Customer Reviews

1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Let me get my chief complaints out of the way first: this author loves to eat. It sometimes seems that every other entry is a restaurant or local culinary hot-spot, from "Cheese Country" to "Big Pig Jig." These are not destinations, they're cuisines. Subtract those, and you probably have a book better titled 900 Places to See Before You Die. (Assuming all the eating doesn't kill you at number 600.)

Another minor quibble: some of the "places" are actually events, like Burning Man and the Indianapolis 500. I'll overlook it...

She also likes to go in style, and apparently hasn't met a spa she didn't like. Subtract all the ultra-ritzy exclusive hotel/spas, sculpture gardens, resorts, dude ranches and expensive art galleries, which are likely either of out reach financially or simply not of interest to a large base of the potential audience, and you're down to 500 Places to See.

So, then, if you can get it for half price, you've got a bargain.

Now, onto the good things. There are many, despite my protestations above. First is the very idea of the book. It's fun and interesting to see such a list compiled; invariably something important gets left out, but what is created by the greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts compilation is a true sense of America as a destination in its own right, worth of as much attention as any other in the world.

Also, I was made aware of many places I wouldn't have found otherwise, like the Yoder Popcorn Shoppe in Topeka, Indiana. There are many hidden treasures in these pages.

Finally, despite being top-heavy with attractions for the chic looky-loo set as mentioned above, the book is saved from being completely out of touch by its inclusion of attractions that appeal to a broad section of people (as would befit a book about America). Burning Man Festival is here, as is the State Fair of Texas, the Civil Rights Trail, and others.

My strong recommendation is that a second book be created called "1000 Places to Dine Before You Die," (though the publisher may not want to have the words "dine" and "die" so close together), and all the restaurant entries removed from this and placed there. Then the gap filled with what got left out of this book and should have been in in the first place.

I asked for (and received) this book for my birthday. I am so glad I did!
I have traveled a lot in the US and am working on seeing the rest of the world, but wanted to know what I was missing here in the US. I anxiously flipped through the book and made a note next to each place I had visited.
I was amazed and impressed to find locations just a few miles from my home that I had never seen. I'll be visiting soon.
I am sure I will think of a couple of places that (I think) should have been included. Overall, though, this book is very comprehensive. It is fun and easy to read.
Nice touches inside include web links, phone numbers, etc. for each of the places. I also like the way the book is indexed in the back: active travel and adventure, culinary experiences, glorious nature, great golf, scenic drives, take the kids, etc. This makes it easy to search for a particular type of site, even if you don't know exactly what part of the country you want to see.

I loved Patricia Schultz's 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, and gave away copies to friends who loved travelling. This second follow-up, 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die is another winner. Though Canada is not as comprehensively covered as the USA, the book serves its purpose - to entertain and inspire, even armchair travellers like me. There are enough nuggets of information in here, and a treasure trove of ideas that can keep most aspiring/keen travellers happy, content, and entertained.

This is a fun book. The reader can build vacations around it. The work is based on the philosophy that (page x):

". . .travel has always been based on removing myself from what is comfortable and safe, on seeking out experiences that broaden my horizons and enrich me in ways superficial and profound."

The author also notes that she (page xiii) ". . .discovered time and again the country that is my home."

I'm from Illinois originally, so I immediately looked at the sites in the Prairie State. Many of these make a great deal of sense. Of course, one can always ask questions like: If Nauvoo, why not Bishop Hill? Still, good selections from my home state.

I lived in New York for quite awhile. I love the inclusion of the Anchor Bar (home of "Buffalo chicken wings"). I enjoyed the weekend jazz music and the wings. This is where Buffalo chicken wings began. The inevitable question: Why not the Genesee River Gorge? Once more, no criticism of the author's choices--just that there are a lot of possibilities that don't show up in the book.

Now, I live in Pennsylvania. And while I can understand the places included in this book, I also wonder why the exquisite Capitol Building of the Commonwealth in Harrisburg is not listed.

However, that is part of the charm of such books. Engaging in a dialogue with the authors' choices.

All in all, a very nice work and a good read.

