Finally caught up

Sunday 26th May

Today was spent driving from New York to St Catharines in Canada.

The country side is really pretty and so totally not what I had in my head. Lots of rolling hills, green fields and lakes. We stopped for a stretch and when we got back in the car Mavis the GPS changed the course on us. She ended up taking us through these small country towns which were really pretty. The high schools were the biggest buildings in the area and the advert for chewing tobacco reminded me of where we were.

Going over the border wasn't too bad. I think we waiting for about 45 minutes (because Steve picked the wrong lane) but that time was spent by me worrying that we wouldn't be allowed in the country. You see I hadn't really researched if a visa was required to enter Canada, I had a vague recollection of reading a forum that said you didn't but I wasn't as thorough as I usually am. Luckily we didn't and after getting our stamp we were back on the freeway and making a turn onto Dorothy Street St Catharines.

Our B&B is awesome. Two bedrooms (thank GOD!!) with a small living area and bathroom. Good work Steve, you did well with this one. Della the owner is really lovely and she even looked after my load of washing for me. Legend.

I spent a bit of time looking for a restaurant for dinner. Once I picked it, we headed down the road and as we passed the building there were cops and fire engines in front of it. Someone went through the lights and ploughed straight into the alfresco area of the place where we were going to have dinner! So in the end we ate at Montana's cookhouse and had an awesome feed of pulled pork sandwiches and rib eye steaks.

Tomorrow is Niagara Falls which we are all looking forward to.

How far behind are we!!

I am currently sitting in our B&B in St Catharines Canada, sipping a really lovely glass of Vidal that we bought from the winery down the road and I thought to myself - I had better catch up on the blog.

So where were we? Oh right Friday.

Friday 24th of May

The weather had decided to turn today and it got no warmer then 10 degrees. Fine for New Yorkers I'm sure but we hadn't packed for this sort of weather. No problem for us as the boys were going to go to 'Upper Ninety' a soccer store that was down the other end of town. When they got back to the hotel Steve, Shaye and I headed into the cold to shop on Fifth Avenue.

Jackson and Steve with their jackets from the soccer store

 

 

 

The closest I got to trying something on

 

 

 

We made it to the H&M store when I started to shop. This place is huge - it's three stories tall, it has it's own DJ and the prices are cheap. For Steve and Shaye it got too much so they left me and went back to the hotel. One hour later I made it out of the shop and headed up Fifth Avenue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fifth Ave runs up the side of Central Park (the Met is half way up) and my walk was 20 blocks long. Not a problem at all but it was raining and I had no umbrella. Oh well, getting wet doesn't matter and I got to take lots of pictures. I walked past the hotel from Sex and the City where Carrie runs into Big outside his engagement party and she says to him "Your girl is lovely Hubbell". Awesome.

 

 

By the time I made it to the Met I was knackered and it was 3pm so only 2.5 hrs of looking I could do. I thought it wouldn't be enough but I was so wrong. The place was packed unlike when we were in Washington so it was frustrating to navigate around and my brain had gone into information overload.

 

 

 

I was seriously all informationed out. I couldn't do any more museums. So I caught a cab back to the hotel and collected our tickets for 'The Lion King'.

The Lion King was awesome! So many puppets and costumes and songs that Jackson and I sang along to. Two parts in the play were disappointing, when ZaZu sings 'I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts' - he didn't and when Timone sings 'Are you aching? Yup Yup. For Some Bacon? Yup Yup" - he didn't. But apart from that it was great.


Saturday 25th

Saturday was a very lazy day. The only thing we did was go to the top of the Rockefeller Building. Oh My God I was so scared. I'm not good with heights at the best of times but being up that high in a building in New York and considering what happens to tall buildings in New York it was lucky I wasn't in the foetal position in the elevator on the way down. Everyone else loved it. The view is amazing, the wind is very cold and Steve made a friend with the cop at the top level.

 

 

 

 

Me shitting myself and them capturing it

 

 

 

Our scared faces

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was all we did for today. Tomorrow we are leaving early to head to St Catharines in Canada. Another stamp in the passport.

 

Statue of Liberty/The Greatest Stadium In The World

 

View from our room. Tells you the time and the temp in both Fahrenheit and Celsius

 

All aboard    

 

Unfortunately she is still under repair but still an awesome sight and free. Very rare in NYC

 

A snippet of the Manhattan skyline. Size does matter in the Big Apple

 

Subwaying the shit out of it.   

