September 22nd - San Fran Airport

I am writing this in the departure lounge at San Francisco airport. I spent most of this morning looking for a reasonably-priced watch as my previous one had broken. This was not easy in the Downtown district as it's full of plush shops. Eventually I found a cheapo department store called Ross and found one there for 50 dollars. I went into Rasputin on Powell Street and spent a fair bit on CDs. Then it was back to the Deli store for lunch.

I am very much looking forward to getting back now, and this will certainly be the last of my solo US trips. Now that I'm settling into (or am resigned to) my new life I am keen to re-build things in England rather than keep escaping to the US. And I am rather tired of travelling alone. I have met some very nice couples here - last night I got talking to Jim and Katherine outside the hotel. Katherine comes from Macon, which I visited on this trip. Jim comes from Atlanta and is a huge Lynyrd Skynyrd fan, whose music I was playing a lot when in Georgia. They were impressed with my tales of my month-long drive of two years ago. But nice as all this is, it would be nice to be part of a couple myself with maybe Grandkids on the way. If I ever become a grandfather things will be complicated by the divorce.

The weather here is bright and sunny - I dread to think what it's like in England. Whatever, I will not be putting the heating on until November ! It will be nice to have a few pints of good old English bitter after the stuff I've been drinking here. There will also be the new Roy Harper album to look forward to as I pre-ordered it before I left !

The As have clinched their place in the play-offs ! At last I have a team to support which wins ! (unlike poor Palace at the moment).

September 21st - The As

Went to see Oakland Athletics this pm. They beat Minnesota 9-1 and didn't need their final innings as they batted second. Their batting was quite awesome, and they scored 5 in the second innings. Minnesota only managed a single home run in the fifth (the Oakland crowd booed this, which I thought was a bit unsporting as Oakland were always going to win - but I suppose that Americans don't cheer the underdog as we English do). The game was meant to start at 1, but didn't begin until after 3 due to the rain. While we waited I got chatting to a lovely couple called Larry and Kathy who live up in the mountains near Yosemite. Kathy said that they get bears coming to the window, which would terrify me. They grew up in the valley and are lifelong As fans - they say that the atmosphere at the Giants is so bad that many Giants fans now come and watch Oakland. I found the same friendly reception when I came to the As before - As fans are great and they're my team ! They will almost certainly now be in the play-offs for the World Series.

I had a good seat, and in front of me was a real all-American family - Mom and Dad and four small boys, all As fans. Mom was such a lively person and dealt so lovingly with the boys. Dad was quieter and focussed more on the game. For me they epitomised the friendly family atmosphere that they have at Oakland - a bit different to when my son and I go to Palace. The English tend to be either middle-class and cold or working-class and loutish. The one English quality I do like (and value in myself) is a sense of restraint, understatement, and self-deprecating humour - you don't find that over here !

The day didn't look promising initially. After breakfast at a Diner on the corner of Sutter and Powell it started to rain, and I wondered whether the game would be on. I wandered round Macy's for a bit to keep dry and had an orange juice in the hotel. I then decided to go to Oakland anyway, and the concierge was very helpful re the Bart trains. So off I went, got my ticket at the stadium (35 dollars), ate some extortionate but nice hot-dogs - and then the rain started up again ! But it stopped by 3 and the afternoon became dry and sunny.

So I've fulfilled my dream of seeing the As again ! A perfect end to the holiday. Tomorrow I shall check out of my room and wander round the local shops. A great CD shop called Rasputin is nearby, so I just might make a couple of last-minute purchases ! Then I leave for the airport after lunch and the flight is due to leave at 18:50. I was pleased this evening to be able to change my seat from a middle seat to an aisle seat - ten hours stuck between two people would have been a bit cramped ! (Woody Allen said that sex between two people can be a wonderful thing - you just have to find the right two people to get between).

My next blog will be back in England in my little Studio pad. I'm not looking forward to the English winter, but I am a bit homesick now. Travelling in the US so much in the last couple of years has helped me to appreciate the good things about my own country - however much Thatcher, Blair, and the Coalition have messed it up.                   

