Specialist travel agent Sandra Potter (Frontier Travel) joins Daniel to take a whistlestop tour of her favourite destinations in the United States of America, to celebrate the country's 250th Independence Day.

https://www.destinationunlocked.com

This is destination unlocked with me, Daniel Edward.

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Speaker 2: Hi, welcome back to Destination

Unlocked for a special edition of the

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show being released, not on the usual

Wednesday, but on July the fourth,

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and a very particular July the fourth.

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This one's coming out July the

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years of American Independence.

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So happy birthday to the

United States of America.

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And I'm delighted to be joined today

by Sandra Potter, who is the founder

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of Frontier Travel, which is a

specialist travel agency that really

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focuses in on North America, Canada,

and of course the United States.

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And so today we are gonna take a

whistle stop tour of a whole country,

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the United States of America, to

acknowledge and celebrate 250 years.

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Enjoy.

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Daniel Edward: Hi Sandra.

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What are you unlock for us today?

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Sandra Potter: I'm hoping to unlock

that there is so much more to America

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than the big cities and the theme parks.

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Daniel Edward: that is very true,

and I have fallen foul of that

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already my first experience of the

United States was New York City.

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My second experience of the United States

was visiting Mickey Mouse in Orlando, I

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have now seen much more of the states,

but I fell into that trap straight

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away, and I'm sure many, many others do.

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What was your first

experience of America then?

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How did you discover America for yourself?

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Sandra Potter: Well, this is bonkers.

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you will have to know that I am 77

years old and I have been a travel

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agent for the past 50 odd years, and we

were always offered as travel agents,

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fam trips, familiarisation trips.

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my very first fam trip was, 1969, I think.

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And we went, if you can believe this,

in five days, we flew from London to

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New York, from New York to Washington DC

from Washington DC to Phoenix and Phoenix

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to San Francisco before flying home.

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Daniel Edward: My goodness.

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Sandra Potter: I know, I mean,

who would do that bonkers.

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however, it did open my eyes to

what an amazing country it is.

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And although we were only in

Phoenix Fiction in Scottsdale for

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I think 12 hours, I suddenly saw,

oh my gosh, there's a lot here.

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and that started well, a love

affair America and then Canada

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and my starting the company.

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Daniel Edward: It's a very unusual

introduction to America, but

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also it's something which I don't

think could be replicated today.

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I'm just thinking about the amount

of time that you'd need to spend in

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an airport nowadays, going through

security three hours before, then going

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through extra, re security, and then

an extra passport control, and then at

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this, and then at that, at that point,

I'm guessing you didn't have quite so

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much faf and so things were quicker.

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Sandra Potter: Gosh, you put your

passport into somebody's hand.

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They looked at it.

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Thank you, Mrs.

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Potter.

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Off you go.

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Daniel Edward: You don't get that

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now.

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Sandra Potter: There was no security

at the airport, believe it or not.

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You used to just walk through.

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Daniel Edward: Wow.

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Sandra Potter: I know

it's crazy, isn't it?

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Daniel Edward: See, for me, I can't

imagine that being the case because ever

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since I've been travelling, it has been

security and security's got more and more.

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Sandra Potter: duty free was

another area where there was one

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fairly small shop selling booze.

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Perfume, , must have been a few other sort

of high value items, , there was always

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a, , electrics bit in there, , but , the

whole thing has got so commercialised,

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just walking through the airports.

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It takes you five minutes just

to walk through all those shops.

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Daniel Edward: Well, the airport has

become a destination in its own right.

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Sandra Potter: It really has.

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Do you know what they have in Singapore?

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You can get in, and this is completely

irrelevant, but just quite fun.

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You can get into a wheelchair and tell

it which gate number you want to go to,

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and it's self-driving and it'll take

you all the way to gate such and such,

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Daniel Edward: Oh my

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Sandra Potter: and you don't even

have to be able as disabled to do it.

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I think you can hop onto it.

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You've got too much luggage.

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They just scatter around the airport.

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Daniel Edward: It's a bit weird.

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It makes me think of the

last time I was in America.

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I was in Long Beach in California

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and I was watching Waymo cars driving

around, driverless and also little

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delivery robots and oh, it was fantastic

fun to watch, watch this little robot

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trying to navigate onto the American

sidewalk and it, so it had crossed the

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road at the crossing, very well behaved.

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Then it was turning left to go up the

road to wherever it was delivering,

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but there was an obstacle, they were

doing some building work or something

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that the robot wasn't aware of, and

it kept falling off the sidewalk.

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And I, I felt so bad for it and it, me and

this other guy, we didn't know each other.

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We just, we were both standing there

supporting the robot and it gave up in

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the end and it took a different route.

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Sandra Potter: It's one of the

joy things with America, isn't it?

