After the drama of getting to the Greyhound terminal in Miami, our first short stop would be Fort Lauderdale which is only about 40 minutes north, then next to Orlando where we would stop for about 40 minutes.
We also spotted Brisbane Street on our regular trek to the station.
<><><><><><><><> </>
<><><><><><><><> </>
The following day we made our way to the Washington Monument, walked to the Jefferson monument then back towards the White House. But before all that we went into the White Visitor Information Centre just down the road from the White House. As we are approaching the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th St which leads into the White House grounds, Security has blocked every intersection, stop pedestrians and put up barracades so quick you just don't realise what is happening. Within 2 minutes along comes a cavalcade of black cars, dark tinted windows and flashing lights on the lead and rear vehicles. We thought it might have been someone important - NO it wasn't us !! In fact, we were to find out later that it was the George Bush Snr AND George W, and Bill Clinton in those cars.
They were meeting with President Obama for the presentation and unveiling of a portrait of George Jnr. How lucky were we to be standing right across from 3, well actually 4, living, past and a present Presidents of the United States of America. I feel blessed and disappointed at the same time because Obama was busy with them so I had to contend with just seeing the White House from a distance.
There was also a catch (well not really), Emily asked if it was OK to invite her parents over for dinner. Walt and Liz. YES her mum's name was LIZ. Apparently, they had told them about us and wanted to meet us. It was great exchanging stories, having a laugh, and having a great Aussie dinner. And it was great to see that everyone enjoyed it so much that every plate was empty.
http://www.orangecountychoppers.com/
Our next stop, Philadelphia and Philly Cheese Steaks and Hoagies. What are Hoagies, don't know? Me neither - will have to tell you after I've tried one.
We say Goodbye to Washington. Loved every minute of it, and such a great place to visit. Highly Recommended.
Till the next blog.......
Liz and Tony.
Quick little video of Washington highlights - http://animoto.com/play/1BGzzUklzWZuMWYJpICeBw
There probably would have been only around 15 passengers on board including us so considering how long the journey would be at least we could stretch out to get comfortable. So both of us took separate seats. Looking around us the seats were occupied by a 35-40ish year old Hispanic woman, one bloke about the same age in another seat - who talked incessently on his mobile phone. I'm sure the only reason he finally stopped was because the battery/credit ran out. He sounded Cuban. And another young guy sitting in the seat behind the driver. He had his iPod turned up so loud we could hear the 'doof doof music' in the 5th & 6th row. It's any wonder he didn't have hearing problems.
By the time we got to Orlando it was late afternoon and starting to get dark. You might recall in an earlier blog where Tony bought himself a Peru cap because people were speaking directly to him in Spanish and he couldn't understand, he experiences another of these situations.
When we arrive in Orlando the 35-40ish woman says something in Spanish to Tony and just dismisses her, not understanding what she has said. We sit around Orlando terminal, get some refreshments and it wasn't until later on that we realise what this woman was doing. She is back on the bus before anyone else - I look over and she is making some lewd body gestures towards the Cuban guy - he ignores her, because his battery/credit has been recharged. It is only when we get into Jacksonville just before midnight that the young guy with the Ipod and ear plugs gets out with the woman and disappears out into Pearl St, Jacksonville coming back into the terminal some 15 minutes later !!! He obviously understood what the the lewd gestures meant. Without realising it, when she was talking to Tony in Spanish - she had propositioned him.
When we arrive in Orlando the 35-40ish woman says something in Spanish to Tony and just dismisses her, not understanding what she has said. We sit around Orlando terminal, get some refreshments and it wasn't until later on that we realise what this woman was doing. She is back on the bus before anyone else - I look over and she is making some lewd body gestures towards the Cuban guy - he ignores her, because his battery/credit has been recharged. It is only when we get into Jacksonville just before midnight that the young guy with the Ipod and ear plugs gets out with the woman and disappears out into Pearl St, Jacksonville coming back into the terminal some 15 minutes later !!! He obviously understood what the the lewd gestures meant. Without realising it, when she was talking to Tony in Spanish - she had propositioned him.
