Walmart, cotton candy, bowling and more…

We left Washington on our way to Raleigh, we were heading towards the little southern towns I was super excited about. However our first stop was at a cemetery, not just any but the Arlington National cemetery.

The first thing that stood out about the cemetery was how precise and neat the headstones are placed, in straight lines and the fact that they go on for as far as the eye can see.

There is a feeling you get when you are at the cemetery not only are you at a place where great respect is required but there is a feeling of peace that falls over you. The changing of the guards was like nothing I have ever seen before.

The changing of the guards takes place at the tomb of the unknowns, the tomb guard marches 21 steps along a black map, before pausing and facing north for 21 seconds then east for 21 seconds, this is then repeated throughout the hour. The reason 21 was chosen is that it is the highest military honour for example the 21 gun salute.

We were also very honoured to see a full military funeral in progression, including the coffin being pulled by horse and cart to the final resting place. Our tour guide said in all the visits she had made to the cemetery she had never once seen what we got to see.

The cemetery also is the final resting place of JFK, seeing his final resting place was eerie yet I couldn’t help but be in awe of seeing this place. 

On our way to Raleigh we stopped at a walmart, this was my first experience at a walmart and I have to say it didn’t disappoint. We stopped with the purpose of people finding things to wear for Valentines day the following day, but it didn’t stop us just looking at everything and anything.

One of my favourite and funniest memories happened at this stop, with the girls trying on boots we found on sale, however Carly had hurt her ankle and it was swollen she couldn’t get the boot off, this lead to me dragging her around walmart trying to get the boot off but just laughing way too much.

Raleigh was our first buffet night, I am not a huge fan of buffets and was a little apprehensive, but the buffet offered some food which my US friends had spoken about often such as sweet potato with marshmallows. By far though my favourite part was they offered Smores and Cotton candy as part of the dessert selection in the buffet.

After dinner we headed to a bowling alley for a few games, this was also a good mingle and mixing kind of activity. I have a fairly short attention span so only really played one game before loosing interest, but it was a fun night regardless.

The what house? The White House?

We had two full days to explore Washington after the first evening, so the next day began the exploration of the Smithsonian museums. First up was the air and space museum. We signed up for a free guided tour, which whilst informative was probably a little too informative for my liking, and it took me less than 10 minutes to decide this tour was not for me, and I opted to sight see for myself. 

We also explored Washington by finding the shopping area – the girls were after red clothes for our Valentines day evening that was coming up in Savannah. We ventured into the subway system in DC and managed to make it back to where we were staying, though going into the subway when its sunny and coming out when its snowing was a new experience.

We headed to Georgetown for a night out grabbing dinner then meeting the rest of the group at a bar for some drinks and mingling to get to know people more. By chance we ended up at Serendipity (I didn’t even know they had one in DC). I did walk to explore the DC cupcakes Georgetown Cupcakes, but even in the ridiculously freezing weather and at 8pm at night the line up was still around the block, so I opted to not wait in the snow and thus didn’t get to see inside or try one of the famous cupcakes.

Day 3 was sleep in day, we decided to skip the bus into the city centre and use our street smarts (asking for help) and catch the metro to the white house . This adventure provided much humour after a conversation of being misunderstood when asking how to get to the white house being replied with the “what house” “the white house” “the what house”. Eventually we had our directions and set off, making a stop first for a hot caramel and some food.

The cold ended up being too much for me and I chose to go back to the hotel and warm up this was the -11 day and as much as I love seeing the sights I also enjoy being healthy and knowing I still had 2 months to go I really didn’t want to be sick.

Tonight is the night is the night that were losing control

Contiki for me it meant throwing out any preconceived ideas and stories I had heard and just going with it. When I was planning my trip Contiki was one thing I wasn’t 100% sure of, as I got to know some of the people I was travelling with I became more excited about it, after doing it I would highly recommend Contiki to anyone considering it.

