{"id":60,"date":"2012-10-06T15:13:45","date_gmt":"2012-10-06T15:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/?page_id=60"},"modified":"2012-10-07T13:15:45","modified_gmt":"2012-10-07T13:15:45","slug":"my-american-adventure","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/?page_id=60","title":{"rendered":"My American Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 20%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-60 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_38.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_38-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_37.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_37-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_36.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_36-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_35.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_35-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_34.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_34-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_33.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_33-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_32.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_32-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_31.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_31-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_30.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_30-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_29.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_29-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_28.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_28-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_27.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_27-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_26.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_26-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_25.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_25-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_24.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_24-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_23.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_23-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_22.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_22-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_21.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_21-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_20.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_20-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_19.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_19-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_18.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_18-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_17.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_17-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_16.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_16-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_15.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_15-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_14.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_14-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_13.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_13-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_12.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_12-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_11.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_11-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_10.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_10-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_9.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_9-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_8.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_8-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_7.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_7-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_6.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_6-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_5.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_5-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_4.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_4-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_3.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_3-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_2.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_2-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_1.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ap_1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">In March I went on holiday for three weeks with my friend Ed to the southern states in the US.\u00a0 I sent several emails back home.\u00a0 People seemed to enjoy them.\u00a0 So here they are.\u00a0 This includes the last instalment which I never got round to sending out.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>Email 1 \u2013 \u00a0New Orleans <\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Hello all<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have arrived safe and sound in New Orleans, after a minor detour to the wrong terminal at Heathrow and then me nearly being refused entry into the US at Chicago.\u00a0 I think in total it was about 26 hours or so of travelling, of which I slept for around an hour on the plane to Chicago and then about 10 minutes between Chicago and New Orleans, when I was woken up by the landing.\u00a0 We got to the hotel at midnight, and had a few beers in the sports bar attached to our hotel before bed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Meanwhile back at immigration in Chicago&#8230;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I\u2019m asked the usual questions and then&#8230;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: \u201cWhere do you live\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Me<\/strong>: \u201cTaunton\u201d&#8230;&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: <em>Silence&#8230;.\u00a0 he leans back in his chair so that the buttons on his shirt stretch and I can see the white tee-shirt underneath. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Me:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s in Somerset\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: \u201cI know\u201d (I, however, doubt he does.\u00a0 My doubt is not entirely based on supposition, we have history on this already.\u00a0 A minute, or so ago he asked me what I did.\u00a0 After clarifying that he meant what I did as what was my primary means of income, I told him I was a town planner.\u00a0 I was then also faced with silence and what I took to be a blank look.\u00a0 I helpfully explained \u201cI think it\u2019s like you\u2019re zoning&#8230;. a little bit at least &#8230;. I\u2019m sure there are differences but they\u2019re broadly similar, I think &#8230;. \u2013 \u201cI know\u201d he replied&#8230;. but he did not actually seem to know then ether).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>The Immigration Officer taps at his computer for a few moments <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: Have you ever lived in London<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Me<\/strong>: No<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: You\u2019ve never lived in Camden?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Me<\/strong>: No, I only have a vague idea (I may have said \u2013 \u201cnotion\u201d) where Camden is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: Hmmmmm<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>More tapping at the computer key board \u2013 the shirt buttons are straining again. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: Are you sure?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Me<\/strong>: Yes<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Immigration Official<\/strong>: Sir, can you step over to the right and stand on the black line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>I\u2019m not given my passport back. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I look over at Ed, who is next in line, and give him a \u201cI\u2019ve no idea what\u2019s going on\u201d shrug.