Baaaahston

Boston is the oldest place of civilisation that I have every visited and I love how you can 'feel' the history here. Because of the persistent rain we shelved the walking tour idea and bought tickets on the trolley. They have a winter special that gives us access to the trolley for all 3 days of our visit for the price of one so it turned out to be a good choice. Unlike the conch train in Key West, this one really does have lots of stops at different locations where you can hop off and explore for awhile and then jump back on. The driver's narration was excellent and we learnt a great deal about the city as we drove  around.

Our first stop was the Quincy Market where we got a chance to sample the famous clam chowder. Eaten in a bread bowl it most definitely lived up to expectations. In fact all the food at the market looked so delicious it was hard to choose what to have. The market area is beautifully decorated for the holidays and it includes a shop with the biggest range of Christmas ornaments you can imagine. I've been buying a distinctive ornament in each city to take home for our tree next year but like the food court the choices here were so vast that I couldn't decide what to have. In the end I bought a fairly boring red sox baseball bauble because it was light!

Because we spent so long at the market we didn't have a lot of time to explore Boston Common but we'll try to fit this in again tomorrow. Geoff's fascination with squirrels was rekindled in Washington where we saw squirrels of many colours including a black one and a snowy white one and continued today with the colony in Boston Common who are clearly hand fed because they were very playful.

Having grown up with the TV show where 'everybody knows your name', a visit to 'Cheers' was a must do. We sat at the bar and had a handle of John Adams before jumping back on the trolley right outside the door.

We had our first real travel hiccup today. I had booked tickets on the Amtrak to NYC for Sophie tomorrow and us on Thursday. Luckily it occurred to me today to check the baggage policy because we discovered that there is NO checked baggage on this train and no way of getting our cases to NY. Yikes! Thankfully Amtrak were happy to fully refund me and we've rebooked tickets (including a spare one for the extra luggage) on a bus instead.

Tonight we met up with a Bostonian friend for dinner. We went to the Cheesecake shop at Copley Square and had delicious salady, vegetably things.... and a wee bit of cheesecake.

One last museum

A late flight to Boston tonight left us with a morning to spend hunting down another museum in DC. We left the hotel late because it took us awhile to squish our Washington purchases into our already over flowing suitcases and had a late breakfast across the road at Billy Goat's diner. Two eggs sunnyside up, hash browns, bacon and toast , all for $5.

Taine wanted to check out the Air & Space museum so I hoisted my aching backside back on to the bike one more time. Who knew that Taine's multiple viewing of 'Night in the Museum' would lead to such an interest in history! Washington on a week day is a very different place than it is on the weekend. Mobile food trucks line some of the streets enabling the busy, government employees the option to eat on the run. Crossing pedestrian walkways becomes quite difficult because the drivers in important looking vehicles don't like to heed the 'give way to pedestrian' signs. We got quite a few toots as we wheeled our bikes across.

To be honest I was a bit museumed out and not really in the mood for roaming the exhibits but Taine & Geoff enjoyed it and learnt lots of interesting stuff about flight. I was a disappointed we didn't get to the American Indian museum but we've left a few things to do next time we visit.

Transportation to Dulles was a bit of an issue considering our luggage load. After weighing up the cost of the shuttle, the inconvenience of train then bus and the unknown price of a taxi, we went with a van organised by the hotel for $80. Added to the costly bike oversight from yesterday, this leg is becoming an expensive one but I'm glad we didn't have a car here. Parking at our hotel would have been $48 a day and I wouldn't have had nearly as much exercise!

Despite the distance to Dulles (almost 50k from the city), it didn't take long to get there and so we were left with a few hours to chill at the airport. The Jet Blue flight was bumpy and Boston is foggy, wet and cold. We caught a taxi to our hotel in the Back Bay area. It's called the Mid Town and I think it's seen better days but the room is big enough to lay all our suitcases on the floor for a re pack. I think we were a bit spoilt at the Affinia Liaison with its deliciously soft mattresses but I'm sure we can cope with a couple of less luxurious days before we get to another Affinia in NYC.

                                                          Sci fi transit area at Dulles

Given that we had a late lunch at the airport and no dinner, we ventured out into the rain looking for supper. Our first revelation was that you can't buy liquor in the drug store/ supermarket/pharmacy 7/11 places like you can in the South. I hadn't realised how convenient this was until it was so unexpectedly taken away from me! We found a Whole Foods just as it was closing and ended up eating apples and potato chips.

More monuments and memorials

After our success with the rent a bikes yesterday we picked up another lot this morning to ride out to Arlington cemetery. Those who know both Washington and me will understand that this was a fairly big challenge but you will be pleased to know I passed it with flying colors.

We rode back down through the Mall and stopped to take a few more photos and then cycled over the Arlington bridge to the cemetery itself. There are 624 acres of grave sites at Arlington, row upon row, upon row of white headstones, adorned at this time of the year by simple Christmas wreaths.

Amongst the rows lie memorials to many famous servicemen and women, including the Challenger and Columbia crews and the Kennedy family. Visiting Jack Kennedy's grave site was even more poignant after being in Dallas last month. He is buried in a beautiful site, alongside Jackie, their stillborn daughter and infant son Patrick. The site overlooks the Lincoln and Washington monuments and is truly a peaceful and lovely place.

