Central Park....you DO need two days to see it all!!

Yesterday we travelled uptown to Central Park. We made a late start of it, due to children not wanting to wake up and get going.

We hit the subway and made our way to 57th street and crossed to the entrance. After fending off about 15 people wanting to know if we were interested in hiring a bike or taking a horse & carriage ride (at $110+ - thanks but no) we bought a map and set off. There were paths leading in all directions, so we picked one and started walking. We soon found the Heckscher playground and the carousel. The girls and I rode the carousel. There's nothing wrong with reverting back to being an 8 year old!! It was 3 and a half minutes of going round, but it was a large one and dated back to 1909. 

After the carousel, we sat and had a picnic. After that it was a visit to the shop, more key rings, and then an amble around to see what we could see. We passed various street artists and vendors, offering everything from magnets to portraits. We stopped and watched a couple of street dancers, but they soon went into the routine we had already seen ( summersaulting over 5 people from the audience) and we knew what was coming. There only so many times you can watch the same thing. But these guys were funny, I guess that's how they make their money. 

We then headed to the Alice in Wonderland statue, a huge statue that kids can play on and around. Tara made a friend, so we let her play for a bit. Bernie had his FDNY t-shirt on, and a lady approached him to ask if he'd "lost anyone" and when he said, no, I'm a tourist, she walked off. I guess if you wear a FDNY t-shirt tourists assume you were involved in 911, and not that you've visited the FDNY store.

After Tara was finished playing, we ambled back, coming across some ducks. Amy & Tara stopped to feed them and the turtles that were lurking. We headed back to the Heckscher playground, as we had promised Tara a longer play. The playground has a big water play area and Tara ended up soaked. She tried to 'make friends' but found the children had a hard time understanding her, a problem she had at the local playground the other night.

After trying to coax her out of the water, we resorted to threats and then bribes and then threats again. In the end we promised her we'd come back the next day, with her bathers and a towel so she could have a proper play.

While walking to the subway, we came across an open air market. We bought Tara a dry t-shirt. We also picked up a couple of iPhone and iPod cases (iPhone  cover count - 3, pod cover count - 2) and some dinner. We found out that the markets were open again tomorrow, so since we were headed back to the park, we decided to hit the markets again too.

We caught the subway home, stopping at the supermarket to get more picnic supplies.

This morning we got up earlier and without consulting any app, hit Central Park again. It's time we only waved off 12 people offering bikes or carriage rides!! We walked through the park to Strawberry Fields and the Imagine memorial for John Lennon. It directly across from the Dakota building, where he was shot in 1980, so we went across the road to take a photo. Not to be morbid or anything, but its history and he was a legend. Plus I saw Yoko Onos tree inDC, so I completed the circle.

After that we headed off to find the castle. After passing Shakespeare's garden and the Delacorte Theatre we found Belvederes Castle. A cute little castle set up as a weather station (originally a lookout) that offered amazing views of the park and the NY skyline. We had lunch and headed back to the playground. This time Tara had her bathers on, and she had a ball, running around and getting soaking wet. We all had a paddle with her.

It started to rain, so we got Tara dressed and headed down to Lexington street to the markets, again without consulting a map. We're now familiar enough with NY that we sort of know our way around. This time we had plenty of time to wander, as last night we got there just before they packed up for the night.

There was lots on offer, but every 5th store was selling the same thing. We ended up getting a few bits and pieces, and looked around for another bag. We stopped at one stall and I was looking at a backpack, swinging it on its hook as I looked at it from every angle. The asshole stall owner proceeded to yell at me to stop it because I would break it. I'm sure the good people at the Beverly Hills Polo Club would be interested to know that turning one of their backpacks on a hook for 15 seconds would break it. After removing my hands from the bag and saying I got it, I got it, we loudly announced that he had lost a sale and walked off. A couple walking next to us overheard us comment on what a prick he was and agreed. It's nice to know you can be a total bitch in New York and no one cares. It's rather empowering! Mind you, so people here are just plain rude, so it's give and take.

We got dinner and kept wandering. Since its our last night, we had a bit more souvenir shopping to do, but were also aware that our budget was running out! We have spent so much here, but then again, what's the point with going home with money???

We came back to the apartment and repacked. We ended up buying another bag (NOT from the asshole!!) and it soon became known as the overflow bag. Once we repacked the other cases and weighed them, it was needed to pack stuff into to keep the bags from going over weight!!!

So tomorrow we fly out of NY to LA, to spend another few hours at LAX (yay. Add that to the 13 hours we were stranded there last time!!). We then fly to Sydney, losing Tuesday in the process. Then it's a quick flight from Sydney to Adelaide, leaving the sunshine and warmth behind. In 4 weeks I've worn a jumper once, and that was for about 5 minutes in DC at 2am. 

