The trip to Walt's Place

The night at the Ramada was certainly more relaxing than the slightly dodgy nights spent in the Savannah projects. Despite this we were still a bit dusty as we shuffled off for our complementary Denny's Breakfast around around 8. The plan was to spend a few hours at the Kennedy Space Centre just outside Titusville before heading an our or so inland to Orlando and Disney World. We had 6 nights booked at the Port Orleans Resort in the Disney complex, it's probably more than I would have allocated if I was planning a trip by myself but the other members of our party were pretty excited.

I prefer the wilderness to crowds, am not a huge fan of amusement parks and don't have much tolerance other people's screaming children but I decided to relax and take Disney for what it is. What ever that might be...

First thing being first we were soon paying the rather expensive entry to the JFK Space centre. We met an astronaut (John Creighton - 3 Shuttle Missions) and looked at a few old rockets before heading in for what was supposedly the most realistic Shuttle launch simulator around. Short of giving us sore heads from vibration it was very tame as the g-force of launch wasn't simulated. The highlight of the visit was the very good 3D movie detailing the construction of the International Space Station around the globe and then assembly in orbit. It was amazing to see the relaxed Russian launch procedures compared with the stringent and sterile NASA methods. At a Russian Launch there are camera men clambering over the rocket trying to get the best shot of the astronauts as they board. In a NASA launch the only people within a mile of the pad prior to lift off would be the spacemen themselves. The scenes of the astronauts eating m&m's in a weightless environment had us chomping at virtual candy being cast towards us. Space looks like serious fun. 

Two guys spent 14 days in orbit in this capsule without straightening their legs - The girls found it to be rather roomy.

Compared with the free awesomeness of the Smithsonian Museums, the space centre under delivered but we went and now we were off to the happiest place in the world. Mandatory visit to Taco-Bell for some 'Mexican' of debatable quality, it was back on the road and we soon arrived at the 'French Quarter'.

The checking in experience was rather strange with a balding middle age man. I'm not sure if he was trying too hard to impart happiness upon us but he was very off centre the whole affair was quite awkward. The resort definitely met expectations and we soon were piling our gear into our well appointed room. We took the opportunity to blob out for a few hours (Amy and I found a hammock) before getting into the included Disney dinning plan as we knew the next few days would be jam packed. Our package included one 'Quick Service meal' aka canteen style, one table service meal and a snack each per day. My expectations were set pretty low but the first table meal was really excellent. We obviously all went for the most expensive menu items to maximise the prepaid value. My the slow cooked rib eye would have put some far more expensive restaurants to shame. Well feed, we felt obliged to make the most of the included desserts as well, we called it a day.

Beer of the day:

Napa Smith Organic IPA - 7.1% abv Bottle - Smelts like a malt biscuit left up a pine tree for a while. Subdued taste, pine, melon, pleasant, could definitely get boozed off it. 

Shop Till You Drop

Today we bid farewell Savannah, after a little sleep in, breakfast and picking up some food supplies from the local Food Lion, we gassed up and set off.

The plan today was to drive to a town near the Kennedy Space centre, with a stop along the way at St Augustine, which the guide book informed us was the oldest permanent settlement in the USA, and one friendly local said was just like Europe.

It wasn't a long drive to St Augustine, about 2 hours but we did go completely across the state of Georgia and we entered Florida for the first time.   After quickly passing by Jacksonville (we were told the only good thing about that place was the Budweiser brewery which isn't saying much) we arrived in the outskirts of St Augustine which to our surprise had a massive outlet shopping centre.  We needed some lunch so it would have been rude not to pull in and take a look. After a rather surprisingly tasty, cheap lunch we hit the shops.  The plan was only to spend a couple hours shopping, about 3 hours later and a few hundred dollars lighter we pulled out of the parking lot to head into the centre of St Augustine.

The town certainly lived up to it's billing as being very beautiful, and it did have a slight Mediterranean/Spanish feel, there is a massive fortress, lots of old buildings (or new ones made to look old) and just a really nice feel.  The decision was made to have dinner here, so over a couple of good local beers at A1A Ale Works we checked trip advisor for the best local restaurants.  Number one was a place called Collage so we went for that one.

It was a bit fancier than we expected, my car journey tracksuit pants didn't really fit in with the other patrons.  The food was fantastic, I had a very tasty seafood mixed grill.

