USA, Pt. 1 - The East Coast to the Deep South (NY, NJ, FL & LA)

Flickr Album - USA, Pt. 1

The land of the free. The home of the brave.

Now this is the most accurate description of American drivers: Lord knows how brave they are cutting in front of you and how free it feels to do so without even signalling!

Our adventure in the land of Uncle Sam started right in the thick of it: New York City. Coming from the amazingly bucolic Scotland, that was quite a shock - but more on that later. We also spent a fair amount of time in Princeton, before flying down to Miami, where we'd meet Fernando's mum, Sonia. She would then join us on a road trip from Miami all the way to New Orleans.

It was Fernando’s first time in the US (he also refuses calling it America, seeing that there are three entire continents called AMERICAS), so we decided to make this trip a bit of a “taster”, while also making sure we see our friends and family we had living or travelling around there: to our surprise, we will be with friends and/or family the entire time we’re in the US (about 2 and a half months), a stark contrast to our awesome but lonely time in Asia.

Below is a summary of our first experiences in the US and how we’re relating to them.

New York, NY

New York skyline

We began our USA adventure with a whirlwind 3 days with Alex’s parents, staying in the heart of NYC. Having just finished our 2 week RV road trip through relatively sleepy, small towns across the UK, it was certainly a shock to the senses to arrive first thing in the morning and take the train straight into Times Square.

Albeit short, it was great to see Geoff and Thai again - ticking off 3 continents that we have now seen them in! Being Fernando’s first time in New York, we wanted to make the most of our time there and tick off some of the main sights. As we enjoyed relatively good weather the entire time we were there we covered a lot of ground on foot within Manhattan (the best way to see the city) and took the subway to other boroughs such as Brooklyn and Greenwich Village.

Street art, Brooklyn

One big setback and dark moment that occurred on our first day in New York was that we realised our laptop had been stolen on the plane. This was coupled with Alex’s GoPro that she accidentally left in the RV in the UK and her iPad which was stolen in the tube in London. It was not a good day! Thankfully, we took out a really good insurance plan, which covered our losses for the iPad and laptop, and the GoPro was found and sent to Alex’s brother in Seattle. We are very lucky!

Here were some of the highlights from our short time in NYC:

Enjoying a big family dinner at Carmine’s Italian Restaurant with the Hamit’s

Dinner in NYC

Our first night in the US started in the best possible way: with ridiculously huge portions of great American Italian food at Carmine’s, a New York institution. We were joined by the Hamit’s, close family friends of the Thompson’s, who we would be staying with in Princeton.

Exploring the 9/11 Memorial Museum and surrounding area

Scenes from around the 9/11 Memorial

Since I last came to NYC this whole area has been transformed and the museum opened. The museum was incredibly well put together, taking you through the harrowing details before, during and after the attack with particularly good recounts from survivors. It is well worth a visit. The surrounding area, with the memorial and new World Trade Center was also great to walk around.

Brooklyn and the East River Ferry

On the Ferry

We had a really lovely morning walking through Brooklyn, stopping for brekky at the Butcher’s Daughter, a very trendy, vegetarian restaurant. There is certainly an effortless cool to the neighbourhood, coupled with how familiar it is, given how many shows have been shot there, it makes for a very interesting place to just wander around. Thanks to a tip from a shop assistant, we ended up on the East River Ferry, which took us around the bay straight to Wall Street. which felt worlds apart from the hipster Brooklyn. This was a great way to see some amazing views of the New York harbour without the usual tourist pricetag.

Getting the true NYC bagel experience

Getting stuck in

On our last morning we stopped by Essa Bagel for a classic meal we couldn’t miss: an Everything bagel with Spring onion cream cheese (and smoked salmon for Fernando). Just writing that makes me want another, it was so good! The best part was we skipped the queue and went in the “takeaway” line, which meant we had to butter the bagels ourselves but didn’t have to wait 40 minutes!

Princeton, NJ

Morning walk with Katie

Just a 2 hours train ride away from New York lies sleepy Princeton. Known for the Ivy League school which dominates the town, it’s filled with huge houses, beautiful green forest trails and the cutest little town centre. Here we spent 10 days living with the Hamit’s, enjoying family dinners, taking their dog Katie for daily walks and basically just laying low and enjoying house life for a while. It was great to take a breather and have some down time, something we always cherish. Like always we are so grateful when we are blessed with kindness and hospitality on this trip, as was the case with the Hamit's: they went out of their way to keep us well fed, provided us with one of the most comfortable beds of the trip so far and made us feel a part of the family. Avdi, Karen and Charles: we can't thank you enough for this! We will hold this time in Princeton close to our hearts.

