LET'S HEAR IT FOR AWARD-WINNING AMERICAN BEACHES, ISLANDS AND CITIES...

AND SOME ADDED EXTRAS

*Ready to hit the road in my Batman car*

Have you ever wondered where to find America's most beautiful beaches? Then look no further than this blog... or to be more accurate than the annual pronouncements made by Dr Stephen Leatherman.

Known as “Dr Beach”, the Miami-based coastal scientist spends part of each year devoted to the enviable task of inspecting scores of American beaches and, using a strict set of 50 criteria, deciding which are the best in terms of water and sand quality, safety and management.

This year his first choice was Ocracoke, North Carolina's Lifeguarded Beach and over lunch in Notting Hill's trendy Princess Royal pub restaurant he explained why.

*Enjoying Lifeguarded Beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks*

“This is my favourite island getaway with 16 miles of beautiful undeveloped beach and American beach-grass-covered sand dunes,” he explained. Located on the long, slim convoy of barrier islands known as The Outer Banks, this alluring sand and sea destination heads his Top Ten Beach List with Buxton's Lighthouse Beach, also part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, coming sixth. Also on the list are two beaches each in Florida and Hawaii and one each in New York State, California, South Carolina and Massachusetts.

*Ocracoke Village’s attractions include a 1823 lighthouse*

Besides Ocracoke's beach, the destination's tourist attractions include a 1823 lighthouse, a herd of once-wild ponies and Ocracoke Village itself. In the early 18th century the lair of Blackbeard the pirate, it is now home to inns, shops and great seafood restaurants. There are car and passenger ferries to Ocracoke Island from the mainland as well as from nearby Hatteras Island, and although everything is within easy walking distance – the beach is about two miles from the town – rental bikes and golf carts are available.

Our discussions of the area brought back happy memories of my North Carolina university days when my room mate from the state's coastal area whisked me off by sailboat around the local 'sounds' which separate the Outer Banks from the mainland. She also taught me how to waterski and took me by motorboat on excursions up the tributary rivers where some of her friends lived in romantic, rustic waterfront homes. And then there were the visits with a beau to the Outer Banks' Nags Head where we picnicked amidst eastern America's highest sand dunes, some up to 100 feet tall, and braved the sometimes daunting Atlantic Ocean waves for a brisk swim.

Last year I returned to the area to visit a friend at her holiday home in Corolla at the northern end of the more than 175 mile-long Outer Banks. Joining an off-road vehicle tour we visited the clusters of old homes surrounded by grazing wild mustangs in the midst of sand dunes extending up to the Virginia state line, marked by a fence.

*A Kitty Hawk statue commemorates the Wright Brother’s first powered flight*

Then travelling down the slender sliver of land sandwiched between Currituck Sound and the ocean we visited Kitty Hawk's Kill Devil Hills where – from a massive sand dune – brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the world's first powered flight on December 17, 1903. After touring the surrounding monuments and Wright Brothers National Memorial interpretive centre we decamped for liquid refreshments at the nearby pub where the Brothers Wright went to celebrate 119 years ago.

Colourful Manteo is located on Roanoke Island, one of Anglo America's most historic and perhaps most-misinterpreted places. In 1787, 115 English men, women and children arrived here led by explorer John White and sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh. After earlier explorations, this was to become the first permanent English settlement in America. But, alas, when White returned from England three years later he found no trace of the settlers or their buildings, only the world CROATOAN carved on a large tree.

Later referred to as “The Lost Colony”, their fate has inspired endless discussions – and great speculation, some of it not supported by facts – which has been amplified by the popular local performance over the past 85 years of a namesake play inspired by the story and featuring both music and dance. First performed in 1937 and America's oldest such continuous outdoor drama, it is staged each summer in a large amphitheatre.

Years ago a member of one of the coastal area's Native American settlements emphatically gave me his answer to the mystery: ”They weren't lost at all, they were taken in by local Indian settlements. I remember my grandparents recalling stories of white, blue eyed, blond people living among us.”

The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, written by Scott Dawson and published in 2020, endorses this theory. In fact, Dawson writes, there is good historical documentary evidence, enhanced by recent archaeological finds, that some or all of the settlers voluntarily moved south to the very same Hatteras Island (historically known as Croatoan) that Dr. Beach and I were now discussing.