September 20th - Frisco Day 2

Went round the corner for breakfast as the hotel restaurant is pricey. Initially they brought me the wrong meal, but this was soon corrected and it was delicious. I then went to Union Square and caught the "drop on / off" open-top bus, which takes you on a two-hour trip round the city. We went through the Tenderloin district, so named because the police had to be given extra money to patrol it, and they would spend this on better-quality meat ! I stayed on until we reached the Natural History museum in Golden Gate Park.

I went into the museum. There were some extraordinary fish tanks with creatures of all different shapes and colours. I was reminded of Ringo's "Octopuses' Garden" off Abbey Road. There was some very well-presented material on evolution - all totally fallacious of course as everyone knows that God created all the species simultaneously 4000 years ago, but well-presented nevertheless. That reminds me - yesterday at Fisherman's Wharf there were some Christians selling Bible Study pamphlets. Now I am fascinated by The Bible and know it pretty well, so I got talking to them about the book of Revelation (one of my faves). We had a good old chat about the pre-millenium Rapture. As I went off I passed the usual down-and-outs that you see round here - and it bothered me that I didn't stop and try to help them. These deadbeats would once have been innocent young boys playing with their mates and looking forward to what life has to offer. It doesn't take much for someone to slip into homelessness over here, and England is pretty much just as bad. I also reflected (with sadness, guilt, and anger) that my own children are now the products of a broken home. One of my aims when I get back is to find better ways of helping the disadvantaged in our society.

Back to today - after leaving the museum I had lunch and read for a bit, before making my way to Haight Ashbury and Amoeba records. There I bought 2 Galaxie 500 CDs, plus Robyn Hitchcock's Respect, Randy Newman's Trouble In Paradise, and a Quicksilver Messenger Service live 1968 double CD. I popped into Land Of The Sun, where I get my San Fran t-shirts, but nothing caught my fancy. I then bought a Patterson Hood solo album in Rasputin - the album is all about his divorce, so I should have a good time with that one !

Having completed my purchases I walked all the way back to the hotel, which took 1.5 hours. This gave me a chance to see streets I haven't visited before - I really do know my way around here pretty well now. The architecture here never fails to yield new pleasures.

Tomorrow is my last full day. It is great to be in 'Frisco but I doubt whether I will return unless it is with a partner. One slightly unfortunate aspect of it is that I'm not in the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf - when you're there breakfast is thrown in as part of the deal and you meet people. This hotel is more of a business facility and I haven't really got talking to anyone. One the plus side, the room is very high-tech and has a fridge. In general I am feeling homesick for England now, which didn't happen on previous trips. I take this as a sign of progress in my recovery from the last two terrible years - when I was over here before it was such an escape from things at home, but now my own life is starting to come together a bit.

I'm going to have a great last day tomorrow - the "As" are playing tomorrow lunchtime and I'm going along. It's due to be raining here, so going to watch the baseball will round things off perfectly.        

          

September 19th - Frisco

Walked down from Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf to have breakfast at Denny's and then attend the meeting with the Virgin rep. Arranged a tour into Marin County for the afternoon and then a two-day pass on the open bus tour for the following two days. For the rest of the morning I stayed in the Fisherman's Wharf area, where I saw some sea-lions squawking, swimming, and fighting in a confined space of water just outside Pier 39. The weather - unusually for round here - was very bright and sunny.

After lunch I queued up for the coach trip and was a bit peeved at having to wait in the hot sun for half-an-hour. Eventually the coach turned up and off we went. We drove down Lombard Street to Golden Gate Bridge and then over into Marin County. We turned off Highway 101 onto Highway One, and the views were spectacular as we climbed the hills. We stopped for an hour at Muir Woods, which had some huge Redwood Trees with wide trunks which stretched up nearly 300 ft. The area was very peaceful and I would never have driven there on my own, so it was well worth paying for the coach.

