I first visited the States in 2001, just before 9/11, and I’ve holidayed there every couple of years since. By the end of this summer I’ll have been to: Georgia; South Carolina; Alabama; Arkansas; Louisiana; California; Nevada; Arizona; Washington DC; Virginia; Tennessee; Mississippi; Kentucky; West Virginia; Colorado; New Mexico; and Utah.
I think I was most impressed by the wildness and beauty of the country on the northern Pacific coast of California, and the deserts of Nevada and Arizona. I was most powerfully reminded of the founding principles of the US in Virginia and DC. I have been, incidentally, delighted by the politeness of Americans everywhere I’ve visited; as an exemplary anecdote, the kid who must have been around 12 years old, holding the door open for Helen in some building in DC, who - when she said, ‘Thank you’ to him, replied; ‘You’re welcome ma’am’. Simple, direct, automatic, polite.
A wonderful country stuffed full of really pleasant people. Happy Birthday.
