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Cross-USA trip Anonymous
Me and five of my friends are planning on taking a trip around the USA mid-June next summer. We're going in two cars and probably camping or staying in cheap places most nights. We want the trip to last about 2 or 3 weeks and are expecting to put in about $800-1000 dollars each.

Places we are considering stopping (starting in Boston): Niagra Falls, Cleveland OH, Chicago IL, St Paul MN, Mount Rushmore SD, Yellowstone Park, Sacramento CA, San Francisco CA, Yosemite Park, Los Angeles CA, Las Vegas NV, the Grand Canyon, Roswell NM, Austin TX, Houston TX, New Orleans LA, Lake Wales FL, Atlanta GA, Myrtle Beach SC, Williamsburg VA, Washington DC, Philadelphia PA

In that order. Obviously we're going to shave a bunch of these off but this is the basic plan. Any suggestions for places to stop, places not to stop, things to do, how to eat/sleep/drive, whether or not we're going to die of sunstroke in the South during June, etc.?
>> Anonymous
I would seriously suggest driving across NV on Highway 50. Not only is it a fucking beautiful drive, you'll get a taste of how desolate the state actually is.

Never been to Roswell, NM, but I doubt it's worth adding to the trip.

For cities in TX I would choose San Antonio and leave it at that. The downtown river walk area is really nice. Austin, Houston and DFW are all pretty much generic big cities. I'd have to say you might have more fun driving north from CA/NV up to Portland or Seattle (I prefer Portland myself). The Pacific Northwest is beautiful.

When you're driving pretty much anywhere west of the Rockies it's a good idea to keep a gallon or two of water in each car. It's also a good idea to keep a blanket, flashlight, etc. with you at all times. It gets really cold at night in CA, NV, AZ, and NM, even in the middle of summer.
>> Anonymous
Make sure to bring a nice cot if you're a fairly bony individual. Camping on the ground for two+ weeks straight is not that enjoyable (especially after driving for a long time). And it sounds like you'll need to camp a lot, for cost reasons. Plus, camping is more fun. So, if you're skinny, bring a good cot.
>> Anonymous
Niagra Falls -A Cleveland OH-ew Chicago IL,-C St Paul MN-C Mount Rushmore SD-ew` Yellowstone Park-AAA Sacramento CA-SUCKramento, San Francisco-A Yosemite Park-A Los Angeles CA-why?, Las Vegas NV-ew Grand Canyon-A, Roswell NM-scam Austin TX-A Houston TX-ew New Orleans LA-ew [Lake Wales FL, Atlanta GA, Myrtle Beach SC, Williamsburg VA, Washington DC, Philadelphia PA]-none of the above
>> Anonymous
>>63992
nah, good thermarest is fine
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
instead of Roswell NM I would suggest looking up The Very Large Array (VLA) Los Alamos, White Sands and the Trinity site. However the trinity site maybe only open at certain times in the year.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
o hi i live in Myrtle Beach.
>> Anonymous
>>64137
Would you recommend a bunch of New Englanders to visit it?
>> Anonymous
>>63985
One change; don't go to DC.

Go to the boardwalk in VA beach, or go to King's Dominion in Doswell, after you've gone to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.
>> Anonymous
bump for suggestions. Would anyone suggest visiting some small towns just to stop by? One I was thinking about was ToadSuck Arkansas?
>> Anonymous
>>64186
Don't listen to this joker, Toadsuck is way too far off our route.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
If you're going all the way down to LA, might as well as head to San Diego, and just stay out of San Diego's south and east county and you should be fine.
>> Anonymous
If you plan on getting a hotel in Houston, good luck.
However there are numerous farm towns east of Houston on I-10 with very cheap hotels. Sealy, Columbus, etc.
>> Anonymous
We need to add Savannah GA to the list of places we want to go, i think instead of Atlanta. Its on my list of top 5