The trip overall was OK except that at one stage around 1am. the young "John" of Jacksonville had taken up the seat behind me - the Ipod still playing doof doof music at full blast. By this stage I had just had enough of it - I turned around to him and kindly asked him to turn it down which surprisingly he did without any argument. We finally arrived in Washington Saturday afternoon happy to stretch our legs and to find Union Station - about a 300 mtr walk from Greyhound. Our next challenge was to contend with the Washington subway system and ticket machines. Thankfully we had been given great directions to Glen Forest and instructions from Alex and Emily who we would be staying with for the next week. And their dogs Piedmont and Mia.
 |
| Washington DC Subway |
Glen Forest was just beautiful. On our first walk around there were squirrels, raspberries growing in gardens, cherry trees just loaded and falling to the ground - we were heartbroken about that. This was in the suburbs and it was so green and lush! We even saw Fire Flys at night - nothing you see in Oz. Alex told us that some days deer wander up the streets and feed on the lawns. My first morning I was up bright and early hoping to catch a glimpse of some - didn't happen. Another observation of ours was just how passionate everyone is about their country with just about every second house flying the US flag, sometimes not just one flag but many and I wouldn't want to be doing the mowing and having to move them each time.
We also spotted Brisbane Street on our regular trek to the station.
Alex and Emily were the most helpful and hospitable hosts so far on this journey and made us feel so welcome whereby we were given newspaper articles about what was happening during the Memorial Day weekend. They also provided us with maps of DC, places to go, things to see. And over the next few days we would take in as many as we could. The first of those would be the Smithsonians - there are 19 of them !!
 |
| Native American Museum |
So it was a difficult choice because of our limited time in DC. Top of the bucket list were the Air & Space Museum, The American Indian, The Botanical Gardens, The Zoo, Natural History Museum, The Castle. And all for FREE !!! That was just for starters.
We could have walked through the Smithsonian Natural History Museum forever – it was incredible because of the many varied displays including the 33 Chilean Miners Rescue back in 2010 whereby a display had the actual capsule in which the rescued miners were brought to the surface after 69 days underground. http://www.smh.com.au/world/free-at-last-33-miners-and-six-rescuers-pulled-out-safely-20101014-16kb6.html
There was a continuous running film and it sent shivers up our spine about how remarkable the recovery was. The visit here also corresponded with an Award winning photographic exhibition – Nature. One of the top prizes was awarded to Peter Lik for a photograph taken of a TREE in Japan. Just beautiful. I don’t think that one cost $1 million. In my Miami blog I mentioned that we visited the Peter Lik Gallery on Lincoln Road and my chance meeting with Peter in Cairns.
There was a continuous running film and it sent shivers up our spine about how remarkable the recovery was. The visit here also corresponded with an Award winning photographic exhibition – Nature. One of the top prizes was awarded to Peter Lik for a photograph taken of a TREE in Japan. Just beautiful. I don’t think that one cost $1 million. In my Miami blog I mentioned that we visited the Peter Lik Gallery on Lincoln Road and my chance meeting with Peter in Cairns.
We still had to allow time for the other attractions such as the Jefferson Centre, Capitol Hill, Washington Monument The Kennedy Centre and of course a visit to see President Obama - or the White House whichever is available on the day.
I wanted to soak my feet in the Reflecting Pool but it was undergoing major renovations. I just wanted to imagine I was Jenny in Forrest Gump wading in the foot deep water on a hot summers day. Ahhh it was not to be........
I wanted to soak my feet in the Reflecting Pool but it was undergoing major renovations. I just wanted to imagine I was Jenny in Forrest Gump wading in the foot deep water on a hot summers day. Ahhh it was not to be........
On Sunday morning we decided to start checking the first on our list ie the Air and Space Museum. We had a look around - just amazing and wondering how we were going to fit in all those exhibits (all 19 of them) in 7 days) just not to be done - we were a bit ruthless with our list and nutted it out with just the ones we really wanted to see. We were a bit disappointed to see that inside the Air & Space was a huge McDonalds with the biggest queues we'd ever seen in any Maccas. There were 10 lines with 2 points. The first for ordering and paying, then the second to collect the order. The photo below was taken above the first queue. We figured this is probably as a commercial venture given that entry to the Museum is free and they have to make some $ some way.
 |
| Maccas queue at Air & Space Museum |
Being the Memorial Weekend our curiosity took us away from the awe of Maccas and into the street from where we could hear people cheering and a roar of motorbikes. Apparently motorcyclists from all over the States go to Washington to be part of the Memorial Day Bike ride. Streets are closed off and the bikers ride around for 4 hours. We know what that feels like , we've done it in Miami - hope it was comfortable for them!!
 |
| Hi-5s at the Memorial day Bike Ride, Washington DC |
I took some photos and people were really getting into it - we had fun just watching their reactions, their Hi-5s, and I must admit I actually gave a few and got a few Hi-5s too. Later it was on to the American Indian Museum and just doing some great walks around DC centre and gardens.
