My Grandmother on my Mother's side was born in Greenport, Long Island, New York so my ancestry is one quarter American.  My late parents made many American friends through work and many visits to the United States, but none more so than in the South.  It is pretty special that I continue the closest of those friendships and can follow in some of my parent's American footsteps. 

To view the edited photo galleries from my American travels, please click on the picture folders for each trip below.

The United States is vast and full of wonders, even with the luxury of a month long visit, you feel you are only scratching the surface.  Having endured a long flight in Economy, I and my great friend and travelling companion Bill, are always determined to see as much as we can. In September 2013 with so much to see in New York and Washington, we really went for it, wearing ourselves out in the process! We had though started more gently with four days based near the truly magnificent and spectacular Niagara Falls on the Canadian side before flying from Toronto to New York.

After Washington, we collected a hire car for a five day Road Trip across Virginia and Tennessee before meeting our friends in their home state of Alabama.

The final but memorable section of the 2013 trip, now in the company of Norman and Joan McMillan, found us enjoying much wonderful Southern hospitality with their friends and also with a memorable family party at the McMillan  home in Montevallo.  On to a stay at an amazing apartment at Gulf Shores before continuing to New Orleans.  We flew back to the UK with Air Canada from Atlanta.

Equiped with my new Nikon D5500 camera, June 6 2016 saw Bill and I fly to Las Vegas on a pretty ancient BA 747, then meeting up again with our friends Norman and Joan from Alabama. All of us spent 3 nights in 'sin city', but doing our own thing as Norman and Joan know Vegas well.

After collecting a hire car, we all travelled via the Hoover Dam and parts of Route 66 to a mountain chalet just outside Flagstaff, Arizona as a base for 7 nights visiting the Grand Canyon at midday and at sunset, the Meteor Crater, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, a long day so I could attend a photo workshop in the famous Antelope slot canyon (hot and utterly exhausting but one of the world's great photo locations) and a number of other beautiful places like Oak Canyon nearer to Flagstaff. Then we started heading north, a great drive up to Bryce in Utah for the stunning Bryce Canyon, onwards through gorgeous country to spend 2 nights seeing the Grand Teton National Park and northwards again to spend 4 nights at the spectacular Yellowstone National Park. Then south via Salt Lake City and Zion National Park back to Las Vegas where we sadly parted company with Norman and Joan before Bill and I flew on to San Francisco for an enjoyable, but chilly, final 7 nights.

My great friend Bill was unable to join me this time so I set off solo on May 14th to fly to Atlanta and then on to Birmingham, Alabama by comfortable Delta flights.  A packed 28 days was planned by Norman and Joan McMillan, starting with a couple of days based in Montevallo AL, then a road trip to Louisiana and Texas. the plan continued with more time in Montevallo and Montgomery.

So now I am back in the UK, with 3000 photos, after an amazingly good time, thanks to my wonderful friends, Norman and Joan.  We floated past wild creatures in the Louisiana swamps, followed the beat of Cajun music and culture, explored beautiful gardens, let our imaginations soar into space at Nasa, learnt history in Texas and Montgomery, ate superb food and travelled around 2500 miles.

Above all though, I was privileged to meet and spend time with so many lovely people, both the extended McMillan family and so many of their delightful friends.

Here I can introduce you to the people and sights of the South!  There is much more to return to in the future......

A new visit to the USA in September and October 2019