On the way back we stopped in Sausalito. This is a small town by the shore which is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. Fleetwood Mac recorded the "Rumours" album here, gorging on cocaine while they sang about their various broken relationships. Otis Redding wrote "Dock Of The Bay" there. Then we drove back and I was dropped off on the corner of Lombard and Fillmore. I walked uphill along Fillmore - good exercise in 'Frisco - to find the cinema I was planning to watch a film at.

I saw a film called "Äfternoon Delight", which was a slightly raunchy marital comedy / drama - a sort of film version of what I imagine "50 Shades Of Grey" is like. On the way out a couple of middle-aged ladies remarked that it wasn't as "earthy" as they were expecting - I dread to think what they usually watch ! Maybe I should write a book about the Pay and Grading review at work called "50 Grades Of Pay". Anyway, the film was quite amusing and the cinema facilities were excellent.

Caught the 38 bus straight back afterwards. Quite an active day !        

September 18th - to Frisco

Spent today travelling from Minneapolis to 'Frisco. Started with breakfast at Al's again, then packed up and left the hotel at 10:30. Had a lot of hassle finding a garage near the airport to fill up. The satnav directed me to a place on the ring road - however it was on the other side of the road and you weren't allowed to turn left ! So I went round the one-way system again and eventually found another place. After that I got sorted ok and read an article about Jerry Brown in "Rolling Stone" while having lunch. He is the Governor of California and has rescued the economy with a combination of fiscal toughness and enlightened initiatives on health, education, and infrastructure dvelopment.

The flight took 4 hours but, of course, my clock is now two hours back as it's California time. I landed in 'Frisco on schedule - as you fly in you go very low over the sea, and the runway is surrounded by water on all sides. I have flown into here three times now and it's always amazing. For most of the last hour of  the flight all you see below you is rocks and mountains, and you only see a built-up area when you are on the descent. California looks very narrow from the air.

My hotel is on Stockton Street, near Union Square. The room is very high-tech, and it took me a while to work things out. Found a nice Deli just up the road where I got some beers and a fresh sandwich. Tomorrow I will go down to meet the Virgin team at Fisherman's Wharf and plan my excursions. It's great to be back in this magic city. No more driving now so I can really relax.          

September 17th - Minneapolis

Spent today in the local area. Had breakfast at Al's, which is a little shack seating 14 people on 14th Avenue. It was delicious, and the owner was quoting Leonard Cohen lyrics. The guy next to me had come in from Washington, and had been delayed yesterday by the naval shooting. I then drove to the Mall Of America, the largest mall in the US, and bought a pair of jeans and some trainers.

I then had some fun with the satnav while trying to reach St Paul. It took me to a park on the outskirts, so I stopped there and had lunch. I then drove along University Avenue to the East, and returned to park the car at the hotel before walking into Minneapolis. Once there I visited the Mill Museum, which I really enjoyed. They took you right up the tower in a lift, stopping at various floors to explain the process. It is highly treacherous since flour can explode ! There was an observation area right at the top which gave you a great view over the Missisipi. They also showed a brief film on the history of Minneapolis.

Returned to the hotel via the Deli, where I said goodbye to the friendly proprietor. Upon my return it took me an hour to check in for my flight tomorrow, firstly because their computer was dead slow and secondly because the Delta system was not finding my reservation. I had to ring Delta, sitting through their various IVR menus and trying to stop myself swearing at it. Then I completed the check-in via my Tablet. I would have been lost in this place without it, so the purchase has proved its value.

Musically I listened to the radio as I drove around this morning. There was a good post-punk programme on, and then some classic hits, the best being "25 or 6 to  4" by Chicago and "Travellin' Band" by Creedence. I then played a bit of US Kaleidoscope from my MP3. Really enjoyed them - eclectic and original.

I had loved seeing Minnesota, especially the visit to Duluth yesterday. It really is a beautiful place and worthy of being Bob Dylan's birthplace. Now for 'Frisco ! 

