Introduction

This page is a collection of comments and pictures relating to places I have visited over the years in North America. For the full list, see the travel index.

---

Mexico  Map

My only experience of Mexico was a brief trip across the US border at Del Rio (Texas) to visit the Mexican town of Ciudad Acuna for a meal at Crosby's.

---

United States of America  Map


My first experience of the US was arriving in Miami and visiting Orlando. This was followed by a journey around the Everglades and ending on the Florida Keys (probably my favorite destination in Florida).

The next visit was a more adventurous journey. The journey started in Atlanta, GA, and allowed a chance to see the CNN studios and the World of Coca Cola. Heading north, I ventured briefly into Alabama (to Mentone) just so I could say I'd been to Alabama and survived. I then continued to Chattanooga, TN, and a stay at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo (converted railroad cars acting as a hotel), and the impressive Tennessee Aquarium. The journey then progressed to Pigeon Forge in the Smoky Mountains, across into North Carolina, and heading via Rockingham Dragway to Wilmington on the coast. From there, I travelled down the coast through Georgia to Florida, before heading inland to Orlando for a few days. After that I headed out to Titusville, to see Space Shuttle Columbia launch on the final Spacelab mission. Due to problems the launch of STS-90 was delayed a day (see NASA's archive for the details), but I got to see it, and then I headed down to the Florida Keys, hitting massive traffic problems due to a fire which had blocked access to and from the Keys. Eventually the fire was brought under control enough to allow traffic to flow again, and the arrival in the Keys (and a much needed bed) finally happened around 4 AM the next morning.

Having tried Tennessee once, and failing to visit Lynchburg, the next visit included the chance. Again the journey started in Atlanta, but this time I headed straight for Tennessee and the small town of Monteagle. Nearby is the home of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, and I took full advantage of the chance to tour the distillery. I then headed south into Alabama, and the city of Huntsville. The Space and Rocket Center there (adjacent to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center) isn't too well known, but it is well worth a visit. Then I headed across into northern Mississippi, passing through Tupelo (the birthplace of Elvis), before re-entering Tennessee and stopping in Memphis for a few days. While there, I visited the famous Sun recording studio. After enjoying the sights and sounds of Memphis, the journey got a bit boring, heading south following the Mississippi river. It got more lively after seeing the state capitol, Jackson, and going down to the Gulf Coast at Biloxi. Even better was New Orleans, and the chance to see some drag racing at Baton Rouge, before trailing down Highway 1 to Grand Isle to see what was at the end of the road (nothing!). Heading west onto I-10 soon brought the Texan city of Beaumont into sight, and a chance to check e-mail at the Logon C@fe. Finally the journey came to an end at Houston, topped off by a visit to the NASA Johnson Space Center.

My next visit to Tennessee started in Nashville - but not for the music! After heading down to see Jack Daniel's distillery again, and attempting to tour George Dickel's Distillery, I headed out to the east end of Tennessee and stopped off at Knoxville, before heading up into Kentucky and trailing along west just above the TN/KY state line to Bowling Green. Finally I headed back into Tennessee and caught some drag racing at Music City Raceway before heading back to England.

Since living here and settling in Panama City, I've travelled in the region to places like Destin, Fort Walton, Port St Joe, Wewahitchka and Mexico Beach. Shortly after getting married, Suzi and I were taken (evacuating from the path of Hurricane Barry) to St Augustine on the Atlantic coast of Florida by the Glovers, for the East Coast part of our honeymoon. A couple of months later we had the West Coast part of our honeymoon in San Diego, on the Pacific coast of California, flying via Jacksonville (Florida) and St Louis (Missouri). This trip was marred by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York, and our return was delayed while all US flights were grounded.

On trips to Tennessee, to visit Suzi's family, we've travelled across Alabama, via the I-65 corridor through Birmingham and Montgomery, and Huntsville at the eastern end of I-565.

Other brief visits have included New Orleans, LA, and Jacksonville, FL, Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA (to see the INS/USCIS).