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it's innovation.

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Daniel Edward: Yes, I think it has

been at the forefront for decades.

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Sandra Potter: Yes, it's done a lot

in its 250 years, that's for sure.

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But in the last, what, 50 years

certainly has just surged forwards in,

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in the, in the technical department.

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Daniel Edward: given that you've

been visiting the states for a

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fair number of decades now, I

don't want to exactly number it,

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but, you have dated it yourself.

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what are the biggest

differences that you've noticed?

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Sandra Potter: When I first

went to the States, there was

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a Disney, but it was tiny.

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The big thing that everybody went to

was Knot Berry Farm in, California,

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which still exist, I think, I hope.

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biggest differences the same as we've had.

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I mean, you know, it, it's all changed.

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it's cars, it's speed,

it's people, it's crowds..

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The general innovations that we've

all learned to live with love or hate.

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Daniel Edward: If somebody's looking

for that traditional feel of America,

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which ironically in my mind is the 1950s.

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for me, that's the American decade.

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I dunno why, but in my mind

that's when America froze.

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Sandra Potter: well, a fifties

diner, or you go back to the days

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of Lewis and Clark and going west.

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and you can still follow

their trail actually,

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Daniel Edward: it shouldn't surprise

me that your interest in the States

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is about getting out of those cities

and following these incredible routes

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to the frontiers, given that you

called your company Frontier Travel.

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Sandra Potter: that actually had nothing

to do with America because I started the

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company skiing in Canada, back in 1991.

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Nobody skied in Canada and it was

the frontier of the ski world.

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Daniel Edward: Oh, okay.

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So you are expanding on

more than one frontier.

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Sandra Potter: Indeed, indeed.

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Daniel Edward: But frontier is a word

that I associate with the states as well.

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Sandra Potter: Oh, very much so.

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It's frontier land, isn't it?

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, The frontier's moved as people

got further and further west.

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I think that one's always talked

about it as, as Frontier Land.

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They even have an airline

called Frontier Airlines.

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Daniel Edward: And of course, Alaska

calls itself the final frontier.

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Sandra Potter: Yeah, that makes sense.

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Daniel Edward: One of the places

I've spent the most time in America.

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I did an internship for summer there,

is Washington DC, which it amazes me.

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America's run by interns over the summer.

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Sandra Potter: is it?

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Daniel Edward: It's, balmy.

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A very scary.

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Sandra Potter: Well, yes,

but is, is that part of the

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innovation?

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getting young people in, with new

ideas perhaps not too frightened

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of making a mistake, you get a lot

of young people together and ideas

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come out.

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Daniel Edward: Yeah.

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That is where innovation is rooted.

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Sandra Potter: In, certain parts of it,

try and take an idea into the Midwest

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and you might have a spot of bother.

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You do it the way I've done it and my

father did it, and my father did it before

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him.

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Daniel Edward: So would you

recommend going on a holiday

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to those parts of the country?

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Sandra Potter: Oh heavens yes.

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You've got the ranching

holidays as a prime example.

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And it's not just if you want to ride.

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some of the ranches these days have

turned into just amazing places

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you can ride, but you can also fish

and it, it's an outdoors place.

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You don't want to go there if

you're a city sticker, for sure.

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But these days there are two or three

ranches that are super luxurious

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and you need even sea a horse.

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, bit of fishing, beans pampered,

think wonderful food, nice walks in

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the countryside, all of that stuff.

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It's all there surrounded by

the most phenomenal scene.

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Daniel Edward: So,

which states would we be

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looking at for good

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Sandra Potter: so you're looking

at Wyoming, Idaho, Montana,

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a little bit of South Dakota,

a little bit of North Dakota.

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One of my favourite journeys is driving

down from Yellowstone National Park,

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which is in both Wyoming and Montana.

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And you drive down from Yellowstone

down the most amazing road with the

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Teton Mountains on your right hand

side down to Jackson Hole, which is

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one of the prettiest cities in America.

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It's known as the ski town,

but so much more than that.

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glorious scenery.

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And then you can wander on down

to Salt Lake City, and then

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you've got all the Mormon culture.

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At makes a strict.

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Daniel Edward: Talking of the

flights in and out for a moment.

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I've looked at various options, where

flying into the main airport, the best

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example I have recently is flying into

Boston was so much more expensive than

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flying into a much smaller airport

just across the border in the next

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state.

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Sandra Potter: Yes.

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a good agent can guide you

in the right direction.

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The reason flying into Boston, to

take your example that is expensive is

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'cause lots of people wanna go there.

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if you were to fly into, oh, I

don't know, let's say Columbus,

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Ohio, much less popular.

