Marine one returns

Whilst in Washington DC, I was wandering around the excellent park lands of the National Mall when I was able to snap Marine one thundering past the Washington Monument on route to the White House. While Barack Obama was copping a fair bit of grief for holidaying at Martha’s Vineyard during August, he was still back and forth to Washington during that period. Let’s face it, there will always be something going on and the rest of Congress wasn’t sitting either as they were all on holiday too.

Washington's Union Station

Walked into Washington's Union Station after stepping off the Philadelphia Greyhound bus; was a fairly nondescript car park and loading facility and didn't stand out much. However, when we walked out into the main concourse, this was a wow moment. This is a fine example of not only a functional building, this is a well utilised example of architectural design and beauty - what a great place. Walking out of the building following Google maps, we took off towards the Capital Building on route to our accommodation, very scenic city.

John A Roebling suspension bridge

The John A Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. We had an 8 hour layover on our Greyhound bus trip to explore Cincinnati - really glad we broke up our bus trip instead of boarding an express service.

On this Friday, the Boston Redsocks played the Cincinati Reds at the Great American Ball Park,we were viewing the bridge watching people filing past in their droves the bridge in the Reds team colours to watch the game.

Stopping over in Cincinnati

There was plenty to like about Cincinnati during our 12 hour stop over on route from Nashville to Washington. We never stopped long enough in Louisville to get out and about, the trip was going to be too long so we decided to break it up despite being on a tight schedule. The Greyhound station was well within walking distance of the city centre, so we made the most of this break.

Fountain Square was well worth the look, also loved the old apartment buildings just out of the city centre, plenty to see and do, we really needed another day to look around and explore.

Even an attempt to spruce up and make the old carparks look interesting added to the the city, this is by no means a huge city but large enough to have everything you need. 

Ok, this was a summer visit, I have never been here in the depths of winter but I was asking myself, if I was working in the United States and was sent to this city for work, I wouldn't be too unhappy.

Broadway

If you like country music, Nashville is the place to be. I was fairly surprised, this was a city, I knew that already but I expected a more country orientated ambiance. There is a certain irony that the centre of the universe for country music is a reasonably sized city.

A little research tells me that the city itself has a population of 610,000 with a total population in the municipality of 1.73 million inhabitants.

Down on Broadway, that is where most of the bars seem to be located, plenty going on during the day and the evenings just get better.

2nd Ave, Nashville

Noriko wasn't well so I was left to my own devices wandering the streets of Nashville. There are some great streets off of Broadway, one I liked was 2nd Avenue, there are plenty of small bars and shops lining the streets. Plenty of colour and interesting shopfronts, unfortunately for me, I was only here during the day and couldn't spend the evening enjoying the bars and nightlife.

Memphis waterfront

As the day rolled to a close, we only had one full day in Memphis and we needed to make it count - we didn't. We wasted half the day firstly at the Greyhound Station and then waiting for a local bus to take us downtown - a terrible waste of a day.

Yet as the sun was setting, heading down to the waterfront to watch the mighty Mississippi River amble by capped off the day. The local government had just upgraded the waterfront and I very much appreciated their efforts, I spoke with a young local couple who asked me to take their photograph was a great way to watch the evening approach - I just love the people in this part of the country, so down to earth.

Memphis International Airport

We had a motel close to the Memphis international airport, what a surprise we received as our bus heading downtown sped up a ramp and we were able to peer over the airport high wall. The tarmac was full, every jet however was painted in Fedex colours, we did not view one commercial passenger jet parked on the apron.

I get the feeling the term international airport relates to Fedex business activities and nothing else. Every American airport I saw seemed to have the designation, I tend to believe owing to the hub business model, not many international flights tend to originate or end at most of these airports. Later when we arrived downtown and walked Main Street, the maps showed Fedex Plaza at the end of the tourist precinct. Without any research, I'm starting to think Fedex is headquartered in Memphis, a fact, if true, I was unaware of before.

Downtown Memphis

Walking through downtown Memphis, the city centre is clean and tidy A number of Fortune 500 companies base head offices in Memphis including FedEx, AutoZone and International, to me, Memphis looks like a corporate city.

The legacy of Martin Luther King

Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee is the site of the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, the prominent civil rights activist. Naturally, I knew of the "All men are created equal, I have a dream" speech. I must profess, I was unaware of sanitation worker's strike or the events leading up to the fateful day. Today was the day I learned a little of contemporary American civil rights history without even going inside.

I was sitting outside on a retaining wall over the road; I was listening to these elderly southern ladies chatting. In their thick southern accent, I very much enjoyed listening to their colourful stories, they were joyful and happy, some of the things they said were just gold.

