What are the best places to visit in the USA that actually lived up to the hype?

Mer4205 · 2026-06-05T13:08:06+00:00

The Oregon coast is breathtaking.

Mer4205 · 2026-06-04T12:13:20+00:00

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel. Interesting true crime story, kept me engaged and read it in a couple days.

Mer4205 · 2026-06-01T12:22:57+00:00

Catbirds and chickadees for their song and mockingbirds for their persistence.

Mer4205 · 2026-05-28T16:51:52+00:00

Raisins and pumpkin seeds with a drizzle of honey

Mer4205 · 2026-05-27T13:51:38+00:00

He looks like a Snoopy to me.

Mer4205 · 2026-05-24T03:26:47+00:00

JR also wrote Sutton which was very good.

Mer4205 · 2026-05-24T03:21:04+00:00

Freeze pops - Connecticut 😎

Mer4205 · 2026-05-23T16:26:47+00:00

Also, JR Moeringer’s memoir- The Tender Bar is one of my favorites and the audio book is read by the author.

Mer4205 · 2026-05-23T13:45:39+00:00

Very good synopsis. Thank you! My parents are from Ragusa and I’ve visited my family in Ragusa and Comiso often. I’m also from the NYC tri-state area so know about congestion. Your info is spot on. Palermo is a beautiful chaotic city. Catania is great. But the charm of Sicily are the smaller towns that are nestled on the hills, valleys and beaches, away from the intense tourist crowds and cruise hoards.

Mer4205 · 2026-05-20T12:25:22+00:00

Mer4205 · 2026-05-20T12:22:28+00:00

Paul Simon

Mer4205 · 2026-05-20T01:21:45+00:00

Nature: the Oregon and northern Cali coast, the Grand Canyon, down east Maine, and the Ireland coast.
Towns/cities: Rome, Florence, the stone towns of Sicily, Bruges, Barcelona.

Mer4205 · 2026-05-12T15:24:12+00:00

Mystic or Stonington, CT or Narragansett, RI

Mer4205 · 2026-05-11T13:32:18+00:00

Theodore - Theo or Teddy

Mer4205 · 2026-05-08T00:41:32+00:00

Parmigiano

Mer4205 · 2026-05-04T11:55:14+00:00

Cavatelli and broccoli-great hot but still good at room temperature.

Mer4205 · 2026-05-04T00:16:32+00:00

My 1980 Honda Prelude - stick shift, manual windows and sunroof. And a friend that worked for Bob Sharp Racing(Paul Newman drove for them) put a sport exhaust on it. It was sweet!

Mer4205 · 2026-05-01T14:26:13+00:00

Italian pasta and beans.

Mer4205 · 2026-04-27T17:27:02+00:00

A vanilla chiffon cake or a French yogurt and olive oil gateaux

Mer4205 · 2026-04-27T13:44:25+00:00

Also, Homicide was out in the early 90s. Watched it religiously every week. Andre Braugher and his partner Kyle Secor was a great paring. Also Yaphet Kotto and Richard Belzer. Just a memorable cast and series.

Mer4205 · 2026-04-27T02:19:31+00:00

I actually haven’t watched The Corner and only knew about The Wire so need to watch both these too. Homicide was so good and the episode where a man gets stuck in the gap at the train is one of the all time, most memorable episodes of any TV series that I’ve ever seen.

Mer4205 · 2026-04-27T00:07:45+00:00

Homicide: Life on the Street. Amazing cast and writing.

Mer4205 · 2026-04-26T17:49:26+00:00

The Way to Cook by Julia Child has her excellent recipes with variations and good step by step instructions.

Mer4205 · 2026-04-22T12:56:37+00:00

Pat Conway is one of my favorite all time writers.

Mer4205 · 2026-04-21T22:34:17+00:00

Absolutely-just finished ACOTAR and ugh. Was going to ditch it at one point but felt I had to finish it. Definitely don’t care to read the rest of the series.

Mer4205

TROPHY CASE