Turns out I am a lazy git so won't be doing a detailed diary, as everything has actually been covered. Except this... New York!!
The first day we got there and Roy and Honey went off to JFK to drop off the car, after getting some directions from the...lovely...receptionist (she shouted at them as we needed to drop it off at a different location to one that she deemed easier to get to!!)
2 hours and 2 near death experiences, they returned to the nasty hotel and we had to move room (there was mould and dirt everywhere...) After the fun of seeing different rooms, we went to the harbour to go on our sunset cruise. We saw some lovely sights.
2 hours later, we returned to dry land and wandered in the direction pointed out as good to go for food by the rather rotund security man. We ended up somewhere on 42nd street at a Dallas BBQ grill, which had southern style food and giant cocktails (they also had giant screens which entertained us with bulls kicking idiots in the face/groin etc. y'know - bullriding...)
'Texas sized' cocktails!!
After dinner, we realised that the 'somewhere on 42nd' was actually Times Square... So we wandered about for a bit!!
The next day was an early start to get to the heliport for our helicopter trip!!
The ride was awesome, taking in aerial views of New York.
Next we went to Ground Zero (a very sombre and sad place...) and then onto the Empire State Building. Awesome views from up there.
We then wandered down 5th Avenue. As we were looking for football jerseys and stuff, we endeded up at Times Square again, and in a nice cafe for our tea. During this time we saw a procession of 17 police cars scream past one after the other, but nothing was ever in the news so dunno why!! Then back to the hotel. In a taxi. But not ANY taxi!! Honey spied a old cabbie parked stuffing his face on the corner by the Hersheys store, so we asked if we could go to Riverside and 80th, where we were staying. He said sure. Honey, Charlie and Tiny got in the back and Roy went for the front seat, but was pointed to the back seats too. We expected fold out seats facing backwards, a la typical black cabs. No. This seat folded up into Honeys knees, then the back rest up so that the passenger - Roy - was facing perpindicular (sorry for spelling) to the rest of the car, facing out the side window!! It was very funny, and people were staring, pointing, laughing and taking photos of the freak staring out of the side window at them!! Upon nearing our destination, the cabbie asked whereabouts on 89th we wanted to be dropped... Upon correcting him (he had just gone past 80th) he said "Aw, Geez" in a typical American style and did a massive U-turn back to where we needed to be!! For payment, he had said to pay "whatever we felt he deserved" as there was no metre!! We settled for $15 (the previous nights cab fare from Times Square was $10) as the journey had been so entertaining!!
The following day we went over to Central Park Zoo, where we saw some cool animals.
After the zoo we quickly went back to the hotel to escape the heat and change, before heading over to the Mets-Twins game. We were supporting the Mets, and the previous night (which was the other day we considered going to) they had won 8-1 so we thought it'd be a great game. They lost 9-0 and we had some annoying kids behind us screaming the whole time for the Twins and kicking the back of our chairs!! Enjoyed the experience though.
Final (half) day and we got a $65 tank-xi to JFK (a huge 4x4 driven by a...feisty...Mexican guy) Seeing as a regular cab would have been about $50 and we mwould havehad trouble fitting our crap in the back, it seemed like a good deal to survive the scary New Yorker driving. We then spent 6 hours in JFK, were delayed an hour on the runway and had a really turbulent flight back... :-)
All in all, an amazing time was had by all over the period of the month, but now we all need to get back to the real world and back to work. Once we find jobs...
Thanks for following us, and apologies for the massive gap in updates!!
All the best,
Tiny, Charlie, Honey and Roy.
Our Crew
- Charlie, Tiny, Roy and Honey
- Essex/Watford/Plymouth/Soton, United Kingdom
- An idea that originally started as Charlotte's frustrated jokey comment, is near to commencing!! A month of fun awaits!!
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Saturday, 16 June 2007
few additional photos...
We finally got a card reader, so here are some of honey's photos which we missed.
The delicate arch (Arches national park)
Sears Tower (Chicago - we didn't get to go up this one)
An amusing warning. Note that MOST (indicating not ALL) people die in this manor!!
Tiny flaunting the amusing warning
Las Vegas - Mirage casino's volcano
The delicate arch (Arches national park)
Sears Tower (Chicago - we didn't get to go up this one)
An amusing warning. Note that MOST (indicating not ALL) people die in this manor!!
Tiny flaunting the amusing warning
Las Vegas - Mirage casino's volcano
Whale watching!!
Friday was a day of relaxation at Cape Cod. We played several games of mini golf (Roy kept losing his balls - see below), went in batting cages (baseball for the boys, softball for Charlotte) and then went to play pool at a local billiards hall!!
