It’s not often I cover my time backpacking in the USA on here – it was a long time ago and I did lose a lot of my photos, but the memory remains. In four years time, the USA will be hosting the world’s biggest event (in my opinion) – the football World Cup from FIFA. Due to the success of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the next one will be hard to beat that, luckily Canada and Mexico are also in the mix to try and help with that. However, I was in 7 different USA states down the years and they are Texas, Pittsburgh, New York, California, Florida and Georgia. It is even easier to visit multiple states on one trip – you can easily fly into Florida from Europe, arrrange some car rental in MCO airport and take things from there, overlanding on highways. Here are some of my memories from those days that I have rarely covered on my blogs.
1.Clearwater Beach in Florida
On a family trip in 1996, we stayed in Florida. Looking back it was not my preferred style of travel – it wasn’t really backpacking and there was a bit of commercialism thrown into the mix – for example we went to Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios. Neither of those are really my thing, but it was some kind of 90s fad for holiday makers – arrival in the USA, get some cheap car hire in Orlando and tour overland.
Florida in the 1990s
2.Staten Island, New York City
Most people head to New York to see the Empire State Building, Liberty Island, Times Square, The Bronx and Central Park. I did a few different things on my two trips to NYC so far. One of them was a night out for $10 US, another was our spontaneous night-time trip to Staten Island on a “White Stripes” tour. It was summer 2007 and I was backpacking there, staying in the YHA Hostelling International on Amsterdam Avenue. We rounded up a group from our hostel, and after finding out that the ferry to Staten Island was ferry, it felt like a great idea to go over there, have a look around and then go for a drink. It turned into a classic adventure and one that I won’t forget.
Free ferry to Staten Island, New York City.
Boarding the Staten Island ferry in 2007
3.Bestie’s Bar, Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles
There is no doubt that I was in awe of Bestie’s Bar during my trip to Los Angeles. The whole event happened by chance. You see, David Beckham had just signed for Los Angeles Galaxy and they were playing Chelsea in a pre season friendly when I happened to be there. I got a bus through Los Angeles through Compton all the way to the Home Depot Arena where LA Galaxy play on the edge of town. It was in here where I met Steve, a local football fan. Steve started telling of the time he met George Best, the superstar footballer from Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Bestie’s Bar, Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles
After watching the football, Steve kindly drove me all the way to Hermosa Beach, which was a truly gorgeous area in Los Angeles by The Pacific Ocean. It was here, where George Best fell in love with Angela MacDonald, who became his wife and mother of Callum Best, the son. We were able to go into the bar and see the true shrine dedicated to George Best, who died in 2005, whilst I visited in 2007. It was happy hour there and the bar had now been renamed, as The Underground Pub. But this was the same bar that George Best once owned and to be in it and have a beer there was a nice memory.
Bestie’s Bar, Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles
4.The Porter Beer Bar, Atlanta, Georgia
I finally arrived in the different Georgia in 2014, having previously being in the Caucases Georgia in 2013. Georgia, for most people in the world means the country – capitaled by Tbilisi. But for those in the USA they might think of the other Georgia – the USA state of Georgia. When I was booking my flight out of Costa Rica that time, the best flight option was from San Jose to Atlanta so I booked it and was pleasantly surprised by my night out in The Porter Beer Bar at Little Five Points. I popped in for great food and even better beer for a fab and spontaneous night.
The Porter Beer Bar in Atlanta, Georgia.
Loving my cheese selection and beer in the Porter Beer Bar in Atlanta.
5.Cancelled Alcatraz and Pearl Harbour Tours
There are a few tours from my time in the USA that I didn’t cover because they were cancelled beyond my control. I had booked to visit Alcatraz and Pearl Harbour. To this day, I still haven’t been to Pearl Harbour in Hawaii but I did have a stop over in San Francisco. A good reason for including these cancellations and flight issues (before COVID incidentally) is that due to that, I got to have an extra day in The Marshall Islands, two days in Fiji and three days in Papua New Guinea. Due to the extra day in Marshall Islands, it meant I was able to attend the Hot Dog Festival and visit Eneko Island. I often think that cancellations can be a blessing in disguise later on.
Arrival in San Francisco
Arrival in San Francisco