It's getting near summer, and while that means travel and exploring new places, think of all the shows you'll miss on TV! And the comics/DVDs/books/whateverelse you won't be able to buy because you won't be at home! How will you stay as in touch with pop culture while on the road? Thankfully, your best friend the internet has come up with a way to take vacation and do so in such a way as to keep your nerd flag flying: Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to "How To Plan A Star Trek Cross-Country Road Trip."

Be warned - While that name sounds exciting, a more honest name would be "Doing the West Coast and then hopping over to Iowa and DC, the Star Trek way":

Plan to start your cross-country road trip in Monterey, California where you'll want to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is home to an astonishing 35,000 plants and animals. This incredible aquarium appeared in the 1986 film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where it was known as the 'Sausalito Cetacean Institute' in Sausalito. In the movie, the aquarium housed two humpback whales. This, of course, stirred up a bit of controversy when tourists visited the real Monterey Bay Aquarium wanting to see the whales when in fact no such whale tank existed (except through movie magic).

Make your next stop Seattle, Washington for a tour of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. This fantastic museum pays homage to top science fiction writers, artists, filmmakers and publishers, including Star Trek producer Gene Roddenberry. It's a must-stop on your Star Trek road trip.

Head east to Las Vegas, Nevada for Star Trek: The Experience. Located at the Las Vegas Hilton, Star Trek: The Experience features rides, interactive experiences, a museum featuring the world's largest collection of Star Trek props and costumes, a themed restaurant and bar, and plenty of shopping. And if you're feeling really adventurous—and want to get married—you can even have a Star Trek themed wedding on the Bridge of the USS Enterprise.

From there - assuming that you don't get married and need to go and check out "How to Plan A Honeymoon the Star Trek Way" - it's a jump over to Iowa, to visit the future birthplace of James T. Kirk, and then to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where the tour ends. But what I want to know is, are there really no Star Trek stops between Nevada and Iowa? This is a travesty - that's an entire time zone without the potential for Trekkie invasion. I demand the immediate construction of the Mountain Time Star Trek Museum of Awesome in the middle of Colorado to fix this outrage. Surely Leonard Nimoy has some ears to lend to the cause or something.

How to Plan A Star Trek Cross-Country Trip [eHow.com]

1:59 PM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By Graeme McMillan
1,804 views
20 comments

Comments

B at 02:31 PM on 04/25/08
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Wouldn't Kirk want me to see the nation filled with hot alien babes in minidresses?
goldfarb at 03:04 PM on 04/25/08
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"Monterey Bay.....MONTEREY BAY. Oh no! We've got to get of of here now. Damn! Hurry"

:)
bigswingdaddy at 03:14 PM on 04/25/08
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@goldfarb: THIS IS the Bay area! --You didn't expect to find me... you thought this was sausalito... Why are you here?
Charlie Jane Anders at 03:53 PM on 04/25/08
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Connectedness Index: 235

@bigswingdaddy: It's so true... Sausalito is a barren miserable planet.
Priam at 03:58 PM on 04/25/08
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@B: Yes. And he would want you to get drunk at least a couple of times.
bigswingdaddy at 04:38 PM on 04/25/08
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@Charlie Jane Anders: Does it have to be completely lifeless?

(ok stopping with the TWOK lines now)
JSharkey at 05:24 PM on 04/25/08
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I'm surprised there was no mention of Alameda where the nuclear wessels were kept.
rileyjam514 at 06:19 PM on 04/25/08
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Roswell, New Mexico (Little Green Men, DS9)... Broken Bow, Oklahoma (pilot ep, ENT)... Portage, Indiana (11:59, Voyager).... Omaha, Nebraska (Tomorrow Is Yesterday, TOS).... Secaucus, New Jersey (The Neutral Zone, TNG).... any point in NJ (A Matter of Time, TNG - they never really reveal where in NJ)... NYC (The City on the Edge of Forever, TOS, and Storm Front, Parts 1 and 2, ENT).

So many locations to include that wer left off!!
Evil Tortie's Mom at 06:49 PM on 04/25/08
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Gene R. was born or lived in El Paso, TX, which is the only city in TX that's in Mountain time (b/c it's basically New Mexico).