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And because it's a much smaller city,

the aircraft landing fees are a lot

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less, and it's the aircraft landing

and the city taxes that make an

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integral part of your flight ticket.

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If you break your flight ticket

down, you've got a thousand

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pound, ticket, let's say.

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These are not accurate figures,

but they're very rough.

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So probably four, 500 pounds

of that is the airfare.

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The rest is a combination of tax,

both from the departing country, the

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arrival country, the landing fees,

airport fees, all of that, mounts up

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and that's where a lot of your cost goes

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Daniel Edward: So if you wanted to do a

multi destination trip to the States, is

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it better to have arranged it all before

you go with international carriers or to

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take a bit of a, flirt with spontaneity

and see what cheap flights are available

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? Sandra Potter: Come on, you are

talking to a travel agent whose

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job it is to sell holidays.

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Of course, it's better to

pre-book everything through your

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travel agent, no jokes part.

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spontaneity is great and I do it myself.

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but practically, particularly if

you're travelling in high season,

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you should pre-book things get full.

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And with the flexible pricing that

exists today, as soon as things start

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getting busy, the price goes up.

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So you could find yourself with a

bargain, but you could equally find

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yourself with a much more expensive,

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Daniel Edward: So you've been stung.

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Sandra Potter: You've been stunned it's

supply demand, I wouldn't risk flights

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because of what I've just said, but what

I would risk, again, depending on where

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you are, if you're in the middle of

Florida, in, in high season, de be silly.

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But if you were travelling around the

countryside and you didn't really mind

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where you stayed, you had your car and

you're just driving, and if you don't

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know exactly where you want to be, book

the high spots, you're going to the

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Grand Canyon book, the Grand Canyon.

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But if you were in Flagstaff or

somewhere else, down Route 66,

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you could probably find a motel

because there are loads of motels.

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As I say, as long as you're

not fussy about where you stay,

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you will eventually find a bed.

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Daniel Edward: you mentioned driving

a couple of times, on the big roads.

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I think driving in America

is quite pleasurable.

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I think it's actually a

really nice place to drive.

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As soon as you get within a sniff

of a city, it turns into one of

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the most stressful places to drive.

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Sandra Potter: Agree and disagree.

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I love driving in America, as

it sounds to say you do too.

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And I've done an awful lot of it.

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The cities can be stressful,

but with a good SAT nav, it's

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actually become a lot easier.

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When I first did it , I remember driving

around Detroit, oh, back in the , early

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seventies, and the minimum speed limit was

50 and I had no idea where I was going.

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I was trying to meet a map in

one hand, negotiate 50 miles

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an hour traffic in another.

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yeah, it was stressful, but

with some planning, and I would

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always make sure in advance, not

a hundred percent rely on, satin.

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Now have a look where you're going.

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make a look for the signposts

of where you're going.

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So what signposts am I looking out for?

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And then actually, it's not that bad

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Daniel Edward: One of the other

that, I always think with travelling

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around America always comes

to mind for me is rail travel.

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I mean, some of those great American

railroads, you don't hear so many

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people talking about them anymore.

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Sandra Potter: I know and it's a

shame, because they are a great way

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to travel and you've got a tonne of

history behind you and the carriages are

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comfortable and the beds are comfortable.

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You're kind of talking

to the wrong person.

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'cause I'm a driving gal and I like

getting into my car and driving it.

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So I've created lots of holidays, but

I've not actually done it myself, which

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is a bit of an admission, but there

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Daniel Edward: let's get into some

of the places where somebody comes

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to you and they say, I really want to

get to the states to connect with this

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country, which we hear so much about.

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And this year, 250 years, it makes sense

to be thinking about America as a place

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to visit, to connect in with what's going

to be a, a huge spirit of celebration.

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we couldn't do every state we

have, if we even did minute per

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state, we'd be here for 50 minutes.

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so let's just hand pick a few and

maybe let's start with some that

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make the most sense for what we

are commemorating and celebrating

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this year, which is independence.

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So I think we've gotta start east

with the area that's referred

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to collectively as New England.

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Sandra Potter: Oh yeah.

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You said Boston was expensive to fly to.

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It is, but I would start there.

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as kids, you learned about

the Boston Tea Party.

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It's got a tonne of history.

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you can walk through some of the streets.

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You've got Harvard, and

the museums are excellent.

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The music's good.

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But leave Boston again, preferably

hire a car or you can arrange tours.

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There's lots of sort of coach type tours

if you don't want to bother to drive

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yourself, but head into the hinterland, go

across to Connecticut, go up to, Vermont.

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It's beautiful countryside.

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And the nice thing about New England that

obviously it depends on what you want

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to do, but there's great walking areas.

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There's great, Music down in the

Berkshires , you've got the festivals,

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you've got the mountains up in Vermont.

