surroundings to the fullest. The fact is that interstates have one bad feature - driving along them for a long time is boring. There is practically nothing along the highways, all rest areas are located at exits at a short distance from the noisy flow of cars and there is practically nothing to see. The same problem exists on the German Autobahns – it’s boring. On the road, we entertained ourselves with periodic stops for smoke breaks at various places along the road, with light snacks and occasional gas stations. We must give the car its due, fuel consumption is low and it quite confidently consumes the cheapest Regular gasoline with an octane number of 87. By the way, the most expensive fuel at gas stations has an octane number 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 pay, then you refuel, although you only need to tell the cashier the pump number, you choose the type of fuel yourself when refueling, there is usually one gun, and three buttons. I have never seen diesel fuel at gas stations. It’s rare to come across gas stations with boys who pump the gas themselves and take your money. As I 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). The whole way to Atlanta we spent two hours stuck in traffic jams, although in principle it’s not very annoying, and you wouldn’t scare Muscovites with something like that at all. On the first day of the journey there were no special adventures, we drove all the way, the stop appeared in the Cincinnati area - it became dark, and it was quite late. There are no problems with hotels - this is what a real automobile power means, the only question is the level of the hotel and the amount of money you are willing to spend on it, in fact, its level depends on this.

We drove around the outskirts of the capital of Ohio for quite a long time, somehow we didn’t really want to stay in a primitive motel, and we accidentally came across a large and glowing Holiday INN in a town with a great name - Florence. Of course, I cannot call myself a perfect connoisseur of English, after all, despite many years of study, the lack of practice takes its toll, nevertheless, at the everyday level, I always communicated with everyone normally with mutual understanding and without asking again. In Kentucky they speak anything but English. The girl at the reception and I patiently tried to understand each other for ten minutes, after which we spat and she silently handed over the keys to the room. To be honest, I still don’t understand what she wanted from me that evening, to sign or write something with a credit card, and what is unclear, the poor thing tried, but she couldn’t speak slowly and articulately at all. A similar problem arose with a waitress in a 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 my breath could hardly be called communication, I shouldn’t have turned away at that moment. Although, in principle, everyone is really friendly and sincerely wants to be useful, but somehow in their own way, in a Kentucky way. A funny event took place in this restaurant that raised my self-esteem - when ordering beer, they asked me for an ID 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 means.

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, we’re probably tired of the buffet with bacon and orange juice. Long live scrambled eggs and fried potatoes and ham! In any roadside cafe to suit your taste, except McDonald's and Burger King.

That day we decided not to rush anywhere at all, so we drove along looking 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 following the sign, drive about ten miles and find ourselves in a parking lot near a fairly decent park with a picnic area and a large number of Aboriginal people with children inside. The park itself wasn’t very interesting to us; that’s not why we went to the states to eat sandwiches on the grass. But in the depths there was the largest underground lake in North America, a guided tour is offered for a few dollars, which we successfully managed to do. A nice, strong girl in a Girl Scout costume led a group of two dozen assorted tourists, which included, in addition to holders of Stars and Stripes passports, our family and a family of never discouraged and always smiling Japanese, just like us, who got into this adventure clearly by accident , deep into the large cave, in which walking paths were equipped, it was a little dark, but still interesting.

We wandered through the caves for about an hour - a tedious task, I must say. As a reward we received a couple of minutes of absolute darkness (the girl deliberately turned off the light in the cave), I want to note that the sensations were rather scary and not very pleasant, and a walk along the 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 are true there launched artificially, as our companion said. To be honest, knowing a little bit of Americans now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they manually refill this lake with pumps so that it doesn’t dry up, otherwise the state of Tennessee would lose one of their sources of income, but groups of tourists come regularly and I wouldn’t be surprised if these caves They bring it on purpose, and not just because we did it by accident. A visit to this hole in the mountain is not necessary, but if you take a route similar to ours, still take a look, I think many people will like this place, but it’s hardly worth going to it specifically, there are many more interesting places in America.

Such as the Georgia State Aquarium in Atlanta. The biggest trouble that happened on the way to Atlanta was that the navigator was very glitchy. The 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, so I turned on the Garmin ones that were uploaded there and off we went. Garmin maps are primitive, apparently they turned out to be some old ones, but thank God there are at least some of them. There is nothing to do in the states by car without a navigator, although in principle there is nothing to do in any country you don’t know without a navigator.

The location of the hotel in Atlanta is optimal for visiting the three main attractions, and I’ll tell you about them. Spending one day in the city didn’t allow me to see everything, 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 , everything is very cultural and civilized. We started with Georgia Aquarium - according to the description - the largest aquarium in the world. A stunning place, as always, everything is done monumentally, on a grand scale and with the goal of impressing. By far the most interesting pavilion is marine life - huge, it’s hard to even call it an aquarium, a huge glass pool or something, in which sea creatures 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 on paper everything that happens there, and it is almost impossible to convey the feelings that you experience when you see such animals.

Perhaps the photographs will give at least the slightest description close to the truth, but in general this, of course, must be seen. Of course, this aquarium is more interesting to visit with children, but adults will also find it incredibly interesting. There you can also watch a dolphin show for a fee, but we didn’t go to it because we were afraid there wouldn’t be enough time for everything. There are small open aquariums with stingrays and similar animals - you can touch them, 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, only those who know the language, and therefore only locals. There is a large and inexpensive canteen based on the self-service principle. Of course you can eat, but to be honest, the student canteen at MGSU, where I get my second higher education, the variety of dishes exceeds this establishment several times. So it’s better to look at the fish in the aquarium, entertain the kids if they are of the right age, and feel free to head to the World of Coca-Cola, located on the territory of the same park as the aquarium.