After dinner we all got back in the car and drove to Titusville,  ready for a big day at the Kennedy Space Centre and the start of our Disney Adventure tomorrow.

Beer of the Day:
A1A Aleworks - Bridge of Lions Brown Ale - Draft, Pint Glass - Nutty, malty with a nice smooth feel going down. Complex enough to make it interesting. Pretty solid brown ale, I enjoyed it.

A day in the garden of good and evil

It was sooooo good to have a sleep in after many early starts in the mountains. We dragged ourselves out of the big, comfy king size beds by mid morning and headed off to get coffees and have a look around in the historical town that we had only seen in the dark, and in a tipsy state. Based on Kedar's advice (our cab driver from the night before) we went to 'the best sweet shop in the world' to get some free samples and buy some amazing sweets like salt water taffy (which they had in 30 flavours) and pralines. Thinking that we would do a walking tour to get more information about this historical town we found a company doing trolley tours which meant that we could relax on the ride while listening to our guide on the way around. Karen was  our first guide and was dressed in a proper old southern gal outfit; wide brimmed hat, high-necked dress and lace gloves.

Our tour was hop on hop off, so we hopped off after only four stops to get some lunch at an Asian street food place, had a little look around and got back on the next trolley that came around. We went passed a few beautiful historical houses with vines and plants growing up them and the first African American church built in the USA. There were a lot of references to scenes in a book, and subsequent movie, which was a true story set in Savannah in the 1980s called Midnight in the garden of good and evil, it didn't mean much to us as none of us had heard of it. People in Savannah also believe that a lot of the town is haunted because of the age of a lot of the buildings.

Amy and I had spotted a little market on River Street while on our trolley journey, so we had to check that out. One of the stalls was selling a wall plaque that said 'I'm not short, I'm fun size', mine and Amy's motto.

Sam's quest for beer lead us to a micro brewery called Moon River, but none of our drinks, beers and wine lived up to expectation and we left quite disappointed. Dinner was a whole other story though, as we went to one of the best restaurants in Savannah called The Olde Pink House, which, as the name suggests was in a historical home. We had a bit of a wait, but the food and atmosphere were amazing, and our waiter told us that we could go for a walk around the house. The ballroom on the second floor has beautiful hand painted scenes from the southern rivers on the walls, massive venetian glass chandeliers and marble fireplaces. It was stunning! The rest of the house was beautifully restored, and we took photos of the old cellar that came off the basement bar area.

Savannah had delivered on it's promise of wonderful southern charm and an interesting history, unfortunately we didn't sense any ghosts.

Beer of the Day:
Moon River Brewing - Nicks Balls of Gold - 7.1% Abv Draft Pint - Supposedly a hybrid of an American IPA with a Belgium Pale Ale. No hint of IPA in the nose, just a confused whiff of something Belgian. Tasted as if Nick may have dipped his golden balls in the vat, I'm not sure. Undrinkable.

The Dirty South

An actual Rooster crowed to wake us this morning, which was nice for a change from me being the morning alarm. Sam was the only one who reported having a great sleep, this could be contributed to the comfort of our double sleeping bag sandwich or a chemical induced slumber from the sleeping pills he thought were required the night before, I'm going with the later. We stumbled intermittently from the cabin to shower at the camp ground shower block, this would have to be the worst shower experience yet with our reports varying from freezing cold and dipping to boiling hot with fiercely strong pressure and everything in between. A quick breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and camping cereal and we were out the door earlier than the intended departure time for a change. This was good because there was a long day of driving ahead. We headed out along the Blue Ridge again and soon realised that Cherokee wasn't really on the route of of our trip east, likely adding about 2 hours to our journey. We considered it the scenic route and stopped a few times for final photos of the Blue Ridge Parkway before heading back through Asheville, the temp reading a crisp 4 degrees. We were soon on the motorway south with the GPS informing Fraser there was no exit required for 289kms. This was the longest stretch of interstate we have covered to this date, travelling from North Carolina through South Carolina to Georgia.