~Sylvan
>> Anonymous
Also I would appreciate some reasoning for why we should or shouldn't visit some places. Like someone said to not visit Roswell but instead visit some other places - why? Or why not go to DC?
>> Anonymous
>>64351
Philly is a decaying corpse. I lived near it for many years. Mt. Rushmore is a yawn in the middle of nowhere. (honest - the Dakotas are EMPTY.
Cleveland is Philly's twin armpit. It's a dying rust belt city. Columbus would be more fun.
The people living there call it Suckramento. Why argue?
Try Boston thru the Adirondaks then W. to Niagra? It's a majestic mountain wilderness.
>> Anonymous
>>64076
nah; try to get some Ares 51 field trips, it's 60 mi from Las Vegas...

>Cleveland OH, Chicago IL, St Paul MN,

you'll end up taking a tollway for a lot of the time, Interstate 80 I believe (for the Cleveland-Chicago route). forr Chicago to St. Paul MN there's interstates 90 or 94 I believe (again not sure)

there's some US router parallel you van take IIRC

for the Chicago Area...there's a bunch of Irish shit in the SouthWest side of the city, mount Greenwood neighborhood and all..

in Indians, East of Chicago there's the Indiana Sand Dunes. Should be fun. Or interesting at least. Stopping in Monticello, IN might be a good stop too.
>> Anonymous
>>64364
continuing due to gay forum code

for the actual city of Chicago seriously, go get a room downtown or something. can walk south to 'Chinatown', lots of restaurants, etc. Michigan Avenus of course. There's Rush Street; a few streets West of Michigan Avenue north of the Chicago River, all clubs and shit; mainly 21+ :(. Diversey (or North Avenue I believe when it meets Rush Street) the club go west along that route in 'Old Town' . Lincoln Park is a similar neighborhood. Navy Pier is nice too, of course the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center.And the Bean/Millennium Park/Grant Park. More street performers there mainly and nice and crowded..that's what I've seen on Weekends more often during summer.

Oh and Clark Street in Lakeview is nice too..all independent restaurants and bars etc...Lakeview in general is cool like that...though there's large numbers of LGBT there so if you're homophobic/transphobic not too good for you.

Arguably just take trips through the North Side seriously.

also
Restaurants: downtown... Brazzaz. Expensive-ish Brazillian Steakhouse. Bubba Gump at Navy Pier. there's a restsurant at the top of the John Hancock building, and there's the Cheesecake Factory on the bottom.

Chicago is that huge!.
>> Anonymous
>>64365
>>64364

samefag finishing this.

erm see my email address in my email field if you need more info from me or anything related.

or leesci@sbcglobal.net

if anyone needs more info from a SouthSide Chi-town Nigra Anon and the like, like you OP..

EDIT: also that explains why my info might be weird or skewed; I LIVE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO!
>> Anonymous
I've been to most of the cities/places (still need to go to Yosemite/Yellowstone/Niagra/Rushmore, damn, missing out on the national monuments), and have to say:

Cleveland, go just to see Rock N Roll HOF then leave. Also if into sports, stop by Cooperstown or Canton.

St Paul: Mall Of America is fun for 15 minutes then not much else.

SanFran: Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Chinatown and then you're done unless you're a gay hippie.

Vegas: Gamble or get a legal hooker. Otherwise, Area 51 as suggested

Austin/Houston: Live in this area. Better suggest S.A/Austin, go see the Riverwalk then drive hour+ up to Austin to go see the bats in the sunset evening over by South Congress then go to 6th Street.

N.O., Burbon street but after that GTFO. Scary town.

DC, Go see the national monuments but after that bolt, nearly as scary as N.O.

Also highly suggest talking a trip to Washington State as a dog leg. Loved it, beautiful area. Also keep hearing so much about Portland, I might have to go see what it is all about.
>> Anonymous
>>64436
OP here - My friends have no idea what Prairie Home Companion is but I'm a fan of it and want to see a live show at St. Paul. I saw one when they visited Boston and it was a good time. Otherwise I wouldn't be too tied to going there. Also, we probably won't have time to visit Washington State as we're trying to keep the trip down to 2 weeks.
>> Anonymous
>>64443

You can go see that in St Paul, but dont stay there for stuff to do. The city is old and pretty dirty. Go to Minneapolis instead.

