Days 12, 13 & 14 Miami 26 - 28. 04.12

Day 12 Orlando to Miami 26.04.12

Leaving Orlando today for Miami so went for a hot breakfast in the hotel restaurant to set us up for the journey. 230 miles on a very hot & sunny day but at least we can put the air com on when it gets too hot to handle.

The journey was ok until the last bit as it was through quite a dodgy looking area, we can't afford the hotels in the main part of Miami but this one seems ok, basic but nice staff & just what we need for a few days stay, although we are on a busy road, however they have provided us with ear plugs!!!

Unpacked then went to a restaurant up the road which has happy hour from 2 until 9! Looked ok & the menu is a bit different from the norm, wine is still $5 a glass & when he brought it I thought it was a sample, no, that was all I was getting, oh well, I had to have 2 glasses!
The food was good & I did have some key lime pie for pud but $80 - really???

Day 13 Miami 27.04.12

Got ready & went down for breakfast in an open courtyard, lovely to sit outside to eat.
Driving all the way down to Key West today, 165 miles each way. Lovely journey, beautiful scenery & sunshine. Finally found a parking spot that didn't cost an absolute fortune & went to B.O's fish hut for lunch, as recommended by Louise. You were right, Lou, the food was good, we had fish sandwich with the best french fries so far this holiday.

After a look around this lovely resort we drove leisurely back & stopped a couple of times at nice scenic areas. Unfortunately we missed seeing the 'African Queen', the boat from the film of the same name as it had gone out on a trip half an hour before we got there.

Got back & had a quiet night except for the traffic. Ear plugs do help though.

Day 14 Miami 28.04.12

Had some heavy rain during the night & was very grey & over cast this morning. Had breakfast outside, the rain held off, then set off for the Gator Park in the Everglades. only about 30 miles away so hope we miss the rain.
Got there without any problems & paid our $42 for an airboat ride & show.
The airboat ride was great, just as we'd expected through the channels & we saw a water turtle, several gators including some babies, lots of different birds & we had a very fast ride as well. It was really good. Then we went into the show which was a guy who put his hand in a large gators mouth, then he showed us how the Indians used to catch gators by sitting on their backs & grabbing their jaws, which was quite exciting, then we saw a tiny baby one & finally a 4 foot long one that you could pay $3 to have your photo taken with. We didn't bother as the queue was too long.

After a coffee we set off to Miami beach but it started to rain, we drove up past all of the hotels & large & small boats then found a parking place & went for a walk on the lovely sandy beach. There were a few hardy souls sitting on the beach & some wind surfers but it was still beautiful. Drove the rest of the way to the end then back to the hotel. Planning on getting a pizza for tea later.

Hope you like the photos.

The Keys as we drove down the road.

 Do you like Roy's new friends?

TTFN xxx

Days 10 & 11 - Orlando, Florida 24 - 25.04.12

Day 10 - Orlando - Sea World - 24.04.12

So exciting today for 2 reasons - 1, We can do a load of washing & 2, we're off to Sea World!!!
Not leaving until 10.55am so plenty of time to wash some clothes in the laundry, (Roy did it, bless him!)
The parks are expensive at about $90 each but worth it. Sea World is lovely, well set out & so clean & tidy. We went to 3 shows but made sure we sat away from the splash zones. The dolphin show was really good, the trainers did lots of stunts & diving with the dolphins & fed them lots of fish as rewards. There were also parrots & other exotic birds flying freely amongst the audience.
Shamu, the killer whale show was spectacular -  there were 6 killer whales, 5 adults & a baby with their 5 trainers, one of them was about 6 months pregnant - the trainer, not the whale! The people in the front half of the seats got absolutely soaked as the whales kept flicking water over the sides of the tank with their massive tail fins. There was a little boy of about a year old next to us & he laughed all the way through the show, loving it all, which was amusing for everyone around him. We can hear him on our video film.
The last show was a seal lion, walrus & otter show which was very funny & more for smaller children.
We also saw lots of other things like sharks, sting rays, tropical fish & people feeding dolphins & the dolphin nursery with mothers & babies. All of them looked happy & well cared for.
All in all a lovely day out finished off by food & a beer in the pub & a long chat to the young lad who served us about baseball.

This is the biggest whale, Shamu, with his pregnant trainer.

Day 11 - Orlando - 25.04.12

Today we're going the Universal's Islands of Adventure where the Harry Potter World is!
Got the shuttle bus at 9.30am & were there by 10 so had a coffee & apple danish to set us up for a long day.
The park is set out in sections & easy to get around, with lots of rides for young & older children.
We were undecided whether to go on any rides & decided to wait & see. The first one we saw was the Incredible Hulk coaster which was a very fast roller coaster that twisted, turned upside down & did loop the loops so we spent ages watching it with no intention of going on it! There were 3 water rides, rapids, log flume & another one that came down a very steep slope at the end. Everyone on all 3 rides looked as if they'd been for a swim, great to watch but no wish to get so wet!