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There's a massive different things you

can do that all pick up on the history.

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because that's where America,

as we know it today, started.

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You can, of course, you can go

to where , the, uh, pilgrims,

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landed just by Cape Cod.

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And there's a whole historical

village there, which is well worth

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visiting the Plymouth Plantation.

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you could start there and then

maybe talking train, take your

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train from there to New York.

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Spend a couple of days in New York

looking at what America is now and

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the high rises and all of that.

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And then go down south , to DC

because if you're celebrating 250

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years, you have to go to the Capitol.

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Right?

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go across to the Arlington

Cemetery, it's very moving.

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And then you might want to go even

further south to one of my favourite

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cities is Charleston, where of course

you've got all the, plantations, but

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all the war sites from the Civil War.

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so you are, you are tracking the

history down and you can fly home from

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Daniel Edward: Yes, you could do an

open trip where you fly in at one out of

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somewhere

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different.

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Sandra Potter: And I would try and do that

as much as you can in the States, because

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as we've said, it's such a big country,

you don't really want to backtrack.

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So to fly into city A and

outta city B makes good sense.

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You don't have to waste time

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Daniel Edward: I think that's an

excellent, way to travel generally.

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, And it's why, a lot of people like to

see New England, by cruise, covering

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a little bit of Canada as well.

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And of course that is one way

of, again, covering lots of

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different places,

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fly into

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Sandra Potter: definitely from Boston up

the coast, and you're getting to places

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like Maine and Arcadia National Park

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Daniel Edward: Let's talk a bit of

food along that area too, because

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that's a big part of their culture.

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Sandra Potter: Oh, it's huge.

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everything from the earliest days, food

was where family gathered together.

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Shrimp and grits is the

big thing in Charleston.

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their seafood is fabulous.

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grits are these funny,

I can't even remember.

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They're sort of semi linery type,

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but no, it doesn't, but it's delicious.

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Highly recommend it.

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Daniel Edward: If It's funny if, you

look at a map of the steaks, you really

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could overlay it with some quite clear,

sections of what the main meals are.

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Because in certain parts it's quite clear.

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It's, it's big beef and

hamburger and steak.

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And then in other parts it's

very much seafood crabs.

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The northeast , is crab

and lobster central.

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Sandra Potter: Oh, absolutely.

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But of course, think logically, if you're

on the coast, you're gonna be eating fish.

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It's there and it's free.

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You are sitting somewhere out in Wyoming.

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You might have river fish, but

you're not gonna get a decent

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lobster for a thousand miles.

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So you're going to have seafood on

the coast, and some of the best

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beef you'll ever have, inland and

on that, it's quite interesting.

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And back in the day, as they say,

getting a vegetarian meal almost

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anywhere in the US was really difficult.

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Now they've really got hold of

it and you can get some very

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good vegetarian and vegan food.

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So if you are, veggie,

don't worry about it.

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It's not always got an awful

lot of variety to it, but

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there are always vegetarian

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Daniel Edward: interesting for me

looking at the cuisine on, offer

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from the outside, looking in, people

say, this is very wealthy nation.

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And actually you go and

you actually experience it.

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It's quite a humble place.

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Sandra Potter: It, it can

be, it absolutely can be,

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again, outta the big cities.

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it's certainly not as rich as

they would like to think they are.

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There's some horrendous areas

of poverty as there are in

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every country, let's face it.

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but I tell you actually one tip.

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The Americans have very healthy

appetites, and you will quite often find

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that if you order one dish to share,

you will have more than enough food.

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I would always recommend if you're

two people travelling together, maybe

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go for one starter and one means,

and you've probably got enough.

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And if you're still hungry, there's always

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Daniel Edward: tip

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Sandra Potter: a

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Daniel Edward: And a lot if

they're going to get two separate

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meals, will box it up afterwards.

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I don't know if you're still allowed

to call it the doggy bag or not.

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But,

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Sandra Potter: I think they do.

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Daniel Edward: Are you having for

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lunch the next day?

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The other thing when it comes to

restaurants in the states, which I think

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is very important to be aware of before

you arrive, is the tipping culture.

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Sandra Potter: Oh, yes,

that's a good one to bring up.

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as a Englishman, , you think, oh, 10%

is plenty, but it absolutely isn't.

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They will expect a minimum of 15 going

anywhere up to 25 or even 30 in places.

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the thing to remember is that a lot

of the wait staff live on the tips.

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They get paid almost nothing.

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So it's important when you are ordering

your meal and you are thinking of

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how much you're spending to add on

an extra 20%, let's say in your head.

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cause I find it's quite

difficult afterwards.

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You look at your bill, you've

got a hundred dollars bill

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and you think another $20.

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That's huge.

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So think of it as you're ordering and

think of that, that's part of my cost.

