Day 18, 19 & 20 - A Long Way Home

As The Little River Band says...it's a long way home...it took us 3 days. Well, not really. Obviously crossing the international date line has something to do with that...yet New York to Sydney (and then on to Newcastle) is a bit of a trek.

On our last morning in New York we spent a little bit of time wandering around, grabbing breakfast, some last minute shopping, and then the final pack of the bags and it was off to JFK Airport. The first flight was about 5 1/2 hours from New York to Los Angeles. We then had about 2 1/2 hour lay over before we had about 13 1/2 hours in the air to Sydney. All flights were good and uneventful so after leaving New York on 18 Nov we arrived in Sydney on 20 Nov. Where did that other day go? 

Gary was there to pick us up (thanks Gaz), and a couple of hours in the car up the freeway and we were home well before lunch. Thankfully I had brought a change of clothes so I could discard those knee high boots and winter gear for shorts and sandals as it is 40 degrees + today!

Some general comments on the trip I may have missed...

- most people thought our accents were from the UK and some people had trouble understanding us at all, particularly in Tennessee. Carly had to spell her name and even then they struggled...I think they thought she was Kailee. We particularly liked the Boston accent, but they were all cool.

- we tried to understand tipping but were never totally confident...I think we probably over-tipped, coz we didn't want to be stingy.

- restrooms are awesome everywhere - the ones here in Australia are a disgrace in comparison. Great hand-dryers or paper towels and soap everywhere, including public toilets in parks...and the toilets auto flush!

- wifi is fantastic and free just about everywhere - all free hotel wifi was better that what I have at home and was much faster

- Starbucks are everywhere...but seem to have a monopoly...not too many other alternatives (though this might just be touristy areas)

- Carly was certain that nobody besides her and Grannie (my mum) read the daily blog. Even when I showed her the stats that for instance on the day I looked at 63 people had accessed that blog, she still maintained that would have been Grannie clicking on it 60 times! Maybe she can't cope with her new found fame lol

All in all both Carly and I agree that we had a great trip. We didn't regret any of our choices and felt that we mixed it up pretty well with sport, music, food, history, and general sight seeing. I think our pick was Nashville, and in particular the Bluebird Cafe, which was fantastic. Having said that, we really enjoyed it all and now need a holiday to recover from our holiday.

Well it's now back to reality. It's been great though - thanks for sharing our journey with us.

Day 17 - Highline and New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden

Still reeling from the disappointment of yesterday, it was a mutual decision to forget the alarm and allow for an easy start to the day. We consequently took it easy and finally emerged from the hotel in search of breakfast at about 9am. That search concluded at the local diner where we shared an omelette and blueberry pancakes for old time's sake, shunning the more sensible oatmeal option that had become our habit of late. After a quick return to the room to grab our coats, for it had turned very cool over night, we set off to walk the Highline. This is an old, no longer used, raised railway line that has been transformed into a pleasant walk with gardens, trees etc, allowing a view of the city from a slightly elevated perspective. The idea is similar to the Fernleigh Track in Newcastle. This is something I had really wanted to do and I was pleased I did it!

It was then off to wander the streets of Greenwich Village, something else I had wanted to see. We stopped briefly for a cuppa and shared tart, and then it was back on the road to our next destination.

Next stop was Bryant Park Markets, a winter market, where we briefly wandered amongst the various stalls. A few last minute stops at some Times Square shops and we were then making our way to Columbus Circuit where we grabbed some linner and some more sweets to keep us going into the night. By this time we calculated we had walked for almost 6 hours and our feet were killing us! I had also developed a blister on my heel which is no surprise given the amount of walking we have done. As we had an hour or so to spare before the basketball, we bought some Epsom salts and spent the time pampering our aching feet to allow them to carry us to Madison Square Garden and back in the evening. I must admit this helped greatly!

Our last night in New York and what better way to spend it than at a Knicks game...especially when they win...and they did - 102 - 94. It was a close and exciting game and we had a really good time. 

The final walk home seemed long but finally we made it back by 11pm. Last day tomorrow with only a few hours free in the morning before we need to head off to the airport.

Day 16 - New York Mystery Endeavour

As you know the alarm went off at 5am and we stumbled out of bed and were pounding the pavement by 5:30...heading to...drum roll...the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show stand by ticket line! We arrived at 5:55am hoping to be somewhere near the head of the line but found there were 19 people ahead of us. Apparently the first couple arrived at 2:45am. So it was time to dig in and wait. The way this works is that you line up at a designated place on the pavement outside NBC studios and then at 9am they come and take your name and give you a numbered standby ticket. You then need to come back at 3:30pm at which time they tell you whether you have made it in.

