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USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November?
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A couple of 40-something Aussies heading over for NY Marathon and sightseeing, a bit of time with friends in Boston and then......
Need to fill 10-14 days, definitely out of there before Thanksgiving stuff ramps up.

We have looked at a few things - National Parks like Yosemite or Yellowstone seem to be limited access at best.
We're definitely not self driving in wintery conditions.
Package tours seem more backpacker/camping/glamping than the Boss will allow.
"We" need 3.5 to 4 star stuff.

Currently thinking Banff - ski season should have started and the Boss wants to see Lake Louise in the winter.
But that's probably 5 nights, a couple days of ski/snowboard hire and intro for total noobs.
Maybe a couple of nights around Vancouver before flying back towards Oz.

Vegas/Grand Canyon has been ruled out.

Any thoughts on:
Things to definitely see in/around NYC (bearing in mind post marathon legs)
Things to see in Boston (our friends will have ideas here as well)

Banff OK on what might be opening weekend or just after?
Will that make it more expensive/busy if it is opening weekend?
Should we look at another area instead?

Anywhere else we should consider adding to the list of places to go?
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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No offence but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say: “I am going to New York and night take a short side trip to Alberta” before.

As for Lake Louise, you said that the wife wants to see it in winter, it won’t be frozen by then if that’s what she wants.

I can’t help with Alberta or ski stuff.

As for my area (Southern Ontario) November isn’t a great time of year. Fall colours are pretty much over but winter hasn’t really started yet. Everything is kinda brown.

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [BLeP] [ In reply to ]
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BLeP wrote:
No offence but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say: “I am going to New York and night take a short side trip to Alberta” before.

As for Lake Louise, you said that the wife wants to see it in winter, it won’t be frozen by then if that’s what she wants.

I can’t help with Alberta or ski stuff.

As for my area (Southern Ontario) November isn’t a great time of year. Fall colours are pretty much over but winter hasn’t really started yet. Everything is kinda brown.

And the Leafs will have been eliminated from the playoffs by then too.

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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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If only the playoffs were a shootout competition. We'd have beaten the Bruins by now.



How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [BLeP] [ In reply to ]
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BLeP wrote:
No offence but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say: “I am going to New York and night take a short side trip to Alberta” before.

+1
And usually someone will say I'm going to Boston then a quick trip to Florida, not realizing the distances. But the OP is an Aussie, so they are used to traveling huge empty distances to go anywhere ;)


Early November is bad. New England - you'll probably see some snow, or it could be 70 degrees.
I'd see:
NYC: Met Museum of Art, Guggenheim, any other museum specific to you.
Boston: Freedom Trail, MFA, Museum of Science, museums at Harvard, Plymouth, Salem, Lowell, lots of breweries. Head to Newport, RI - the mansions start to have xmas lights up. New Bedford has interesting whaling stuff in a, uhhh, interesting city. Mystic, CT has a nice aquarium and old harbour.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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Banff is one of the most beautiful places on earth in any season. But November is an 'in-between' month - there will be snow and skiing at elevation but the town & valley will be likely wet and cold.

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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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Boston and NY are full of Irish Pubs. Post marathon seems like a few pub crawls make sense.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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As others said, I don't think you realize how vast and remote some of these places in North America are. For example, Yellowstone is a good 4-5 hour drive from anything! November is kind of a terrible time of the year for most stuff. Its brown, typically hunting season for a lot of big game, and cold but no snow.

Assuming your into outdoors and have no budget concerns, I'd say either look at Utah or Arizona.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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Sort of like when we visited Australia, at first we thought we'd fly in to Sydney, pop up to Cairns for some scuba diving, then rent a car and drive the full length of the eastern coast north to south and then maybe take a jaunt over to Perth, all in a short time. Like Australia, its a big land mass over here, even bigger than OZ. Anything in the north is a risk of possible crappy weather in November. Might be a good time to visit Florida or California. Probably some cheap flights out of NYC.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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Distance isn't the issue, but the related logistics are.
Like Yellowstone being partially closed and miles from anywhere and we won't be driving in wintery conditions.
We still have to go from home to LA, then to NYC and back anyway.
So a detour via somewhere, even if it's across the continent, isn't really much difference.
Banff for example, we can go NY-Calgary direct, then Bannf then Calgary-Vancouver.
Vancouver has direct flights home or we go Vancouver - LA - Somewhere - Home
Cold/wet with no snow is kinda what we'd hope to avoid, but we are limited by when NYC choose to have their marathon :)

Thanks for the location specific tips provided.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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i'd stay back east
why travel all the way across a continent for such a short time period
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [y_nigel] [ In reply to ]
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y_nigel wrote:
i'd stay back east
why travel all the way across a continent for such a short time period
OK, so what would we do for 2 weeks after spending 3 weeks around NY/Boston?
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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I never thought about it much before but November is an odd vacation time frame.... kinda shoulder season throughout the entire US....