\u00a0 A few moments later I\u2019m ushered into a waiting room area by another Immigration Official who indicates I must take a seat and wait \u2013 I sit on the wooden bench and wait. In the 30 minutes or so I\u2019m in there I\u2019m pretty much the only white person in that waiting room, there is one white woman sitting to my left, but I soon work out that she works for the immigration service and seems to be looking after some Asian children while their mother is in one of the interview (interrogation?) rooms.\u00a0 It seems that this waiting room is a holding pen for those of Middle Eastern descent, with a sprinkling of oriental people &#8230;&#8230;. and me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Five, or so minutes go by and nothing happens, so I get my book out and try to read.\u00a0 I can\u2019t really concentrate. Maybe it\u2019s because, the book is set in a Jewish ghetto, in Poland, in WWII, and I\u2019m at the point where mass deportations are beginning.\u00a0 I stop reading.\u00a0 The only other book I have in my hand luggage is a thick USA guide book. However, it seems inappropriate to read this whilst I\u2019m facing the, at least theoretical, possibility of being returned home.\u00a0 I sit quietly, pray briefly, and feel a little better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I remain sitting in silence.\u00a0 I can\u2019t even take my phone out and play a game.\u00a0 Phone use is forbidden.\u00a0 The signs dotted around the room allude to this, but, if any occupants of the waiting room were in any doubt, this was dispelled when the man sat next to me was severely told off when caught using a phone.\u00a0 He is wearing an extremely shiny suit.\u00a0 He tries to make several calls on his phone, but fails.\u00a0 He asks me if I have a US mobile.\u00a0 I say no.\u00a0 He has better luck with his neighbour to his left.\u00a0 The man in the shiny suit is mid way through arranging a flight to Canada when caught breaking the rules.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Luckily I do not share the same fate as the Asian woman, whose children are now beginning to misbehave a little.\u00a0 I do not see the inside of one of the interview rooms.\u00a0 And after a while my passport is returned to me and I\u2019m told I\u2019m free to go.\u00a0 I\u2019m still not entirely sure what was going on, the immigration officers are not the most talkative bunch, but as far as I can work out the issue related to a namesake of mine and not me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We\u2019ve had a nice day yesterday.\u00a0 Got up about 9ish and not feeling too tired.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had a good wonder around the French Quarter and Treme \u2013 which has some of the most beautiful, quirky, little houses I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 We took a street car (tram) out to the garden district \u2013 I had a nice jerk chicken and chop salad for lunch.\u00a0 We\u2019ve watched some street musicians.\u00a0 One groups contained about fifteen or so, mostly very young, people.\u00a0 While my ignorance of American music styles may be showing here, I think they played some kind of blend of Cajan and Blue Grass music.\u00a0 They all had a slightly grubby appearance and the boys had an impressive array of breads, and the girl\u2019s hairy legs and armpits.\u00a0 They were great (in general not specifically the hairy legs and armpits).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">For dinner I had pork checks with black eyed peas and Ed had a crab stew.\u00a0 As of yet my diet has felt a little too healthy, with my large salad, pluses and sensible portion sizes.\u00a0 I doubt this will last for the rest of the trip.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">After dinner we went to see a band (War on Drugs \u2013 supported by White Rabbits).\u00a0 White rabbits we\u2019re really very good, War on Drugs not so good.\u00a0 The CD player\/ alarm clock in our room is currently refusing to play their (White Rabbits) CD which is very frustrating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Now I know what I\u2019m about to say is really bad and I know I shouldn\u2019t think this&#8230; but&#8230;. I do like that smoking is allowed in bars here.\u00a0 Not all that many people actually smoked, but somehow being allowed to felt a little, civilised. Perhaps it\u2019s just nostalgia and being in a slightly smoky room reminds me of going to see bands when I was younger, but it did like that last night. It\u2019s interesting that I first encountered a \u201csmoking ban\u201d in the US about 9 years ago when going to see Idlewild in a little music venue in LA.\u00a0 I remember commenting then, on the way back to the hostel, how it was nice to leave a music venue not smelling of smoke.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We are going to try to go and see the New Orleans Hornets play the Lakers (basketball) tonight. And go on a steam boat trip today.\u00a0 A Po Boy, a large bread baguette type bread over stuffed with meat and dressed with bits of salad, pickles and sauces, is looking like a good lunch option, so the fairly healthy eating ends today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I have attached a few photo\u2019s from yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Oh and by the way Jesus does do miracles in New Orleans, at least he does if you\u2019re an iphone user.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I\u2019ll try and email again as we go off on our road trip \u2013 depending on time and wifi connection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Byeee.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>Email 2<\/em> &#8211; <em>Basketball, pretty waitresses, car rides and small town America.<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Dear all<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I have written this email over quite a few days, so I know it sounds a bit disjointed, but I don\u2019t what to fix all the tenses etc \u2013 sorry.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Aside from a few Mansfield Town games \u2013 tonight was my first experience of attending an organised sporting event. We watched the New Orleans Hornets play the LA Lakers at basket ball. I have to say I enjoyed it much more than I ever thought I would.\u00a0 I liked the pageantry; I got into the game and enjoyed being immersed in another bit of Americana. I enjoyed that I was sat next to a large (I suspect clinically obese) boy who was being stroppy with his mother because he wanted better seats \u2013 to the point where he asked me how much our tickets cost \u2013 when I confirmed that the price his mother had told him she paid for his tickets was correct \u2013 it did not stop him complaining. \u00a0I had at least two American stereotypes confirm \u2013 but also, on that night, others dispelled.\u00a0 I did not understand all the rules, but I really did have a good time \u2013 even down to the very bad hot dog I eat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Every now and then the fans start to chant (what I think is) \u201ceeeeasy, eeeeasy,\u00a0 eeeeasy\u201d and so for a moment I think I\u2019m watching British Sea Power (I only expect 3 people on this email list to get that reference).\u00a0 It turns out they are actually chanting \u201cdeeee-fence, deee-fence, deee-fence\u201d, or occasionally beee-fence x3 (because the cheer leaders are called the honey bees \u2013 I assume because bees are similar to but nicer and smaller than a hornet).\u00a0 My mistake here is, I think forgivable because one of the, many, names New Orleans has is \u201cThe Big Easy\u201d (alongside \u201cNawlans\u201d, \u201cNola\u201d and \u201cThe Crescent City\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Celebrity is very important at this event.\u00a0 By and large I have no Idea who those that they are displaying on the screens are, nevertheless there are more than a few I recognise. They display a bunch of people (I assume local celebrities or celebrities that originate from New Orleans) who are season ticket holders \u2013 none of them I know.\u00a0 Throughout the event they also seem to \u201cspot\u201d several other celebrities and display them on screen.\u00a0 Again I don\u2019t really know who most of them are \u2013 but Samuel L Jackson is there, as is \u201cStifler\u2019s Mom\u201d (from American Pie) and the head chef from the restaurant me an Ed eat at last night (I am choosing to believe that he personally cook us our dinner).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">The disappointment came towards the end.