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
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. For more images, try this Google image search
Map
USA
My first taste of America 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). Me at the parking lot of
Bahia Honda State Park
. For more images, try this Google image search
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, both on
launch pad 39B
the night before the launch and also the
actual launch
. I then 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
.
The trip continued in Texas and included Corpus Christi, Del Rio, Big Bend National Park, Marfa (failing to see the lights), San Angelo and a visit to Fort Concho.
Finally the journey came to an end at Houston, topped off by a visit to the NASA
Johnson Space Center
. For more images, try this Google image search
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. For more images, try this Google image search
Other brief visits have included New Orleans, LA , and Jacksonville, FL , Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA (to see the INS/USCIS). For more images, try this Google image search
Map
