30th July 1991 Day 10

The diary entry 
"Checked out of the hostel after doing our chores - sweeping the floor and emptying the bin. Not really back breaking but it's the only work I've done in the last 6 weeks. We were offered a lift to Canada which we had to turn down because the lure of Omaha was too strong. Did some Blues Brothers shots

by The Loop, walked up Michigan Avenue and hit the beach. Unbelievably, Chicago has a gorgeous beach a couple of minutes walk from the centre. What a life.

Caught the 15:35 train to Omaha despite being delayed by a baggage handler who couldn't have gone any slower if he'd tried and then stopped to explain how his boss wouldn't let him go any faster. The train itself was quite special. Two levels, plush toilets, a dining car, buffet car, viewing car with videos and the usual big reclining seats. We dined on a veritable pot pourri of cheeses and crackers washed down with lashings of hot tea."

29th July 1991 Day 9

The diary entry 
"Stayed in a youth hostel in the suburbs, about 22 minutes from The Loop by the Rapid. It seemed a lot longer to me. Visited Soldier Field, 

went to the top of the Sears Tower (I'm on top of the world looking down on creation),

had a deep pan pizza in the very place they were invented by Ike Sewell and walked around a city whose architecture was far nicer than that of New York. Oz lost the address book and had to call Beth at home to get some addresses. Gained another hour of my life - this is Central Time."

1991
The Sears Tower is called the Willis Tower and is no longer the tallest building in the world and Soldier Field has been expanded significantly.


In the late 90s I was on a business trip to Michigan and popped over to Chicago for the weekend to catch-up with friends that were living there. One happy hour, 6 long island iced teas, umpteen beers in a pub and then a nightclub resulted in a very messy night. I even went sleepwalking when drunk and destroyed the packing boxes that my friend had filled up ready for moving out of his apartment. I also spent about an hour trying to get my contact lenses out and made my eyes very sore. I'd actually removed them earlier. A terrible hangover the next day was exacerbated by having to get on a 24hr flight back to Sydney.

28th July 1991 Day 8

The diary entry "Ilana's first words were "what are you doing here?", words which we would hear several times during the day, to which the reply was usually along the lines of "you mean this is not Chicago ?". Oz didn't hear it that much because he didn't get out of bed until it was time for Sunday lunch. Bought at Burger King of course. Oz did a good impression of a zombie for quite a while but eventually perked up. We walked around the neighbourhood, which was so poor they didn't have pavements (sidewalks to our American readers) and I did a few lengths of the pool. Watched a Jean-claude van Damme video (predictable plot) and headed to the station after another hearty meal and suprisingly caught the 2:47 train to Chicago. 

Footnotes to the last few days: Americans like the National Lampoon Vacation films, Leanne spoke a different version of English (American teen English e.g. dude, beauhunk), never finished a sentence and never got off the phone, looked like Madonna and couldn't understand a word we said."


1991 - I think we both felt a little embarassed to impose ourselves for another day but our embarassment wasn't as strong as our hangovers. 


The comment about pavements is sarcastic of course. It was a very affluent neighbourhood and pavements were obviously considered superfluous as people would drive to friend's houses and not walk. I'm sure there's a scene in a Steve Martin film (LA Story maybe) when he gets in his car to go next door. 


I've never seen a J-C vD film before or since. Honest.

27th July 1991 Day 7

The diary entry "Went sailing with Kent - the least likely looking lawyer I've ever seen - and his mate Billy, an expert on East European politics and history if ever I've met one. Did the history of Cleveland in a few hours, had a whopping sandwich in the yacht club and drove back through many varied neighbourhoods. Afternoon : by and in the pool (again) - what a drag. Barbeque in the evening and then we hit the Riverfest with Ray and Alan, but no Lord Charles. Everyone got pissed, Alan threw up in the Watermark toilets and a waiter's dustbin ("is there anything else you need sir ?"). Oz dived off the Rapid to throw-up accompanied by great cheers from his fellow travellers.


We didn't really come close to catching the 7am train to Chicago as Oz was unconscious, Ray was is no state to drive and it was gone 6am when I woke up. We'd just have to suffer and spend another day in Cleveland. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Oz acquired a moustache overnight" 

Ray Isakov

Gaz, Ray and Alan

Moustache Man 

Just before throwing up on the journey  back

2011 - The Isakov kids - Ray (Doctor Ray I believe), Ilana and Leanne (the pretty but aloof younger sisters). Alan's probably an artist or a serial killer......


