Merry Christmas all !!

New York. Central Park. Snowy (Photo credit: Tomas Fano)

I hope everybody was good boys and girls this year.

I am writing to you this morning from a beautiful white New York state. Christmas song are on, Bacon is cooking (rubbish american bacon, but we cant have it all) fresh eggs to go on, and nice coffee with a tea spoon of eggnog (my new favourite thing).

So I thought I would say happy birthday Jesus my little cherub and a Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas American style

Ok so ive attatched a video of a wonderful display of christmas lights we went to see last night. They really were stunning, and were free aswell. Booooya.
Now the last time I tried to upload a video it didnt work so if it doesnt work this time then sorry, sucks fo be you !!!!
Now back home in England there isnt too many lights, however over the past few years there has been a rise in the number of lights as you walk down the streets.
We watch american tv shows and look at streets lined with nothing but christmas lights and ive always wanted to see what it is actually like over here. Last night we got a taster and man it was good. This display was somebodies house, they had errected over 340,000 lights in their yard and kindly allowed people to drive through their driveway to view the display, which changed to over 150 songs. It was epic.
Hope the video works if not I will put up a few pictures for you to see (not very good pictures, too busy filming for over 5 minutes).

Anyway Merry Christmas!!

A real Philly Cheesesteak !

Surprisingly a bit of a let down. Still good though dont get me wrong.

Alot of Reading

So as we made our way around the huge, huge USA it is fair to say I did alot of reading. I never used to read so  the fact that I have read around 15 books during our 4 months in the states is a minor miracle. I have read books ranging from; crime, mysteries, autobiographies to investing. Quite a range of subject matter.

There are two books I particularily loved.

‘Wahoo Rhapsody’ & ‘Eldorado Blues’.

Two books by the same author, ‘Shaun Morey’.  A talented writer who has won awards for his work. I thouroughly enjoyed these two books, and I would definatly reccommend them for people to read.

Check out his website –  http://www.shaunmorey.com/

You can buy his latest novel here – http://www.amazon.com/Dorado-Blues-Atticus-Fish-Novel/dp/1612184987/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351437739&sr=1-1&keywords=el+dorado+blues

Washington DC

World War II Memorial (Photo credit: Matt Ortega)

We finally arrived in Washington DC, (capitol of the US for you idiots out there :D).
It was great, I knew a long days walking around was in store but I also knew that it would be worth it.
After alighting from the train at Union station I made my way to the Capitoll Building. It is a stunning piece of architecture and I thouroughly enjoyed strolling around the outside of this great structure.
Then it was off down ‘The Mall’ for a stroll around some of the Smithsonian Museums, which are free. Which if you dont know is a shocker for this country as you usually have to pay.
The only museum I was really interested in was the ‘Air and Space Museum‘, so I queued up walked in and was quickly ushered out. I was hounded by security guards asking questions like ‘are you a marine? are you a cop?’ Utterly confused I replied I was not, to which they responded with, ‘then why are you carrying a knife?’. Thats right, I am the tool who forgets he has a swiss army knife in his backpack. What an idiot.
So I was not aloud in even though I offered it to them to hold for me until I was ready to exit.
So a handy tip for people wanting to visit the museums in Washington DC, dont take a knife !! Basic stuff I know but there is always one idiot. And I was the one.
Nevermind I would just have to make do with a leisurly stroll through the war and other memorials which are everywhere and dont have security.

The WWII memorial was my favourite. It was very good. Some great craftsmenship has been put to work on these things and the message they send hits home. They are quite moving ad bring the scale of events into perspective.

Oh you should know that after seeing everything and the downtown area of Washington DC, when you come across the Whitehouse it is just not that impressive. Which is a shame.

So after a good 6 hours walking around it was back on the train to Baltimore where we were staying with Colin and Hannah. Relations to Jo-D who had kindly allowed us to have a bed for a few nights instead of the cold floor of our tents. Oh and the food was good aswell, risotto with asparagus and chicken mmmmmmmm hellooooooooo. So a big thankyou to Colin and Hannah.