\u00a0 Ultimately the teams drew \u2013 up till this point; the game was genuinely very exciting as the score was very close. More so because the Hornets (New Orleans) were always winning \u2013 but only just. Naturally \u2013 we were supporting the Hornets, currently being resident in New Orleans \u2013 however, being fickle as we all are, I assume that had we been staying in LA \u2013 I would be cheering for the Lakers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Overtime is five minutes long \u2013 this is dragged out to over 30 minutes \u2013 with the number of time outs and other interruptions.\u00a0 By the end all interest and excitement is lost.\u00a0 At this point the cheerleaders bouncing their little legs is no longer a distraction \u2013 it really is just time that they got on with it. As a side point \u2013 the cheerleaders are probably superior athletes to the players \u2013 they certainly spend more time moving around than the players, with the time outs and constant replacements (I\u2019m fairly sure this is not the official term \u2013 but you know what I mean) etc. In the end the Lakers beat the Hornets, I\u2019m apathetic at this point \u2013 had this occurred before the, ridiculous, overtime I genuinely would have been gutted.\u00a0 I\u2019m not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Disappointment over the overtime aside, I really did enjoy it and while every part of me wants to criticise the whole thing \u2013 I can\u2019t \u2013 I liked it.\u00a0 My last experience of watching live sport involved grown men relieving them self on the stands and shouting racial abuse at a player, that I only realised half way through,\u00a0 was actually on <\/span><em style=\"color: #888888;\">\u201ctheir\u201d <\/em><span style=\"color: #888888;\">team.\u00a0 I had more fun tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I could now detail the first leg of our road trip, or tell you about our steam\/paddle boat ride (displaying the delights of the industrial Louisianan coast line) where, according to the commentator, everything was the biggest or best in the world (but only when an obscure measuring system is applied.\u00a0 Did you know that New Orleans has the biggest port in the world [move aside Rotterdam, Antwerp et. al] but only when measured in the number of barges that service the port [not cargo ships or tonnage]).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I won\u2019t.\u00a0 Instead bar etiquette, waitresses (and, by extension, tipping) has caught my attention. I think we, or more specifically, I have broken bar\/drink ordering\/ restaurant sitting etiquette more than once.\u00a0 Most notably was in New Orleans whilst watching a band \u2013 between the support and the main band I go to get us another beer.\u00a0 I hover between two bar stools taken up by people sitting there.\u00a0 I try to catch the waitress\u2019s eyes &#8230; unsuccessfully.\u00a0 It seems that hovering around occupied bar stools is not the done thing and apparently quite annoying (I\u2019m not sure how else you\u2019re meant to get another drink).\u00a0 In this case there is a section of the bar that is not surrounded by stools \u2013 but it is the section next to the standing area near the stage \u2013 it is more than a foot lower than the bar seating area \u2013 and whilst I see some successfully ordering from this area I don\u2019t want the embarrassment of even attempting this.\u00a0 In the end it turns out the girl, whose stool I\u2019m hovering behind works there (not that night \u2013 but in general) she gets me my order (after correcting my pronunciation of the particular beer I order), gives me my change an sits back at her stool. I suspect this is done just to get rid of me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Last night on our return from the basketball game we went to a bar to order drinks.\u00a0 We waited an in-ordinate amount of time to be given attention by the waiting staff in the end I address one of the guys and beginning to ask for some beers.\u00a0 Before ending the request he stops me and makes it clear that he will not be serving us our drinks and instead selects one of the other waiting staff to serve us.\u00a0 None of them seemed to be particularly occupied. So I\u2019m not sure why he could not have poured us two pints.\u00a0 I assume one of two things &#8211; either there is some sort of hierarchy and his position is such that he is somehow above serving drinks or he has the uncanny knack of selecting the one waitress that you find particularly attractive to serve you.\u00a0 In this case there are three or four, all very attractive in their way.\u00a0 The one he (I think rudely) taps on the back to get her to serve us, is, to me, very pretty.\u00a0 I would say she is, objectively, the least obviously attractive of all the other girls.\u00a0 She looks, more than a little like Emma Lee-Moss from Emmy the Great.\u00a0 Perhaps this is some elaborate ploy to increase tips \u2013 I\u2019m not sure. But &#8230;.. The next night we\u2019re in the delightful town of Mobile (pronounced &#8211; <\/span><em style=\"color: #888888;\">Mobeel<\/em><span style=\"color: #888888;\">).\u00a0 We go out to an oyster bar for dinner.\u00a0 We have dinner amongst tables of bikers (literally think hells angels or the TV show \u201cSons of Anarchy\u201d if you\u2019ve ever seen it) there is a convention on, apparently. We\u2019re seated in a \u201csection\u201d of the restaurant\/bar served by a particular waitress.\u00a0 In this case, it is Ed that thinks she is particularly cute.\u00a0 Unfortunately for her, it is me that is paying for dinner tonight.\u00a0 Maybe this particular attention to the selection of waitresses is the most sought after skill required for a head waiter\/bar man!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #888888;\">(Don\u2019t worry the waitress in the oyster house was tipped well).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Mobile and Alabama was lovely.\u00a0 There are some really beautiful houses on a street lined by some really, very, very, beautiful trees \u2013 whose branches snaked across the road and were covered in some odd hanging moss type plant.\u00a0 We spent a morning on a historic homes tour. It just so happens that we\u2019re in Mobile on one of the two days a year that some private, anti-bellum (basically the time period before the Civil War), homes are opened to the public.\u00a0 The first one is in a \u201cpre-restoration state\u201d.\u00a0 It is lovely and more than a little rough around the edges. I can\u2019t however help felling a little like I\u2019m at work and I\u2019ve been called out on a site visit to a Listed Building either just before it is t be sold or just after its been bought.\u00a0 It amuses me a little that I keep over hearing the other people wandering around saying \u201cgosh there\u2019s so much work to do\u201d.\u00a0 In reality the house is in a better state than my house, in Yeovil, was when I first bought it.\u00a0 We only get to see about half of the houses that are open \u2013 we have to get on the road and do some driving \u2013 but it\u2019s not really the time it takes to look at the houses \u2013 its more that we keep getting chatted to by the women in the houses who are tasked with explaining the history of the house, room etc and pointing out particular points of interest.\u00a0 Mostly they apologise to us about the relatively young age of the houses, furniture etc.\u00a0 It seems they assume that we all live in Georgian (or older) houses full of antique furniture.\u00a0 It is all very sweat, from the houses over filled with antiques (mostly French) to the girls dressed as southern belles welcoming you to each house.\u00a0 I think I have fallen in love with the Alabaman accent \u2013 it\u2019s delightful and slow and polite.\u00a0 Having now spent a bit of time in northern Florida and Georgia which have, superficially at least, similar accents, the Alabaman accent really is very endearing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I know this is getting long so I\u2019ll be brief now.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been to northern Florida to an old (v early 1800\u2019s) fort on a barrier island.\u00a0 There we\u2019re beautiful white beaches full of spring breakers (families on spring break \u2013 not the \u201cspring breakers\u201d we are all familiar with from American teen movies).\u00a0 We called in at Seaside \u2013 a model sea side village, with pastel colour houses, where some of the scenes from the Truman Show were filmed.\u00a0 This is a very upper middle class holiday resort \u2013 where it seems most of the houses are vacation homes.\u00a0 They have been given silly names \u2013 like \u201cbetter than chocolate\u201d and &#8230;. I can\u2019t remember, but they really were ridiculous.