Our visit to Washington DC coincided with some great weather, heatwave on a couple of days, with a couple of night thunderstorms. During the first one Emily and Alex were sharing food and wine with us before a quick dash inside saving the wine and beer first LOL.
 |
| The wine is OK !!! |
On the Monday public holiday TJ hadn't been feeling too well (definitely no explanation needed to be given here), but in the interim Alex had been to the Plant Nursery and bought a heap of florals, so I just couldn't help myself.
It had been ages since I had my hands in the dirt (forgetting the feet in the mud in Amazonia), so I helped him plant out seedlings in their shed flower boxes and into hanging baskets. Now I was quite surprised by this beautiful little shed because this one actually contained a variety of manual and electric tools, workbenches, mower, whipper snipper and timber.
I was surprised because unlike most Aussie backyard sheds this one didn't have a bar set up inside or TV to watch the Footy or any sports. What I also failed to mention at this point was that Emily was writing her PhD with an oral defence due on the 18th June. We were mindul not to disturb her, and I guess she was happy that we were out most of the day. We were just happy that they both could spend time with us in the evenings and some great political debates were to be had between Alex and Tony. Over a few wines and beers most of the worlds problems were solved. Alex even contemplated moving to Australia, becoming a banana farmer and earning an income by claiming income loss from natural disasters after his banana farm, in the desert, was wiped out by flood, drought or cyclone. Sounds like a plan!
It had been ages since I had my hands in the dirt (forgetting the feet in the mud in Amazonia), so I helped him plant out seedlings in their shed flower boxes and into hanging baskets. Now I was quite surprised by this beautiful little shed because this one actually contained a variety of manual and electric tools, workbenches, mower, whipper snipper and timber.
I was surprised because unlike most Aussie backyard sheds this one didn't have a bar set up inside or TV to watch the Footy or any sports. What I also failed to mention at this point was that Emily was writing her PhD with an oral defence due on the 18th June. We were mindul not to disturb her, and I guess she was happy that we were out most of the day. We were just happy that they both could spend time with us in the evenings and some great political debates were to be had between Alex and Tony. Over a few wines and beers most of the worlds problems were solved. Alex even contemplated moving to Australia, becoming a banana farmer and earning an income by claiming income loss from natural disasters after his banana farm, in the desert, was wiped out by flood, drought or cyclone. Sounds like a plan!
Memo to Alex: Mate, now that you've picked up on the Aussie sayings - you now have to convert your backyard shed into a MAN CAVE in which to spend your weekends with the boys !!
 |
| New landscaping around the back Shed (Project - MAN CAVE) |
I'm sure those plants survived because 2 nights later another thunderstorm passed over and we almost got caught in it coming back from Silver Spring where we found a Pho restaurant that Tony had been craving for after his illness. Thankfully for the free newspapers we found on the train to protect ourselves we didn't get wet.
That was a funny night too because when it came to ordering drinks (Soda) I was telling the Vietnamese waiter that I wanted "Sprite". Be darned if he could understand what I was saying. After a couple of times I decided to say "Sprite" with an American accent. Would you believe - he understood and repeated it straight back to me. The Pho was just the treat and as good as any, even compared to those in Vietnam. As we were leaving I put a huge smile on the waiter's face when I said cảm ơn bạn (thank you). He said Thank You back in English, and his smile got even bigger when I said 'Your Welcome' back in Vietnamese. And he couldn't understand Sprite.
Over the next few days we were to see everything on our list that we'd marked off and MORE. When we went to the Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts we had a chance to see the Presidential Room - we could only see - not enter. On the way to the centre TJ spotted some apricot trees, apricots on the ground. Him being the fruit bat didn't like seeing things going to waste. Here he was pulling branches down picking of the unripened apricots, just when a security guy came over. Me thinking he was going to tell us to move along, I struck up a conversation to distract him making out like Tony was only looking not picking the fruit. But he tells me it's OK and he takes it himself. After Tony had picked enough so as not to weigh himself down too much the 3 of us had a good laugh, and great banter and lots of apricots.