Last Snaps on The Blueridge

We stopped for lunch at an a motorway diner called Fatz. It was a very American experience but the food wasn't note worthy. We were however graced with bottomless cups of soda, just what you want on a long road trip, high volumes of sugary liquid. The rest of the drive was relatively uneventful with everyone seeming lost in their own thoughts, intermittently broken by Vickie hitting up Fraser to slow down with his driving. We arrived in Savannah in the mid afternoon and found our accommodation we had booked at Masters Inn with relative ease. We had limited expectations of our motel as it was $45 a night for a king room but was a little out of the town centre. Some tensions were eased at check in with the reception area presenting as clean, tidy and new. The receptionist was helpful. The hallway of the motel also had a clean smell, opening the doors to our rooms however the smell was something else. We were hit with a scent that was somewhere between stale cigarette and damp, bearable though. After a quick check through of the bathrooms and sheets we agreed the rooms were satisfactory. While unloading our things from the car we were observed by a group of men loitering at the back entrance of the motel which quickly made Vickie and I very alert with her making comments like "they have just seen us bring all our stuff in and probably saw what rooms we are staying in". Further adding to our anxieties about the security, the back door to the motel didn't close never mind lock and it was becoming more and more evident we had chosen a motel in the projects. Vickie and I headed through the side fence to the laundry mat to do the washing while the boys relaxed from the long drive. One of the first things we noticed was the weather was significantly warmer, around 26 degrees. During the hour and a half wait for washing we stressed further about our preciment with the motel security and plans to head into town tonight. We decided that we would take passports with us and would consult reception as to whether there was a safe we could put valuables in which we eliminated to our cameras and computers, everything else we would just have to be prepared to loose. To no surprise the reception did not have a safe, we did however tell her that the back door did not close and she said she would advise security when they arrived. This did offer us some comfort and while walking from the reception to our building two Police cars were circling the motel property, we weren't sure if that was a good thing. With Sam having stuffed our camera in a light shade and put the tablet behind some drawers I put the SD card and Passports in my handbag and our Taxi was on its way. Fasers relaxed attitude about the security was helpfully rubbing off on everyone.

The taxi pulled up outside the motel and we were introduced to our driver, Kedar and rather surprisingly his wife. Yes it was a five seater car and it was expected that the four of us would pile into the back, which is what we did. On the journey to "The River" Kedar gave us a heads up where to go for drinks and dinner also providing us with his phone number for the return trip. On Kedar's advice we started at a Pub called Wet Willies on river street where they specialised in frozen cocktails with somewhere between 15 and 20 different flavours ready to be poured. After a thorough check of ID's and Sam and I providing our passports, apparently QLD drivers licences couldn't be found on the approved ID list, we were seated with our drinks. Vickie and I having followed Kedar's suggestion had a mix of house cocktails "Call a Cab" and "Attitude Improvement" while Fraser went for a Margarita and Sam opted for the White Russian. It was fair to say the warning the bar tender gave about the alcohol content of the drinks was warranted and after one drink we were chatty and ready to eat.  A couple of streets back and one very steep set of stairs from The River we found Market Street. It was a hive of activity with live music in the street and people dancing and dining outside. We chose a restaurant from the street called Cafe in the Market and a round of Peach Sangrias were requested. The food was amazing with us ordering a wide variety of dishes from baked salmon and shrimp ravioli to Sam's 600gm steak, it was all delicious.

Another few Bars, ID checks and drinks we called Kedar for a ride home. Soon we were again crammed in the back of Kedar's cab. He chatted freely to us about our night and was disappointed we had not bought a Savannah Tshirt for him to sign telling Vickie "Oh I'm gonna slap the white right off ya'll for that, No Tshirt?". His response to the size of Sam's dinner was "oh ya'll right they don't play no games in there, they for real, they don't play games". When talking about the weather in the Blue Ridge we mistakenly said it was 4degrees and a shocked Kedar said that wasn't possible, we quickly corrected ourselves to Fahrenheit and said it was 40degrees Kedar told us "ya'll in my hood now, ya'll speak my language or I put ya'll out on the street right here" before his continued shock at the temperatures we had come from. It was like having an actual conversation with Outkast. Arriving back at the motel after the eventful evening we were relieved to find that our rooms had not been robbed nor were there any suspect characters lurking. Over all our night out in Savannah was a great success and yet again we were able to find a great place for dinner despite little knowledge of the local cuisine. I think Sam and Fraser just have an eye for the right places by reading the menu, I know I'm happy to stick with their choices.