With the Hamits

We decided to hire a car the whole time we were in Princeton, a decision that paid off because, like most of the US, it’s pretty hard to get around without one. Since we were picking up and dropping off at the same place it was very cheap to hire and our daily costs were very low, thanks to very cheap petrol prices.

The days we weren’t relaxing at home and strolling around town, we took short trips out to neighboring towns. Our first trip was just over the Pennsylvania border to Delaware - a gloriously tax-free state, where we bought our replacement MacBook. On the way back, we stopped in at Philadelphia to have lunch at the Borough Market, an indoor market filled with so many food stalls and endless choices. This is where Fernando got to sample the famous Philly cheese steak!

Fernando trying his first Philly Cheese Steak in Philadelphia and our quick stop in Delware to shop at Best Buy, tax free!

We ended up coming back to Philly another day to learn more about the history, visiting the LIberty Bell and Independence Hall. It was an interesting experience, but most of the information went over our heads as there was a lot of expected knowledge of US history there - of which we have little to none!

Another day trip we did was to Asbury Park, a beach town with a long boardwalk where, shockingly to us, people are charged money to walk along the boardwalk or stay on the beach in summertime! Thankfully we were passed peak season, so we could enjoy the beach for free and we had a lovely afternoon eating lunch on the boardwalk and enjoying the sun. Asbury Park is also the hometown of Bruce Springsteen and known for its live music and concert scene.

Asbury Park Boardwalk

Miami, FL

Soaking up the sun at South Beach

After recharging our energies in the laid back, mild-weathered Princeton, it was time to heat things up a bit: we flew to a 28ºC Miami Beach where we met Fernando’s mum, Sonia, and turned up the fun. It was amazing to see Miami in person and experience for ourselves what we always see on TV: the super tropical weather and beaches, flashy cars, Cuban and latino influence, all in the same city.
We spent 5 days there, and some of the highlights were the super famous Wynwood Art District (which used to be a deprecated industrial warehouse area, turned into this open-air art space), the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park (a beautiful national park just 15min drive away from the city) and of course a bit of outlet shopping. We can’t buy much due to budget and luggage space restrictions, but we did take the time to do some Christmas shopping and sent the goodies over to Brazil through Fernando’s mum.

Wynwood Walls

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

Another highlight was a day trip down to the Miami Keys. The local guide at Bill Baggs state park (who was a former captain) gave us his recommendation on how to do the Keys cheaply and nicely, and so we did. We left the house at 5.40am the morning after and started the long drive down (Key West is deceivingly far from Miami, being about 265km away). Having had an early start, we were down at Key Largo (the first one of the Keys) in time for breakfast and we stopped at Mrs Mac’s Kitchen, an amazing diner with great atmosphere and filled with locals. We had a huge breakfast (as you do while in the US) and didn’t pay much. We kept rolling down to the next recommendation from our friend Captain Harry, the Bahia Honda State Park, a beautifully secluded beach with clear blue waters looking out back to the highway.

Bahia Honda State Park

We finally made our way to Key West in time for lunch and spent a few hours there. Super touristy, but also a very cute town, filled with bars, cafes, Cuban restaurants and souvenir shops. Fun fact is that Key West is only 90 miles across the water from Cuba! It is also the Southernmost Point of the Continental US. So there you go, the closest we got to Cuba without leaving the US!

The famous Key Lime Pie from Key West and buildings in town

The Florida Keys

Road Trip

Our adventure with Sonia also included a 1,400km road trip from Miami all the way to New Orleans, Louisiana. We allowed ourselves 3 days to do the drive, so as to stop by some of the cities along the way and break up the journey. Our first stop was, obviously, Orlando. After another early start hitting the road at 5.30am, we made it to Disney World (Magic Kingdom) in time to enjoy a full day out there. Alex’s has been to Disney before, but for Fernando it was always some sort of long term goal to bring all the family (while me and my brother were young) to Disney, but other things became priority and we never made it as a family. It was quite an experience to be coming here for the first time, with Fernando being nearly 30, bringing his mum with him to fulfill this experience. It was an amazingly hot day out there and the three of us had a lot of fun exploring the Magic Kingdom. We also had the chance to catch up with Sonia’s friend, Jackie, who moved to Orlando a few years ago to start a new life there.

Disneyworld!