Over the next few days we were to see everything on our list that we'd marked off and MORE. When we went to the Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts we had a chance to see the Presidential Room - we could only see - not enter. On the way to the centre TJ spotted some apricot trees, apricots on the ground. Him being the fruit bat didn't like seeing things going to waste. Here he was pulling branches down picking of the unripened apricots, just when a security guy came over. Me thinking he was going to tell us to move along, I struck up a conversation to distract him making out like Tony was only looking not picking the fruit. But he tells me it's OK and he takes it himself. After Tony had picked enough so as not to weigh himself down too much the 3 of us had a good laugh, and great banter and lots of apricots.
 |
| TJ and E (for Eric) Lewis |
One of the highlights, actually there were 2. The first was Alex and Emily took us to Mike's Crab House, near Annapolis on the banks of the Chesapeake where they serve steamed Maryland crabs sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning. Your mouth is watering already?
It's a bit of work getting to the crab meat but the end result is delicious and can be a mess. For that purpose the table is lined with brown paper and you eat with your hands, guzzling some beer or wine between mouthfuls of crab. Afterwards we walked around the waterways of Annapolis with an icecream for dessert. What a way to finish the evening. The second highlight was to come.
The following day we made our way to the Washington Monument, walked to the Jefferson monument then back towards the White House. But before all that we went into the White Visitor Information Centre just down the road from the White House. As we are approaching the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th St which leads into the White House grounds, Security has blocked every intersection, stop pedestrians and put up barracades so quick you just don't realise what is happening. Within 2 minutes along comes a cavalcade of black cars, dark tinted windows and flashing lights on the lead and rear vehicles. We thought it might have been someone important - NO it wasn't us !! In fact, we were to find out later that it was the George Bush Snr AND George W, and Bill Clinton in those cars.
 |
| Presidential Cavalcade |
 |
| The White House |
By this time we'd booked a bus to Philadelphia, our next stop. We'd received our confirmations, then as fast as we'd made the reservations we received an email to say that the services had been cancelled - other arrangements should be made. This was on the Thursday arvo, we were to leave on the Saturday. So we had to get in fairly smartly with another booking on another line. Wasn't until the next day we read in the paper "10 Unsafe Bus Lines Taken off the road". Great! We did get a refund and we did leave on the Saturday - on Greyhound, no tricks attached.
The next highlight was to be on the last evening of our stay in Washington DC. It was almost like "Meet the Parents". We offered to cook Alex and Emily a Fair Dinkum Aussie dinner. Well almost Aussie - we decided to cook them Fish, Rice and a Thai Salad for the main, with Lamingtons for dessert, something they hadn't tried before.
The next highlight was to be on the last evening of our stay in Washington DC. It was almost like "Meet the Parents". We offered to cook Alex and Emily a Fair Dinkum Aussie dinner. Well almost Aussie - we decided to cook them Fish, Rice and a Thai Salad for the main, with Lamingtons for dessert, something they hadn't tried before.
There was also a catch (well not really), Emily asked if it was OK to invite her parents over for dinner. Walt and Liz. YES her mum's name was LIZ. Apparently, they had told them about us and wanted to meet us. It was great exchanging stories, having a laugh, and having a great Aussie dinner. And it was great to see that everyone enjoyed it so much that every plate was empty.
Somewhere in between all this Alex told us about this little underground pub in Silver Spring so we decided it was worth a visit. We followed the directions he'd given us we couldn't find it. We were just about to turn around and head back we found this non-descript stairwell, saw a couple of guys milling around smoking. I told them we were looking for a pub with lots of beer. They said you've found it!! We could have walked around all night and if it hadn't been for those 2 guys it would have been a dry night. It looked like a cavern but once inside it was another world. Tony and I ordered a couple of drinks, sat back on these old laid back lounge chairs and just had the best time soaking up the atmosphere. They have live bands and is really 'grungy'. It was called the Quarry House Tavern, QH for short.
 |
| QH Tavern, Silver Spring |
On this little discovery tour of Silver Spring, we found the Headquarters of the Discovery Channel and in the windows were 3 motorcycles crafted by the Paul Snr and Junior - not sure if Mikey had any input, but those bikes looked a treat and perhaps to coincide with the Memorial day bike ride.
http://www.orangecountychoppers.com/
  |
Capitol Hill, Washington DC |
Our next stop, Philadelphia and Philly Cheese Steaks and Hoagies. What are Hoagies, don't know? Me neither - will have to tell you after I've tried one.
We say Goodbye to Washington. Loved every minute of it, and such a great place to visit. Highly Recommended.
Till the next blog.......
Liz and Tony.
 |
| Hope Diamond at the Natural History Museum |
 |
| Squirrel |
 |
| Washington Monument |
Quick little video of Washington highlights - http://animoto.com/play/1BGzzUklzWZuMWYJpICeBw
No comments:
Post a Comment