We had both taken our kindles so that helped pass the time - we sat, we stood, we stretched, and pretty much did everything we could to be comfortable in a sidewalk line at 6am. By 9am the line had swollen to over 50 people and we all dutifully got our numbered golden ticket (Carly was 20 and I was 21) and were told to return at 3:30.

By this time we were more than a little peckish as I was too scared to eat or drink anything on the line as you are not allowed to leave the line for any reason, including going to the bathroom. So we found a place to grab some take away oatmeal & fruit and a cup of tea, and the day was underway for real. Carly wanted to shop and I wanted to go to the Top of the Rock - the viewing balcony on the top of the Rockefeller Centre (67th floor), so we split up. Moving out into Rockefeller Plaza, I stumbled upon Miranda Kerr and a ceremony putting the sparkly star on top of the big Christmas Tree. Apparently it's a big deal - there were paparazzi everywhere...and I couldn't believe Carly was missing it. I decided to stay and take lots of pics so I could show her later. Unbeknown to me, Carly was also there filming it so she could show me later!

It was then time for me to climb to the heights to get a bird's eye view of New York. Although it was chilly early, the day was perfect - quite warm, sunny, and totally still. The view was amazing! I spent about 20 minutes ups there taking heaps of photos and generally taking it all in - I was so glad I did it.

I checked out the skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza on the way back to our hotel room where we had agreed to meet. It was all very festive!

Carly also had a successful morning and having dumped her shopping we were once again pounding the pavement. We grabbed lunch at the diner Gary & I frequented back in 2008 and then headed off to Central Park for a bit of exploring. It really was a lovely day - at 3pm it was 21 degrees!

By the time we realised we were actually walking the wrong way to get back to NBC, we needed to do a bit of a flash walk to make sure we were there by the 3:30 deadline. Yes, that's right, the time of reckoning was nigh. At 3:30 as everyone assembled at the NBC shop, the designated spot, it was announced that people with numbers over 50 had no chance and should leave. This gave us some heart that we were a chance. We were then lined up in number order from 1 down and asked to wait. We were starting to get excited by this time. Things were looking good. We knew that they were very strict about people being on time but we were pleased for the 2 young blokes from Nashville (numbers 18 & 19) who were allowed to join the line 10 minutes late as one of them had lost his wallet and had been looking for it. It would seem churlish to cry "shenanigans" on this blatant breaking of the rules. It wouldn't matter, would it? I'm sure you've guessed where this is going...they called out the next cut and announced only 1-19 need stay. Do I need to remind you that we were 20 & 21? No Jimmy Fallon for us. So close...and yet so far. WE WERE SHATTERED!!!!!

Well, when faced with a set back such as this there is only one thing to do. It was off to the bakery!

We were pretty tired and disappointed so decided an early night was in order. Ah well, tomorrow is another day...

On a side note, we heard this morning that poor old Oska had to be put down yesterday, aged 17. It must have been hard for James and Gary and we were sad here too, but the poor old fella had reached that time when there was really no choice and it's good to know he is not suffering now.

Day 15 - Train to New York and Matilda on Broadway

After too many miles in the air, we decided to take the train from Boston to New York, and that's where we set off to this morning, South Station, Boston. We arrived at the station by 8:30 for our 9:40 train and promptly found a friendly porter, Frank (not Frankie the tour guide), who instructed us to grab some brekky at one of the many eateries and he would personally escort us onto the train early to get great seats. This we did, and as promised, Frank came up with the goods, setting us up well before the hoi poloi joined us. He suggested the quiet carriage and boy was it quiet...not a peep! We were warned by some other early travellers not to make a sound as others get quite narky if you do.

The trip was about 4 hours but was spent pleasantly watching TV shows on the tablet, reading and watching the passing scenery as we travelled through Rhode Island and Conneticut to reach New York Penn Station at about 2pm.

A quick cab to our hotel, check in and spruce up, and we hit the streets...well, we got as far as the next corner where we found a neighbourhood diner and stepped in for some linner. We were getting hangry... Pasta and a panini with salad and fries put paid to our hunger and our exploration continued. We did a reccy for something we have planned for tomorrow, battled our way through Times Square, and then it was time for that great Broadway hit, Matilda at 6:30pm. We loved it. Tim Minchin has certainly done very well!