Jurassic park was great with the music playing & dinosaur noises but the ride I wanted to go on I couldn't because you had to have a child with you & we didn't! I was watching out for any families with 3 children so I could borrow 1 but we didn't see any so I had to make do with watching & taking a photo.

Great excitement, next we came to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!! If you've read the books or seen the films then you've got to go, it's just like really being there. They've done it so well, the castle looks great but you can only go in if you go on a ride which sounded too much for us, Hogmeade is just as you'd imagine it, shop windows with moving adverts, Olivander's wand shop & lots more. We even had a butter beer & food in the Hog's Head Pub. It was brilliant! And we went on a ride, The flight of the Hippogriff, a children's roller coaster but still fast!

Another fantastic day out in the sunshine but my feet will be glad of a rest tomorrow!

TTFN from Orlando, Florida xxx

Days 8 & 9 Savannah - Orlando, Florida 22 - 23.04.12

Day 8 - Savannah to Orlando 22.04.12

At last managed to sleep until 7.30, jet lag has now gone!
Went for breakfast & it was the best yet then packed & set off for Orlando. It's a bit grey & there's been rain in the night but we are forecast good weather. Not so bad if it only rains when we're travelling. On the way we stopped at a rest stop & rang 'the folks back home!' Great to hear their voices even after only just over a week away. We've packed so much in that it seems longer.

On the way to Orlando we stopped off at Daytona Beach, a lovely long, flat, white sand beach with beautiful sea. Pics at end of blog. Had a couple of hours there walking up & down & paddling in the sea then continued on to the Radisson hotel in Orlando.
Very big but they all are here & our room is the biggest yet. Only drawback is we're on the ground floor near the lifts so could be quite noisy, we'll have to see.
Unpacked & went for a look around & some food (& drink) at the Brick House Tavern at the end of the drive. They have something they call a bong - no, not that sort! - which is a long tube that is attached to a tap & is full of more than 5 pints of beer. several tables with groups had them, one bloke even fell asleep at the table but there are no noisy drunks here. We had some great food & a pint then went back to the hotel.

Day 9 - Orlando 23.04.12

St Georges Day , Jean's birthday & 6 years since Roy & I first met!
Got the shuttle bus from the hotel into the Magic Kingdom & WOW! What a place, so many people but so much space too. All very OTT but wonderful at the same time. If you've got kids over the age of 7 or 8 you've got to bring them here for a holiday, it's all so clean & well run. The staff are very friendly & helpful & seem to love the children.

Went on a few rides but there aren't any massive ones like at Alton Towers. Had very nice burger & fries & got the bus back at 10.00pm, a long day but well worth it. We were temped to borrow some kids so we could go on more rides!

Check out the vehicle! 3 1/2 litre engine but getting about 100 miles for £10 worth of petrol so not bad at all!

Some photos for the kids.

We can receive texts on Roy's phone that are free of charge for us so please feel free to text if you want / need to on 07754219903. Always glad to hear from you.

TTFN xxx

Days 6 & 7 - Fayetteville & Savannah

Day 6 - Washington to Fayetteville

Well this is the part of the trip that involves driving & it's exciting! Might give my poor feet a rest today.
After another nice free breakfast we packed (again) & set off to the Interstate 95 for our 310 mile drive to Fayetteville. I'm the navigator, which is easy once we find the road as we stay on it until the slip road to the Red Roof hotel in Fayetteville. That's the reason we picked it as we need to carry on down that road tomorrow too.

The journey was relaxing, there are radio channels for 60's, 70's & 80's music, air con if we get too hot, cruise control, lovely rest areas with clean loos & vending machines if we want drinks or snacks & the other drivers on the road are so polite, no honking horns or trying to cut you up if you dare to pull out to overtake!

We arrived at the hotel about 3ish & our room is huge! 2 queen beds, large bathroom, loads of space to spread our stuff out & very clean. We decided to go to buy some food to cook in the microwave (in the room) & took a wrong turn somewhere so we had to go the scenic route! Got back in one piece, had some tea & read & watched tv. I'm having a real urge to watch 'Roseanne', 'Taxi', 'Cheers' & 'The Waltons'! Must see if the dvd's are cheap on Amazon when we get home! Do you remember any of these???

Day 7 - Fayetteville to Savannah

Some as yesterday, breakfast, packing & back on the I 95. Strange couple at breakfast - they arrived with a massive bag full of boxes of cut up fruit, their own bread etc. Neither of them even looked at anyone else or spoke to anyone. It takes all sorts!