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It's not an extra tip as it might be here.

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I think it was peeps who said, TIP to

ensure promptness, did you know that?

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I think it's the truism.

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I've certainly always been told it

back then where it was the 17 hundreds.

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you used to write out your order.

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You didn't have somebody

to come and take it.

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You wrote out your order.

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And he used to put TIP and a penny on the,

on the piece of paper to ensure prompters

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to make sure he got his food quickly.

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Daniel Edward: as bribe essentially.

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Sandra Potter: Essentially,

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Daniel Edward: turned into a way of

subsidising employers so that they

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don't have to pay their own employees.

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Sandra Potter: Yeah, not,

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Daniel Edward: Yeah, it's,

it's a very important part for

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the people that work there.

400

And so I think it's important

to respect that as you, travel.

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something that I notice in a lot

of American states and in different

402

settings is that the price that you

see is not the price that you pay.

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It's the same in the shops.

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The taxes then added post,

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and so

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Sandra Potter: super important,

they have VAT, but it's called a

407

sales tax, which of course it is.

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But as you've just said, you, you are

buying an item for a hundred dollars.

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You take it to the till.

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Each state has different, um,

sales tax amounts, but you

411

can expect a minimum of 5%.

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Again, going up, I

think 11 is the top one.

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So you need to be very aware of that.

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you are

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Daniel Edward: yes, you will.

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Sandra Potter: buying

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Daniel Edward: Oh,

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we've covered the East Coast very nicely.

419

but given that you started Frontier

Travel with skiing in mind Yes.

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In Canada, but let's bring

that, south of the border.

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If you wanted to go skiing in

the States, where would you look?

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Sandra Potter: Oh, depends very

much on your ability and what you

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want to get outta your ski holiday.

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If you are a family, lots

of different abilities.

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I would head to Colorado somewhere like

Breckenridge or Vail, because they've

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got lots and lots and lots of facilities.

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Excellent skiing, very good

snow, nice dry ry stuff.

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easy to get to flying to Denver

an hour and a half down the road.

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And you're in Breck and it's

a big main highway, I 90.

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You just sit on it and

there's lots of transfers.

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It's dead easy.

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if you are a good skier I would

go to either Telluride, which is

433

just a super little resort in,

Colorado or much easier to get to.

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I would go to Park City.

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You fly to Salt Lake, and it is just

half an hour and you've got places

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like, deer Valley, and there are three

or four other resorts in the Alta.

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Really good high-end resorts.

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My third choice, not necessarily in

that order actually, it just depends.

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Again, you need to be a decent skier, but

Jackson Hole I mentioned for the summer.

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It's also a superb ski resort they've

built above the main town of Jackson.

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They built a purpose-built ski resort.

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And again, the skiing is amazing.

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And the Teton Mountains are beautiful.

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Daniel Edward: And you not greatest

but really enjoy the APRO ski?

445

Sandra Potter: Oh, um, Breck or,

or Breckenridge, it's proper name.

446

Um, or veil, no question.

447

Or some of the best apre around is Aspen,

which is sort of known as Millionaires

448

Ski hill, which is a little unfair.

449

Yes, it's a very good

place to spot the stars.

450

it, has amazingly expensive and glorious

and wonderful hotels, but it also has

451

family friendly, lodging either in

apartments or less expensive hotels.

452

But the

453

Daniel Edward: Let's move away from

the mountains then, and let's come

454

down towards the coast as we're

working our way across the states.

455

We've done the east coast,

we've done a bit in the middle.

456

Now let's go to the south and

then we'll finish on the west.

457

So south you've got some big name states.

458

Sandra Potter: Oh, you have, starting

the east, you've got Florida and all of

459

that entails, yes, you've got all the

amusement parks, which are amazing and

460

huge fun, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

461

But it's also got the Everglades, and

all the islands going south and the

462

Florida Keys, and they're beautiful.

463

a good holiday.

464

Again, if you've got a, a mixture of

things you want to do, spend some time

465

in the parks and then spend a week

down at the Keys, joy, so Florida.

466

Then next biggie across, of course is

Louisiana, new Orleans food, amazing.

467

but also you've got your history

because you've got, if you go down

468

River Road, it's called, you've got

all the big old plantation houses

469

run and afraid by the slaves.

470

but it's part of the history

and you can't undo that history.

471

And the houses they've left

behind are astonishing.

472

They've also got some very good,

reminders of how slavery was.

473

I think it's important that you

recognise it existed, and salute

474

those who were having to do it.

475

but aside from the plantation

houses, you've also got all the

476

swamp planned, where you can go

see alligators and, and such like,

477

I think that's America, isn't it?

478

You've got history, nature,

and a city all within

479

Daniel Edward: a

480

Sandra Potter: an

481

Daniel Edward: get very well-rounded

482

Sandra Potter: you really do.

483

You've got all the music and we,

one of the places we have not

484

mentioned, when I say music is

of course Nashville, and Memphis,

485

Elvis, jazz, oh, you know, all that.

486

West Country stuff.

487

And that actually, that's been

a good holiday as well, going

488

to Memphis, Nashville, and

then take the riverboat down

489

Daniel Edward: Ooh, that one of the

ones that you can do on the old paddle?

490

Oh, with the big water

491

wheel

492

at the back.

493

Sandra Potter: that's right.

494

Yeah.

495

Yeah.

496

I've driven it.

497

I haven't been on the boat,

but I've, I've sold it often.

498

Daniel Edward: the the, South

America for its music scene.

499

I love country music so going

through Georgia and Tennessee and

500

Sandra Potter: Oh, amazing.

501

and again, you can mix in,

you've got the smoky mountains.

502

Now that is the most visited,

503

Daniel Edward: That surprises

504

too.

505

me

506

Sandra Potter: Yeah, that's what

the figures will tell you look

507

Daniel Edward: do

508

Sandra Potter: if you at because it's

close to big cities, I'm assuming

509

it's, it's easily get editable.

510

yeah, you say Georgia, I

think Charleston and Savannah.

511

Oh, Savannah.

512

it's not far.

513

And you, because you can then, you can

take in all the, all the coastlines

514

at Simon's Island and such like that.

515

That again makes another good holiday.

516

Charleston, Savannah, and St.

517

Simon's

518

Daniel Edward: What

about going further west?

519

Sandra Potter: going further

520

west.

521

Well,

522

I would keep going west, out to

Arizona, grand Canyon, of course,

523

Yellowstone and then the coast.

524

that coastline, the Pacific

coastline is just amazing.

525

I've driven it from Vancouver in the

North Canada, Admittedly if you had

526

two weeks, Seattle all the way down

to Los Angeles and maybe even on down

527

to San Diego, down Highway 1, 1 0 1.

528

It's just the most amazing ride.

529

You've got the sand dunes of, of Oregon.

530

You've got the, Columbia River Gorge.

531

which you could take a bit of a

detour up because it's glorious.

532

And actually you do need

to take a detour up.

533

'cause what we haven't

talked about is US wine.

534

And it's not just Californian wine.

535

The Oregon wine is very fast

becoming a, a big thing.

536

Oil capital letters, particularly

with its Pinots, really good, white

537

wines and, Pinot, really, really good.

538

So take a detour up there.

539

and then well, as you get into California,

you've got, the parks of course.

540

But it's basically a coastline,

glorious, glorious coastline.

541

Do the 17 mile drive south of Monterey.

542

If you're a Steinbeck fan, do go

to Monterey because it's all there.

543

and the Monterey Aquarium

is actually worth visiting.

544

I'm not normally a great aquarium

person, but it's a very, very good one.

545

very well presented.

546

And then when you're there,

you can actually go and do some

547

whale watching and see the real

thing just the doorstep almost.

548

So then you get down to, San Francisco.

549

What do you say about San Francisco?

550

it's all the cable cars, but

again, it, it's more than that.

551

You've got loads of history up on the

north shore of the Gil Gate Bridge.

552

There's one of the old prisons, which

has been turned into a very nice hotel.

553

Thank you.

554

The area, just north of San Francisco.

555

Very, very pretty area,

and lots of vineyards.

556

It's probably worth stopping for a day

or two in the Napa Valley and leave

557

your car firmly at the hotel and you

can get on the Napa Valley train, which

558

will take you through various vineyards

559

that's why you leave the car.

560

And, and that makes for a lovely day

561

. , If you haven't already been, take a

day trip out to Yosemite National Park,

562

which is one of the prettiest parks.

563

You'll have seen people climbing,

captain's Rock, as it called,

564

doing impossible things.

565

One of my favourite photographers,

Ansel Adams, came from their

566

beautiful, beautiful black and white

photography, early 19 hundreds,

567

one of the early, photographers.

568

His gallery in the centre of

the park is well worth a visit.

569

That's where you see some of the, biggest

Sequoia trees and the big Redwoods Edwards

570

much see.

571

Daniel Edward: One of the

572

Sandra Potter: to

573

Daniel Edward: is you don't just turn up.

574

You must book.

575

Sandra Potter: That actually is

a really good point, these days.

576

You have to pre-book

577

. Daniel Edward: Let's having got

across the continental states, and

578

by the way, that Highway one is the

most gorgeous road trip you can do.

579

It's amazing.

580

But there's the states beyond the

states, of course, and there are

581

two other states much more recently

having joined full statehood.