September 16th - Duluth

What a beautiful day in Minnesota ! Clear blue skies and bright sunshine all day. So I went exploring the countryside in the morning, driving North up I-35 before heading East along Highway 18 to Rutledge and then North through Willow River, Sturgeon Lake, and Moose Lake. The countryside was forests punctuated with lakes, with what little housing there was being wooden shacks rather than brick. I stopped by a lake in the absolute middle of nowhere - the place is just vast ! A very good place for a bit of quiet reflection.

I then re-joined I-35 North and had lunch in a rest area, where I chatted with the caretaker. The weather patterns in Minnesota seem similar to those in England - like us they had heavy snow last winter which lasted until Easter with a blazing hot March in 2012. I then arrived in Duluth at just after 2. A man in the car park thought I was trying to steal the car ! This was because the car opens automatically when the key is near it, so to check that it's properly locked I leave the key a distance away and then check that the doors won't open. Just another of my little paranoias ! Another feature of the car to baffle me was that I had great trouble finding the button to open the petrol cap. It's tucked away in a fairly obscure place inside the passenger door.

Duluth is the most beautiful town as well as being Bob Dylan's birthplace. It's right on the Western extreme of Lake Superior and has hills behind the main street. I went down to the waterfront and then back to the main shopping street (Superior Street), which runs parallel with the front. I found a record shop and bought Dylan's "Another Self Portrait", plus the latest Van Morrison and the first two Rodriguez albums, having heard a track of his on the radio the other day. I spoke to the owner for a while about the music scene in London and told him about Bevis Frond.

Then I walked on and found another waterfront view which was really lovely. I asked a lady there to take my picture (always a good intro line here - wonder if I could use that back in England) and we got chatting. London accents really do the business out here. Then I returned to the car and drove back down I-35.

My music on the drive North was mainly Van Morrison - "Down The Road", "Pay The Devil", and a bit of "The Philosophers Stone". All this was great - Van is a big favourite of mine and has had such a long and consistent career. The music is very carefully-arranged and yet sounds spontaneous - that's what good musicians can do. And I do enjoy his lyrics - he uses commonplace language and has an unforced empathy for the working man. As I came into Duluth I heard a bit of Blood, Sweat, and Tears' first album.

The way back was nearly all Beatles - "For Sale", "Rubber Soul", and "Past Masters". I don't listen to them that often as I'm so familiar with their stuff, but they are simply irresistable. Together with Dylan, they changed millions of peoples' lives, including my own. They tore into America at the start of 1964 and, by April, had the top five records on the singles chart. The freshness and sheer bounce of their early stuff swept us all away back in 1963 and still stands tall due to the innate quality of the songwriting and the power of the vocals. They kept growing and growing throughout the 1960s and very rarely made a duff track (I hate "Here, There, and Everywhere" though). It was great last year that Dylan closed his latest album with a tribute to John Lennon - the two cultural giants of the post-war era.

Just at the end of the journey I played a bit of Terry Reid's "River" - a welcome slice of blues/soul after all that Beatle-pop.                   

September 15th Hibbing

Woke up early and walked round Dinkytown looking for breakfast. Didn't feel like a huge American platter so eventually ended up in good old MacDonalds. On the way I saw the Purple Onion, one of the places where Dylan played when he was starting out.

Then I embarked upon the 250-mile drive to Hibbing. I drove up the I-35 for a couple of hours, then turned off onto Highway 33 at Cloquet, before driving up Highway 53 to Virginia and then west on 169 to Hibbing. It being a Sunday, the place was deserted. Hibbing is basically one long main street (Howard Street) with the usual rectangular structure of streets around it. I went to a bar called Zimmy's and found out where Bob Dylan Drive was. I walked down it and found the house where he grew up. It is a cubular two-storey house painted blue on the corner of 7th Avenue and 25th Street. So it was in this small house in a remote and nondescript town that one of the major geniuses in the development of human culture grew up. I can only imagine how liberated he must have felt to come down here to university in Dinkytown.

The drive back was very exciting and comfortable - the sun was out and I could see the scenery better. Hibbing is in the middle of the Iron Range, which used to be a large mining area in the Second World War. The subsequent closure of the mines and the resulting impact on the local economy is the subject of "North Country Blues" on the "Times They Are a Changin'" album. The countryside is full of lakes and was largely flat where I drove. The sheer scale and remoteness of the place is very striking. It's hard to imagine people conducting their daily lives in such places.