That makes sense for Hatteras was the home of a community of friendly indigenous people, including the settlers' long-term friend and protector Manteo who had twice visited England, the second time returning to North Carolina with White and the settlers. (Incidentally, White's granddaughter, Virginia Dare, whom he never met, was the first English child born in America.)

As we talked, Dr Beach was confronted by his own Anglo American mystery. Why, he asked, did the English salad he was considering ordering contain rocket and gems. We explained that rocket is the green leaf known in America as arugula and that gems, alas did not sparkle, but were leaves from Little Gem lettuces. And then, when the good doctor ordered iced tea, the mystified waiter, who appeared to be from eastern Europe, returned with a glass of freshly made lemonade. Undaunted the doctor ordered a pot of steaming hot tea, went to the bar and returned with a pitcher of ice and made his own.

*Touring Mackinac Island by horse and carriage*

Incidentally, my friends from Michigan have just shared the good news that another island, Mackinac, set in Lake Huron just off the point where the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas are jointed by a bridge, has been proclaimed the Best Island in the Continental USA by a poll conducted of the nine million readers of America's Travel and Leisure magazine.

Site of a former British fort, now a museum and overlooked by the sweeping front veranda of the hilltop Grand Hotel, the five square mile island uniquely allows no cars; instead residents and visitors alike travel by bike, horseback or horse-drawn carriages.

Meanwhile, Michigan's Detroit is one of only five American cities included in Time magazine's 2020 Top 50 Cities of the World list. Best known in the past for its booming car manufacturing industry, it was particularly praised by Time for establishing America's first electrical vehicle charging road and for bringing itself back from its bankruptcy of a decade ago with a buzzy revitalized downtown and numerous new hotels and multi-ethnic restaurants,.

*Nashville’s National Museum of African American Music*

Speaking of interesting, lively cities I recently revisited Nashville, Tennessee to check out its newest attraction, The National Museum of African American Music which opened in 2020 but only now, post pandemic, is receiving the attention it deserves. Unlike many other music museums which focus on only one genres of music such as blues, rock 'n' roll or bluegrass, or on just one or a small group of musician, the NMAAM covers all genres of African American music and pays tribute to numerous musicians over numerous eras.

It also gives Nashville a more realistic reason to refer to itself as 'Music City USA' for up until this museum opened Tennessee's capital city was primarily known for such Country Music attractions as the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame, neither of which feature many black musicians.

I was met in the museum entry hall by Katie Rainge-Briggs, its Collection and Exhibitions Manager, who explained that its content developers had delved several centuries back into the African roots of various forms of music to understand exactly what legacy the enslaved African Americans brought to America. This is fortified by an impressive introductory film enhanced by vintage illustrations and photographs. Moving from the early days of gospel, blues and ragtime up to such modern genres as hip hop and rap, the exhibits include such treasures as|Louis Armstrong's trumpet, the sheet music for Scott Joplin's famous ragtime composition, The Entertainer, one of Tina Turner's contracts and a Queen Latifah gown. However, this is no exclusively behind-glass institution.

You are encouraged to interact by, for instance as I did, singing, clapping and swaying in front of a TV backup gospel choir... and then taking home with you an online record of the whole performance (alas, mine somehow misfired) or dancing along with a hip-hop band … both done in rooms off the main exhibition halls.

You also can interactive electronically with circles of influence for one of your favourite musicians, some of them white like my choice Eric Clapton but influenced by black musicians. At the end of the exercise you can record you choice on your cell phone.

The museum is conveniently located around the corner from the landmark Ryman Auditorium, the 1892 birthplace of the Grand Ole Opry, which is now located in another much larger venue and known over many years for its live performances – traditionally broadcast nationwide by radio – of such superstars as Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash and Garth Brooks.

I wanted to swing by the Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline museums, which share the same premises on the other side of the lively Honky Tonk Highway from my very welcoming, if oddly named, boutique-style Bobby Hotel but ran out of time – I was due to depart for Franklin, Tennessee to research a feature on Small Town America. `

*A Franklin, Tennessee, Civil War era tribute to the Union Army’s African American soldiers*

Located about a half-hour drive south of Nashville, it is in fact more a small city than a town.... but it does have a small town ambience. Best known to American history buffs as the site of a major Civil War battle, its town square, unusual for a Southern community, contains a statue of a black Union solider standing on a plinth inscribed with these words: Freedom, Liberty, Equality.