\u00a0 They then have the names of the families on the sign \u2013 if there is a dog, the dog\u2019s name is there too \u2013 with a little paw print next to it.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad that we have seen this place, but, please God, I never want to get to the point where this is the kind of place I want to go on holiday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We really wanted to be in Savannah for St Patrick \u2019s Day.\u00a0 But it\u2019s such a big deal there that all the hotels are really expensive and booked out ages before.\u00a0 So we have taken a detour.\u00a0 We spent a day calling in to a bunch of small towns for a wander \u2013 had a BBQ pulled pork sandwich, from a man with a trophy telling us he had won an award for best BBQ pork, and another for ribs. \u00a0\u00a0They make parking spaces for people who can\u2019t parallel park, so I was happy.\u00a0 I\u2019ve really enjoyed just driving around today.\u00a0 We\u2019re staying in a cheap motel tonight (in a no where town.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit weird, we went into the town at about 16:30 on a Saturday afternoon and its all shut up \u2013 literally like a ghost town).\u00a0 We\u2019re off to a swamp (that is also a national park) tomorrow to go cannoning.\u00a0 Savannah will have to wait \u2013 shame because St Patrick\u2019s Day there sounded great and there was a church I wanted to go to on the Sunday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">A few pictures attached \u2013 not many. I have taken quite a few on my phone, surreptitiously, when not officially allowed (like at the basketball) I haven\u2019t got round to downloading these yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Bye<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/h4>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Email 3 &#8211; <em>When is a bar not a bar??<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>My mother told me that if I didn\u2019t have anything nice to say then don\u2019t say anything at all.\u00a0 I am more of the view that if you don\u2019t have anything funny to say (or in this case write) don\u2019t say anything at all.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had a great time over the last few days \u2013 but perhaps less humorous things have happened.\u00a0 This email is therefore perhaps not as amusing as the others \u2013 but I hope that you might find some of it interesting.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I have been enjoying the driving and finding it quite easy.\u00a0 This has been a pleasant surprise because I don\u2019t really enjoy driving at home \u2013 nor I am very good at it.\u00a0 The automatic is easy to drive and everything just seems a little slower especially in our slow, ugly, car.\u00a0 We have some very cheesy American anthems to listen to whist driving.\u00a0 The sign posting here is rubbish. When on an interstate (motorway) or other major road you\u2019re lucky if you get a sign telling you what the exit is never mind have any advance warning by which is point you don\u2019t have time to get into the correct lane.\u00a0 Consequently we have got pretty good at making U turns. We have now bought a proper road atlas so hopefully we\u2019ll do a little better from now on. I think the highway engineers here need to come on a field trip to England.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We called into a large Walmart \u2013 partly so we could get some things for lunches but also because going to a supermarket in a different county is always interesting (at least to me).\u00a0 I like seeing what things they have that we don\u2019t and what they don\u2019t have that we do.\u00a0 Actually it\u2019s all very similar \u2013 other than a few things in greatly oversized packs and jars. \u00a0There is even a half decent selection of continental cheeses, but their cured meat looks way over processed.\u00a0 To my surprise there is about a quarter of an aisle dedicated to British products (or British versions of American products), just like our \u201cPolish\u201d aisles.\u00a0 We are at Wal-Mart on the edge of a smallish town (here the edges of even small towns have sprawling out of town shopping and commercial areas that are strung out along the road for, what seems like, miles).\u00a0 It seems odd that there would be a British population large enough to support this type of thing.\u00a0 They have digestives, various types of Cadburys chocolate, and other \u201cEnglish\u201d chocolate.\u00a0 They have PG Tips and Yorkshire tea.\u00a0 There is no Twinings, so I couldn\u2019t move here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have had mixed feelings about our swamp trip.\u00a0 On the one hand it was good to see the swamp and some alligators, turtles, terrapins (as well as another animal that I\u2019m not sure what it was) and also the vegetation etc.\u00a0 The place itself was a bit tacky touristy.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t doing the cannoning (apparently the water level is too low) so instead we go on a boat ride\/tour. The tour guide was quite amusing, although we were not sure how authentic the stories about his granddaddy making moonshine in the swamp were.\u00a0 Nevertheless he was entertaining and he brought along a bucket with a couple of baby alligators for us to hold (this is apparently contraband and we are not to inform his bosses that he has rescued these).\u00a0 They would prefer that he allow nature to take its course&#8230; He has rescued these from a gator attack on their mother and siblings, by one of the alpha males).\u00a0 True or not the baby gators are pretty sweet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Savannah is lovely there are some really beautiful buildings with parks on every other corner or so &#8230; it\u2019s a well \u201cplanned\u201d city.\u00a0 We walk around Savannah in the aftermath of St Patrick \u2019s Day. The fountains are still spewing green water (I worry it will stain the marble). The bits of green fluff (I assume debris from silly hats and beards) and vomit stains on the pavements doesn\u2019t mar its beauty. Charleston, however, is better. It\u2019s the kind f place I can see myself living. We\u2019re staying in a hostel now (for anyone interested) the difference between a (cheapish) motel and a hostel is: Hostel \u2013 a mile or so from \u201cdowntown\u201d. Also, you might have a communal bathroom and have to make (and at the end of your stay unmake) your own bed, but chances are (looking beyond a bit of neglect) it\u2019s a pretty cool, old, building.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Motel: it\u2019s a bit more expensive, quite a few miles (at least) out from the \u201cdowntown area\u201d and soulless (utterly), but you get your own bathroom.\u00a0 Personally I\u2019ll take a bit of (slightly neglected) beauty over a private bathroom any day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">A wander (or hike depending on your deposition and how much your feet are hurting from the first \u2013 and very intense \u2013 wearing of flip flops of the year) into and around the old part of town reveals Charleston\u2019s charms.\u00a0 There is fairly classic American Georgian architecture and \u201cCharleston long houses,\u201d with balconies facing south to catch the afternoon sun and a blank northern elevation so as not to overlook their neighbours southern balcony \u2013 they are so tightly packed together in places that its seems unlikely that the balconies get any sun whatsoever.\u00a0 Nevertheless I really like them. \u00a0\u00a0The pristine beauty of the \u201crestored\u201d parts of town and the, more than a little, rough around the edges part of town we are staying, in collectively show that this is a place of beauty. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have dinner in a slightly touristy, but otherwise ok(ish) fish restaurant.\u00a0 We order a half a pound of shrimp to share as a starter \u2013 eating them shell and all (as I would usually do) is not the done thing \u2013 it seems \u2013so after eating one this way, I stop.\u00a0 I know this habit can be blamed on the time when I was dating a Chinese girl and Chinese people seem to like that crunchy, cartilagey texture and I grew to like it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">When is a bar not a bar?&#8230;&#8230; Cigar bars (or as we will discover not bars) are relatively common in the South.\u00a0 We select a cigar each and a beer (I\u2019m disappointed there is not a whiskey \u2013 or even a bourbon as on the rare occasion I have a cigar it tends to be accompanied by a nice glass of whiskey (preferably a highland or island).