Loads of music of course - constant Dylan on the way up, naturally - I played "The Bootleg Series" Vols 7 and 9. Much of this is early acoustic material and what stood out for me was the exceptional urgency and intensity of the performances, as well as the emerging lyrical genius of songs such as "Hard Rain". Dylan has never been easy listening, so he would never have got a hearing in these bland times. It is a tribute to the communal musical ear of the 1960s that such an uncompromising artist was a major pop star.

On the way back I started with Chuck Prophet's "Temple Beautiful", my favourite CD of last year. Then I heard "White-Faced "Lady" by the UK Kaleidoscope, a double album which was never released at the time. I found its English lyricism and pop sensibility to be highly refreshing after all the Americana. I then heard "Parachute", the Pretty Things classic from 1970 which was voted album of the year by Rolling Stone (I'd go for "Workingman's Dead" myself). There are some bonus tracks on here which are very, very good - full of different structures and interesting lyrics. Finally I heard some live Quicksilver Messenger Service tracks as I arrived back in Minneapolis.                      

September 14th - from Atlanta to Minneapolis

Had some entertainment taking the hired car back to the airport at Atlanta. The satnav kept urging me to go down a road which was blocked by a gate. So I went round in circles for 15 mins until I stopped and asked somebody. The satnav was a godsend when visiting places, but couldn't work out how to get me to the rental return area ! Lesson - never put your trust totally in technology.

Took the train from the rental location to the check-in desk. American airports are very large and you can do a couple of these train trips during a visit. Eventually got near the gate and had some "brunch". I then succeeded in giving myself a minor panic when I left my printed boarding pass on the table. I realised this when I was about to buy some snacks for the flight. The "fight/flight" reaction kicked into gear before a waitress kindly pointed out that I could go to the Delta desk and get another one printed. Having lost my wallet on my last trip I'm paranoid about this sort of thing - why do I give myself these frights ?

I got on the plane and it left on schedule. Upon arriving in Minneapolis I went to collect my next car and was talked into upgrading it to have a built-in satnav instead of borrowing one to stick on the windscreen as I had in Georgia. So, for a little extra money I've now got a really plush Chrysler to drive around Minnesota in the next few days. I drove to the hotel and my initial impressions were unfavourable - it looked like 1970s-style student lodgings. But actually the room is really nice and much better than the rather creepy place I was in in Atlanta. My former hotel was in a rather dingy area with nothing much around it. There was a security guard on patrol outside and I found the whole atmosphere a bit unsettling. The room was large and imposing, and worst of all the fridge didn't work ! By contrast, the room here is much more modern and comfortable. Also the lady on the front desk was really friendly and gave me lots of advice about the locality.

I'm located in Dinkytown, which is the University area and is where Bob Dylan first started playing folk music when he came here from Hibbing in 1959. I went for a walk in the city and crossed the Missisipi on a beautiful brick bridge. While doing so I got talking to a very friendly couple who had a "mini-pincher", which looked like a miniature Doberman. I had a cheerful conversation with the lady about being with people when they die (as I had been with my father). The downtown area was quiet (it being a Saturday) and much less garish than most American cities.  On the way back I bought some stuff in a Deli and got chatting with the shopkeeper, who was called Laurie. She stated that the shop used to be a bar in which Dylan played ! I feel at home here - it's a lovely city which reminds me a bit of Austin (another University town).

It was actually raining during my walk, which was a relief after the crushing humidity of  Atlanta. Laurie told me that they'd recently had a similar heatwave here, so I'm glad that I missed it. Tomorrow I will be driving to Hibbing, where Dylan grew up. It's a long drive but must be done !                    

