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!!! 

A 3 day catch up

After the excitement of DC, we've had a couple of days of more relaxing activities.

Monday we caught up on washing and went for a swim in the afternoon. In the subdivision Doc lives in, there is a pool that can be used by residents. So we spent a good 3 or so hours playing in the water. We ended up chatting to a US soldier home on leave, and as usual, it was 'where are y'all from' that opened the conversation. I love the use of the word 'y'all'. I haven't had a chance to use it myself, but I'm sure I will. Tara FINALLY managed to get her head under water, after much coaxing. Then it was next to impossible to keep her head out of the water!! Hopefully when she resumes swimming lessons she won't fear going under water. If the stubborn little cow (yes, she is my daughter!!) refuses to put her head underwater at swimming I may just throw a hissy fit!!! 

After swimming we had dinner at Docs place. BBQ chicken and prawns, although why people insist on calling them shrimp is beyond me. Bernie foolishly challenged George to a game of darts. Considering George competes in dart tournaments and Bernie doesn't.....well, lets just say the outcome was inevitable.

Tuesday was a day of shopping. Doc took Amy and I to some great shops. I added two pairs of killer heels to my collection, and we went to a shop called the Burlington Coat Company. Essentially, it's like a super warehouse of brand name clothes that stores have an excess of. We bought a few things and the total for 6 items of clothing, a packet of raspberry m&ms (yumm!!), 2 chocolate bars and 2 drinks came to just over $100. Bargain shopping! We then turned our attention to sneakers. Sneakers here are a damn sight cheaper than Australia! But alas, we couldn't find what we were looking for. We retuned to Docs for dinner of Italian sandwiches. Meat, cheese, bread....delicious!!!!

Today we went to Riverbank Zoo. When we got there, a lady gave us free passes for entry. So we gratefully accepted and saved $45. So much cheaper than the Adelaide Zoo and so much better!! We saw grizzly bears, gorillas and meerkats. The highlight would have to have been feeding the giraffes. Three very hungry and tame giraffes who not only stuck out their long tongues to take food, but also let you pat them. I love giraffes and it was awesome to be so close to them. 

We also saw the kangaroos. We took the guide by surprise when she said 'y'all know where kangaroos come from?' And we replied 'home'. They weren't tame and just hopped around. The koala exhibit was one koala, but probably the most active one I've seen!!! But being a koala rescuer, I'm pretty confident I know what they feel like! I did refrain from correcting the guy who called them bears...we all know they are marsupials!!! 

We fed the lorikeets and they were happy to perch on us while they sipped the nectar we had in a cup.  Tara had a ride on a pony and loved it. 

Adelaide Zoo needs to incorporate more interactive activities and things to do. Riverbanks has a carousel, pony rides, an awesome tree top climb and lots of other money generating activities that keeps entry prices down. The reason we don't take the kids to the zoo at home is the cost of getting in! Sure, food and drink are higher, but you expect that. We spent about $12 inside the zoo, not including food or gift shop, and there was so much more to do! A kids train ride, the climbing walk, the carousel.....and all things to keep kids & adults happy. 

We're now back at the hotel just relaxing and giving Doc & co a break from us for the day!! Tomorrow we are going to the water park at Fort Jackson, so that should be a good day for the kids. We head off to New York on Tuesday with mixed emotions. Yes, NY will be cool, but we don't want to leave SC. And after a week in NY we head back to Adelaide. Contrary to the saying its nice to travel but there's no place like home, we feel at home right here. Going home will be something we all dread.....but we've decided we are DEFINITELY coming back!!!  

A short drive home?

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to DC/Virginia/Maryland and headed back to South Carolina. Unlike our drive up, the plan was to head straight back with only rest stops.

We were headed to the welcome centre of Virginia, essentially the 'state line' photo and rest stop. About 15 minutes later, an acrid smell started coming from the A/C vents, followed soon after by wisps of smoke. Doc pulled over to the side of the highway and we all got out. We sat on the grass while Doc called the head of fleet management for the state of Carolina. We were in a Dodge Ram Caravan people mover which Doc was able to get being a state employee (she's a professor at University of South Carolina) and all calls for the car had to go through the fleet manager. Being Sunday, and Father's Day in the US, he was in church and we had to wait for him to get back to her.

 

We had to temporarily move while the road crew mowed our patch of grass, but that was ok. After awhile, the fleet manager (let's call him Bob for ease of simplicity) said to drive to the nearest town to get off the highway. So we drove to Ladysmith and pulled up at a service station. Since it was lunch time we went in to get food. We were standing there debating the menu, when Bernie apologised to the lady behind the counter since we were taking so long. She said 'its ok, I'm just listening to y'all talk'. She even guessed correctly that we were Aussies, since we've been incorrectly identified as British or Irish. We had lunch and waited for Bob to call. 

