Steve P.

I listed the Cavern Pub as worth visiting because it’s a perfectly nice little pub, with live music and some Beatle memorabilia. But to be honest, I don’t think many people would seek it out except for the fact that it’s on Mathew Street in Liverpool, just down the block from the Cavern Club. Beatle fans would go the real Cavern first; second perhaps to the Grapes across from the Cavern Club; and only then perhaps to the Cavern Pub.

...and there’s too much good competition in the area.

I’ve never lived in Texas or Mexico, so I’m not sure I know what real Tex-Mex food is supposed to be like. But to my naive northeastern palate, The Austin Grill is pretty damned close! I experiment with the bar and with the menu, but I keep coming back to an El Cheapo (i.e., house) margarita and a “Roadhouse Burrito” (according to the menu and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “a heart attack on a platter”). Witha motto like “be kind, tell the truth, eat good food”, how can you go wrong?

You have to understand that we can’t [legally] get Cuban cigars here in the U.S. North of the border, though, they’re pricy but widely available. So it was that I found myself one late afternoon into early evening in the lounge of the Château Frontenac, looking out over the river, a Cohiba in one hand and a Grand Marnier in the other, contentedly realzing that “it just doesn’t get any better than this…” Plus, I was sent there for a work-related conference, so I was traveling on O.P.M. - other people’s money - which made it even sweeter!

You can approach the building from the street (just up from the zebra crossing on the cover of “Abbey Road”). But getting inside is the tricky part. I’ve been fortunate enough to make it in twice, and it was quite a thrill to visit Studio 1 where the original broadcast of “All You Need Is Love” originated and “A Day in the Life” was recorded. But the greater thrill was visiting the Holy of Holies: Studio 2, where the Beatles did the bulk of their recording. If you make it in, stop for a pint at “The Crossing Cafe”, the in-house restaurant and bar. (That’s the cafe in the picture; my pictures in the studios didn’t turn out well.) Of course, Pink Floyd, Sir Edward Elgar, and lots of people have also recorded there, but the Beatles are the big draw for me!

Still, it’s worth a visit. Take the tram up to the botanical garden above the city, and walk back down.

I don’t know if it still holds the record, but while I was there, Bennington College was the most expensive college in the U.S. That sucked. But it has also got to have one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. It looks like a little New England village on top of a hill. (The building in the picture is a dormitory!)

My grandparents emigrated from Salonika, and I have relatives in Athens, so I’m very aware of my Greek heritage, but I’ve never been there!

For those of us who are never going to climb Mt. Everest…or even Mt. McKinley, hiking in the White Mountains is ideal. You can find a whole range of challenges, but nearly every peak can be done in a day. And the beauty of northern New England in the fall will make you believe in God.

...but it’s still a spectacularly beautiful place. I was driving near Bennington one spring day when all the trees were newly in leaf, and I thought “they really are Green Mountains!” That’s when it clicked: verts monts = Vermont!