September 13th -Macon

Slept well last night. Drove down to Macon, home of the Allman Brothers and Otis Redding. Headed south down I-75, but then an alternative route was suggested by the satnav due to a serious crash further on. So I left at junction 212 and stopped for petrol at Locust Grove. On the way out from paying I attempted to unlock the wrong car ! Well it was black just like mine - fortunately I realised before anyone thought I was a potential car thief. There was a long traffic jam through Jackson, but it was fascinating to see something of small-town Georgia. I continued south down Highway 23, a long, straight road which the Romans could have built. I eventually rejoined the I-75 just outside Macon and arrived in the area I was seeking just before 13:00.

First priority was lunch (chicken caesar), and then I went in search of the Allman Brothers museum. I had trouble finding it as there was no sign outside, but I parked in a side street and found it eventually. The museum is in the house where the group lived, and it was very sad to see the two bedrooms of the members who died in the early seventies (Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley). The style of the living quarters upstairs was very hippy-ish, with elaborately-patterned bed covers, bongoes, and tapestries. It was very tidy and I suspect was designed and maintained by the group's wives and girlfriends. The music room had a huge turntable, speakers, and bongoes in it. A lot of amazing music was conceived here - songs like "Midnight Rider", "Blue Sky", and "Elizabeth Reed".

I bought a couple of CDs and a T-shirt, then left for Atlanta. I didn't have a chance to look round Macon, since I'd arrived late and wanted to get back before the height of the rush-hour traffic. As it happens the drive back was easy and maybe I could have stayed longer, but had I stayed an extra half-hour I might have been caught in a snarl-up. The heat in Macon was hyper-intense; there's a bit of  breeze back here in Atlanta which makes it bearable.

As for music, I played the first two Allmans albums on the way, and enjoyed the bluesy tone, jazzy rhythms, and astonishingly fluid guitar playing. Then I heard two Lynyrd Skynyrd albums and admired Ronnie Van Zant's gritty vocals and tough workingman's lyrics. Another tragic southern band, of course, with most of the members killed in a plane crash in 1977. On the way back I heard the Allmans' classic "Live at the Fillmore East" album, which is a dream for anyone who loves great guitar-playing and skilled musicianship. They really don't make albums like this now - far too musical for the attention-deficit generation.

Tomorrow I leave Atlanta to fly to Minneapolis. I've loved being in Georgia - the countryside is varied, Atlanta itself is thrilling, the people very friendly (when they can understand me !), and the women are gorgeous. I am looking forward, though, to getting out of the humidity. Minnesota is Dylan country, so loads to explore there ! 

                  

September 12th - Athens

Slept well last night, although I woke up at 3:30 and had some difficulty getting back to sleep after that. While I was awake I heard some familiar "coupling" sounds from next door - at 3:30 AM ! This happens to me quite a lot on the road and arouses in me some complex emotions. I will spare the reader the full details of my various freudian traumas - I will only note that it rubs in my single status. It's often great being alone, but not always easy.

When I got up I had a nice conversation with a lady called Belmira. She tried to place my accent and thought I was Australian. Later on, when I was asking someone for directions on the outskirts of Athens,  he couldn't understand me at all ! People in Georgia are really thrown by my accent, which I haven't encountered elsewhere in the US. The ones who can understand it really love it, though.

I drove to Athens south  along I85 and then east on highway 316. After parking I walked round for a bit and had lunch in a nice old-style pub called The Globe. Then I went into a record shop, which had loads of vinyl but not many CDs. They were playing a track by Galaxie 500 which had an over-familiar two-note post-U2 bassline but an interesting guitar solo. I might buy something by them, although I find that that sort of music doesn't last well due to the limited song structures and minimalist rhythm sections. I always like to try out new things, though, so we'll see. I also walked through the University of Georgia, which had some good architecture. Athens is an arty, bohemian town which is quite attractive  - very studenty.

Drove back through a bit of rain and then some heavy traffic in Atlanta. Investing in a Satnav was a good move. Took me an hour to get from the outskirts of the city to the  hotel. This, though, gave me an opportunity to see more of the city without going out in the stifling heat. The weather has been really oppressive here and I was very dehydrated after my day out in the heat yesterday. My plan for tomorrow is to drive to Macon, where the Allman Brothers came from.