He called to say that we should drive to the nearest Firestone workshop, about a 20 minute drive away. We plugged the address into the GPS and set off. The Firestone guy said it was a blower motor for the A/C and we should be ok to keep driving. He did caution us that should we start to smell a sweetish smell it may be freon, which could cause us to pass out as it settles in the lungs, should that happen, stand the person on their head. Thankfully, we didn't need to do that!!

We resumed our trip, stopping at the North Carolina state line for photos and the biggest truck stop I've ever seen for a pit stop. Once we crossed the South Carolina state line, it was again time for a photo. We decided to eat at Quinceys Steakhouse for dinner.....cue the restaurant review below....

Quinceys offered a buffet dinner, so we opted for that. The lady taking orders poured our drinks, then the people's behind us, without taking our food order. She then explained that she was the only one on the front line... We grabbed our plates and headed for the buffet. Nothing looked particularly great, and nothing had names, so it was a bit of a mystery meal. I got some orange stuff with meat and sat down. First forkful I picked up contained a fly. Cooked into the food. I called someone over and they got the manager. The manager came over, went to the food, stirred it (!!!) and offered to refund my money. Andrew warned someone about to serve himself some of it that I had found a fly and the manager left the food there!! We asked our waitress to remove the food - whilst it may have only been one fly, it was still tainted. The food was pretty average, in fact, the salad was the best thing there. Going for desert, they had salads in the same Bain Marie as the deserts, and sauces with no labels. Bernie thought he was putting custard on his place for desert, it turned out to be a mustard dressing. Overall, we ate enough to sustain us but the quality was pretty poor.

After dinner it was a non-stop trip back to the hotel. The drive home was supposed to be about 8 hours, it ended up taking us 13. But that was ok, because it was a van of laughs and conversation and nothing makes a road trip more than a great bunch of people to spend it with!!

So much fun you have to sign a waiver.

Friday morning dawned bright & clear, again. Today was the first day of our 2 day Hop on, hop off bus tour of DC. After consulting the map, we had a rough itinerary of where we were going to go and what we were going to do.

We began our tour at Union Station, the main station for rail and bus lines. It's a huge building with a large shopping mall and a huge domed main area. Our bug arrived and we sat up top in the sunshine as we were driven past historic buildings and monuments. DC is the city of art - there are dozens of sculptures dotted around the city dedicated to historic American people or events.

Our first stop off the bus was at the Korean War Memorial. It's a group of 19 figures, representing all the branches of service, each one in a different pose, depicting men moving through the battlefield. It's set with a backdrop of highly polished granite which reflects the figures. They are set in a V formation, representing victory. They represent the 38th parallel, the division between South & North Korea. It also has a reflection pool, and the saying, Freedom is not free. On the walk leading up to it are the countries who participated in the Korean War (or 'conflict'), including Australia. 

After looking at the Korean Memorial, we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial. This monument is representative of freedom, as it was Lincoln who drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, signalling an end of slavery, and effectively starting the pathway to an integrated America. The Lincoln Memorial is huge....a 19ft statue of a seated Abe. The building it is situated in has quotes from his famous speeches, including his one from the Gettysburg Address. The statue is amazing! Out the front are the stairs from where Martin Luther King gave his infamous 'I have a dream' speech from, and also where Forrest Gump gave his anti- war 'that's all I have to say about that' speech. We did look at recreating the scene from Forrest Gump where Jenny runs to Forrest through the pool, but one look and smell of the water put paid to that idea!!!

Another short walk bought us to the Vietnam War memorial. It was incredibly moving, as it is a long black slab of granite with the names of all 58,200 plus soldiers who died or were missing from the war. Even more moving was the tributes to the soldiers who have passed since the wall was originally done, and these have little stands with pictures of them in the Army, and as they were before they died. Some even had personal items left by family members. Some I saw (through my tears admittedly) were candy bars, t-shirts, teddy bears and a signed baseball. It made me cry, as many of them were the same vintage as my dad.... 

After wiping up the tears, we swapped bus routes (there are four) and went to Arlingon National Cemetery. This is where some of Americas most powerful and influential people are buried. We made our way to the tomb of JFK and Jackie O, and saw the eternal flame, lit by Jackie after JFKs death. We then moved to the Tomb of The Unknown soldier. This is a tomb containing the remains of soldiers who have been unable to be identified from WWI, WWII and Korea. The tomb, a 79 tonne marble block, are watched 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by members of the Honour Guard. The changing of the happens every half hour in summer, so we set up to watch it.

 Before we got to the tomb, we stopped to watch a military funeral procession that was passing by. A unit of soldiers followed by the coffin on a horse drawn cart. We stood with heads bowed as the family and procession of cars followed the coffin to its final resting place.