Had a good drive with a stop at a rest area & arrived at the Super 8 in Savannah at 2.00pm. This room is even better than the last one - king sized bed, massive room, tv, microwave, fridge, coffee maker, lovely bathroom & all very new & clean. We had a snack then drove into Savannah to look around. The area by the river was lovely with a lot of stalls selling jewellery, paintings & other crafty things - Gemma would have loved it & made a fortune with her crafts!

Then we had such a downpour that the roads were like rivers & everyone was sheltering from it for about 15 minutes. Thankfully it stopped & we had a walk around looking at all the old houses before driving back & stopping at the Cracker Barrel for some food. It was just like you'd imagine a typical American diner to be, full of families, noisy in a good way & the portions were massive. So were a lot of the people eating there! Anyway, we were stuffed & couldn't manage a pudding so came back to relax in our hotel before the drive tomorrow. Thankfully we've got 4 nights at the next place.

I'll put a photo on but it won't do Savannah justice.

TTFN xx

Photos from New York & Washington DC

Sorry, forgot photos so here they are. See if you can spot where they were taken.

Hope you like them, this is the closest I'll probably ever get to Johnny Depp!!!!!!!!!
TTFN x 2 xx!

Day 5 - Washington DC - 18.04.12

Day 4 - Washington DC - 18.04.12

Woke to a lovely sunny day here in Washington DC at 6.00am, we still haven't got used to the time difference even though we don't go to sleep until late. maybe we'll sleep longer in the next few days when we leave here & go to quieter places on our way to ........... That'd be telling!

First job was to go to the airport to collect our hire car, a Ford Edge, new, only 260 miles on the clock. Very nice & comfortable to sit in with all mod cons. Pity we can't bring it home with us!

We went back to the hotel for our complimentary continental breakfast, a lot of places provide these in various forms & this was a good one. You could have as much as you wanted from cereals, muffins, dunkin' donuts, bagels, fresh fruit, OJ, tea or coffee. Needless to say we enjoyed it - I've never had a donut for brekkie before, but I have now!

We got talking to a very nice Aussie lady & she told us about the day ticket for the Metro system - only $9 each for unlimited travel so we went down & got 2. First stop the Pentagon, lots of serious looking personnel & no photos allowed. We also looked at the Pentagon memorial for the victims of 9/11 who died there. Again a very apt remembrance of them, there was even a 3 year old girl who died with her older sister & father, so sad.

After that another Metro ride to Arlington Cemetary - the place where JFK is buried & there are also gravestones for many, many Army, Navy, & all other forces who have died during & since combat.
Even the space shuttles that failed & the astronauts who died as well as the unknown soldier.

Next, the White House & lots of other government buildings including the Capitol building & the US supreme court.
All very big & grand as you'd expect & everywhere is clean too, no litter, no food or drink allowed on the Metro, it seems to work over here.

Now we're back at the hotel & plan a quiet night giving the feet another chance to recover & Roy will be looking at the car manual so he knows how everything works for tomorrows journey.

More soon
TTFN xx

Days 3 & 4 - New York & Washington DC

 Day 3 - New York 17.04.12

Our 2nd whole day in NY & a lovely hot, sunny one it is too. Lots to fit in today again, the feet have recovered from yesterday, we've had breakfast in a cafe & are raring to go!
First thing to do is to brave the subway for the first time & go down to South Ferry near the Statue of Liberty.
First we went to Ground Zero, the Americans sure know how to make a memorial, it's magnificent & a lovely tribute to all of the people who lost their lives in the Twin Towers.
Then we walked to Wall Street, China town & Little Italy for lunch in La Mela, Louise recommended it & we did have some very good meatballs with spaghetti, cheers Lou!
Afterward we walked through Greenwich Village, which I didn't rate very much, unless we went to the wrong part. It was very 'studenty' being by the Uni & seemed to be all bars with deals to encourage them to drink.
We'd walked quite a way from the South Ferry so jumped back on the subway to go on the boat to see the Statue of Liberty. It was lovely & the boat trip was great in the sunshine too.

After that we went back on the subway (3 times in 1 day!) to be met by a massive demo in Times Square about the American taxation system - we're not the only ones to complain!
The traffic was at a stand still, everyone honking their horns & so many Police, who seemed to be having a great time as it was a peaceful, if disruptive, protest. Another one off experience to chalk up.
We also went back to Times Square later when it was dark to do some filming & saw ourselves on a big screen, so we did the touristy thing & waved to ourselves while Roy filmed us!!!!!!!!!
This is what New York does to you!!!!! I will miss it when we move on but it's such a fast pace of life you couldn't keep it up for long.