After the show we were once again hoofing our way, this time to Columbus Circle where we knew there was an awesome supermarket. There were also some pretty lights and thankfully quite a few less people than we had encountered earlier in Times Square which was totally chaotic. We grabbed some supper, a snicker doodle each, and also grabbed an apple each in case we get hungry on our secret endeavour tomorrow morning.

So back at the hotel it was a quick shower and in bed by 10:30 to prepare for that 5am alarm. Whose idea was this anyway? Stay tuned...

Day 14 - Boston Freedom Trail and general exploring

No alarm this morning - yay, a big treat. We wandered down to our favourite diner, Thorntons, which was packed so we had a short wait before we got a table. It is always busy with a line up of people waiting - a sure sign of a great establishment! Looking for more "normal" food today, we both went for some oatmeal with fruit (bananas, strawberries and blueberries) and it was yummy. To ensure the perfect cup of tea I even brought my own Lipton tea bags - ha ha.

We did a bit of make-up shopping for ourselves and those who had put in orders, dropped it back at the rooms and then set out to walk to the Boston Common - about 35 minutes away. Did I mention that it was really cold, blowing a gale, overcast, and generally freezing? It reached a top of 6 degrees today but I believe the wind chill brought it down to 3 (or so my ap told me). We were rugged up but had to hang onto our beanies to stop them from blowing away. Regardless, if is still a lovely place to walk around and we enjoyed our walk.

When we got to the common we grabbed a map of the Boston Freedom Trail (thanks for the tip Joan!) There is a trail of red bricks to follow and, with the help of the printed guide, we followed the trail and stopped at many of the various historical monuments, buildings, and sites. Carly walked, I talked, and we explored and examined the pioneer history of the mighty USA. 

When we reached Faneuil Hall (an old meeting house that has now become a market), we paused for lunch (almost linner) at a restaurant recommended by our guide from yesterday, Frankie. I forgot to tell you about Frankie. He often spoke in the first person. When we got on the bus he told us Frankie would not be using the microphone as there was only a small group. We kept waiting for some other guide to come on the bus...until we realised he was Frankie. Carly loved the way he said "forget about it" in his Boston accent. Anyway, back to our lunch. Frankie recommended this restaurant for their pot roast and as we were in search of "normal", pot roast sounded good to us...and it was...actually it was better than good, it was amazing.

We continued on the trail and found ourselves in Little Italy, the neighbourhood where you can find Mike's Pastry, the most popular cake shop you've ever seen. It was packed...I'm talking at least 80 people lined up inside with more outside. Well, we lined up and we were rewarded - we bought a Boston Cream Pie (actually it is cake with a custard layer inside and chocolate icing) and a Pecan Caramel Cannoli (after all Mikes is the "Home of the Cannoli"). They were dinner and they were awesome!

Our last subway ride back to the hotel and it was another early night with a couple of TV movies, a final pack of the suitcases, all ready to head off to the Big Apple tomorrow.

Day 13 - Historic Boston, Harvard, Wahlbergers & Fenway Park

The day dawned sunny yet windy and cool. We set off to a neighbourhood diner (that Carly had researched, of course), and had a great brekky of "normal" food - oatmeal and poached eggs...yep, we are now craving normal food a bit more.

The morning was spent on a tour. We went to Harvard and then the historic towns of Lexington and Concord as we learnt about the American Revolution / War of Independence. So we heard a bit about the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's ride, and the early battles between the colonists and the British soldiers. Although the tour was interesting, both Carly and I agreed, the best bit of the tour was driving around the very pretty Boston and surrounds. It is a lovely place. We also saw houses where some noted American authors lived including Louisa May Alcott's which was pretty cool. I always loved Little Women!

We only stopped briefly at Harvard, but at least now I can say I've been to Harvard lol

We caught a train from our drop off point to go to Wahlbergers, something I had never heard of, but apparently a TV show is based on the family and their restaurant and Carly assured me it was a must to visit. While we were eating our (very nice) lunch Carly spotted some guy from the show...and the next thing I knew photos were being taken. Apparently his name is Nacho...

As you can see I was somewhat stunned...the food was great though! 

Our other reason for being in this vicinity was to do the Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox baseball team) tour. It was fantastic. Joe, our guide gave us a wonderful overview of the ballpark and the team.  Unfortunately the ground was set up for a college football game so it didn't look as "basebally " as it would normally. It was a very interesting tour and we're really glad we did it. 