Orlando. Parks. Ocean. Sunny Florida.

Our path to Orlando was primarily due to the presence of a huge number of various theme parks around this locality. Including those that most interested us were Universal Studios and Disney World (not to be confused with Californian Disneyland - I confused it, but these are completely different things).

Plus, I wanted to take a short break, for five days, to take a break from constant riding; after all, traveling every two days will tire anyone, and the only impressions left will be from the road and roadside eateries. Therefore, we approached the issue 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 we rented a condominium (apartment or apartments, in other words) from a wonderful and very responsive Russian girl Irina (more like an accident , we weren’t specifically looking for a compatriot), whom we had never seen, but we communicated well on the phone and the Internet. I will describe the reservation and check-in process separately; the process is interesting and unusual for us. On the website described above, send a request for the property you like, indicating the length of stay and check-in/check-out dates. They answer you and tell you if there are any availability for these dates and how much it costs. If everything suits you, send your credit card information, you will receive a contract in response, there are options for electronic signature, or you can simply print it, sign it and fax it back. After that, you receive a letter with instructions for check-in, which contains the code for the gate to the complex (if the area 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, walked in, found the apartment we needed, entered the code into the box, the key fell out, opened it, and you were on your way. To leave - the key was back in the drawer, the door slammed. The money was debited from the card, everyone is happy, everything is fine.

In my opinion, an excellent system that allows Irina not to travel from Miami to meet us 160 miles away, and for us not to depend on anyone and to arrive at a time that is convenient for us. By the way, the rental system on the coast is very well developed and I would not recommend checking into a hotel either in Orlando or Miami or anywhere on the coast. A small house or condo will be both cheaper and more comfortable than even the most luxurious hotel.

We settled in Orlando for five days, the goal was at least three parks: Universal Studios, Sea World and Disney World. Plus rest and decide on moving forward. It's a long drive to Miami and the worst thing is that it's in the opposite direction from Washington. And we should already be moving home, since most of the vacation will be behind us by the time we leave Orlando. Well, we’ll decide along the way, of course, as we always do. The apartment in the Vista Cay complex turned out to be truly luxurious, and Americans know how to create ambiance. The territory is guarded, swimming pool, entrances with air conditioning.

The apartment itself - three bedrooms, a living room with a kitchen, a hall, two bathrooms for about 150 square meters - is an oligarch's dream. Furnished with taste and light luxury, everything is smart, everything is comfortable and in its place. Large kitchen, a lot of household appliances, TVs in all bedrooms and in the living room. Super simple. Upon closer inspection and after a couple of days of living, of course, you begin to find shortcomings, where would you be without them, for example, the doors are very simple in themselves and creak a lot, the ceilings, by the standards of even our Khrushchev-era apartments, are the same as in them, the sculpture of dolphins, instead of cast iron, turned out to be wooden , but this is already particular, of course. Beds a meter high are also very unusual and not very comfortable for Russian people. Although I’m definitely being picky now - an excellent 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.

They will remember a trip here for many years, although in this case it is better to go for at least a week, and then you are unlikely to have time to visit everything. In my story, I will also not go into depth into the description of each attraction in each park that we visited, since in this case my story will last for two hundred pages, I will describe the impressions of each park and try to explain for which audience they were created mainly, as this again it seemed to us.

So Universal Studios was the first place we visited; it was about a 15-minute drive from our condo. Parking costs 12 dollars, it’s more convenient to drive your car onto the roof, it’s closer to the entrance. Ticket - about one hundred dollars per adult. In general, all the parks around Orlando have a high entrance fee, so if you are traveling with your family and specifically walking through 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. The pass also gives you the right to visit all attractions without queuing, which sometimes saves quite a lot of time (for the most popular attractions the queue stretches for 30 - 40 minutes). In general, it's up to you to decide anyway; all prices for standard admission tickets for adults range from $80 to $100. There are an incredible number 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 is a luxurious world of Hollywood films collected in themed attractions. The attractions themselves are different, but usually funny in their naivety, although if you look at it from the perspective of a Russian person, Americans laugh, get scared, and are delighted. Truly children at any age. Since from the moment you enter the park there is no additional cost to visit all the attractions, it certainly makes sense to visit all the shows the park has to offer. The only inconvenience is that some have to hand over large items (backpacks, bags, cameras) to a special storage room. Usually these are the ones where you will be spun around in some chair. Again, everything in the park is done on a grand scale and with typical American gigantomania. Of course, children will enjoy it much more than adults; for adults, the park will seem naive and toy-like (for example, openly puppet sharks in the attraction based on the famous film “Jaws”). Nevertheless, I definitely recommend visiting it, simply because I have never seen anything like it in our homeland. Be sure to visit “Shrek 4D” - the feeling of spiders running along your legs can’t be compared with anything else.