As I, she was waiting outside, she didn't want to go inside to witness the museum for different reasons than me when she came out with "I don't find this so exciting, I lived through the time, I don't want to relive this." I opened my tablet and started tapping keys, this was a defining moment in my United States trip, I wanted to make sure I recorded this moment.

The other lady came out and started describing the museum tour, she didn't like it much, it was a little crowded and she was unable to go at her own pace when she came out with "I don't like no confining, I like my freedom."

My blog is observations in an undemocratic world; my short time sitting on that retaining wall outside the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee listening to these two wonderful southern women defines what I am trying to achieve, I only hope I do this moment justice.

Blues City Cafe

Having wandered up and down the famous birthplace of rock & roll in Memphis, Tennessee; we decided to head into the Blues City Cafe on Beale Street. Ordering a full serve of ribs and some stuffed and sauté mushrooms, this easily fed two people.

These ribs were delicious, I can now see why Americans have such an affiliation with ribs, these were not only well proportioned with plenty of flesh, the meat fell off the bone. Service was crisp and funny, our waiter offered good advice, we were entertained with good quality old style rock & roll.

All up, a thunderous summer evening in Memphis.

Beale Street

Having walked around Main Street and Madison Avenue, it was time to head down to the famous Beale Street. Due to the hassles with the Memphis bus system, we blew half the day at the Greyhound station purchasing tickets to Nashville and waiting for a local bus to take us downtown. Due to this, we missed the famous Sun Studio - oh well, something to do on a return visit sometime in the future.

Apparently, this is the birthplace of rock & roll, this was a great great place in the early evening although this is basically a street two blocks in length, there isn't much on the side streets either, the bars and hence the music is pretty much contained to one street in Memphis.

Memphis buses

You could spend a lifetime waiting for a local Memphis bus, we were waiting outside our motel after receiving dodgy bus information and decided to walk down the Greyhound station to pre-book the Memphis to Nashville leg and arrange accommodation. This started at about 10:45 am, at 2:00 pm, still waiting for a bus.

Now during this interval, we walked to the Greyhound station, plotted and researched a route using Greyhound's free WiFi and researched and booked our hotel.

I totally mixed up the local bus station, there was seats and bays but no buses and timetabling information to be seen. I actually confused this place for a smoking area, Memphis has a lousy public transport system, totally blew our one full day in Memphis. When the bus finally came, we found it was more expensive than the New Orleans bus system, buses are frequent in New Orleans and well patronised.

Greyhound through the south

Greyhound has an excellent business running throughout the southern and midwest regions; now I'm sure this is a national business, this is only my observations from my limited time in the United States so far.

I was surprised at the size and structure of the Greyhound terminals, this terminal arrangement runs in an efficient manner moving multitudes of people daily. You make stops at cities between destinations, some are short 5 minute drop off/pick up, others may be a 30 minute rest stop for the driver.

If you are not in too much of a rush, you can jump off one bus and pick up a later bus for a short city layover. This is what we did, an easy way to explore a smaller city that you may not have visited had you not had this option. Any future trips through the south and mid-west is going to be undertaken in such a manner so more American cities are explored on short duration trips.

Warehouse district

The warehouse district was less popular than the French Quarter, the architecture was less interesting but still had plenty of charm. The roads were wider, cleaner and in a much better condition. What I also noticed was the larger art galleries seemed to reside in this district whereas the smaller galleries we located in the French Quarter.

Getting out of the French Quarter for a while and looking around the warehouse district was worthwhile, we needed to go to the Amtrak station and taking the scenic but longer route was the best option.

Cafe Beignet

Our first night in New Orleans saw us hit Bourbon Street, a quick meal in Cafe Beignet saw us hanging around in The Music Legends Park listening to live jazz.

Food wise, the meals were light and well priced by Bourbon Street standards. All in all, a pretty respectable place for a quick and easy meal that is reasonably priced.

The French Quarter

Hanging out in New Orleans saw us spending the majority of our time in the French Quarter, the heart and definitely the soul of Louisiana. At times, we wandered off to the warehouse and art district, these had the larger galleries, Royal Street in the French Quarter had no shortage of smaller boutique galleries I found extremely interesting.

The architecture of the French Quarter is extremely interesting, we loved wandering around during the day, yeah, it got a bit warm but no complaints there. Plenty of bars to stop in for a drink if you need, since we were on a tight budget, no chance of that.

The housing is very colourful, just loved the construction of the wooden houses. Very interesting streets to live no doubt, for the best part, the streets were very quiet during the day.