One guard walks 21 paces before stopping and turning. It's all timed to perfection. About 5 minutes before the change over, the relieving guard and the staff sergeant come out. The staff sergeant addresses the crowd to say who he is and what is about to happen. He requests that people remain standing and quiet out of respect. He then marches off to inspect the soldier coming on duty. Tis is a full top to toe, front and back inspection, including his gun. They then march up the the out going guard. The staff sergeant tells the guard to give his orders, which are 'remain on duty as assigned'. The other guard replies with 'orders acknowledged' and the incoming guard moves into position to being his watch. The outgoing guard and staff sergeant march off, where the guard shows his gun is not loaded by cocking it and dry firing it (pulling the trigger), and they march off. All up, it takes about 5 minutes.

After the change, there was a wreath laying ceremony. Once again the staff sergeant addresses the crowd to explain what it going on. He asks that any current serving army personnel are to salute at the command 'present arms' and anyone else is to place their right hand on their heart. The wreath is laid, the order to present arms is given and a bugler plays TAPS. 

Before we could move away, soldiers from the MP honour guards roped off sections of the audience and asked people to move. Next thing it was all military. Lots of soldiers in full dress uniform, about 20 secret service officers, MP's, commanders and the upper brass swarming the place. Preparations were underway for some thing major, and were not moving until it was done!!! Word spread that the US secretary of Defence was coming to lay a wreath to commemorate the Army's birthday. We managed to snag the front row for the best view!!

At the right time, 4 groups of soldiers in full uniform walked up the stairs. Next, the Army band marched on, accompanied by a single drum beat. In next was the colour guard...3 soldiers bearing flags of the Army and the US, accompanied by armed soldiers on either side. The band played Star Spangled Banner and next to come in were the dignitaries. Top Army brass and the US Secretary. They laid the wreath,  and the bugler played TAPS. They then all moved out in reverse order, and in time. The guard on duty came back to the assigned space and picked up his duties.

 The soldiers that are selected for honour guard have to fulfil very specific standards. They have to be a certain weight, height, look etc, and not everyone can handle it. Like I said, they patrol every minute of every day, no holidays or whatever. They will not stand down from their duty, regardless of the weather. They even declined to stand down when a hurricane was threatening Washington. To draw a parallel, there is just as much honour dying guarding the tomb as there is dying on a battlefield. 

We ended up staying longer at Arlington than expected, but when the big Kahuna of the US Army wants to lay a wreath, you stay and watch!!! Plus the added bonus of full military pomp & ceremony!!   

After Arlington, we got back on the bus and went past the Pentagon. It was only after taking some happy snaps that we were told we weren't allowed to take photos of the Pentagon. Oops....shhhhh, don't tell anyone!!! We went to Pentagon Mall for lunch. Four glorious storeys of shops, but we didn't have time - too much else to do!!! 

After lunch we hopped back on the bus and travelled past more buildings and monuments, before getting off at the White House. We took plenty of photos and waved to the snipers on the roof. Not sure if Obama was there, but gave the house another friendly wave just in case. On the way back to the bus, we stopped and found the friendliest squirrel in DC. There are squirrels everywhere, but they scarper pretty quickly. This one came right up to us and didn't seem to mind having his phot taken, even holding my hand while he sniffed the camera lens! We stayed with him for a good 10 minutes, and because he was on White House grounds, we nicknamed him the Presidential Squirrel.

We made our way back rot he car at Union station, stopping to look at the sculptures above the entrance. There are a number of Roman soldiers holding shields, who, we were told, used to not have shields but as they were rather scantily dressed, women in the 1920's used to pass out at the sight of their...bits....so shields were added to preserve their modesty. But if you look at the right angle, you can have a peek!

We drove back to the hotel, via the grocery store and liquor store, and dragged our tired selves to bed. It had been a long day but we had packed lots in! And there was another day of the same waiting on Saturday!!

A quick tangent to break it up. Travelling with kids is always fun and you get to see them discover new things. The one thing Tara has grown fixated with, is self flushing toilets. (Or 'splashing' as she calls it) Over here, the larger percentage of public toilets flush when you stand up. Some still have flush levers. In every toilet we stop at, and there are many, the conversation between Tara and I will go like this:

Tara: Mummy, this one will splash itself won't it?

Me: Yes it will Tara.

Tara: So I'll be safe then Mummy, when I open the door.

Me: Yes you will Tara.

Tara: And I don't need to splash it do I mummy?

Me: No Tara.

Obviously there are variations if she does need to flush, but either way, it's a well worn conversation. The kid is like the Rain Man of public toilets!!

Saturday morning it was back to DC for day 2 of our tour. After day 1, we had decided to check out the other routes and do the boat tour down the Potomac, before heading back to the city so the boys could go to the Air & Space museum. The Smithsonian Institute manages 19 museums in DC alone, and entry to all of them is free.