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. We will talk about it a little lower. The next park on our program was Sea World - I think the name speaks for itself. It seemed to us that the park is quite old and, accordingly, is no longer as popular as the same Universal Studios. There are enough visitors, but there is no rush, some of the attractions do not work for some reason. We have an aquarium with sharks, built according to the principles of the Georgia State Aquarium, however, it is inferior to the one described above in Atlanta both in size and in the saturation of exhibits. There is also a good pool with dolphins, judging by the photos you can swim with them, but no one did this with us; the mammals themselves do not pay much attention to visitors, living their dolphin life in the pool.

Among the interesting and memorable things, I’ll tell you about the simulation of a polar station - firstly, everything is done very realistically, and secondly, there is an opportunity to observe belugas, walruses and polar bears in conditions close to their real habitat. These magnificent animals, gracefully swimming past you behind the armored glass of the pool, will take your breath away. You can watch them endlessly and can only 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 birds. From small to very large and some healthy brown ones covered with fur - this is the first time I’ve seen these, alas, I’m not very into 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 don't recommend visiting the cafe. Expensive and very little food. In general, I’m 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 sharply decrease and practically disappeared in the south of Florida. The basis of food on 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 all over America, although it is an extremely popular chain, but if you have a little patience, you can eat very tasty seafood in almost any state. In the south, fish is generally prepared quite well, even in America, the country of hamburgers in our minds. But I digressed from the main topic of this part of the trip, sorry. So, we continue to walk through the parks of Orlando.

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

I dare to believe that my intuition did not let me down, since this entertainment center left us with perhaps the most vivid impressions of the design and richness of the attractions, as well as their thoughtfulness and realism. From the point of view of obtaining useful information and touching history, the Kennedy Space Center is much more impressive, but more about that below, but for now Disney and its Hollywood Studios. Here I’ll probably focus on a couple of attractions that truly amazed me to the core. This is an excellent tour of Hollywood films, including mainly Disney ones - the essence of the tour is 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 don’t 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 them all. Everything is bright, spectacular, albeit a little naive, but at the same time incredibly beautiful.

I also really liked the attraction based on Star Wars, I’m generally a big fan of the entire saga, and even though it doesn’t last long, my presence inside it is incomparable to anything else. The attraction, judging by the inscriptions, is open in the spring of this year, so we were lucky, its essence is as follows. They put you in a capsule that resembles a passenger space shuttle, fasten you with a seat belt like on an airplane, the lights go out and off you go. The feeling of presence is complete, I have never experienced anything like it, the shuttle, controlled by S3-PO (who knows, will understand), is doing something incredible, the screen on the entire front panel and 3D glasses create a complete visualization of the ongoing flight, and how the capsule moves in space , creating overloads, turns, braking, even a slight feeling of weightlessness when you fall from the orbit of Coruscant at the moment of the battle between the Republic clones and the 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 play that is a parody of Indiana Jones, but it is done quite naively, in places I would even say primitively. It's worth going just to see a black man on a motorcycle in a German uniform for the only time in his life. The Negro is a true Aryan, this is so American.

The park, of course, produces a much more expensive enterprise than the same Universal Studios, the approach is clearly with soul and they do not spare money on the attractions. The downside is that there are very few places that sell water, given the heat of forty degrees, this is a big omission. We were generally lucky with the weather in Orlando, the rains all either passed us by or at night, and during the day the weather was magnificent, it could have been even ten degrees cooler, it was painfully difficult to wander around the parks in such heat, the only salvation was in the souvenir shops, and there Once you come in, there’s no way you can leave empty-handed. I recommend visiting all three parks described above to everyone, without exception, especially if you have children, if they are small and you like such light adventures.

It’s easy to spend 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. For history buffs, those who know who Neil Armstrong is and why he is famous, everyone who watched the film Apollo 13, who heard about the brilliant designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who is interested in space and everything unknown, as well as fans of the wonderful TV series Star Trek (Star Trek ) I recommend visiting the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, which is only fifty miles from Orlando. We set off there on our last day in this city, in fact, we were already on our way to the ocean, to the coastal town of Siesta Key recommended by our friends, I’ll tell you about it a little later.

Cheapest entrance ticket from those that we bought - about 30 dollars and you find yourself in 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 took off on their expeditions. In the rocket park there is a real Saturn 5, which launched the ships of the Apollo program, the landing module of Armstrong and his expedition to the Moon, a full-size model of the shuttle and a flight simulation on it, two iMAX cinemas with magnificent 3D films about space, several interesting attractions, dedicated to my favorite Star Trek, the Enterprise's pilothouse, 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 from flights after the closure of the program, should be transferred to the center’s museum!

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 space exploration by mankind and thanks to NASA for this opportunity. I highly recommend it to everyone who cares. We certainly wanted to end our stay in Florida by the ocean, but the path to Miami seemed too long and in the opposite direction from our next destination - 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 website www.vacationrentals.com this time turned out to be extremely unsuccessful. Compared to Irina’s Orlando condo, it was quite dirty, very old and insanely expensive.