Thankyou Kirah !!

After our adventures in Florida and a few stops in South Carolina, we made our way to a friends up the coast.
Kirah greeted us at the door of her house with a huge welcoming smile, which was lovely to see after having my eyes firmly on tarmac most of the day.
I was very excited for this visit, as Kirah is an artist and I was eager to push some pictures her way with a view to her painting some for me 😀 Not only this but we had been reliably informed that Pork Tenderloin was going to be provided, and well we all know im a sucker for food. My god it was delicious!!
We had a great time just chatting away about our travels so far, kirah’s travels to europe, politics was even discussed. (mainly by Chris and Kirah because my knowledge of american politics is limited to Obama is president now, and George Bush being hilarious.)
Oh and I forgot to mention that there was cookies aswell ! Epic. The food was great, the company was great, and oh my was that bed great!!

I cannot thank Kirah enough for hosting us, we had a lovely time and wish we could have stayed an extra night. But oh well.
So thankyou Kirah.
Oh and everybody should check out her website and browse through her work, she is very talented and I cann’t wait for my paintings :D.

http://www.kirahfineart.com/Home.html

Florida Keys and Miami

Beach on Virginia Key, Florida just south of Miami Beach’s South Beach. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What a cool, relaxed place Florida Keys is. Aside from right along the highway that runs through these little islands, where typical America ruins the roadsides with nothing but signs and advertisments. The rest of the place was just chilled and beautiful.

 

To start we stayed in Marathon. Here I found a great bar. It reminded me of what I imagine Hawaii to be like. Palm leaves for the roof of this open bar with the bar staff in cream shorts and hawaiian shirts. Awsome. This bar overlooked the Ocean which was great and not only that but they were showing the Manchester United v West Ham United game. Booooyaaa!!!! Oh and it was happy hour for four hours. I loved this place. Now Key West at the very end of the Keys, and the southern most point of the USA, was a little busier but had a great harbour, beautiful little rooftop caffes and great little side streets just bursting with bars and resteraunts. I imidiatly liked the place, not just for these reasons but also because im famous down there. Yup I have a street named after me. Whitehead St, which, incase you were wondering turns into highway q1..

 

So after this great little tour it was off to Miami. Now this place I expected to be no bigger than maybe Chicago, I hadnt reallydone my research, so I was in for a shock when negotiating the spagetti junction mayhem to see nothing but buildings upon buildings upon buildings that stretched for miles. Miami is massive. Id like to say as big as Manhattenbut im not sure. It requires a whole vacation of its own instead of a quick stop and go. Did you just see thatk?k? I just said vacation instead of holiday!! What is happening to me?

 

Instead of visiting the monster of downtown we hit South Beach, which is a few miles off the mainland. It was great, they love their art deco over there. I was dissapointed I couldnt find Miami Ink. Although I wasnt dissapointed when I stumbled into the Big Pink. Which is a diner. Philly Cheese Steak sandwich for breakfast with a bucket of crisps and a coffee that was literally the size of my head.

South Beach alone is worth a day or two of exploring so I would love to go back for a week or two because it was great.

 

 

Fort Meyer andthe Everglades

After a stop in Tampa which wasnt much we set up camp for the night and then the next day we headed to Fort Meyer.
It was a lovely little town with quaint little streets adorned with christmas decorations. However there was nothing cheesy or tacky about them. They were just like Fort Meyer, understated and lovely. Thats twice ive used that word now so you know it must have been. Behind the downtown area was the harbour which was quite cool however just lacked what the downtown offered.

Then we were off to the Everglades National Park, which if you dont know is the home of The Waterboy. And also some aligators and crocodiles. (OK I think waterboy was based around this area, im just not sure, I just remember crocs and stuff so it made sense.) Unable to afford an air boat trip around the swamp lands we had to make do with taking the road in and out. We got to see quite a few aligators, loads of vultures and some other beautiful little birds walking along lilly pads. Although I imagine this trip would have been way more fun and interesting if we did catch an air boat ride or even took out a kayak. But this had to do. And I saw an alligator ! So it was worth it.