Roy loses it in the water
Tiny makes contact
Today we have just got back from whale watching in Provincetown. We are all burnt, but it was worth it - saw 3 mother-calf pairs of humpback whales, several lone humpbacks, minke whales, a jumping tunafish, and loads of cool dive-bombing birds (gannets). Some of the whales came very close to the boat (6feet away or so) so it was an amazing experience.
A friendly humpback
A mother-calf pair
A close humpback...
...and down she goes
Roy loses it in the water
Tiny makes contact
Today we have just got back from whale watching in Provincetown. We are all burnt, but it was worth it - saw 3 mother-calf pairs of humpback whales, several lone humpbacks, minke whales, a jumping tunafish, and loads of cool dive-bombing birds (gannets). Some of the whales came very close to the boat (6feet away or so) so it was an amazing experience.
A friendly humpback
A mother-calf pair
A close humpback...
...and down she goes
Thursday, 14 June 2007
Another update - and so soon!!
After the fun in the MacArthur library with Pete, the extremely helpful yet overly friendly librarian (who called around until he found us a good place to go to have Maine Lobster) we went to Lord's Lobster Harbourside Diner. The lobster was amazing, and for $24 for 2 each (about 12 quid) Roy DID enjoy it, but he just seems to have wished for a little bit more... Oh - and thankfully Honey's shellfish allergy didn't kick in at any point either!!
Today we travelled through to Cape Cod, where we are currently sitting in the downstairs lounge of the nicest hotel we've stayed in so far. On the way down we visited Plymouth Rock, where the pilgrims from Plymouth, England, first landed. It was...erm... REALLY interesting...
Going to go get food shortly, but in a couple of days expect another update, seeing as we actually have the internet until Saturday!!! happy days...
Today we travelled through to Cape Cod, where we are currently sitting in the downstairs lounge of the nicest hotel we've stayed in so far. On the way down we visited Plymouth Rock, where the pilgrims from Plymouth, England, first landed. It was...erm... REALLY interesting...
Going to go get food shortly, but in a couple of days expect another update, seeing as we actually have the internet until Saturday!!! happy days...
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Finally, an update!!
Who could have predicted that we would have such a hellish time trying to find an internet cafe!! Of course, all local calls are free, so everyone here can get dial-up free so there is no need for them!! Following is a brief outline of what we have done so far - a more in depth diary type write up will be uploaded once we return.
After the last update, we found the ol' swimming hole where we were staying in the Yosemite Bug Lodge and had a bit of a splash around.
The next day (4) we went to Yosemite National park. It was amazing, and there were incredible views. We drove all around it, and up Tioga pass (to around 10500 ft above sea level) where we had a play with the snow there (remember, this WAS california!) and to see the amazing view there
Tioga pass view
Yosemite valley
The next day we were off to Vegas. The two Richards went on the rides on top of the stratosphere tower, and the view was incredible from there of the strip (see below). The next day we went to a gun club, saw Bellagio fountains, Mirage's garden and volcano, and even did a little slots!! We also found a foot-long hotdog for 99cents, which we all - Roy especially - enjoyed.
Following day was off to The Grand Canyon. The days we spent there were... words cannot describe how amazing the canyon view is. The pictures will never do it justice - but here is us at the rim, inches away from a 4000ft drop!!
The next day was up to the Arches national park, which were also impressive formations, formed by plate movements (as opposed to the Grand canyon, which was all formed by erosion)
We then went through middle america - not a lot to do there. Denver (Casa Bonita was the worst meal we have ever had) Mount Rushmore (it has been raining so they all looked like they had been crying, and also it was very 'America is amazing, Britain is crap' in all the presentations, which got a little old...) Sioux Falls (nothing there. If you ever have the option of South Dakota - DO NOT GO!! IT IS CRAP!!) Then we got to Mall of America (where we took a wrong turn on the way home and ended up in our first ghetto). Loads of shops, and a theme park. It was cool, but there are no pictures (it WAS a shopping mall, what do you expect!!)
We then went on to Wisconsin, to see house on the rock. Again, if you ever have the opportunity to go, DON'T!! it was rubbish (modern art crap that you had to pay to get in and then pay more to get the exhibits to DO stuff!!) THe best thing about there was that we stayed in a motel eerily reminiscent of The Shining...
Then off to Chicago, where we went to a Medieval style banquet with jousting, an aquarium, and got lost in a ghetto at night... it was rather scary, although not as scary as the cars with half the doors rusted through!!