Leanne's High School Class reunion site provides some useful background info to 1991

26th July 1991 Day 6

The diary entry "Cleveland, OH. Walked to the Tower City and caught the RTA to Green Road. Joyce Isakov picked us up and took us to Pepper Pike. We found ourselves in every stereotyped American family/suburbia TV programme rolled into one. 30+ channel TV, cable, 6 cars, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 3 kids, swimming pool, bathrooms galore, basketball ring and a fridge big enough to live in. Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Beverley Hills 90125 (surely 90210 - Ed.). And the two English dudes lived it to the full. 

Strange happening of the day: we went to a Jewish dinner, wore beer mats on our heads, ate lots of fish and subsequently failed to make it to the Riverfest. Met Alan and Ian, the equally, if not more so, rich kids from next door and saw their large screen TV (which was as big as our local Odeon) with it's speakers inside and outside the house.


Got a few videos and a few beers and introduced Cleveland, OH to the joys of Fawlty Towers. "You started it....no we didn't...yes you did, you invaded Poland". The Jews loved it!"


2011 - The Isakov family are part of Beth Ebenezer's (Oz's better half) extended family. Joyce is Welsh and married a South African Jew and eventually ended up as a South African Jewish Doctor's wife living in Cleveland. We'd been told to look them up for some hospitality on our trip. Being the tightarses that we were we were more than happy to venture to the tourist mecca of Cleveland for some free board. It didn't matter to me - the US was one big adventure as I'd never been there before. It was a bit strange calling them from a call box and introducing ourselves as Beth's boyfriend and his mate. They were incredibly hospitable to us as you will see over the next few days. [Rest of the family to be introduced later].


I had no idea how we ended up at the Jewish dinner when we were supposed to end up at the downtown beer festival - it was a Friday and it seemed to be the done thing so the two committed atheists kept our mouths shut for the free feed. The only downside was the small talk we had to make with the ageing people at the dinner but Alan and Ian saved us. Why did we have to wear the things on our heads ? Religion schmeligion.


As we didn't make the beer festival we all decided to rent some videos (note - it was still the age of the VCR). Fawlty Towers went down a storm with us and Joyce but completely bemused her teenage kids. That particular joke absolutely cracked everyone up - Jews have a great sense of humour.


I've struggled to find much info about the beer festival. It looks like it was called the Flats Fest after the rejuvenated area called The Flats at the Cuyahoga river - see here.


Cleveland was another place I've returned to since - even working here for a few weeks in 1993/1994. I happened to be there when they had their coldest ever week. Brrrr.

25th July 1991 Day 5

The diary entry "Early morning train to Albany just to avoid having to wait at Buffalo until 4 in the morning to catch the train to Cleveland. 

Listened to a little old lady in the tourist info centre wittering on about the Royal Family and the "old" buildings in Albany. Had a good time in the Museum of New York and then shared a humongous pizza. Then it was time to rock out with Gary US Bonds at a free concert. Phew rock n roll. 

Late night train to Cleveland and a very interesting chat with a physics teacher called Ken. Not the most relaxing way to travel."

2011 - Gary US Bonds is in his 70s and still going. Playing Albany again in October. I can't name a single song he's done. 


I remember the little old lady and I'm sure Oz trumped her 200 year buildings by remarking that his village in The Cotswolds has houses that are 1000 years old. I don't remember the pizza.


It must be pointed out that our odd itinerary had a lot to do with the fact that we had an Amtrak rail pass and we were at the mercy of the sparse Amtrak routes and odd timetables.

24th July 1991 Day 4

The diary entry "Having been told by the Visitor Information Centre that we couldn't "do The Falls" in a day we set out to prove them wrong. It was easy. Walked all around the American Falls, 

rode on the Maid of the Mist (complete with blue cagoules), strolled into Canada, walked around the tacky 'Seaton Carew' area of town, marvelled at the 675,000 gallons per second of the Horseshoe Falls, 

looked at some awful souvenirs, did a quick bit of sunbathing, walked back to America, smuggled in some 35mm film, looked at the Museum of the American Indian Turtle-type thing, had lunch and a few beers, watched a bit of baseball and then had to think of something to do in the evening. The wild downtown was about as wild as something not very wild so we went back to our original bar and supped a pitcher of ice cold beer. Decided to look at the lit-up Falls at night. Unfortunately you can't see much from the American side but I did manage to get drenched trying. Highlight of the day - the new visa stamp in the passport. Only joking!"













