In our travels we have visited many brewpubs.
As the rise in popularity of craft beer increases, they are now scattered all over the world.
Wherever possible I souvenir their beer mats.
Not every establishment has them but where they do, I try and grab at least two fresh ones for my collection.
In a year without travel, I have found them to be an enjoyable reflection of our past adventures.
Here are a few from my collection.
After 85 years the conversion of Hagia Sofia, from a museum back to a mosque, marks a turning point for modern Turkey.
The basilica of Hagia Sophia, built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian 1, was inaugurated in 537 and apart from a few changes, especially to the dome, is largely intact.
The emperor had building material brought from all over the empire, including Hellenistic columns from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
It held the title for being the world’s largest cathedral for nearly 1,000 years and was a marvel of architecture and engineering.
Following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, four minarets were added to the exterior.
As part of the secularising of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1935, the basilica was tuned into a museum.
This UNESCO World Heritage site is the most popular tourist destination in Istanbul. In 2014 over 3.5 million people visited the museum. Since then numbers had dropped off, due to terrorist concerns, but have steadily risen again with 3 million visitors in 2019.
It has been a wonderful example of how Turkey spans both the east and west, faiths and cultures.
This retrograde step is yet another move by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his conservative, popularist government to turn back the clock on history. It’s a rejection of the secularism that has made Turkey such a diverse and interesting country.
Having made two side trips out of Berlin we decided to see a bit more of the city itself. Parts that we had never been to in our numerous trips there.
Our first excursion was to visit the Berlin Television Tower or Fernsehturm in German. Surprisingly we had never visited this iconic building in all the times we had been to Berlin, going right back to our first time in 1972.
The tower is situated near Alexanderplatz, in the district of Mitte, an easy stroll from our hotel. This area was in the heart of the the old East German side. The tower was completed in 1969 and is visible from just about anywhere in the city.
Standing 368 metres high, it was a giant middle finger salute to the West.
These days the main attraction is the viewing tower, with a revolving restaurant, which draws over 1,000,000 visitors per year. The viewing level is 203 metres above Berlin and from there you can get a great view of the city and most of the landmarks.
On the eastern side we could even see the Hotel Ibis, our temporary home for the last six weeks. The tower is such a landmark that the Ibis has a graphic silhouette etched into the glass doors throughout the hotel.
Ironically the tower has now become the most prominent symbol of the united Berlin.
It was the centenary of the creation of the modernist Bauhaus school of design in 1919. What better time to visit some of the architecture that became a legacy of their principles.
Siemens City or Siemensstadt was founded in 1913 by Siemens and Halske, the forerunner to today’s Siemens AG. The primary reason for its creation was to provide low-cost housing for the nearby Siemens factory.
The construction took place over many years and is regarded as a model of urban design. So much so that in 2008, together with four other modernist settlements in Berlin, it was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Many architects were involved in the design of Siemensstadt, including Walter Gropius (1883-1969) who designed a very contemporary addition in the 1930s.
Walter Gropius was a founder of the Bauhaus and is regarded as a pioneer of Modernist Architecture.
Gropius studied architecture in Munich and then Berlin, where he joined the office of Peter Behrens, a founding member of the Utilitarian School. Other employees within the practice were Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier both influential in developing Modernist Architecture.
With the rise of Fascism in the 1930s Gropius was forced to leave Nazi Germany. He first went to Britain in 1934 and then the United States in 1937.
He died in Boston, Massachusetts in 1969 aged 86.
As part of the Bauhaus Centenary, the Berlin Gallery of Modern Art had staged an exhibition celebrating the milestone.
The ‘Original Bauhaus’ Exhibition (1919-2019) covered the students, teachers and philosophy of arguably the most influential design school of the 20th Century.
The school was only open for 14 years in Germany but its influence has lasted for a century. It is regarded a the pinnacle of thinking in graphic design, architecture, industrial design and teaching.
As Deutsche Welle wrote on September 8, 2019:
“The original Bauhaus design school was opened in Weimar in 1919 by the legendary architect Walter Gropius.
The school moved to Dessau in 1925, and then Berlin in 1932, before being closed by the Nazi regime. The communist East German government was also initially critical of Bauhaus, before embracing its legacy in 1976 and having the original building reconstructed.”
Luck was with us yet again, being in Germany for this historic exhibition.
It was time for another side trip from Berlin, this time to Lindau Island on Lake Constance.
We caught the ICE (InterCity Express) from Berlin HBH to Lindau HBH. This took up most of the day but the ride was very comfortable and the train had good internet, so I could work.
Once we were on the island we met up with our Swiss/Australian friends Denis and Martine.
We were staying at the Hotel Garni Viktoria, which was on the edge of town but still very close to the centre. The hotel wasn’t open when we arrived, so much to Denis’s delight, there was time for a late lunch.
Lindau township is very close to the Austrian and Swiss borders and is on the 0.68 square kilometre (0.26 square mile) island of the same name. It is joined to the mainland by a road bridge and railway dam.
A feature of Lindau is the harbour entrance to the port, with its lighthouse and Bavarian Lion statue, both built in 1856.
Once we had checked into the hotel we went for a walk around the town. We then came across the Hundertwasser exhibition Dreamcatcher For A More Beautiful World at the recently opened Kunstmuseum at the Inselbahnhof.
Friedrich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) was an Austrian born New Zealand artist, architect, environmental activist and opponent of ‘a straight line’ in architecture. This use of biomorphic forms has led to him being compared to Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926) the famous Modernist architect from Catalonia, Spain and designer of Sagrada Família in Barcelona.
This was an exhibition of his painting and print making and his avoidance of the geometric was evident in the work on display.
Lindau Island is connected to Lake Constance and the surrounding area by a network of ferries.
We decided that a day trip to Mainau would be a great way of seeing some of the lake and one of the most significant other islands.
We took the fast ferry to there so we would have enough time to explore. Even though the ferry was described as fast it still took nearly two hours to get there.
On the way we kept on seeing blimps in the sky over the lake. These came from town of Friedrichshafen, home of the famous Zeppelin.
A visit there was planned there for another day.
Mainau is described as a Garden Island and once you reach it you can see why. It’s geographical location gives the island a more Mediterranean climate than the surrounding country. This allows semi tropical plants to thrive in the more temperate conditions.
There are a number of historic buildings on the island but the main attractions are the gardens and the Arboretum. This garden of trees was created in 1856 by Grand Duke Frederich 1 and contains over 500 rare trees.
Mainau is administered by the Lennart Bernadotte Foundation and there are only about 200 people permanently living on the island.
To add to the tropical feel there is a greenhouse which also doubles a butterfly enclosure.
Wherever you walk on the island there are also great views of Lake Constance. It is certainly a big tourist attraction and we found ourselves jostling for vantage points to get good shots of the attractions.
One of the architectural highlights of Mainau is the Castle Church of St Marien. This Roman Catholic church was built in the Baroque style between 1732 and 1739. It is richly decorated with ceiling frescos and alter paintings by Franz Joseph Spiegler (1691-1757). There is also rich stucco work by Francesco Pozzi (1704-1789).
We took the slow ferry back to Lindau which added another half hour to the journey. A relaxing beer and wine in the salon of the ferry Konstanz and the time seemed to go past very quickly.
It was the start of the new school year for the refugees in Arnex. This meant Martine had to return home to supervise the enrolments for her French classes. This left Denis, Thea and I to go to Friedrichshafen to visit the Zeppelin Museum.
This time we were on a train, which was a much faster journey than the previous day’s ferry. Admittedly Friedrichshafen is much closer to Lindau than Mainau.
The centrepiece of the Zeppelin Museum, the world’s largest aviation collection, is the reconstruction and history of the Hindenburg.
The partial reconstruction of the Hindenburg measures 33 metres in length and gives a good idea how this monster airship might have looked back in 1937. It is complete with a recreated lounge, that surprisingly features Modernist furniture.
The Hindenburg became a propaganda tool of the Third Reich, who totally rejected the work of the Bauhaus, a Modernist Design School that started in 1919.
The Hindenburg was designed and built by the Zeppelin Company in Friedrichshafen and operated by the German Zeppelin Airline Company. The commercial, passenger carrying, rigid airship flew from March 1936 until it was destroyed by fire, while attempting to land in New Jersey, USA, 14 months later in 1937.
Thirty six lives were lost in the fiery crash, with conspiracy theories abounding as to the cause. As there was a huge media presence at the landing site in Manchester Township, it became one of the most reported airship disasters. However the loss of life was considerably smaller than some of the preceding crashes. In 1923 the French Dixmude lost 52 lives. In 1930 the British R101 lost 48 and in 1933 the American Akron lost 73 lives.
Not the safest form of transport in the day.
Another feature of the exhibition was a beautifully restored Maybach Zeppelin. The Maybach Car Company was formed in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son and was a subsidiary of the Zeppelin Airship Company.
Apart from the airship museum there is a side gallery containing an important collection of art from South West Germany. Within that exhibition there was a special section that related to the ‘Nazi plunder’ of German art.
During World War II the agents of the Third Reich plundered art from all over Europe, much of it was taken from the Jewish population that either left Nazi Germany or were sent to the concentration camps.
This art is now being gradually recovered and the exhibition detailed the forensic analysis that is required to trace this art back the original owners. Many of the paintings were exhibited so you could see both sides, the art itself and the side that usually goes against the wall. This was done because the frames, canvas and shipping notes are a vital link to tracing the art’s origins and returning it to the original owners or their relatives.
After lunch by the lake in Friedrichshafen we returned to Lindau and spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around the streets.
That was until the rain came.
There was an interesting portrait collection by Brigitta Loch in St Stephan Church. It was unusual to see art, other than the religious sort, featured in a church.
That night the three of us had dinner at a very German restaurant in a Bavarian pub. This was slightly out of the centre of town and we had to scramble back to the hotel, dodging the persistent rain.
After breakfast at the hotel, which we all decided was excellent value, we wandered into town for a coffee and then parted ways.
Denis was on the ferry, heading back to Switzerland to join Martine and we were on the train returning to Berlin.
It was a long train ride, interspersed with torrential rain.
A soggy end to our second side-trip from Berlin.
We had been staying in the Ibis Hotel in Berlin for about 9 days and decide it was time for our first side trip.
After picking up the rental car, a Ford Fiesta from Europcar, we drove to Dresden.
We did have a couple of stops along the way.
The first was a coffee stop in Bestensee and then for a walk around Neuendorfer See.
The Lake, which is both an inflow and outflow of the Spree, is a popular camping spot for Berliners with many permanent sites. The shoreline is flat with many bays and the surrounding area is covered in pine forests.