Music : I started this morning with "The Dirty South" by Drive-by-Truckers. This is an intensely political album about unemployment and family breakdown, together with other southern topics such as Sam Phillips and Richard Manuel. Then I played a bit of Canned Heat, including the Woodstock classic "Going Up The Country" as I approached Athens. On the way back it was Tom Petty all the way - another Southerner of course. His songs feature sharply-observed lyrics set to attractive pop-rock music with lots of guitar. Great stuff. Then I entertained myself with The Beatles through the Atlanta traffic. I particularly enjoyed "We Can Work It Out",  a very adult lyric with subtle time-changes in the music and great collaboration between John and Paul.

Off for a beer and some supper. It is indescribably exciting to be in this wonderful country.      

       

          

September 10th and 11th

September 10th

Got up at 4:40 - I'd slept reasonably well. Taxi arrived at 5:30 and I reached Heathrow by 6:30. Taxi-driver was very talkative but strictly a one-way conversationalist ! Had breakfast, bought stuff for the flight, and got on the New York plane for a 9:30 take-off. Struggled on the flight as sometimes I get attacks of claustrophia on long flights and cannot relax my bladder muscle. I was really uncomfortable towards the end of the flight and spoke to a stewardess. She kindly moved me up to the front of the plane so that I was the first off !
Thank you Virgin.

One thing made me sad on the flight. On the row adjacent to me there was a middle-aged couple and the woman was a bit of a cracker ! They were holding hands and looked so happy together. It reminded me of the future I thought I had until that fateful night of February 12th 2011, when my world broke into little pieces. This trip is all about re-integration and re-orientation.  


After that little panic I was ok and caught the connecting flight to Atlanta ok. Spent most of the waiting period at JFK outside. On the connecting flight I got chatting to the woman next to me, who was a native of Atlanta. She gave me useful tips about driving and the traffic. I picked up my car and was wise enough to fork out an extra 30 quid for a satnav. This made my journey to the hotel very easy. I was in my room by 8 o'clock Atlanta time. Went out for some food and beer, and then (after a little struggle - in vain - to try and get the fridge working) I went to bed. Saw that England got a 0-0 with Ukraine, which is good enough.

September 11th

Slept well from 10:30 to 3:30, and then off and on until 6:30. Then had a bath and was down to breakfast c. 8:15. Breakfast is the cheapo continental type you get in the less-salubrious US hotels, but it did a job. Back up to my room and then out on foot to Atlanta.

It took me about 45 mins to get to the State Capitol, and after that I walked through the university area and then downtown. The weather was very hot and oppressive, and I sat down for a hour in Woodruff Park in the middle of the downtown area. I sat by a fountain and pool reading "Red Storm Warning', which Chris Mulli (my boss at work) had recommended to me. Its World War Three scenario is very appropriate given all the talk about Syria which is currently going on. That was a relaxing break, and then I went to lunch in a Diner. I wasn't all that hungry but went inside because I needed a slash.

After lunch I walked to the Midtown area and saw the Fox Theatre, where Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded "One More From The Road". I then walked on to Margaret Mitchell's house. She wrote "Gone With The Wind", and this was always my parents' favourite film, so I was thinking about them (they're both long dead) a lot. I was given a solo tour of her house and it was fascinating. She wrote the book because she had a foot injury and couldn't work, having formerly been a journalist. She was never intending to have it published, but a friend of a friend knew someone at MacMillans and tipped them off. It is now the largest-selling book in America after The Bible. It was interesting to see all the period furniture from the late 1920s, and the heavy old typewriter which she wrote on.

After that I got the MARTA train back, and then got lost on the final walk to the hotel. As I write this I'm pretty shattered, so I'm hoping for a sound night of sleep tonight. The plan tomorrow is to drive to Athens, which is about 100 miles. That's the home of REM, the B52s, and Pylon.         