Day 1: We had to have bags to coach in NYC at 7:30 am to hit the road, this was also the first time really meeting a lot of the people on tour. So simply put let the adventure begin. I was sitting with Lisa on the bus and we got to know Darsh, Amanda, Nick at our first stop which was Philadelphia.

First thing on the agenda, running up the Rocky Steps – well walking quickly and of course photos with the Rocky statue. The view from the top of the steps was looking back over the city before stopping by the liberty bell before lunch of a Philadelphia staple.

The Philly Cheese steak aka heart attack on a breadroll, we went to Sammys famous steaks for this experience, the boys got the meal, us girls opted for the cheese steak with provolone not cheese whip. The verdict whilst enjoyable way too  much food, and I don’t know how people could eat them often. 

It was back on the bus with our next stop being our first optional on our tour it was a tour of the Annapolis Naval Academy, we started the tour by walking through the streets and it felt like we had stepped into a set of a movie, prim and proper gardens, grand houses, each house with a flag out the front.  We got to visit the chapel which was beautiful, the gymnasium to see recruits in training.

We also got to see the Herdon Monument which each year is used during graduation where freshmen try and climb to the top, however it is usually greased up and the freshmen struggle to climb the monument. 

Washington DC was our final destination for day 1, we arrived to a very cold Washington – the coldest place I encountered on my trip it was -11c  and once again we got to see snow!

The first night was dinner and then a night time tour of DC, we got to see the Pentagon, White House, Capitol Building, Library of Congress and the Washington Monument, as well as visit the memorials of Lincoln, Jefferson and the Vietnam one. Whilst the weather was at the forefront of our mind, we braved the cold and got to see some fabulous sites the monument and capitol building of a night are spectacular. 

Seeing the Lincoln memorial was mesmerising, I have always had an interest in history, and it was surreal to see these iconic sights in real life and not just as part of a tv show or movie.

Time flies in NYC

The rest of the days in New York included a lot of shopping, some dining out, a sex and the city tour amongst many other things. Rather than a day by day play by of the time in NYC I will try and recall the highlights and will actually include some photos from here on it.

Shopping: you could spend weeks shopping in NYC – and hopefully I get back there soon to shop some more. Tiffany and co, Swarovski, Macys, Forever 21, Century 21 the list could go on forever, as the weight in my suitcase and the boxes sent home would prove. 

Buddakan was a place I had never heard of before, but Kasey asked if I would go for dinner with her if we could get reservations. This was the restaurant featured in Sex in the City wedding rehearsal dinner (sorry if I am wrong). It was really nice to dress up, have a sit down not on the run meal and cocktail. Also to explore a different area of the city. The meal was nice, we tried a few starters before the main, I don’t have photos of food as it was rather dark inside to set the mood. If you’re a fan of the show, I do recommend eating here if you get a reservation in advance. 

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge was something that was high on my to do list, I love pictures of the bridge, it’s the title of a song I love, and walking across it was just as exciting. A little disappointed that half the bridge was under construction, but the views and the feeling when crossing the bridge were amazing. Looking back on the city and being surrounded by great people may have just been another reason I fell a little more in love with that city. 

It was snowing and freezing cold on the day I arranged to go to top of the rock. Cam and I met up after dinner (Lisa birthday dinner at the hard rock café in times square). We walked to TOTR not sure exactly where we were going, and trying to be as quick as possible so we didn’t freeze. We initially walked into the wrong entrance, but walked straight into Jimmy Fallon leaving the building, he was surrounded by people, but we waited and said hi, Cam had his picture taken with him quickly before we let him escape. 

Eventually we found the correct entrance, at first we weren’t overly impressed but once we got to the outside level it was amazing the views seeing the snow falling over the city, the lights and just the feeling of being on top of the world. I can’t wait to re visit this view when its not snowing on a clear night. I loved this view as well as you could see the Empire State Building.