From Chicago, you can hop onto I-90 or I-94 to get through Wisconsin (which is awesome in mid-June, by the way. Try stopping in Madison, WI) up to St Paul/Minneapolis (it is 6 hours from Chicago to Minneapolis without traffic), then you can just continue on through Minnesota after that. Just know that western MN and all the way to the rockies is a fucking boring drive, so be prepared to have good music and maybe a portable DVD player, laptop.

About driving, make sure you are not too tired to drive, switch drivers often, find fuel-efficient cars to go with, don't get on each other's nerves and make sure everyone has some quiet time once in a while.

Have fun!
>> Anonymous
go to house on the rock. if its good enough for neil gay-man, its good enough for you.
>> Anonymous
>>64521
Oh man, this actually looks REALLY cool. Thanks!
>> Anonymous
>>64340
If you go to Savannah, drive around and look at the old houses; it's really worth the gas. If you're interested in history, go on a walking tour with a guide (I went on one for about $10 and learned A LOT. The guide was a sweetheart too); don't bother with the tour buses with the loud speakers because they're just annoying. For a good meal, try Pearl's Saltwater Grille. It's a bit high-end, but they have amazing food and the view is gorgeous. The Crab Shack is not very fancy, but portions are ENORMOUS; it would be perfect for a big group. Downtown Savannah is almost impossible to drive through; park somewhere in the middle and walk through. There are some really cool boutiques on the upper part. I only went through River Street (the very end one) once, and it looked alright. There are a lot of sweets shop and pubs there.

Atlanta has some pretty cool museums like the HIGH and Fernbank. The Georgia Aquarium is worth the visit; I could spend an entire day there. If you have the money and anything interesting is showing, the Fox theatre is truly fantastic. Try Mick's for good food; their entree menu is very eclectic, and the desserts are outstanding (the Oreo cheesecake is my mom's favorite food ever). The Spaghetti Factory's food is decent (they have a trio of pastas that is delicious) and the building itself is decorated beautifully. If you're not watching your figure but want to try something that's pretty classic Atlanta, go to the Varsity. The food is ridiculously cheap too. Depending on what you order, you may or may not devour a lot of grease. Do NOT walk around by yourself at night.

As far as shopping goes, just walk around (during the day) and see what catches your eye. :)
>> Anonymous
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>>64462
Just know that western MN and all the way to the rockies is a fucking BORING drive,

Did it 3 years back. You hit high desert in N. DAK and it continues through Montana, Idaho and half of Oregon. It is unbelievably bland & empty but there is relief just South of Billings Montana.
>> Anonymous
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>> ­­­
go to venice beach when you come to so cal
score some bud (its fucking everywhere there), smoak and chill on the beach
>> Anonymous
>>64620

I must disagree here. The high desert and plains in Montana, Oregon and Idaho are really quite nice in late summer. US Route 2 is fucking magic the whole way from Michigan to Seattle. There is good food, tons of wide open spaces, camping all over the place, and more state/national parks than you can shake a stick at.
>> Anonymous
Don't stop in sacramento, there's nothing to do here that you can't find in any of the other cities. Instead, if you are coming over hwy 50 through lake tahoe, stop there and then go to san francisco. If you are coming down I-5 from oregon(even though you'll be over in wyoming, dunno why you'd go this way), stop in Napa valley for some good wine tasting and such. If you'll be in Tahoe during the winter, there are some good resorts to hit up. Northstar and Sierra @ Tahoe for snowboarding, heavenly and kirkwood for skiing. Also in Tahoe check out Emerald bay, maybe rent a few bicycles and ride some trails for a relaxing semi-exercising afternoon.
>> Anonymous
thanks for all the responses. Keep it going
*bump*
>> Anonymous
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Definitely don't miss Arizona. You can stay here:

http://azstateparks.com/Parks/DEHO/index.html

super cheap, really close to Sedona, Jerome (where Maynard of Tool lives - also a cool little town with nice people), Bell Rock, Castle Rock, Cathedral Rock... places where you can hike barefoot on the red rock dust and it's amazing.

