The United States (Southern end)

[Magpie]

Hi Fleetwood!

Glad you had a good trip. I love the Southern US--great people, good prices for just about everything. I hated driving in Nashville (like a giant go-kart track populated by maniacs) and Arkansas (they're highways are worse than cobbled side-streets)

Too bad you didn't get to eat in Texas--they manage to put a quarter-cow on your plate, cooked to perfect, for the price of a coffee and a ham sandwich back home....

I used to think the obsession about the weather was a little much too, until I got stuck between two tornadoes in Texas--not an experience I EVER want to be in again. I went to the nearest Walmart the next day and bought a weather radio

[curious]

In sum, really enjoyed the whole trip and would have gone back next year but we've committed to Scandinavia - particularly Norway, but we'll definitely be going back and will probably try Virginia and the Carolinas next time round and we may spend some more time in Tennessee.

Hi, Fleetwood Mac,
So glad you were made to feel welcome. We adore British accents over here. The mountains of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina are glorious this time of year, which is a really good time to travel here as the scenery is spectacular (most years) and the kids back in school so the touristy sites are less crowded.

And of course, Virginia is central to our history as well as having quite wonderful scenery as well. South Carolina is terrific for its beaches (its history is more difficult to cut through as it was organized differently in the early days) and there are even some restaurants in Beaufort and Hilton Head that I like, perhaps you might too.

So glad you enjoyed it enough to plan another trip.

[Fleetwood Mac]

Just come back from a couple of weeks in the US, and thought I'd put a few observations down on paper for anyone interested in an English perspective or non US citizens looking to visit the US.

While we were there we managed to see/do: a Country and Western show in Nashville, an Elvis show, The Country and Western museum in Nashville, Sun Studios, The Rock and Roll museum in Memphis, Beale Street, Shiloh civil war site, the Battle of Franklin site/Carter House, a trip on a boat down the Mississippi in New Orleans, Laura Plantation in New Orleans, Canteron plantation in Franklin, Bourbon Street New Orleans, Elvis's house/birthplace at Tupelo, Graceland, The Civil Rights Museum in Memphis; and I managed to have us turn up at the wrong hotel in the wrong city at midnight with a 2 and an half hour drive to the right place (she wasn't happy, but what can you do apart from look sheepish!). Travelling between states we woke very early to get off the beaten track to drive on the back roads, and so we managed to set foot in 5 states: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee. And there'll have been other things I've forgotten.

Hotels: good value for money. We got them cheaper than that which was advertised on the back of the room door, but still they were much better value than what you'd get in England for that money.

American homes: absolutely beautiful from the outside, but we were scratching our heads as to why we never saw anyone outside on the porch or any lights from inside; there seemed to be no signs of life in house after house regardless of the time of the day. Imagine if we had that weather in England! We'd be on the porch naked and praying to the sun god!

The weather: they're obsessed with it! Every 10 minutes there's a weather forecast on the tele. In England, the weather forecaster does her/his routine which usually amounts to "it's still raining, everywhere" and the presenters show absolutely no interest and quickly move onto sport; but not in the US: the presenters get involved, all ten of them, and they have a leisurely chat about the weather for a good few minutes every ten minutes. I woke up in the night couldn't sleep one night and turned the tele on to find a map of the US with a line circling the map in some sort of weather forecast! This just went on for an hour: one map; one rotating line. It appeared to be a weather tele station!

Sport: you know how in this country we have Match of the Day and Monday Night Football? They don't. They have channels dedicated to sport. A channel for Boise at BSU and a channel for someone else at someone else and you lose commitment to finding a non sport programme because every time you change it's some gridiron team at some other grid iron team. So, I settled for Boise at BSU.

Confederate flags: saw very few. A couple in Louisiana and Alabama but had been led to believe there'd be a lot more.

Churches: Alabama stood out. Seemed to be one every street.

Countryside: beautiful off the beaten track. Loved driving round the back roads and seeing the houses by a lake/stream.

Food: easily the biggest let down. Popular wisdom is that you get a plate the size of a tank full of food. Didn't happen. We eat bigger portions in England. You get much better value for money in England than you do in the US. In my view, they don't do restaurants well at all and this may link in to the fast food culture. On an Interstate in the US there are fast food outlets at every junction and in restaurants there's a hatch for take away. They just seem to be the sort of people who like to eat at home and the dining experience is poor in both food and setting terms. With the exception of the food in New Orleans: Gumbo and Jambalaya, which is basically a stew with ingredients we don't use - now that was worth the money.

The people: warm, friendly, made to feel welcome. Nice accent down in the South. Surprisingly they're not a tall race at all in that part of the US. I would say on average they're not as tall as the English, Dutch or Germans - quite comfortably. Quite a few times we were told: "it's a pleasure to have you here" and that really does help.

Getting around: very easy driving. Unless you've a nervous disposition you're not going to have a problem.

Museums: the Americans do museums very well. They find the right balance in that they're not so big that you lose interest. The guides are all very young but knowledgeable and engaging. A special mention to the young lad at The Carter House/Battle of Franklin who was excellent.

Live music: excellent. Loads of places had a good band on, free of charge, just sit down have a beer and enjoy. Although bizarrely they had a statue of Fats Domino outside one place in New Orleans that looked absolutely nothing like Fats Domino in size, shape and features - still had a picture taken with him though!

History: outstanding. The music, civil war and the whole culture of the Southern end of the United States. Came back with two books on the civil war, centred on why the South fought, and had read both of them by the time I set foot back in England. Fascinating.

English roots: seems to be a conflict. Some museums talk it up and others make no mention of it preferring to focus on the "Scots-Irish" (which I'm not sure that they've grasped that the people they're talking about were not loyal to Ireland), the Germans and others.

The beer: good enough for me. Tried a few local beers – Pecan, Dixie and can’t remember the others, and Sam Adams is decent enough.

In sum, really enjoyed the whole trip and would have gone back next year but we've committed to Scandinavia - particularly Norway, but we'll definitely be going back and will probably try Virginia and the Carolinas next time round and we may spend some more time in Tennessee.