Serendipity, if you have seen the movie you know where some of my favourite New York to do things came from. The ice skating rink, the little cosy restaurant, shopping at Bloomingdales. I refused to be in New York whilst it was freezing cold and at times snowing without visiting this place. Lisa came with me after the sex and the city tour, we both ordered the famous frozen hot chocolate and a slice of cake/pie. The frozen hot chocolate is like nothing I can describe, it was so good though huge!! I would recommend unless you are extremely hungry/thirsty that you share.

After our trip to Serendipity Lisa and I wandered over to central park and decided to take a horse and carriage ride around central park. It was our last day in NYC and there was no better way to end it with that trip around central park. Our driver was very knowledgeable and pointed out lots of the interesting places.  Central park is another place I can’t wait to get back to to see in warmer weather and lie around and soak up the atmosphere, I do however feel so lucky to have gotten to see it with a sprinkle of snow and with the ice skating rink ect. 

Time to experience the atmosphere

This morning was meeting up with Kasey and Patricia and the four of us were heading to the 9/11 Memorial, it was one of those thing I was unsure if I would like it or not, I will not say I was looking forward to it. It was eerie to be walking around the reflecting ponds where you knew the towers stood, the sheer size of the base was something I had trouble wrapping my head around. It made me think a lot about what the people in those buildings must have went through. I am sure there would be someone who stood at a window and watched a plane headed at them.

Close to the memorial they are rebuilding the freedom tower, whilst it is inspirational to see them rebuilding this tower, you have to wonder how at ease people will be renting the space to run their business out of there.

After the 9/11 we wandered down to battery park and around to where the Staten Island ferry departs, it is nice just wandering NYC and taking in the sights, sounds and people around you. Battery park were the people dressed as the statue just there to take photos with people and entertain the tourists. They put smiles on faces and bring lots of laughs so I am assuming it must be a somewhat rewarding job.

The ferry to Staten Island was cold but it got extremely close to the statue, we didn’t go to the island with the statue simply because you couldn’t enter the statue it is closed for renovations and has been since 2010.

This is where I am going to express my opinion and I am certain put some people off side, whilst the statue was high on my to see list, it did leave me feeling underwhelmed. It is one of those icons you know of from a young age and it is held in such high importance by a lot of people, but for me it really wasn’t anything spectacular or fabulous. In saying that if I hadn’t seen it already and I was going to NYC I would put it on my to see list.

“this means he found the knicks tickets” – how to loose a guy in 10 days

Tonight was time to venture inside of Madison square garden and watch the Knicks play some basketball. They were playing the Utah Jazz, the arena/stadium was buzzing people were excited to be there and there was always something happening on or around the court. The knicks won in a game with a lot of fouls and free throws from the shot line. After the game it was back to the hotel bar to meet more contiki people and have some drinks.

days 4 and 5.... time goes so quick

Day 4-  was a food on foot tour, this was a great way to meet some new people and explore an area – in this case Midtown and mainly Hells Kitchen area. Our guide was very knowledgeable and knew the local cheap eats that were still really good, this was also my first taste of the famous NYC pizza – the verdict slices are huge, and it was pretty tasty.

I also got to see Madison Square Garden for the first time and wander Penn station and also my first look at a US kmart the things that stood out the most were the fact they sold beer and alcohol, I was also able to finally see the famous cheese whiz in a can – ewwwwww.

After my tour it was time to change hotels, and work out what I wanted to do with myself that evening, I ended up getting cheap tickets to see Seminar the broadway show with Alan Rickman and Jerry O’Connel. I was so glad I did this, it was such a contrast to musicals and big shows. The show had a cast of 5 and they were all fantastic, there was no intermission or glitz and glamour. Alan Rickman is fanfreakintastic at everything he does and no surprises he delivers amazingly in this show as well.

After Seminar it was a slice of pizza to take back to the room before calling it a night cause its Jersery in the morning!!