Vermont/New Hampshire, like around the Charlestown area is really pretty. I like upstate New York, too, near Watertown.

Southeastern Indiana is nice as well. Old Man's cave. The upper section of the Hoosier national forest is suh-weet!

Southcentral KY and eastern KY are very scenic as well. Eastern KY has the Daniel Boone national forest where you can hike around.

I've been to 35/50 states and those are my favorite places.
>> Anonymous
Houston is still going to suck from Ike next year. When you're going to Austin, see if you can make a stop in West, TX (not sure if it'll be too far out of your way or not) and go to the Czech Stop. It looks humble, but it's a world-famous kolache bakery. It's also incredibly cheap, and will make your mouth die from deliciousness.
>> Anonymous
>>64810
Nice, that bakery sounds great. I like the various gourmet suggestions in this thread.
>> Anonymous
Go to Maine.
>> Anonymous
Your driving plan is too agressive, you will be driving for three weeks straight and won't get to stop anywhere, I bet there will be a mutiny. I suggest fly into Chicago, spend 4 days there, drive to Door County Wisconsin for a day, stop in at Madison WI for a day or two, then get in the car, hit the highway and drive to Montana. Try to make it to Glacier National Park. Then follow the mountains down to Colorado, and check out northern New Mexico. Then drive back to Chicago nonstop. That would be a lot of driving for three weeks but you would still have time to stop and see things. Skip the east coast, it sucks. Cali sucks. The Rocky Mtns are awesome.
>> Anonymous
>>64934
Actually, we're trying to keep it to two weeks.
>> Anonymous
Most of us live in the Greater Boston Area, so we're planning on skipping most of the east coast that we can get to any time. What we're really looking for are places to see outside of the NorthEast.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
Here’s my input, I’ll give you what I know of places I’ve been/lived:
Niagra Falls: live here now, if you go, go to the Canada side, the US side sucks balls Cleveland OH(never been),
Chicago IL(never been),
St Paul MN(GF is from here, says it is kinda the suck),
Mount Rushmore SD(worth seeing, I’ve never been),
Yellowstone Park: amazing place, seriously worth a full day MINIMUM, no place like it in the world.
Sacramento CA,(WTF? Are you serious?)
San Francisco CA(cute town, see alcatraz, Lombard street and ride a trolly, next!), Yosemite Park(been here twice, not as amazing as Yellowstone, but worth seeing),
Los Angeles CA(I’ve only been to the airport, I hear it’s a good town though),
Las Vegas NV(been here several times, spend the night, hotels are dirt cheap and so much shit here is free it’s retarded.),
the Grand Canyon: SUCKS, it’s a big hole in the ground, seriously skip it, check out Zion or Arches national parks in southern Utah, MUCH nicer,
Roswell NM(tourist trap much?),
Austin TX, Houston TX(I think texas sucks, but that’s just my opinion,
New Orleans LA(I’d like to see it),
Lake Wales FL(uh, what?),
Atlanta GA, Myrtle Beach SC, Williamsburg VA, Washington DC, Philadelphia PA: east coast is east coast, I wouldn’t bother much with it, although Williamsburg was pretty cool, worth the detour.


Places you should add:
Colorado, take some mountain roads here, if you are from boston, the rockies will blow your mind.

Dinosaur park: on your way from Colorado to salt lake, bet you’ve never seen dino bones sticking half way out of a rock cliff.

