BUTLINS TO BOSTON - IN 49 YEARS

Doesn't seem like 49 years ago we were enjoying the delights of Butlins Holiday Hotel at Margate. But honeymoons only come round once in a lifetime - for most of us fortunately - and I don't remember too much about it. I certainly couldn't have imagined that in 2009 we would be celebrating the 1st October anniversary in the Seaport Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts.

Margate remains a sad place these days. Unemployment is high and as a holiday destination it's hardly worth a mention. Boston on the other hand is a prosperous city that has all the atmosphere and excitement of modern America. If there is a recession and a financial crisis then it seems to have passed this place by.

I must have enjoyed a few pints of beer at Butlins in 1960 but I can't remember what the room was like. We didn't have a car - and probably couldn't afford taxis at the time. But who would want to go and hit the town when Butlins can provide such in-house entertainment. Those were the days of dancing the night away to a three or four piece playing the latest Frank Sinatra numbers. It was even pre-Beatles and Rolling Stones.

We don't have the energy to do that sort of thing 49 years later. We're now taking it easy in a quiet corner of this hotel waiting to catch the bus to Logan Airport and a six hour flight back to the UK. Around us are people enjoying cocktails and watching the news that Rio has beaten Chicago for the 2016 Olympics on screens in every corner of the hotel. The new arrivals are checking in for their Boston weekend breaks. They wouldn't be interested in our tales of Margate!

Nor would all the jolly souls attending a seminar for the New England Society for Vascular Surgery. They have their badges and name tags, the bags and the pens and have been flooding into the mezzanine area to 'network' and taste the Seaport Hotel goodies and fine wine. Wonder what they talk about? This must be what is meant by having a heart-to-heart chat.

So we tick off another year and look forward to a big celebration in 2010. Won't be here in Boston or at Margate though. A family get-together is much more appropriate and most of the people around us will understand that in a few years time.