\u00a0 We sit in leather chairs and chat to the two other guys who join us. \u00a0One of the guys is keen to chat and gives us various restaurant recommendations \u2013 he is however, ever so slightly odd.\u00a0 The other guy, all but, ignores us until he abruptly gets up, informs his friend they are leaving and heads to the door, taking his car keys from his pocket as he goes.\u00a0 This last action concerns me.\u00a0 Up till this point I have taken his off-standoffishness to be mild drunkenness \u2013 he looks red-eyed and sluggish.\u00a0 I hope I\u2019m wrong and that they got home safely.\u00a0\u00a0 Upon our return to the hostel, after a bit of googling, some of the restaurant recommendations seem well worth a visit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Did you know that in most states (Louisiana aside) you cannot smoke in a bar?\u00a0 Did you also know that a bar is only a bar when either food is serve and\/or alcohol over 16%?\u00a0 As such sat in a room with comfy leather chairs, that sells only beers and wine (as well as a vast selection of cigars and a few cigarettes) is not a bar and hence you can smoke!\u00a0 This seems a little odd to me (I can get the no food rule \u2013 but not the other but &#8230;&#8230;. ok). The cigars were enjoyed.\u00a0 However the foul taste in my mouth the next morning reminds me why I don\u2019t do this more than about twice a year.\u00a0 It takes several teeth brushes, coffee and lunch before the after taste begins to fade.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Another day of a lot of walking and a visit to Fort Sumter a few miles off shore.\u00a0 This is where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.\u00a0 I have to confess to being a bit of a geek when it comes to stuff like this \u2013 so I\u2019ve really enjoyed my day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Dinner tonight was in a shack.\u00a0 Literally a shack.\u00a0 This is a place that the chatty, if slightly odd, man in the cigar \u201cbar\u201d recommended.\u00a0 The restaurant is located on the edge of a suburb and we get a bit lost trying to find it.\u00a0 There is no sign posting to it and the restaurant has no signs.\u00a0 After a few detours, we do find it.\u00a0\u00a0 It has bare floors, plastic chairs and the table cloths are paper torn off from a big roll.\u00a0 I think we must have been given the best table in the place.\u00a0 We\u2019re put in a corner at the back overlooking the little harbour in the creek.\u00a0 The walls are an open timber frame covered only in fly mesh on the outside and thin plastic sheeting on the inside. \u00a0You select the food you want by circling your choice on the printed menu with a \u201csharpie\u201d. Food is served on paper plates.\u00a0 If you choose a bottle of white wine it comes in an ice bucket \u2013 which is a plastic bucket that once held oysters with \u201cPalmetto Oysters\u201d written across it. We\u2019re asked if we want \u201cshe crab soup\u201d to start.\u00a0 At this stage I\u2019m not 100% sure what the waitress has said, but make a snap decision and we say yes.\u00a0 I\u2019m so glad we did.\u00a0 I think this will probably be the best meal we will have on this holiday and the she crab soup the best individual dish. We both have variants on a platter with shrimp, scallops and (in my case) fried oysters.\u00a0 There are some very nice \u201csides\u201d that come with these as well \u2013 including the best version of a hush puppy (a kind of fried dumpling which is a popular southern dish) we have had to date. I have already had fried oysters on this trip \u2013 and last time, whilst I very much enjoyed them, they were a bit of an unrefined bar snack.\u00a0 Here the oysters are so fat that whilst fried and crispy on the outside they retain that silky, creamy (some would say slimy) texture on the inside and that taste of the saltiness of the sea is still there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I\u2019m really full so I can\u2019t have a pudding but I\u2019m very intrigued by the key-lime bread pudding.\u00a0 Ed has the key lime pie which looks and tastes great.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">If you\u2019re ever vaguely near Charleston You really must go there \u2013 it\u2019s called The Wreck of Richard and Charlene. \u00a0I\u2019ll give you directions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We go for a southern breakfast, at a place that has been recommended to us by the man in the cigar \u201cbar\u201d and a bar tender.\u00a0 It\u2019s called the Hominy grill.\u00a0 It has a simple elegant atmosphere and does a great breakfast.\u00a0 I have smothered eggs (two, perfectly, poached eggs on a cornbread biscuit (a biscuit here is not too dissimilar to our scones) covered in a \u201cgravy\u201d with some bacon bits in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We\u2019ve seen two plantation homes (think going to a national trust, country home style, property in England \u2013 but this time it has been built with slave labour \u2013 or \u201cthe enslaved\u201d as our tour guide refers to them).\u00a0 Where we are now, the plantations grew, Indigo, cotton or rice, but we have driven through remnants of pecan tree plantations on our trip.\u00a0 The first house we visit has never had plumbing or electricity installed and so we see it in a fairly near original state.\u00a0 The slave huts etc are all gone and in fairness to the guide he does handle the dark side of the plantations past with quite a bit of grace.\u00a0 As with everything we have seen, there are things here that are the biggest, best, or oldest, when a selective system of measurement is chosen!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">At the second plantation home we get caught in a huge downpour \u2013 and we\u2019re utterly soaked through.\u00a0 Consequently our car now smells of damp clothes and shoes \u2013 it\u2019s not pleasant. This second plantation has extensive and lovely gardens.\u00a0 It\u2019s the kind of place you would go with your mum.\u00a0 At one point there is a lake with a bank on the other side with trees and the under canopy is full of beautifully coloured flowers.\u00a0 You could be forgiven for thinking you\u2019re at a country estate in England &#8230;&#8230; that is other than the fact that there is an alligator swimming in the lake.\u00a0 You can just about make it out in the bottom left hand corner of the photograph. It seems odd that you can just happen across an alligator here.\u00a0 At the previous plantation there was a smallish gator just lying on the lawn next to the small manmade lake.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I know some of you enjoyed the comments about the waitresses in the last email.\u00a0 It is with regret that I must report that since leaving Alabama, the waitresses have gotten less attractive, larger or been men. They have not necessarily been any less charming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">This email is a few days out of date and I\u2019ve already started on the next one, which, thus far is called \u201cmy bad, geek rock &#8230;.. and &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Sorry I haven\u2019t responded to the individual emails some of you have sent \u2013 we don\u2019t have loads of time and a big part of our late evenings tend to be spent reading guide books, looking stuff up on the internet and booking things for the next day or so.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Byeeee\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/h4>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>Email 4 \u2013 \u201cMy bad\u201d, Geek rock, mountains but no bears<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have visited a place called Raleigh.\u00a0\u00a0 Collectively with Durham and Chapel Hill this forms the \u201cresearch triangle\u201d.\u00a0 These are university towns and the \u201cindustry\u201d here is government administration and research.\u00a0 Durham has a minor league baseball team made famous by some film and Chapel Hill is famous for its basketball, I understand that Michel Jordan shoot to fame here \u2013 so you may have heard of them.\u00a0 Oh and Durham is also famous for tobacco. As we have been travelling around, people have occasionally asked us where we are going on our road trip.\u00a0 They seem a little confused as to why we would visit a place like this. \u00a0This (or rather these) are just a normal cities.\u00a0 However part of the point of doing this trip is to also go to places that you wouldn\u2019t usually visit.