Boneville salt flats, perfectly flat salt fields as far as the eye can see, plus you can take the road that goes from salt lake city to reno and see how vast and empty this country really can be.

White sands NM, someplace I’d REALLY like to go, unique in the world
>> Anonymous
What's with all the East Coast hate?
>> Anonymous
>>65137
Just brush it off, we know we are the superior coast
>> gayfag
SF is really cool, be sure you go all the way down the main drag of Chinatown. Towards the end, you'll find Kerouac Alley which leads to City Lights Bookstore, I spent about 2 hours browsing it when I visited. Also, there is a phenomenal Thai restaurant very close to that store.
If you walk through Haight Ashbury, you'll find a great restaurant called Kan Zaman. It is Lebanese food. Get the Arabian Tea.
>> Anonymous
go to SF, best city in the US besides NY
>> Anonymous
>>65167

too bad chicago owns both those shithole cities.
>> Anonymous
>>65170
And Boston owns yours. Fag-bag.
>> Anonymous
>>63985
Don't do typical touristy stuff. Walk around with the locals and savour the local flavour. It's much better. I remember one year I was visiting SF for a few days, but I didn't have a car with me. I ended up spending my time wandering SoMa and the Castro... it was great. I found so many boutiques and restaurants.
>> Anonymous
>>64364
all truths.

I'd recommend skipping Cleveland all together, unless you absolutely need to stop at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Even then it's incredibly over priced to just look at old clothes and instruments.

If you like theme parks I'd highly recommend stopping at Sandusky, Ohio on your way to Chicago. It's about 20-30 minutes just off of the I-80/I-90 and it's home to the largest roller coaster theme park in the world. Lots of world record breaking rides, and a total blast.

From Chicago to St. Paul you'll also pass Wisconsin Dells. There is Noah's Ark and a ton of amazing amusement parks. Again, only if you're looking for that.

Good luck with your trip.

Whatever you do don't stop in Gary, Indiana.
>> Anonymous
Has anyone here done this kind of thing before? How long did it take? Is two weeks long enough?
>> Anonymous
>>65349
nah bro i did it all in a hot air balloon and it took me hella days
>> Anonyputz
Yea, skip cleveland. I live there-it sukz. Cedar point cool, though (and on the way). Why not go in the other direction? Ending in Philly and DC seems like a let-down. If you end in Niagara, you can blow any cash you have left in the casino!
>> Anonymous
>>65383
I don't really have much on an opinion on the direction, except that the one part of the trip that's definitely scheduled, the Prarie Home Companion show, would probably be better to do near the beginning so that we don't have to be super-careful about how much time we spend at each stop later.
>> Anonymous
>>64810
Holy shit, 2nd ++ on this. Every time I drive to Dallas I make a consorted effort to stop by and get a couple Kolaches. They are crack.

Also stop in Salado, about 45 minutes outside of Austin, to get some jerky at Robertson's. It is a bit expensive at $25 for a pound but god damn it is addictingly good. Beats the shit out of anything you'll ever eat at a convenient store.
>> Anonymous
Don't go to Las Vegas, shit sux. Blows all your money, trannys will molest you, your shit will get ruined.
Chicago is a good choice if you just stay for the day, but you take the train everywhere, trust me, it's better that way.
Try going to less of the major cities and more to less tourist, asshole filled towns.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
If you are coming from the northeast and want to see some different types of places, you could drive through Michigan, follow the Lake Michigan coast up to the bridge then head west, check out the Pictured Rocks park and Marquette and Houghton. From there head to US2 and do some long driving. When you get to Montana, find Browning, MT and drive the Road to the Sun (or something like that) up into the mountains. This trip one way will take you about a week, so from there you might want to explore the mountains a bit then head down to the interstate and head home. I think on the interstate it will be three days back to the NE from MT.

