©
Christopher Golis 2025
Summing up San Diego
Vivienne and I had a pretty hectic time socially.
We are staying with my sister in one of the most affluent
suburbs in San Diego (Mission Hills) and yesterday we had lunch at the most
affluent, La Jolla.
The majority are Democrat’s convinced Trump is going to
destroy the USA. We reply, surrounded
by unbelievable wealth, that actually life does not seem that bad here.
We spent 4 days walking in Memphis and our hotel was only a 5-minute
walk from Beale Street. On day 2 over
lunch, Mayer calmly announced that Memphis is the homicide capital of the USA,
per captia, and Beale Street is one of the most dangerous streets in the USA. This was corroborated by the Trump appointed Director
of FBI, Kash Patel who had declared during a press conference that this was the
most surprising thing he had learnt during his tenure. To revive the town,
Memphis is trying to develop a tourist industry around its historic connections
to Blues, Soul ad Rock &Roll ad this was a dart to the heart. Forget the warning, Memphis is a terrific
place to visit.
Summing up the Mississippi
It is a big river that gets bigger every mile to San Orleans. We did the cruise on Viking Mississippi, only
2 years old and staffed only by Americans.
Viking’s market niche is top of the market, no kids, no casinos, and the
emphasis is on exploring and explanation. This trip was excellent value and made you realise
how important the Mississippi has been in the history of the USA.
Summing up New Orleans
Although it was hit with the double whammy of Hurricane
Katrina and Covid, the city is rebounding well.
Stay at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter. Forget Bourbon Street. My favourite story was that 10 inmates escaped
the nearby state prison. The main Casino
and Newspaper immediately organised a lottery on which inmate would be the last
one caught.
Thurs 15 May 202
The trip begins with a 21:30 flight Sydney to San
Francisco, Our taxi to Mascot that
normally takes 30 minutes took an hour as our driver brilliantly drove us
through a very heavy thunderstorm. We
get to the check-in counter where the assistant immediately called in her
supervisor. She took one look at me and
asked if I had a medical certificate to travel.
On Monday I had a BCC removed from my right eyebrow, I also had the
stitches taken out for a suspected BCC on my forehead removed 7 days earlier,. Unfortunately, the suspected BCC was an SCC
and not all of it had been removed. The
doctor said I needed to see a plastic surgeon, unbelievably I saw the surgeon
at 8:45 am the day and he decided to remove it that afternoon. The result was a massive black eye. So I ended up in a video conference with a
specialist in Los Angeles who ultimately gave me clearance to travel.
Viviene then returns to the check-in counter to be told that
while I could get on the plane she could not.
She did not have a ETSI Visa, Fortunately I had a hard copy of her visa
approval and soon we were good to go. In
the Business class lounge we polished off a bottle of champagne in 30
minutes. We arrived in San Fracisco early. Because I brought my cane and requested a
wheelchair we shot through customs in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, the plane to take us San
Diego arrived late, we missed our take off slot, we then had to wait 90 minutes
before another slot became free. Then just
as we were about to land in San Diego 3 hours late the pilot hit full throttle
upwards. We started another circle and
the pilot announced that the reason the first attempt was aborted was that we
were outside the safety parameters to land.
We all quickly disembarked 3.5 hours late in silence.
Friday 16 May 2025
We spent the day recovering from the trip. That night we attended a concert at the newly
refurbished Jacobs Music Centre. The
first part was the Saint-Seans Piano Concerto No 5. The soloist like the composer wss French,
Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Most of you have
heard him play. He is the pianist in the
latest film version of Pride and Prejudice.
After the interval
the orchestra played the rarely performed Shostakovich Symphony No 7 The
Leningrad. I thought the first movement
excellent but the rest had too many notes.
However, when I researched the history of the composition I changed my mind. It is a fascinating story, The siege of
Leningrad began in November 1941 and Shostakovich began composing it shortly
afterwards. The first movement depicts
the beginning of the siege with the advance of the Germa Army. He finished the symphony in December and the
rest of the symphony depicts the ambiguity of many ‘victories’. For Leningrad this was certainly the
case. The siege lasted 3 years and over
a million Russians died. The symphony
was performed over 60 times in its first season, an amazingly high number for a
first composition. 80 years later it is
rarely performed.
Saturday 17 May 2025
Sunday 18 May 2025
Wendy throws her weekly dinner party for 10 people. Somehow our conversation moves from
psychotherapy (everyone in California is in therapy) to people profiling that most
of you know is a subject close to my heart. Ooe of the female guests asks me to
profile her using my 7MTF technology , I
begin by saying there is some manic in her temperament, She stands up, aggressively sucks in air and then screams ‘‘I am not a Manic!!!’ Later on, I profile her husband who scores me
10/10 for his profile, and the same score for his wife when she is out of ear
shot.
Monday 19 May 2025\
Wendy has organised for my stiches to be removed in the
morning and I concurrently receive messages that both cancers have been removed,
that afternoon after touring San Diego we go to lunch in La Jolla, the most
affluent suburb in San Diego if not the USA with two food friends of Wendy: Davis & Sharrie.
Tuesday 20 May 2025
We have a chill-0ut day.
8 of us meet for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, The link between
the two groups is Catherine Mayer, Anthony’s sister and a great fried of my
sister when they both ere studying at Bath Tech. Another great night.
Wednesday 21 May 2025\
We fly to Memphis via Dallas a massive airport and hub for
American Airlines. We make all the
flights with no food till we get to our hotel.
A quick dinner then it is off to BBKings in Beale Street which is just
around the corner, Vivienne and I hit the dance floor when the excellent band
start playing Tia Turner’s Simply the Best.