And apparently the fishing is also good.
We then drove into Dresden and found the B&B Hotel. This was out of the city centre and had two great features. Firstly it had free parking and secondly it was half the price of the inner city hotels and still within walking distance of the sights.
After a stroll around the city we had dinner at a restaurant on the River Elbe.
It was a rather quiet spot and we wondered where the action was in Dresden. After dinner we continued our city walk and discovered the Neumarkt Square.
It was crammed with restaurants, serving a variety of cuisines – we will return there again.
It was a slow start to the day with breakfast at a local café before we headed out to do some sightseeing.
It’s lucky that there is any of Dresden left to see, considering the pounding it took in February 1945.
Primarily a city of art and culture Dresden, unlike many other cities in Germany, wasn’t the home to vast industries. On the night of February 14 the RAAF deliberately bombed the Dresden city centre. The destruction of the city and the resultant civilian casualties, many of whom were refugees, was hotly debated, even before the war ended later that year.
Even now, 74 years after the war, Dresden is suffering again, this time from the tyranny of the far right. The growing concern about the rise of extremists in Dresden has led to the city council declaring a ‘Nazi crisis’ in the city.
Porcelain from Dresden is famous, so we headed to the museum to experience it first hand.
Between 1602 and 1657 more than 3,000,000 porcelain pieces were imported into Europe.
In 1715 Augustus the Strong introducing porcelain to Germany. Much of the Oriental works that he imported came via the East India Company and is housed in the museum.
It’s a huge collection of 20,000 pieces but with limited display area available in the Zwinger only about 2,000 artefacts are viewable at any one time.
Meissen Porcelain, which was derived from the Oriental version, was first developed in 1708. Again Augustus the Strong was involved, as he was instrumental in financing the construction of the royal factory in Meissen, near Dresden.
To protect the authenticity of Meissen Porcelain a logo was developed in 1720. The ‘crossed swords’ is thought to be one of the earliest forms of trademark.
The Zwinger is not only home to the Dresden Porcelain Collection but the Old Masters Picture Gallery and the Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments. This Baroque palace was completed in 1728 and designed by the court architect, Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann.
August the Strong, on returning from a grand tour through France and Italy, decided that he needed something like Versailles for his own court. This ultimately resulted in the building of the Zwinger.
The buildings were destroyed by the carpet bombing raids of February 1945, however the collections had been moved by this stage and were saved.
Just around the corner, in the historic centre of Dresden, is the Semperoper or Opera House.
In order to see inside we had to wait for an escorted tour.
The building was originally designed by Gottfried Semper and built in 1845. Following a fire it was then rebuilt by the same architect in 1868. It was destroyed again in 1945 and then rebuilt to the pre-war design in 1985.
The interior is a combination of Italian Neo Classical, Baroque and Corinthian styles.
When we reached the main body of the theatre there was a rehearsal underway. This was for an Australian production of Westside Story. We were told that, due to the rehearsal, we couldn’t take snaps in the auditorium. I pointer out to our guide that we had paid €6 to take photos and that we weren’t photographing the actors but the architecture.
I don’t think she was impressed but we carried on regardless.
Outside it was over 32°C, so we continued our touring with a slow walk around the city.
On our travels we explored the interiors of two of the largest churches in Dresden.
Dresden Cathedral or Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (1739 and restored in 1962) and the Dresden Frauenkirche, the Lutheran Church (1726 and rebuilt in 1993).
We expected the Lutheran church to be more austere than the Catholic. In fact it was just the opposite.
The Lutheran church had a rather Baroque alter surrounded by a very spacious interior that was decorated in pastel colours.
Naturally that night dinner was in the Neumarkt Square, at a Spanish restaurant, Bodega Madrid.
With the evening temperature so balmy it seemed only natural to eat Spanish Tapas – outside.
This was our day to explore ‘The nature’ around Dresden, so after breakfast, this time in the hotel, it was into the Ford Fiesta for our drive to the south east.
Another heatwave was forecast for Europe, with temperatures into the high thirties. The car was a good refuge from the heat.
I was about an hours drive to Rathen South. We then caught a ferry over the Elbe River to Rathen North, which is on the edge of the Saxon Switzerland National Park, a protected area of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
From there we had an easy walk around the Amselsee, an artificial lake or reservoir that’s only 55 metres long and quite narrow. There is boating as well as fishing, as the reservoir is stocked with trout.
Then it was a very hard walk up to Bastei, a lookout over the Elbe River.
The degree of difficulty was raised by the temperature, which was now into the mid thirties.
Today little remains of Neurathen Castle, which you get to by crossing over the Bastei Bridge. This rock castle was first built between 1100 and 1200.
Bastei has been a tourist attraction for over 200 years. In 1824 a timber bridge was built to connect some of the stone formations. This was replaced in 1851 by the current stone one.
Bastei means bastion and relates to the towering rocks that formed a defensive ring around Neurathen Castle.
It was a tiring afternoon climbing around the Bastei rocks in the 37°C heat. We were therefore very glad of the air conditioning in the car on the return drive to Dresden.
After checking out of the B&B Hotel, which is more a walk-out than a check-out, as everything was paid up-front, we drove into Dresden. We then parked in one of the numerous underground car parks near the centre.
Coffee was at the Solino Café and Bar Italiano, which is in the Glockenspielpavillon of the Zwinger Palace Museum.
This is probably the best coffee in Dresden, well at least that we found.
We arrived just in time for a performance of the glockenspiel. The bells were made in the famous Meissen porcelain factory and have only been part of the Zwinger since 1933. The carillon plays a short melody every 15 minutes and a longer one at various times during the day. The more extensive tunes are from Vivaldi, Mozart and Bach.
I have no idea what was playing but it was certainly a wonderful sound as we sat inside sipping our espressos.
This time we were in the Zwinger to visit the Mathematical Museum or to use its full name the Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments.
Elector August of Saxony started the collection around 1569. In Saxony Elector Augustus was to mathematics as Augustus the Strong was to porcelain.
It was an important role of rulers to sponsor both the arts and sciences during this period
The understanding of mathematics and the associated equipment was a measure of power in the Renaissance period, so it was very important to have those instruments on display.
Today the museum is divided into four sections. The Cosmos of the Prince. (Instruments from around 1600). The Universe of Globes. (Terrestrial and celestial globes covering seven centuries). Instruments of Enlightenment. (Large telescopes and burning mirrors, which use the concentration of sunlight through a convex lens to generate great heat). The Course of Time. (Clocks, watches and automata from the Renaissance).
Animated graphics were used to augment the displays and add explanation. There was also a number of hands-on displays.
An astronomical Clock, made in 1568 was a feature. It stood nearly a meter tall and not only told the time but indicated where the planets and constellations were at any given point.
It took five years to build.
After retrieving the car from subterranean Dresden we drove to Kunsthofpassage. This is in the Bohemian part of Dresden and features wacky architecture and funky cafes.
The complex consists of five courtyards where the buildings are decorated with various themes.
There is the Yard of the Elements with the bizarre architecture that used downpipes. Courtyard of Light that used reflective surfaces. The Yard of the Animals with a number of animal reliefs on the building exterior. Courtyard of Mythical Creatures that are displayed in mosaic tiles from Portugal, Italy and Meissen. The Yard of Metamorphoses, which has two steles or freestanding monolithic pillars. In the evening they are illuminated and become lamps.
After this very contemporary interlude, from what was primarily a Renaissance experience, it was back into the Ford for the two hour return trip to Berlin.
Our first side-trip was complete.
Today we were leaving the continental United States and flying to Hawaii.
This was the final stage of our three months adventure.
Our trip to Honolulu took us via Kahalui. This was just a flight change for the very short journey to Honolulu, on the island of O’Ahu.
As we came into land I could make out surfers on the waves – well we were in Honolulu.
When we arrived I got the shock of my life to discover that there was an espresso bar and a craft brewery within the hotel complex. The coffee shop served coffee from locally roasted beans while the brewpub had a range of beers from Maui.
The Waikiki Beachcomber was right on the entertainment strip and just over the road from the famous surf beach. It was certainly in the thick of it, so there was no excuse for not enjoying our six nights there.
It had been a long day, as we were up at 5:30 in LA and had lost three hours along the way.
Once we had settled into the hotel we went for a walk around the area.
The first point of interest was a statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku (1890-1968).
Duke Kahanamoku was native Hawaiian, five-time Olympic medalist in swimming, who popularised the ancient Hawaiian sport of surfing.
Duke was his given name, he was also known as ‘The Big Kahuna’
In 1914 he put on an exhibition of surfing at Sydney’s Freshwater Beach. He did this on a board made from timber purchased at a local hardware store.
That was the introduction of surfing to Australia.
In 1925, while living in Newport Beach California, he rescued 8 men from a capsized fishing boat. He did this with the help of his surfboard, which then led to surfboards being used in off-the-beach rescues.
He was not only an athlete but also an actor and a law enforcement officer, serving 13 consecutive terms as the sheriff of Honolulu from 1932 to 1961.
A striking, more colonial, addition to the Waikiki beachfront is the Moama Surfrider Hotel. Built in 1901 it was the first hotel on Waikiki.
Naturally that night we ate at the Maui Brewing Co. They had an excellent selection of beers, as well as good wine and an extensive menu.
We had breakfast in the brew pub, yes they were open from 7am. There was fresh tropical juice plus Avocado on Toast.
The pub didn’t serve espresso coffee, we had to walk across the hotel foyer for that.
We then popped into Avis, which was next door, and arranged a rental for later in the week.
Part of our package with the hotel included free trolly bus rides, with unlimited use for the duration of our stay. The trolly takes two different routes around the Waikiki area and, depending on the driver, you get a guided tour as well.
There are a number of these trolleys, all provided by the hotel groups and even the airlines like JAL.
It seems to be a huge waste of resources as many of the busses passed by empty. I think that they could pool their resources and have one trolly system that ran more often and took everyone who had the passes.
We did one circuit to get a feeling of the city area then, on the next, hopped off at Diamond Head.
Diamond Head is a volcanic cone and it dominates the skyline behind Waikiki. The name was given to the volcano by the British, who believed that the calcite crystals found in the caldera were diamonds. The Hawaiian name, Lēahi, is far more fitting as it relates to the dorsal fin of a tuna. Which is exactly what the silhouette of the rim looks like.
Although the walk to the summit looked hard there were numerous switchbacks that made it relatively easy.
That evening, before dinner, we went to the free Kuhlo Beach Hula Show.