The only plus is the proximity to the ocean - the beach is a five-minute walk through the closed area of the complex. By the way, in this regard, Siesta Key is very strange - 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, although there is also a large free parking lot 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’re behind the times, but it’s fundamentally inconvenient, especially for women, of course. The Atlantic Ocean at this time of year is warm and calm, the sand is white and not at all hot. The width of the beach is amazing - in wide places there is up to half a kilometer of sandy zone, even in the Maldives we have not seen this. There are very few people - apparently it’s not the season, although strangely, the weather is beautiful and the water is amazingly warm. Overall, the impression was that there were far fewer people on the beach than seagulls and pelicans, who are the real masters of the coast at this time of year. By the way, there are also a lot of fish along the shore, 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’t be a consensus here, we are not fans of beach holidays at all, and perhaps the impression was spoiled by the not-so-best place where we lived. The beach itself is beautiful, the sand is simply amazing, there are no words for it, 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 corresponds to global standards. In Miami, I think it’s much noisier, probably more fun, so everyone makes a choice for themselves, as well as the choice of whether it’s worth getting a visa and flying so far for a beach holiday. If you don’t like to travel, don’t like to explore the world, get new experiences, and prefer to lie quietly on the beach with a cocktail in hand, then you probably shouldn’t go 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, according to tradition, summing up my story on board a Lufthansa Boeing 747.

Washington. District of Columbia.

And here I am again, behind the wheel of a Kia Sorento, for days now, grinding the wheels on the magnificent asphalt of wide interstates to the music of real country music and rare comments from the iGo navigation system that has suddenly started working again. This time the system took us along surprisingly picturesque country roads. Of course, they can be called country roads very conditionally; there are at least four lanes in both directions, a real autobahn by Russian standards. But the scenery along the side of the road is much more picturesque; as we understand, it is forbidden to build anything on large highways, everything is at exits, but here you are welcome - on the right to the left are shops, gas stations, old motels, used car lots, whatever.

This is, you know, a real American province. Not as glossy as large cities like Atlanta, not as resort Orlando, but nevertheless very clean, well-groomed and very loved by its residents. It’s a paradox, in America there is also poverty, 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 is somehow, I don’t know, proud or something. You take it for granted, not as something negative and negative, no, they do not live this way out of despair, they are simply satisfied with this level and they do not see anything humiliating in it.

I noticed a lot of people drive quite old cars. Old, but in excellent condition. This car suits them and that’s enough, it’s serviced on time, doesn’t fall apart while driving, and none of those around him point a finger at him - look how wrecked he is.

Poverty in America is radically different from poverty in Russia; our poverty borders on wretchedness, on misery, 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 at a roadside stand and ate them all the way to Washington, almost 1,600 kilometers. And to spend the night, as on the way to Atlanta, we stopped in Florence, although that Florence was in the state of Kentucky, and this one is in North Carolina, I wouldn’t be surprised if Minisota or Ohio have their own Florences, for example, there are a lot of St. Petersburgs all over the country in our capital The sparkling lights of the Grand Hyatt were waiting, very conveniently located in the middle of all the main museums and attractions.

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

Well, where is the first place a tourist will go in Washington? Well, of course, look at the place of residence of the presidents of the state in which they are currently located. The White House is currently surrounded by several rings of security, concrete block barricades and a large police presence. Access inside is completely closed, as far as I understand, and there are currently no excursions inside the White House; the tourist center that dealt with this was constantly closed during our stay in the US capital.

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 routine photos against the backdrop of the world-famous house with a semicircular colonnade and moved on. If you don’t want to visit stores, of which there are as many in the capital as anywhere else in the United States, then it makes sense to walk from the White House, passing the Washington Monument, towards the Capitol. Firstly, you also need to take a photo with the Capitol, after all, one of the symbols of American democracy, and secondly, along this peculiar alley there are the main museums of the city, entrance to which, by the way, is free, which after the crazy expensive parks of Orlando seemed the height of delicacy on the part of US authorities.

In general, in Washington, all museums are free and all are worth visiting, alas, again this requires a huge amount of time. I will dwell on those we visited, first of all - the Museum of Natural History - a huge collection of dinosaur skeletons already deserves you to turn your attention to this museum, and having found inside several halls 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 stuffed or a polymer copy; if it’s a copy, it’s incredibly accurate). There's definitely something to see there.

Next, go to the Central Art Gallery, unfortunately, part of the exhibition was closed when we arrived, but in the souvenir 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 Cosmonaut of the planet, as well as a wonderful exhibition of aircraft of all times, from the model of the first glider of the Wright brothers, to the cockpit of a Boeing 747-100, various rockets and landing capsules of the Apollo project of different years. Large exhibition of aircraft from World Wars I and II (it’s a shame there isn’t a single Russian), a lot of stuff civil aviation Overall, this museum is a great addition to the Kennedy Space Center. What’s interesting, judging by the exhibition, the Americans recognize our common leadership with them in space exploration, one full-scale model of the famous Soyuz-Apollo docking is worth something and they have our rockets and, as I already said, the spacesuit (suit) in which Gagarin flew into space also, photographs by Korolev and von Braun.

In general, I even feel some kind of pride in my Motherland (for the first time during the trip). However, in what is dedicated to the Second World War, there is not a word about us at all in any of the paragraphs. Why do Americans fundamentally not want to recognize, if not the leading 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 (this is where I became very patriotic). Of course this is not right, but we won’t change anything here. Although criticism is criticism, the museum is still amazing, a must visit.

