My American Travel Wish List

This time last year, I was enjoying one of the major highlights of PhD life while exploring the fantastic city of Denver. Having the ability to jet off for international conferences is one of the opportunities I would encourage anyone in my position to grab if at all possible, I was able to spend a wonderful week in the ‘Mile High City’, experiencing all the things I love about America - which (of course) mostly involved food! You can read all about that trip here, but it also got me thinking about all the other American destinations that I would love to visit at some point. With everything that’s happened this year, I never got round to posting about our Seattle honeymoon, but I’ve put together a collection of other places which are high on our travel wish list:

 

1. New York

 

Who doesn’t want to visit the city which is, arguably, the most popular tourist destination in the States? It’s the setting of so many movies and tv shows, giving many of us the impression that we already know the place - especially when wonderful gems such as ‘Friends’ still grace our tv screens. I’ve had to suffer for a whole month without my ‘work wife’, but she finally came back to work this week after her second trip to (the edge of) this city in the space of two years! She’s allowed me to share some of her pics, which give me an idea of things to look out for when I finally get the chance - the picture of her and this semi-naked American cowboy still cracks me up!

 

 

2. Florida

 

Of the three different North American destinations I’ve already been to, Florida (specifically Miami) is one of them. Despite this, I’ve still included it in the list because we absolutely HAVE to take the kids to Disney World before they get too much older! Paul is a big kid at heart, so running around like crazy, while entertaining our children, would be his idea of relaxing and taking a load off! As long as I can get extra strength mosquito repellent, fully air conditioned surroundings and the chance to visit more Hard Rock Cafes, I’ll be happy!

 

3. Indiana

 

As much as I love big cities, I’m also equally a fan of the rolling countryside and the company of great friends - seeing as Indiana contains both of these things, it’s obviously going to feature high on my list! When I first started playing Xbox, I never imagined it could lead to such fantastic friendships… Now, three years down the line, we still talk on a weekly basis and try to meet up whenever possible. With Gradie being a bit more difficult to get to, any future American trip absolutely has to include a stop at his house! (He provided some images of his surroundings and it looks absolutely beautiful!)

 

 

4. Chicago

 

In our house, we are lovers of the American hospital drama. We’ve already visited the setting for the ever popular ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, so I’m determined to add the city which was home to ‘ER’ to my list of visited destinations, despite the fact that Paul refuses to watch it with me! If fangirling over one of my favourite ever tv shows, while stuffing my face with Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, wasn’t enough, they also dye the river green for St Patrick’s day – a curious sight, which we wouldn’t want to miss!

 

5. Any Destination Which Contains a Hard Rock Café

 

My love for Hard Rock has reached such a level now, that friends will often specifically take pictures of any cafes they come across on their travels. Whenever I hear that someone was on holiday, my immediate question is usually ‘did you visit the Hard Rock Café?’ Although the franchise was originally founded in London, the global expansion means that I have a large number of American destinations to choose from when planning a visit – perhaps I could even plan a countrywide ‘Hard Rock Café Tour’, much to Paul’s horror, ha! (Images left to right are from Sarahjane's visit to Philly, Laura's visit to San Fran and Lis' visit to New Orleans!)

 

 

Where are your favourite Stateside destinations? Do any include a Hard Rock Café?
 

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