I Want my Baby Back Ribs

The morning dawned clear and crisp after the white out yesterday. This was a relief as we had a date with two of the attractions on the Parkway I was most looking forward to. Breakfast was a quick stop at Chick-Fil-a for burritos and coffee. Almost immediately I regretted opting for the vanilla flavoured coffee creamer. The 7ml containers of UHT milk accompanying nearly every coffee purchase are a source of confusion and frustration. It requires at least 4 to mask the taste of your standard half litre roadside cup of Joe, one of which tends to end up on your pants. A jug of plain old cow sourced milk would be appreciated. Anyway, I have digressed.

Will be Pleased to See the End of these Bastards

First stop of the day was at Blowing Rock just outside Boone. The site is famous as it is fabled that the wind currents channelled up the valley blow snow, light objects and even one disenchanted Native American upward, back onto the cliff. Much to Safety Officer Vickie's horror, we clambered up the rock and could indeed feel a strong breeze despite the morning being relatively still.

We eventually coaxed Vickie onto the rock long enough to get a family portrait style photo.

Back on the Blue Ridge we soon arrived at what is surely the most photographed stretch of the Parkway. Hugging closely to the gnarly Grandfather Mountain is the Lynn Cover Viaduct. The engineering marvel is a curving section of road supported, almost floating over the canopy of orange, brown and red foliage. The way the concrete structure blends seamlessly into the mountainous terrain is a testament to the ingenious design. We enjoyed a brisk, rocky walk underneath and eventually located the spot where the postcard photographers must hang out, although not with quite such professional results.

We eventually had to move on but the spectacular scenery continued as we climbed to over 6000ft above sea level. We passed through several tunnels and got out to enjoy the view at the numerous lookouts along the way. 

Tunnel Under Craggy Dome

The windy road began to get the better of us after a few hundred miles of unbelievable driving and the decision was made to take one of the exit roads out of the mountains to Asheville for a late lunch. Packs Tavern came recommended for lunch and it did not disappoint. I am by no means a connoisseur of ribs but I can't imagine them getting much better than these. My full rack was slow cooked and falling off the bone to the point where the meat came clean off with a fork. I'm dribbling a bit just now thinking about it. The locally brewed IPA was fantastic as was the poultry, fish and burgers we sampled. 

Another KOA camp site in Cherokee was the planned stop for the night so we hit the windy road into the town built on an Indian Reservation. True to stereotypes the and in complete contrast to the surrounding run down motels, the entrance to the town is dominated by a huge modern Harrah's Casino and Hotel complex. It looked completely out of place in a small Smoky Mountain town where the next tallest building would have been 1/3rd as tall. After passing an seemingly endless stream of tacky Indian Souvenir shops we arrived at our cabins, threw some wood on the fire and got grilling. Perhaps burning would have been a more accurate description, especially in the case of my sausage. S'more s'mores were enjoyed before we turned in for another night in sleeping bags.

Beer of the Day:

Asheville Brewing Company Shiva IPA - $3 Draft Pint - Distinct delicious grapefruit smell, clean citrus flavours with nice warm malty goodness coming through. This stuff is seriously enjoyable.  

The Mist

Every day (and blog entry) needs to start with breakfast, and today's breakfast of champions was brought to us by the good people of Waffle House, where the coffee is bottomless and the music is played at deafening levels.  The price was good and so was the location, only 20 metres from our hotel rooms, so all in all not a bad breakfast experience.

Once our bellies were full of waffles and bacon we set off again for the Blue Ridge Parkway, today the views were less than spectacular, in fact they were non-existent, it was a little foggy to say the least.  We did not heed the signs that read to avoid the parkway in heavy fog so we plowed onto our first stop, which the guide book informed us would be a good walk, after seeing how long it was we decided against the walk, and continued on to our next stop at the Mabry Flour Mill where the coffee was bad and the average age of the visitors was about 83.

After pulling away from Mabry, it started to get really foggy I could only see about 3 metres in front of the car, so we all thought it would be a good idea to pay attention to the signs and actually pull off the parkway to get some lunch.  The first town we came to was a little place called Mount Airy, and I could hear the banjos.

Sam saw a sign for a £3.99 cookout so we plugged this into the GPS and away we went.  This was an unusual but very tasty experience, on the menu they had a variety of BBQ items, 48 different milkshakes and something called hush puppies.  Amy asked one of the locals what these were, at first she was looked at like a crazy person but after some gentle persuasion he confirmed that they were like little balls of fried bread, they were not that great,  the BBQ meat however was fantastic.