This was a narrated history, with dancers, of the hula in Hawaii. The hula was originally developed by the Polynesians who first settled in the Hawaiian Islands.
These dancers on Kuhlo Beach were much more conservatively dress than you see in the movies. I think that this had something to do with the strangle hold the missionaries had and still have on much of Hawaiian society. They saw the dance as heathen and pagan.
The show was an hour long and certainly worth it. The golden light of a fading sunset, the rumble of pounding surf, all set to the lilting tones of Hawaiian music.
Western cultures promote horse racing as the ‘Sport of Kings’. In Hawaii it’s surfing. The history of surfing in Hawaii goes back to the 4th century. When Polynesians migrated to the Hawaiian Islands they brought with them the art of board riding. It was belly boards to begin with then the long hardwood boards were used. The first sighting of a board rider by westerners was in 1779.
Surfing was a religious act and the Hawaiians would pray to their gods to find the good waves and seek inspiration on how to fashion the best boards.
The society was divided between noble people and the commoners. The nobles surfed on better breaks than the commoners and also had the superior and longer boards. Chiefs such as Kauai and Kamehameha were known for their ability and counted their surfboards amongst their most prized possessions.
These boards were enormous measuring over 7 metres (24 foot) in length.
When Captain James Cook arrived in 1778 he was closely followed by missionaries. Their strict religious piety, regarding clothing and their rules of only believing in their god, resulted in surfing almost dying out – just like hula dancing.
In 1905 things began to change when Duke Paoa Kahanamoku started a native surf club and revived the sport. Then in 1907 the author Jack London (1876-1916) and friends formed the Waikiki Swimming Club and opened up surfing to Westerners.
London was an atheist and social activist so it’s no wonder that he wasn’t concerned about offending the ‘faithful’.
It was London who coined the phrase ‘Sport of Kings’.
In Hawaii, or at least in Waikiki, we paid a Tourist Tax of US$30 per day, per room.
This gave us a number of benefits.
As well as free rides on the Trolly Bus, we also got discounts at certain restaurants. This encouraged us to share our patronage around a number of places.
For breakfast we went to the Hula Grill, just over the road.
The breakfast was good but their espresso machine had ‘broken down’ so it was back to the hotel cafe for coffee – again.
We then went for a long walk along the Waikiki beachfront, towards the base of Diamond Head.
The weather was rather overcast and threatened rain for most of the day.
Right along the beach there were surfers enjoying the small but consistent swell.
There are very few short board riders here, most tend to prefer the long boards. I guess this is partly due to the conditions but more to do with tradition.
Duke’s Waikiki is right on the water and across the road from our hotel. We tried to book there for dinner, on two occasions, but couldn’t get a decent time.
It’s a very popular restaurant.
Waikiki is a hybrid, something between a tourist town and a surf coast.
The streets are packed with tourists, of all shapes and sizes, many grossly overweight. There are three distinct groups, the mainland Americans are the largest, followed by the Japanese and finally the Australians, who are a substantial part of the mix.
They are obvious by their accents.
Then in the midst of this you get the surfers, male and female, young and old. All dressed in board shorts or bikinis, meandering along the main street, with their boards tucked under their arm and still soaking wet from their last wave.
Wherever we looked around Waikiki there were Hawaiian flags fluttering over the rooftops. They look more British Colonial than American, with the Union Jack sitting proudly in the top left corner.
This is a constant reminder of Hawaii’s past.
Hawaii was settled by Polynesians somewhere between 124 and 1120 AD: similar to New Zealand.
Captain Cook arrived in 1778 but there is a belief that the first European to set foot in Hawaii was the Spanish captain Ruy López de Villalobos in 1542.
American immigration quickly followed Cook, led by Protestant missionaries. The Americans were there to set up sugar plantations, much as they did in the Southern US.
Sugar was the prized crop, with markets spread around the world, and Hawaii had the ideal climate to cultivate it.
Unlike the US, slaves weren’t used as labor, instead immigrants were brought in from Japan, China and the Philippines.
The Americans, wanting more control, rewrote the constitution, limiting the power of the King ‘David’ Kalãkaua and weakening the native Hawaiian’s rights. In 1898 the islands were annexed by the US and became the Territory of Hawaii, then in 1959 they became the 50th state.
It’s little wonder that the Hawaiians prefer to have the Union Jack on their flag – that must really piss of the ‘patriots’.
We opted to drive around O’Ahu in a Nissan Versa. All the travel guides suggested that the best experience is in a Jeep Wrangler or Ford Mustang, both convertibles of course.
The Nissan was half the price and it was rather hot to have the roof down.
Besides soft top motoring is not that much of a novelty to us.
We stopped at the famous Banzai Pipeline. The surf was better in Waikiki, as there was only a small shore break at Banzai and nothing like the huge waves that are a hallmark of this well known break.
We didn’t get a lot of snaps on our trip as there is a shortage of good pull-offs and viewing points along the way.
On our return we tried to get a closer look at Pearl Harbour but found ourselves on a bridge heading towards the naval base. We were stopped, turned around and escorted off by a very pleasant security guard.
We were then sent on our way, but not before he checked my driver’s licence.
On the way back to Waikiki we drove through the downtown area of Honolulu, which isn’t very big, and stopped at the Iolani Palace.
Construction commenced in 1879. It was designed by Thomas Baker, in what became known as the American Florentine style. It was the home to Hawaiian royalty from its completion until 1893 and boasted electricity and a telephone, even before the White House.
After the overthrow of the monarch, in 1893, the palace became the capital building for the provisional government until 1969. It was restored in 1978 and then became a museum.
It still remains the only royal palace on US soil.
On our island excursion we drove 215.6 kilometres (134 miles) around O’Ahu. This isn’t much but then it’s not a large island.
We used the trolly bus again, this time to get down to Ala Moana Centre.
Built in 1959, It is regarded as the largest open-air shopping centre in the world.
It’s also the most valuable shopping mall in the US and one of the most valuable in the world
It is very large and I wonder if its world class status comes from the huge car park that is attached. There are 350 stores, restaurants and services spread over 220,000 square metres (2,400,000 square feet)
That night there were fireworks down on the beach. They were over in a flash and a bang and by the time we got there they were finished.
It was Saturday and our last full day in Honolulu. It was also the one day in the week that the KCC Farmers Market is operating.
Again we caught the trolly bus, which has a special market stop on Saturdays.
The market was primarily made up of food stalls but there was some fresh produce and flowers as well. It was also a place where there seemed to be more locals than tourists.
Wherever we went in Waikiki we seemed to come across ABC Stores. These aren’t operated by the Australian Broadcasting Commission but a chain of convenience stores that are based in Honolulu. They were opened in 1964 by the son of Japanese immigrant, Sidney Kosasa and sell a combination of groceries and tourist related items.
It’s not surprising that there are 178 hotels in Waikiki, what is a shock is that there are also 42 ABC stores.
There was a red carpet gala event being set up on Queen’s Beach, which is south of the main area, heading towards Diamond Head.
This was part of the premier of the 10th season of the new Hawaii Five-0 series.
The original police drama ran from 1968 till 1980. It was created by Leonard Freeman and stared Jack Lord (1920-1998) as Captain Steve McGarrett. Born in Brooklyn New York City he moved to Hawaii with the show. When Leonard Freeman died in 1974 Lord took over as executive producer.
McGarrett’s famous words, “Book ‘em Danno!” have become part of popular culture.
After the market we decided to go for a long Saturday lunch at Duke’s. This was our third attempt to get into this iconic beach side restaurant.
The chain of restaurants was named after the surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku and operates in Hawaii as well as California and Florida.
The food was just ok, however the location was stunning and worth the wait to get in. It’s practically on Waikiki Beach and you can watch the surfers catching the waves in front of you.
We had only a two minute wait when we arrived for lunch at 2pm, at 4pm the wait was twenty minutes and building.
Now large family groups were starting to pile through the doors.
Come 6pm and there would be no chance of getting a table at all.
The temperature has consistently been around 30°C, so it’s going to be a bit of a shock retuning to a Melbourne winter.
After being on the go for three months it was a great decision to have six, very relaxing, days in Honolulu.
We were returning home and almost got caught out at the last turn.
It was very fortunate that we had one last coffee at our hotel in Waikiki, as the only one available at the airport, was at Starbucks.
We had travelled over 6,000 kilometres across America and not had to endure a Starbucks – I wasn’t going to start then.
We returned to Merchant one more time for breakfast, as they served fresh orange juice, fruit, cereal and a great coffee.
Hard to find all that in the one place in the US.
It was a long drive to Houston, the start of the second stage of our drive across the Southern US, so we stopped at Rêve Coffee Roasters in Lafayette on the way.
I had an espresso made from locally roasted Java Taman Dadar beans.
Again it was full of single people, on their computers.
Then it was back onto the road to Houston.
In Houston we were staying at the Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham Houston. This was opposite the Houston Space Centre, the official visitor centre of NASA Johnson Space Centre. This was our main reason for being in the city.
It was 50 years since man walked on the moon and the Space Centre at Houston was a pivotal part of that historical event.
We had visited Kennedy Space Centre, Florida in November 2017. This is where the rockets took off but the control centre was in Houston.
No rockets were every launched from Houston.
The facility was built as a political gesture, to win Democratic votes in Texas and to support Lyndon Baynes Johnston.
The “We choose to go to the moon.” address was delivered by President Kennedy, in Houston, to mark the start of the space centre’s construction in 1962.
There were many exhibits from the ‘Space Race’ including Mercury and Gemini spacecrafts, a Saturn V rocket as well as a replica of the Space Shuttle Independence. This was strapped to a Boeing 747 and you could actually walk around inside the shuttle and view the cargo hold and flight deck. The Saturn V rocket was in fact three rockets, from various programs, that were put together for the display.
It was massive, measuring 110 m (363 ft) in hight (or length as it was lying down) 10.1 m (33 ft) in diameter and weighing in at 2,970 kg (6,540 lb).
The only disappointment was that the control room, used in the moon landing, was closed for renovations. This was in preparation for the 50th anniversary later in the year.
Dinner was a 10 minute Uber ride away to BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse. It was just down the road from la Madeleine, where we had breakfast that morning.
This was a huge complex with a wide selection of craft beers and an extensive menu.
In 1978 they started off in Santa Ana, California, as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria and then moved on to become a craft brewery and restaurant chain. Currently they have 204 outlets in 15 states across the USA.
After looking at a couple of options, we returned to la Madeleine, the French bakery, for breakfast.
It was a huge cafe with a wide variety of options.