Now I have just finished a few beers and watched the sun set over the ocean in a great little bar in Marathon along the Florida Keys. Stunning. Palm trees galore. Highways crossing miles of ocean. (Think of the film True Lies.)

Speechless

Its very rare that I am left speechless.

It has happened a few times on this trip. There were the fjords of norway. They were just mesmerising, take a look.

Then there was Julia Pfiffer Falls, which was a little corner of untouched paradise.

But tonight I have just been blown away by the most stunning sunset. Now you may all think whats so great about a sunset. To be honest I cant put into words what was so good about this sunset. You may look at the picture and think it aint all that good. For some reason though it struck a chord with me and I was left in total awe. It was beautiful.
So a big thankyou to Mobil, Alabama for a spectacular sky tonight.

Thank you New Orleans !

I cant begin to describe how much I enjoyed this place.
Dont get me wrong there were some pritty bad areas, really really poor areas, some quite seedy areas, but all that was made up for by the magic at the French Quarter and especially on Frenchman St. What a find that was.

After I dropped Sammy & Chris off at their very swanky hotel, I made my way to the state park where I would set up camp for two nights. After initially driving through a quite bad area the state park was a gem. Newly built camping areas with swimming and wave pools (although not open now lol). It was a great spot.

The first niht I took advantage of the free laundry and then headed out for a wonder where I quickly turned back and went straight back to my tent. Very intimidating area lol.

The second day is when things picked up. After finding out about a free ferry that meant I didnt have to negotiate the free for all spaghetti junction again I promptly got packed up and left the campsite. Upon arrival into the city I headed straight for the big buildings which you can safely assume is downtown. I was drawn into a very fancy looking shopping centre and after a quick boring walk around, email exchange and a starbucks I was reliably informed to head to the french quarter and especially frenchman st a few blocks from the quarter. This is where the locals go.

As I was walking towrds the quarter and half mulling over whether I should go somewhere with the word french in the title I was stopped in my tracks by the sweet sound of the saxaphone in a bar. From then on I made it my mission to see as much of New Orleans as I could regardless of titles. What a good decision it was aswell, because that quarter was filled with quaint little oneway streets which were engulfed by balconies draped with hanging baskets filled with colour. Nice little art galleries showcasing some great paintings aswell as of course the music, which is just everywhere.

Now the famous Bourbon St is apparently where its at. And I have to admit it was kind of cool. Just a little too much neon lights for my taste, although that being said I did find what little bar tucked away in an alleyway. In here were three guys jamming away and also playing classics like ‘mack the knife’! I spent a good few hours here just relaxing and taking it in.

Then it happened. I walked around for sometime and decided to head to this frenchman st. I fugured if its where the locals go, then it must be good. I was not let down. Only a few bars but none of the neon signs inviting you in. Just simple local bars with good local music. I made my way into one bar and fell in love with the place. It was quiet, hardly anybody in there and as previously discussed I dont really like people so this was my kind of place. Beer was a bit pricey but totally worth it when the sound of drums, bass guitar and the sax flowed into my ears. No singing, no covers. These guys were just jamming, and it was fantastic. I stayed there for the rest of the night, I only dragged myself away because I needed to catch the last ferry. But I wouldnt have minded be in stuck in there. Also the barmaids were right fitties! If only I could hear what they were saying. Loud music and a deaf ear dont mix well Il tell you that.

So to anyone thinking of going to New Orleans, get there as soon as you can, its is awsome. To anyone not thinking of it, then shame on you.
If you like music, if you like loud bars, quiet bars, jazz, swing, even a bit of the eagles then this place is a good way to get it. I loved it here and would happily go back anytime. I loved the look of the place, the sound of the place, the atmosphere, everything.