3rd April, 2016

OK, the last leg of our epic tour and we have arrived, eventually, in Boston, one of my favourite cities. It was a shame, but on this visit I was unable to walk the Freedom Trail so it was not possible to be reminded of all the stupid things the British did in the run-up to and during the American War of Independence. More on why this was impossible shortly. For now I must acknowledge our lovely hosts, Jane, Sam (Snr), Sophia and Sam (Jnr) and their wonderful hospitality. I might be accused of being a bit critical of some things American (see blog on Hawaii), but I readily acknowledge their immense hospitality and this leg of the journey was no exception.

First evening was a lovely family meal where we managed to discuss every dining table taboo going (politics, religion and sex) without coming to blows, which just goes to show the quality of the company present. Not a computer, laptop or mobile phone in sight – just good old discussion. Marvelous.

4th April, 2016

We did have a vague plan to go out and see some of Boston, but that was quickly kyboshed when the snow started falling. This is not all that odd for this time of the year in Boston (though certainly a bit late in the year), but it was obviously tough on Val and myself who have been more used to looking for the nearest air-conditioner rather than gloves, hat, overcoat and hot water bottle. Yes, I CAN feel you sharing our pain…..

Val and Sophia did manage to venture out to the shops briefly. I stayed in and did my Pennsylvania blog and photographed the garden (from inside the house). Someone has to do it… The fire was lit, tea was had, more wonderful cooking from the redoubtable Sam Snr, chat and wine – what more could one want? (less snow??)

5th April, 2016

Jane took a day off and we thought about what we might do, bearing in mind it was still about freezing with a nasty wind to boot (and to hat, to coat and to glove!). It was such a lovely day we decided that the best way to view it was from the inside of Jane’s nice warm car, though I bravely leaped out at regular intervals to snap some of the fabulous New England architecture (largely in Cohasset) and the Atlantic coastline.

This was finished off with a visit to the supermarket and lunch at the diner (yes, another burger and a very good one as it happens). Val and Jane managed what seemed to me on the sidelines to be a very amicable game of Scrabble as I ploughed on with book 4 (or is it 5?) of Game of Thrones. Mr Martin has a bit of a habit of killing off some rather key characters! I am now really worried every time there is any sort of action. Val cooked chicken curry – though somehow I did not manage to produce the now statutory fruit salad. But then we are in pie country here.

6th April, 2016

Our final day!! A quick and cold trip to the shops and a nice restful day reading, sleeping and catching up with emails and checking the diary for the onslaught that is to come once we get home. Off to the airport courtesy of Sophia (many thanks) for our overnight flight on Virgin Atlantic (a vast improvement on American Airlines and Qantas).

Many, many thanks to our hosts – splendid as ever and it is just such a shame we all live so far from one another.

And now back to reality! I thought this would be the last post, but I may see if I can do an overview of the trip in the coming days. Of course, if you want me to continue, you only have to ask (mind you, I am more than impressed that you have made it this far). (Assuming you have). (Hello, is there anybody there?)

 

 

31st March, 2016

An uneventful flight brought us to Newark Airport to stay with our next wonderful hosts – Bettina and Argyris who live in New Jersey…..or so we thought! Somewhere along the way we seemed to have missed the fact that they have moved, so it was a bit of a surprise when Argyris met us at the airport and announced that we now had a two hour drive to the north east of Pennsylvania. Never mind, it was great to see them and Mariah, their 15 year-old daughter and Ari their 7 year old son (and Leila the dog!) in their home deep in the woods (rather than a suburban street in NJ!). We had a lovely supper and a long chat and then headed to bed – and a nod of thanks to Mariah for sacrificing her bed for us.

I know some of you enjoy these bits, so I thought you might like to know that Pennsylvania (along with Delaware) was given to William Penn by King Charles II in 1681 in payment of a debt of £16,000 (over £2million in today’s money) he owed Penn’s father (Admiral William Penn). This made Penn the largest non-royal landowner in the world. He wanted to call it either New Wales or Sylvania (as in wooded), but Charles insisted on Pennsylvania in honour of the father. Penn wanted a haven for the much-persecuted Quakers and managed to settle some there and to establish what was a very liberal constitution for its day. He was however embezelled by a colleague and though his family retained the area until the American Revolution, he died penniless (nod to Nick Bradley for the pun there – one, I should acknowledge, that Val spotted) back in England. Coincidentally he was baptised at All Hallows-by-the-Tower, the same church where John Quincy Adams was married (and Thomas Moore and John Fisher as well as Archbishop Laud, are buried (it is conveniently close to the Tower after all). I believe my great uncle, Sir Ion Hamilton Benn, is also buried there. So there you go.