It's time to reflect and look back at everything we have seen/done/learnt/experienced over the past few weeks. There have been many, but here's a few. I'll blog again when I'm back in Adelaide, so here's some as a taste test:

* Bernie really hates flying. This is no huge surprise, I've known him for 20 years and flown with him before. But after 7 flights with another 3 to go, his unease at flying hasn't really subsided. He still grinds his teeth and jiggles his knees on take off and landing and during turbulence. I love flying. If the stewards start panicking, then I will.

* Tara can be a stubborn little cow when she wants to be, and the last 4 weeks have shown just how stubborn she can be. From refusing to go to bed to refusing to eat anything other than chips (fries), yoghurt or breakfast ceral without milk to refusing to walk more than 100 metres at a time (more than likely something to do with her self imposed dietary restrictions). She is my daughter and I do have a stubborn streak, but it's not at bad as hers!

* Red lights and pedestrian crossing signs are a mere guide in NY. Red light? Nah. Don't walk sign? Nah. In the end we just crossed whenever, regardless of what the sign said. Our motto for NY? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In the end, we were laughing at the tourists waiting for the lights to change.

* New York subways smell like piss. Even the ones at the swanky end of town, they just has a slightly classier urine smell, like fine wine as opposed to cheap plonk.

* Amy walks like an old lady and would not survive NY on her own. It's a heads down/bum up walk, and she ambles like a nanna. However, Tara's eating & walking pace is even slower, so it all woks out in the end. We found the easiest way to speed Amy up is to sing or dance in the street. Then she hurries up to make it look like she's not associated with us.

* I now know how stressful it is to travel. From the planning to the picking of activities, I now know its not easy for everyone to be happy with everything 100% of the time. Yes, I've been cranky at times when everyone else seems bored or bothered by what we are doing, but you're only in NY for the first time once, and possibly never again, and in the city that never sleeps, I've wanted to do as much as possible. But we've managed to negotiate our way from one side of the country to the other, and we haven't lost anyone or anything, so it's been a success. And we've relaxed and laughed and enjoyed each others company as a family, without work, school or life getting in the way and fucking it up. So can I say it's been a successful trip? Yes, I think I can. And will I do it again? Yes, I think we will, should the opportunity arise.

* I also know why people will bust a gut to travel. The experiences we've had have been nothing short of priceless, even the mundane boring things like catching a train or going to a supermarket. Fun is what you make of things and I've had a ton of fun. I THINK everyone else has too. But since I'm the one writing the blog, I'm answering on their behalf, and I'm saying yes. 

* Family is what you make of it. I came to America with a step nephew I hardly knew but loved, and a step sister I hardly knew about, but I leave with 2 nephews who I adore, a brother inlaw I can have a laugh with, and a sister I wish I'd known for the last 20 years. In just over 3 weeks I discovered a woman who is everything I wanted in a sister and more. She's smart, funny, kind to the core and generous to the end of the earth. She was told I was a drugged up homeless prostitute, (all very incorrect!!!!) but she soon learnt I wasn't. We got on better than I had hoped, and I'm proud to call her my sister. Of everything I will miss about America, and there is plenty, spending time with my American family with be the biggest one.

So on that note, I sign off this part of the blog. We still have a long journey ahead of us back to Adelaide, and with the way things have been so far with flights, I'm expecting more hassles and long discussions with people at Deltas check in counter. For once I'd like to be surprised and get on a plane  without any hassles, but I'm not holding my breath!

The next blog will be written back in my own home, more than likely my bed, as I also discovered I do suffer jet lag!

Lets see New York!

I'll begin this now, as I was too tired last night and it may have to be extra long as we are heading out again today to do more fun and exciting things!!

Yesterday was our only day of 'planned' activity. We had booked two things to do, one in the morning and one in the evening. We started the day by taking to subway to the 911 memorial. The events of 911 still shock me to the core today, as Bernie & I were watching it happen on TV, from the first plane until both towers fell. In the days following, we hoped for survivors but in the end, only 18 people made it out. Nearly 3000 people died in those horrific attacks and in part, it has shaped the world we live in today. When we made the decision to come to NY, number one on our list of things to do was pay our respects to the victims of 911. Visit to the memorial is free, but you have to book in advance. I booked our visit in January.

As you walk down to the memorial, you are walking the streets that were engulfed by smoke & debris when the towers fell. Today, little remains of the destruction, and new building work all around serves to remind you that New York moves onward and upward. We passed through the first ticket check and walked to the next. Because of the construction work, there is a temporary entrance, so you have to wind your way through streets. We entered a building briefly to go through the security scanners and moved on to have yet another ticket check. In all, there were 3 times we had to show our tickets.

We finally made it to the memorial park. Here are the two pools of remembrance, standing where the original towers were. Two massive water filled pools with waterfalls cascading down into them and the names of the victims around the outside. They are still building the museum but you can see the massive tridents they salvaged from the original tower. Also in the plaza is the survivor tree - one of the original trees that was found in the debris and nurtured back to life. 