As the parkway was still out of action we took the interstate to our next port of call, Boone, and another night at a camping ground, not Yogi Bear this time but KOA, and this time we didn't have the place to ourselves.  The day was still young so to fill in the remainder it was decided we would have some retail therapy at the local outlet mall, before heading out for a fancy dinner at The Gamekeeper, apparently in the top 50 restaurants in the USA.

The shopping went by without a hitch however on the drive to the Gamekeeper we hit a bit of a snag, the return of the mist, and this time the visibility was down to about 1 metre. At one point we didn't think we were going to make it to the restaurant on time, but after a prayer was said in the back of the car the fog parted (or it might have been that we drove out of it).  The Gamekeeper lived up to its billing as a great restaurant, with it's slightly eclectic dishes, I can now tick rattlesnake off my 'to eat' list.

After a fantastic meal we drove back to the campground (which felt a bit weird going back to the super budget accommodation after such a fancy meal) under a clear sky, we were hoping that it would stay that way for tomorrows continued adventure along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Beer of the day:  4 Loco watermelon - terrible, tasted like bad watermelon perfume. Took 4 of us to drink one can.

Amy and the Chipmunks

At first light we left our cosy sleeping bags in the cold cabin at Yogi Bear Resort to go to the shower block down the hill. After sharing the shower with a large spider, Sam had one last bounce on the large pillow trampoline, we hit the road to see more of the beautiful Shenandoah National Park along the Skyline drive. We stopped at about 3 of the many outlooks before doing a 2.6 mile round trip hike to Rose River Falls. This walk was recommended in a guidebook as a moderate walk, to a short, but pretty waterfall. 

We found the walk to be very enlightening, as we started we all spotted some small creatures that we couldn't identify at first running through the forest amongst the fallen trees and leaves. They looked a bit like rats, but on closer inspection we were delighted to realise that they were chipmunks! Amy couldn't believe that chipmunks were real, but we thought these ones really looked a lot like Alvin, Simon and Theodore with the racing stripes on their faces.

The waterfall wasn't much to write home about, but we spent a few minutes getting some photos with Sam nearly falling into the rock pool getting the money shot, before commencing the long and very ardous journey back up the hill.


Tired and sweaty after the long walk we pulled into a place a few minutes down the road called Big Meadows for an early picnic lunch. We were very proud of our effort to get food the day before and save money by making our own lunch. Pickles come with any dish that you order from a menu and we kept with this tradition by getting pickles for our homemade sandwiches, they really make a sandwich.

After buying a few sweets and BBQ sunflower seeds in the store we carried on with the drive along Skyline Drive and only stopped at one more outlook before the route ended. The sunflower seeds didn't turn out to be quite as tasty as expected and spitting out the shells is pretty gross.

We headed to the Natural Bridge outside of Lexington and we stopped for gas where Amy and Sam got talking to some friendly locals who were very interested in our journey. The Natural Bridge was quite amazing and we got a free presentation about the rock formations by a fairly dry but informative guide. We were able to go to see a butterfly exhibition with our tickets and saw some lovely butterflies and moths. One amazing butterfly flew onto the end of Fraser's nose and took some persuading to get off.

A Highway still runs over the top

We had missed out the first 90 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway by seeing the Natural Bridge, but now we headed up the mountains to drive along this scenic roadway. It was much flatter and straighter than the Skyline Drive had been, and we didn't have to pay to enter the National Park. We stopped a few times at the outlooks, and arrived in Roanoke, which is the largest urban area on the Parkway. Our guidebook suggested dinner at a tavern called The Roanoker, Amy tried the Key Lime Pie cocktail, which was quite tasty. Our waitress was lovely and was quite astounded at how old we are when she asked to see our ID to purchase the wine. It has been quite amusing being asked for ID at a number of restaurants and bars since we've been here.

Beer of the Day:
Yuengling Traditional Lager Bottle, possibly old - Thin feel, little malt, watery with an unpleasant after taste. The $10 for a dozen price should have been an indicator.

I saw a Raccoon

We woke for the second time in Washington DC after having a bad sleep in a room that was too light, too hot and contained a bed that was too soft and caused some serious roll-together. Despite feeling a little under the weather we hit the ground running at 7.30am. During our challenging visit to the Mexican Mart we over looked todays breakfast, so having eaten like Kings yesterday it was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before we hit the road again.