1st April, 2016

No April Fool, we really were deep in the Pocono woods in deepest Pennsylvania! The house overlooks Lake Wallenpaupack, a popular spot for the traditional American summer vacation, which meant that it was pretty much deserted the rest of the year. It was wonderfully peaceful though and reasonably warm – though I got to wear my fleece for the first time in 3 months. To be honest, it must have been wondering why it had had to come on the journey, only to be kept hidden away in the dark of my suitcase for months.

A bit rainy, but we had a lovely walk and it was easy to imagine what it must be like in the summer. That evening we went for a nice meal at a local restaurant and had a fiendish game of Hearts to finish off the evening (Argyris – claiming not to understand the game – came from behind to win).

2nd April, 2016

A little chillier today, but not too bad. A nice slow start and then off to go 10 pin bowling. If you don’t know, Val is an excellent bowler and was in fine form. I managed one of my highest scores (165) and although some of us struggled at times (it is surprisingly more difficult than it looks) we had a great time. We had time at the end to drop in at the new park that has been built in their local town.

This was not the end of the day though as Bettina had organised for us to attend a performance at the Shawnee Playhouse of The Diary of Anne Frank. So after another nice dinner, we settled down for what proved to be an excellent performance by a very professional amateur company. The Playhouse was originally built in 1904 and has a long tradition of providing theatre to locals. The Anne Frank story is always one of those where I hope the ending will be different this time )like in Romeo & Juliet). Very interesting (and chilling) portrayal of the 8 people cooped up together for two years of whom only one, her father, survived the war.

That should have been the last event of the evening, but we were halfway through a game of Crazy Whist (and I was winning!), so we finished that off (yes, I won) and it was off to bed before our early start in the morning for the airport. It was a wonderful stay and great to catch up on all the news and our thanks to the whole family for looking after us so well. Great friends!! Next time we will find out where you live before setting off!

3rd April, 2016

Now this was a bit of an eventful day! It didn’t start too well as it snowed overnight and whilst Val was making herself an early piece of toast there was a power cut – we later saw the offending tree straddled over the power line. Not a major problem, though and candles and torches were soon in action. However a shower was out of the question as you need electricity to pump water from a well (or you do here for all you pedants out there thinking ‘no, John. I think you will find that wells have been around for centuries before electricity was harnessed to get the water out of them’). Undeterred (and unwashed!), we set off just after 7am for La Guardia. What a difference a day makes as the snow lay all around…..

I thought you might enjoy a photo of my socks and shoes – I was complimented on them in the airport by a nice Australian lady! I know the photo of the New York skyline looks a bit odd, but I took it from a moving car. The bridge is the George Washington (named after one of the greatest Englishmen ever born!)

We arrived nice and early at 0915 (thanks Argyris!!) and settled down to wait for our plane to Boston at 1200 only to discover it was delayed by high winds. We eventually took off at 3.15pm – but that did give me time to have endless refilled coffees at the cafe and watch Leicester beat Southampton on the TV they had (curse you, Leicester!) and keep track of the T20 Cricket Final between England and the West Indies on the tablets they provide for the customers. Unfortunately I could only seethe text on the BBC website (though that is always an excellent way to ‘see’ the game) and only England’s innings, as after 3 cups of coffee I felt I had better leave the cafe (and go to the loo!!). I tried to get the game on my iPad only for the free wifi to run out after 30 minutes – but I snuck back and checked, only to end up disappointed for the rest of the day as England lost in what was the last over. A great game though by all accounts.

Tablet with TV behind – heaven!

The flight eventually took off – very, very windy and we bumped our way northwards before landing briefly in Boston. I say briefly as we definitely did touch down on the runway only for us to surge up again. All due to an unexpected ‘gust of wind’ according to our pilot. We circled round and landed safely and permanently this time  – to a small smattering of applause from the passengers. We had arrived in Boston for the last leg of our epic tour – more soon!