I'll try and put the feeling of the memorial as succinct as possible. Standing between the two pools and looking at the buildings around you, you realise you are standing in a spot that 12 years ago had tonnes of debris, bodies, fire and destruction and you can't help but feel a chill. Pictures from 2001 show just how high the debris of the buildings was piled. The black granite of the pools and the sheer size of them gives you a good idea of how big the towers were. And how many people worked there. Ordinary people going to work, and then first responders who arrived to help. The stories of heroism that have come out just show the selflessness of human nature. The way New Yorkers offered everything they could to help in the search efforts and those who couldn't actively help, supported those who did. If you haven't read or seen much about 911, do some research. Not just on the attacks but the rescue efforts. I'll never forget the scenes of the streets lined with people clapping and cheering the metal workers changing shifts as they dug through the collapsed buildings. Of people bringing food to them. 911 may have been a tragedy, but the human spirit prevailed.

After our quiet reflections at the memorial, we hit the gift shop. Keying count increased. After that we went to the Burger King that was used as the NYPD headquarters after 911 and which was shown in a book we bought. While lining up, Tara needed to use the bathroom, which was upstairs. I turned to take her, when the greeter offered us the use of the staff bathroom. I thought it was odd that Burger King HAD a greeter but thought nothing of it. After all, this is New York, they do things differently here!! We were given a number for our order and told to place it on our table upstairs. Bernie & I looked at each other blankly - dont we just come and just get our order? No. Upstairs we were shown to a table (table of 4? Follow me please) and seated. Next thing, our food was brought to us, and our server checked we had all the sauces we needed. As we ate, he stopped by a couple of times, even to try and coax Tara into joining him in a bit of a dance!! This is Burger King. Can you imagine getting the same thing from your local Maccas???? I took out a $5 note to give to our server but he was busy. Overall, the oddest fast food eating experience EVER!!

After lunch, we crossed over to a park to decide what to do next. As we sat there, a group of street dancers started their show. High energy dance tricks and 2 brothers who pulled people out of the crowd to participate. Thankfully, they didn't pull me out!! We laughed as they ran though their routine, pulling 3 women and one man ( a tall sexy white guy as they said) out of the audience. They made us laugh, so when we were hit up for the usual 'we do this for a living' spiel, I threw in my $5. I was wearing a California t-shirt, Amy had a New York one on, Tara was in a Paris one and Bernie had a SC one on. I was asked where we were from  (I could see he was confused) and when I said Australia, he said 'stop the show! I've just been given $5 from Australia, show your appreciation' and the crowd clapped. Like the shy retiring person I'm not, I played up got he crowd, acknowledging their applause. After collecting their 'fee', one guy proceeded to summersault over the audience participants. It was a cool thing to see, another one of those 'had to be there' moments!!

While we were in downtown, we stopped to get an ice cream. Bernie was wearing his fighting gamecocks t-shirt from SC. I've already mentioned that the gamecocks are the University of South Carolina team, and this woman came up and asked if we were from there. She mentioned she had graduated from USC in May and moved to NY. I think she was a bit disappointed to discover we were just Aussies on holiday!!

We made the decision to head uptown to the FDNY Fire shop. I wanted a fire patch and t-shirt, even more so after visiting the 911 memorial.

To try and explain Manhattan to those not familiar with the island, it's all based around a compass. Everything is east or west, up or down. So 911 is downtown, central park is uptown and Times Square is midtown. Then there's the upper east side, upper west side (on either side of Central Park), the lower east side and the lower west side (on either side of downtown). We are staying in the lower east side. (I've included a map of Manhatten to show what I mean)

We plugged the address for the fire shop into the 'oracle' (which is what Hop Stop has come to be known as) and made our way to the subway. While riding the train, we were treated to a guy doing a dance routine, but as he began just before he got off, I can't say how good he was. We walked up to the fire shop, and spent some cash on FDNY goods. T-shirts, teddy bear, pins and of course, key rings. (Yes, plural. I have a problem.) While we were uptown we headed to FAO Schwartz, one of the biggest toy shops in the world. It's one street back from Central Park, so we got our first glimpse of the park, and the multi million dollar properties that surround it. Rich people will happily drop in excess of $4m to own an apartment overlooking Central Park. Lucky rich bastards.

FAO Schwartz had the famous giant piano. Anyone who has seen the movie 'Big' has seen Tom Hanks play chopsticks and Heart And Soul on the big piano. Well, the one he used is now in a museum, but there is still one there for people to go on. No jumping, running or sliding is allowed, but we still had fun making the keyboard light up!! We let Tara pick something to buy, within reason (due to size & weight restrictions for flying home) and she was resolute that she wanted the giant pink dog (cost: waaaay too much!!). When I pointed out that it was too big (read: the size of a bed) to fit in our luggage, she said 'but I'll HOLD it mum!' There's an image. A 5 year old holding a mattress. On a plane. In economy. In the end she settled for a small black cat which she called Slash. 