 

Stace the piss head. At Applebee's for dinner before Jacks and I head of to the Garden.

 

An insanely huge X-Wing Lego Fighter that we saw in Times Square on our way to M.S.G.

 

Rangers warming up. Was a dream come true to be in the arena. Really well designed, nice cushioned seats and they sell Jack Daniels. Thought we would have crap seats but no such a thing at the Garden and as you can see in the next photo centre ice.

 

What a game we just witnessed. Rangers on the verge of elimination from the playoffs and they come from 2 goals down to force overtime and get the chocolates. The place just erupted and it gave you chills (pun intended).

 

A memory Jackson and I will share forever. One of the best nights of my life.

 

Central Park/5th Ave/Madison Square Garden

The girls headed off to the outlet store so Jacks and I headed out to soak up some NYC and headed for Central Park. Jacks had a rocky start due to a bird shitting on him just as we were walking in and he wasn't impressed but we continued on and checked out the sights. It would take you about 3 or 4 hours to see all of CP I think we saw about a 3rd unfortunately no pictures because Stace took the camera to the outlet stores.

After finishing there we headed down 5th Avenue past all the fancy shops down towards the Rockfeller Center. You know your fancy when its not called a watch its called a time piece. Once getting to the Rockfeller building we checked things out as we have plans later go up the top and take pictures as I think it will be a bit quieter and you can take pictures of both Central Park and the Empire State building. Jacks was stoked when he spied a Lego store so we headed in to the 2 storey shop and checked out some awesome pieces such as the X-Wing fighter and the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. We had done a fair bit off walking by now and thought we would go back to the Sheraton to the 33rd floor instead of the 5th since I managed to get an upgrade Yeah Boi.

Once back to the hotel we found the housekeeper still hadn't done our room so we needed to kill some more time and then my son suggested we walk down to Madison Square Garden so proud of him. Downside is the Knicks have been knocked out of the play offs by Indiana so I thought I might as well stand out the front and see what it looks like from the outside (better than nothing). The venue looks outstanding even from the outside and was spewin we couldn't get inside to the most famous venue in the world. Was pretty knackered after walking approximately a 100 blocks give or take a few so we were pretty happy once we arrived back to our room and I was able to pour a Canadian Club and lie on the bed watching a bit of ESPN. Then nek minute they mentioned that the NY Rangers were getting ready to play the Boston Bruins in game 4 tomorrow night at the Garden hello cheeky. Quickly jumped on ticketmaster but due to it being a play off game it was all sold out Farrkk. Next thought was that I may never be back to the Big Apple so I grabbed the credit card and paid top dollar for 2 scalped tickets to the Ice Hockey and thought I hope Stace didn't spend to much at the outlet mall. As I said before no photos of the day due to no camera ahh well at least I will have the memories until I get Alzheimer's.

Outlet shopping at it's finest

Wednesday 22nd May

Call me crazy but the call of an outlet shopping mall classed as the best in the country is too hard to resist so Shaye and I were off there this morning.

I had a small problem with Mavis the GPS today - she decided to not work. I don't think the dense fog helped but I thought I had a vague idea of where to go. Looks like I didn't but Shaye and I did get to drive through Central Park lol. Mavis finally found a satellite and I headed towards Woodbury Premium Outlets. Well, I thought I was till I took another wrong turn and ended up in the Bronx! Shaye and I were pissing ourselves but we did get on the right road and another 3 tolls later we had arrived.

I could go on about the shops but it's all pretty boring. The main thing was we saved about 60% off retail on all our purchases and I bought another suitcase to carry all our new purchases in. Five hours later we loaded up the boot, bought out bladder buster drinks to last the trip back and we were heading back to Manhattan.

The boys were already back at the hotel and had a great day wandering the streets of Manhattan. I'm not going to write down what they did to make Steve do a post :)

Very happy with our purchases and so was Steve, he got tickets for the ice hockey game tomorrow night at Madison Square Gardens. Happy boy he was.

Another handy tip, if you order a medium New York pizza just order one. They are fricking massive! No wonder the chick at the counter looked funny at us when we ordered two and asked us if there were more of us. Two massive pizza and the worst bit was Jackson didn't like them. He has been our leftover boy all trip and we finally found something he wouldn't eat.