We jumped on the bus and headed to the Washington Hilton to change to the bus that would take us through Georgetown and Embassy Row. En route we passed the Fords Theatre, where Lincoln was shot, as well as the house across the road where he succumbed to his injuries. The Washington Hilton is where Ronald Regan was shot on March 30 1981, after making a speech. The wall outside the building was where it happened. That's the thing about Washington - it's not just old history, it's history that has happened since I've been alive!! 

The green route took us through a number of older neighbourhoods and districts, and past the cathedral, the 6th largest in the world. Some of the houses and buildings were stunning and the whole area just oozed history. Then we went back to the Hilton to switch buses again.

We used the restrooms at the Hilton (with the usual toilet flushing discussion from Tara) and before we could get on the bus, it took off with Doc & Gage. They waited for us in Georgetown and we caught the next bus. We had burgers at Five Guys, one of the best places for burgers by far!!!

We headed down to the river to catch the river tour, which was 45 minutes on the Potomac, going past more buildings and monuments. The sun was out and there were people kayaking, skiing, boating....just a lovely place to while away a lazy Saturday afternoon. After the boat, we headed back to the city and Bernie, Andrew & Amy went to the Air & Space museum. Doc, Gage, Tara & I wandered about and I bought the family matching I ❤ DC t-shirts. They had hoodies but the place didn't take card. We let Tara have a ride on the carousel and headed off to meet the others. All 3 of them loved what they saw, and agreed that there hasn't been enough time to really see it all. 

We headed back to Union station and drove to see the Iwo Jima monument. On the way there, I lamented that I wanted to buy a hoodie but would miss the chance. We pulled up at a red light and I took the opportunity to jump out and buy one. I ran up, told them what I wanted and handed over the cash, and ran back to the car. Andrew opened the door as I approached and I threw myself in the van before the light went green. Everyone in the car cracked up laughing and it became known as Express shopping. All up, I think it took about 30 seconds!

We made our way to the Iwo Jima memorial, another statue well known for its symbolism. It's of 5 soldiers raising the American flag. The sun was setting, so the shots were quite striking. As the sun set on DC, we said our farewells to this beautiful city and headed back to Waldorf for our last night.

DC is such a stunningly beautiful city full of things to see and do. You could spend weeks there and still not see everything. It's also very clean and you can see the pride city workers take in maintaining the city. It's a great city for walking around and riding. There are a number of places that you can hire bikes for self ride tours, as well as segways and walking tours. It's a great place to be, regardless of your interests. History, art, nature....anything.  

 

We will definitely be going back!!!

Road trip to DC...

Since we got to our hotel late last night, this blog will be a 2 day epic....bear with me on this one, we've packed a lot in!!! The 'we' is 7 of us....me, Bernie, Amy, Tara, Doc, Andrew & Gage. All in a 7 seater van....

We left SC at 9 on the dot. First stop was one of the top 10 kitchest attractions in America, South of The Border. Now generally, South of the Border is the Texas/Mexico border, but in this case, it's the South Carolina/North Carolina border. And since its on the south side of the border between the 2, it's south of the border. Still with me?

The first billboards for SOB (for short) start to appear long before the place itself. All kinds of signs in different languages and using different takes on words. They all feature a Mexican man, Pedro, the archetypical stereotype Mexican....think big droopy moustache, sombrero, colourful blanket, and you have Pedro. The first actual sighting of the place is a huge Sombrero mounted on a tower. I'm not sure if it can be seen from space, but it sure as hell is visible from a fair distance!

We pulled into SOB, and kitch didn't BEGIN to describe the place. It's all Mexican themed shops, bright fibreglass animals,diners, restaurants, game arcades....even a motor inn. Put on the sunnies, this place is BRIGHT!!! Some of the store names include Pedros Leather Shop, full of cheap touristy mementoes and Mexican themed stuff, The Mexico shop, full of cheap touristy mementoes and Mexican themed stuff, hats, toys...pretty much anything they can put a bright South of The Border emblem on, it's there. Shot glasses, pens, nail files, purses....everything!!! We had a look around both stores and bought.....cheap Mexican themed touristy mementoes. (Well, what did you expect? We ARE tourists!!!). We kind of had SOB overload so avoided the t-shirt shop and headed to the Cantina for a coffee before hitting the road again. We didn't go to the Fireworks shops, beach shop, Reptile Lagoon, World Imports.....there's only so much cheap Mexican themed mementoes we could fit in the van!!!

Our next stop was in Rockingham NC, for lunch at Dairy Queen. Doc, Andrew & Gage all raved about DQ so it was only natural we sample its food. It's like a KFC; chicken products, burgers, chips (I'm refusing to call them fries!!) and ice cream. Overall it wasn't bad, certainly better than some food we've sampled!! 