With Fraser behind the wheel the GPS was set for the fastest route to the larger, out of town Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (because the boys hadn't had enough the day before). Sam and Fraser spent the next hour pouring over the history of aircraft inventions from the Robbie 22 to the Discovery Space Shuttle. Vickie and I were lucky enough to be educated on the phenomenal attractions including the Black Bird, the worlds fastest ever plane which flew from the west to east coasts of America in 1hour 40mins and the Japanese Kamikaze Cherry Blossom piloted missile from world war II. The tasty facts could go on, and believe me they did, into the next day as well.

One Slightly Scorched Shuttle

Finally we were heading north west to the famous Skyline Trail. At the advice of our guide books or misguide books we stopped to check out Dinosaur Land which had promised to deliver life size replicas of Dinosaurs as they were when alive. What we found on arrival was a park of old decaying structures. We paid our $5 entry fee and headed for the park. The door from the store to the park could have been mistaken for a cleaning closet and beyond the door was a short airy tunnel which forced the thought that this could be a scene from a low budget horror movie and we could be entering a trap. Jokes of such were made accordingly. During our polite viewing of the park we saw several dinosaurs of varying quality and read a little info about each. There were also some disturbing displays fighting and eating each other to demonstrate the hierarchy amongst them which was bought to life with blood. King Kong provided a good opportunity for some happy snaps.

I think the Red Guy is Winning

The Park store was a large room packed with all kinds of clutter including dinosaur memorabilia, glass ornaments, cheap jewellery, fireworks and a couple of middle age women complaining about life in general. I don't blame them, they were in the process of dusting all this crap for sale. The smell of the store was somewhere between stale musty and plastic goods packaged from China.

The next time our feet hit the ground was at Front Royal Information centre where we were greeted by a friendly older gentleman named William, now affectionately referred to as Ranger Bill. William advised us of the best strategies for tackling the skyline trail including distance, speed limits and costs for getting our car into the national park, he also provided us with some maps which will prove to be extremely helpful on the next leg of the journey. We were soon driving about 2500 feet above sea level on the Skyline Trail through the Shenandoah National Park. The drive opened in 1939 and runs at 50km/h along the crest over 100miles of scenic driving and is considered the best way to experience the National Park providing access to the Appalachian Trail leading to stunning waterfalls and overlooks. I was expecting a road not unlike the Mount Messenger pass (those of you who have travelled the central north island of NZ will know what I mean). However the road was very well constructed and maintained with some windy corners but never causing me to come close to loosing my lunch. It was very pleasant with plenty of opportunities for us to stop and check out the views from the mountain and enjoy the magical Autumn (Fall) colours as the trees changed and shed leaves. We headed down the mountain to the very small rural community of Luray where we had booked accommodation for the night at none other than the Yogi Bear Jellystone Park camping grounds.

Our family cabin was furnished with two sets of bunks, a double bed, small table with two chairs and not much else, oh I lie, a curtain divided the beds. Also utilising the cabin were about 30 beetle like bugs that had taken up residence on the curtains, Vickie and I flapped our arms a bit and the boys evicted the unwanted guests. Sitting outside we had the pleasure of meeting a very cute and very friendly cat. It was unclear whether he belonged to the camp owners or if he was holidaying with his family but we made the most of his company and extreme affection.

The Cat-Whisperer Befriends another Stray

We made a trip to the camp store. Here we were able to get advice on where to eat dinner and purchase firewood and all necessary supplies for authentic American S'mores. We ate about a k down the road at Brookside Homestyle Diner, the food wasn't spectacular but I will say the service was very impressive and continues to improve as we get further south. I'm not sure if its the tipping system that influences the service in this country but the people seem to have a genuine interest in our enjoyment at their establishment.

We returned to our Cabin at Yogi Bear and quickly set about getting the fire up and going. It was hard work and the wood we purchased was wet and smoky so some bush scavenging for pine cones was required. Soon the fire was ablaze and I no longer had to manually provide air to the fire ad it was s'more time. With some marshmallows burnt to a crisp we enjoyed our first s'more making and eating experience. As I sat next to the fire it was hard to believe I was in another country in the middle of no-where with an open campfire toasting marshmallows, it was an experience exceeding all expectations of this trip. The camp ground was otherwise deserted which made the whole experience even more relaxing.