Restaurant 424

New Orleans is famous for its fresh seafood due to its nautical history and location, whilst on Bourbon Street, we decided to check out one of its better known seafood restaurants. The staff were friendly, the night however didn't run smoothly despite their best intentions.

Firstly, our very impressional waiter introduced herself, she was very nice and took our order, we ordered a bottle of wine and I chatted to her asking her recommendations based on my lack of local knowledge. That's where our first problems started, we made our selection and off she went, the drinks didn't arrive so we called her over again. She informed us she was not allowed to go behind the actual bar and needed to wait for them to bring the bottle to her. I never checked the time we arrived to the time she took our order so I am unaware if 30 or 45 minutes elapsed while we were just sitting at an empty table.

When the bottle finally arrived, she was unable to pull the cork and sought assistance from another staff member. The protocol for wine service is to pour a taster to ensure the wine is not corked or spoiled, she didn't do this, I'm guessing a lack of training by the establishment.

She did know a little about the selection, her knowledge was fairly limited though. I was surprised when she made the comment that our selection was ok for the price, not the price we were paying here, the price if we purchased cheaper in a liquor store. We all know restaurants jack up the price of alcohol to boost profit margins, being told like that is pretty insulting though.

As this is a seafood restaurant, we viewed the extensive fish menu, she then informed us when we went to order that all fish was sold out except the red something or other, our least desired option. This is, of course, why this his fish remained, nobody wanted - more delays. We ordered just the one fish and shared making up the volume of menu with entree and snacks.

Still hungry, we ordered two selection of pie, who was surprised when only one came out? Kitchen staff out with surprised looks on their faces, our waitress was nowhere to be seen, she kept a low profile. Manager out apologising, no actual reduction in bill or offers of a free coffee or similar.

When we came to pay the bill, the slip came with suggested gratuity of 18% or 20%, are they insane?

Train your staff, pay your staff accordingly and get the place organised. We left cash on the table, we tried to hail staff to come and pick up the cash, ignored again. So we just got up and left after numerous attempts to gain attention.

Bourbon Street

Since we were in New Orleans, the sun was setting and we only had one destination on our minds, the world renown Bourbon Street. Famous for its jazz bars, I was looking forward to a night out, I even drank a couple of bourbon and dry during the course of the evening.

The street was cordoned off allowing only pedestrian traffic, I quickly learned, every night is a party night on Bourbon Street.

This is pretty much a drinking street, the street itself was smaller than I expected, there was however bar after bar with touts lined up trying to get you inside. The street reeked of urine and vomit, you wouldn't want to fall over, you would need immediate detoxing.

During the day, the street is pretty lively, the bars open nice and early, I couldn't believe the time people start drinking here, there was plenty of strange and interesting characters out and about during the day, there was plenty of tourists like ourselves out snapping photographs as well.

Bourbon Street is not to be missed when in New Orleans, I must admit, I would quickly tire of this place though.

Music Legends Park

There is plenty happening on Bourbon Street, even on a Tuesday night. For me, an irresistible option was to sit outside in the warm summer air to listen to jazz. While not normally a bourbon drinker, I decided to grab a bourbon and dry to sit and listen to the music, I was pretty happy with my selection of venue.

These guys played 45 minute sets with a 15 minute break starting back at the beginning of every hour, I easily listened to a number of sets whilst eating and drinking.

How to die in New Orleans

Just out of the French Quarter, I was walking around exploring the colourful residential housing of New Orleans and wandered past this church. The notice board out the front immediately grabbed my attention, a list of 2014 murders, the names of the deceased, age and method of murder. While it didn't explicitly state these were all members of this particular church, I assumed this was for the whole city of New Orleans.

What immediately struck me was your chances of being shot were by far the most likely way to die, I am told New Orleans is the murder capital of America - I don't doubt it.

Cafe Du Monde

One of the famed French Quarter attractions is Cafe Du Monde, a busy cafe with live jazz belted out for patrons. Much to my surprise, the napkin holder doubles as the menu on one side with the opposing side showing offers from the gift shop.

You can order via waitress or through a small window - cash only. My black coffee came out splashed all over the saucer, Noriko's ice coffee was fairly tasteless and we received a strange look when I wouldn't order three beignets, some French/American donut plastered in calories.

While Cafe Du Monde was the original cafe at the French Markets, opened in the early 1860s, to be honest, I have no idea why this place is so famous now.

Space shuttle Atlantis

The space shuttle Atlantis on public display at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Kennedy Space Centre

The Kennedy Space Centre, it was magnificent, my only complaint was that it was not long enough, there is so mush to see and do.