2011 - not much to say really, The Falls are still there, baseball is still crap and the Maid of the Mist is still doing its thing. To see what it's like more recently take a look here.

23rd July 1991 Day 3

The diary entry "Tea on the terrace of the 23rd floor and then a journey to and up the Empire State Building. 

Visibility was a poor 2 miles which meant the World Trade Center was just about in sight.

Met King Kong, who was smaller than I'd imagined. In fact about 5 foot 9. The Japanese loved him, probably because he appeared tall to them. Had a strained conversation with a Japanese businessman who wanted to know which part of Engrand (sic) we were from. Went up to the 102nd floor observatory which was no better than the 86th but at least it was higher than King Kong managed to get today. 


Caught the train to Niagara from Penn Station underneath Madison Square Garden the third. Arrived about 9pm and the station appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. Asked directions at a gas station and hiked into town. Stumbled across the local YMCA which offered to put us up on mats on the floor for 10 bucks. A bargain we couldn't refuse. Met an 18 year old blonde Italian who seemed to have learnt his English by studying the lyrics to The Wall."


 2011 - Typically we spent little time hanging around anywhere. New York City done in 2 days all by foot. It's a good job I've been back many times since. 
Political correctness - I stand by my Japanese joke 20 years later. Japanese speakers can't distinguish r and l sounds due to the way their own language works. See here for more evidence - Engrish.

22nd July 1991 Day 2

The diary entry "New York, New York so good we walked round it twice. Up to Central Park, across to the East Side and down to the United Nations.

 On the way we met a hot dog seller who claimed to have been there when Lennon was shot and a Norwegian in the UN who never paused for breath while giving us a guided tour. We didn't get to ask him if Kurt Waldheim was a Nazi. Walked on down to Battery Park and took the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty and back. 

The clouds came in so we decided not to go up the World Trade Center. Spent the evening in the Greenwich Village area, missed CBGBs by going the wrong way up Bleecker Street. Visited a comic shop, missed the Led Zeppelin tribute and passed through an Italian church fund raising fair. Didn't stop to win a teddy bear. Ate and drank in the White Horse Tavern with it's friendly waitress service - "give us a tip or else". Back at the hostel the room was full - two girls from Oz, a lad from Manchester and a girl from Hong Kong. Guess what - the lad wanted to know the test scores. Extremely knackered by the end of the day and slept like a log."


2011 - I've just tried to work out how far we walked that day using Google maps. I reckon it was somewhere between 25 and 30kms. Not a bad effort but representative of our determination to stay within budget. Public transport - pah, an extravagance. We did take the Staten Island Ferry but this was to save us the cost of going to Liberty Island.


Didn't go up the World Trade Center this time but did return with Christy in 1993 and made it to the roof. I don't think it's there anymore.


Have returned to the White Horse Tavern several times - with Christy and Rob Hay and volcano hot Buffalo Wings in 1993 and also with Paul "Howie" Howarth in the late 90s.

21st July 1991 Day 1

The diary entry "Breakfast and dinner at All Saints Ave. Not a single mention of a cagoule all day. Waved Beth goodbye several times while queuing to get in the departure lounge (at Heathrow - ed). Got through all the checks just in time to get on the plane. A long 7hr+ flight was only broken up by one of the most magnificent films ever made. Well, a slight exaggeration. Ok, so the only person on the plane to laugh was Oz at the "just the seven of us" joke. King Ralph is one of the crappiest films ever made. 


Arrived at JFK, shared a dodgy cab with another English lad, who spends his summers working in The Big Apple, and an American who was scared of Paris. Talked about cricket and eventually arrived at the Penthouse Hostel in a sweltering 80-90deg F. Had a quick walk around the Times Square area, downed a pint of Bass in Dave's Bar and then headed for bed."


2011 - Note the King Ralph reference. This was in the days before personal seat back entertainment. Everyone on the plane was watching the same movie. Oz was the only person to laugh at a particular "joke".


The Penthouse Hostel doesn't seem to exist anymore (at least on-line) but you can see its prime location between Times Square and the 42nd St Port Authority Bus Terminal from the map. Here's our view:

The cagoule reference will become apparent later but it seemed to be an obsession with the (Beth) Ebenezer family at the time.