Franklin's lively Main Street is lined with one-off shops, galleries and restaurants and includes both the vintage 1937 Franklin Theatre, once closed but brought back to life by the community and now a hub of cultural events, and the welcoming Landmark Booksellers where large comfy sofas encourage you to sit awhile and sample some of the books. The manager, who without bidding looked up my recently published book Goodbye Hoop Skirts – Hello World! on her computer, invited me to return and read excerpts from my book to her regular customers. I was tempted, particularly if I could stay again at the chic Harpeth Franklin Downtown just off Main Street.

Home to a number of musicians, Franklin also has its own musical offerings in such places as Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant where there's live music in the evening and where I had a delicious Sunday brunch, and Kimbos Pickin' Parlor, located in a rustic wooden building and a hang-out for both professional and would-be musicians who perform both inside and on a back patio,.

And speaking of music and food, whenever I am in New Orleans I always head for one of the lively jazz venues on Frenchmen Street and for one of the city's divine old restaurants such as Brennan's, Antoine's and The Commander's Palace… or for one of its acclaimed new ones . However, on my last visit there was two special treats: an opportunity to try my hand whisking up some shrimp and grits at the The New Orleans School of Cooking and then to join a gourmet safari 58 miles up the Mississippi River-bordering Great River Road to Darrow's Houmas House at the heart of a former sugarcane plantation.

*Lending a hand at the New Orleans School of Cooking*

Entering the palatial, early 19th-century Greek Revival mansion via an avenue of huge Spanish-moss veiled oak trees and a porch graced by numerous Grecian-style columns my companions and I were welcomed by the home's owner Kevin Kelly who encouraged us to tour the elegant ground floor rooms and fascinating adjacent museum covering the heritage and history of the surrounding Mississippi River country which I understand has now been expanded with a wax museum.

Then came the meal... and what a delight it was … beginning with a bisque of curried pumpkin with Louisiana crawfish and corn, continuing with a shrimp salad enhanced by dried cranberries, pecans and blue cheese, and two entrees, one Louisiana trout topped with jumbo-lump crab meat and asparagus and ending with a white chocolate bread pudding.

When and where am I going to experience such a meal again in the near future I lamented upon my return across the Big Pond. But then The Louisiana Office of Tourism came to London bringing with it Houmas House owner Kevin Kelly, Jeremy Langlois, the award-winning young chef of his Latil's Landing restaurant, and Brian Landry representing the new Jack Rose restaurant in New Orleans' renowned Ponchatrain Hotel.

In London to attend a Travel Food Festival, they invited a small group of us to join them at Plaquemine Lock, a Michelin endorsed pub specializing in Creole and Cajun food inspired the fact that owner Jacob Kennedy's grandfather came from Louisiana.

Located on Islington's Graham Street beside the Regent's Canal it seduced away the evening with a delicious medley of temptations prepared by chef Tim Clements. Among them, oysters brochette, a rich gumbo of chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage, a succotash of squash and sweetcorn and strawberry pie... of course enhanced by a Bourbon-based cocktail and some delicious wines. The pub stages Saturday and Sunday Jazz Brunches and I certainly plan to return.

Now it's down to work on the autumn issue of Essentially America magazine which will include features on the magnificent American National Parks – Yellowstone, the oldest, celebrated its 150th anniversary this year, the key attractions of the New England states, the most exciting waterfront cities in the Great Lakes region and what to see and do along legendary Route 66' s last four states: Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California (the first four are covered in the current issue of Essentially America) .

Also in the autumn issue, due off press in late October, will be a guide to the attraction-rich Illinois portion of Route 66 and another guide covering the Twelve Southern States' Exciting Cities and Charming Small Towns, Great Outdoors, Magical Music, Creative Cuisine and Distinctive Drinks and Fabulous Festivals.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR AWARD-WINNING AMERICAN BEACHES, ISLANDS AND CITIES...

THE FESTIVE SEASON…

AHOY, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS!