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.