Day 4 - New York / Washington DC

After a lovely breakfast in Fluffy's & packing we set off in a taxi cab (yellow of course!) to get the Megabus to Washington which cost us about $7 each for a 4 hour trip! Value for money - the taxi to get it cost more!
Anyway we had a lovely relaxing trip to DC & got a taxi to Hotel number 2 - The Americana.
Check it out on the web site if you have time, the hotel itself looks a bit tatty but the room is bigger than the other one, has a fridge, is cheaper & we get a complimentary continental breakfast every morning so it can't be bad!
Later we went for a walk down the road to a sports bar for some food & drink. There were loads of screens up on the walls, all blaring out every American sport you can imagine at full volume & the atmosphere was great! We had a pitcher of beer & NY strip steaks with fries & veg. Just what we needed!

No photos today as we haven't had time to upload them yet but we will tomorrow.

TTFN xxx

Days 1 & 2, Heathrow to New York!

Day 1 - Stayed at the Premier Inn at Heathrow last night & can't recommend it highly enough.
Set off on the shuttle at 7 to go to the airport very nervous & excited. Checked in no problems & the flight left at 10.00am GMT.
Even managed to watch 'The girl with the dragon tattoo!' Been wanting to watch that since I read the book.
We were thoroughly spoilt & were drinking vodka cocktails by 10.40!

Anyway we landed at 12.30 US time - 5 hours behind us so it was as if we were going backwards! Got through fairly quickly & then came the tricky bit - had to get the airbus to Jamaica station & then the train to Penn station, not easy with 2 big cases, a small one & a holdall but we managed. Then got a taxi to our hotel, The Wellington on 7th Avenue right by the Carnegie Hall.

Anyway we had our luggage taken up to the room, not bad by New York standards & at the back so no road noise then we unpacked a bit & went for a walk round.

If you've been to NY you know what I mean when I say WOW!
If not you'll never imagine how big, noisy & fabulous it is, I hope you all get there one day.
I've never seen so many armed Police in my life but it seems to work because the people are all lovely.

We went to Central Park & then Times Square where we had a MacDonald's. I know but we were hungry & tired!

Day 2 - New York

The day started at 4.00am as I was wide awake, but tried to rest rather than get up so early. We went to Fluffy's bakery for breakfast then back to the hotel to get ready for sight seeing.

I'll give you a list of where we went so this doesn't become like a chapter in a book.

Macy's - fabulous old escalators but so posh!
Madison Square Gardens - had to go for a look outside.
Empire State Building - skyride which is an interactive ride as if you're in a helicopter then up to the observatory to see the great views all around.
Grand Central Station - fab building has to be seen.
The Trump building - so swish.
The Rockefeller centre with an ice rink & lovely flowers, statues & loads of people.
FOA Schwarz - had to go into this massive toy shop for a look around.
Central Park to the Strawberry Fields memorial garden for John Lennon.
Everywhere was so much better because of the hot & sunny weather 75 deg +!
 Then back to the hotel with VERY sore feet.

We're now in Starbucks over the road from the hotel as we haven't got free wi fi & they have.
Also my phone won't work so don't bother texting me as I won't get it.

Anyway, that's enough from me but I have put some photos on for you to see.
Will blog on Wednesday or Thursday from Washington DC.

TTFN xx

Saturday 14th April 2012
Premier Inn Heathrow, London.

We've arrived in London via Virgin trains & were met by Louise (thank goodness as she knew where we were going & helped with the cases!). Getting on the tube was an experience as there were a lot of football fans running in the opposite direction to us & loads of Police around.

My case is lighter than Roy's by the way, a great surprise to me too! I even had to put in a fleece jacket to pad it out.

We've booked in to the hotel which is very nice & have all had a lovely 2 course meal & a couple of drinks in the restaurant here. Staff & room are both very welcoming, just hope we manage to sleep with all of the excitement! We're now watching Britains got talent with Louise then she'll be making her way home.

Hopefully I'll be able to blog when we get to New York & look forward to letting you know about the flight & journey to our hotel, The Wellington, in case you want to check it out via the internet.

Night night!
TTFN xx

Preparing for the Big Adventure

Only 4 days until we set off on our adventure and I still haven't done any packing!!! Not to worry it will all come together in the end. I hope you'll all check-in during our three months away and see what we're up to. Let us know if you have any recommendations on places to visit or any do's and don'ts so we don't look too much like tourists... although the pasty skin and socks and sandals may be a giveaway - just kidding!

I'll be back in a few days when we've arrived in London on Saturday. Hopefully we'll survive carrying our gigantic suitcases on and off the tube!

TTFN!! xx