It was getting on for 5, and we had another planned event to get to. A harbour lights boat cruise. We boarded the subway again and headed for Times Sqaure again, as the harbour pier was west of it, in the neighbourhood of Hells Kitchen. We stopped for  dinner at a nice eatery called Gourment New York and had a sandwich/wrap/fajita dinner. (not all together, obviously, we all had different things). We walked down to Pier 83 and swapped the print out for tickets and joined the line to get on board. Once on board,we found our seats and waited to set off. Our tour guide was a native New Yorker and he knew his stuff! We got some great trivia and history about New York, and I was especially interested to note he had written a book called Unique New York. I'll look it up later, I thought to myself....

The boat was docked next to the USS Intrepid, a retired US naval WWII aircraft carrier. It's now a permanent fixture as an air & space museum. It has various planes, as well as the original space shutte. Housed alongside is the Concord. As we pulled out we got to see her in full. Had we known about it before we came, we would have booked a visit!

The cruise we were on took us in a semi circle around Manhattan. Before planes, New York had 200 odd years of sea faring history, but these days, a lot of the piers are disused. One in particular is Pier 54. It stands out like a sore thumb. There is nothing on it, even though its a free park and open to the public. What's so great about Pier 54? Well, IF the Titanic has made it's journey without disaster, it would have berthed at Pier 54. Plus, it was where the Louisitania was berthed prior to it being sunk by a German U boat in WWI, thus pulling the Americans into the war. In fact, a large percentage of boats that sailed from or to Pier 54 had met with a sad demise, so it was left as a park. But no one goes there because of the rumour that its cursed. 

As our boat sailed around the island, we were given lots of interesting information about New York, and Manhattan in particular. Our guide gave us some history on the skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. He also filled us in on the 3 bridges that link Manhattan to the rest of New York, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan bridge and the Westburg bridge. Easy to remember the order - BMW. As a trivia buff, I loved the information, and vowed to get his book....

We sailed down past midtown where the Freedon tower rises above everything. It's the first tower to be completed to replace the World Trade Centre. It's very impressive, especially when the sun is setting. We had seen it up close earlier in the day, but the perspective from the water was imense!! 

After doing a u turn (or whatever the naval term is) we made our way back, coming past the most iconic of New York icons, the Statue of Liberty. We made our way onto the bow for some close up shots. The boat bobbed in the water as we took a zillion photos from every angle. She's really quite impressive! By now, the sun was nearly set, but she was all lit up. The lights were starting to come on all over Manhattan and it was quite a spectacle! I put the camera away to take it all in. New York is massive, and we only saw half of it. All the skyscrapers lit up, reflecting off the water was certainly a sight to behold. It's a beautiful city from the ground, but it is totally stunning by night from the water!!!

Our boat berthed back at pier 83 (thus giving pier 54 a wide berth, pardon the pun) and we got off into a lovely rain storm. I say lovely, but it was raining quite heavily. Native New Yorkers were ducking under cover or running with umbrellas but a family of 4 from Australia? Nah.  

We did however, make a stop at the Market Diner for a hot chocolate and to use the facilities. A yummy late supper but talk about a snooty cashier! Paid the bill, saw a postcard from WA behind her, and the stuck up cow did not say a word to us. Took our money ok, but not even a friendly 'how are you' or 'was everything satisfactory' nothing.

We headed back to Times Square to see it at night. By now it was past 10pm and pouring with rain. We had already decided we were catching a cab back to our apartment and figured Times Square was the place to get one. However, after watching a hundred or so cabs go past, I hadn't figured out the light on/off system. I wasn't keen to stand in the pouring rain with my arm up like a dickhead, so I went into the Times Square NYPD and asked the most useless 'look at me, I'm a tourist' question. He tried to explain it, but when he said 'even if their light is off (vacant) they may not stop for you', he pointed us in the direction of a taxi stand. We took another soggy walk and eventually caught a cab. After much repeating of our address and holding fingers up (332 E4th street for the record) he eventually go it. We enjoyed the cab ride back with TV in the back seat. Bernie was up front with the driver, who didn't say a single word, until I made the fatal tourist error and got out of the taxi on the wrong side. After that, he didn't shut up. Apparently I had committed the most grave taxi passenger error ever and had to get BACK in the taxi, just to scoot over and exit the correct side. So now I know!

Before I went to bed, I looked up the book that tour guide had written. Yep, found it on Amazon, looked at the price....$185! For a used book! Or I could but the new one for $1689! For a fucking BOOK!! Is it printed in gold? With a jewel encrusted cover???? I must be missing something. If you want to check it out, google 'Unique New York' by Malachy J Murray. (P.S I have a birthday coming up in a couple of weeks and I'd really like that book....hint hint!!)

