<human>: Give me the gist of the text in a nutshell

After much deliberation I've decided to get my act together and organise myself a trip to the US (from the UK). Basically, my current contract expires in August, I have plenty of savings, so why not eh?

I envisage travelling to the East coast for maybe 1 month (could be extended) in September and visiting New York City, Washington DC and perhaps Boston. I'm a big museum junkie, and would be spending a lot of my time visiting museums or just generally wandering around the nicer parts of the cities. How long would people recommend staying in each city, and is there anywhere else in that general area they would highly recommend visiting?

I'm rather fond of hiking and did originally plan to hike the Appalachian trail this year, but basically life got in the way! As I've got quite a bit of time now, I was wondering if there was any great hikes people could recommend in the general area (a big area I know!)? I'm not planning on bringing a tent with me, so I would appreciate hikes that go via a hostel (or whatever) and accessible to a tourist without a car!
<bot>: Going to NYC, Washington DC, Boston for ~month in September. How long to stay in each city, other city suggestions, maybe hiking suggestions?