I really enjoy driving across the plains on the 2 lane roads. The badlands are interesting and the scenery is otherworldly. I found the southern route (IA, NE) less interesting than the northern route (MN, ND).
>> Anonymous
Don't forget to stop by the Necropolis: Best Ruins this side of Pompei

http://www.detroityes.com/home.htm
>> Anonymous
>>65062

Fucking seconded. I'm originally from NY and moved to Colorado a little while ago, I still can't get over the rockies. If you come down into the northern Colorado, be sure to hit Estes park and visit the Stanley Hotel, where The Shining was based off of.

Also, avoid Nebraska if you can. Everybody drives like a maniac and you'll really appreciate how buggy your car gets after driving for a few hours past the fields.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
>>65809
On a similar vein, I-70 through Kansas is fucking BORING. Boring, people, boh-ring! All flat land, corn and soy as far as the eye can see. Only until western KS does the land start getting hilly and interesting.
>> Anonymous
>>65809

Nebraska is pretty boring to live in, and you would drive fast too if you had to go through the same 30 mile stretch of straight highway through corn every day. Yesterday, I was going 110 mph for a few minutes because I was so bored of driving, and wanted to get it done faster.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
Places to keep on your list:

Niagara Falls - legendary and beautiful
Chicago - great city, lots of shit to do
Yellowstone Park - also beautiful
San Francisco - lots of shit to do, good people, great art, but very pricy
Yosemite Park - same as Yellowstone
Los Angeles - worth visiting for a day
Grand Canyon - see Niagara Falls
Austin - only city in Texas worth a damn
Washington DC - worth it for the Amerikkka tourist shit. Go to the Smithsonian

Other places to think about:
Flagstaff, AZ
Seattle
Portland
San Diego
>> Anonymous
When you're in Niagara Falls there's not much to do except for look at the falls unless you cross over to the Canadian side. Niagara Falls, NY consists mainly of crack houses, factories and a mafia. The Canadian city is a tourist trap with a few casinos and strip clubs. If you're looking to spend some time in the area I'd reccomend heading toward Buffalo, which is 20 minutes away. You could stop in at Duff's on Sheridan or the Anchor Bar on Main if you want chicken wings, Chef's on Seneca is an other local favorite. If you're into history at all you can visit fort Niagara, or the erie canal locks in Lockport. If you're into sports, go into a bar and watch the Sabres, because tickets are probably going to be difficult to get. If you're looking for shopping, music, drinking or art galleries head to the Allentown district. Beware of lake effect snow from November to late December, and general hevy snow falls any time from then to march.
Buffalo's a fun place, you should swing by.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>>66300
>>66420
>>66481
Can you just write "I AM AN ENORMOUS DOUCHE" next time? I think that would get your point across a bit better.
>> Anonymous
I'm from California, San Francisco is definitely a must, there are a lot of great places closeby, I would recommend:

Drive into Napa/Sonoma, eat at the bar in a restaurant called Mustards, it's one of the least expensive places there and the food is fantastic. When I was there I had braised quail in a cherry sauce. Also, and this sounds stupid, be sure to order french fries because their ketchup is the best I've had in my life and you'll be surprised that it's indeed ketchup.

Start in Napa/Sonoma and work your way south to San Fran (about 1 hour drive)

go to this peruvian restaurant when you're in san fran, order the calamari and a cusquena
Limon
(415) 252-0918
524 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110

excellent and inexpensive

after san fran drive south to santa cruz, it is spectacularly beautiful. try to stay on the pacific coast highway as much as possible

south of santa cruz is sacramento, but i wouldn't recommend it, there isn't much to see

from santa cruz continue south and you can see monterrey, but make sure to stop in santa barbara for a day.

from santa barbara LA is only about 1.5 hrs south

then you can get on the pch again at long beach and see huntington, laguna, dana point, san clemente, hop on the freeway again for carlsbad, oceanside, and san diego

also, i have no idea how you would be able to make this trip on 1000 dollars each considering the price of gas, but good luck
>> Anonymous
>>64366
i've lived in chicago for years and i absolutely hate it... is there something wrong with me???