Trip to Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, USA - 10th to 14th November 2008

This was my 6th trip to the USA this year (so far) - this time for a holiday in New York and New England. We flew into New York, stayed for a short night's sleep, then headed straight out of town the next morning. We caught a train from Penn Station to New Haven, Connecticut - to pick up a hire car, then drive around New England for a few days. The train trip out of town took us past some lovely looking NY stockbroker belt towns. We also got to see the beauty of New England in the fall - going through valleys with fantastic colours, as the leaves all changed colour before falling off.

New Haven is a pretty town, and also the home of Yale University. That means there are lots of students, which in turn means good cheap food. Best of all is Pepe's Pizza, which came highly recommended by a few American friends that had been to New Haven. "Best pizza I've ever eaten" was a comment from more than one person. So we headed there, and got 2 people absolutely stuffed on fantastic pizza for under $20 in total. The pizza was very authentic, and absolutely delicious. The experience was rather like a pie and mash shop - things work in a very particular way, and you need to learn what that way is quickly! They have obviously been doing the same thing in exactly the same way for years - which, when it is that good, makes complete sense.

Having picked up a car, we drove through Connecticut - seeing pretty valleys and villages - then into Rhode Island. Rhode Island is a very small (in fact, the smallest), but a very independent state - one of the first to declare independence from Britain, and quite non conformist on lots of other counts too. We entered Rhode Island almost by mistake - driving through a nice looking village centre, which turned out to be 2 villages - Pawcatuck in Connecticut, and Westerly in Rhode Island - which are joined together. We crossed the state line halfway down the main street, and it was something of a surprise. There were lots of other really picturesque villages by the coast in the state, the village of Watch Hill in particular had a very nice harbour, and some absolutely huge houses! Eventually, we wound our way to Providence, the state capital, then exited the state again, into Massachusetts, where we stayed the night.

The following day was spent driving around Cape Cod. Again, there were lovely small villages, beautiful scenery, and those multi coloured trees again. Being 11th November, it was Veterans Day, so there were parades and ceremonies in the small towns. We stopped in the lovely town of Falmouth just before 11am, and saw their Vet Day parade, which reminded me how much more respect Americans seem to have for their servicemen that we do.

Many of the towns in the Cape Cod area are named after towns in Devon and Dorset, like Falmouth, Yarmouth, and Barnstable. Driving around, it was clear to see that the area is a big tourist area (and the scenery was amazing) - but it did have some of the slightly depressing features of small town America. The same chains of restaurants and hotels seemed to repeat themselves every few miles. There are many motels and diners, mostly built during the boom in car ownership and population in the 1950s - and many have not had a lick of paint since. They have either been taken over by the same big national chains (there is a Dunkin' Donuts every 2 miles, it seems), or have just been allowed to become shabby and neglected - all of which makes for a slightly "faded glamour" feel. I suppose going in November, when it was all quite empty and closed up, may not have helped on that front. In general in the US though, I have found that there is great diversity (in things like the people, food, etc) in the cities, but that the small towns all seem to be very similar. Maybe that isn't too different to the UK or anywhere else, but it really strikes you when you visit small town America.

Talking of Devon towns, our tour of Cape Cod eventually ended up in Plymouth, where some of the original pilgrims from England landed - in 1620 in the case of this small town. We saw their boat, and the famous Plymouth Rock, which is supposed to have been the first spot where the pilgrims set foot in America. This was a town full of history, all linked to England, and to the birth of the US as a nation, so it was a really interesting place to look around.

After a night in Plymouth, we drove the short trip to Boston - no trip to New England would be complete without visiting its biggest city. Boston is obviously a pretty big and significant city, and also has bags of history - many of the "first" things in the US were done there. In fact, Boston, New York and Philadelphia are the 3 big cities in the US that do actually have decent history to speak of. The centre point of Boston is a place called Boston Common - a big green area, right in the middle of the city, that has been the centre for meeting, protest and demonstration since the early 1600s. It is one of those great city centre parks, that gives you the fantastic view of significant green space, with the city's buildings rising up in the background.

Boston Common is also the starting point for the Freedom Trail - a 3 mile walk past most of the city's historical landmarks. These include the old Boston City Hall, the state Senate building for Massachusetts, and a whole load of old buildings with historical significance - not just for Boston the city, but some central places to the American Revolution too. The mix of (small) old buildings and (big) modern buildings made for a strange sight at times. Many of the plaques talked about how they didn't like the English very much, luckily, they seem to have warmed to us again since! During a fantastic day of sightseeing there, we visited Cambridge (home of Harvard University), and the North End (the big Italian neighbourhood in Boston), as well as covering most of the centre of town (using the Subway, which had a station with the fantastic name of Alewife). Boston seemed like a really, really nice city - which I got the feeling would be a great place to live. It is dominated by various universities - so there are lots of young people there, and everything seems very relaxed and easy going.

After the day in Boston, the weather turned wet, so we were glad to have got the sightseeing in whilst the weather was good for doing it. The next day and a bit was spent making our way back from Boston to New Haven - slowly, and with plenty of stops and picturesque detours. One big stop was in Mystic, Connecticut, where I was introduced to Five Guys - quite simply the best burger and fries it is possible to eat. They have a branch about a block away from my office in Philadelphia, so I will most definitely be making a number of further visits there. I just wish they would come to London.

All in all, a great few days in New England, looking at some lovely countryside, and exploring a fantastic city. After giving the hire car back in New Haven, we jumped on a commuter train back to New York City, for a few more days there.