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

There are still a lot of museums, as I wrote above, to visit them all requires many times more time than we had at our disposal. I briefly described where we were, what to see, after all, everyone decides for themselves, they say the Postal Museum is very interesting, for example, we simply didn’t have enough time for it, like the Lincoln Monument and the Library of Congress. So it makes sense to return to Washington once again. The city itself is amazing, it is like no other American city similar to Western Europe, and in fact it is just as calm, quiet and very inviting. Perhaps this is due to the small size and some kind of general culture of the capital’s residents, it’s difficult to say, but the city quickly becomes attractive to you and you begin 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 runs everywhere, from young to old, of any size, it seems like a very athletic city, I have never seen so much running anywhere in America. And again there are 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 has not been seen anywhere else. However, the fact that the city is metropolitan is felt, a couple of times there were motorcades, apparently delivering some important government officials somewhere, I won’t say who exactly, I just don’t know, but judging by the motorcades, cars of five, it’s unlikely lower than the vice President (correct me if I'm wrong).

What’s surprising is that such a number of institutions and structures within a relatively small urban settlement do not visually cause any inconvenience to the city’s residents; it seems that officials actually want to make the lives of citizens easier and cause as little inconvenience as possible with their presence (that’s surprising, isn't it?) You can also take a taxi to a very large shopping center - Tysons Corner Center, the drive is really far, but all the brands are in one place and for almost any level of income, just keep in mind that there is intensive road repair and construction of viaducts around Washington, as a result — a taxi can be a bit expensive, it might be wiser to go by car. However, we liked Washington, it was a nice breath of fresh air at the end of the trip before falling 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 ever thought?) The distance, by the standards of what has already been traveled, is simply ridiculous - 220 miles. Surprisingly and incredibly, there were no places in the Crowne Plaza, which we were already familiar with from our first visit almost three weeks ago, so it didn’t work out to stay in Times Square again; we booked a room in the extremely bustling Hilton at the intersection of 5th Avenue and West 53rd.

After calm cities, which to some extent I would include Washington, not to mention Orlando and Siesta Key, New York was met with a huge traffic jam near the Lincoln Tunnel (and who came up with the idea of running such large buses there, and in such numbers at that), in which Given the traffic jams at the entrance to the city, I had to wait for an hour and a half. It’s good that Russian ingenuity, driving experience in the capital (I mean Moscow) and a bit of arrogance inherent in the Russian people, allowed us to successfully bypass our neighbors 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 total of the automobile part of the trip was 3605 miles (entry in 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 check “unlimited mileage” when ordering a car, because you are going to drive and drive a lot, so you don’t need additional payment for over-mileage, at least I ordered with unlimited mileage.

We’ve driven around Europe even more on vacation, but given that the road home is always quite long across the territory of our homeland, well, I personally like driving my own car more. Eh... If only there was a bridge or a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean... Of course, that's all a dream, but there would be a bridge... We ended up driving a lot or a little, I can't say enough for the first time, it's a pity Miami and Atlantic City were left out of the original plan, well We're so old, we'll come again if we want.

But there was an opportunity to get to the Museum of Modern Art in New York - an impressive institution, I must say, the collection of paintings alone is worth it, or the halls with photographs where you can walk for hours. Yes, there are also exhibits that are frankly incomprehensible and alien to common sense, where would we be without them, but on the whole the exhibition is interesting and extremely educational, only I didn’t find Campbell’s Soup Cans there, perhaps I overlooked them, or maybe they weren’t there, although they should have been Perhaps I didn’t understand, but for consolation I looked at the portrait of Marilyn Monroe by the same Warhol. 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 eye, everything is very worthy. The result of the visit is, as always, a souvenir shop with funny designer things and, of course, posters copying famous works of art.

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 closed to 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, etc. The spectacle is fantastic, I have never seen 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 purchasing more souvenirs. On the last evening we walked around Times Square - fantastic, of course, although there could have been fewer people, and how can we explain to Americans that they shouldn’t walk in such a crowd with one-year-old children in strollers, it’s very dangerous, children can simply be crushed, plus in such crowds you can It’s easy to get lost, and unfortunately, walking is actually inconvenient.

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 the storm of emotions that are boiling in me after visiting this city that delights in its splendor. 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, just as it is difficult to draw parallels between America and Italy in general, but a new star has appeared on my personal pedestal of the best cities in the world, and although it did not shift Rome to the second level, it is difficult to defeat my love for Italy, but New York forced the capital to move slightly ancient civilization, for which I thank him very much, there is nothing better than learning new things, and especially such great new ones. Well, Big Apple, we are leaving you, but something tells me that I will return here again, and maybe more than once.

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

A little bit of emotion and what we think about it in general.

So, what is 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 difficult for me to judge America as a land of opportunity, about the realities of realizing the notorious “American Dream” or something similar, we were there as tourists, we didn’t intend 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 typical even for us, only those who live there can judge this, although during the entire trip and even before it, if I had to communicate with people whose friends or relatives live in the USA, I never from one person I did not hear a desire to return to their homeland, and if such cases occur, then this is rather the exception than the rule.

The main thing that catches your eye is the almost perfect cleanliness everywhere on the roads, clean roadsides, mowed lawns around. I already wrote that we drove through different Americas, both glamorous Manhattan and the 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, in the right to be called a Citizen of the United States of America. The number of flags is huge everywhere, they are placed in courtyards, hung on the balconies of houses, glued to cars, on license plates, people are thoroughly imbued with patriotism, they are incredibly cultured, very friendly and even though they really don’t care how I’m doing, looking at that When they ask this, you always want to answer.