There's a plaque or something on the site.

Is this trip only counting TOS and movies thereof?

Gotta admit, I love the drinks at Quark's.
foolish-rain at 08:24 PM on 04/25/08
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@Evil Tortie's Mom: Mmmmmmm. Quarks. I have lovely and very vague memories of lst August's convention, a lively crowd and a very large Warp Core Breach. Rather than drive across the country, I'd rather move in to Quarks (especially if it were NOT at the Hilton).
wookie2 at 10:56 PM on 04/25/08
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[services.tos.net]

"I've done far worse than kill you ... I've hurt you ... and I plan to go on ... hurting you ..."
wookie2 at 10:57 PM on 04/25/08
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Damn ... not fast enough ...!
clevermonkey at 09:59 AM on 04/26/08
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Don't forget Vulcan, Alberta in your little trek. Granted, you have to slip into Canada, but if you're a green-blooded Trekk[ie|er], how can you not?
DrJimmy at 01:01 PM on 04/26/08
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A better place to srart on the Left Coast: Griffith Park Observatory; recently re-opened after a years-long renovation partially funded by Leonard Nimoy.

Also see the Kansas Cosmodrome, Hutchison, KS; Space Center Houston, Houston/Clear Lake, TX.
Evil Tortie's Mom at 05:28 PM on 04/26/08
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@foolish-rain: I must admit, one trip to Vegas, I did stay at the Hilton just for Quark's. We went through the whole Experience (and Quark's and the Promenade) with some folks who were only barely Trekk [ie|er]s and they loved it too.

The next time, I stayed elsewhere and monorailed to Quark's.

I wonder if anyone's duplicated their drink recipes? Wouldn't be the same without the funky glassware, but I could deal with it for a Warp Core Breach at home.
inconstant_reader at 06:57 PM on 04/26/08
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@DrJimmy: And didn't Griffith Park Observatory feature in a time-traveling Voyager ep? (Sorry, I know this destroys my Trekkie cred, but I have no idea what its title was.)

In general, I consider Enterprise An Abomination and Not Canon, but apart from that reservation I like rileyjam514's list. And what about San Francisco, future home of Starfleet HQ?

But definitely, to vacation like Kirk, you need at least two alien babes in revealing outfits; Saurian brandy is optional.
DrJimmy at 11:15 AM on 04/27/08
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inconstant_reader:
I'm old enough to have seen Trek on NBC the first time around, but I can't name the Voyager episode with the Grifith Park Observatory in it, either. Your Trekker cred is intact.

Sorry you didn't like Enterprise; I love it.That's part of what keeps America strong: Freedom of Choice!

I'm down with ya on requirements for vacationing like Kirk. Gotta pass on the Michelob, though. He either a)doesn't like it, or b) objects to the product placement.
Stueymon at 06:47 PM on 04/27/08
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See the nation as kirk would ....

"Bam Chicka wow wow... WOW WOOOOW! OOOH"
Cantonkid at 12:38 AM on 04/28/08
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@Evil Tortie's Mom: Warp Core Breach....ahh that brings back memories. I have done the Vegas Trek Experience twice and love the drinks at Quark's as well....the only thing that really dissapointed me was that I really thought/hoped that Quarks was actually modelled on the DS9 Bar (I mean the layout, dabo tables, etc.....but its not :(

Still definately worth a look. Place must be a madhouse during Trek conventions.
rileyjam514 at 06:31 AM on 04/30/08
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@inconsistent reader: Kept ENT only as a CYA - I hate it with the heated passion of a thousand stars (last ep: OMFGWTFBBWBBQ).

The episodes you're thinking of are Future's End, Parts I and II. And I should've thrown in Los Angeles too, and San Francisco, but I gathered that the trip would start with one of those two cities and head west.

Last place I left off the map: El Capitan - and I know everyone who knows why that might count doesn't count.

Saurian Brandy might be optional, but Romulan Ale definitely isn't. If you're traveling like Kirk, yeah the babes might be optional - not for me, I wouldn't because I'm married, but single guys can have it if they want.