[Gateway of Last Resort]‮

Hm. Is there any risk of you taking a day trip up north across the border from Seattle?

this one isn't near where I live anymore, but I try to take people there whenever I can!

Tillamook, Oregon! There's a nice little hike out to the end of Cape Lookout, along which you can see the wreck of a B-17 Flying Fortress that crashed while on a patrol.

There's also the Tillamook Cheese Factory there, which does tours.

My favorite though, is the Tillamook Air Museum. It's in an old K-type airship hangar from the 1940s, the largest wood structure in the world.

Really, the entirety of the Oregon coast going up highway 101 is absolutely beautiful. I love the Oregon coast so much.

I think Graffiti Pier in Philly is rly cool, it's a big huge abandoned concrete structure on a pier that's absolutely covered in graffiti

Porchfest in West Philly is the most "local culture" kind of thing I can think of, but it happens once a year so you'd have to really time it well to catch it

there's this food truck in centre city called Octopus Falafel, they're really good but they're only open for a few hours around noon a few days of the week. there's no menu, you simply go and get what they're making that day (it's meat-focussed though)

Jim's on South Street is a cheesesteak place. I guess Philly is known for cheesesteak or whatever I've never had one lol. but if you're in that neighbourhood you should pop in to South Street Art Mart, it's a lil queer art shop

outside of Philly, I really like DC's metro stations, idr which one I'm thinking of but it was an underground station and it's this vast concrete tube inside and it's beautiful

Ashland, OR has a special place in my heart bc I went there on a trip with my English class to go see a bunch of plays, it's a tiny city but they're biiiiig on theatre there

if you're able to cross the border and for some reason find yourself in Syracuse, NY, about two hours north is Kingston, ON. tiny tiny place but there's a breakfast place called Pan Chancho that I think upon fondly. there isn't really any good reason to visit Kingston though

If you happen to stop somewhere in Texas, there's just too many wonderful restaurants to list. The stage is so big I'd have to know where you might be - Houston, Dallas, Galveston, Austin, San Antonio... Well actually I don't know anything in San Antonio lol

sorry i'm in NYC so i just want ur bagel & dance party recs now

If you somehow end up in new hampshire and have time, go hike Mt. Willard in Crawford Notch

If you go through Pittsburgh, check out the Duquesne incline and its lovely machine room, and consider eating at Apteka, which is the best vegan polish restaurant on the continent.

if kansas city is on the list of stops, the most obvious thing i can say is get yourself some good BBQ. plenty of good spots for it, but i'll always recommend Joe's Kansas City BBQ, the one in the gas station. yeah that sounds weird on paper but it's good as hell. also you gotta check out the lil restaurants up in the city market in downtown, and especially so if the farmer's market is happening. lots of good food and locally grown/made produce and crafts and such!

there's also the WW1 museum here, which is apparently The Official museum about WW1 in the US. i haven't been in a while but i remember it being fascinating and interesting to visit. it's also right under the liberty memorial, which has a nice view of the rest of downtown around it! i'm not sure if it's well known, but everyone i've told about the museum seems to have no idea it so that counts for something i think

there's also the whole "First Friday" thing that happens every first friday of the month (shocking i know), tho the months from april to october are the best months to do that. they turn this whole district of downtown into one big art show with exhibits, street performers, and the like. it's a cool experience!

Was gonna suggest the Strolling of the Heifers, a cow parade in Brattleboro VT but they ceased parade operations two years ago apparently, heartbreaking news for me.

In Southern VT if you end up that way, Molly Stark State Park has a nice short hike, Mt Olga, and a beach where you can paddle canoes nearby (Lake Raponda). Downtown Brattleboro is lovely, check out Amy’s Café for lunch, and Blueberry Haus for ice cream, Everyone’s Books for books.

if you end up on Long Island go see the Big Duck in Flanders

• what is a landmark or place you love but isn't well known near where you live (for instance, in NYC the grain terminal would be mine)

Spruce Hill Bird Sanctuary in Spruce Hill, Philadelphia

• what is a landmark or place you love but isn't well known far away from where you live (idk yet i'm about to go visit is the point)

Chesterfield Gorge, Chesterfield, MA

• what is a good restaurant near you (xi'an famous foods is my answer for NYC)

Gojjo on Baltimore Ave in Philadelphia (eat in the back deck!)

• what is a good restaurant representative or local food near you (i know a couple good bagel spots around here for instance)

Lee's Deli on Baltimore Ave in Philadelphia

• what is a good restaurant in another spot in the country (idk yet)

Filo's in Northampton, MA (Get the Greco-Korean Kimchi Fries)

• what experience can you think about that embodies broader US culture near you (for nyc, probably going to a minor league baseball game)

Get a tour of the Parkway Central Library off Logan Square in Philadelphia. Visit the "Rocky Steps" at the Art Museum while you're nearby.

• what experience can you think about that embodies local culture near you (probably going to a trans dance party in bushwick?)

Going to an open independent market event. Makerfests, Trans Art Marts, Punk Rock Flea Market, West Philly Craft Fest, Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park. Chinatown street market events. UHURU Flea Market at Clark Park. Even the Fine Art Market at Rittenhouse Square I think counts. Which one is happening will depend on the time of year. If you can catch any event at the William Way Center or Bok that should be a good bet. The Trans Fashion Shows at William Way also have a fashion market and the whole thing feels very Philly

Alternatively: Porchfest or Wawa Welcome to America.