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Raleigh has more than its fair share of state funded (i.e. free) museums.\u00a0 We visit two.\u00a0 The history one and the natural history one. I suppose it is to be expected that there are more than a few school groups, what with being mid week in a free museum. The kids don\u2019t disturb our visit too much.\u00a0 We first encounter a school group of primary aged children on our way to the museums.\u00a0 All the kids are wearing tie-die tee-shirts.\u00a0 Now I think this is a good idea, it makes the kids stand out and be easily recognisable as being from that particularly school, so it must make the teachers\u2019 job a bit easier.\u00a0\u00a0 I suppose the bonus is that making the tie-die tee-shirts is also a good activity to keep the kids occupied for half a day or so before the trip.\u00a0 It is a good idea, until we get into the museums, and it turns out that all the other schools have had the same idea!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Then something brilliant happens.\u00a0 One of the school kids who is stood in front of me, turns around and walks right into me.\u00a0 Now being the good, polite, British person I am, I apologise for him bumping into me.\u00a0 He holds his hands up and says \u201cMy bad\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0For those unfamiliar with this term it is an American saying for accepting responsibility for a mistake. You\u2019ll hear it used in American sitcoms (most notably, for me at least, is Scrubs) and (I\u2019m told) if you watch American sports you might see a player shout \u201cmy bad, my bad, my bad\u201d if he fumbles the ball or the like. The fact that a real life American boy said \u201cmy bad\u201d to me has made my day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">There is quite a famous music venue in Chapel Hill called Cat\u2019s Cradle.\u00a0 We look to see if any bands are playing tonight.\u00a0 They are not. However next week \u201cWe Were Promised Jetpacks\u201d are playing there.\u00a0 The last time I was in the states my favourite (Scottish) band just so happened to be playing in LA on the night we were staying there.\u00a0 They had been recording their new record in LA and decided to do a very small gig to play some of their brand new stuff.\u00a0 I guess it would have been too much to ask to get to see my favourite new (also Scottish) band whist touring around the states for a second time.\u00a0 I check their tour dates, but our paths to not cross, or rather they do but at different dates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">However whist in Durham we see a music venue with a gig advertised for that night (Jukebox the Ghost supported by SPEAK and The Elwins).\u00a0 We know nothing about any of the bands &#8230; we have tried to check out the main band online in our hotel room but a dogey internet connection means we don\u2019t really have any idea what they are like.\u00a0 We decide to go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We get there and the first band are just about to start.\u00a0 Imagine my excitement when I realise we are about to see some authentic Geek Rock&#8230;..\u00a0 Now at school I was not really a geek. But a small element of my friends were certainly of a more nerdy persuasion and at lunchtime, rather than playing football, I would sometimes spend it tucked away in a classroom with the more geeky guys.\u00a0 We would play this game where we would make funny phrases out of whatever prose had been left on the blackboard, from the previous lesson, by only rubbing out letters.\u00a0 If it could make reference to the teacher whose class room it was or someone who would be in the next class &#8230; so much the better.\u00a0 Either that or we\u2019d steal books from the library &#8230; at least we read them (yes I know I stole that line from the film Shaddowlands). So there is a bit of a geeky streak in me and I\u2019m dead excited about what we are about to see.\u00a0 The kids in the band look like they\u2019re out of the tv show Glee.\u00a0 Now, I must stress that I have never watched that show&#8230;.. but I\u2019ve seen enough adverts for it to understand the general premise of the show and what the characters look like.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We (and probably, a little more so, I) have a great time.\u00a0 The first two bands are lots of fun and their geek rook look and stagemanship is a lot of fun.\u00a0 There is tambourine playing, silly geeky dancing, and some audience participation (not really on our part \u2013 we are, you understand, just cultural observers). The third (main) band is not really a geek rock band but good nonetheless, if not as fun.\u00a0 I think we are the oldest people in this modestly sized, enthusiastic, crowd.\u00a0 At least half of the people have a pair of big black X\u2019s scored onto the back of their hands in permanent marker.\u00a0 I assume this means they are under the drinking age, which I think is 21 (I not sue if it varies from state to state).\u00a0 I wonder if I lived here and was 10 \u2013 15 years younger would this be the kind of music I would listen to? Anyway a few more records were bought, how often I\u2019ll listen to these I do not know, but they will stand as mementos to an enjoyable evening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">On our way to the mountains we take about a 20 mile detour to Taylorsville.\u00a0 It is so disappointing that I don\u2019t want to write to you about it. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We are now at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.\u00a0 The park is beautiful.\u00a0 The area surrounding it is not.\u00a0 The town nearest to the park is called Cherokee.\u00a0 One of our guide books describes it as \u201cthe unlovely town of Cherokee\u201d.\u00a0 It is not unlovely.\u00a0 We are staying in the nearby Bryson City, which is unlovely.\u00a0 Cherokee is horrid.\u00a0 It really is sad that, in this place at least, the Native American culture has been reduced to selling tat from ugly little buildings.\u00a0 We hike along the Appalachian trail, which is over 2000 miles long.\u00a0 We however do about ten miles.\u00a0 Whilst walking this trail you literally have one foot in North Carolina and the other in Tennessee, making this the 8<\/span><sup style=\"color: #888888;\">th<\/sup><span style=\"color: #888888;\"> state we have visited on this trip (if you don\u2019t include Illinois at Chicago airport). There is some really beautiful scenery.\u00a0 We go to the highest point in the mountains. The next day we do another ten mile walk \u2013 this time on lower ground adjacent to rivers with waterfalls.\u00a0 This is much easier ground and the walk is much easier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have not had good food here.\u00a0 The first night we arrived quite late and on the way to where we\u2019re staying we call of at another town where there should be a good restaurant.\u00a0 It has closed down.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t much choice in Bryson City, especially amongst what\u2019s open \u2013 so we\u2019re reduced to Burger King&#8230;. The next night we try two other places recommended by the guide books, located about 15 miles out of town \u2013 neither are open for the \u201cseason\u201d yet.\u00a0 We end up having Italian.\u00a0 Thus far we have avoided eating in Italian restaurants as we can get really good Italian at home.\u00a0 Now I know to most people pizza is a bit a simple food, not to get excited about.\u00a0 Not me.\u00a0 I think pizza should be revered.\u00a0 Done well it is one of the finest things you can eat, done badly&#8230;..\u00a0 I have a general rule that if I can make a better pizza at home in my crappy oven \u2013 then we\u2019re not eating good pizza. Tonight it is not good pizza.\u00a0 We are however served by, what I assume to be, a genuine Cherokee Indian.\u00a0 I have never been served Italian food by a Native American before!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">This is the second time in my life I have spent time in \u201cbear country\u201d \u2013 but sadly we do not see any \u2013 I really wanted to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We are now very much on the westward leg of our journey.