By this stage we had experienced rain on and off and it was still pretty cold...and getting dark...so we walked back towards the hotel, grabbed some salad and fruit for dinner and decided to spend a quiet night watching movies in the room. All the better to prepare for whatever tomorrow may hold.

Day 12 - Boston Bruins Ice Hockey

Big travel day today with an early start to arrive at the airport in Nashville before 7:30am and then fly to New York, change to another plane and fly on to Boston. It was a bit bumpy both in the air and landing today but nevertheless we arrived safe and sound in Boston at about 2:20pm (having lost another hour).

We grabbed a shared ride (a kind of shuttle) to our hotel, checked in, and then set out to explore. It was raining but we really enjoyed the walk and finally reached our destination - Joe's Restaurant for linner at about 4pm. Carly had done her research and once again we were not disappointed - she had ribs and I had some yummy pasta (mainly as it had broccoli and I was craving vegetables).

We then decided to see whether we could get tickets for the ice hockey game that was on tonight so started walking towards the venue. By this time it was raining fairly heavily so we decided to try out the subway - what an adventure! After some false starts we finally found a lovely subway employee who explained how the ticketing works. They have a Charlie Card which is a bit like an Opal card, so we bought one and set out once again. 

We found the venue, grabbed some tickets, but we still had time to kill so we took off walking again to a marketplace which had some interesting shops and a replica Cheers bar. It was dark and still raining so we might go back tomorrow to check it in the daylight.

We decided walking was easier so back we went again and headed up into the nosebleed section to watch the Boston Bruins take on the Colarado Avalanche. 

The Bruins got off to a great start, leading 2-0 early in the first period and we felt that maybe our hoodoo and jinx wasn't going to be on display. But sure enough, the Colorado team scored 3 goals to ensure defeat for the poor Bruins.

The atmosphere was fantastic regardless. It seems that the main aim is to get drunk and rowdy in the crowd so that the camera shows you on the big screen - very entertaining to watch. I did have to restrain Carly who suggested we start a chant of "quack, quack, quack" and also stop her from yelling out that they should use the "flyingV" (for all you Mighty Ducks fans) but all in all it was a great night. Once again, as in the 49ers game the other day, there was a lot of mention of veterans due to it being Veterans Day yesterday. Heaps of uniformed personnel were there for free and there was a lot of focus on their sacrifice and service.

We decided it would be too crowded on the subway after the game so walked back to the hotel - it only took an hour! Boston seems like a great city to walk around in, so I guess we might be doing a bit of that over the next few days. Back in the room by 11pm and the in bed by midnight. Another big day tomorrow.

Day 11 - Franklin and he Civil War Tour

Today was all about history, history, history.

After a good night's sleep and a quick buffet breakfast at the hotel, we were in the lobby at 8:30am, ready to be picked up for our Civil War Tour. After collecting our small group of travellers from downtown (there were 10 of us), Bill, our driver and tour guide, set off toward the town of Franklin, some 30 minutes or so from Nashville. Our fellow travellers all hailed from various parts of the US and were very friendly and we all spent a pleasant day together.

The whole tour was about the Battle of Franklin which took place in the town of Franklin on 30 November 1864. There were approx. 10,000 casualties that day in the space of 5 hours and we visited 3 different sites to hear the stories of the families who were in the firing line that day. First was Carter House (that is one of their slave cabins above and the house below) where 28 people (family, neighbours and slaves) sheltered in their basement during the battle. 

The house was well preserved and set up as it would have looked then - and it was peppered with bullet holes. 

Next stop (above) was not far away where the Lotz family lived. They sheltered in the Carter's basement which was just as well as their house was totally shot up and hit with cannon balls - it took Mr Lotz 4 years to fix it up and rebuild. 

The final stop was the Carnton Plantation (above) which was turned into a hospital on the day of the battle and remained one for the next 7 months. The blood stains remain all over the floorboards. The stories of these 3 families were fascinating and we certainly got a great picture of the battle and the Civil War. All in all it was a good day.

On the way back Bill called in to show us the Opreyland Hotel and Convention Centre - the largest non gambling hotel in the US - it was pretty spectacular.