September 9th - Evening Before US Trip

All the preparations are complete now. It's just a matter of having supper, watching a bit of TV, and then going to bed early to get whatever sleep I can before getting up at 4:30 AM tomorrow. It's been dismal over the last couple of days - summer has disappeared in a rush and, apart from my son, I haven't had any company. So it will be amazing to hit Heathrow at 6:30 tomorrow and start what will probably be my final American jaunt.

The journey tomorrow will be arduous - I fly to JFK, and then wait there three hours before flying on to Atlanta, which is another 2.5 hrs. There I pick up my car and negotiate the short drive to my hotel. I've read that the traffic in Atlanta is terrible, so even this could take a while. Hopefully I'll be in my room by about 8 US time, so can have a quick meal before bed. The plan then is to walk round the city on the first day so I can freshen up a bit before I go driving on days two and three.

While in the US I will be blogging using the Tablet I've bought. The keyboard is a bit soft, and it takes a bit longer to type than on my Desktop PC. So there will probably be more "typos" than usual, which I will edit when I come back. It will be handy to be able to blog in my room or airport lounges rather than have to hunt round for Internet cafes or PCs in hotel lobbies.

As I say this will probably be my last trip. Now that the Decree Absolute has come through I need to look at my resources when I get back and take some financial advice. I would like to get out of this studio flat - it would be good to at least have a bedroom and I also miss having a garden. But the biggest problem is that, outside work, I do not have a life. Friends who were there for me a lot at the start of the divorce have mostly drifted away. I see my children a lot but just as visitors - and I'll see less of them as they get on with their adult lives. Outside my family, most of the people I knew were professional colleagues and inevitably they've moved on. So I need to find some sort of social life at the weekends, otherwise my life will be nothing but work.

I've loaded my two MP3 players with music which is appropriate for where I'm visiting. What usually happens is that the items I've carefully chosen I don't play, but instead pick up on something I've just chucked on at the last minute. I've got mainly US stuff but a few British artists as well, such as Roy Harper whose albums snuck on there yesterday. He's got a new CD out the day I come back and I've pre-ordered it, so it should be there to collect upon my return. I'm hoping to discover some great new music out there in the US.

Hope I can get some reasonable sleep - like many people I don't settle well when I've got an early start. So here we go again !    

New Tablet August 24th 2013

I'm writing this post on my new Samsung Tablet, using the keyboard case. I am intending to use it for my forthcoming US trip, since hotels in the US don't have many PCs available. The typing is a bit slow due to the soft keys, but I hope that I'll become more proficient before I leave.  

This trip will be my last US trip for a while and marks the point where I truly put my divorce behind me and move on with the next stage of my life. The last two years have been truly dreadful apart from my USA trips, and I'm far from happy about the financial settlement and  some of the dishonesty from "the other side". The financial security I worked and planned so hard for has been denied me, and I will need to work full-time for as long as possible. But it's finally over, so following the trip I will be knuckling down and facing the  future.

One real shaft of light is that I have a lovely new female companion named Jenny. She's 58, very capable and intelligent, a great conversationalist, and utterly gorgeous ! We talk so easily, have a lot of common interests, and enjoy meals, walks, and cultural activities. Early days but she has already been such a boon !

Life still has its problems. I'm working much harder and travelling far more than I'd like, especially if Jenny and I continue to become closer. IT as a career doesn't really do it for me as it's largely outsourced the creative bits. And I am alone an awful lot of the time. I have had some great supportive friends over the last couple of years but this year we're not in touch as much. But the nightmare is over and I can pick up the pieces now.

Musically 2013 hasn't been a patch on 2012, but there's still been some great stuff around. The new Bevis Frond album is incredible and Robyn Hitchock's "Love From London" grows on you. I have had a huge Bob Dylan phase and am now listening to a lot of Spirit's later work. I especially relish "Blues From The Soul", a double CD compilation of acoustic and electric blues. I also enjoyed Randy Newman's "Sail Away" when in London the other day. A very profound American album. I'm looking forward to some new sounds when I get to the States.

When I get back it will be the English winter and I'll have Xmas on my own to look forward to. I shall be ok but it's a very hard time for us disenfranchised types. But things are looking up and who knows 2014 could be very different !