\u00a0 We now have \u201cstanding room only\u201d tickets booked for a college baseball game just before we go home, so my introduction to American sport, and public sporting events in general, is to continue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Bye<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/h4>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em style=\"color: #888888;\">Email 5 \u2013 Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier<\/em><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Hello<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We leave the Great Smokies and start the long drive to Memphis.\u00a0 We had also been keen to visit Nashville but we have to keep up a certain level of momentum on this trip and it seemed that we could either \u201cdo\u201d both Memphis and Nashville half-heartedly or spend a decent amount of time in one.\u00a0 We opt for Memphis.\u00a0 Today is probably our biggest drive thus far, from the south side of the Smokies to Jackson near Memphis.\u00a0 We set off mid afternoon.\u00a0 We are not going to see a great deal of Tennessee other than by road and so be take a few detours of the Interstate and use some smaller roads in the hope that we will see more of the countryside.\u00a0 This has mixed success.\u00a0 There is some really lovely countryside (some of the loveliest we seen) and some scrubby land and inappropriate roadside development.\u00a0 There are some nice little farmsteads in various states of (dis)repair.\u00a0 Almost all have the same design of barns, nearly all painted the same red colour.\u00a0 The designs change subtly over the hundred miles or so of diving through the countryside but by and large they\u2019re pretty uniform and very quaint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Another stay in a cheap motel, not the worst, but by no means the best.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been pretty spoilt the last three nights, as, although we\u2019ve been staying in chain motels they rooms have been really nice.\u00a0 We have stayed in one pretty awful motel as well, the sheets were clean and the bathroom (relatively) clean, but otherwise dire.\u00a0 By and large we have stayed in cheap(ish) motels when we have been stuck on the motorway or stayed on the edge of town and stayed in quite nice (and therefore more expensive) hotels in towns and cities when it seemed there was good reason to stay in the city itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Food tonight was not good.\u00a0 Limited options due to the (very) out of town location and lateness of night.\u00a0 We have Taco Bell.\u00a0 A first for us both.\u00a0 Hopefully a last for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Today, by mid morning we\u2019re in Memphis.\u00a0 If I\u2019m honest this is the part of the trip I was most worried about not enjoying.\u00a0 Other than the things that you happen to know merely by being alive in the western world, all I really know about Elvis is that the first track on the fourth record by the Manic Street Preachers is called \u201cElvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier\u201d.\u00a0 Up until this trip I would have been happy if it had stayed that way.\u00a0\u00a0 I know I\u2019m being more than a little flippant here &#8230; there is much more to Memphis than Elvis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I am thankful that we are now going to eat well again.\u00a0 I use the word \u201cwell\u201d in a very limited sense.\u00a0 I do not mean well, as in good for our well being.\u00a0 I mean well as in the food will be well cooked, tasty and have some reference to the places, history, culture and location. We go for fried chicken for lunch. The place is meant to do some of the best fried chicken in the world.\u00a0 I think they might be right. Three pieces of fried chicken in a nice, spicy, very crispy crust. Beans (as in American BBQ beans). Slaw (a very nice and not over mayonnaisey coleslaw).\u00a0 And bread.\u00a0 The last is utterly superfluous.\u00a0 I don\u2019t eat it.\u00a0 \u00a0Lunch, other than the bread, is delicious.\u00a0 I do not eat a lot of fried chicken &#8230;. and I don\u2019t expect that will change &#8230;. but I\u2019m glad I had this chicken.\u00a0 The decor and the atmosphere add to the experience.\u00a0 Concrete floor, tables cramped in.\u00a0 Plastic table cloths, polystyrene plates, tiled walls over filled with pictures.\u00a0 There are a lot of locals and a few tourists.\u00a0 As we walked in, two uniformed police officers walked out, obviously having just finished their lunch \u2013 their shape suggest they are no strangers to this place. \u00a0\u00a0Whist we eat, on a table in the back corner, there are two plain clothes defectives.\u00a0 They have those leather badges with a star in the middle hanging around their necks and guns strapped to their hips.\u00a0 I feel like I\u2019m in an episode of \u201cSouthland\u201d or \u201cThe Wire\u201d (in my view the two best American cop shows and actually (certainly in the case of the Wire) amongst the best TV shows ever made).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Something happened today, that has happened a couple of times before.\u00a0 The waiter brings us our bill (I guess I should say check) and says \u201cthe drinks are on me today guys\u201d.\u00a0 We have not been billed for our drinks.\u00a0 Now when waiters say \u201con me\u201d I know they obviously don\u2019t literally mean \u201con them\u201d.\u00a0 They mean \u201con the house\u201d.\u00a0 The thing is, that on at least two of the occasions this has happened, there did not seem to be any good reason for this, today included. All I can think is that one of two things are going on.\u00a0 Either they have done something wrong that we were not aware of, such as the food taking a little longer to come than normal or this is some kind of scam against the house.\u00a0 The latter could be a possibility.\u00a0 In some people at least, the natural reaction to not being fully charged for your dinner is to tip better. This way the waiter (or waitress) gets more tips and it\u2019s only the business that loses out.\u00a0 It is also likely that the tip the customer gives is less than their drinks would have been, albeit more than they would otherwise have left.\u00a0 I hope it\u2019s not a scam, I don\u2019t want to be cynical? If it\u2019s a scam I fell for it.\u00a0 I left, nearly a six dollar tip on a bill that came to $16 and change. The thing is I really enjoyed the meal, the place was great, the waiter was polite and attentive and, quite frankly, it didn\u2019t seem right that two, quite large, chicken dinners with drinks should only cost about ten quid!\u00a0 Perhaps I\u2019m a sucker, but I\u2019d rather be like this than the alternative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We visited the civil rights museum, which incorporates the motel where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated and the boarding house, on the other side of the road, where the shot was fired.\u00a0 It seems that this could have been done in a horrible manner, but is handled sensitively.\u00a0 The museum was very interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Catfish is a popular dish in the South. We have some for dinner.\u00a0 It was grilled served with grilled courgettes and rice containing two types of beans.\u00a0 It was a nice healthy dish, a good balance after our fried chicken lunch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">After dinner we go out to listen to some blues.\u00a0 You can drink on the street here and wonder around and listen to what\u2019s going in the various bars.\u00a0 We order the \u201cbig ass beers\u201d, which seem to be popular.\u00a0 They are at least a litre.\u00a0 A lot of beer for a little boy!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have visited Graceland (Elvis\u2019 home).\u00a0 It is actually relatively small and modest.\u00a0 We have seen much larger, more ostentatious, homes in suburbs of some of the towns and cities we been in.\u00a0 The decor also isn\u2019t as outlandish as you might think.\u00a0 There\u2019s plenty of shag-carpeting and foe wooden panelling &#8230; what else would you expect from a house that was last decorated in the mid 70\u2019s. The outdoor pool is very modest.\u00a0 There are a view exhibits in some of the outbuildings surrounding the house.\u00a0 The majority of the museum buildings as well as the car museum and two of his planes are located on the other side of the highway and thus the house is preserved.\u00a0 Again I have enjoyed something far more than I thought I would.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We go to a BBQ place for lunch (totally unnecessary given the amount of food we\u2019ve consumed over the last few days &#8230;. but it comes highly recommended).