I haven’t seen one simple and yet so important thing in Russia for a very long time - I haven’t seen people smiling. In general, nowhere, neither in cafes, nor on the streets, nor in cars, have we forgotten the main thing - to rejoice in the fact that we live, but the Americans do not, they, like children, rejoice at a plastic shark swimming out at them, which in our compatriots only causes a feeling of disgust and desire go away, close yourself inside your own little world and so that no one tries to get out of there. And tell me that I’m wrong, a tourist (I emphasize, precisely a tourist and precisely one who arrived on a tour through a travel agency) from Russia can be seen a mile away in any country in the world and, alas, not from the best side. I don’t want to offend anyone, again, my personal opinion, although based on the facts I saw. Russian people do not feel free, unfortunately, and this is the main difference between us and them, and this is the trouble of our people and our country, and I think the main trouble, and from it comes the lack of infrastructure 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 educational. I am happy that such countries exist and, God willing, there will only be 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, if there was time and opportunity. Should I go there and live? At this stage it’s unlikely, 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 don’t blame people who move here.

Striving for the best is a completely natural human instinct. And why, after all, normal healthy patriotism, the desire to develop and develop our country was killed in us, it is not clear why and who needed it. And you can easily be proud of America, you go to any rest area (Rest Area) on any interstate, go to the toilet - and you are bursting with pride - I have not seen such cleanliness anywhere, except perhaps for Germany with its autobahns, but the Germans are a different story altogether. Clean, civilized, cola machines, sandwich machines and not a single service person, of course there are cameras, the police sometimes drive by, but with a huge number of cars, nothing is broken or stolen.

And now we switch to the newest Russian highway M-4 DON, which has been being expanded with fanfare for several years now, even to two lanes in each direction, thanks for that, are there toll sections? Yes. How much do they cost? Enough to make some citizens billionaires very quickly. What about the route infrastructure? This is also where the problem lies, which we are not yet able to solve. In general, I think that I came up with 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, this is the state of the state and the people living in it. So the disappointing conclusion arises for the umpteenth time, where are we still, and where are they already and how far are we from them? It’s an open question, I don’t think my life is enough. No, I’m not afraid for myself and for my parents either, 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 distinguished by its unpredictability, 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? How many Americans came to live with us? Here is the answer to any question about what America is and what Russia is. Nevertheless, I urge you not to despair and not run headlong, but I urge you to sit down and think, go out into the street and try to smile, hold the door at the entrance to the store for the girl walking behind you, apologize when someone pushes you, stand in line and not squeeze through your heads everyone, and a lot more can be done. We need to start small, start with ourselves, think about why abroad you throw a bottle in the trash bin, but at home you throw it on the road, why you smile at a foreigner but come into conflict with a compatriot, don’t hide behind masks, don’t be outcasts, believe , dream, try to work in the end. And put a small tricolor in your organizer at work to remember that after all, we are a great nation, we live in a great country and only we must 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 will carry their passport with the double-headed eagle with the same pride with which US citizens carry their Stars and Stripes passport. Otherwise, I'm afraid they, and I, too, are nearing retirement, we'll be raising the Stars and Stripes on our ranch in Ohio every morning and singing a different anthem in a different language, and if they ask me why, I'll answer that I did everything I could, but they left me no choice, I didn’t leave my homeland, but she left me...

And at my work, I will put my native tricolor and the stars and stripes in my organizer so that I always know what to strive for. The plane is approaching, I’ll wrap it up, forgive me if the last part wasn’t very constructive, but it comes from the heart. I hope I was able to tell you enough about the East Coast of the USA that you would want to visit it; if my story is useful to someone, this is the main happiness for me. If we have enough time in winter and have the opportunity, in three months I will write a similar story on the West Coast of the United States.

1 day Moscow - New York

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

Day 2 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 along the Niagara River under the waterfalls is optional for an additional fee. fee (payment to the guide on the spot). Night in Niagara Falls.

Day 3 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 along a scenic road through New York State. (~620 km) Overnight at a New York hotel.

Day 4 New York

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

5 day New York - Washington

Breakfast. Moving to the US capital - Washington. (~370 km) Guide, travel information along the way. Sightseeing tour of the capital. An evening tour of the Memorials and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is included in the main program. Overnight at a hotel in Washington.

Day 6 Washington - Orlando

Breakfast. Visit to Arlington Memorial Cemetery, Aeronautics and Space Museum, National Art Gallery, and other attractions. Flight to Florida, Orlando. Independent transfer to the hotel. Night in Orlando.

Day 7 Orlando - Walt Disney World*

Walt Disney World (Walt Disney World Resort, often called Disney World or WDW) is the most big park Disney empires On the territory of Disney World, considered the best place in the world for family vacations, there are currently
4 theme parks:
Magic Kingdom (Magic Kingdom),
EPCOT Center (Epcot Park),
Animal Kingdom
MGM Studio (Pavilions - attractions of the Metro Goldwin Meyer film studio);
3 water parks:
Tyhoon Lagoon (Typhoon Lagoon),
River Country
Blizzard Beach (Hurricane Beach);

Day 8 Orlando - Universal*

Breakfast. Visit one of the amusement parks.
Universal Orlando consists of 2 theme parks: Universal Studios & Island of Adventure
Univbersal Studios Florida (Universal Studio) - The park is divided into several parts.
Hollywood Sector: 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”).
Production central sector: The most popular attractions: the beloved giant Shrek and the romantic Donkey (“Shrek and the Donkey”).
San Francisco sector: The most popular attractions: Disaster - find out all the secrets of disaster films and experience them for yourself.
Beetlejuice's graveyard revue - monsters, dead people and other representatives of the world of shadows + fun rock and roll, in the Beetlejuice cemetery.
Woodpecker's kidszone - Special children's corner!
Islands 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) is one of the most beloved and visited “islands” of the park. The famous attraction, designed based on 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” - tales of 1001 nights, the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, many of the attractions located here are stylized as giant multi-colored dragons.
Toon lagoon - this part of the park is dedicated to water attractions and entertainment.
Citywalk is an entertainment complex with numerous bars and restaurants, cinemas and discos, nightclubs and shopping malls.

