My second time on the East Coast, this time for a longer route, in some ways gruelling, in others thrilling (for the photos, thanks to Daniela Patanè)
I think I'm a good connoisseur of the United States, I've been there several times. But, as a lover of the boundless spaces of the West, I had almost always avoided the big cities of the East Coast. Above all I had always avoided New York. And that was clearly a mistake. We spent almost all of our 3 days in Manhattan on traditional routes, but we also liked Brooklyn a lot.
On a previous holiday I had already seen Philadelphia, Gettysburg and the Amish counties; this time my destination was Pittsburgh, where the NFL football challenge between the Steelers and my beloved Indianapolis Colts awaited me. 600 km, but it was worth it. They treated us like kings, stuffed us with beer and hamburgers, and the city is nice, the Warhol museum is beautiful. And then we even won...
After Pittsburgh and an excellent dinner in an Amish restaurant, we arrive in Washington. It's sunny, it's Veterans Day, the Vietnam Memorial Wall is packed. I had already been there, but this time the emotion is different. There are so many people that we can't go to Arlington cemetery. I've already seen it, but the others have to see it too. And we go back the next day
After a dinner in Annapolis (it's fate, I only ever go there in the evening, I've never seen it by day), the next morning we leave for Virginia, and we arrive in Charleston, South Carolina. You start to smell the Deep South, a smell that becomes very strong at the next stop, in Savannah, Georgia.
I hadn't liked Miami much, I hadn't liked Jacksonville much, I didn't like Orlando or Tampa much either. The first too showy, the second too modest. Where the only thing that saves me is a good football game between the Buccaneers and the Vikings. Not bad, though
For the girls who were with me, the most longed-for moment. We cross western Florida (lots of white beaches, too many hotels), we devour Mississippi and Alabama in a single bite, and after almost two days of travel we arrive in New Orleans. Simply stunning, we find a nice little hotel in the French Quarter, and then we have a great time for three days.
After saying goodbye to New Orleans with too much regret, we head towards Texas, though not before a few diversions in Louisiana. We arrive in Houston, which still bears the signs of Hurricane Ike that struck in September, and we spend a day downtown. Houston doesn't seem able to offer much, but we still manage to enjoy it. The next day there's the NASA to visit. That's the last shot we fire, then for us there's only the plane
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