Tomorrow we are off to catch the ferry to Staten Island and take pictures of the statue of liberty. One of the few free things you can do in New York.

Apologies for no pictures - blogger isn't letting me download any pictures and I think the internet sucks here at the hotel. Will catch up on pics when I can.

On the road again - again

Tuesday 21st May

We got to head off late today because the drive to New York is only about 4 hours - a bit more then projected as we need to make a detour.

Packing up the Caravan is easy because there is so much space in this thing. Mavis the GPS kicks in and with Steve at the wheel we head towards Red Bank, New Jersey.

Unfortunately I lost my navigating skills and Mavis wasn't helping because we ended up taking a few wrong turns off different highways and what not. Jackson to the rescue, he interprets Mavis's directions and gets us back onto the I-95 and heading north east.

This drive was pretty uneventful. Nothing new to see but everything is still green. We arrive in Red Bank and I get to shop in a famous shop - Jay and Silent Bobs Secret Stash Comic Book Store. I am in geek heaven!

I came in here to get one thing - the bobble head buddy Christ.



Dogma is one of my favourite movies and when I read that Kevin Smith was opening up his own comic book store I have been stalking it's website. Then, once we had organised where we were going on this trip I told Steve that this was the only thing I HAD to do - shop at this store. So I am here and while here I also get a Dogma t-shirt, a Buffy comic and a Jay and Silent Bob comic. I was hoping to get the comics of season 9 for Buffy while here but they didn't have them so I will have to get them from my local comic book store - Cosmic Comics. Luckily they do subscriptions. :)

Now it's my turn to take over the driving and I have to admit I am not looking forward to it. Everything I have read says that driving in Manhattan is shit but I don't stress as much in city driving as Steve does so I touch a few buttons to adjust my seat, lock in my sunnies and head to the city that never sleeps.

Handy hint for when you are driving in New York; have lots of quarters and dollar bills. The amount of tolls area amazing. You grab a ticket when you enter the Jersey Turnpike and where ever you get off is how much you pay. Then there is another toll to get on another road, then you pay $13 to get into the city! Far out.

I did take one wrong turn when we got into New York but Mavis and Jackson steered me right and soon I was sitting in a taxi only parking area while Steve and the kids checked in. Driving in Manhattan is crazy. No one indicates and they pull out in front of you at the last second. They all drive way over the speed limit and just pull up in a lane if they feel like it. This one guy parked at my rear in an actual lane of 7th Avenue, got out, bought a piece of pizza, ate the pizza in his car and then just kept driving. Mad I tells ya! But lots of fun. I got into the New York state of mind when I was sitting behind a cab that took so long to empty its people then decided to pick up some one all at the corner of where I needed to drop the car off. I wouldn't have minded if  I wasn't sitting on an EMPTY TANK!! Far out!!

So we were all checked in and glad to be out of the car. Got upgraded finally to a better floor with a better view. The room is quite nice and the bed is finally not soft! Tomorrow is shopping for me and Shaye while the boys are doing their own thing.

Washington

Monday 20th May

Today was a BIG day.

It started early with breakfast at McDonalds. Maccas here have a product called a Biscuit which is like a savoury scone and I think I am addicted to them. Once on the street Steve pointed to the reflection pool and off we headed. Turns out it was the wrong reflection pool, he wanted to go to the one near the Lincoln Memorial which was one km away. So off we go through the Mall to the proper reflection pool.

Washington is beautiful, it is so green and luscious and the air smells clear. There were so many people jogging through the Mall that it made me wonder if anyone works here - they must all be in politics :).

We passed the Washington Memorial which was closed for repairs. There was an earthquake in 2011 and since then it has been locked down while scaffolding surrounds it and repairs are made. Ruined the photos a bit but whatcha gonna do? Once there we got to the reflection pool, you know; the one Jenny runs through when she hears Forrest talk about the Vietnam war and that's when I start crying the fourth time through that movie. Funny thing, you can't help putting everything you see to the movie that you have seen it in here in America. Maybe because that is how they want us to see them?

Once we passed the duck shit and Shaye threw a penny in the pool we arrived at the Lincoln Memorial. It is massive and so impressive. To think that great men have stood in front of it and have made history on the steps we were standing on was just humbling. I stood in the spot that Martin Luther King Jr stood when he made his 'I have a dream' speech and saw the same view he did minus the 100,000 people. It makes you stop for a minute and just breathe.