The next stop on our trip was Jacksonville. We had a quick stopover in Daytona Beach on our way there, where we stopped for some beers, arcades and walk along the beach boardwalk. Simple things, but these moments are the ones that later on become the highlights: just sitting on a rooftop bar, having a drink on a hot day by the beach, with the people you love. We really have to stop and savour the moments. We also went for dinner in Jacksonville town centre, where they had their Pride Party that same day, so we got to see a bit of the crowds (or what was left of it) and atmosphere.

Rooftop drinks at Daytona Beach

Arcade Games at Daytona Beach

From Jacksonville, we stretched all the way to Destin Beach, a recommendation by Jackie’s husband, and that did not disappoint - beautiful beach town, with lots of attractions like bars, go-karting, arcades. After a quick dip in the water, the three of us played a round of mini golf by the sunset, yet another special moment that made to the “small highlights” bucket.

Destin Beach

On the last leg of our trip, we drove all the way to New Orleans, only to see on the night TV news that the massive Hurricane Michael was expected to make landfall in Panama City Beach as a category 4 hurricane! Panama City Beach is the town right next to Destin Beach, which meant we missed Hurricane Michael by one day! Someone up there is definitely looking out for us.

Hurricane Michael. We just missed it by one day

The news of the Hurricane Michael were devastating, and we made sure we took a minute or two to thank the universe that we were not on its path and pray for a quick recovery for the cities that were hit by it.

New Orleans, LA

Outside our Airbnb in New Orleans

After almost 1,500km on the road, we finally made it to the “Deep South” of the US and the birthplace of jazz music - New Orleans. From everything we’ve seen so far, New Orleans quickly became our favourite US city, just because it has a lot more character than the other cities we had been. The history of the creole and cajun people, the slavery, the jazz, hurricane Katrina - so much has happened in that part of the world yet they remain so happy and laid back, no wonder the nickname of the city is “The Big Easy”.

Music on the street

We started our New Orleans leg with a free walking tour (as you do), which gave us a very good grasp of the historical side of the city: how it used to be a trading post of the Native Americans long before the Europeans settlers came in, the influence of the French, Spanish, Brits and all the other cultures. It also covered the history of slavery in a fair bit of detail and of course how the jazz music was born there, two facts that are closely connected.

The story goes that New Orleans once was the main port of slavery trade in the US, and therefore there were a lot of slaves in town, as well as free people of colour (those who managed to buy their way out of slavery). Because the colony was also Christian, the slaves had their Sundays off, so during the 1700 and well into the 1800, the slaves would gather at Congo Square (where today lives the Louis Armstrong Park) to play their drums and keep their traditions alive. At the same time, the free and rich people of New Orleans were very much into opera, so playing at an orchestra became a very profitable career for free people of colour.

Once the slavery was abolished, the segregation rules were put in place, and suddenly all these people of colour - free or slaves - were put pushed together. So you started having all these drummers mingling together with people who play wind instruments. Bourbon Street at that time was a sort of a Red Light District with lots of brothels and entertainment houses. These venues saw an opportunity and started inviting these groups of people to play their upbeat, sexy-sounding music at their brothels to attract more clientele. And there you have it - born from a melting pot of different cultures cooking inside Bourbon Street's brothels, the jazz music was born. People even go further to say that the original spelling was jass, a reference to the jasmine perfumes that the sex workers used to wear in those days. Fascinating, right?

Fernando with the brass band in the Louis Armstrong Park

Apart from walking around town, savouring the famous local delicacy beignet and listening to a lot of live music, we also went to check out the fascinating Whitney Plantation, a very prominent sugarcane plantation in the region that thrived during the slavery years. Today they do an amazing job at showing you what the life was like back in those days, offering a tour around the property and showing the original buildings, an insight into the incredibly harsh conditions people went through.

Scenes from the Whitney Plantation

Another highlight was to wander around the Garden District, a very wealthy neighbourhood of New Orleans, featuring amazing houses and mansions of the golden years of the Deep South.

Beignets and Big houses in the Garden District

As it always seems to go, our time with Sonia was over before we knew it and we parted ways at the New Orleans airport: her going back to São Paulo and us carrying on the Salt Lake City. In the short space of a month we managed to see some very different parts of the US. The range in cultures, living costs and conditions and even accents that we witnessed has shown us how diverse this huge country can be. We are loving our time here so far and truly cherished having Sonia along for the ride, as well as the generosity and hospitality the Hamit's showed us in Princeton. Our next stop is somewhere very different once again: Salt Lake City, where we will have time with Fernando's friend Layla and her partner Preston. Stay tuned!

Thank you for joining us on this adventure, Sonia!

Cover photo: South Beach, Miami. Taken on 30 Sep 2018.