Friday morning was a lazy sloth around the apartment until about 11. Then it was on the subway to the Empire State Building for a trip up to the observation deck on the 86th floor. Interestingly, as I leant the night before, the ESB was originally going to be a transport hub for Zeppelins, until they realised how dangerous it was (and how dangerous Zeppelins were!!). The building was actually going broke, until the film King Kong hit the silver screens, and it was inundated with people wanting to see what the big gorilla saw, and thus the booming tourist industry was born!!

The trip to the top is quite drawn out. You take an elevator to the 80th floor (don't press any buttons, it's automated!!) and then wind your way to the next elevator bank for a ride to the 86th floor. There are rope lines set out all the way, and at the height of tourist season, it would take upwards of an hour to get to the front. Luckily, no such wait for us. At best, 15 minutes. As we arrived at the 86th floor, we stepped outside! My god, what a view!!! Out came the camera again as I took shot after shot of the skyline. In every direction there was buildings, ranging from a mere 5-8 stories high up to massive towering skyscrapers. As ESB is located midtown, you see almost everything. The stunning Chrysler building is very impressive!!

We spent a good hour at the top, taking photos and just drinking in the views. One of the sobering thoughts we had was people were at the same height as us at 911, and they had the option to jump or burn. Looking over at the ground below, it must have been a massive decision to make. It's certainly one I couldn't make if faced with it!! Then it was back to the gift shop and back down to the ground.

After ESN we headed off for a late lunch, stopping to check out a few shops along the way. We also had a look around Rockerfeller Centre, home of the CBS studios. We went into the shop but obviously I dont watch a lot of shows becuase I didnt recognise many! But this was in the Madison Avenue/5th Avenue region, and shopping doesn't come cheap!! We headed to Grand Central Station and because we hit it about peak hour, it was busy!!

We caught a train back down to the lower east side and did a bit of suburban exploration, just a fancy way of saying we got a bit lost. We had dinner and came back to the apartment. It was another day exploring and the more we do, the more familiar we get with our surroundings. We're not quite native New Yorkers, but the subway doesn't seem as scary, and it's actually quite easy to find what you're looking for. 

Tomorrow we are heading to Central Park for the day to have a picnic and relax. It's huge, so I've got no idea how much of it we will see. I will blog the days events tomorrow, but as the last few days have shown us, never be surprised by anything that happens!!!

New York - I heart you!!

Well, today was both eye opening and mind blowing. We decided to head into Times Square via the subway to see the sights. We headed off about 11, giving the kids time to catch up on some lost sleep from being up so early yesterday morning. We walked down to the Subway with the help of an app called Hop Stop. Doc was the one who put us onto it. It helped us find the subway entrance and gave us a stop by stop guide of where we needed to go, as well as a handy map!!

We got off at 42nd street and made our way up to Bryant Park. A gorgeous park in the middle of high rises. With the aid of our map, we walked to Times Square and oh my God!! You see it on TV and in movies but nothing can prepare you for the sheer size and scope of it! You crane your neck to try and see everything and just look. It's amazing.

We made our way down to a hot dog stand to tick one thing off our list: a hotdog from a street cart. It was ok, but next time will ask for extras. Just a dog in a bun wasn't all that much for lunch!! We stopped at the Toys R Us store. 3 stories of toys with a huge Ferris wheel in the middle of the store. We bought a couple of things and moved on. Tara wanted her daily serve of chips (it's been near impossible to get her to eat anything else!!!) so we headed down to where we saw the Golden Arches. On the way, we found a Foot Locker store so went in to suss out sneakers. I saw a pair I liked but left them where they were, as I had seen another pair I had liked but weren't in my size in SC and I was kinda holding out for them. 

We hit Maccas, and I foolishly opted to order while Bernie and the girls headed upstairs to wait. 20 minutes later I was getting frustrated, as the woman in front of me was using fractured English and a lot of finger pointing to order over $50 worth. Add to that the tour group of about 20 Chinese who monopolised 4 staff with their mega order. All I wanted was a small fries and a bottle of water!! Eventually I was served and headed upstairs without punching anyone, in particular the guy standing behind me who felt the need to keep touching my back at any opportunity. If Maccas had a shower cubicle and an industrial size barrel of antiseptic, I would have asked for a second barrel.... I then made the mistake for going to the loo (sorry, restroom). For a store with a huge amount of customers, 3 cubicles is not enough! I managed to dodge the long line, but if you're busting and you need a loo, try the men's room. Bernie got in and out in 2 minutes.

After Maccas we headed to M&M World. A store for everything M&M. A massive wall of chocolate and merchandise up the wazoo! Tara and Amy both got a bag of M&Ms while I settled for an M&M statue of liberty. As we were leaving, the staff and the M&M broke into a dance routine which was kinda cool. You know you're living when you see a giant yellow M&M groove out to a Ke$ha song!!

