Decades of American memories

Memorials, museums and memories

In 1983-4 I spent an exchange student year living in upstate New York. Here I shared my life with the Kimball family in Syracuse. I was 17 at the time and had never traveled beyond the shores of my birthplace, New Zealand. This was also my first time visiting the USA (and Canada).

More than twenty-two years later, it's clear this experience fuelled my love of travel. Since then I've been lucky enough to visit more than 45 nations, setting foot on every continent with the exception of Antarctica (don't worry, it's on my list of destinations to explore next).

Many of my childhood memories of America came to life during a two-week tour of the US east coast this month. Garry and I stopped off in Washington DC en route to London. This gave me the chance to see many of the places I recall visiting in 1983, as well as take in some sights I’d missed the first time around. Meanwhile, Garry had his own set of memories to renew as he’d spent several weeks in DC four years ago.

For me, new experiences this trip included:

• The Vietnam War memorial (which didn’t exist 17 years ago). This really is a poignant monument - one that strikes an emotionally stirring balance between remembrance and reflection.
  
  
• Going to the top of the Washington Monument for fantastic views of the city (in 1983 I visited in Summer. At the time, we never ventured up to the lookout as a lengthy queue of people extended all the way around the monument - and then some!). Although the weather was misty the day we visited and so our photos weren't exactly "award-winning".
  
  
• The popular tidal basin walk to the Jefferson Monument through the gnarled Cherry tree groves.
  
  

Garry was also able to show me a few of his favourite haunts. This included a street near Dupont Circle where we discovered a new, mouth-watering variety of sushi. Called a rainbow dragon roll, it bore more than a passing resemblance to a Liquorice Allsort log.

During our time in the US capital, we took time out to visit many of its iconic institutions. This included a guided tour of the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the National Archives.  The Library of Congress was a revelation for me. I don't recall visiting it in 1983. I'm sure I would have remembered its colonnaded reading room and soaring ceiling in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Likewise, the library's Great Hall is equally stunning.

I loved the National Archives. It's here you can see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence signed by the nation's founding fathers, plus a copy of the US Constitution signed 11 years later. There's something magic around seeing the signatures of historical figures with your own eyes. I still recall how excited I was to see these founding documents two decades ago. A second viewing invoked the same sense of awe.

As you do in DC, we also visited several museums including the Air & Space Museum (Which hasn’t aged well. Most of the exhibits were dated and appeared unchanged since my first visit in the early 1980s) and the Natural History Museum.

One new venue had a far more profound effect on both of us; the very moving, emotional Holocaust Museum. You could see our mood change dramatically following such a confronting experience.

Hairspray and history

From Washington, it was on to Boston for the weekend. I'd always wanted to visit this city but had never quite made it. The first day was largely washed out by heavy rain, but we did take time out to see a hilarious Broadway show called Hairspray. It's about a plus-size girl who defies the odds to become a teen idol TV star. 

I'd seen it in NYC several years ago and wanted to share it with Garry. He loved the show. It's just as funny the second time around. Sunday morning dawned with better weather, enabling us to see most of the old town on foot. Boston is filled with beautiful old buildings and history.

One such building is Trinty Church, a soaring 19th Century Episcopal church on the edge of Copley Square. As luck would have it, we enjoyed a superb view of this local landmark from our hotel room. I secured this impressive view thanks to some Starwood loyalty points I'd cashed for three nights at the Westin Copley Place.

I was also thrilled to finally visit a second, identically named, Trinity Church. However this church became famous anfter its steeple was used to warn locals of approaching British soldiers during the American Revolution. We've all heard the story of Paul Reeve who saw this signal and went on to ride through the night warning nearby counties.

Glass-blowing politics

A most unexpected highlight was our visit to the Christian Science headquarters. Here we saw the Mapparuim, a three-story spherical stained glass globe room glazed with a political map of the world as it appeared in 1935. 

You effectively walk into a spherical room across a glass bridge suspended in mid-air and view the world as if you were standing at its core, looking outwards. An incredible experience! You can read more here.

From Boston, it was on to Princeton where I briefly broke my sabbatical to attend a global Text 100 conference. Over the next five days, I got to meet the leadership team I now work with in Europe. I also was given the floor to share insights into the success we'd achieved in APAC.  Much of the presentation I gave was crafted on our overnight flight across the Pacific.

Staying at Princeton brought back more childhood memories. I'd last been here during my exchange student year. My host father, host sister Marcia, and I had driven down from Syracuse to see the University campus in February 1984. At the time Marcia was considering Princeton as a college option to take on a computer science degree. I recall that she visited the campus computer lab, a room filled with large clunky desktops.

It was more than a little ironic that I found myself back in town 21 years later, pursuing my own career in the technology industry.

While I attended the conference, Garry spent most of his time playing golf, shopping, and enjoying the parklands around the town. Princeton is stunning, filled with many old gothic buildings and many parks littered with autumn-coloured oak trees. As you'd expect, the squirrels are everywhere preparing for winter.