27th March, 2016

Well, here we are in Texas, the Lone Star State! We are staying with our lovely Shivonne’s lovely parents and other relatives and were met at the airport by her Mum (‘mom’?), Kim and her Dad (‘pop’?), Darryl, who then drove the 210 miles to the state capital, Austin, a mere 3 hour drive as if it was just down the road.

The plan was that we would stay a couple of nights with Kim’s sister, Karen in Austin and see the sights before heading off to Dallas/Fort Worth to stay with Kim’s parents. So first up was a drive to the Easter Sunday picnic at Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch where there was a sort of gospel/Country & Western style concert at one of the smallest chapels you have ever seen. Luckily they had speakers outside, so everyone could hear. I was a bit worried that as I was in my travelling clothes I might look a bit odd – my travelling attire being my smart shoes, smart trousers and jacket, plus hat (of course). Why, I hear you ask, do I dress like this? Well, it is all down to weight as I reckon that the shoes are the heaviest I own and I can save some weight on our luggage, which is right on the edge. Naturally I cannot wear my tatty chinos with the shoes, so the rest follows. I thought you would understand….

Anyway, I need not have worried – I was in Austin where weird is normal and much celebrated. The ranch (I was saying ranch, which seemed to be viewed as quite funny, rather than the local dialect – raaaanch (if y’all see what I mean)) was good fun with lots of people dressed in an array of western styles and someone with a pig on a lead. We walked about a bit, met up with Karen, took some photos and generally enjoyed a nice warm spring day. No sign of Willie, sadly.

It was then off to Austin proper to Karen’s lovely flat overlooking the Colorado River where we were joined by Monica and Noah, Shivonne’s siblings – and Brooklyn, Monica’s cute daughter. Stupidly I seemed to have been enjoying myself so much I failed to take many photos of them, but here is one of the flat and its view!

28th March, 2016

By the by, my mother would have been 100 years old today. Happy Birthday, Mum!

Today we explored a bit of Austin, starting with Mount Bonnell which is a lovely park with stunning views (as you can see below). Austin is not as big as Dallas and Houston, but is the state capital. It has the usual downtown high rise buildings, but thereafter it is almost all two storey houses surrounded by trees. And really nice houses too. The ‘let’s hold up downtown Austin’ pose did not work as well as hoped! The TexMex lunch was great though (if a bit messy)!

That evening Monica, Patrick (her partner) and Noah joined us for dinner and Val cooked chicken rice and I made, wait for it, a fruit salad!! (Nod to Caroline there as this is her all-time favourite!).We managed to witness the famous bats of Austin, which congregate on one of the bridges and tend to set off for a fly-by at sunset…. (picture of Brooklyn also included).

29th March, 2016

Today we ventured into Austin proper, starting with the Capitol building, a very impressive edifice in pretty much standard architectural style. Interestingly the senators and Representatives only meet for 140 days every other year, spending the rest of the time doing their day jobs, which is just as well as they only get paid $7,000 a year. Sounds good to me! They had a portrait of Audie Murphy there, the most-decorated US soldier of WWII who also had a major career in the movies before an untimely death in a plane crash at the age of 45. There is also a photograph of the door hinges, which weigh about 8lbs each.

We also popped into the Texas Museum and caught up with some of the history of the state, including when it was a separate nation for a while having fought with Mexico for independence (‘Remember the Alamo!!’) before annexation by the USA. An excellent museum, but sadly we did not have quite enough time to fully enjoy it. Next time! We had a really excellent early supper at Monica’s restaurant and  then set off for Fort Worth where we stayed with Lee and Phyllis at their truly lovely house.

30th March, 2016

Amazingly, the weather forecast was for rain (in TEXAS???), so any outdoor pursuits were out of the question, so instead we had an excellent visit first to the Amon Carter art gallery with a very good display of Western art, especially the gallery dedicated to Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, two of the best artistic recorders of the last remnants of the old Wild West and also an exhibition on Thomas Hart Benton (look him up). And then we followed that up with another iconic American pursuit, going to the cinema – where we saw The Revenant. Great performance by the Bear – and Dicaprio!. A few photos, including two exhibits we found at the gallery (Lee and Phyllis!) and a few of the kitchen at their house, where Lee makes a superb breakfast!!

After a last minute game of Yahtzee it was time for the traditional photos before Kim took us to the airport. Many thanks to all concerned for looking after us, especially Kim and Darryl who did so much driving and Karen, Lee and Phyllis for accommodating us so regally.

Next stop – Pennsylvania!