The car gives the driver many advantages, the main one of which is complete freedom of action. An unusual trip will give you incredible drive and a lot of new impressions along the way.

An exciting journey

Exploring a new and unfamiliar world in a foreign country is a very exciting activity, and the only thing that will cause some inconvenience is fatigue from driving a car for a long time.

It is best to book a car in advance, because sometimes it happens that the desired option may not be available on site. The East of the United States differs from the West in the most low prices for car rental.

What should you remember before starting your trip?

Before you start traveling along the East Coast of the United States by car, you should take care of some important points so that the trip is not overshadowed by anything:

In some, it is not enough to present a Russian license to rent a vehicle; the driver will also be required to have an international one.

Knowledge of local traffic rules is required to avoid violations and fines in a foreign country. It is best to get acquainted with the traffic rules in advance, that is, at home, before the start of an exciting adventure.

Make sure you also rent a GPS navigator, which will help you navigate in unfamiliar areas in the best possible way. The use of paper cards, which are sold at every gas station, cannot be discounted.

Plan your route at home and don’t forget about traffic jams in major cities.

When visiting the East Coast of the United States, be aware of tolls.

Don't rely on your credit card alone. Some places may not accept it, so cash will definitely be required when traveling.

Do not put strangers in the car for personal safety reasons.

Popular tourist area

What attracts travelers to the US East Coast? The tourist zone of continuous urban development is the oldest historical part of the country - in 1776, Philadelphia was signed. The region in which the first colonies of settlers arose, which is the real cradle of American culture, is full of attractions.

The East Coast, which stretches from the borders of Canada to the large peninsula of Florida, is home to the country's largest cities. The endless expanses are distinguished by a variety of climatic conditions and picturesque landscapes that will take your breath away.

Memories that last a lifetime

A memorable road trip along the East Coast of the USA is an exciting acquaintance with large and small cities, extraordinary natural phenomena and architectural monuments, preserving the history of America.

When making a planned trip by car, foreigners understand how diverse the huge country is. The road trip will not leave anyone indifferent, and the memories of it will stay with you all your life.

Yosemite National Park

What to see on the East Coast of the USA for those who are going on a long trip for the first time?

One of the most breathtaking sights will be the ancient one located in the state of California. The magnificent landscapes, on which Mother Nature has worked for centuries, will delight any visitor. Fantastically beautiful waterfalls, forests, and mountain complexes will amaze you with their majesty and power.

It is best to come here by car in the spring, when the snow melts everywhere, feeding water flows, and in the fall during prolonged rains. But in winter, travelers will be surprised by the frozen cascades, which will remind them of natural magic.

Philadelphia full of attractions

What else attracts the East Coast of the USA? When making a road trip across America, you can’t help but visit Philadelphia - one of the oldest. Only there you can understand how dear the history of the state is to the Americans, who keep the Liberty Bell, which notified everyone about the signing of a declaration important for the state.

It is best to walk along the quiet and narrow streets with low-rise buildings, leaving your car nearby. Full of attractions, the city is famous for the buildings in which the fate of the country was decided.

Memorable corners

One of them is Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th. To enter a building that is iconic for all Americans, you must go through strict security control. Inside this important UNESCO-listed landmark, daily tours are offered to explore some of the most significant events in American history.

Philadelphia is also a major financial center, and you can't ignore the Downtown business district, which houses the city's tallest building at 247 meters. The Comcast Center skyscraper is a popular tourist spot.

There are several in the city observation platforms, which offer amazing views of modern architectural structures.

Traveling around Philadelphia, you plunge into the traditions of American society, carefully preserving the memory of past events. After the city filled with the spirit of patriotism, you can go on a trip to the entertainment corners of the country.

USA, East Coast: what to visit? Entertainment capital of Orlando

The city of Orlando is rightfully considered the capital of all entertainment events. Here are the most magical places that everyone dreams of being in. The colorful world created by human hands is interesting to both adults and children, so everyone who wants to get to the East Coast of the United States includes the city in their route in advance.

The Disneyland entertainment center, consisting of several theme parks, is located on a vast area of 100 square kilometers near Orlando. An incredible number of attractions, river cruises around the park, colorful parades of famous Disney cartoon characters, a laser show and daily fireworks displays attract millions of visitors every year.

Of course, this pleasure is not cheap: you have to pay more than 100 dollars for a ticket, and you will have to fork out the same amount to visit the water park. Therefore, be prepared that returning to childhood costs a lot of money, but despite the high cost, it will become one of the main events of the trip.

Key West - Tropical Paradise

After an entertaining drive through nature reserves, history-filled cities, and entertainment centers, a visit to the southernmost city in the United States will be the perfect end to your driving adventure.