Florida Keys?

White tail deer hunt camp in the upper midwest?


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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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Not sure I'm adding much, but you are unlikely to get true winter until late November/early December in Alberta (sometimes later). The higher elevation ski hills ( Sunshine and Lake Louise) opening day is usually mid December.
If coming in late November, Lake Louise would likely be wintery, but no guarantees.
On the plus side, crowds won't be an issue and prices are near their lowest. Crowds are biggest in the summer. During ski season, Banff is busy, but not crazy like it is in summer. November is shoulder season. It's still beautiful.
The train from Banff/Calgary to Vancouver (Rocky Mountaineer) is spectacular.
Vancouver is worth a visit, but will likely be rainy that time of year.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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tynomitey wrote:
A couple of 40-something Aussies heading over for NY Marathon and sightseeing, a bit of time with friends in Boston and then......
Need to fill 10-14 days, definitely out of there before Thanksgiving stuff ramps up.

We have looked at a few things - National Parks like Yosemite or Yellowstone seem to be limited access at best.
We're definitely not self driving in wintery conditions.
Package tours seem more backpacker/camping/glamping than the Boss will allow.
"We" need 3.5 to 4 star stuff.

Currently thinking Banff - ski season should have started and the Boss wants to see Lake Louise in the winter.
But that's probably 5 nights, a couple days of ski/snowboard hire and intro for total noobs.
Maybe a couple of nights around Vancouver before flying back towards Oz.

Vegas/Grand Canyon has been ruled out.

Any thoughts on:
Things to definitely see in/around NYC (bearing in mind post marathon legs)
Things to see in Boston (our friends will have ideas here as well)

Banff OK on what might be opening weekend or just after?
Will that make it more expensive/busy if it is opening weekend?
Should we look at another area instead?

Anywhere else we should consider adding to the list of places to go?



Banff is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Never been there in November but bee skiing there plenty of times in December. In December, the snow is usually great but I'm not so sure about November. The snow, this year, appears to be at an incredibly good level, especially at Sunshine Village Ski Resort.

Vancover is OK but Whistler is much better. Same as with Banff, its hard to predict how much snow will be there. But, Whistler Ski area is HUGE so even if just a small portion of the mountain is open, its still more than many other resorts. Plus, the drive from Vancover to Whistler is amazing (Sea to Sky Highway)

Hate to see you ruled out Las Vegas and/or the Grand Canyon. I'm not in to gambling nor partying at all but I do enjoy visiting Vegas. Just walking down the strip, looking at the hotels is entertaining. There are also a lot of shows to see.

The Grand Canyon is one of the most amazing places you could ever see but it can certainly be chilly in November.

Yeah, Yosemite and Yellowstone would most likely not be good to visit. Though, my wife and I did go to Jackson, Wyoming (the town near Jackson Hole Ski Resort and Teton National Park) in November one year and saw A LOT of moose and elk. No bears.

On the east coast of the US, not much to do (in November) unless you are willing to head to the more southern states (for warmer weather). There are American football games, if you find that entertaining at all, in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Nashville, and Atlanta. Several cities in Florida. If you like country music, Nashville (Tennessee) is a cool city to spend a day or two. Florida has Disney World, and its not just for kids. My wife and I go there quite a bit and really have a good time because there is SO much to do.

For the western US, besides Las Vegas/Grand Canyon, I'd visit San Francisco and go see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
y_nigel wrote:
i'd stay back east
why travel all the way across a continent for such a short time period
OK, so what would we do for 2 weeks after spending 3 weeks around NY/Boston?

visit Maine. Drive from Boston to Portland, then from Portland to Camden, then to Mount Desert Island.

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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [EyeRunMD] [ In reply to ]
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EyeRunMD wrote:
Hate to see you ruled out Las Vegas and/or the Grand Canyon.

You and me both, but I lose all tied votes.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [tynomitey] [ In reply to ]
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In mid-November you’re likely to see a mass exodus from the US to Canada. Maybe stay in the US. If you want history head to DC. If you want sun head to the Florida Keys.
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Re: USA/Canada - Things to do in Mid November? [JD21] [ In reply to ]
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JD21 wrote:
In mid-November you’re likely to see a mass exodus from the US to Canada.

Canada has already started building a wall on its southern border.


Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's
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