THE City of Brotherly Love and the Emerald City will become even more accessible with Aer Lingus adding Philadelphia and Seattle to its transatlantic routes in 2018.

Flights to Philadelphia start in late March, according to the airline’s Jenny Rafter and will increase to daily in May, (just in time for the iconic Devon Horse Show, held on the city’s outskirts). Ireland’s first direct flight to Seattle on the west coast begins in May.

Philadelphia is on the rebound with tourism numbers hitting record heights. Some 41 million people visited in 2015, the same year as the papal visit of Pope Francis. The following year, Philly hosted the Democratic National Convention when Hillary Clinton was selected as the party’s presidential candidate.

Seattle is currently witnessing its largest influx of new arrivals since the Klondike Gold Rush. Now it’s corporate giants, such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google, that are attracting 21st century settlers.

Food tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors and both cities boast not only world-class eateries but two of America’s best-known markets – the Reading Terminal Market and Pike Place Market. The one-time terminus for the Reading railway line has been transformed into a giant indoor market, where anything from the famous Phili cheesesteak to Amish baked goods (try Shoofly Pie) are sampled by locals and visitors alike.

Likewise, Pike Place Market on Seattle’s seafront is another Must Visit. The now-ubiquitous Starbucks chain began here, with queues of tourists lining up to enter the original coffee shop.

Another Seattle original is the first Nordstrom department store, while in Philadelphia, Macys now occupy the former Wanamakers store, the setting for the movie Mannequin, and where an organ player still serenades customers twice daily. And if the Wanamaker name rings a bell, think back to the era of Ronnie Delaney and Eamon Coughlan winning the famous Wanamaker Mile, named in honour of the department store.

Philadelphia and Seattle, where U2 kicked off the North American leg of their Joshua Tree tour last year, are both renowned for their music scenes. Or do your own tour around the surrounding countryside; Lancaster County is the home of the Amish and Mennonites whose simple lifestyles, shunning 21st century ‘necessities’ conversely attracts millions of tourists.

Seattle’s nearby attractions include the magnificent Snoqualmie Falls while there are dozens of hiking and cycling trails. These include the famous Iron Horse State Park Trail, once part of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, or visit the Washington State Horse Park, home to the Cascades Horse Shows series throughout spring, summer and autumn.

Back on the east coast, Devon – the quintessential American horse show, set in its own picturesque power-blue painted showgrounds – is a worthy addition to any equestrian bucket list. After, of course, a visit to the ‘Rocky Steps’.

Did You Know?

  • Heavily touted for Oscar glory, most of ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’s exterior scenes were actually filmed around Sylva and Asheville in North Carolina.
  • Lake Lure, including the famous ‘dance lift practice’ scene, and Tryon were also used as locations in Dirty Dancing. Other blockbusters filmed in the state include The Hunger Games, Forrest Gump and The Fugitive.
  • CEO of the Barbados Turf Club is the delightfully-named Rosette Pierce.
  • The very first horses in Seattle were Tib and Charley, owned by Thomas Mercer, who made the trip from Illinois in 1853. Mercer and his team of horses delivered everything from milk to lumber around the new frontier town. One of the landmarks on the original Mercer homestead is Tib’s grave.
  • Garrison Savannah is also the name of the Jenny Pitman-trained 1991 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.
  • St Louis, where the famous Budweiser Clydesdales can be visited at the magnificent Anheuser Busch stables, is twinned with Galway City. Food was the main theme of the Galway stand at Holiday World as the City of the Tribes, recently voted the best Irish home holiday destination in The Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards is Ireland’s first European Region of Gastronomy this year. Expect gourmet burgers at this year’s Galway Races! Events will include the international food forum in April, organised by Good Food Ireland founder and keen showing exhibitor Margaret Jeffares.

    • “I was so impressed with the Visit USA Pavilion at the Holiday World Show this year which showcased over 40 different U.S. states and destinations. It’s an excellent platform for the Visit USA Committee to promote Irish tourism to the United States.I was particularly delighted to see North Carolina represented who will play host to the FEI World Equestrian Games at Tryon in September this year. I wish all the Irish riders competing there the best of luck.”

    Reece Smyth, Chargé d’Affaires, US Embassy.