\u00a0 It\u2019s good, but not as good as the pulled pork sandwich we had in a random town in north Florida &#8230; not by a long way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We go to Vicksburg, with a brief visit to Arkansas on the way (State Count = 9).\u00a0 Another motel not so cheap, but miles from the nicest we\u2019ve stayed in, the motels seem to all be full or nearly full \u2013 not sure why.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s the five casino\u2019s located along the Mississippi.\u00a0 We contemplate trying out my, new found, poker skills in a high stakes game \u2013 perhaps I could win my holiday money back? No need to have any dinner \u2013 far too full from our food experiences in Memphis. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Vicksburg is another historic town, strategic in the Civil war.\u00a0 We do a battlefield tour.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of cannons to see and musing about the battlefield, as well as an ironclad ship \u2013 I haven\u2019t seen one of these before. The history nerd in me can go to bed happy tonight!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Natchez next, then Lafayette, Cajun Country (where the early French settlers relocated after being displaced by the English from New Orleans), Baton Rouge and then home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><strong>Bye<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/h4>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>Email 6 \u2013 We drove our Chevy to the levy and indeed the levee was dry. The end <\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have again come across this \u201cthese drinks are on me guys\u201d thing.\u00a0 I suppose I should start this email with an apology for doubting that this was genuine \u2013 because in this case it really did seem to be a genuine act of kindness.\u00a0 In fact the bar maid even said &#8230; \u201cwell I guess I have to show you some of our Southern hospitality\u201d as well as recommending things to see and do and writing down some of the addresses.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d on our American anthems CD.\u00a0\u00a0 Before this holiday I don\u2019t think I knew what either a Chevy or a levee was.\u00a0 I can now report that, not only do I know what both are, I have now also done it.\u00a0 We drove our Chevy to the levee and indeed the levee was dry \u2013 in fact we drove over the levee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have spent a bit of time in Cajun Country.\u00a0 The guide books make it sound like this is the kind of place that you just show up and get invited to a party at a Juke Joint. Of course this does not happen.\u00a0 We have had some good food here \u2013 I was too full (just from generally eating more than normal) to enjoy one of the meals though. Although it\u2019s been a little while, for a variety of reasons I have spent quite a bit of time in places and around people where things are spoken (and sometimes written) in two languages and I\u2019ve always quite liked it.\u00a0 This happens here with both French and English being spoken.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We see two bands in two different places tonight.\u00a0 When the first one begins, we are still sat outside.\u00a0 For a moment I get a little excited as I hear the guy first speaking French and then an accordion start to play.\u00a0 I think we may be in for some genuine Cajun music (accordions and violins being the main instruments).\u00a0 It turns out we are not.\u00a0 It is a band from Portland (near Seattle) playing a type of classic French folk music, singing in French.\u00a0 They are on their album release tour, apparently \u2013 a tour that can only include here and Qu\u00e9bec in Canada, surely? It all seems a little odd.\u00a0 Is it cruel if I say this really is just pretentious nonsense.\u00a0 In complete contrast the next band is a heavy rock band.\u00a0 I quite like it and they play a half decent cover of a Muse song, more than half decent, and an Incubus cover.\u00a0 Perhaps they are just a covers band and it just happens I don\u2019t know all the other heavier songs they are playing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We have been to see a baseball match.\u00a0 I do not know very much about baseball. I understand the general premises, but this is only from my knowledge of playing rounder\u2019s at school.\u00a0 I did quite enjoy it, but it\u2019s quite a sedate game in many ways.\u00a0 It took about 4 hours.\u00a0 There is quite a lot of waiting around and prevarication. I guess this has to been seen as an evening out where you spend part of it watching baseball and part of it chatting to friends, wandering around the stadium, buying snacks etc. We were at a college (university aged) baseball match.\u00a0 But these are quite a big deal here. I suppose I was expecting an audience of college kids \u2013 but it was very varied and actually weighted much more towards middle aged and older people.\u00a0 What I found, more than a little odd, was that there were a number of middle aged (by a generous assessment) people, who looked quite respectable, but were doing some \u201cwacky\u201d things.\u00a0 Like silly acts of celebration when certain events occurred, silly dancing and \u201cgetting the crowd going\u201d. I don\u2019t really deal with wackiness very well!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">To be honest I think I enjoyed the baseball in retrospect more than I did watching the actual event. I quite like the idea of it and I\u2019m glad I went but, it was long.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Our last night and we go out for a nice meal, in quite a posh restaurant, definitely the most expensive meal we have had.\u00a0 I have fried green tomatoes to start.\u00a0 I have wanted to try fried green tomatoes on this trip and I take the last opportunity to do so.\u00a0 They were good, but just far, far too much food to have as a starter.\u00a0 Consequently I could not eat much of my main meal.\u00a0 I have duck breast and dirty rice.\u00a0 I eat the duck but not much of the rice, I\u2019m just too full. Ed has quail.\u00a0 It is really a weird dish.\u00a0 It\u2019s two breaded quails, deep fried served with waffles and some pluses.\u00a0 The balance seems all wrong.\u00a0 Serving a waffle with something deep fried is an odd thing to do it really needed something simple and fresh to balance it out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">We\u2019re up early to return the car and go to the airport.\u00a0 While waiting at the airport I email in a submission to the pun street planning committee of a business I saw in Charleston.\u00a0 A portaloo company call \u201cNature\u2019s Calling\u201d with the tag line \u201cwhen nature calls we supply the walls\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Our first flight, New Orleans to Huston, is delayed which consequently means we miss our main flight home and then means we miss our bus back to Taunton.\u00a0 The flight home is almost empty and so we get to stretch out with three seats each.\u00a0 I watch 4 films and 2 episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and don\u2019t sleep at all.\u00a0 We end up getting a bus from Heathrow to Reading and then a train to Taunton.\u00a0 For some reason I don\u2019t go to bed until 10pm which means I have been up for over 30 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">I had a great time on my holiday.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had a proper holiday for over three years.\u00a0 The last three holidays I went on to foreign places (Italy, Prague and Hong Kong), were nice and interesting places with great food but for other reasons they were all pretty bad holidays.\u00a0 This holiday has been ace.\u00a0 It certainly won\u2019t be another three years before I go on holiday again&#8230;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Bye<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In March I went on holiday for three weeks with my friend Ed to the southern states in the US.\u00a0 I sent several emails back home.\u00a0 People seemed to enjoy them.\u00a0 So here they are.\u00a0 This includes the last instalment which I never got round to sending out. &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;\u00a0 Email 1 \u2013 \u00a0New Orleans Hello &hellip; <a class=\"read-excerpt\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/?page_id=60\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&raquo;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-60","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}