It was after lunch that Doc started commenting that it didn't feel right but she was following her GPS. After about an hour she rechecked her data, and we were in fact going to a completely different place than where we were supposed to be going! We were meant to be headed to Pungo in Virginia but ended up going an hour in the wrong direction. So we did the worlds largest u turn through back country to get back onto the correct highway. Meanwhile we didn't care, we were loving the passing scenery! Trees for miles, little towns with random gravestones in the front yards....it's ok to bury family members on private property here, assuming of course you let the authorities know the person has actually died! So you'll be driving along and see a cluster of headstone just randomly on the side of the road.....

The time just flew by. Doc & I up the front catching up on the last 20 odd years, Andrew playing Gameboy, Bernie snoring and the 3 kids in the back doing their own thing. Amy did Gages hair (it's like silk, really, and Amy has made it her mission to try and knot it...no luck so far) and then did his make up. He makes a pretty girl! Bernie falls asleep on long car trips, and there are photos of him at various times in various sleeping positions....

After a rest stop at the Nash County stop, we drove on. Rest stops over here aren't just a bit of shade and a picnic table on the side of the road, they have lots of toilets, showers and vending machines. They are like the luxury idea of rest stops. 

Now it was full steam ahead to Pungo. By now we'd crossed into Virginia, and Pungo had an aviation museum with metal dinosaurs in the front garden. The idea was to stop and look at the planes, but due to an almost 3 hour detour, it was closed by the time we got there. But the dinosaurs were accessible, so we stopped and had a look. They were actually really good! We took photos and decided it was time to eat. We drove on a bit until we came across Seacrest Restaurant, so we all piled in for dinner.

One menu item was collared greens. Neither Bernie or I had any idea what they were, so Doc got some for us to try. And OMG! It's kind of like spinach but not spinach....and seasoned to perfection! Bernie couldn't get enough of them! For a small eatery, the food was good, the atmosphere nice and the staff friendly. 

Another anomaly over here is free refills. At Seacrest, I was about half way through my root beer (sarsaparilla - yum!) when the waitress walked past and picked up my glass. My first reaction was 'hey, I wasn't finished with that', when Doc enlightened me to the fact that most places have free refills. I was gobsmacked! Anywhere we eat, you finish a drink, you buy another. Over here, as long as its a fountain (post mix) drink, refills are free. At worst, places might charge a quarter for a refill. Just another reason to move here.

After a nice dinner, we climbed back into the van and continued to head to Maryland. The kids dozed off, as did Bernie (again. He missed a lot of countryside due to being asleep....). At one stage I turned around and nearly wet myself laughing when I saw him fast asleep, leaning forward in his seat like he'd dropped something and was looking for it. I snapped a shot on my phone and showed Doc, who promptly burst into laughter and had to slow down, for fear of crashing. The laughter woke Bernie up, and the next 10 minutes was just pure laughter until we were crying with laughter. 

About an hour outside of Maryland, we noticed lightning off in the distance. Not just the odd flash, but strikes every 5-10 seconds, and it was awesome!! It was in a cloudy patch of sky and it just kept flashing, some smaller ones with the odd large one.

We know we were in Maryland when Quantico came up on our right. Quantico is the main Marine headquarters, and the building is quite striking. The other building that's hard to miss is Capitol Hill. We saw it as we came over the bridge. We also knew it was another half hour to our hotel in Waldorf, a suburb of Maryland.

We arrived at the hotel at about 1.15am and checked it, and it wasn't long before we hit the hay, ready for another days events.

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear. A quick breakfast before heading to Walmart to pick up a couple of things, and then we had an hours drive to Piney Point to see the light house. Again, it was more glorious countryside dotted with little towns. We passed a few Amish farms and saw the Amish riding their horse drawn buggies. We wound down to the Potomac River to see.....the smallest lighthouse ever! We were expecting a big light house, but were greeted by a midget one! But we looked at it, took some happy snaps of it and some really nice houses, and drove off in search of lunch. We stopped at the Olde Towne Cafe. Food was bad!!! Service was bad!! In the land of tipping, we didn't bother!! I had a Cobb salad, and it was nasty. One piece of lettuce still had dirt on it!! A quick drool over a Chevy showroom and a brand new Camero ($31,890!!!), and it was back to the hotel. Just as we arrived, a massive clap of thunder made us all jump, and then applaud. It seems we are all storm fans!!

After a quick hour or so, it was off to DC. Doc had a function to attend, which was the whole reason for the side trip. She went off and left the rest of us to wander down the Mall of America. Not a shopping mall, but a lovely stroll from monument to monument.

We began at Capitol Hill, the home of American politics. A glorious domed building used in most pictures of DC. After some happy snaps, we wandered to the next monument. As we headed to the Washington monument, we were flanked by the buildings of the Smithsonian Institute. The Smithsonian Castle was breath taking - huge old Gothic style. 

