Our very first pretend visit was the USA and the photo below is the very first photo I took! I was bored of cooking and had decided to theme each day of the one week holiday to a different country and then cook the food of that country, or find a restaurant. We started with the USA; hotdogs, corn and a trip to McDonalds. Then Mark said ‘if we are going to the USA then we should probably go bowling!’ and thus the adventure that has occupied us for the last year and a half was started. Since then we have revisited the USA and also visited Canada and The Caribbean and so this blog is all about our favourite moments in (pretend) North America.
Eating Out
We love eating out on our pretend travels, and from the 4th July this year I am hoping that we can again! It constantly amazes me how varied the many wonderful restaurants are in and around Liverpool and when we pretended to visit the Caribbean we had a wonderful breakfast in Turtle Bay. The bright colours and vibrant atmosphere of the restaurant were as exciting as the menu choices.
But we don’t always want to pay restaurant prices on our adventures and the kids (and I) love a cheaper option like McDonalds. And for me, it embodies a lot about what I associate with North America; fast, bright, cheap and delicious.
The culinary adventure we still talk about the most were the two restaurants we visited on our Canada day. Moose Coffee serves the greatest pancakes, bacon and maple syrup this side of the pond and with the delicious coffee and giant portions it’s the best bunch treat I have had for a long time.
In addition, in Liverpool, we are blessed with another independent restaurant called Caribou Poutine. Poutine is a uniquely Canadian dish consisting of french fries, cheese curds and gravy. Caribou Poutine makes them as hot and cheesy and sloppy as you could find anywhere in the world. If you are lucky enough to be in Liverpool late at night you can even ‘rescue’ a carton of Poutine at half price through ‘Too good too go‘ an app which is designed to cut down on food waste.
Outdoor adventures
Dune Sledging
We are an outdoor kind of family and so we are always looking for adventure. With our pretend trip to Canada we briefly considered an ice rink or an indoor ski slope to celebrate their love of winter sports but the weekend turned out to be sunny and pretty and so we headed down to the sand dunes in our local beach and went sledging instead.
Our Caribbean adventure had a pirate theme and so we went on an awesome Treasure Hunt around Liverpool using a very clever App which gave us lots of clues. This has been a big favourite with families during quarantine as it allows for adventure, exercise and social distancing as a family.
The most epic adventure of all was attending a Country and Western Festival with over night camping. We didn’t have to make an effort at all to theme our weekend as we found ourselves right in the middle of all things American! From the music to the Moonshine via the delicious food – I so recommend it for when it reopens in 2021.
Rainy days
But many days are rainy days and so here are some ideas for an American themed adventure when the (British) weather isn’t on your side.
Bowling
Bowling is such a good thing to do as a family (and it’s the only sport apart from darts I’m not really really bad at). I think movies like Grease 2 have made synonymous with 1950s America and the food they serve is really American too. If you live in the North West we really recommend this place and they don’t even make you wear special shoes!
The Cinema
We absolutely love the Cinema. I am amazed that Freddie has always been able to sit through a whole film. I am so excited that they are reopening soon. There is always a kids movie and at our local Vue we have something called ‘Mini Mornings‘ where the tickets are reduced because the movie is maybe a month old. If you are theming an American day you might want to make it even more relevant by picking an American movie – not really much of a stretch I think. But actually this is also a great call for other pretend visits too as Mulan and Hercules are being released or in production and they would be a great trip for a Chinese or Greek pretend visit.
Arcades
We LOVE an arcade and living as we do by an English seaside town you don’t have to look very hard to find one! I think that a trip there and then a walk down the local pier could definitely fit into an American style day. You could pretend to be in Atlantic City, or Santa Monica.
Crafting, baking and reading
Our stay at home adventures always involve some stories or crafting or baking. In the Caribbean we bought hair beads and braided Penny’s dolly’s hair, in the USA we made muffins and American flags and in Canada we read (a kids version) of one of my favourite ever books – Anne of Green Gables. There are many other things to craft (maple leaves), bake (cheesecake) and do (rum cocktails anyone!).
I hope that this run down has given you some ideas about your own adventures. You can read more about our pretend trip to Canada here, about our pretend trip to the Caribbean here and both of our visits to the USA here and here. Happy (pretend) travelling.
