02 September 2008
Great things found in America: #3
In its 30+ year existence the Hostess Fruit Pie, as far as I know, never made it to the UK. My first exposure to Hostess and its fruit pie (they also make Twinkies and Cup Cakes) was in American comic books in the 1970s, where adverts like the following appeared in every issue: Now who wouldn’t want one after that? It took me until my first trip to America in the mid-1990s to try one for myself. The love affair has continued ever since. I have checked the nutrition detail on the wrapper and I can confirm that: -They…
01 September 2008
Labor Day
Today is Labor Day here in the US. Labor Day is a US-wide public holiday which has been celebrated since 1882 when the Central Labor Union of New York City suggested a day off “for the working citizens”. Anyway, its anything but a holiday for the residents of New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast in Louisiana. Hurricane Gustav, on its way last night hit the coast around 10am this morning, 70 miles southwest of New Orleans. Fortunately, it was a Category 2 storm as opposed to the Category 3 or 4 expected. The largest evacuation in US…
30 August 2008
Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
So 5 hours after leaving Louisiana, we entered the State of Texas. Before 1845 Texas was an independent nation, recognised by the USA, UK, France and Holland. In 1845 it was annexed into the USA and it is now the second largest state in terms of population and area (the first in each category being California and Alaska respectively). The name " Texas" comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends and Texas is known for its friendly people. For instance, they say: If someone in a store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may be…
29 August 2008
Three years to the day
Today is the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster here in New Orleans. Katrina was a category 5 hurricane, the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest hurricane ever to reach US soil. It caused damage overall totalling $81.2 billion (in 2005 money). Whilst a lot of progress has been made in restoring the city’s housing and other facilities only around 67% of the population has returned to date (and even here nearly 3,000 families still live in emergency accommodation today) and there’s still more work to be done. So on a day like this you might expect to…
28 August 2008
The Big Easy
Today’s journey took us 291 miles from Tuscaloosa, Alabama through Mississipi and into Louisiana To New Orleans, otherwise known as the Big Easy (possibly because it was considered one big speak-easy, or illegal drinking establishment, during the prohibition era when drinking was banned in the United States).With 51% of New Orleans being at or below sea level (an overall average of 1.5 feet below sea level, with some areas being up to 10 feet below) you’d probably not be surprised that Hurricane Katrina could have caused such a catastrophic effect. However, since the beginning of the 20th Century of 2,000…
27 August 2008
That Smell
Since we’re heading through Alabama towards Tuscaloosa, you were probably expecting the title of this blog entry to be “Sweet Home Alabama” but instead I’ve chosen another track by the band that helped, along with Warren Zevon, give Kid Rock a hit this year with “All Summer Long” (both “Sweet Home Alabama” and and Zevon’s “Werewolves In London” are sampled for the song). Strangely enough, Lynyrd Syknyrd originally came from Jacksonville, Florida not Alabama but how would “Sweet Home Florida” have sounded? Their name is a deliberate misspelling of Leonard Skinner, their old teacher. Ronnie Van Zant (founder, singer and…
27 August 2008
Great things found in America: #2
There’s ribs and then there’s Dreamland ribs. “Ain’t nothing like ‘em - nowhere” as the restaurant likes to say. Dreamland was founded in 1958 in Tuscaloosa by “Big Daddy” John Bishop. This was the same year that Bear Bryant started coaching football at Alabama (If you’ve seen Forrest Gump you’ll see him portrayed - look out for the trademark houndstooth hat he always wore: Bear Bryant died in 1983 aged 70. The Birmingham Post-Herald published a poem written by the American poet Charles Ghinga: He led his crimson troops Across two decades on the field; More than a coach,…
27 August 2008
Roll Tide
Whilst that might not mean much elsewhere, anyone in Tuscaloosa will appreciate you using the rallying cry of the University based there. This is taken from the fight song written by Ethelred Lundy Sykes in 1926: Yea, Alabama! Drown 'em Tide! Every 'Bama man's behind you, Hit your stride. Go teach the Bulldogs to behave, Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave. And if a man starts to weaken, That’s a shame! For Bama's pluck and grit have Writ her name in Crimson Flame. Fight on, fight on, fight on men! Remember the Rose Bowl, we’ll win then. …
26 August 2008
History from San Francisco to Monterey
Everyone always says there’s no history in America. Obviously there is a distinct lack of buildings pre-1600s (apart from wigwams) but on my (relatively short at only around 220 miles there and back) journey from San Francisco to Monterey and back (using two slightly different routes to see as much as possible) I went through a few places that are linked with famous people or events either in the history books already or will be in years to come: -Palo Alto. Shirley Temple was born here and its home to PARC, the Palo Alto Reseach Center where Ethernet and…
25 August 2008
On the road (and in the air) again
After a break in Greenville, South Carolina, its time to move on to the next stop en-route to Houston, Texas: Atlanta, Georgia. Which reminds me, where’s the map showing the whole route as planned: Ah, there it is. So its as follows: Epsom, UK 0 Start Southampton, UK 80 miles Car Brooklyn, NY 3,130 miles Ship JFK airport, NY 20 miles Bus Charlotte, NC 650 miles Plane Greenville, SC 103 miles Car Atlanta, GA 145 miles Car Tuscaloosa, AL 202 miles Car New Orleans, LA 291 miles Car Houston, TX 347 miles Car And, because this wasn’t enough, I’ve added…