The Washington monument was covered in scaffolding, as it was under repair from the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked DC in 2011. But it was still very commanding and huge! We made our way to the WWII memorial and took some time to reflect.

It was getting on for dinner time, so we left the Lincoln memorial for tomorrow and headed off in search of something to eat, passing by the White House. We stopped to take some pictures, waved to Obama (who may or may not have been there, more a token gesture) and moved on. We stopped at Ollies Trolley for tea, another good meal but crap service. Any place you have to put in your order at a counter and collect your own food and clear your own table wasn't in for a huge tip. But the food was excellent, so $1.51 went into the tip container.

The city of DC is stunning. Old buildings, quirky streets mix with newer buildings and shops with ease. One minute you're walking past a hotel, the next minute the J Edgar Hoover building housing the FBI. It's clean and shiny and I was struck by the number of people out doing things. We saw dozens of joggers, teams playing kickball, soccer, riding bikes....everything. There's so much open space to cater for all sorts of outside activity and people take full advantage of it. It's how I think of cities in Europe, minus the dirt - I really can't get over how clean it is!!!!

We went back to meet up with Doc and came back to Waldorf for a good nights sleep.

Because I knew this blog post would be lengthy, I thought a cider might go down well, and Walmart is across the road. But trust me to find the only Walmart that DOESN'T sell alcohol!!!

Tomorrow we head back to DC to take a Hop on, Hop off tour, much like we did in LA. But this time we've got 2 days of exploration to do. The Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, The Smithsonian buildings, the Vietnam memorial etc are on our to-do list, as well as Embassy Row, where we plan to move from country to country, because everyone knows the grounds of the embassy are classed as that country's soil!! So it'll be like a trip around the world minus the jet lag, the cost and the full passport!!

We've been here for 10 days now, and the more I see and do, the more I dread leaving. I love this place, the lifestyle, the countryside, the people and the ease of feeling at home. Sure, I'm getting bothered by the living out of a suitcase, but I honestly don't want to go back to Adelaide. There's so much to see and do and we've seen and done a tiny fraction. I want to visit the other cities, the small towns and everything in between. I feel that when I do leave I will be leaving a little piece of my heart, and a big piece of my soul behind, which I hope one day to be able to come back and find. This has been more than a holiday to me, it has been an awakening, and I don't think I'll ever forget a moment of it. No wonder Americans are so patriotic - they have everything right here.

Lets go Downtown!

This morning started off with another gym visit for Andrew and I. I met Kennys southern relative, Jim-Bob and gave him a good workout! Then weights and finished up having a hit & giggle in the racquet ball court. Quite a good cardio workout actually! 

Meanwhile, Doc, Bernie, Gage and the girls went to the Krispy Kreme factory to watch donuts being made, and of course, they had to buy a box! Then they headed to the Sportsmans store, and Bernie was like a kid in ancandy shop! Essentially just a huge store of man stuff - hunting, fishing, shooting, camping.....lots of stuffed animals all over the walls.

We then all met up at Al-Amir, a Mediterranean restaurant. A yummy 'gyro' (Yiros) for lunch. 

After lunch we made our way to the SC state house. I'll say this - America knows how to do grand buildings! The state house is massive, and set in some beautiful gardens dotted with statues and memorials. On the building there are bronze stars, about 7 or 8, that mark where cannonballs hit the building during the Civil War. We made our way inside and it took our breath away! An absolutely stunning building - grandiose and ornate. We bought a few souvenirs  and  continued our exploration of the grounds.

One thing the kids enjoyed was the squirrels. Lots and lots of them! They are cute little critters but are camera shy, so we tried to take as many photos as possible in the vain hope of catching the perfect squirrel shot!

After our visit to the state house, we stopped for a quick shop at the Army surplus store (another man shop for Bernie) and a frozen custard store for ice cream. We then took a drive around the 'ritzy' part of town looking at nice houses, and took a drive past the Gamecocks stadium. The Gamecocks are the South Carolina University team - for football, basketball and baseball. SC doesn't have a state football team, like Dallas or Miami etc, so college sport is a big deal. 

We then took a trip to a house for sale I'd seen on the net. I love house hunting and thought we could go see this one - it looked perfect on the net, but after a visit, it showed that the photos were the best part of it! The price was right but the work that needed done on it was upping the budget a bit!

Our plans for later in the day were to visit EdVenture, a children's museum, but there were chores to be done and naps to be had back at the hotel. So after a bit of a relax, we set off to EdVenture.