We hit the streets again and decided to go souvenir hunting. There were a ton of street vendors selling t-shirts etc, but we went into a couple of the stores to get smaller items. In one store, Amy found a pair of American flag Converse, so she got them. We got more key rings (total keying count: not sure, too scared to count them yet!!) and other bits & pieces. We found a street vendor selling hoodies for $15 so Amy & I got one each. (Hoodie count: me - 4, Amy -2) Other stores of note we stopped at was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. It's a restaurant with (obviously) a Forest Gump theme. We quote a lot of Forest Gump (I gotta pee, I had a fleet of Jenny's, shrimp creole, grilled shrimp etc) so it made sense we'd go there! Bernie got a t-shirt listing all the shrimp per the movie and I got a keying. We also went to Hard Rock Cafe, planning to have dinner, but someone had booked out the place and it wasn't open until 10 - way past our dinner time!! Amy bought some cool Hard Rock drum sticks, and we were served by the coolest guy ever. I love camp, but black guys do camp that little better!! 

It was getting on for dinner time, so we found The Counter. It's a burger bar where you get to order your burger your way. I opted for a bunless chicken breast with tomato, cucumber, capsicum (sorry, red pepper) and sautéed onions with roasted garlic aioli. It was delicious!! 

After dinner it was back to Foot Locker. Bernie had bitten the bullet and bought a new pair of sneakers and it was time I shod my hooves in some new shoes too! My sneakers have taken a fair amount of thrashing, both at home and in the US, so I settled on a brand spanking new pair of Nike Shox. Multi coloured and comfy as all get up! I shall enjoy giving them a good run for their money (pardon the pun) when I get back to gym!!

Loaded down with bags, it was back to the subway for our return trip. We stopped in Bryant Park so the girls could ride the carousel. Then it was onto the subway and 10 minutes later, we arrived back on 2nd Avenue and walked past a fire station we had stopped at this morning. This time the doors were open and we asked one of the guys if we could come in. He said it was no problem and picked our accent straight off. He showed us the truck (the fire engine was out on a call) and ushered Tara into the front seat. She was happy to sit and look around inside. 

Engine 28 ladder 11 had responded to 911, and had lost 6 fire fighters. They had a memorial set up to remember them, as well as one of their signs from a truck that had been destroyed when the trade centres fell. The guy (damn I wish we got his name!) was happy to talk to us about anything and everything, and when the engine arrived back, told the other guys who we were and where we were from. NYFD are massive heroes in our eyes, as we watched the events of 911 unfold, it was the first responders we felt for the most. So many of them knew they probably wouldn't make it out alive, but they went into the burning buildings anyway. There's a really powerful 911 documentary by 2 French brothers who were with a fire crew on Sept 11 and its raw and emotional. I recommended everyone watch it to see just what these guys encountered. I asked if many NYFD had left the service after 911, due to PTSD, and he said some, whereas some just buried it and kept going, and some who continued to relive that day. We left after handshakes all round and it was nice to know they were so welcoming to a random family of Aussies. Tomorrow we visit the 911 memorial and it will be the NYFD who will get most of my tears.

New York is and will continue to be one hell of a city. One minute the streets look like Sesame Street, the next it's a bustling metropolis. We passed Katz Delicatessen, and something in my mind went ping. Where did I know that place from? Next thing I saw the sign - it was where 'that' scene from When Harry Met Sally was filmed. I wonder how many people have gone in and recreated the fake orgasm scene? We've earmarked it as a place to eat, but there will be no moans coming from me!! Amy would kill me!!

As is said, tomorrow we pay our respects at the 911 memorial and check out that side of Manhattan (I mean that side of the island) and then kill some time before taking a night time harbour lights cruise. NY is like DC - you can spend 4 weeks here and still leave with a list a mile long of things to see & do. And we only have 6 days.....it's fair to say, New York is on the list of places to come back to!!!

New York, New York.....finally!!!

This morning we were booked on a 7.00am flight direct to New York. So we packed the room up, left our room keys in the room and waited for Doc to pick us up. I read my emails while we waited, and found out that our flight had been cancelled, and we were rebooked on. Flight to Atlanta, then onto New York. Grrrr. Doc picked us up and took us to the airport. With the issues of earlier flights, I wasn't going to risk another stressful delay!

The lady at Delta tried to talk us into a standby flight, but we chose to stick to the scheduled flights. Our luggage was booked in and boarding passes given. It was then we realised that they had placed the four of us in separate rows. That wasn't going to happen! But we were told that the ticket agent at the gate could fix it, so it was off to Sonic for breakfast. My first ever breakfast burrito, and it was yummy!!