However there was something strange about the place and it was only on our second visit that I realised what it was.
There was no tipping and they had staff who cleaned the table for you.
Service without a charge.
It was a relatively short, three hour, drive to Austin but we stopped in Columbus for a break.
The terrain was flat and green with the Colorado River meandering through.
This is not the same Colorado that created the Grand Canyon but a different one. This Colorado is the largest river in Texas with both its source and its mouth in that state.
It was right on 3pm when we arrived at the Best Weston Plus Austin City.
Our room wasn’t ready and we had to wait.
After we finally checked in we went for a wander around the city.
Rainey Street is the entertainment centre of Austin. It was originally residential but now the historic, pre 1934 bungalows that line the street have been turned into bars and restaurants. There are some vacant lots and these are full of food trucks.
We then walked down to the Colorado River and got a view of the city from another perspective.
It was then back to Rainey Street for a drink at Craft Pride and then dinner.
Again we saw the American service industry at work.
The only restaurant on Rainey Street that didn’t serve their meals off polystyrene was Anthem. As it turned out they were eco friendly and sustainable, so that was a plus.
When we arrived the place was busy but certainly not full. We still had to put our name on a list and wait.
I don’t fully know why but suspect that they were understaffed and couldn’t accommodate a full house.
Yet again they were maximising the return for the owners, by minimising the experience for the customers and employment for the staff.
We were both surprised and delighted that our hotel in Austin didn’t use disposables in the room.
There were real, washable glasses and coffee cups.
We headed off to breakfast, thinking it might be the same there.
Unfortunately it wasn’t, everything was destined for the bin.
Luckily we had our ‘Save the World’ kit with us.
Before the drive to San Antonio we explored a small area of Downtown Austin, especially the area around the Texas Capitol Building.
Not surprisingly, there was a ‘Remember the Alamo’ monument within the Capital Building gardens.
It was then back on the road, but with one more stop, this time to visit Wild Seed Farms. This is a wildflower farm, the largest in the US, just near Fredericksburg. It was literally acres and acres of flowers.
We tried to get an espresso at Wild Seen Farms but they specialise in flowers not beans, so we moved on.
We did find a good coffee in Fredericksburg and had a walk up and down the main street afterwards.
When we finally arrived in San Antonio, and checked into our AirBnB, we discovered that we had done it again.
We had arrived just in time for the last few days of the Fiesta and our apartment was right in the middle of it.
The ‘Fiesta San Antonio’ is an annual event that originally started in 1891 to honour the memory of the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto. Local women decorated carriages, baby buggies and bicycles with flowers. They then met in front of the Alamo and threw the flowers at each other.
This inspired the name, ‘Battle of the Flowers.’
Today it’s a money spinner for the city, with over three million people taking part, and flowers are still part of the celebration.
On arrival we quickly realised that everything we wanted to see in San Antonia was within walking distance of our apartment, so we parked the car and left it there.
The Riverwalk in San Antonio is unique to the city and I would think, the US.
This is a pedestrian only walkway that’s below street level and runs along the winding banks of the San Antonia River. The walkways are on both sides of the river and full of shops, bars and restaurants.
We had dinner at The River’s Edge, a restaurant right on the Riverwalk.
We then continued around the circuit and were glad we had chosen River’s Edge.
The other areas were over commercialised, a bit like Southbank on heat.
As we we staying in an apartment we took the opportunity to self cater our breakfasts. We had purchased fruit and cereal the night before, so it was a leisurely start to the day.
We were told that there was a street parade due to pass by our apartment during the morning. People were already lining up and many had brought their own seats.
They were there for the long haul.
It was Hayden’s birthday and we had arranged to give him a call.
Just as we were calling the parade started.
To get a closer look at the parade and the fiesta we went wandering around the area near our apartment. The streets were full of happy people and there were a number of private street parties in progress. These were held under canvas gazebos that had been erected in the front gardens of large timber Southern mansions. There were decorations on the houses and the fences were also festooned with streamers.
Then we went in search of some history.
The Alamo is a very important event for Texans and the people of San Antonio. In 1836 about 100 Texans defended the Alamo Mission from about 1,500 Mexicans. The siege lasted 13 days and eventually the overwhelming force of the Mexicans prevailed and most of the Texans were killed.
The siege of the Alamo involved a number of famous Texan frontiersmen.
Colonel James Bowie (Bowie knife), Davie Crocket (King of the Wild Frontier) and General Sam Houston (the city of Houston)
Both Bowie and Crocket died at the Alamo.
Late in the afternoon we wandered back to the Riverwalk. There we met Hershey and Tim, a couple of old friends who had got together for the fiesta. They were fascinated by our accents and wanted to chat.
I got the feeling that there are very few Australian tourists in San Antonio.
In the Evening we avoided down town and went to Rosario’s, which was just around the corner.
It was a loud, but enjoyable, Tex Mex restaurant, buzzing with people intent on getting the last out of the Fiesta.
It was overcast and the good weather from the last few days was gone.
Which was lucky for the Fiesta goers and for us as well.
This was the start of our long drive to the Pacific coast. Today was over 500 kilometres and 4.5 hours driving – the next day a little shorter.
The longest day will be Tucson to San Diego.
The geography had changed dramatically. We were now out of the lush hills with wide flowing rivers and into a more desert environment.
There were even less wildflowers along the roadside.
National Highway 10 was an excellent drive with far fewer trucks, but it was a Sunday and could be a very different story the next day.
Up until this section of the drive we had always been able to find a good coffee, but as we moved further west it became harder.
We arrived in Fort Stockton at 3 pm and then made the short drive to the other end of town, the site of the historic fort.
There’s wasn’t much left of the fort, just a few out houses scattered over a very open expanse of grass.
To my mind the best attraction was a sculpture of Paisano Pete, the world’s second largest Roadrunner. “Beep, beep.”
The fort was known as Camp Stockton until 1860 and was built around Comanche Springs, one of the largest sources of spring water in Texas.
Since the 1920s Fort Stockton has benefited from another underground source of wealth – oil.
Fort Stockton is a one steer town and that night we had dinner the at Kbob, where we both had steaks.
The portions were so huge that I think we probably ate that one steer between us.
The Garage Coffee, Music and More coffee shop was the only coffee in Fort Stockton that looked reasonable, but was closed on Mondays.
So we found one in Van Horn, that was on the Interstate 10, about half way between Fort Stockton and El Paso.
Aslan’s Coffee Shop was one of the strangest coffee experiences I have ever had.
When we arrived we weren’t even sure if they actually served espresso, so Thea stuck her head in the door an asked.
By the time I had parked the Jeep and got inside, Aslan was already making our coffees.
Once inside we were greeted with “Good day and God bless you.“
There were two very rotund people already in the cafe and the male of the couple was holding court.
It turned out that their RV had broken down and they had sought refuge in the town.
Being good Christians they had asked the local church if they could park there while their van was repaired.
It just so happens that the cafe was on the same land as the church.
So there they were saving everyone who popped in for a Cup of Joe.
It was a bit like having coffee with Jesus.
When we arrived in El Paso was 30°C.
This was the fourth day of warmer weather – the warmest spell we had experienced since leaving home.
We were too early to check into our hotel at Sunland Park Casino so, at the suggestion of the receptionist, we went sightseeing.
This was along the Scenic Drive, a short stretch of road that overlooks the city of El Paso.
It was created in the 1920s’ and has been a popular destination even since.
Before our drive we popped into Sunland Park Mall, which was just around the corner, for lunch.
The mall had just undergone a refurbishment and was almost empty. Most of the shops were still vacant and very little of what was already there was open.
Thea had run out of knitting so the next stop, after the Scenic Drive, was a wool shop.
This gave us an opportunity to see some of the surrounding suburbs.
We chose to stay in the casino area as it was out of the sprawling downtown area of El Paso, which isn’t regarded as a great tourist destination.
The hotel was in New Mexico, practically on the border with Texas and Mexico.
On one side we had the Sunland Park Racetrack, on the other, the Western Playland and right next door was the casino.
It was Vegas in Texas but more down market, if that’s possible.
We could even see part of the US/Mexico border wall from our hotel window.
This is the wall that already exists between the two countries and has nothing to do with the Donald’s grand plan.
The wall was started by George H. W. Bush in 1990 and continued by Bill Clinton in 1993. Any further expansion was halted by Barack Obama in 2011. And this is more than likely the real reason why Trump wants to continue it now.
Dinner at the casino was a strange affair.
We were told that there were three restaurants within the casino, however there really was only one. The main, full service restaurant, is only open during the racing season, which started the next day and the third one was just a snack bar.
So we were forced to eat at their exceptionally mediocre café. In fact describing it as mediocre probably gives it too much credit.
The service was poor and the food, masquerading as Italian, was worse than that.
Whatever did the Italians do to the Americans to cause them to massacre their cuisine the way they do?
The food was so bad at the casino cafe the night before, we didn’t want to risk having breakfast there.
Fortunately, just down the road was 2Ten Coffee Roasters.
Great food, including a variation of Avocado on Toast and excellent coffee. There seems to be more and more of these boutique roasters popping up across the US. Maybe the tide is eventually turning against the likes of Starbucks – let’s hope so.
We had been told about Old Mesilla, a well preserved western frontier town, while we were having our religious coffee experience the previous day.
During the American Civil War Old Mesilla was briefly the capital of the Confederate Territory of Arizona from 1861 to 1862.
The Wild West era saw the like of Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and Pancho Villa visit the town. In fact Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang in the Old Mesilla court house in April 1881. He never did hang in the town but died of a gunshot wound in Fort Sumner in September of the same year.
The area around Old Mesilla is surrounded by pecan orchards. I am sure Pecan Pie is a favourite in the town.
Our next stop was Tombstone, another place of Wild West legend. Tombstone’s city seal boasts that it’s: ‘The Town too tough to die’
The most famous event in Tombstone is the ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Coral’ This involved the Earp brothers, Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil in a shootout against Doc Holliday, Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton.
The irony is that the gunfight didn’t actually take place in the O.K. Coral but in a nearby vacant block of land owned by the famous photographer C.S. Fly (1849-1901). Camillus ‘Buck’ Sydney Fly is regarded as one of the first photojournalists in the US. He chronicled the lives of Native Americans, while they were still at war with the United States. And was an eyewitness at the O.K. Corral gunfight.
Unlike Old Mesilla, Tombstone is a Hollywood set, with fake cowboys at every corner, all with their Six Shooters at the ready.
In Tucson we were staying at the Hotel McCoy – Art, Coffee, Beer, Wine. This was a retro 60s Motel with a bar serving local wine and craft beer. They had 6 craft beers in cans and 4 on tap.
