Yup, you guessed it. Very soon I will be off on holiday again – Saturday, in fact! And, in what appears to be an annual event, we will once again be visiting the USA. But unlike last year when we cruised around the laid back southwestern states, this time round we’re going to the east coast – New York City and Boston, to be precise, with a drive through Connecticut somewhere in the middle.
I have visited NYC once before, almost exactly nine years ago, and remember being totally gobsmacked. I thought it was going to be dirty and scary and dangerous, but I ended up spending two solid days walking around Manhattan, mostly on my own, feeling as safe as I have felt in any city in the world. So that was an eye-opener. I was also amazed at how truly beautiful the architecture is. Yes, everybody knows that the Empire State Building is tall and was featured in King Kong. But it’s only when you enter the foyer that you realise what an exuberant art deco flight of fancy it is. And we won’t even mention the Chrysler building! It really is an architecture fan’s dream city.
This time round, I will have Nick with me, and he’s never been to NYC, so what better excuse could I have to hit the tourist trail and hit it hard. We have a couple of non-negotiables – a trip to Liberty & Ellis Islands, the Empire State building, MOMA, a sunset walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, to name but a few. I also have some food non-negotiables – Dean & DeLuca, Luzzo’s pizza, Katz Deli, Bubby’s for brunch and dim sum in Chinatown. And in Connecticut (Bridgeport and Stonington) and Boston I plan to eat seafood until I burst – clams, lobster, chowder, crab – you name it.
As it is, our dance card is going to be pretty full, what with 4 days in the City That Never Sleeps; visitng one set of friends and one set of relatives in Connecticut; and meeting up with an old university friend in Boston while watching the Head of the Charles regatta. But if anybody out there has any best-kept-secret finds in either New York or Boston that they want to share with me – the best hot chocolate, the best clam chowder, the best ice cream, the best chopped liver, the best pancakes… please do drop me a comment or an e-mail. I have no idea at all about Boston restaurants, so any suggestion for our one night there would be appreciated (not fine dining please – rather a good neighbourhood place).
I can’t guarantee that I will have time for everything but I can give it my best shot!