• what is your favorite place in the US (can be a specific wawa at 2:30am, or can be at a national park, anything)

Provincetown, MA might be a tourist trap but I just Feel Good every moment that I'm there. It's to me what Disney parks are for a lot of people. I just love Cape Cod and P-Town in particular.

Arkansas/Missouri/Oklahoma Recommendations

Arkansas:
Ozarks: Eureka Springs - gay little town with lots of cool architecture. Thornhill Chapel designed by a student of F. L. Wright. Grottos (got married in one!), haunted hotel (Crescent Hotel), springs and trails and mountains. Candy, fudge, and icecream shops, and you can probably find some pretty good BBQ.

Ouachita Mountains - Mt. Magazine has the highest point in the US Interior Highlands. Nice trails and a lodge restaurant built in the 1930s with great views.

Tonitown Grape Festival - started in 1898, going there to get a pint of those grapes I crave relentlessly is worth it. Carnival, art booths, music. Very classic experience. The friday night spaghetti dinner made by all the italian grandmas in town is a big event. https://tontitowngrapefestival.com/schedule.

Further south is Hot Springs where, similar to Eureka Springs it was all about 1900s tourism, spas, etc. Pretty cool stuff to see there, Al Capone lived in a hotel there and allegedly had secret tunnels built to get in and out, lol. Hot Springs was bigger than Vegas for gambling and shows early on, but politics and religion (ah the south) popped the balloon and by the 60s Vegas surpassed it. https://arktimes.com/news/cover-stories/2021/04/01/how-politics-and-religion-handicapped-hot-springs-in-the-race-to-become-americas-chief-gambling-resort

Missouri: (also in the ozarks)
Silver Dollar City is an extremely funny theme park themed around hillbillies 💀. It has some decent rides and some very goofy rides including Fire in the Hole, a kiddy coaster that is kind of spooky (and hillbilly themed), and it was my first park ride. If you have any interest in going, make sure to find the Succotash food stand. If I could teleport there and get a giant plate I'd do it. Ough. There are some cool cave tours and a Dolly Parton stampede show in town as well. Branson is an extremely funny tourist town.

Ozark Missouri has a childhood favorite, "Lamberts, Home of the Throw's Rolls"
Giant delectable yeast rolls, and more comfort food than you could ever possibly eat. They also have an RV campsite, which might be of interest to you! (there is one other location with RV camping in Sikeston, MO)

Oklahoma:
Tulsa has the Woody Guthrie Center which is very cool, the Philbrook Museum has nice gardens as well. I'm not sure what the best food places are anymore, but there's some nice stuff there. There's a zoo and aquarium but lots of places have those. The Center of The Universe is pretty neat tho! https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-center-of-the-universe-tulsa-oklahoma . Cain's Ballroom is a really fun music venue if there happen to be any shows there you're interested in seeing. We saw St. Vincent there during her St. Vincent tour in 2014 and it was incredible, since it's such an intimate venue. All timer.

some random suggestions from places i've really liked in no particular order

• the abandoned subway tunnel in Rochester, NY
  the tunnel crosses the river on a bridge with beautiful lighting and lots of graffiti; DM for my routes in there
• Power Vista, Lewiston, NY (just north of Niagara Falls)
  an exhibit about the second wonder of Niagara Falls: the power plants, set in a 60s building with great views of the concrete megastructures on both the American and Canadian sides of the river
• Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen, Williamsville, NY (right next to the Buffalo airport)
  home of the beef on weck: roast beef on a kimmelweck roll topped with lots of salt and carraway seeds
  it's a Buffalo classic, and Charlie the Butcher has been serving them up forever
• Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, Boston, MA
  1940s-vintage streetcars still in service at the south edge of Boston
  lmk if you're here bc i'd love to meet up
• Mount Washington Cog Railway, NH
  a train up the tallest mountain in New England with views all the way to Canada on a clear day; you can also drive up the other side of the mountain
• Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunk, ME
  trolleys, buses, and metro trains in the Maine woods; a lot of them are from Boston, but not all of them
• Cape Pier Chowder House, Kennebunk, ME
  stop here for lunch (chowder! fried seafood! lobster!) before going to the trolley museum
• The Telephone Museum, Ellsworth, ME
  telephone switching in the woods; see also: Connections Museum, Seattle, WA

Connections Museum in Seattle (hours weird and limited but oh so cool) and probably Bryce canyon national park in UT really surreal geology and cool hiking

Landmark/place: Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp (southern Georgia). Kinda in the middle of nowhere, it's a Dark Sky Park. Maybe not relevant if you're going out West where there are dark skies aplenty, but it's neat. The swamp itself is pretty unique - I think it's the largest blackwater swamp in North America, and there are pretty cypress trees and many alligators. You can camp or rent a cabin, and there are motor boats, kayaks, and canoes for rent, as well as boat tours. Summer is hot as hell, though.

are you headed north out of nyc or just west? i can offer some Vermont suggestions if you're heading this way

Its not super close to me herein Portland but I'd hit the Hanford Site (decomm nuclear production facility) since that's fascinating stuff to me.