US holiday 2005

We combined our visit to Gordon and Diana this year with a City holiday in Boston followed by a quick trip through Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire before returning to Washington. Amazingly, our stints in Washington coincided with first Sami's and then Adam's birthday parties. So our visit ended up being a combination of family visiting, many long conversations with G&D and sightseeing. The weather was hot on our first visit, reaching 93F ( 33C) one day.


A selection of pictures (75 of them) is on our Flickr website.

We very much liked G&D's flat which is a haven for hi-tech kitchen equipment, TV and computers. You can breakfast on the roof, tire yourself in the gym and gorge yourself in the Thai restaurant below, before whizzing out of the basement in their MPV to the clatter of an electronic door. Their lounge window overlooks a fascinating street scene and you can see Washington Monument in the distance, day or night when it is clear.

We liked Boston because the centre was very pedestrian friendly and they have some fine old buildings, with a Freedom Trail that takes you through their early history of English Puritan immigrants, the Boston Tea Party, the B Massacre (5 people were killed, the same as on a slow day in Baghdad) and the beginning of the War of Independence (from the Brits). The many early and infant deaths of the English settlers, usually from disease, points up how harsh their lives must have been. The Fine Art Museum has a superb collection of Asian artefacts, the claimed best in the US. Don't mention accommodation costs though.

We than had a week flitting through the small states of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire in a clockwise circuit, staying at a wide variety of accommodation from the sumptuous Thaddeus Clapp B&B, to the old Coolidge Hotel which did not do breakfast, to a humble motel. The scenery was pleasant but generally low key. We travelled through hills, some quaint old towns, lots of lakes - which are attractive at first but look samey after a while - and finished coming down the eastern coast. The high spots were a Shaker Village, because of their highly organised lifestyles and celibacy (surprise, they have nearly died out); and the old maritime ports of Newburyport, Essex and Salem, which have a history of privateering and world trade. This created millionaires during and after the War of Independence, followed by a deep economic slump and now genteel tourism. The Fall was late and we only saw a few signs of it, but then the weather continued fine and in the 70s F until we flew back to DC.


You have read the book, now see the movie (stills) on flickr.