The solid fuel booster rockets and liquid fuel tank from the shuttle program, once the boosters are ignited, they can't be turned off until all the fuel is finished. 

Flight deck from the shuttle, hard to believe the computer technology is Commodore 64 and Atari technology used to actually fly the shuttle from the tower into orbit and back to earth.

Walmart car park shockers

I had been warned about Walmart, after seeing this wanker-mobile in the carpark, I was getting concerned about what was inside.

Hanging at Palm Coast

Gated communities, I had never heard of such a thing. Hanging at Palm Coast, I guess in retirement central, I found out exactly what it is. Really enjoyed hanging around Daytona Beach and surrounds, an easy and relaxing place to stay.

Atlanta Airport

Arriving at the hub that is Atlanta airport, I am surprised that the actual airport is somewhat dowdy. What isn't disappointing is the comings and goings involved; Delta has a huge involvement here, a number of concourse were dedicated to Delta flights. I was almost left with the impression that Alanta airport was Delta airport - such was their span of control.

This was the first time I had flown internally in the United States, I was very impressed at the level of organisation. Flights arrive, people change planes for final destinations, I have learned that there aren't many direct flights in the US, the airlines all use the hub business model. Atlanta airport is a pretty slick operation, the number of flights was mind blowing, scheduling must be a nightmare, this isn't even the busiest airport in the US.

Flying Delta

Arriving in Newark at 4:30 pm, we immediately needed to get down to Florida and required a cheap flight. $1000 per person one way wasn't a realistic option and after some extensive searching found Delta to be the only plausible airline not will to rip us off. We missed the 6:00 pm flight that evening; it was fully booked at any rate so La Guardia the next day was the next best option after an overnight stay in Queens, that gave us some time to sleep in and still get to the airport in a reasonable time frame.

Booking over the phone, we were still hit with extra booking charges the ticketing desk staff told us we would avoid - great. Arriving at the airport, we found we were not on the flight, protracted negotiations saw us get a seat with time running out. Then, another $25 per person for our backpacks was an extra charge on an already expensive ticket. Not happy, any opportunity to gouge the hapless traveller.

Once on the plane, Delta were very good, if I was in the United States fulltime, I would be very happy flying Delta, they appear to be very well organised. Having flown budget airlines in South East Asia, I know all about disorganisation and airlines. Delta's in-flight service also includes internet coverage from gate to gate, you are able to use electronic devices the whole flight, laptop computers do have to be powered down during take-off and landing as their electrical signatures are too strong, tablets and smartphones are left on for the duration of the flight, phone calls can be taken at cruising only.

Hitting NY for oh so short a time

Flying from Paris to New York, we arrived at Newark airport before trying to immediately leave for Daytona as soon as we arrived, almost a waste of New York. At such short notice, it wasn't possible but we were able to get a Delta flight to Daytona via Alanta from La Guardia airport the next day.

Travelling across the city using the train and bus system, you soon realsise how big greater New York is, getting to understand all the different railway and bus systems takes a little getting used to as a newcomer. This is not my first time in New York, the last time was 2001 but I had pretty much forgot the structure and layout of the public transport system.

Rue de Rivoli

The Rue de Rivoli bears the name of Napoleon Bonaparte's victory against the Austrian army at the battle of Rivoli, fought 14th and 15th of January 1797.

The commercial street runs along pierced the north wing of the Louvre Palace and the Tuileries Gardens and is lined by some of the most exclusive retail outlets in the world.

Up close and personal

Hanging out at the base of Eiffel Tower, there was no way I was heading up the elevators with the long lines, pushing and shoving.

I was just enjoying my time in and around, I have been up the tower previously, I was thinking back to when it was and was a little surprised to work out in was the mid to late 1990s, regardless, I wasn't heading up this time.

It's hard to believe they were actually seriously contemplating tearing the structure down at the end of the World's Fair in 1889, initially criticised by intellectuals and artists, it is now the most visited monument in the world.  

Le Dôme Café

The legendary Le Dôme Café of Montparnasse; located just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower was the meeting place of intellectuals and left bank artists. I have read so much about Le Dôme with famous literary clientele of Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, William Somerset Maugham with artists of Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and Paul Gauguin - this was the place to be. Even leftist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin was apparently a regular there mixing with Dômiers at the so called Anglo-American café.

Arc de Triomphe

My favourite monument in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe completed in 1836 has been described as the most monumental of monument arches. Standing in the centre of  Place de l'Étoile and the Champs-Élysées, the arch honours those who fought and lost their lives for France with a particular emphasis on the Napoleonic wars.