Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Boston

Radio 3's American Roadtrip: Boston

Off the top of my head, what can I remember about Boston? I spent one day there in April 2013, just one week before the tragic Boston marathon bombing. 

Clam chowder. That was nice, and it was a Boston Clam Chowder - I seem to remember there are other New England variants of the dish. Nearly left my backpack under the table in the restaurant (I was very prone to such lapses of concentration back then). I remember saying sorry to the waitress as I left.

There is some sort of Martime trail that can be followed there? I'll kick myself when I look it up. Just remember that I didn't have enough time to do it.

Boston is where I discovered the 'Life Is Good' clothing brand. I was taken by the quality of the t-shirt I spotted in a store and, despite not buying anything there and then, I have over the years owned a few garments of theirs, including one I bought from Memphis in 2015 (that store has since closed, I believe).

I noticed the wealth of the town. Clean-cut, red brick buildings. 

Harvard. Still have a pin badge souvenir from there. On the campus, there is a building that looks like a Polaroid camera - because that's where the Polaroid camera technology was invented?

It was either on the way there - or the way back - when a young lady and her mother offered me some Salt Water Taffy that they had bought - not sure if it was in Boston proper or at one of the rest stops in Connecticut. Think there was an element of pity about it; me being on my own. Gladly accepted the taffy and enjoyed it muchly.

*Looks back at photos from the time, and looks up a few other things*

- The restaurant where I ate Boston Clam Chowder (it came with oyster crackers) was called McCormick and Schmick's. While the chain still exists, it looks like the Boston branch does not. It's a Margaritaville now.

- The building that looks like a Polaroid camera is the Havard Science Center, and stands as a tribute (self-donatory, by the sounds of it) to Edwin Land, who invented said camera. A quick search doesn't pull up much about whether the 'Polaroid architecture' was deliberate - imagine it was.

- The 'Maritime trail' I was thinking of is the Freedom Trail: 'The Freedom Trail is a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) walking route through Boston that connects 16 significant historical sites related to the American Revolution.'

BBC Radio 3 in Boston

This is a 3.5 hour programme, and it's packed with goodies, so I'll have to keep this relatively brief.

The show opens with Gershwin, and his music is definitely at home in the American music hall, isn't it? 

Then there's Mars from Holst's Planets, played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Nice to hear those unsettling motifs once again.

The Handel and Haydn society bring us down to earth, and this is an outfit I have no familiarity with despite it's long-running prestige. Handel, as I have mentioned in my other blogs already, is one of my 'homebase' composers, with whom I can spout a little knowledge. Haydn, however, is thus far a foreigner in my country, which is to say I know not a jot about him. Just looked him up and he's the 'father of the string quartet,' so that's quite impressive.

We get Stars and Stripes forever - that oft-imitated cheer lead. Brilliant stuff!

An interview and discussion about how a love story has played out in Boston, between two musical friends. Good for them, I say; though they have obviously never dipped into Classic FM dating - a misfortunate fiscal mistake I shall not repeat.

More Gershwin (I could get used to this), in the form of Liza, which is an American style jazz piano piece.

We then have music from the Trinity church [did I visit there? No, I didn't]

Piano piece by Ravel.

Road to the Appalachains which I enjoyed, had a very Irish fiddle feel.

Yo Yo Ma shared some of his philosophies on life, which was both touching and humorous.

Dvorak's Humoresque in G flat major gets an outing, and I'm familiar with it, because Jasper Carrott did a decent cover of this ("footprints on the dashboard upside down") 

Then there is Stormy Weather, and I really like this jazzy number. The female singer is a smooth presence, not unlike a titan like Billy Holliday.

Then there is the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah which, funnily enough, I have just witnessed in-full at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

Then there's a bit o' J.S. 'never-a-bad-thing' Bach , and Appalachian Spring Suite to finish, which is bright, and certainly 'springy', encompassing the American Dream. 

A conversation about music and AI ends the programme, with fascinating contributions from the M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 

Overall, a robust and fully entertaining roster. If the others are half as good as this, we'll be doing all right.