582

they are within their first a

hundred years of being full states

583

in, the United States, and that's

of course Hawaii and Alaska.

584

Very different

585

extensions of the United

586

Sandra Potter: You'd call that

chalk and cheese, wouldn't you?

587

they're both glorious.

588

I haven't been to Hawaii for a

desperately long time, far too long.

589

But really loved it.

590

if you flying from West coast US,

you can fly into most of the islands.

591

Most people go into Honolulu first.

592

and perhaps stay on Waikiki Beach

But I think it's really important

593

to get out to the other islands.

594

The next busiest is Maui, which

of course had that catastrophic

595

earthquake, couple of years ago, and

a lot of that main area, , on the

596

West Coast was completely wiped out.

597

But still go to the big island.

598

See the volcanoes?

599

If you're an island person, you could

do a couple of weeks on Hawaii easily.

600

it's got obviously fabulous beaches, great

surfing, but inland, you've got, snow,

601

believe it or not, up on the volcanoes.

602

it's a happy place.

603

I would personally twin it with

either Los Angeles or San Francisco.

604

because you've got direct flights

from here into those two wisco cities.

605

And then from there you can,

hop across, I say hop across.

606

Daniel Edward: it's

607

Sandra Potter: I

608

the wrong way.

609

flight

610

Daniel Edward: I would a, another

one, consider, recommending to people.

611

It's a bit of an odd trip, but

it makes sense in my mind for

612

right now because everyone's got

very excited again about space.

613

And if you Hawaii on the main

mountain, is a space station where

614

they send astronauts for training.

615

The, The, astronauts the Apollo missions

many of them were trained there.

616

right now they're doing exercises to train

and to experiment about going to Mars.

617

And so if you're interested in space and

can't afford to go to space, then a next

618

best thing might be to do a combination of

going to Florida, visit the Kennedy Space

619

Centre, which you can go inside and tour.

620

Then you could go across to, the deserts

in New Mexico where, a lot of, things

621

have been shot up into the atmosphere.

622

And then you could go Hawaii

and on the beach, but also

623

maybe take some time up in the

624

mountain.

625

Sandra Potter: And there's

also a space school in.

626

Can't quite quite get the name of it, but

you can, you can actually enrol your child

627

Daniel Edward: to get rid

them isn't a way of them

628

Sandra Potter: Yeah.

629

Daniel Edward: into space.

630

Yes.

631

That's a good threat.

632

If you don't behave yourself, if you

don't eat all of your peas, gonna Alabama

633

Sandra Potter: that'd be good.

634

Yes

635

Daniel Edward: Let's follow the whales

636

because the

637

whales like to go

638

in the summertime to

639

Sandra Potter: Yeah, they certainly do

and you can catch them along the way.

640

humpbacks particularly, isn't

it, who make the migration and

641

it's something like 3000 miles.

642

They're following the currents,

they're following the cooler water.

643

and you can see them all the

way up the coast to Alaska.

644

So how do you get to Alaska?

645

We can do two ways.

646

Obviously you can fly from Seattle,

which is mighty convenient.

647

and you can do a fly drive around

Alaska, which I would highly recommend

648

because it's an amazing state.

649

Or what most people do is a cruise

from either Vancouver, Canada or

650

Seattle, which takes you all the

way up the west coast of Canada and

651

then into Alaska pretty quickly.

652

And it'll take you to the main hub.

653

It takes you to the capital, Juno,

which amazingly capital city of

654

this whole state does not have a

road leading out of it because it's

655

surrounded by mountains and ocean.

656

So great whale watching going on up there.

657

There's also bear watching.

658

you can see a lot of First Nations, both

old and new Sitka, which was the original

659

Russian capital of Alaska because Alaska

was bought by America from Russia.

660

because of course Alaska actually

joins Russia or bar a tiny strait.

661

The ship will take you on

up to Skagway and Wittier.

662

Now, I would recommend people,

it does come down again.

663

You can do two cruises.

664

You can either go north and south

on a seven day cruise job done.

665

fabulous trip.

666

But if you've got time, take

a one-way cruise from Seattle

667

to either Skyway or Whittier.

668

Pick up a car and then drive yourself

north through the mountains to Denali

669

National Park, possibly Fairbanks as well.

670

Denali is probably the largest

of the American national Parks.

671

and then south to Anchorage,

and fly home from there.

672

Daniel Edward: I think it is time

673

Sandra Potter: it.

674

is, it, we, we are so easy.

675

As we, we almost started this

conversation, do the main cities and

676

forget the rest, but you're at peril of

missing just some wonderful experiences.

677

we haven't really talked enough about the

national parks, which celebrated their

678

centenary, or Yellowstone celebrated

its Centen last year, year four.

