A NEW YEAR, A NEW BLOG…
Posing with a tribute to Thomas Edison's contribution to the electric light bulb
When better to launch a new USA-focused travel blog than at the beginning of a New Year, particularly a year when transatlantic travel is once again on offer.
Who better to launch it, thought I, than someone like me, who has spent more than 40 years promoting travel to the USA as a journalist, publicist and the founding and on-going editor of the UK's Essentially America travel magazine. During those years I have visited and written about all 50 of the American states plus Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands. And now, in this new era of travel, I would like to share my traveller's tales with you!
It may seem odd to begin with the touristically lesser-known state of New Jersey, best known to many of my overseas readers only for The Sopranos, the popular 1999-2007 TV saga of murderous mobsters – their image reignited last year by the release of The Many Saints of Newark, including in its cast Michael Gandolfini, portraying the young Tony Soprano and real-life son of the TV series' star, the late/great James Gandolfini.
But New Jersey is not only the latest US state to establish a promotional base in the United Kingdom but is also home to a wide range of attractions and to such real-life iconic figures as astronaut Buzz Aldrin, singer/actor Frank Sinatra, multi-award-winning actress Meryl Streep and 'The Boss', Bruce Springsteen, who defined American rock music in the 20th century. .
Thomas Edison and wife Mina
You may not be able to drop by their homes and work places but you certainly can visit, as I recently did, the studio complex and home of Thomas Alva Edison, America's most famous inventor. Dropping by his West Orange industrial complex, now part of The Thomas Edison National Historical Park. I was not only able to admire exhibits paying tribute to his electrical, photographic, sound recording and motion picture inventions but also to enjoy the world's first ever (1903) narrative motion picture, The Great Train Robbery. A short distance away is the handsome 29-room mansion, Glenmont, that Edison shared with his much younger second wife Mina. As he was profoundly deaf he reputedly not only taught her Morse Code but proposed to her and later occasionally communicated with her in that manner.
While in the industrial complex, now a museum, I could not resist having my photo made next to a statue bearing a naked light bulb, a tribute to Edison's electrical expertise.
Now for a remotely-related, little-know fact (at least to me): The Statue of Liberty, that most famous lady with a lamp (in reality a torch) is not in New York but in New Jersey's territorial waters! Its site, Liberty Island, can be reached regularly by ferry from New Jersey's Liberty State Park as well as from the tip of Manhattan. Within the state park grounds is also the now-defunct terminal of the Central Railroad of New Jersey which carried millions of the emigrants cleared by the nearby Ellis Island immigration centre to their new homes across America.
Speaking of islands, Manhattan, itself an island, has a tiny new 2.4-acre sibling, affectionately and accurately known as Little Island. Tethered to the West Side Highway bordering the Hudson River by 13th and 14th street bridges, the man-made playground is the brain child of broadcasting and business tycoon Barry Diller and his famous fashion-designer wife Diane von Furstenburg.
Manhattan's new 2.4-acre Little Island
Resting on 280 pilings and 132 tulip-shaped sculptures, it is not only scenically stunning from the opposite shore but also enhanced by 350 plant species, 110 trees, a hill offering great views, a playground, snack bars and a 687-seat amphitheatre and 200-seat theatre where performances are held by the likes of the American Ballet Theatre. As entrance to the island and most performances is free except for a few performances which require timed, reasonably-priced tickets I intend to return in the spring, buy one of its custom-made cocktails and enjoy both the ambience and the views..
Speaking of playgrounds, here are two more to consider when planning your next visit to the USA.
The new National Park is known for superb whitewater rafting
West Virginia's New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, the newest offering from America's impressive National Park Service, is situated on 70,000 heavily wooded acres deep in the scenic Appalachian Mountains. Oddly named for what is in fact one of the Western Hemisphere's oldest rivers, it offers exciting Class III to V white water rafting,,camping, cliff climbing, hiking, biking, glimpses of some of eastern West Virginia's pioneering heritage and one of the world's longest and highest single-span arch vehicle bridges.
City Park's seated statues are by George Segal
Established 170 years ago, 1,300-acre New Orleans City Park, is one of America's oldest and largest urban parks. More than double the size of Manhattan's Central Park, it in my opinion has much more to offer than its Northern counterpart, particularly for those travelling with children.
On an early December visit I found the park seasonally transformed into a spectacular, illuminated fairyland. It encompasses the world's largest grove of mature live oak trees, picturesquely festooned with strands of grey Spanish moss, an amazing array of sculptures by the likes of Henry Moore, Louise Bourqeois and George Segal , a large lake cruised in season by Swan Boats, a botanical garden, golf courses, an equestrian centre, a stadium and The New Orleans Art Museum.
For families, there's The Louisiana Children's Museum, an amusement park, an historic carousel and Storyland, filled with such colourful figures as Mother Goose, Peter Rabbit, Rapunzel and the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.
Changing my focus to the American mid-west I found that Oklahoma is ahead of the game in readiness for Route 66's centenary celebrations in four year's time. Hardly surprising as the state encompasses one of the longest stretches – some 400 miles – of America's iconic 2,278-mile 'Mother Road'.
Last September Tulsa, once known as 'The Oil Capital of the World', unveiled the Route 66 Historical Village featuring such attractions as North America's tallest (154ft) oil derrick and a Visitor's Center in the form of a re-created 1920/30s Phillips petrol station.
Oklahoma City, on the other hand, has established 200 markers along its portion of Route 66 as well as encouraging the production of numerous murals. Among them is one featuring three iconic Oklahomans: musicians Woody Guthrie and Charlie Christian and actress Joan Crawford. My favourite features a buffalo-riding Native American “goddess” waving an Oklahoma state flag which adorns the side of an iconic Route 66 structure, the Milk Bottle Grocery.
There will be more in my next Mary Go Round America blog about the two new Tulsa attractions due to open later this year: The Bob Dylan Center and the OKPOP Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture. I also will be covering 10 unmissable New Jersey attractions, Nashville's exciting new National Museum of African American Music, a weird and wonderful Virginia Theme Park which pits Civil War soldiers against dinosaurs and introducing you to a former child Civil Rights activist who has created a special new attraction on the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail.
Some of these subjects – and many others – will be covered in the next issue of Essentially America, due off press in April. Meanwhile, check out my new book of travel and lifestyle anecdotes, Goodbye Hoop Skirts – Hello World! The Travels, Triumphs and Tumbles of a Runaway Southern Belle.