Vivienne turns in a=fantastic performance (She has always been a great dancer)
+and we walk off to applause from the audience which turns into stunned silence
when I yell out ‘You should have seen us 60 years ago.’ When people discover we are in our 80s they
start shaking our hands in amazement.
Thursday 22 May 2025\
In the morning, we go to the Museum of Rock and Soul which
just across the street from the hotel.
It is a terrific museum. Two big
learnings: there was a gradual buildup of blues and soul music singers being
signed up. But when Sun signed Elvis
and released ‘That’s All Right’ Memphis exploded; It was radio that provided
the mass appeal of Rock & Roll combined with the voice and pelvis of Elvis.
Before dinner we went to the Hotel Peabody, and saw the
famous ducks.
Friday 23 May 2025
We go to Graceland, the home of Elvis and the 2nd
most visited tourist site in the USA.
See the Jungle Room. Should be on
everyone’s bucket list,
In the evening, we go to the historic Lafayette’s Music Room
for Delta BBQ and Delta Music. Food was
mediocre and band was awful. The problem
is this. If the band plays covers of old
famous songs, it gets carried along by the memory. If the band plays new, recently composed
songs, they are quasi heavy metal i.e. crap.
On the way back our tour leader plays a song from his band and then
‘Walking in Memphis’. I rest my case,
The next evening on the Viking Boat the show was a beautiful
black female singer, Keia Johnston, who just sang old hits, was terrific and
got rapturous applause.
Saturday 24 May 2025
Morning is spent visiting Stax Museum (former recording studio)
which was interesting (it has Isaac Hayes's Gold-Plated Cadillac), and Sun
Records (still a recording studio) which was brilliant. You heard the first recording Elvis
made. He was singing and recording a
gospel hymn as a birthday gift for his mother.
The Sun secretary, Marion Keisker, was doing the recording. She tried to get the producer to sign up Elvis
and failed. Elvis came in a second time
to record ‘That’s All Right’ as a demo tape and the secretary was again
managing the recording. The producer,
Sam Phillips, was just walking by, was impressed by the voice, and took over
the recording session, the rest is history.
We board our ship, the Viking Mississippi. Very impressive.
Sunday 25 May 2025
We start our cruise and moored in Greenville whose main
claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Jim Henson, the creator of Kermit
the Frog. I decided to give it a miss and have a chillout
day; and stayed on ship. I try to read a
book relevant to every trip I take, A
key meme of the Mississippi is the role it played in the US Civil war. The book I chose was Grant Moves South,
1861-1863 by Bruce Catton. This is the
first part of the military biography of Ulysses S. Grant and follows Grant from
the summer of 1861 when he takes on his first Civil War command through battles
at Belmont, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg to the summer of 1863.
Monday 26 May 2025
We are moored at Vicksburg a key Civil War battle site. This was another victory for Ulysses S.Grant. The ultimate realist after two attempts to
take Vicksburg by force had failed he
laid siege and starved the Confederates out who surrendered the day after
Gettysburg.
Tuesday 27 May 2025
We are moored at Natchez, a attractive tow that describes
itself as the Bath of the South. Having
been born and bred in Bath I beg to differ but it I attractive if dead. The tour highlight was Magnolia Hall, a
magnificent townhouse residence, that has been restored by the people. Of
Natchez. Why so wealthy? Natchez stayed neutral during the Civil War
and was the major slave trading port of the Mississippi.
Wednesday 28 May 2025
We are moored to a tree near St. Francisville. We visit the Rosedown Plantation. Our first plantation, 400+slaves, magnificent
house and tour.
Thursday 29 May 2025
Baton Rouge, State Capital of Louisiana, State Museum is
again very good, and another claimant to be the birthplace of rock & roll.
Friday 30 May 2025
We moor to a tree and disembark on the grounds of the Houma
House Plantation. I spend the morning at
the ship’s medical centre and succeed in getting a 5-day course of
antibiotics. My shaven tooth felt
infected. Last night on the boat drink
too much.
Saturday 31 May
Day begins with
walking tour of French Quarter of New Orleans.
Guide is excellent. City is clean
but lots of pavement needs repairing. Need
to walk looking down. History is a mix
of French, Spanish and British History.
We transfer ro the Hotel Monteleone. Highly recommended and the place to stay.
In the afternoon a coach tour of The Big Easy. I think our guide was tipsy at the start and
never dries up. 1st bad
experience of the trip.
Anthony had been complaining that there had been no cock-ups
on the trip.
We agree to have dinner at The Rib Room starting at 17:30.
By 19:00 Anthony was still a no-show. After complaining the whole trip that there
have been no cock-ups, one finally happens.
At 7pm he finally turns up for dinner. Instant karma. His suitcase and computer bag have gone
missing. They show up in his room at 23:00.
Sunday 1 June 2025
National WW2 Museum. Very
impressive. See the plane my father flew
dropping bombs on Germany. He flew some
25 missions and somehow survived.
That night Katherine and David again rejoin us for dinner.
Monday 2 June 2025
Anthony departs for London; we have a chillout day.
Tuesday 3 June 2025
We return to Jackson Square and visit two more Museums. I am beginning to suffer from information
overload. Hurricane Katrina was big storm
but New Orleans has a hurricane every year.
The problem is that much of the city is behind levees and below sea
level. Mardi Gras is also a big event.
Wednesday 4 June 2025.
We fly to London overnight, Long day but we got to London at lunchtime and Vivienne’s sister at 2pm Thursday where we are staying for a week. Sunday night we had a great meal at Ma Cuisine in Kew. Great meal and the ambiance of Paris Left Bank Bistro,
I am stopping the blog here and will add any photos here.
Cooking Crepes at the Courtyard of Two Sisters