Day 5 – Superbowl Sunday the NYC Giants are in the superbowl so the city is pretty much a buzz, I start my morning with my first bagel – OMG – strawberry cream cheese on it and I am in heaven. Its not tooo cold today so I sit in times square and am in awe of how quiet this usually buzzing hub can be early on a Sunday morning. I meet Nicole and we start our adventure to Jersey – our aim is Carlo’s Bakery but first we must find the path “insert Nicoles American way of saying Path”.

By now Nicole and I have the subway under control we can get from point a to b pretty easily with no dramas, insert a new line the path and confusing begins it doesn’t help that everytime we ask someone to help us they don’t understand until Nicole says Path in a fake American accent and all of a sudden we have directions and are on our way.

New Jersey is across the river but the Path ride is relatively quick, we hop off at Hobboken and I am in love, tv shows and movies (Kevin Smith excluded) always make out that Jersey is this out of the way area that noone really wants to go to and it must be horrible, it is so far from the truth. It is such a beautiful place and I can see why people choose to bring families up here, it is still so close to the city but you have your own little oasis with actual parks – that’s right trees and grass, none of this concrete park business.

It didn’t take us long to find Washington ave aka Carlos way and find the bakery, the line was relatively short – I was expecting a huge line. I was also super excited, poor Nicole had to put up with me dancing around and trying to contain my excitement I didn’t do a very good job that is for sure.

WE lined up for maybe 45mins to an hour and then we were in, the system works by getting a ticket number then you are free to wander the store and look at the merchandise as well as the delicious cakes until your number is called. When your number is called someone takes your order and then after you finish they go and box it all up and then process your charge.

It really works quiet well, whilst this was going on one of the sisters – going to say Mary from the top of my head is out on the floor meeting and greeting people. Carlo is currently in Australia (yes just my luck), but everyone was lovely. I ordered a Lobster tail, cannoli and 2 super bowl cupcakes as well as a hoodie and a signed travel mug.

Once we had taken photos, purchased our goodies and I had no managed to calm down we headed towards the water to find a nice place to try and try at least one thing. The area we found was beautiful, we both tried the cannoli and it ticks every box. We then enjoyed the sun and took some photos looking back on NYC before navigating our way back to the city.

That afternoon we decided to do the full city circle cruise, this sailed around the whole of Manhattan Island and showed us the statue of liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and many wonderful other sights. We stayed out on the deck as long as we could ie. Till we could no longer feel our fingers, noses and toes. It was a great way to see the whole of the island and we were still back before Superbowl Kick off.

Steak steak steak – it is funny the things you crave and tonight it was most definitely steak! We decided to head to Ruby Tuesdays – after our first choice was closed, we were also meeting up with some other contiki people, dinner was great the steak was exactly what I needed. The rest of the night was spent wandering with a drink here and there, picking up washing and waiting for Kasey and Patricia to arrive. The Giants won the superbowl and it didn’t matter if you were watching it or not, the noise that you heard throughout the city was enough to ensure everyone knew the result of the game.

9/11 and staten island ferry on the agenda for tomorrow.

start spreading the news ... its day number 2 and 3

The second day was spent wandering around times square and getting to know the city a little. It is an amazing city with so much to see and do, I was in awe when I first saw times square and began wandering the shops - and thus begins the shopping... I don't think there was a day without some form of shopping.

That night I headed to see Live from Behind the podcast Kevin Smith was streaming into theatres around the USA and Canada. After many laughs and trying to keep myself awake I walked back to my home at around 1am – yet another thing that would become a theme.

New York is full of things to do and see and you would think 10 days would allow me to cover a lot of these things but it didn't even come close. 

Day 3 - I got a water taxi and was able to see some of the different areas. I got off at the southern sea port area, which leads straight into a shopping centre after having a look around and a tad bit of shopping I grabbed the subway back to my hotel to drop off my purchases before getting ready to see Mary Poppins.

Mary Poppins was fantastic, most people know I have seen the show twice in Australia and loved it, but something about New York and Broadway make it amazing!! The sets, the atmosphere it was everything I expected and more. I also managed to finally get my towel!!