It was a very funky motel in a great location, just off the freeway.
Downtown Tucson was an easy Uber ride away.
We had breakfast at the hotel but it was a strange affair with Oatmeal, Pop Tarts and boxed drinks, all of this was out of disposable paper cups, plates and containers. This was really at odds with their Hipster image.
Our Save the World Kit got yet another outing.
Also, they didn’t have an espresso machine, so coffee would have to wait.
Therefore our first stop for the day was to Hermosa Coffee Roasters. This was just a short drive from our hotel and in, what is known as, the Old Market Area.
The area wasn’t old at all but a totally new development, of small trendy businesses, all housed in shipping containers.
The cost of keeping these metal ovens cool in the Arizona heat must have been horrendous.
The days outing was a drive up to the summit of Mount Lemmon, on the Scenic Highway. It was a beautiful winding mountain road, with an abundance of lookout points and pull-offs.
As we climbed to 2,400 metres (8,000 feet), the change in scenery was dramatic.
At the start of our ascent cacti dominated, then as we climbed, conifers took over.
The temperature also plunged from 28°C (82°F) to 14.5° (58°F)
At the top we stopped for a break at Sawmill Run. Thea had of all things, Pecan Pie and, to my surprise, I got a very reasonable espresso.
The staff at the Sawmill had T-shirts with a graphic of a hand, that was missing two fingers – funny but a bit sick.
After our scenic adventure we returned to Tucson to get a better look at the city.
A map that was provided by our hotel suggested that we do the Aqua Tourist Trail around Tucson. It was a bit of a waste.
Most of the area that was suggested in the tour was under construction. In fact Tucson seems to be undergoing a transformation, with new buildings popping up all over the city.
It was now 31°C (88°F) and getting a bit hot to do much walking so we returned to the hotel.
We needed an early nigh as it would be a long drive to San Diego in the morning. So it was another Uber into town for an early dinner at Hotel Congress.
Before leaving Tucson we returned to the Mercardo District and Hermosa Coffee Roasters for breakfast.
We had to drive 661 kilometres to San Diego. This would take us over 6 hours so, after a few hours on the road, we stopped in Yuma for a break and yet again found a cafe serving an espresso – of sorts.
It was at the Coffee Bean Espresso Bar and Cafe that we decided that the ‘hickness’ of a place is measured by hats. The more guys you see wearing baseball hats, the ‘hicker’ it is.
We were staying out of the main area in San Diego at the weirdly named, Days Inn by Wyndham San Diego/Downtown/Convention Centre.
It certainly wasn’t in Downtown, so we had a bit of a hike to get to the Gaslamp Quarter. Which is where the action is in San Diego.
Also known as the Gaslamp District, it is an historical area of sixteen and a half blocks and full of restaurants and bars as well as a number of strip clubs.
Historically gas lamps weren’t actually used in the area but have since been installed to add a touch of authenticity.
After dinner we got an Uber back to the hotel as the route back was rather hilly.
It was only 210 kilometres, about 2 hours driving from San Diego to LA.
However we took much longer as we used the coastal route and were then confronted with 29 kilometres of traffic jams as soon as we hit the outskirts of the LA.
It turned out to be more like three and a half hours.
In LA we were staying at Cathie and Earl’s apartment, which was over the road from Universal Studios, in an area known as Studio City. They weren’t there but had very kindly offered us their place while they were in New York. This meant that we had the rare opportunity to cater for ourselves again and needed to get supplies.
In much of the US the culture is irrevocably bolted to the past.
So much of the attitudes, architecture, politics, transport and even food is all from a bygone era.
It’s as though the New World has now become the Old World.
There is always exceptions and the Whole Foods chain is one of those. Much of their fresh food is organic and they are now introducing bulk products, to save on packaging waste.
They sell reusable, bamboo based, cups plates and straws.
In their Burbank store they have a cafe serving healthy food, coffee, wine and a range of craft beers.
We had used Whole Foods on a previous stay in LA and had also visited their new store in NYC.
It was therefore the logical place to go again for our breakfast supplies.
Founded in 1980 they now have over 500 stores worldwide and growing.
Just up the road from the apartment was a Metro station. We took the Red Line to Union Station and then wandered back, one stop, to Pershing Square.
Union Station was celebrating its 80th Anniversary, being built in 1939. It was designed by John and Donald Parkinson and combines Art Deco, Mission Revival and Streamline Modern styles.
It’s a beautifully spacious example of transport architecture.
Next was the Grand Central Market, which is on the ground floor of the Homer Laughlin Building. In 1917 the market replaced the Ville de Paris department store. The location for the market was chosen because of its proximity to the Angels Flight Railway. This funicular services the well-to-do residents of Bunker Hill.
It was yet another festival weekend. The Cinco de Mayo was due to be celebrated the next day.
This time we missed out by a day.
Cinco de Mayo or Fifth of May celebrated the Mexican Army’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th 1862. Nowadays in LA it’s more a celebration of Mexican-American culture.
We had a coffee at Demitasse, well it was better than Starbucks.
This thought was reinforced by a board out the front which read: ‘Friends don’t let friends drink Starbucks’
Ironically there was a Starbucks just opposite and many passers-by stopped to take a snap of the sign.
On the train ride back to Studio City there were people selling a wide variety of products. Incense and socks were two popular items on offer.
That night we had dinner at Cafe del Ray with Ian and Peta Beavis and Evan, who was in LA on business.
This involved a long drive and a number of Uber rides, as it was on the coast at Marina del Ray.
LA is a very big city.
After spending a quiet morning in the apartment, we cleaned and walked up to Universal studios to do the City Walk.
This was a strange combination of designer brands and American fast food outlets.
There was an Italian restaurant just inside the entrance and we managed to get an espresso.
We were lucky it was there, as it was the only place that looked like it served coffee – of any variety.
We returned to Cathie and Earl’s and did the final bit of packing, before embarking on the ‘loooong’ drive to the airport.
It was only a 30 minute drive but it felt like an eternity.
Even on a Sunday many of the freeways were car parks.
After checking into the Sheraton Gateway at LAX, we dropped the car back to Avis.
We had been going for 23 days, on a variety of roads, covering 5,903 kilometres (3,668 miles) and averaging about 257km per day.
In that time we met some interesting people, stayed in both good and bad accomodation, dined in a wide variety of restaurants, all while travelling through some amazing parts of the Southern US.
We got the subway from Manhattan and then connected to the Skytrain. This took us into JFK for our flight to Charleston, the starting point for our trip across the US.
It was a long trip but better than a taxi or driving.
I was surprised that the long term car park at JFK was practically empty. Obviously the people of New York would rather take public transport to the airport than drive.
I am sure the same would apply to the people of Melbourne – if only we could convince a government, of any persuasion, to build a train line to Tullamarine.
We planned to pick up a rental car Charleston and drive from the east coast to the west, via the southern states.
We had done the reverse trip, across the northern US and Canada, back in 2015.
As we checked into our motel in Charleston, it started to rain.
Charleston was founded in 1670 and originally known as Charles Town in honour of King Charles II of England (1630-1685).
In 1783, after the Revolutionary War, it was renamed as Charleston.
The city played a major part in the slave trade, which resulted in its size and wealth. Nearly half the Africans transported to America arrived in Charleston. It was the only major antebellum (before the Civil War) American city to have a majority-enslaved population.
In 1860 the population of Charleston was over 700,000, 57% were slaves, owned by just 26,000 white Americans.
In fact the reliance on slaves, who were controlled by an oligarchy of white planters and merchants, was a big factor that lead to the start of the Civil War in 1861.
The temperatures were going to be in the twenties, so I put on shorts for the first time in the trip.
We found City Lights Coffee for breakfast. It was owned and run by a South African, whose accent seemed as much out of place in the South as ours was.
We then visited the Charleston City Market, which was originally established in the 1790s. The architecture of the market hall is in the Greek Revival style. It stretches back from, Meeting Street, for four city blocks. It was originally a beef and produce market but these days there is more money in tourists, so souvenirs and art occupied the market stalls.
I bought a new foldable Broner hat from the Charleston Hat Man, who has had a stall in the market for over 35 years.
Our hotel was in the Charleston Historical District, just down the road from the market, so we spent the day exploring the old area of the peninsula.
We walked all the way down to White Point Gardens at the end of the peninsula and then zigzagged back. The gardens were originally built in the 1800s’ and are at the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper and Wando Rivers.
An initial search of the area on Google, indicated that there were a number of brew pubs around us.
This wasn’t the case.
They either didn’t exist or had gone out of business.
We eventually found the Swig and Swine for dinner which was ok, but certainly not a brew pub.
A visit to Fort Sumter gave us an excellent history lesson on the American Civil War.
To get there we sailed on the Spirit of the Lowcountry, a faux paddle steamer. This was a two and a half hour round trip. Most of the time was spent on the water with less than an hour on the island. However that was fine, as it was rather small.
The Battle of Fort Sumter heralded the start of the American Civil War.
In 1861 the South Carolina Militia bombarded the fort, resulting in the surrender of the United States Army. Ironically there were no casualties.
This followed the declaration of secession by South Carolina in 1860.
Earlier in 1860 six more Southern states adopted a similar ordinance of secession. They then, as a group, adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America.
The fort was besieged for nearly four years and eventually abandoned, just prior to the capture of Charleston in 1865.
Fort Sumter, built between 1812 and 1815, dominates the entrance to Charleston Harbour and was designed to be one of world’s strongest fortresses. It is only 2.4 acres in area and was built to hold 650 soldiers and 135 pieces of artillery.
There’s not much left of it now.
After checking out of our motel we got an Uber to pick up our Avis rental, a black Jeep Compass. It was relatively new, with just 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometres) on the clock.
Our first stop was at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
First built by Thomas and Ann Drayton in 1676, it is one of the oldest plantations in the South. It originally grew rice and had extensive dikes, dams and irrigation. The first slaves in the Magnolia Plantation, were shipped from Barbados in 1670, by the Drayton family.
The slave trade and slavery, within the tourist South, is a subject that is not really talked about. It’s too easy to forget that these magnificent homes, gardens and plantations were built on the backs of Africans who were dragged from their homeland and brutally forced to work for white property owners.
You rarely hear the slaves’ side of history – everything is whitewashed, pardon the pun.
Today the gardens are the big tourist attraction. They were developed in the 1840s by the Reverend John Grimke-Drayton.
