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Published: April 25th 2006
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I’m in the USA and have been making my way west for the last few weeks. America has changed since I was last here - the people seem more insular, more scared and less aware of the outside world. Strange - I think the media and government play a big part, ensuring people are kept in their place by making them terrified of everything....... I am generalising and this is not good - I have had a great time so far and experienced a lot of interesting stuff. I just get the feeling that the USA could be so much better if it was a little more open and the people made their own decisions rather than believing the political bullshit that is shown so often...
The US trip started in Miami - we hired a car and made our way north to meet Ben in Davenport (between Tampa and Orland). The drive was easy, straight along quite highways.... After about 100 miles in I got pulled over for speeding and fined $200 - no wonder everyone drives so slowly here! Looks like I’m going to be limited to 65mph for the next few months, I may go insane ;-).
It was great to catch up with Ben - he’s trying to carve out a life for himself in the US and is working hard to make a good go of it. I’m not sure if I could do it , especially not in Florida. My lasting impression of the state is there is no life - everything is plastic and the whole place is catered to make money off visitors. The weather is nice, but that is about the best of it. I could not live there, the only reason I would go back is to see Ben.
We hit Coco beach, played a little golf and watched lots of premiership football. Most evening we went out to local bars and restaurants.
We flew out of Florida on Wed 12 April and headed to Youngstown, Ohio to spend a week with relations. I had not seen Ray and Cheryl since I was five years old. The first day in Youngstown was a day for catching up with family - there was a party put on in our honour and I met loads of great people. Some were related to me, some friends of the family, but
all really friendly and outgoing.
I spent a lot of time chatting to Ray about his time in the Vietnam war. It is incredible what he went through - I could not imagine being in that situation. He is an amazing guy, who has had to do things that would haunt most people for the rest of their lives. The situations he described were beyond belief, I hope I will never have to be in this position...
From Youngstown we took a trip with Ray and Cheryl to their camp in the Pennsylvania mountains. They have a cabin in the middle of the forest - it incredibly peaceful and the surroundings are unbelievable. Ray is a gun enthusiast and packed four of the thirty or so weapons he owns, so that we can go target shooting..... We try out a 2.2 calibre 6 shooter, a 45 Smith and Weston hand cannon, a Winchester rifle and a Remington 5.0, standard issue sniper rifle for the US marines (which is incredible)! We shoot targets at 50M and the 100M with the sniper. A lot of fun :-). By the time we get home that evening Cheryl has a blazing fire
going and we sit outside with a beer and chat as we barbeque our dinner.... A great evening under the stars.
We are not too far from the Canadian border and decide to head up to the Niagara Falls. Along the way we pass through some Indian Reservations - apparently they have their own laws. For example gambling is legal on Indian owned land, where in most US states it is illegal. The Native Americans have used this to their advantage an have opened many of casinos, which they are making a lot of money from. They are actually buying back a lot of land - looks like they are finally getting their territory back!!!!
The Niagara falls are really impressive, but the surrounding area is unnatural - there is basically a theme part right next to the falls, full of casinos, fast food restaurants and children rides. I have to admit in many ways I much preferred the isolated Basin Blu in Haiti - it was untouched by tourism and in a way much more impressive.....
We spent a few more days in Youngstown and rented a car for the drive down to St Louis. The
drive was fun, we drove across Ohio, stopping at the National Air force Museum, crossed Indiana and Illinois and arrived one day later in St Louis Missouri. It was good to be on the road, no worries, just eating up the miles.
As soon as we arrived, we could tell St Louis is a lot different to other parts of America we had stayed in. It is an old historic town and has a vibrant colourful feel. The buildings have been standing for over a hundred years, the people are friendly and alive and there is great food, music and art in abundance. This is my third time in St Louis and I still think that it is my favourite US town. When you consider I have spent time in New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago and many other smaller towns it just goes to show how much St Louis struck me.
We stayed with my Uni friend Aaron in his house in Maplewood, near the centre of St Louis. It was great to see him again and catch up properly. It was also great to see Brandon, Aaron’s younger brother and some of Aaron's friends and family who
I got to know on previous trips.
During the day we headed out sight seeing. We hit the Loop, where we called in to Blueberry Hill, an old music bar where Chuck Berry still plays once a month - unfortunately we missed him by a week.... We spent some time downtown wondering around the arch and Laclede's Landing and also spent some time in the Botanical Gardens. St Louis is the home of Anheuser Busch, the largest brewery in the world and produce of Budweiser, Michelob and a selection of other beers, so no visit would be complete without a tour of the brewery! We duly obliged...
We have been out every evening so far, visiting a variety of bars, restaurants, many live music venues and even a karaoke bar. Sampling real Double Dragon Ale, which is imported from a brewery 8 miles from my house in South Wales and nibbling on chips (crisps) with Welsh Rarebit sauce, in a Welsh pub called Dressel’s. Great stuff!!
St Louis is Baseball mad and no trip would be complete without a visit to the Busch stadium to watch the Cardinals play... This was my first time to a Baseball
game and I think I could grew to like.... The Cardinals beat their arch rivals the Chicago Cubs 7 to 3, in a game which saw Albert Pujols (the best hitter in the league) honour us with an incredible home run... We have tickets to go and see the Cardinals V Pirates this evening.
I have been told by a number of people living in St Louis that their passions are Socialising, eating, drinking and watching sport. I have had a great time doing all of these things and the lasting impression I take away from here is how friendly and genuine the people of St Louis are - its a great place.... Off tomorrow to Tucson, Arizona and Mexico - looking forward to the next part of the adventure...
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