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I walk the line
NASHVILLE, TN: The strains of Rhinestone Cowboy twanged around Tootsies bar. An aging covers band were working through their repertoire of country classics. Tourists in plaid shirts and Stetsons...
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The bus stopped for a spot of nosebag at Keeneland race course in Kentucky. Jennifer took the opportunity to sound out some punters: In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript...
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Take me home, country roads
CHARLESTON, WV: I picked the right time to come to West Virginia. With autumn well underway, the leafy hillsides were exploding with reds, browns and yellows. It reminded me so much of Scotland - my...
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Surface tension
MADISON, WV: Driving along West Virginia's roads, you wouldn't have noticed anything was out of place. Bright woodland and foliage rose up on either side of the traffic; the ramshackle trailer homes...
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Road rage
AKRON, OH: Rows of shiny, all-American automobiles glimmered in the sun. I marvelled as their owners diligently polished all these lovingly-preserved Chevys, Fords and Plymouths. They'd picked a...
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My colleague Steve Evans has just alerted me to a rather amazing story. Back in Nashville he met Eddie Alcock, one of the pillars of bluegrass music, whose career looked threatened when he developed a...
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Fast food nation
AKRON, OH:Is there a symbol any more American than the hamburger? I don't think cowboys, the Statue of Liberty or even the Stars and Stripes come close. If you're looking for an icon of gung-ho...
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Battle hymn
GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal....
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Band of brothers
GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: When Michael Cobb retuned from the Vietnam war in 1968, he had trouble following orders. After witnessing carnage all around him and losing his closest comrades, it was...
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LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA: A quick fuel stop en route to New York. There weren't any opportunities to chat to anyone, but I grabbed a copy of the local paper to scan on the bus. Today's Lebanon Daily News...
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Wall Street blues
NEW YORK, NY: Here I was at last: Wall Street. So often in the past few weeks, since the $700bn bail-out, I'd heard that address spat out rather than spoken. Now I could see the focus of so many...
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Talked out
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: Annoyingly, I couldn't find any plumbers called Joe hanging around outside Hofstra University, the setting for 2008's final presidential debate. I did, however, talk to voters...
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Material girls
NEW YORK, NY: Sarah-Jessica Parker has a lot to answer for. In the imaginations of most of my female acquaintances, Manhattan is a sort of metropolitan Shangri-La where empowered, glamorous ladies...
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Best foot forward
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: The young members of the Dance Theater of Harlem (DTH) were putting me to shame. I watched bewildered as the largely African-American troupe stretched, spun and contorted with...
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End of the road
PALISADES, NEW YORK: The bus rumbled into the quiet cul-se-sac before juddering to a halt. This was my final destination. It was time to step off for good. Since the start of my journey, I'd travelled...
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