We returned to the airport after breakfast. After ignoring the obvious, it was time for goodbyes. Big hugs all round and tears. We approached the security check in, and I cried again when I told the guy South Carolina was too nice to leave. And again when we turned around to wave final goodbyes. And again when the plane took off. We were at the back of the plane again, but at least we were together. It was a quick flight to Atlanta, and this time, having been there before. This time I grabbed a couple of key rings to commemorate having been to Atlanta Georgia. That takes my keying collection up to....about 25....

We reallocated our seats (again, the back of the plane) and took off for New York. After a couple of hours we got our first glimpse of the Big Apple. We landed at La Guardia...and even I was beginning to wonder if we were landing on water!! It was freaky, but the runway eventually showed up out of the window!

We collected our baggage, pleased to see that it arrived on the same plane as us, and went out to meet our driver. We booked a car to the apartment we are staying in, because there is no way in hell I'm driving in New York! We got picked up, and drove to Manhattan. We got our first hazy glimpse of the Empire State Building. We picked up the keys as directed and arrived at our building. It's in what's known as Alphabet City. What we didn't know was that its on the 4th floor, and there's no elevator!! So we dragged 4 23 kg bags upstairs!!!

The apartment is really cute. It's quite tiny, but there is a separate room for the girls and us. For the first time in 3 weeks, we aren't all in the same room! We settled in and headed out to explore our surroundings and get some dinner. We ended up getting Subway and a Baskin Robbins ice cream for desert. It's quite hot at the moment, it was 95F when we arrived! We did some shopping and came back for the night. 

The area where we are is a bit run down but there are little public gardens dotted around which gives some break from the buildings.

Tomorrow we will go a little further afield. There's a fire station down the road that we hope to have a look at. And Thursday is the 911 memorial and a night harbour lights cruise. Will update the blog daily from here on in, as there's only a week left before we return home, and this IS New York!!

The last few days in SC

After the fun of the water park, it was time to slow down and relax, because that's what holidays are for isn't it?? 

Friday saw a special run to OCCO day spa to buy a voucher for Doc. She has done so much for us and spent so much time running us around that we felt she deserved a bit of a pamper!! After that, Andrew and I continued on the great sneaker hunt. We went to a mall that was almost abandoned - I saw 6 people. The Foot Locker there only had Nike......and only basketball/leisure shoes. So the hunt continues...

For dinner we went to Lizards Thicket. The food was Southern Home style cooking and it was a pick a meat & vegetables type meal. Rather telling was the fact that macaroni and cheese are considered vegetables. But it was good food and plenty of it, at the usual American reasonable prices.

In the car park, I heard a woman say 'I see something out of the corner of my eye' and I felt a hand only back. She was looking at my Marvin tattoo, and she pulled up her pant leg to show me hers. It's taken me 12 years and countless thousands of miles to find some else with a Marvin tattoo. And she would have been all of 60! Her tattoo looked rather fresh, so no wonder she was happy to show it off!

After dinner we returned to Docs to chat. The usual topics of conversation came up..the differences between Australia and America, moving to South Carolina, things we have in common, moving to South Carolina.....

Saturday was brunch at IHOP. IHOP, for those not familiar with the acronym, is International House of Pancakes. I'm not too sure on the international bit, but this is the country that plays the World Series of baseball with itself. IHOPs menu is exhaustive!! So much so, I had to have extra time to make a decision. In the end I went with the country omelette and it was delicious!! So far we've had some good and some not so good food over here, but IHOP has to be high on the list of good!

To walk off the IHOP, we went to the river for a walk. To put it into context, Columbia is built next to a city, much like Adelaide, but it's there that the similarities stop. The river and canal in Columbia are stunning, and set in some seriously beautiful surroundings. And it has turtles. And alligators. We saw plenty of turtles, but thankfully, no gators!!! It was another stunning sunny day, so there were plenty of people out enjoying the sun.

After walking off some of the full feeling, Doc and I went grocery shopping for the ingredients for the next couple of dinners. Saturdays was a Mexican fiesta, and Sunday George was to impress us with his BBQ skills. I was asked to buy a bottle of Captain Morgans rum, but after seeing a large variety of flavoured vodkas, I chose to indulge. The little bottles were $1.00 each, so I bought 12. Whipped cream, wedding cake, sugar cookie, espresso, apple pie, root beer, pineapple....and the other ones I can't remember. We went back to the hotel full and happy after quesadillas, chihuahuas (the food, not the dog) and vodka! 

Sunday it was back for round 2 of the food festival! George on the grill. Delicious Beef ribs, steak, grilled corn....plus Docs potato salad and coleslaw, topped off with a desert called death by chocolate. Lets just say I went to my demise quite happily!!

After dinner we gave Doc her voucher and some flowers to say thank you. She has done so much for us, and driven us everywhere we wanted to go. It's fair to say we were apprehensive flying in, since we hadn't met Doc before, only Andrew, so it felt like we had flown 12,000kms for a blind date. Doc has been my step sister for over 20 years, but the last couple of weeks we have established a sisterhood. So what she did for us, especially the DC trip was amazing. Any trip where the motto is 'so much fun you have to sign a waiver', and laughing til you cry on more than one occasion, well, you'd have to be a miserly old shit not to enjoy yourself!!