Grimke-Drayton, an Episcopal minister, had the gardens redesigned from an informal European style to the more formal English style. According to legend, this was done to help lure his bride south from Philadelphia.
As an interesting aside we read that the white Christians believed the disease that ravaged the American Indians was a gift of God, that made more room for them.
Don’t you just love White Supremacists.
We left Magnolia Plantation and Gardens and drove straight to Savannah, leaving just enough time for a brief wander around the historical district before dinner.
Established in 1733 Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia and today still largely maintains the original town plan.
Being situated on the Savannah River, the city is an important Atlantic seaport. This is celebrated by a rather strange sculpture of Florence Martus (1869-1943). Also known as Savannah’s Waving Girl. Between 1887 and 1931 Florence would wave to all incoming ships and became the unofficial greeter of all ships arriving in Savannah.
This was the first longish drive on our road trip. The drive wasn’t the problem but finding a good coffee was.
Thea eventually found My Coffee Shop in Dublin, which was about half way between Savannah and Atlanta.
The cafe and the town were empty but the coffee was good.
They served Lavazza coffee, an Italian brand that was founded in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza. They are the market leader in Italy, so they must know something about roasting coffee.
That evening we walked into Midtown Atlanta for dinner and very soon realised that it was a special night.
The streets were crowded with young people and they were all dressed up – it was ‘Prom Night’.
Our restaurant was right over the road from one of the prom venues. We watched as the high school students, dressed in their finest, were dropped off and lined up to enter.
Interestingly there was a heavy police presence and everyone was searched before entering.
In the morning we walked the few blocks from our hotel to the Centre for Puppetry Arts.
This is one of the few puppetry museums in the world. It was opened in 1978, where Kermit the Frog and his creator, Jim Henson cut the ceremonial ribbon.
Jim Henson (1937-1990) and his characters are certainly featured heavily in the museum.
Jim is best known for creating the Muppets and his work on Sesame Street (1969 to present) the American educational TV program, that uses many Muppet characters.
The exhibitions were designed in three parts and are certainly created with kids in mind.
Naturally, the first part was the Jim Henson Collection. This was followed by the Global Collection, showcasing the world of puppetry from a more historical view point.
The final section of the exhibition was the World of Myth and Magic, heavily featuring The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986), both of which were directed by Jim Henson.
It was a Sunday, so in the afternoon we walked to Piedmont Park, which was full of families making the most of the pleasant weather.
The previous day we found Dancing Goats for breakfast. It was a rather hipster coffee bar with a good food selection so we returned on Monday, before leaving Atlanta for Nashville.
The place was an ‘office’, full of single people on their computers.
There were only 10 seats available to people who actually wanted to talk to each other, the rest were benches.
Surprisingly, not everyone in the place was under 30.
Later in the afternoon we stopped at Velo Coffee Roasters in Chattanooga and it was the same deal. Even though this was, as the name suggests, a roasting house, everyone was on their computers.
Worldwide cafes that encourage their space to be used as an office are regarded as legitimate ‘Shared Work Space’.
When I looked around, one more time, I discovered there was one person actually reading a book.
Once in Nashville we did a bit of housekeeping, got some clothes washed then caught an Uber into town.
In Nashville I had found a local brew pub that looked promising for dinner. However once we were there we discovered that something rather ‘Big’ was going down in the town.
Atlanta and now Nashville, this is becoming a habit.
The stages were being set up for the NFL Path to the Draft. Which I believe is a live telecast, over a number of nights and has something to do with the selection of new players for the NFL teams.
I have no concept of American football, either how it’s played or how the competition runs. This also goes for how new players are selected for the different teams within the competition.
But apparently this is really a big deal and it was being held in Nashville, so the community welcomed them with open arms.
Below is how NFL Media describes the event:
“Watch the NFL’s stars of tomorrow take the stage, live from Nashville, TN at the 2019 NFL Draft live on NFL Network, ESPN and ABC. We go behind the scenes and inside the war rooms to bring you an all access pass to the 2019 NFL Draft.”
The brew pub, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, was in the heart of Nashville’s downtown and right next door to the area that was being set up for the draft draw.
The beer was great and the food was also very good.
Our first tourist stop for the day was to visit the Nashville Parthenon in Centennial Park. Luckily Three Brothers Coffee shop was just around the corner, so we naturally went there first.
The Nashville Parthenon was constructed in 1878, for the Tennessee Centennial Exhibition. It’s a few years younger than it’s counterpart in Athens, that was built in 447 BC.
It’s a full scale replica of its Greek counterpart and, unlike the one in Athens, has a statue of the Goddess Athena on display in the interior.
However this Athena looks more Thai than Greek.
Nashville has been known as the Athens of the South and this probably influenced the powers that be to build this rather strange edifice.
There were a number of building constructed for the exhibition, that were in the classical style, however this is the only one that remains in Nashville.
It was so popular with the locals that they decided to keep it after the exhibition ended.
After our classical interlude we headed to something a bit more in keeping with Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame.
This is one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music.
The original Hall of Fame was built in 1967. It’s popularity grew and in 2001 the museum moved to it’s current location in the heart of downtown Nashville.
The main exhibition, Sing Me back Home, is a journey through country music. There are nearly 200,000 sound recordings, 500,000 photos and 30,000 moving images. Plus instruments, clothing, scrapbooks and even iconic vehicles like Elvis Presley’s 1960 Solid Gold Cadillac.
Even the architecture of the Country Music Hall of Fame symbolically reflects country music. Some of the building’s elements represent musical notes, drums, piano keys and even the tail fin of a 1959 Cadillac.
In the evening we stopped at Doc Holliday’s Saloon for a drink and some live, Nashville Country and Western music.
That night we returned to the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery.
The food and beer was still good and work was progressing well on the Path to the Draft stage.
“When you’re onto a good thing…” as they say, so it was back to Three Brothers Coffee again.
The brew was good and it was also on the way to Memphis.
We arrived in Memphis mid afternoon and, fittingly, we were staying on Elvis Presley Boulevard.
This was just down the road from Graceland, which we immediately visited.
Graceland was Elvis’s home for twenty years.
The Graceland farm was originally owned by a printer, Stephen C Toof and was named after his daughter, Grace.
The house was built by her niece, Ruth Moore and her husband Thomas Moore in 1939. It’s a Colonial Revival style mansion of 10,266 square feet (953.7 square metres). It has 23 rooms in total, with eight bedrooms and bathrooms.
In 1957 Presley purchased Graceland for himself and his parents. After Elvis’s death in 1977 his father, Vernon, took over the estate. Then when he died in 1979 Priscilla, Elvis’s estranged wife, became the estate’s executor on behalf of their daughter, Lisa Marie.
Poor management meant that the Presley estate owned a lot of money. Priscilla then decided that the best strategy would be to turn Graceland into a money spinner. As a result Graceland became a museum in 1982. With over 500,000 visitors a year it’s the second-most visited home in the US, next to the White House in Washington DC.
The house has been left as it was during the time that Elvis lived there – and it’s all very kitsch.
It’s a very sanitised testament to his life, omitting the drugs, mental issues and obesity that were part of his demise.
Born in 1935 Elvis became one of the iconic figures of the 20th century music scene. He was known as ‘The King of Rock and Roll’ or simply, ‘The King.’
He had no musical training and couldn’t read music, playing everything by ear. Today he is still the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music.
That night we had dinner at Marlowe’s Ribs and Restaurant. Partly because it offered a shuttle service from our hotel and, more importantly, it was local food.
We shared some ribs – they were great, but all the sides were overdone.
The corn fritters were stuffed with cheese, the beans cooked in pig fat and the slaw was drowned in mayonnaise.
After breakfast our intention was to go to Java Cabana for coffee and then onto the National Civil Rights Museum.
However Java Cabana was shut for renovations. Luckily we found another cafe, just around the corner. It wasn’t as eclectic as our first choice appeared on Google but the coffee was ok.
The National Civil Rights Museum is housed in the Lorraine Motel, the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968.
The motel was originally built around 1925 and in 1945 it was purchased by Walter Bailey who turned it into an upscale accommodation for black clients. This was during the era of segregation in the South and many well known guests, such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Wilson Picket, stayed there.
They were barred from staying in the mainstream hotels.
The museum was opened in 1991 and now incorporates a number of other buildings, besides the Lorraine Motel. Buildings that were also associated with the assassination of King.
The primary thrust of the museum traces the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present day.
The first exhibition was photography by Andrew Feiler, taken at Morris Brown College. This abandoned Black College was part of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities of the South (HBCUs)
No photos were allowed here.
The rest of the museum chronicles the civil rights struggle in the US – it’s a very sad and sorry tale.
By the time of the Civil War (1860) there were nearly 4 million slaves in America. They were worth around $10 Trillion to the economy, in today’s money. In fact at this stage in their history America’s economy was reliant on slavery.
The South played a vital role, as tobacco, rice, cotton, sugar and rum were the staples of production. Therefore the Southern States had a very vested interest in promoting slavery and keeping it viable for as long as possible.
Slavery lasted in America for nearly 200 years. However it wasn’t just slavery that was the issue. Over 3,000 African Americans died from lynching between 1890 and 1930. Even today black lives don’t really seem to matter.
Perceived threats to the economy and push for more equal rights from the North led to the creation of the Jim Crow Laws. Developed by the Southern States as a compromise to the North, they promoted the concept of Separate but Equal, for Negros.
This in effect meant more segregation, with one rule for Whites and another for African Americans.
The Lorraine Motel tour ends in room 306, the room that Martin Luther King Jr. was staying in prior to his assassination.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and Civil Rights activist.
In 1964 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating racial equality through nonviolent resistance. From 1963 onwards he was targeted, as a radical, by the FBI’s J Edgar Hoover and investigated for possible communist ties.
From the Lorraine Motel you cross over the road to the boarding house, where James Earl Ray shot King.
As with the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963, there were many conspiracies and this part of the museum explores them all.
An oddity about African Americans is that Christianity played an important part in their culture within America. The missionaries, zealots and slave owners turned them away from their traditional African beliefs and saw to their conversion. This faith was used to control them but it also bonded them and helped them in their struggle for equality through people like King.
Unfortunately a quest that is still ongoing.
Memphis will go down as one of our worst US hospitality experiences.
The management of the hotel and the two restaurants we visited are to blame.
If the staff don’t know what is expected of them, how can they deliver a service.
At Delta’s Kitchen I quizzed our young waiter about his training. This was after asking for a beer list and finding that he had no clue about what they served.
He told me that he had only been there a couple of weeks and that the person training him had left a few days after he joined. That person had never been replaced and therefore our waiter had received no more training.