Carly had done some research on trip advisor and chosen our dinner spot - Monell's - and it was fantastic! Typical southern home cooking complete with fried chicken, pork chops, mashed potato, green beans, corn pudding, coleslaw, apple cobbler...and heaps more! It is what they call "family style dining" which means people are seated together at a large dining table and they just keep bringing the food out as you pass it around, boarding house style. This means you interact with random strangers at your table, and that was very pleasant too.

After this massive feast we walked back in to town (about 30 min), did a bit of last minute souvenir shopping, caught the shuttle back to the hotel, and settled in to pack and prepare for our next part of the adventure. Tomorrow it's off to Boston...

Day 10 - Explore Nashville, Bluebird Cafe, Duelling Pianos

Wow, what a day! Hard to know where to start...maybe at the beginning...

We slept in (for once) because when the alarm went off at 8 in Nashville our body clocks still thought it was 6 in San Fran. After getting ready it was off downstairs to the shuttle that was due to leave at 9. Luckily we were there early as it left at 8:55...this place makes Faulty Towers look like a 5 star joint!

Regardless, we were dropped downtown and found our way to Pucketts, a famous diner, where we had a more than satisfying breakfast of omelette and pancakes. We are wondering if we can ever be satisfied with weet bix again???

We then set off to explore what Nashville had to offer. After the obligatory stroll through the souvenir shops we set off for the Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame where we spent a pleasant couple of hours learning all about the history of country music. It was really good! I took heaps of photos (much to Carly's disdain) but I thought the displays were great and some of the old costumes were fantastic.

We weren't really sure what we would do next and then fate stepped in and we met Mike, the song writing tour guide who offered to drive us around town in a golf cart and show us the sights (for a fee of course). We negotiated terms and agreed to the tour if he ended the tour at the Bluebird Cafe where, as I'm sure you recall, we had tickets for the show tonight. A deal was struck - we would meet Mike at 4pm, do the tour and he would drop us at the Bluebird at 5:15 in plenty of time for the 6pm show. In the meantime we found a cafe and spent a little while drinking tea and resting up for our big adventure...little did we know...

So, sure enough, at the designated spot and time we met up with Mike and set off on our tour. He drove this funny, slightly larger than the average, golf cart type vehicle which was licensed to travel on the roads. Mike was awesome! He drove us around, admittedly in a seemingly quite dangerous fashion, but showed us some great spots we would not have otherwise seen. We viewed seedy laneways, sang together at the 90 bell carillon, saw the State Capitol building, traversed parks, explored converted warehouses, and generally saw bits of Nashville yet unknown to us. Despite his hair-raising driving antics we were thoroughly happy with our tour.

It was now time to head to the Bluebird and Mike was very generous in taking us there as it is somewhat out of the main part of town. OK, there was some irony in what happened next...and I don't want to alarm you...but...after his hair-raising driving antics, Mike (and us) were sitting stationary at lights when a women driving a massive Jeep slammed into the back of us. We were given a pretty good jolt but we're lucky (as was Mike) to say we were OK. The cart was pretty dented though and the woman admitted she was texting at the time of the accident. Let this be a lesson my friends...no texting when behind a golf cart! Mike was pretty upset. The lady was pretty upset. Carly and I were pretty upset because we weren't on our way to the Bluebird!!!! 

Mike used my phone to call 911 - that's right, 911...how exciting. Carly used her phone to call a cab to get us to the Bluebird. Mike asked if we would still pay him for the tour. We said of course we would! The cab didn't come so we called again...time was ticking...we were panicking. The cops arrived and took our details - try spelling Buttaba to a Nashville cop ha ha - the cab still hadn't arrived. Mike offered to pay for the cab. We declined. The lady kept sitting in her car texting. The cop kept taking details. Then the cab arrived! Yay! We yelled goodbye to Mike and jumped aboard to finally head to the Bluebird. We knew they would give our tickets away of we were late. We made it with 5 minutes to spare!

The show was amazing!!! I don't know how else to describe it. All the artists were fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. They each sang their own songs but the others joined in and jammed along - it was unreal. We had seats right at the front - we were so lucky. It is my highlight of the trip so far.

After the show we lucked out and grabbed a cab straight away back to the downtown area where we went to see the duelling pianos bar and that was another great show. I was onto my third wine, which is a lot for me, and so was embarrassing Carly as a mother is want to do - it was great! We were pretty much the only customers when the show started at 8:30 so there was a fair bit of pressure to sing along and participate...it would have been rude not to, don't you think??

After an eventful, yet great day, we caught the shuttle back to the hotel and settled in for the night. Another big day tomorrow...can't wait!