If you’re ever in Brighton - the one in England, I’m talking about - make sure you take a trip a couple of miles along the coast to Shoreham and take a walk along Riverbank.
I was told by one of the residents that, unlike most locations, the houseboat owners actually own the moorings (rather than renting them) so they can park whatever boat they like there. Some are weird, some are exotic. My favorite is the minesweeper.
Actually, there’s lots to enjoy in Brighton as well, but some of the best stuff is outside of the city. Don’t miss The Chattri, up on the South Downs up above the city:
Thank you! But I was late to the party and, for me, the next line is “You’re going to meet a lot of troubled people there,” so more like late-70s suburban pseudo-hippie (Zeppelin).
When we visit cities, we look into the hop on hop off type of tour buses. That way someone else is navigating the traffic etc. and we’re free to gawk, take photos, etc. That’s what we did in San Francisco. We were only there for one day but man, that’s a great city. We ate at Fisherman’s Wharf, which didn’t impress either of us.
If you ever take the train from San Jose to San Francisco to spend the day, be sure you get on the return train reasonably early. I don’t think there was one empty seat when we left the station…and seating was on two levels.
On a different trip, we stopped at Teec Nos Pos (near Four Corners). We got burgers. The meat was ok, the lettuce and tomato and cheese were ok…but the Indian Fry Bread it was served in? OMG, slap yo mama…maybe your grandmama too!
Thinking about this thread, I realized that I don’t have any recommendations for hotels. I guess ideally, we’re out exploring instead of hanging out at the hotel. We sleep, shower, and leave.
If you’re ever in Norfolk, Virginia, be sure you visit Doumar’s restaurant. It’s a burger, barbecue, and ice cream joint with an old-timey drive-in style. You turn on your lights when you want to order more food. Try the Egg-O-Doumar fried egg and ham sandwich, and check out the staff still making ice cream cones using the world’s first cone machine.
If you’re ever anywhere in Hampton Roads and go to a Mexican restaurant, be sure you try the Mexican white sauce, made with mayonnaise and several spices. Apparently, it’s a Hampton Roads/northern North Carolina original. I dip my tortilla chips in that and not salsa.
If you’re ever in Hampton Roads, try she-crab soup. It’s kind of a thick crab bisque. It’s delicious.
That reminds me: If you are ever in Washington DC, stop for lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian food court. The Indian taco on fry bread is fantastic!
If you’re in Sacramento, grab breakfast or brunch at Pancake Circus. At first glance the place might look a bit old and slightly run down, but to me that’s part of what makes it special. The place is a complete time capsule of a 1960s diner. Pancake Circus itself has been in business since 1970, and the building has housed various restaurants since the early 1960s. And it hasn’t changed a bit since then, with brown vinyl booths and stools lining the counter. Since becoming Pancake Circus they’ve had slightly weird clown decorations on the walls, also mostly dating from the 1970s. That said, the place hasn’t really felt the same since their longtime waitress passed away. She was an old school waitress perfectly befitting an old school diner, who took your order by asking “What’ll ya have, hon?”, and joked around with the regulars. Admittedly, their lunch menu is fairly mediocre, but one doesn’t go to a place called Pancake Circus for a sandwich, one goes there for the huge stacks of fluffy pancakes and bottomless cups of coffee.
But I was late to the party and, for me, the next line is “You’re going to meet a lot of troubled people there,” so more like late-70s suburban pseudo-hippie (Zeppelin).