How can management, with any integrity, send wait staff out to serve their customers and expect them to get a tip without proper training.
The other staff at Deltas Restaurant were disinterested in serving their customers. So much so that several other tables, all Americans, commented on how poor the service was.
We drove to Natchez, via the Natchez Trace Parkway, which was originally a trade route from the north. This gave us an opportunity to drive on something other than freeways.
Which was a green and pleasant change.
We have used the Parkways before. These are two lane roads that mainly travel through national parks.
Natchez is the oldest established city on the Mississippi and we were staying in the Antebellum Mansion, an 1840 colonial home.
All the rooms were named after famous southerners and we were in the John R Lynch Room.
Lynch was born into slavery in 1847 and became one of the strongest African American voices in post-Civil War America.
After the long drive a quick drink at the Natchez Brewing Company was welcome.
We were going to stay there for dinner but there wasn’t any.
This was a brew pub in the old tradition.
Brewery and warehouse by day and a bar in the evenings and at the weekend.
And like the brewpubs of old they only served beer, so Thea was forced to stomach a Wheat-beer Sour.
She wasn’t that impressed.
The interior was all very industrial and we were surrounded by brewing equipment and barrels.
We then went back to the hotel for a meal.
The menu was a strange fusion of eastern Mediterranean and Southern cooking.
Again the service was a disaster.
We hadn’t finished our entree and the main course arrived.
We hadn’t finished our meal and the bill arrived.
On so many levels the owners of these restaurants are immoral.
They don’t pay their staff enough to live on and expect them to make up the difference with tips.
Yet they don’t train them well enough to earn the 18-30% that they need to survive.
The repercussions of this laxness effects every member of the staff, as they all take and need, a share of that tip.
For two reasons good coffee was hard to find in Natchez.
Firstly there were very few places serving it and secondly, when we did eventually discover Steampunk Coffee Roasters, it was almost impossible to reach. Two power poles were lying at an odd angle over the road, with emergency workers blocking our path. This meant we had to negotiate the Natchez one way street system to get there.
This took us at least four goes.
We arrived in New Orleans late in the afternoon and, after checking into our hotel, went exploring the city.
The hotel was in the Commercial District and very close to the French Quarter, home to the famous Bourbon Street.
Bourbon Street is like a long, narrow, three ring circus, if that’s possible. It’s full of weirdness, with both the performers and the audience dressed to impress. Some in the most inappropriate attire I have every seen.
There are also performing animals. birds, dogs and reptiles, all adding to the circus feel.
After time in ´Freak Street’ we wandered down to the banks of the Mississippi. Here it was slightly calmer.
There we found the Crescent City Brewhouse, which is situated in a property that was originally built in 1722 and later rebuilt after the fire of 1794.
Opened in 1991, it’s the the oldest craft brewery in New Orleans and the first brewpub to be established in the city.
They pride themselves on their adherence to old Bavarian brewing techniques. All natural ingredients with no preservatives.
Both the beer and food were excellent.
They even had a jazz band playing, which made it even more special and very ‘Orleans’.
On the way home we wandered back via Bourbon Street and popped into the Drinkery for some more live music, this time blues and rock with the Steve Mignano Band.
A real contrast to the jazz.
New Orleans was first founded by French settlers in 1718 and is renowned for it’s music and Mardi Gras. The first such parade in Louisiana was held at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1699.
Like in Corfu Town we happened to be in New Orleans for a festival weekend.
On Easter Sunday there were two street parades.
The first was the general merchants and then, in the afternoon, the Gay Easter Parade.
We caught the tail end of the morning parade and then returned to see the gay pride parade in the afternoon.
They were both a lot of fun but a bit of a shambles.
It was the 20th annual Gay Easter Parade, so it promised to be something.
We had seen the Gay Pride Parade in Montreal, Canada in 2015, which was much more lively, professional and had some very good sponsors like Pfizer, makers of Viagra.
During the afternoon we visited one of the many New Orleans travel centres and purchased tickets for a riverboat cruise the next day.
When we were there Thea enquired about a good Cajun restaurant and we were given a card for Coterie on Decatur Street, in the French Quarter.
We went there in the evening, the food was ok but not really Cajun.
The waiter fancied that he has a good Aussie accent and tried a few phases on us.
I couldn’t understand a word he said.
Our paddle steamer trip wasn’t until late morning, so we jumped onto the St. Charles Streetcar for a side trip. We went to the end of the line and then caught an Uber back to the wharf to get the paddle steamer.
We still had some time before boarding, so did the tourist thing, and dropped into Cafe Beigner. This was to try their famous Beignets, which is a French term for pastry made from deep-fried choux dough. In New Orleans they are eaten fresh for breakfast, with heaps of icing sugar on top.
Our trip up the Mississippi River was on the Paddle Steamer Natchez. Built in 1975 this is the ninth SS Natchez, named after the city we had visited just a few days earlier. The steam engines, driving the paddle steamer, were from the steamboat Clairton and built in 1925.
On board I discovered that they had their own craft beer, a Natchez IPA.
We had booked a table and had a longish lunch on the Natchez, this included a jazz band in the dining room.
There was a good commentary as we paddled up the river and back. We were shown some of the areas that had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 This was the deadliest storm to hit the US since the Okeechobee Hurricane in 1928.
The excursion could have been at least half an hour longer as everything seemed a bit rushed.
After our river trip and lunch we were going to return to the Drinkery to get a snack and listen to some more music. As their name suggests, they were only selling drinks, not food.
We then finished up at a very pleasant restaurant, Red Fish. Unfortunately, no live music there.
Every table top was an original piece of art, painted with fish designs, which were all protected under perspex.
It was an early night as we had a long drive to Houston the next day.
Another day devoted to travelling. This time to New York City, via Reykjavik in Iceland.
We had done a similar trip once before, that time from Berlin.
The flight was with Icelandair and you pay for everything. They even have the audacity to try and up-sell you.
Buy two beers and save. Buy a meal and a drink and you will save again.
After our failed attempt to use public transport in Berlin, we decided to try the airport bus again and caught one to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
There we were met by Ev and Steph, we then walked the few blocks to their new apartment in Hell’s Kitchen.
This will be our home in NYC for the next seven days.
By the end of the night we’re were rather buggered, having spent about 22 hours on the go.
This was mainly due to the 6 hour time difference.
Ev and Steph moved from West Harlem to Hell’s Kitchen about nine months ago. This was our opportunity to explore a new area of New York.
As you might expect, this part of the city that’s below Central Park has a very different ethnic mix.
Finding a good coffee in the US is always an issue but Ev had unearthed a few places close by.
After breakfast, a coffee and some work I needed to do, we headed out.
First job was to get clothes washed. Fortunately there was a laundromat just around the corner.
As we were going to be in the US for six weeks we needed to get a SIM card for the travel phone.
That was the next chore.
We then just walked around the ‘hood’.
The only snaps for the day were of the USS Intrepid, a former aircraft carrier that has now been retired. Its second life, as the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, was opened in 1988.
It contains, among other things, the USS Growler submarine, the Space Shuttle Enterprise and a British Airways Concorde.
I wonder if it was the one I flew on in the 80s’.
It was another relatively quiet day in NYC.
We walked a few blocks into the city and happened upon the Macy’s spring flower show.
Journey to Paradisios was a flower display set in a space theme, very weird but interesting. The show, featuring spaceships and floral displays, was staged in Macy’s marquee stores in Chicago, San Francisco and of course New York.
The hidden reason for the space theme was to celebrate the USA winning the Space Race 50 years ago. When on July 20, 1969, man first walked on the Moon.
In the afternoon we revisited B&H Photo Video – Electronics and Camera Store. This is a New York institution and regarded by some as the largest camera store in the world.
In the evening we had our first Off-Broadway experience.
Avenue Q is a musical featuring puppets and live actors. It cleverly combines singing, dancing, racism and sex.
It’s where Sesame Street meets Stormy Daniels.
The company Ev works for in NYC very kindly give their staff a day off for their birthday.
This was the day and we decided to visit The Cloisters.
Situated in Fort Tryon Park, the museum contains a vast collection of art and architecture from Medieval Europe.
A strange sight in modern Manhattan.
The building was designed by Charles Collins and built in 1938. It’s governed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Many of the museum artefacts have been built into the architecture of four French cloisters that were purchased by the sculpture and art dealer George Grey Barnard.
These were dismantled and shipped to New York between 1934 and 1939. This more than likely saved them from the devastation of the Second World War.
Windows were used to hold stained glass, either entire windows or fragments.
As well as the architectural and sculptural pieces there were traditional museum styled galleries that housed smaller items.
There are about 5,000 works of art and architecture in The Cloisters.
On the way back to Hell’s Kitchen we popped into an outdoor store near Union Square.
We were there to purchase camping gear. Not to go camping but to use, instead of disposables, on our road trip west
The idea of our ‘Save the World Kit’ was dreamt up on our last trip in the US. We were so disgusted by the waste that we vowed to do something about it.
It will be interesting to see what reactions we get as we produce this bag full of goodies at breakfast.
It was the weekend and start of Spring so we all went to Central Park in search of tulips. We spent a very pleasant few hours in the park but never did find any.
Late in the afternoon we went in search of craft beer and visited the Fifth Hammer Brewing Company in Queens.
There we did find some excellent brews.
The main attraction of the day was to visit the One World Observatory, which sits at the top of the World Trade centre.
The One World Trade Centre was built after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, that resulted in destruction of the Twin Towers.
The Freedom Tower as it is known was built over the site of the Northern tower and is the tallest building in the US and the sixth tallest in the world.
Not surprisingly it was designed by the architectural firm of Skidmore Owing and Merrill. The same firm that built the Burj Khalifia in Dubai, once the tallest building in the world.
Nothing lasts forever.
The One World Observatory was opened in 2015 and at over 382 metres, offered a wonderful 360º view over Manhattan.
Just below the One World Trade Centre is Oculus, a transportation hub that cost over $4 billion and looks like something out of the Jetsons. It was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and has been criticised for it’s inefficiency and expense.
But it looks great.
On the way home we came across the Irish Hunger Memorial. Built in 2002, it’s dedicated to the Great Irish Famine (1845 – 1852)
The famine drove many to leave Ireland and make the journey to the New World and a new life in the US.
Much of the memorial is landscaped with stone, soil and natural vegetation that was shipped from the west coast of Ireland.
There were two burned out cars on Laight Street in Tribeca and we wondered why.
As reported on April 6, by Carl Glassman from the Tribeca Tribune:
“Two parked cars went up in flames in Tribeca around 6 p.m. Saturday evening, the result of what was said to be a carelessly tossed cigarette.