20th July 1991 Day 0

The diary entry "The bouncy castle arrived in the car park. Roy, Marcus, Chris, Bop and I put a few lights around the garden wall, before Chris and I went into town and counted the sports shops. When we ran out of fingers and toes we decided to look for a pub to watch England v Fiji (28-12). Copious amounts of ale later we caught a taxi back to Sneyd Park for `fun` on the downs and frolics on the castle and a game of softball in which Graham `Babe Ruth' Bridges kept changing the rules because his team were crap. `it's my ball and I'm taking it home`. Lots of bouncing 

and a few burgers later we said tearful goodbyes to Andy "Andy Brown" Brown, CJ, G-Bop, ME and LW before being whisked away to Maidenhead in a chauffeur driven Vauxhall Nova by Beth and Oz"


2011 - I assume Roy and Marcus were friends of Bops and I have no recollection of what the party was for. I do remember doing a forward somersault onto the bouncy castle with my fully laden back-pack as we were leaving. Not a good idea for someone recovering from back surgery that was due to fly off round the world the next day. in my defence, I was drunk. I blame it on the afternoon rugby watching with CJ. That's him in the typical pink shirt at the forefront of the castle. 

19th July 1991 Day -1

The diary entry "Train from Darlington to Bristol and then a taxi to G-Bop's Ok Yah Hooray Henry pad. Chris, Edders and Lucy turn up and then we go out for a quiet drink. Except we don't. We go to a club which is having it's Kandi Klub Alternative Night. Hot and sweaty is not the word. It's two."

The Cast Members

• G-Bop - Graham Bridges - now married to Denise
• Chris - CJ - Chris Foulkes. Fellow Rush devotee. Independently wealthy. Owned a small Fiat.
• Edders and Lucy - joined at the hip since, well, since before 1991. Mark (Frank Sidebottom look-a-like currently enjoying testimonial season with Bryan Munich FC) and Lucy

What's it all about then ?

Back in 1991 Dave Osborne ("Don't call me Dave") and I attended a friend's wedding in the wilds of Cumbria. It was an interesting wedding to say the least. Many of the guests kept sneaking out of the reception to catch a glimpse of the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final on the BBC and the groom seemed to be camped at the bar. I had a funny feeling the marriage wouldn't last long when, between sups of beer and glimpses of Wigan's win over St Helens, the groom said to me "what have I done, what have I done ?" ( see the game here ). 


The other notable event of the day was that as Oz and I got increasingly drunk we decided that we were definitely going to do the oft discussed world tour. Definitely. No putting it off this time. Definitely going. I think Oz told his girlfriend there and then. I'm not sure what Beth's response was but Oz was so drunk he probably didn't hear. Anyway, it obviously didn't harm their relationship as they've been married for almost 17 years now. 


The other big decision that we made that day was to travel down to South Kensington the following weekend and not leave until we'd booked our trip at one of the student travel agents. And that's exactly what we did. And we purchased books of travellers cheques as even in those days bags of shekels or cows to barter were a bit passe. A few days later we'd both resigned from work and we were committed to the trip.


But why am I doing the blog 20 years later? Back in 1991, the web was a sci-fi figment of someone's imagination. Digital cameras didn't exist and neither did mobile phones nor SMS. No ipads, no blogs, no facebook, no twitter, no gmail. Communication with home was via letters and postcards. If you were on the road, your address was Poste Restante at <the next major city you were getting to>. It was a disappointing day when you arrived in a new place and headed over to Poste Restante and found nothing there. 


I kept a small diary during the trip that was recently rescued from the back of a cupboard. I took plenty of photos, first with my 20 quid plastic Boots fixed lens camera that had served me well through several inter-railing trips and then later on with the second hand SLR I bought in Sydney. Film was developed on the road, with varying results, and then snaps were mailed home. When news came back (via Poste Restante) that the snaps had safely arrived then the negatives were sent. All this to try and minimise the risk of losing the memories. 


We left on July 20th 1991 and to celebrate the 20th anniversary I had the mad idea to bring our trip into the 21st Century. If I can stick at this experiment for a year I intend to transcribe my diaries, scan my photos and perhaps add a bit of modern day context to the story. I've got a couple of weeks to play around and get it right though I suspect, that rather like the original trip, I'll just make it up as I go along.


Gary 
3rd July 2011