Our S'more Attempt - Authenticity Uncertain

Fun with Fire and Cameras

The only other Occupant of the Camp

Our laughing and jokes was abruptly interrupted by a loud rustling from the bushes below, inspection with a torch revealed a real life Raccoon searching through the leaves on the ground. He didn't seem perturbed by our presence or the fact we were leaping over each other to have look and take a photo. It soon got cold and we dragged our smoke stenched bodies into the cabin where we spent our first night in our sleeping bags, to the boys credit the pillows they bought were pretty damn good for $3.89.

Day at the Mall

The aroma of Amy frying up sausages and eggs lured our weary bodies from bed to plan our day in Washington DC's famous mall. The mall is a huge urban park surrounded by Smithsonian museums and crammed full of political and historical monuments. We caught the efficient metro past the Pentagon and into downtown DC.

We gravitated toward the phallic obelisk that is the Washington Monument, built in honour of General G-Wash. It is surprisingly tall up close at 555ft and shows a distinct change in colour where a lack of funds and then the American Civil war halted construction from 1854 to 1877.

After a few happy snaps we checked out the reflecting pool and tried to pinpoint exactly where Jenny waded toward Forest. At the western end of the massive pool stands the pillared marble structure housing a 30ft high statue of Abe Lincoln looking rather pensive. Inscribed in the walls are the powerful words from his 1863 Gettysburg address. Old Abe was a lyrical master.

The next stop was to peak at Baracks little cottage on the hill. It was white and a house as promised.

We could have spent the remainder of the day checking out the various government department buildings. The grand scale of the buildings and tonnage of marble and granite used was very impressive. Instead we called into the comfortable hunting lodge themed Old Ebbitts Grill for a very nice lunch and to rest our weary feet after miles of walking. The highlight of the day, maybe not for the girls, was to come in the form of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Important planes, moon landers, rockets and missiles from the ages were packed into the 3 massive exhibit halls. The quantity of the collections along with the historical significance of certain pieces - V2 rocket, original Wright Flyer and a couple of decommissioned nukes - was very impressive. There was far to many exhibits to see it all properly in a few hours but we gave it a good shot.

That's a Nuke Man

From there we stopped on the way to a pub at Capitol Hill for a few obligatory pics of where the politicians get it done. After a couple of Buds we moved next door for $7.99 Tortillas that were delivered to our tables concerningly fast. Do they just keep them stacked up in a warming draw out back? The girls enjoyed vast quantities of Margarita in pint glasses before we sleepily boarded the metro back to home base. 

Beer of the Day:
Budweiser - Draft served in Pint Glass - Nothingness would be the word to describe  Bud. No hop, very little malt, maybe a touch of a corny flavour. In no way unpleasant but not something I'd choose if it wasn't $3 during happy hour.

Eye of the Tiger

After a hearty, yet unsatisfying breakfast of waffles at the hotel, the first port of call was the Liberty Bell.  We didn't learn a great deal here, other than the fact Americans love it for some reason.  After some obligatory photos of the bell the next stop was across the road at Independence Hall. We got a guided tour here and saw the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Upon leaving the hall I overheard the guide telling someone where the "Rocky" steps were.  We had forgotten that one of the greatest movies ever made was filmed in this city, so the next 30 minutes was spent finding where the fabled steps were and how to get there.  After some indecision about whether to take public transport we decided on the American way and we drove.

We reached the steps and we of course (well the boys anyway) had to do the run up complete with air punching and arm raising along with about 100 other people.  Philadelphia was not as grey or miserable as it was portrayed in the movie, and after a surprisingly tasty lunch at a nearby pub full of locals watching NFL, we left the city of brotherly love behind and headed for DC.

In Washington we decided to select our accommodation from the Airbnb website we had heard so much about. We scored ourselves a two bed apartment in a town just out of DC called Alexandria, Sam in particular was very happy about the separate rooms for the first time in a week.

As we had a kitchen in the apartment, a home cooked meal and a few beers was the order of the night, so off we went to the local supermarket, which was interesting to say the least.  The first thing we heard as we came around the corner was the Spanish music outside blaring, and was regularly interrupted by a loud siren, this should have been a clue to what we found inside.  The door to the supermarket must have been a teleport to Mexico as we were the only non-mexicans in the place.  We put this behind us and tried to find some recognisable food,  we settled for purchasing ingredients for a Spag Bol with a mexican twist, beer, canned margaritas and to top it all off 2 cans of Four Loko.

The spag bol and beers were great, the Four Loko on the other hand not so much.  The best way to describe it would be 12% alcohol pink medicine, safe to say we only had one can, before heading off to bed.