Trip advices

[sokos]

Hello fellow Thinkpaders!

Since we have such a multinational fellowship here, why don't we create this topic to ask advice for when one visits to another place?
e.g I can give some advice for anyone who visit my country for places to see, places to eat, places for shopping, bars/clubs/ etc.


I ll be first asking since tomorrow I m flying from Europe to Orlando, FL for vacations and since this is the first time I m visiting the U.S i need some help/advice. I want to rent a car and drive around Orland, Miami and Tampa.

1. Any good shops to buy a digital camera? Or can i order from eshops such as newegg.com and they can deliver to my hotel?

2. I appreciate good food, so any suggestions are most welcome

3. I want to rent a car. What should I consider? Any hints? I d really like to get a Ford Mustang since it's an icon for the American automobile industry

[dsigma6]

Hertz rents Mustangs...

Go for THIS.

[sokos]

hehehe, awesome set of wheel but I think it will cost $$$$ for a week

[rkawakami]

Only have advice for item #3... Don't rent a car that shouts "hey, I'm a rental car!" all over it. My understanding is that Florida changed their vehicle licensing system several years ago, moving away from plates starting with "X" and "Y" (or was it "Y" and "Z"?) automatically being reserved for rental car fleets. Same for not having stickers or license plate frames shouting out which rental car company it belongs to. If you need to rent a station wagon because of all of the bags/belongings you will/might accumulate, make sure it has some sort of cover for the back to keep prying eyes from spotting anything interesting. I speak from personal experience in this area (not Florida, but Australia).

If anything, I'd rent a Ford Crown Victoria. That type of car is used by many police agencies. Some drivers (like me) automatically tense up or pay more attention to their driving when they see the outline of that car in the rear-view mirrors (yeah, I sort of drive fast... ). Of course that could backfire if somebody is actively looking for trouble .

Have a fun and safe vacation!

[skitty4gzus]

First, the mustang is overrated. If you want to rent it for the fun of it to say you drove a mustang, go for it, otherwise rent something easy on fuel that can carry luggage and what not. Ive rented a mitsubishi montero (not my choice) a couple times now and its a pretty solid SUV, not too bad on gas either.
Second, there is no reason an online retailer wont mail to your hotel. Just include your name and let the front desk know your waiting on a package. Otherwise, there are plenty of electronics shops like Best Buy, Circuit City, Ritz, MicroCenter, Fry's, etc......
Third, try some good seafood while your here. I dont know exactly what they have in Orlando, but I ate at a Mike Anderson's in Baton Rouge and it was amazing.
As far as what to do, go to Disney and Universal Studios?

[sokos]

Hi guys, I m replying from Orlando with my baby T61, the hotel has ethernet cable in the room so it's great to keep in touch with work. Thinkpads RULE!

Ok I was flying already when you posted your advice, i got a Dodge Charger. Pretty nice set of wheels I can say, nice V6 engine pulls well and make nice noice, got it for a week and costed $500 with full insurance from Thrifty.. Ouch.. but it was the cheapest serious car after i checked with all big rental companies.

Now I m bit unlucky as it rains like hell all day here so I could only drive to some small local electronics shops, but couldn't find the camera I m looking for. I ll try tomorrow hit downtown to look for the shops that Skitty mentioned and also try call cdw or newegg and ask if they can send the Canon G9 over here.

Skitty, if you are coming down this way this week, i ll buy you some lobster, they sell it all over here and it's very cheap! You can get more lobster here than McDonalds
Don't want to sound ignorant here, but if you want to have some good seafood, you gotta visit me in Greece!

I really hope it stops raining here!

[skitty4gzus]

i wouldnt turn down a lobster dinner, but im about a solid 24 hour drive to orlando from here in michigan!!! charger is a nice vehicle, but at $500 for a week they should be driving you around! you know whats funny, they are using Chargers now as Police cars up here in Michigan!! Anyways, it wouldn't hurt to ask some folks around there where to look for things. You never know you may just run into some nice folks there in Orlando that will help you out.

[ThinkPad]

Do check out south beach and ocean drive it does have quite an entertainment factor.

[dsigma6]

First, the mustang is overrated.

Tell me about it! I only posted about the Mustang because I saw a show a few weeks ago about it. Otherwise, Mustang/Ford wouldn't be mentioned in my household.

[skitty4gzus]

Im not a Ford fan at all, and if I could stop everybody from wasting their money on them I would. Well I would stop as many people from buying a mustang anyways. $30k for that, I could make you a list of vehicles for that much or less that will blow the doors off a mustang. Oh and Sokos if I were to come to Greece it wouldn't be for lobster, but I would come for some amazing Gyro's!

[elite-elitist]

The basic V6 model is 20k. I don't see a faster new car for 20k.

To put things into perspective, the Mustang converible is cheaper than the Chrysler Seabring convertible, the Seabring is front wheel drive, and comes with a puny 4 cylinder.

I think the Mustang is a good buy, new or used. Sorry to go off-topic.

[sokos]

Hi guys, just came back to Greece, home sweet home
I need to get used to the time again, my clock is all messed up.

Here a pic with the Charger:
http://www.forwarding.gr/mx5/usatrip/dodge1.jpg

I ll get back for more once i have some time, work has fallen a bit behind now..

MOD EDIT: Overlimit picture changed to link.