The cars were parked in front of 79 Laight Street when a person walking by threw a cigarette onto a pile of recycling on the sidewalk, igniting the garbage that, in turn, set the cars on fire, a resident of the building said. The blaze also scorched windows on the building’s first floor. No injuries were reported.”
It was Evan’s 34th Birthday but he had to fly to Chicago for the day. We therefore arranged to catch up with him for dinner that night at one of their favourite Thai restaurants.
We were off on our next adventure the next day, a drive across the southern US, and needed to get our clothes clean.
Therefore another trip to the laundromat was needed.
That afternoon we visited Steph’s office ‘Green Space’ in Brooklyn.
Rather than work at home alone she has rented an office. She now has people to talk to and a place to work.
With so many people working remotely, it’s become common practice now, with office spaces popping up all over the place.
Bushfire relief drive: Take 2.
Wednesday, March 31st, 2021After the devastating bushfires in south eastern Australia last summer, we decided to visit some of the worst effected areas.
Not to gawk but to spend some money and give back something to these communities that had been so badly hit.
That was not to be.
Once the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic became obvious and we went into lockdown, no travel, even so close to home, was possible.
Now, twelve months on, we decided to deliver on our promise and make our bushfire relief drive.
March 16, 2021. Melbourne to Lakes Entrance.
Our first day away consisted of a rather longish drive to Lakes Entrance. This was broken with a coffee and lunch stop in Yarragon. This is a cute little ‘Coffee break town’ that’s just off the Princes Highway and set up for passing tourists, truckies and also the Gippsland Railway.
On the first night of our break, at the suggestion of the motel owner, we ate at the Kalimna Hotel.
We needed to get a taxi there as it was a long walk, up a steep road, heading out of town.
This was a basic pub with a stunning view over the lakes.
Having become used to getting craft beer in many pubs these days, it was rather disappointing to discover that Great Northern Bitter was the most exciting brew they had on offer.
Believe me, this is certainly not a beer to write home about.
Stony Creek Trestle Bridge (1916)
March 17, 2021. Lakes Entrance.
As we had two nights in Lakes Entrance, and the weather was fine, we decided to make this a day of walking.
Our adventure took us from the Log Crossing Picnic Area in Colquhuon State Forest to the Limestone Box Forest Track, then Armstrongs Track to the Gippsland Lakes Discovery Trail and Tramway Walk.
The aftermath of the bushfires was evident, but the regrowth had done a wonderful job of restoring the bush tracks.
The original Mississippi Creek Tramway was developed in the 1900s and used until the 1930s. It transported granite from a quarry in the area to the developing Lakes Entrance township, fishing port and tourist area.
In 1870 the town was originally called Cunninghame but became Lakes Entrance in 1915.
After the walk we then drove along the Uncles and Old Colquhoun Roads to the Stony Creek Trestle Bridge.
Built in 1916, when the rail line from Melbourne to Bairnsdale was extended to Orbost, it is the largest bridge of its type in Victoria and listed as an historic site.
Built from ironbark and grey box timber, it is 247 metres long and 20 metres high and was in service for over 60 years. Badly damaged by bushfires in 1980 it was finally closed in 1987.
That night we had dinner at Sodafish, a floating seafood restaurant right in the middle of the harbour’s fishing fleet.
Again, this restaurant was booked at the suggestion of the owner’s of the Sandbar Motel.
Suburu on Wheelers Hill (699m) McKillops Road
March 18, 2021. Lakes Entrance to Marlo via McKillops Road (C611).
Today we decided to drive one of the; ‘Most hazardous and dangerous roads in Australia’ as it has been described by the website ‘dangerousroads.org’
The McKillops Road drive is 80km along a gravel road, in the Snowy River National Park. Yes there are many narrow sections, with blind corners but it certainly isn’t the hairiest drive I have ever encountered.
We would have thought twice about taking the road if it had been wet, as there are many tight corners with steep drop-offs to the side.
The AWD capabilities of the Subaru were very useful and at no time did I feel as though we were in any danger.
In fact our drive from Beacon, in New York State, back to Harlem, in New York City in November 2017 was the the worst drive I have ever done – and that was on a sealed road in the rain.
A man made feature of the McKillop’s Road drive, is McKillop’s Bridge. This is situated about half way along the C611, near the confluence of the Snowy and Deddick Rivers.
The bridge is made of welded-steel trusses with reinforced-concrete piers and was built over the Snowy River between 1931 and 1936.
It is 255 metres in length and originally constructed as a stock bridge.
From there we drove to Marlo where we were booked into the Marlo Hotel.
There isn’t much in Marlo and the hotel seems to be the go-to destination, as that night the restaurant was full.
Kookaburra at the Mallacoota Coastal Reserve Caravan Park
March 19, 2021. Marlo to Mallacoota via Cape Conran.
The clouds have increased and the skies are much darker. This is all part of a large weather front that is developing over NSW.
Today we were driving the rather short distance from Marlo to Mallacoota, with a diversion to Cape Conran.
We had a good breakfast and excellent coffee in Marlo at the Snowy River Tackle and Cafe complex. There you can get live worms for your bait and Avo on Toast for your breakfast.
Just out of Marlo we could see, what is described on the map as, the mouth of the Snowy River.
This now appears to be blocked by a sand bar, as no exit was visible.
Steph, Ev’s partner, has spent many holidays camping at Cape Conran with her family, so we decided to visit it ourselves.
The bushfires have certainly left their mark here and blackened trees can be seen almost reaching down to the water’s edge.
We then drove on to Mallacoota and, by total coincidence, checked into Bruce’s Waterside Units.
We were staying in the Captain’s Cabin, which was in fact an old school house.
The rain was threatening and we decided to go for an afternoon walk to discover the area before it got any worse.
Mallacoota is a haven for campers and fishermen, with much of the town taken up with caravan parks. Many of the campsites had boats parked next to the tents, vans and motorhomes.
It was in the Mallacoota Coastal Reserve Caravan Park that we discovers some wonderful Australian wildlife, in the form of two Kookaburras and a Koala.
They were every cooperative and I managed to get some good snaps.
That night we ate at the Mallacoota Hotel, which was just around the corner from the Captain’s Cabin.
The food was typically pub fair with a huge variety and well presented. I managed to find Balter XPA on tap. This was also available at Lakes Entrance and Marlo and a great improvement on the Great Northern Bitter that I had to endure on the first night.
Bushfire aftermath at Genoa Creek Falls
March 20, 2021. Mallacoota.
The rain has come.
The severe weather warnings for NSW have now moved south over the border into Victoria.
With the intermittent showers we decided that the best thing was to go for a drive around the Mallacoota area.
We discovered the Genoa River at Gipsy point on the Mallacoota Inlet.
This is an area for kayaks, fishermen and bird watchers.
No sooner had we arrived than a flock of swallows swooped down to where we were standing.
I believe that the swallow is one of the hardest birds to photograph. No sooner do they land than they take off again.
Here it was different, they seemed to want to be photographed. Maybe they had missed the tourists over the last twelve months or they were just tired and needed a break.
Anyway, they did settle long enough for me to change to a telephoto lens and get some shots.
It was then off to Genoa Creek Falls, an area that seems to have been particularly hard hit by the fires.
The falls are just off the Princes Highway, on a small, easy to miss track. After you park the car, there is a short walk and a flight of timber stairs leading down to the falls.
As a result of the bushfires, the stairs have been rebuilt and are now brand new. The bush around the falls is dotted with blackened tree trunks, fallen logs and singed bark hanging from the branches.
I imagine during the winter, or after heavy rain the falls might be rather spectacular, but the day we visited there was barely a trickle running over the large red boulders.
After our drive we returned to the Captain’s Cabin and then it started to pour down.
That night we returned to the Mallacoota Hotel for dinner, as we hadn’t managed to find anywhere better and the beer, wine and food was ok.
March 21, 2021. Mallacoota to Mirboo North.
There was more heavy rain overnight and now it has spread to Melbourne. It looks like a wet drive to Mirboo North.
The main reason we were visiting Mirboo North was to break the long return trip to Melbourne. It was a bonus that within this very small community is situated the Grand Ridge Brewery.
Being established in 1989, Grand Ridge is one of the oldest craft breweries in Australia.
As the website ‘craftypint.com’ puts it:
“The elder statesman of the Victorian microbrewery scene, Grand Ridge began offering full-flavoured ales to a nation of lager drinkers more than 20 years ago.”
This was an old article in Craftypint and in fact the brewery has been in operation since 1989. They therefore have been challenging beer drinker’s taste buds for over 30 years.
I had booked at the restaurant, not knowing how busy it might be on a Sunday night.
I shouldn’t have bothered.
There were only about six tables in a space that could hold far more. We went to the bar for a pre-dinner drink and that was even less crowded, with only on other person drinking there.
We had been told that the restaurant had recently been taken over by new owners. It had previously been run by the management of Grand Ridge. I think that the loss of trade during the pandemic and the lack of available staff since, had forced them to rationalise their business model.
The food was excellent as was the service and the beer that I started with. This was a West City Neipa 7.5%. The ‘Neipa’ stands for New England IPA and it is now made in the Grand Ridge Brewery.
Like so many good brew pubs, Grand Ridge provides their drinkers with a wide range beer styles. There were three sets of taps, each serving six brews.
We were staying at the aptly named 1st T Motel, which was right next to the Mirboo North Golf Club.
According to Google Maps it was meant to be a 20 minute walk from our motel to the brewery, but we took a short cut through the golf course, and did it in ten.
March 22, 2021. Mirboo North to Melbourne.
The motel provided us with breakfast, of sorts. This consisted of four slices of plain white bread with sachets of Vegemite, jam, honey and peanut butter. There was also a choice of Cornflakes, Rice Bubbles or Special K. Which meant that our entire breakfast was totally lacking in any nutritional value.
After a breakfast like that we needed a strong coffee, before the relatively short drive back to Melbourne.
We found that at Lamezleighs Cafe and Bar, which was on the main street of Mirboo North. The coffee was good but they did charge us for a mug when we had only ordered, and been served, a cup.
In a way I guess we were still putting money back into the community, but not the way we had intended.
The weather was still threatening but the rain did hold off.
It was a strange adventure, initiated by the devastating bushfires of 2020, postponed by the world wide COVID-19 pandemic and then interrupted by the ‘One-in-100-years’ floods in NSW.
It does seem that we are lurching from one disaster to another.
Posted in Comment, Photography, Travel | No Comments »