Cool things to see in these northern states?

[Stefan Bengtsson]

I'm gonna drive thru the following states this summer, but I don't know anything about where to go. Can someone give me the names of some cool places that I definately should visit? The only two things I've decided to see yet are Mount Rushmore and Niagara Falls.

South Dakota
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
New York
Pennsylvania

[Syv]

Badlands national park, South Dakota
Wall Drug (on the way into or out of Badlands)
Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota
Mammoth Site, South Dakota
Deadwood, South Dakota - see "street shoot out re-enactments", see the graves at the cemetery of Wild Bill Hickok & Calamity Jane...
Custer State Park, South Dakota
Lancaster area - Pennsylvania Dutch area of Pennsylvania

If you can, cross over to the Canadian side to see Niagara Falls. Better view. Lots of things to do and see in the area.

I'm sure there will be some replies about the interesting museums in Michigan and more.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm gonna drive thru the following state Pennsylvania

One of my favorite cites is Pittsburgh. I would check out the strip!

Mark

[choraldiva]

I live in the lovely state of Minnesota and although there isn't much to see here, I am a huge fan of both St. Paul and Minneapolis. They are beautiful cities and very different from each other. I would suggest spending some time in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. It is a very funky, artsy part of the city with great restaurants and lots of good people watching.

There is also the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. It is a big, huge, giant shopping mall (the biggest in the US) with an amusement park inside. I would suggest eating at the Twin City Grill once there...it is the best restaurant I've found in the mall.

Stillwater, MN is a lovely little historic town that is fun to walk around in. It was the first town in Minnesota and is very pretty.

Good luck and have fun!

[packman]

I've only been to Green Bay, WI, but the drives around it are beautiful. The Door County Peninsula is breathtaking and the ride from GB to Escanaba, MI is quite nice.

[Mass Tim]

New York - most of the upstate region is very beautiful. Don't miss the Adirondack region, with mountain roads and interesting small towns.

If you're a sports buff, New York has the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, and Lake Placid, site of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Of course, there's always NYC.

In Pennsylvania, I've found by taking any road off of the Interstate, and in particular those listed as 'scenic' on the atlas, to be rewarding (this applies to Anywhere, USA).

The Delaware Water Gap has nice roads and a lot of history. Speaking of history, Gettysburg is a must. We've found Bethlehem to be worthy of further investigation, especially the area around the Moravian College, and the site of the old Bethlehem Steel mill is indescribable (and at last visit, was being turned into an interpretive center, so it is unknown whether or not the smelter will remain.)

See also: Jim Thorpe, Road Side America in Shartlesville, and this link:
http://members.aol.com/bowermanb/PAsites.html
which has quite a bit (I haven't checked them all out yet.)

I've only a limited amount of experience with the Western part of the state, but in a few weeks I will have more information.

[Quebec Gen]

If you love arts, Diego Riviera's mural is an absolute must see at the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts). You could also visit the Ford museum and the Automobile Hall of Fame in Dearborn.

In NY, take a cruise along the 1000 islands. Visit Ausable Chasm in the Adirondacks Region. If you are into hiking and camping, go to Mts White Face and Catamount. Even more upstate is Point Au Roche State Park, a great place for picnics, there is a nice swimming beach, trails and bicycle path.

[Midwest Michael]

The places you should defenetly visit will of course depend upon what you're interested in, but I'll throw out a few ideas in addition to the great stops already suggested in this thread.

Factory tours can be interesting, some on your route might include the Kellogg's cereal plant in Battle Creek, MI, The Hormel "Spam" Plant, in Austin, MN. I'd also recommend a stop at a brewery in Wisconsin, there are dozens of small ones around the state, but the biggest ones would be the Miller plant in Milwaukee, the Leinenkugal Brewery in Chippewa Falls, or the City Brewery (formerly Heileman's) in LaCrosse.

If you like Water Slides or Mini-golf, Wisconsin Dells has dozens of water parks and other amuzment places.

If you want to get a taste of Wisconsin Culture, do some tailgating before a Brewers game at Miller Park in Milwaukee. The Brewers are a bad baseball team, and Miller Park isn't one of my favorite stadiums, but there's not a city in the US that has tailgate parties for baseball like Milwaukee. They even sell Bratwurst in the parking lot!

If nature is more your thing, Door County, as previously suggested, could go nicely with a trip up to Makinaw Island in Northern Michigan. You could also stop at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, just south of the Michigan border, along Lake Michigan, or take a trip along the Great River Road that follows the Mississippi River perhaps all the way to the headwaters at Lake Itasca.