After Andrew got home from work, I drove his Mustang. Initially I was happy to stick to the side streets, but quickly decided I could handle the main roads to go get petrol. With Andrew in the passenger seat, I drove like a proper American. I was surprised at how quickly I got used to driving on the wrong side of the road. Perhaps 3 weeks of being a passenger sunk in via osmosis. Although I did feel like a learner driver again!! Aside from a slightly wide right hand turn I did ok, even the scary left hand turn across 3 lanes of traffic ok!!

Monday was bittersweet. Andrew came to spend the day with us, and after shopping for a new bag, we just mucked around. All the shopping we have done since we have been here needed to go somewhere!! We decided to make a last stop at Waffle House, thereby having had a breakfast, lunch and dinner there. Our usual server wasn't on, but the old lady who served us was delightful and funny and more than deserving of her tip!! We went back to Docs to say our final farewells to George, and the dogs Max & Momo. I quietly left a bit of my soul with the dogs to look after until I return.

New York is next. Time to tick another dozen or so things off my bucket list!!

Water park fun

Yesterday we went to the water park at Fort Jackson, a working army base. After presenting our ID to the stern looking military guard, we drove to the water park, called Palmetto Falls. The palmetto tree is on the South Carolina state flag, so you see it everywhere. 

The park was a fair size, and had a lazy river, slides, a little kids play area and lots of pool to play in. We began by doing a lap on the lazy river. You sit in a tube and float in the current. It was a nice way to see what the park had to offer. After that it was the slides. Tara initially went on the little kids slide (about 50 times!!) before we convinced her to try the next one up. Many yells of 'catch me mummy/daddy' before she figured out she didn't need catching at the bottom, and then it was just slide/out the pool/up the stairs/slide continuously for about an hour and a half. Amy & Gage went on the big slides and had fun racing each other down. 

I took the odd lap on the lazy river to bask in the sunshine, and topped up my holiday tan, as well as raced Amy a few times on the slides. In all, we had a great day, and the kids enjoyed themselves.

A couple of notes. It seems there is no Slip Slop Slap policy here. The number of people wearing hats was low, as was the people wearing t-shirts. Amy was actually told to take hers off. And coming from the harsh summers in Australia, that was something weird!! 

Also, the American obesity epidemic was on full display. Lots of overweight parents stuffing their faces, but one kid took my breath away. He would have been no older than 10. But my god! He would have easily weighed 100kg. He had a gut on him that hung over his board shorts that would have rivalled a 40 year old beer drinkers. He had a massive set of man boobs and stretch marks all over him. At first i felt   sorry for him, but I counted him going to the cafe at least 3 times. I didn't see his parents. He wasn't all that active either. No wonder there is a problem here!!

After the water park we went out for dinner to a place called Shianos. Yummy Italian food and plenty of it. I ended up bringing half of mine home in a doggy bag.

Another first was Bernie had a couple of ticks, possibly from when he did Airsoft. We had to make a late night call to Doc for tweezers as we didn't have any. Nasty looking bastards they are too! One was particularly stubborn! Both have been safely removed, but if Bernie ever says 'I'll do it in a couple of ticks', we now have a time frame to reference. 

Still loving the relaxed lifestyle and friendly locals. It's a lifestyle that's pretty hard to beat.

What on earth is a fadoodle???

One thing I've neglected to mention is the driving game we've been playing. And since we spend a fair bit on time on the road, particularly the DC trip, it's a nice way of passing the time. 

There are 3 cars that earn the person next to you a punch or slap. Most people are familiar with the 'punch bug'.....see a VW bug and its a punch bug. Welcome to punch bug 3.0, as I explain punch bug, stang bang and fadoodle.

Stang bang is a mustang. Much like punch bug, see a Mustang and someone gets a punch. A convertible Stang is two punches....one for the Mustang, one for it being convertible!!

A fadoodle is a yellow car EXCLUDING service vehicles. So no taxis, buses, or other service vehicles.

So you can have a double punch for a yellow mustang or bug. However, fadoodles have also included motor bikes, a pedi can, and in the instance of a house in Georgetown DC, a house. It was BRIGHT yellow!!! The fadoodle punch was granted by the punchee, so it was valid. I have, however, been fadoodled via photo text from Doc and awarded the point.

If you punch stang or fadoodle in error, expect two punches back. It's hard to stuff up a punch bug, but since there are cars that look like Mustangs, it's an error easily made. I got a double punch back trying to fadoodle after a glimpse of a car that turned out to be taxi. Thems the rules....

So it you're in a car for a long period of time, try the game. Obviously Stang Bang won't apply much at home, but pick a car and start punching your travel companions!!!