1,000 places to go before I die? More like 1,000 spas and resorts and resturants. Big deal - the more money you spend, the bigger the wall you create between yourself and the local culture. Who wants to know about exotic resorts and five star restaurants? Don't tell me about the big ticket items! Tell me about quirky offbeat places with personality and charm, things I cant get anywhere else. Tell me about Hole in the Rock, UT. Tell me about The Last Stoplight on I-90. Tell me about a PLACE, not about how to spend money at generic locations.

Worthless.

I know there are so many places to see in the US and Canada, but this book really didn't do many places justice.

Just to name a couple....according to the book there is nothing to see in Florida north of Tampa. Have you never been to Pensacola? Seen McGuire's Restaurant, the Vietnam Memorial, The Air Museum. How about Flora-bama on the Florida-Alabama line. How about southern Illinois, have you ever been to Garden of the Gods? Shawnee National Forest, stayed at the lockmaster quarters on the Mississippi in Glocanda?

I realize, there are a thousand places to see in each state, but how many people can afford a trip to Charlie Trotter's in Chicago?

Just my opinion....

I got this book hoping for new inspirations on places to take my family. While some of the eastern and midwestern states were quite a bit more comprehensive with interesting locations, the two places which I was interested in California and Western Canada were a big disappointment. Most of the California locations were vaguely defined and would have been known to anyone who had never been there. The western Canada sites were fabulously expensive and only accessible to the privileged few who can spend between 300 and 1000 a night on exotic hotels and expensive restaurants. This tendency to list only the generic and the ridiculously expensive in some locations makes this book useless to me.

I was pretty harsh on Schultz's previous international edition of this book. So I am going to be a little nicer here and admit that the book is fun to read through and does let readers know about some great places to visit that they might otherwise have never heard of.

But the fact remains that Patricia Schultz is who she is, a snobby writer for Conde Nast Traveler magazine who has an intense obsession with fancy hotels, restaurants, spas and resorts that are out of the price range of most travellers. I also agree with the previous reviewer that the more you enclose yourself within the gated confines of luxury the less of an authentic travel experience you are likely to have.

I was especially upset by Schultz's international edition because it reinforced the notion, that too many Americans already have, that global travel is only possible for wealthy jetsetters. Instead the truth is that travel on a budget is available to everyone. And, in fact, many backpackers manage to spend a year or more travelling around places like Latin American and Southeast Asia for less then the costs of paying rent and bills at home. Of course, the declining U.S. dollar is making this harder to do now, but that's a whole other story.

I see Schultz's fascination with the lifestyles of the wealthy and fabulous to be slighty less problematic in this book because Americans and Canadians are generally more aware of domestic buget travel options as compared to travelling abroad. Still I think if Schultz focused a little less attention on the Hamptons and Palm Beach, on $700 hotels and $300 restaurants, then she might have been able to write a book that is more useful to the ordinary traveller.

This is not the type of book you actually READ, but rather something you glance through lazily when dreaming up future travel plans, or when wondering what to do in your own state when you have an open weekend and nothing to do with it. The back-of-the-book index is very helpful in this case. Comprehensive in its scope, it's a good starting point for someone with a fat wallet and a serious case of wanderlust. Like all travel books--(except Abrams' ART OF THE STATE books, which are fabulous!)--this book is a skeletal guide requiring the traveler to flesh it out by his or her personal experience. Use it as a starting point, verify the information on the web, and go to the places yourself to color in the lines with your unique perspective.

Other reviewers complained that some of the recommendations were expensive. (It could be because the writer is from New York City, so she may be accustomed high costs.) What I do with expensive suggestions is go to the restaurant recommended and ask passersby where I can find something similar for less. It's a great way to meet local people who are usually glad to tell you about the better value around the corner.


Like most travel guides, it can't bear the weight of being the be-all end-all, but it's a good place to start. The reason I gave it only 3 stars is because the writing is a bit stifling (or maybe the small type makes it seem stifling) and the page layouts are dull. Otherwise a nice reference tool.

Schultz has come up with a companion book to her first best-selling book, and has done all the homework for us and has drawn up our To Do List: 1000 places in North America that should get even the most lethargic out of their armchairs. I like the balance of the wellknown and unknown, the extravagant and free-of-charge, the easily accessible and those gems way off the beaten track. Even those who proclaim they know America inside out will have a few hundred new must-do's to keep them busy and elated for the next few decades.