After Chicago we went across to Cleveland. We didnt manage to get to the Rock hall of fame (boo) but we did spend 4 hours in the Pro Football HoF, which was amazing (well, Charlotte and Roy didn't find it so enthralling, but Honey and I did!!)
Then it was off to Pittsburgh for big burgers. The 2lb ones looked HUGE!! So we all chickened out and went for smaller 1lb ones instead... That's right - smaller!!
We then headed up to Niagara falls, via our 3rd ghetto of the trip, stopping off at a bar for Buffalo wings where the dress code read 'strictly no gang colours' Nice wings though...
Niagara falls were amazing. Maid of the mist (boat ride), Journey behind the falls (tunel) and Cave of the Winds (platform at base of the falls) were very wet so we got a disposeable camera, so pics not available yet. Youll have to settle for this.
Cave of the winds Hurricane deck is just out of shot, bottom right
We then went to Vermont to the Ben and Jerrys factory, for a tour and some ice cream
Which brings us to Maine, sitting in a library. Off to have some lobster now - update soon!! (ish...maybe...)
After the last update, we found the ol' swimming hole where we were staying in the Yosemite Bug Lodge and had a bit of a splash around.
The next day (4) we went to Yosemite National park. It was amazing, and there were incredible views. We drove all around it, and up Tioga pass (to around 10500 ft above sea level) where we had a play with the snow there (remember, this WAS california!) and to see the amazing view there
Tioga pass view
Yosemite valley
The next day we were off to Vegas. The two Richards went on the rides on top of the stratosphere tower, and the view was incredible from there of the strip (see below). The next day we went to a gun club, saw Bellagio fountains, Mirage's garden and volcano, and even did a little slots!! We also found a foot-long hotdog for 99cents, which we all - Roy especially - enjoyed.
Following day was off to The Grand Canyon. The days we spent there were... words cannot describe how amazing the canyon view is. The pictures will never do it justice - but here is us at the rim, inches away from a 4000ft drop!!
The next day was up to the Arches national park, which were also impressive formations, formed by plate movements (as opposed to the Grand canyon, which was all formed by erosion)
We then went through middle america - not a lot to do there. Denver (Casa Bonita was the worst meal we have ever had) Mount Rushmore (it has been raining so they all looked like they had been crying, and also it was very 'America is amazing, Britain is crap' in all the presentations, which got a little old...) Sioux Falls (nothing there. If you ever have the option of South Dakota - DO NOT GO!! IT IS CRAP!!) Then we got to Mall of America (where we took a wrong turn on the way home and ended up in our first ghetto). Loads of shops, and a theme park. It was cool, but there are no pictures (it WAS a shopping mall, what do you expect!!)
We then went on to Wisconsin, to see house on the rock. Again, if you ever have the opportunity to go, DON'T!! it was rubbish (modern art crap that you had to pay to get in and then pay more to get the exhibits to DO stuff!!) THe best thing about there was that we stayed in a motel eerily reminiscent of The Shining...
Then off to Chicago, where we went to a Medieval style banquet with jousting, an aquarium, and got lost in a ghetto at night... it was rather scary, although not as scary as the cars with half the doors rusted through!!
After Chicago we went across to Cleveland. We didnt manage to get to the Rock hall of fame (boo) but we did spend 4 hours in the Pro Football HoF, which was amazing (well, Charlotte and Roy didn't find it so enthralling, but Honey and I did!!)
Then it was off to Pittsburgh for big burgers. The 2lb ones looked HUGE!! So we all chickened out and went for smaller 1lb ones instead... That's right - smaller!!
We then headed up to Niagara falls, via our 3rd ghetto of the trip, stopping off at a bar for Buffalo wings where the dress code read 'strictly no gang colours' Nice wings though...
Niagara falls were amazing. Maid of the mist (boat ride), Journey behind the falls (tunel) and Cave of the Winds (platform at base of the falls) were very wet so we got a disposeable camera, so pics not available yet. Youll have to settle for this.
Cave of the winds Hurricane deck is just out of shot, bottom right
We then went to Vermont to the Ben and Jerrys factory, for a tour and some ice cream
Which brings us to Maine, sitting in a library. Off to have some lobster now - update soon!! (ish...maybe...)
Sunday, 3 June 2007
Computer issues...
we are currently experiencing difficulties in finding anywhere to post a new update... We hope to find somewhere shortly and will post an update as soon as possible!!
But... we are all safe and well, so you can all be happy I suppose!!
But... we are all safe and well, so you can all be happy I suppose!!
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