After the Lincoln Memorial we headed across the road to the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. Again, another beautiful sculpture that really makes you stop, look and think on things that were and could have been. One of the kids asked if Martin Luther King could have been president and having to explain to the kids what the world was like only 50 year ago for black people in America makes you realise that history is closer then you think.

It has started to drizzle by now but nothing hard it just made the place greener; shinier. We called into the Smithsonian Castle to look at some Civil War photography then headed to the Air and Space Museum - Jackson's new favourite place in the whole world.

Wow. This place is awesome and what you would expect a museum to be. It is two stories high with real displays of old planes, space capsules and newer models of both. Wow. Jackson was a pig in shit especially when we got to the space stuff. Just looking at it all made me feel how I did when we watched the Hubble movie in Florida - insignificant. The amount of things that they have learnt or knowledge used to create machines, systems, formula to explain findings is mind blowing and makes me realise how much work Jackson will need to do in the future if he wants to be in this world.

After about an hour we headed to the Indian Museum. The architecture of this building is amazing and then when you are inside you realise it is set up that way to create an amphitheatre in the centre so that Indians come in and tell stories, sing songs about their culture and the sound travels up the four stories, right to the top and it is as clear as if you were standing next to them.

Once finished here we were going to catch a tour bus but they turned out to be quite pricey so we caught a cab to take us past the White house where Jackson and I would get off to look at more museums while Steve and Shaye piked it and went back to the hotel.

Once out of the cab, Jackson and I took a gander at the protests happening out the front of the White House and tried not to look too suspicious as we stared at the most famous house in the world. After watching all the activity we walked to the Nation Museum of American History.

Another really great museum and lots of things to look at.

Once finished we headed to the National Museum of Natural History - we saved the best one for last. It was awesome. So much stuff and so much to look at. My brain was in information overload and so was Jackson's.

When we finally made it back to the hotel at 5:30 (which is when the museums close) Jackson and I were k-nackered. My feet and legs were so sore and my mind had been blown that many times I could hardly form words. It was such a great day and I am prepared to put up with the soreness to have the experience.

On the road again

Saturday 18th May

We had booked an SUV for this part of the trip - a drive from Orlando to New York. Steve was very excited about driving it as we had seen the same model at the Racing Ride yesterday and it was huge! Early, we headed over to the Hilton to pick it up.

The valet drives out in a soccer mum van called a Dodge Caravan.

It's massive inside - so at least the kids have a row of seats to themselves but Steve was spewing! He really wanted to drive on of those big cars we had been seeing on the streets. Oh well.

One last meal at the Pepper Market and we were on the road for 6 hours of fun filled Driving time and hoping like hell that Mavis the GPS gets us there.

As drives went it wasn't too bad. Steve drove all the way while I navigated with the help of Mavis. We only took one wrong turn but it was sweet - we made it back onto the right path. At about 4pm we took a left and finally arrived at our hotel in Charleston.

There was a free shuttle to downtown Charleston at 6 so after checking out our room (Jackson was excited because there was a sofa bed so no sharing with Shaye) and making use of the facilities, we squeezed into two different buses and hoped like hell we met up at the same place.

Charleston is really pretty. It reminds me of New Orleans without the grime. I am kinda spewing we ended up going downtown because now I knew about Charleston I wanted to stay and check it out but Washington was more important.

We had dinner at a pub called Henry's Restaurant. Really nice food which was scoffed down really quickly. The a quick walk around the streets and back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Sunday 19th May

After scoffing down our free breakfast (our next meal was going to be 8 hours away) and dragging our luggage back to the Caravan, I took the wheel and we headed north to Washington DC.

As drives go it was pretty uneventful. I had passed the mantel of photographer to Jackson while I was driving and I hope he got all the pictures of the stuff I was game enough to point out when I took my eyes of the road for 2 seconds.

 Driving on the freeways is full on here. Don't even think about leaving a car space between you and the guy in front, someone will fill it really quickly. It also doesn't help when halfway through the trip - Torrential Rain starts pouring down! We got caught in this massive rain storm that slowed everyone down to 40 miles, hazard lights were going off, people were pulled over on the side of the road and my hands got sore from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Very scary and really glad when it stopped.

So apart from the rain and the really nice country side we arrived in Washington DC safe and sound. Found the local McDonalds for dinner (two buildings down) and stayed indoors till tomorrow - lots of walking to do tomorrow.