679

But places like Glacier National Park,

Yellowstone, we talked about briefly,

680

the Smokies the national parks and the

interior of the US They're well worth it.

681

Daniel Edward: if you book through an

official travel agent, then you will have

682

certain protections added to your booking.

683

But I don't think a lot of

people understand how important

684

that actually is and it means.

685

Sandra Potter: Super important

for the travelling public.

686

One of the main reasons to use a travel

agency is the security it gives you,

687

if almost anything goes wrong on your

holiday, you can blame a travel agent.

688

You can get your money back

and they will help you.

689

And that can be the most important thing.

690

If there's a traffic disaster, if

there's a national disaster, if

691

there's a volcano, anything like that,

you've got the backup of your travel

692

agent and they will do their absolute

utmost to get you home safely, to

693

look after you while you're there.

694

It gives you almost complete peace of

mind, that there is somebody behind you.

695

, You're spending a lot of

money to get to the states.

696

You wanna make sure it's right.

697

And there is nothing like talking to a

human being who has almost certain, if

698

you're, if you go to a specialist travel

agent for the destination to which you're

699

travelling, they will have been there.

700

They will probably have been

to just where you are going.

701

And there is nothing like the personal

memories and knowledge of that person.

702

Daniel Edward: you've got a very large

choice of places to choose from here.

703

What would you say is the top

thing to see or do in the USA?

704

Sandra Potter: I find that so tough.

705

I really do.

706

Where would I start?

707

I would start, I mean, New York

has to be New York, but please

708

don't make it just New York.

709

Do a city break your first,

first time to America.

710

Get a feel for it, but

then go somewhere else.

711

My favourite is the West coast, so

I would probably go to San Francisco

712

. Daniel Edward: What would say is

a tourist trap or a common mistake

713

to

714

avoid?

715

Sandra Potter: I would say that

probably the biggest common mistake

716

is going to Florida, enjoying all

the parks, but not going beyond.

717

Daniel Edward: Say don't

stop with the giant mice.

718

Sandra Potter: Exactly.

719

Nicely

720

Daniel Edward: What you say

favourite time of year to

721

visit

722

the states?

723

Sandra Potter: Oh, that's easy,

autumn for the fall colour.

724

but actually I prefer the spring

when things are still green.

725

it hasn't got too hot.

726

The difference, of course, in the

autumn, you've got all the residual

727

heat, whereas the spring it's

lovely and fresh and clean and green

728

Daniel Edward: of seasons What would you

suggest as a book or film recommendation

729

for somebody interested in this state?

730

Sandra Potter: I'd look at

John Steinbeck, my and men.

731

he sums up that era of, of America,

and obviously you've got all the

732

westerns and, that gives you a different

side of America, but something just

733

Daniel Edward: And what about food?

734

Food or drink that if you're heading to

the states, you've, you've gotta try.

735

Sandra Potter: Jambalaya jambalaya.

736

It's, um, a wonderful shrimp

and lobster dish that you get

737

Daniel Edward: what always makes me

you know That think of the carpenters.

738

Sandra Potter: Oh

739

you.

740

That and, and a good

piece of steak of course,

741

because

742

Daniel Edward: Yeah Now, what would you

say is, final question, what would you say

743

is a good souvenir to keep an eye out for?

744

You're heading to the states and you wanna

take something home, but you don't want

745

a mass produced mag or cap or something

746

that you can really get.

747

Sandra Potter: Well,

I'm glad you said that.

748

you might have needed the cap

to keep the sun off your head,

749

which would make a souvenir.

750

I hate buying souvenirs.

751

I largely don't.

752

I would buy something to wear,

so maybe a cowboy hat kick sun

753

off, cowboy boots, very trendy.

754

you can't bring home much

to eat, so that's no good.

755

The point to me of a souvenir.

756

Remember what it means,

something to remember.

757

So you bring something that is,

going to remind you of a certain

758

Daniel Edward: more personal.

759

Sandra Potter, founder of Frontier Travel.

760

Thank you so much for unlocking

the states in celebration of 250

761

years of American Independence

762

. Sandra Potter: Thank you for having me.

763

Daniel Edward: Thank you very much

again to Sandra Potter, founder of

764

Frontier Travel for Unlocking a rather

large Country Forest in celebration

765

of American Independence Day and

250 years indeed of that occasion.

766

Thanks again for listening

to this special episode.

767

We'll be back on Wednesday with the

next episode in our usual schedule.

768

And if you've only just found the

show, please do make sure you are now

769

following the Destination Unlocked

Podcast wherever you're currently

770

listening to this episode, and that

way you'll easily be able to find us

771

again the next time you want to discover

somewhere fantastic around our world.

772

I'll see you then.

773

Have a good one.

774

Bye-bye.