EdVenture is an interactive kids museum, boasting a giant 2 story playground in a boy. You enter through his head....and thankfully don't follow the full internal route to exit! But the displays are quite good. There is a fire engine, car, vet office, supermarket etc, all for kids to play and learn. Tara loved being a vet - wearing the lab coat and xraying the stuffed animals they have set up. It was fun for all, but would have been better if some of the exhibits worked (some maintenance required) and if there were less people. But you go on $1 entry night, you have to expect the hoards of people.

Tomorrow we are road-tripping to DC. I explained to Bernie, with the use of a map, that Washington DC isn't actually in Washington, it's in Virginia. We will stop off at some touristy sites and generally take our time. 

We've been In the US now for over a week and I'm beginning to notice I want to use an accent when saying certain words. For instance, I asked Bernie if he had his card to get back into the hotel, and had to bite my tongue from saying 'card' with an accent. It doesn't help that when we are around Andrew we put on a fake accent to pay him out!!  Still loving the holiday and taking in as much as we can.

On campus and off

This morning I went with Andrew to the University of South Carolina. School is out except for summer classes, so the campus was empty, but it gave us a chance to walk/jog around and have a look at the buildings. Some date back to 1801 - a mere 13 years after Australia was founded. Lots of beautiful old buildings wind their way through the streets, and the total distance covered was 4.3kms. A nice warm up before hitting the Strom Thurmond gym.

Gym is possibly the wrong word for this place. It's more like a dedication to all things fitness. There's an inside running track around the building, pools, a weight floor, racquet and squash courts and a 3 storey high rock climbing wall. My eyes practically bugged out of my head as I took it all in.

We hit the weights floor and there was more machines than I have seen in my life, and of every kind - pulley, hydraulic, pin loaded and of course free weights. I was in gym junkie heaven! We tried a few out before having a hit on the punching bag, and headed back up to have a go at more weights. Since it was getting on for time, we decided to postpone our planned game of racquet ball until the next day.

On returning to the hotel, we were just in time to have the smoke alarm go off, twice. But it was all ok. However, a tornado warning was issued for SC, including the district we are staying in, Lexington. The weather has been overcast and rainy the last few days, but a tornado was not on the list of things to experience in America.

We were picked up and taken shopping, and discussed the whole tornado thing with Doc. Apparently as soon as winds reach 35mph, SC goes on alert. As Doc said, in SC when winds get strong they close down schools, in Texas you just you a little more hair spray. It seems the motto for SC should be 'The Overly Cautious State'.

As part of our days shopping, we went to Walmart again. This time in search of the mythical beast, Baconaise, which we found. We decided to buy some cheese sticks and dip them in the Baconaise, and it was yummy!! We must have fit the Walmartians code, as there we were, wandering around eating Baconaise dipped cheese sticks!!!

Dinner was a delicious home cooked spaghetti and we set to planning our DC side trip. Doc had researched a number of things to see on the way there, as we are driving. We decided to give the biggest frypan a miss, but will stop off to see a couple of historical and military sited before our arrival in the nations capital.

Tomorrow is another visit to gym and some sightseeing Downtown, then off to a kids museum in the afternoon, EdVenture. It includes a giant boy who is a playground, so it ought to keep Miss Doob happy. 

The folk around these parts are pretty darn friendly. You can't be in the elevator without someone having a chat, although I'll try and avoid the 'God loves you' woman. I know we're in the Bible Belt, but I never know how to respond. 'You too' seems to work but just once I'd like to throw back 'if he loves me, can he give me the lotto numbers' or 'if he really loved me he'd send flowers every now and then'.

Waffles, guns & burgers

This morning started out with a stroll to the local Waffle House for breakfast. We met up with the cool kids, Andrew & Esther and Andrew & Shannon ( yes, two Andrews, I'm not going mental!). The first thing that took my attention was the range of food on offer for breakfast - not just waffles, but eggs, oatmeal, toast, bacon, biscuits (scones) and grits. While discussing what the hell are grits, our server said 'y'all never had grits before?' And proceeded to bring us a bowl to sample. Grits in a word is Semolina. Corn maize. I decided on trying a waffle, not healthy but hey, you only live once right? And a hash brown. Not a deep fried Maccas hash brown, but an honest to goodness proper one.

It was all delicious. 

Now there's a running bone of contention about the different pronunciations of certain words. One such one is 'buoy', as in the things that float on the sea to mark things. We pronounce it as 'boy', Andrew & co say 'boo-ee'. We were about to bring up the Michael Jackson joke (why did MJ want to be buried at sea? So he could be buried between two buoys), until I pointed out to Bernie that our server was a 6ft something huge black man and may not appreciate the joke. Biting our tongues seemed to be the wise choice!!

After breakfast we headed to a huge flea market called US 1. Housing both outdoor & indoor stalls, it was a mix of stuff other people had scrounged from garbage, through to clothes, sneakers, shoes, jewellery, handbags etc, pretty much everything & anything! The clothes I gave a wide berth - just because I'm living among black people, doesn't mean I want to dress like a hoochie moma!!! We only bought little bits and pieces, and score of the day was an old school Etch A Sketch for $1. Back home, I can't find one for under $20! 

