UK to U.S. visitors, May I ask a couple questions?

[pouncingpluto]

I like most chocolate, but definitely dark chocolate better than milk chocolate. White "chocolate" is an abomination that I will not tolerate.

Russian chocolate is awful. I don't think they use much real chocolate in it.

 

[faithinkarma]

Canadian Hershey chocolate has a very different taste also. I find it is creamier, sweeter, and has no taste of wax that I always detect in US Hershey's. Of course it is only a matter of what I a used to.

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

I'm definitely a milk chocolate person and "Galaxy" is my favourite brand.

luvthatduke - our friend lives in Newtown which is also somewhere north of Philadelphia, might even be northeast. Do you know it? The first thing we did when we went to see him was wander around the town shops and popped into Starbucks and they had the most wonderful doughnuts I had ever tasted! YUUUMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[luvthatduke]

I know Newtown very well, I grew up just a few miles away
in a small, victorian town called Ivyland.
Newtown is lovely - did you get a chance to view a movie
in their old theatre? It's very nostalgic...
Did you visit Washington's Crossing while you were here?
How about having ice cream at Goodnoe's?
Those two things are right nearby Newtown,
anyway, I hope you got to do some "tourist" stuff.

If you're ever visiting up this way again,
please let me know. It would be fun to meet you

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Yes, we did see Washington's crossing fascinating, but didn't go into the theatre in Newtown - would have been nice I'm sure. I loved Newtown as it's quite different from most of modern America (although it obviously has a few new bits too, a modern housing area very close to the town centre). Our friend has an old stone-buillt house along the main road with a lovely veranda at the front with a rocking chair. It was lovely sitting out in the evening watching the world go past. He has created a typical English country garden at the back of his house.

We did have some great ice cream from somewhere, just trying to remember the name of the place, must have been close to Washington's crossing. Would that have been the place you mentioned?

Zoe

 

[luvthatduke]

It could have been Goodnoe's...
I'm glad you had a nice visit in our neck of the woods

 

[DocRafiki]

I was wrong about the chocolate. After having English Cadbury's the other day, I bought some no-name Easter candy here yesterday... BLECH!!! It tastes like wax!!

 

[keswick1uk]

Just curious--Was there anything about the US that surprised you?

How about prices in the US, more or less expensive then you thought?

With our pound so strong offsite prices were a bargain and Disney prices became 'normal' to us which was a great surprise.

How about the American people?

The children tend to be very confident and many 'pushy'. The adults in the main were pleasent and polite but not very talkative.

Did you tour the area outside the Magic Kingdom?

Yes, we stayed offsite. I was very surprised at the lack of reflective clothing used by police and runners alike. Over here we wear reflectives and lime green almost all the time but I saw police in the dark stood in the middle of the road with black clothing and nothing to help them stand out easily.


Did you like american food? Yes, loved it. Your servers are the very best! You make eating out such a pleasure. Generous portions, no stress if we wanted to share, childrens menus and colouring freely available, free soda refills.

The only downside....I do think a lot of American dishes are loaded with calories that are not really necessary though. For example its difficult to find a salad without a high calorie dressing, or a tomato pasta without a lot of olive oil in the sauce.

 

[Kilted_Yank]

Originally posted by luvthatduke
I know Newtown very well...

Funny, that... my mother lived in Newtown for most of her childhood, and married my dad at St. Mark's church.

 

[Kilted_Yank]

Bonzo,

I understand your feelings about the selections of beer that are generally available in most places in the US... but I think you should try, if you can, some of the selections from the Stone Brewery or a brewery called Moylan's. Stone, in southern California, produces a great line of darker, heavier ales than you willfind in most places on this side of the Atlantic. Try the "Smoked Porter" or the "Ruination India Pale Ale" I suspect that a beer lover such as yourself will enjoy them greatly.

You might also enjoy Moylan's signature product: Kiltlifter Ale. I won't say too much about this other than to say that I really love that stuff!

The Stone Brewery

Moylan's Brewery

As far as the rest of the thread is concernned, I am so pleased to know that so many of you enjoy visitng my country. As I have said on this site in the past: all of our British (not just English ) friends are welcome here.

Cheers,

Bill

 

[NMAmy]

I need to tell you a little story about the difference in portion size between the US and the UK. My husband is British but has lived in the States for 25 years. We went to visit his family last summer. His brother and his wife took us out to dinner and SIL was telling me that the portions in the US are just too large and how did I stay so thin? I told her that I usually eat half my meal and take the rest home for lunch the next day. She was amazed and said that she could not imagine an English server packing up the remainder of your meal for you. If you didn't eat it all, too bad. She's tucked this little nugget of information away for her next trip to the States.

The very next day we went to a pub in Haworth and I ordered fish & chips. Well, my goodness, I had about 2 whole fish on my plate not to mention the chips & the peas! It was just enormous! When my meal came to the table, I turned and looked at her and raised my eyebrows. She immediately started laughing and said that someone just HAD to prove her wrong about portions in the UK.

I love our visits over there and can't wait till this summer when we visit again. My husband's family is just so welcoming and they always have a zillion questions about life in the US.