Key West (Florida), located on a small island of the same name, is a haven of bliss and relaxation. You can drive around the entire city, where time seems to stand still, and see not only the alluring beaches, but also the noteworthy architecture. Here is E. Hemingway's house, a butterfly observatory, and an aquarium, which you should definitely check out.

No one here will have a question about which ocean washes the East Coast of the United States. The island is located on the border of the Atlantic Ocean and captivates with its incredibly blue water surface. Paradise It becomes a real outlet for many, and people come here to enjoy an incredible feeling of freedom and happiness.

The Value of Travel

A leisurely car ride will allow you to admire the magnificent views of America, known for its contrasts. Exploring a previously unfamiliar world is a very exciting activity, and only on such trips do you understand the value of travel, which brings an incredible amount of impressions.

The east coast of Sri Lanka includes areas such as Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. The east coast of Sri Lanka is unique as it varies in length and stretches along the coastline for more than 300 km from Kumbukkan Oya in the southeast to Kokkilai in the northeast. This coastline is dotted with estuaries and lagoons, the largest of which are Batticaloa Lagoon, Tambalagam Bay, Kokkilai Lagoon, Upaar Lagoon and Ullatskali Lagoon. East coast with the largest number Submarine canyons attract ocean marine life closer to shore than other parts of Sri Lanka. This is the island's quietest coastal area and offers some excellent seaside attractions and a wide variety of marine activities.

Weather on the east coast of Sri Lanka

The climate in eastern Sri Lanka is hot and humid. Unlike the west coast, the east has 2 distinct seasons: the rainy season and the dry season. In the west, these seasons are also present, but the difference in weather during these seasons is not as great as in the case of the east coast of Sri Lanka.
Between October and April, the east coast is dominated by the northeast monsoon, which brings strong winds and heavy rainfall. During the peak of the rainy season, rainfall is so frequent that flooding and inundation often occur. Typically, the rainfall in this area during the monsoon season ranges between 300-600 mm.
Between May and September, the east of Sri Lanka experiences fairly dry weather with very little rain. But at the same time, the weather here is very hot with high humidity levels. The heat here in summer is so intense that at midday, cities and towns look deserted, as people simply do not want to go outside.

Resorts on the east coast of Sri Lanka

Now it is time to briefly introduce you to the main resorts located on the east coast of Sri Lanka. These resorts are currently not very popular among foreign tourists, but this is likely to change in the coming years. The fact is that due to the civil war, the east coast of Sri Lanka lagged behind the west coast in development.

Kokkilai

Kokkilai resort is located in the Trincomalee region, in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The city is located on a sandy spit between the Kokkilai Lagoon and the Bay of Bengal. Kokkilai Lagoon is a vast estuarine lagoon and a birdwatcher's paradise.

Pulmodai

This resort is famous for its rich beaches, nearby caves and the site of a recent shipwreck. The mineral-rich sand is completely black and contains minerals such as ilmanite and magnetite. Two lighthouses in this area provide safe navigational route indicators for incoming ships.
Major attractions in the area include Pulmodai Beach, Arisimalai Beach, various caves, lighthouses and a shipwreck with a large artificial reef.

Trincomalee

It is the main resort town on the east coast of Sri Lanka and one of the best natural deep-water harbors in the world. Due to its strategic location on the Bay of Bengal, Trinco as it is called local residents, has a long maritime history that dates back to the 6th century. This is one of the most interesting and magnificent places in the country.
Situated at the mouth of the Magaveli Ganga, the longest and largest river in Sri Lanka, Trincomalee is famous for its Fort Fredrick, the largest fort in Sri Lanka.
Some of the best beaches in Sri Lanka are located in the Trincomalee area. These are, first of all, the beaches of Kucheveli and Nilaveli. Near Nilaveli are the Red Rocks with reddish boulders along the beach.
Trincomalee's main attractions include: beautiful coral reefs, sunken temple, Fort Fredrick, Fort Oostenburg, Great Fortress Island, lighthouses, Naval Museum, residence of the Dutch Naval Commissioner, fishing harbour, Pigeon National Park, Nilaveli and Kucheveli beaches and Red Rocks .

Batticaloa

Batticaloa is located on a flat coastal plain bounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east and occupies the central part of the east coast of Sri Lanka. The city is bordered by an extremely picturesque lagoon and several islands within, but the main wonder of the lagoon is the singing fish. Sandy beaches are located along the coastline 4 km from the city. From here they extend further north to neighboring cities. These include the beaches of Kalladi, Pasekuda and Kalkuda. Batticaloa is often overlooked by tourists as they prefer to relax on the pristine beaches of Pasekuda and Kalkuda. However, Batticaloa has some interesting attractions which include Valaicheniai Lagoon, Vakari Lagoon, Buffalo Island, Bone Island, Lady Manning Bridge, Batticaloa Lighthouse and Batticaloa Fort.

Arugam Bay

A world famous surfing spot and famous tourist resort, Arugam Bay is located south of Pottuvil in the Ampara district on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka. The picturesque bay has a wide beach that is great for surfing. A calm ocean is observed here from March-April to October-November. Peak season is from May to August.
The best surf spot in the area is Arugam Point. Here the waves are usually around 2 meters high. For beginner surfers, Whiskey Point is a better option, a ten-minute tuk-tuk ride north of Arugam Bay.
Crocodile Rock is another great place for beginner surfers, but the waves are not always suitable.

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