While we were making our way through the market, the storms came rolling in. Thunder & lightning (very very frightening....not) and enough rain to make you damp. But because it was hot, we dried pretty quickly. It didn't dampen us, but put paid to the rest of the days planned swimming.

We went back to Docs place. Andrew let us play with some of his Airsoft guns - an AK47, a Baretta 9mm and a Colt 45. Lots of fun - weighted like real guns but they shoot BB pellets. It was fun, we let Amy have a go and she seemed to like it, at least the maniacal look of glee told us so!! Tara refused to try....

We had to go out to do some shopping so decided to go to dinner afterwards. We ended up at the one and only magical kingdom of.....Walmart!!!! It was cooling down and we didn't have a jacket for Tara, so we got one there....for $1.07. I bought a packet of Twislers...at $1.24, more expensive than a jacket!!!  Didn't see any weird people, even though I was on the look out for them!!!

We went to dinner at a burger joint called Five Guys. Amazing food and fed the family for less than $30. I know I've mentioned before how cheap the food is, but seriously, the serving sizes are excellent, so it's good value!!! 

We went back to Docs place afterwards and just chatted. Amy wants to be in the next Airsoft game, so Bernie wanted her to be shot with a pellet so she would know what to expect. After many cries of 'man (or woman in this case) up', I agreed to be shot to show her it was no big deal. I copped one in the meaty part of the thigh and it stung, but no more than for 5 or 6 seconds. The bruise should go down in a few days.....

Tomorrow is gym in the morning with Andrew, who I am going to break (he's unfit!!) while trying to cram in some conditioning for me. It's been over a week since I've exercised, aside from walking, so hopefully I won't suffer too much!!! Then some more shopping and what ever the day brings. It's nice to just fritter away the hours, knowing we still have 3 more weeks before we have to come home, and leave this beautiful country behind! Come what may, I will be back in these here parts, I just love it!!!

Shopping for girls, guns for boys

Again, Bernie & I split up for the day. One of the "must do" things for Bernie was Airsoft, a war simulation game, so he went off with Andrew for a day of playing soldier. I'll let him take over the blog to explain it later....

The girls & I stayed at the hotel, unpacking and making it homely. Because its an extended stay hotel, room service is done fortnightly, so it was up to me to make the beds and tidy up. I also did the washing, put away the kitchen stuff provided by Doc and generally tidied up.

Then at about 3.30, Andrews girlfriend Esther came to pick us up to go shopping. We went to Sandhills, a sprawling shopping complex. I saw sprawling - take Harbourtown, double it, split it into groups of about 10 shops and place it all around a huge site triple the size of Marion. The shops were awesome, ranging from bargain to high end. We all bought shoes, clothes and jewellery. A little bit of everything. 

Then we went grocery shopping, and OMG. I kept being told America was cheaper for food and this I can agree on! Coffee, usually about $6 at home was $4.50, lean cuisine meals are $2.30, and a pound of cherries $2.99. Bananas are $0.69 a pound. And the added bonus of alcohol in the supermarket. I bought a 6 pack of apple ciders for $7.99.

Got back to the hotel about 8.30 and make a quick stir fry for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed. Not too much to blog, on my side of things, but it was nice to have a relaxing day just wandering around and taking it easy. Plenty of see & do days coming up, so nice to just chillax a bit and see more of this stunning place. 

South Carolina is a nice mix of city and rural living side by side. Where we are in Lexington, is all forestry and lots of greenery (or as its known in our family, leafy green). I could seriously live here! I've been house hunting here for about 18 months, as you can get a 4 bedroom house for around $150,000. A brand new 2 story place will set you back about $170k, and they are on big size blocks, so plenty of backyard. Try getting that in Adelaide!!!

So now I pass the blog to Bernie to add his Airsoft adventures......

Airsoft for the most part is a truly American game lol (tho originated in Japan) it's about as realistic as it can possibly get without using live ammo. Full size realistic weapons of every description ever made that CANNOT be differentiated from the real thing (hence highly illegal in Australia) that fire small pellets in place of bullets with an effective range around 300 metres and a hitting power that makes you think twice about playing Rambo. From an ex grunt point of view I fell in love with it. I used to like paintball but after this don't think I would ever bother again. Ahhhh sniper rifles, machine guns, assault rifles, mines, grenades, trip wires and acres of Carolina swamp to get down and dirty on a fully tactical level. Only had about 25 aside today cause it was a bit hot for some of the poor buggers so would love a chance to play one of their games involving hundreds and judging by the compliments received I've still got the skills lol. They now know when an Aussie's on the field! Oi oi oi  :)