Harvard Science Center.

Boston Clam Chowder at McCormick and Schmicks

The Freedom Trail

Introduction: What is it about an American Road Trip?

American Road Trips: A Blog

Introduction: What is it about an American Road Trip?

My first time in the USA... it was a family holiday to Manhattan, in July 2005. A gimmick thrown in from the travel agent was an airport transfer in a stretch limousine. Taking us from JFK airport to the Hotel Edison, just off Times Square, the radio station playing in said limo was 'Highway 16', which was a station dedicated to playing contemporary Country music. That was the point in time when, aged sixteen, I fell in love with the idea of the American road trip.

Other stints in North America followed. Three years later, in 2008, I spent an exchange semester in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada), where I studied at Dalhousie University for four months. During that time, I took the opportunity to take a bus ride to Liverpool, Nova Scotia. It was the November; my 20th birthday getaway treat, in four foot of snow.

April 2013, and I was back in New York City for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, held at Madison Square Garden. Cue three bus rides, cutting across New England states to Boston, Washington D.C., and Niagara Falls.

September 2015, and I had found the courage to drive myself. This time through the Deep South states, covering Tennessee and Mississippi, with short crossings into Alabama and Arkansas. 

One of the best parts of an American Road Trip (or any 'big' holiday) is the preamble. Ten years ago, upon booking my fly-drive exploration, I decided to pick up the harmonica and learn a few notes, taking video lessons from the master of the blues harp, Jerry Portnoy. And another exciting moment in 2015 was getting my name onto BBC Radio 2, with Steve Wright kindly playing my Non-Stop Oldies for a full thirty minutes in the afternoon. At that time, I would leave work at 3pm, and the Non-Stop Oldies would be playing during my drive home. Every so often, I would hear Steve Wright say 'Badge on its way,' and - being a Clapton fan - I thought the song Badge was about to come up. What he actually meant was the 'I chose the Non Stop Oldies' badge - I received mine in the post a couple of days before the broadcast, if my memory serves me correctly. (Still got the badge.) I can still remember the exhilaration of my return motorway commute that day, as my oldies went out live!

As I drove around in 2015 I punched some rough notes into my phone, with the intention of writing up a sort of travelogue.. Said notes are STILL on my phone, ten years later. Therefore, even though my memory has inevitably decayed in the ten years that have passed, my intention is to write up a belated dairy entry here, with the help of photographs and my newly-found interest in blogging. 

I am writing in January 2026. In the just over ten years since I undertook the drive of the Deep South, everything has changed, but nothing has changed. Covid, buying a house, and many curious wanderings have filled the gap in my life between then and now. Lost a few friends, gained a couple. This year, I embark on what will probably be my biggest USA feat to date: Route 66. The Mother Road. The most famous and iconic road trip on the planet. And this time I will have company, in the form of my brother Adam. We made a pact to do this, and now we are doing it. The plan to do it on our 30th and 21st respective birthdays fell through; but here we go, seven years later.

The Route 66 holiday is booked for May 2026 and, as I write, we are in the 'preamble' stage. What's on the agenda? Firstly there's the plethroa TV programmes: I plan to re-watch Billy Connolly's Route 66 (an old favourite), which will refresh me on all the musical points-of-interest that I want to see. Just watched The Hairy Bikers' Route 66, which has given me a culinary perspective of the route, and borrowed from Widnes library Henry Cole's book about Route 66 (he's done it three times), which has presented me with a more vehicular vantage.

It is absolutely brilliant timing that BBC Radio 3 is putting on a series of programmes actually called 'American Roadtrip'. Only a few months ago I found enjoyment in starting a classical music blog, following the 2025 BBC Proms. This is wonderful and timely opportunity to extend said blogging, with a nice 'follow up' relationship with BBC Radio, which, as mentioned above re Steve Wright, was very central in the preamble of my 2015 trip. 

2026: the Centenary of Route 66, and the 250th year of the United States of America. 

Photo of NYC by Justine Lewis, 2005.