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Seattle: Space Needle, Frasier and Starbucks.
Many come to Pike Place Market to visit the first Starbucks. Some discover that although it's known as the first Starbucks, the actual location was a block away but this was demolished and the coffee bean vendors (at the time, before they started to sell drinks) moved to this location, 1912 Pike St:
Starbucks numbers its stores. Interestingly, this store is number 301. There is no store number 1. The lowest number (according to this handy site) is 101 (also in Seattle). Who knows why!
A less-well-known but just as interesting (to Progressive Rock fans, at least) site in Seattle is Bass Northwest on Yesler Way. They have a fantastic mural on their wall, depicting the cover of King Crimson's classic 1969 album In the Court Of The Crimson King:
Also, having a store dedicated to bass guitars only - seems like something they'd do in Portland!
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'Keep Portland Weird' they say. But is Portland weird? Well, it is interesting, especially if you like craft beer, good (strong) coffee and food from trucks. This is the center of Portland's extensive food truck industry. You can buy pretty much any type of food here, from British Fish and Chips to Ethiopian stews and breads:
After lunch why not go to Voodoo Donuts for a box:
Don't worry if you are still full from lunch. It will take a couple of hours to make your way to the front of the line. While you wait you can do people-watching, which in Portland is always entertaining.
If you can't get to Portland but want to get an idea of what it's like, watch Portlandia, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein's sketch show which is definitely based on some real experiences in the city. Here's a great example:
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"On February 1, 1960, four African American college students sat down at a lunch counter at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. Their request was refused. When asked to leave, they remained in their seats. Their passive resistance and peaceful sit-down demand helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge racial inequality throughout the South." (Read more about it here)
The site of this seminal protest is still there, now preserved as a civil rights museum:
The lunch counter has been preserved but is now kept behind a glass case:
I was unable to find a photo of the Sunderland branch of Woolworth's, but I did find one from Newcastle:
Woolworth's sold lots of thing but it will always be remembered for its "Pick n Mix" counter. Here's an old one:
This tradition continued until Woolworths closed their 807 UK stores in 2009. According to this someone bought the last ever bag of Pick 'n' Mix on eBay for £14,500!
The Greensboro/High Point area of North Carolina is known for furniture. If you drive around you can find oversized items of furniture in various locations, like these:
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Tonight we went to Bicentennial Park in Baytown, TX for a free concert to celebrate 4th July.
The headliners were Kansas, and this would be the final time we'd see Steve Walsh, founder member and ong time vocalist, keyboard player and songwriter, play live in Texas:
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Today the St. Arnold Brewery turns 20, so still not old enough to drink its own beer but at least old enough to vote and to join the military.
The party took place at their brewery on Lyons Avenue in Northside Houston. The former Houston School District Catering facility has been the St. Arnold home since 2010. Copious amounts of BBQ were washed down with St. Arnold beer of various types and live entertainment was provided by various local artists, including Hayes Carll, seen here having his ear bent by a rogue Englishman who managed to get through security:
To finish the night, everyone got one of the 20th anniversary ale, brewed specially for this event:
Weighing in at a liver-wrecking 11.2% ABV, this was most definitely the last drink of the night.
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There's more to the Americas than North America. First stop Bolivia.
Bolivia isn interesting place. Everything is relatively basic, but the people are very nice and they make the most of what they have. One interesting fact: there are no McDonalds in Bolivia as the people do not want to pay such a high price for a burger and so past attempts to establish the stores there have failed!
Here's the airstrip we landed at in the town of Villamontes, in the south of the country:
No duty free options or food court here. The town has a community of Mennonites. If living a basic life in Bolivia wasn't enough, these guys go the extra mile and avoid all modern trappings:
But the residents of Villamontes do have an official fanny distributor, so that's good:
So now up to Panama. First sight looks impressive:
Right now Panama is finishing work on their first metro line. Line 1 has 13 stations and links Los Andes County with the city center. Here's the 5 de Mayo station entrance:
And here's a test train running at night:
Very impressive so far. Next up is the Panama Canal. This photo does not do justice to the size of the vessel passing through the canal:
The Panama Canal is 48 miles long and connects the Atlantic to the Pacific, drastically shortening shipping routes. Ships have to pass through a series of locks to get from one side the other and it takes 6-8 hours to complete the transit. The lock above is at Miraflores.
Panama may have a lot of advanced infrastructure compared with Bolivia but there are areas of extreme contrast, like this, just round the corner from 5 de Mayo station:
And then a whole different atmosphere in the old town, full of nice old buildings and, importantly, good bars:
