Palin, the controversial Alaskan governor drafted in as running-mate for the elderly earnest John McCain, is anathema to most of these hip young New Yorkers but everyone knows she struck a chord out in the great heartland between the coasts that those here would call ‘redneck country’. Union Square this afternoon may have been awash in Obama buttons and T-shirts displaying the unmistakable features of the charismatic young Chicago senator, but I know for sure that out there in Malta, Montana, they’ll be voting McCain-Palin straight down the line. And what about the cowboys in Colorado?
With just a couple of days to go before the election, behind the fancy dress there is a tangible feeling of an America trying once again to reinvent itself. Right here and now there is both hope and uncertainty in the air. Will Barack Obama become the first black president? And if he does, will it really change the way the world feels about America and the way America feels about itself?
Four days later there is the first inkling of an answer as Obama’s electoral victory resounds around the world. The rest is history. It just hasn’t been written yet. One way or another, America has not reached the end of the line.
WASHINGTON TO NEW YORK
TRAIN: Northeast Corridor
FREQUENCY: regular trains through the day
DURATION: approx 3 hours, 30 minutes
DISTANCE: 225 miles
TOTAL MILEAGE COVERED: 10,825 miles
The Soundtrack
Here is what was playing on Peter’s iPod.
New York, New York – Frank Sinatra
An Englishman in New York – Sting
Waitin’ for My Man – Lou Reed
America – Simon and Garfunkel
All Along the Watchtowers – Jimi Hendrix
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – Gordon Lightfoot
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? – Chicago
What Made Milwaukee Famous – Jerry Lee Lewis
Swingin’ on a Star – Bing Crosby
After the Gold Rush – Neil Young
You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucille – Kenny Rogers
Year of the Cat – Al Stewart
Do You Know the Way to San Jose – Dionne Warwick
Cracked Actor – David Bowie
All I Wanna Do – Sheryl Crow
C’mon, Take Me to the Mardi Gras – Paul Simon
Jambalaya – The Carpenters
Moon Over Bourbon Street – Sting
Memphis – Marc Cohn
Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
Memphis Blues – W.C. Handy Preservation Band
City of New Orleans – Arlo Guthrie/Steve Goodman
Woodstock – Joni Mitchell
The Beers
VISITING AMERICA TODAY no longer means weak tasteless lager. All across the continent there are literally thousands of new microbreweries, and a few of the old ones have been reinvigorated too. Here are just a few that helped me wash away the dust of the railroad.
Heartland Brewery, New York City
(Founded 1995)
http://72.167.25.128/Heartland/media/heartlandbrewery.html
Red Hook, Seattle, Washington
(Founded 1982)
Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
(Founded 1987)
http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com/
Yuengling, Pottsville, Pennsylvania
(Founded 1829)
http://www.yuengling.com
Salt Lake Brewing Company, Salt Lake City, Utah
(Founded 2004)
http://www.squatters.com/
The Pike Brewing Company, Seattle, Washington
(Founded 1989)
http://www.pikebrewing.com/
Wynkoop Brewing Company, Denver, Colorado
(Founded 1988)
http://www.wynkoop.com/
Phantom Canyon Brewery, Colorado Springs, Colorado
(Founded 1993)
http://www.phantomcanyon.com/phantom.html
Grand Canyon Brewing Company, Williams, Arizona
(Founded 2007)
Abita Brewing Company, Abita Springs, Louisiana
(Founded 1986)
http://www.abita.com
About the Author
PETER MILLAR was born in Northern Ireland and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. He has worked as a journalist for Reuters, the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, and The Sunday Times based in London, Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw and Moscow. He was named Foreign Correspondent of the Year for his coverage of the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He is the author of two novels, three translations from the German and one book of oral history, and is popular fiction critic for The Times.
He is married with two sons and lives in the beer-drinking idyll of Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, when he is not sitting with his eyes closed and fingers crossed in the North Stand of The Valley, Charlton Athletic’s South London football ground.
Copyright
First published in 2009
by Arcadia Books, 15-16 Nassau Street, London, W1W 7AB
This ebook edition first published in 2011
All rights reserved
© Peter Millar, 2009
The right of Peter Millar to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–1–908129–12–3