If
New York is the Big Apple then Chicago
should be called the Big Onion, since that is what the city's Indian name
means. For some reason Chicagoans prefer the term "America's
Second City", even though Los Angeles' growing population captured that
honor some time ago. Nevertheless, the Windy City does have
a lot going for it, including interesting architecture, entertaining public
events and a downtown beach over 1100 kilometers from the nearest ocean!
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Chicago's
"continental climate" can quickly take you from the Arctic to the Tropics,
and all without the inconvenience of changing location.
See
what happened during and after Chicago's second heaviest snowstorm in history. |
Watch
out, lady, the dinosaur's gonna get your baby! Quick, throw your
book at it!
Chicago's
venerable and interesting Field Museum jumps on the latest crowd-pleasing
bandwagon, but I swear, if I visit any more world class museums with dinosaurs
in their lobbies, I'll scream.
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Las
Vegas, America's "Sin City" is definitely a city of the night.
Drab and depressing during the daytime, at night it dresses itself in its
best neon-lit finery, beckoning the gullible and the merely curious. |
If
Las Vegas turns into "lost wages", or you're one of the sober few who just
isn't interested in gambling, then you can enjoy the free public spectacles
held outside the famous casinos and hotels which line the Strip.
Those
who still have money can take in one of the many world-famous extravaganzas
held inside the many expensive venues.
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As
the evening wears on the Strip becomes a bumper-to-bumper procession of
cars, occupants staring at the crowds on the sidewalks, and vice-versa.
Here
even the ordinary has to go out of its way to attract attention, or risk
being lost in the sea of light and noise! |
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New
York is the self-proclaimed "Capital of the World", perhaps the
most recognizable city on the planet.
It's
the oldest major city in America, but always at the cutting edge. |
New
York isn't just a tourist attraction, it's a living and working city.
Ride
the subway, walk through the parks and see the people as they go about
their daily lives.
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Times
Square is the place to be for New Year's Eve in America, perhaps even the
world.
It
would be criminal to live within a hundred miles and not be in Times Square
for New Year's Eve of a new millenium! |
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Palm
Springs, two hours' drive east of Los Angeles, is a desert resort town
long associated with Hollywood movie stars. Nowadays, balmy
temperatures during winter bring out masses of snowbirds and retirees,
and golf courses sprout like strange foreign weeds in the desert landscape.
What isn't advertised, however, are the constant winds blowing through
a gap in the surrounding mountain ranges and the summertime temperatures
which peak around 120 degrees Fahrenheit (almost 50 degrees celcius). |
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Before
I escaped here from the Arctic wastes of Chicago, I pictured Palm Springs
as being all gated communities and golf courses, and the only jobs being
golf caddying and turning sheets on hotel beds. What I didn't
know was how many attractions there are within easy reach of the city.
For
those so inclined there are those golf courses as well as Indian casinos
dangling the prospect of glamor and easy wealth. For nature
lovers there are surreal plants and rock formations in Joshua Tree National
Park, the Salton Sea and, a little further distant, Anza-Borrego state
park with desert wildflowers in Spring.
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There
are also several places nearby to go when you've had enough of the desert.
The palm springs after which the city is named are only a few minutes from
the outskirts of town, with oases and palm groves spread along the twin
spurs of the San Andreas earthquake fault which run through the valley.
Another oasis with abundant wildlife is found in the Morongo valley, only
20 or 30 minutes out of town.
The
snow-capped peaks of the highest mountains in southern California are nearby;
Mt San Jacinto looms right over the city and the Aerial Tramway can whisk
you straight from the oven-like desert floor to an altitude of 8,500 feet,
where it's usually about 40 degrees cooler. |
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San
Diego has the best climate of any American city, a laid-back Californian
attitude, a great harbor and uncrowded beaches.
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It's
Nirvana for "boaties" and water lovers
of all kinds, even if the locals at America's Cup Harbor are gnashing
their teeth since losing the trophy to New Zealand! |
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For
non-sailors there are attractions like Sea World, a world renowned zoo,
Balboa Park and the Aerospace Museum.
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Ah,
the Golden Gate Bridge! The bridge that launched a million
tourist photos.
And
what better way could there be to sum up a city than by reciting all the
world famous cliches about it? |
San
Francisco's certainly got its share of them -
why,
look, there's a tram car with people hanging on to the side climbing
up a hilly street...
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...and
a commune of sex-crazed youngsters lazing around in the sun in full view
of everyone, with not a care in the world or a stitch of clothing between
them! |
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Washington
DC (or, as Americans always seem to refer to it, "our nation's capital")
is dominated by monuments and statues to The Great and the Good. |
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And
for The Rest of Us there are always some first class museums such as the
Smithsonian -
if
you can get past the hordes of schoolchildren enduring punishment for being
young.
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If
Civil War history is your thing, then you can see many of the war's most
famous sites by touring the surrounding area - Harper's Ferry just over
the state line in West Virginia, Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, the Southern
Capital of Richmond in Virginia and just down the road, the battlefield
at Petersburg. |
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