We also visited the tomb of the unknown soldier and watched the changing of the guard. The respect and discipline of the young men on this watch is amazing. They perform a routine of measured steps based on the 21 gun salute , walk 21 steps, wait 21 seconds , turn, repeat. On every hour a change over ceremony takes place.

After we'd ridden back over the bridge we took a look at the White House from the front door, the Pennsylvania Ave side. I liked this view much better. They are in the middle of preparations here for the inauguration in January, with the spectator platforms almost complete. While we were there President Obama's helicopter took off for his visit to Connecticut.

It was only when we went to return the bikes that we realised we should have read the instructions more carefully when we rented them. Free for the first 30mins, $2 for up to an hour and then $8 for EACH 30 minutes after that. Times 4 bikes. We'd been on them all day. Ooops!

We wandered through Macy's while we caught up on our Drama student's final VCE scores via email and messenger. We've been sweating on their results for a few weeks and it was great to hear that our class had all done really well.

After two beautifully clear and still days it started to rain as we walked home. Too tired for anything else we resorted to the Irish pub around the corner again for dinner.

The Capital

What an amazing day we had in the city of monuments and museums! There's something special about just being in the seat of power in a country, I have the same feeling when I visit Canberra. All the buildings are so proper, practical yet ornate and there's a sense of importance in the air.

We had breakfast at Starbucks and then set off to explore the National Mall. On the way to the White House we stumbled upon a skating rink in the Sculpture Garden and spent a fun hour there staggering around on the ice. Well, Sophie and Geoff staggered around on the ice, Taine & I clutched the rail and dragged ourselves around the rim.

Our next stop was the museum of Natural History. Taine was in his element checking out the dinosaurs and introducing us to all the settings from 'Night in the Museum'.

The White House is less impressive in person than it is on the TV because it's set so far back in the gardens that it's hard to get more than a glimpse through the fence. Still, it is the White House! The information centre is even less impressive because it's under going extension and housed in a temporary building. There was a lovely school choir singing by the White House Christmas tree and we stopped to hear them sing The Star Spangled Banner. I love the patriotism associated with the anthem here, I wish is would rub off on Australians.

We joined a free walking tour (payment by voluntary tips at the end) of the west end of the National Mall. It was very informative and a real lesson in American history but by the time we got to the Lincoln monument we were exhausted. Despite my reservations about there being no helmets, we collected some bikes from the 'Collect a Bike' stand near Abe's statue and rode all the way back through the mall. It was so much fun and a great way to see everything. I loved the reflecting pond (summoning up images of Forest Gump's 'Jennnnyyy') and the view of the capital as we approached it.

When we got to the Capital we discovered what we thought was a wedding party having their photos taken but it turned out to be a 15th birthday party! I'm not sure what nationality the family were but they told us that this was a tradition for them. Everyone was formally dressed in suits and lots of tulle and there was a huge limo waiting for them. Taine & Geoff joined them for a bit of Gangman dancing and then we rode off on our bikes to explore the grounds of the Capital and its Christmas tree, a giant 74 yr old , 73 ft high spruce bought from Colorado as a gift to the people.

For dinner we walked down to Chinatown to meet up with a friend of Soph's who had been an exchange student in Melbourne a couple of years ago. The delicious food helped restore some energy but didn't help my poor feet at all. Hopefully a good night's sleep will have them back in shape for further exploration tomorrow.

Moving North

Magic Kingdom in the daylight was a much happier proposition for me than it had been in the dark for MVSCP. With the benefit of having already seen some of the attractions we had some kind of plan for visiting the rest. Part of this plan was to use the Fastpass system, a sneaky way of beating the queues. You pop your ticket in a machine at some of the busier rides and it gives you another ticket with an hour 'window' to return. When you come back you simply report to the Fastpass lane and skip to the front. This is particularly appealing on attractions where queue waiting times are up to 50minutes.

There's nothing very scary at the Magic Kingdom. It's more about the Disney brand and atmosphere and the stand out to me is that everyone who works there appears so incredibly happy and positive. I know this is essential as part of the role play but I'm guessing that the Walt corporation pays its employees a decent wage because there's no way I could open and shut the same doors or say, 'Please watch your step and stay to the right', thousands of times a day with that sort of smile on my face without an incentive!

Anyway we went on all the rides we could manage, including risking death by boredom on Winnie the Pooh (imagine if we hadn't fast passed that!) and when it got cold we went home. We let Taine choose for dinner and that led us to the T Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney. Dodging the meteor showers that run every 20 minutes, we dined on BBQ ribs and queso and prehistoric themed cocktails (a mocktail in Taine's case!) We also managed to track down Taine's other choice of R2D2 Disney ears.

This morning we had to pack up and leave the haven of the Port Orleans Resort. We really enjoyed our 4 nights there and would recommend it to anyone. We were even able to check in to our Washington flight at the resort, leaving the every increasing pile of bags to them so we could fit the four of us in the rental car to get to the airport.

Luckily we arrived early at the Orlando airport because getting through security there is a lengthy business as four lines of people merge into one to get through the scanners. It was our first experience on Jet Blue and a very positive one. They have lots of leg room and free snacks to keep the kid happy. They also let him into the cockpit to sit in the pilot's seat. Pretty special.

We arrived in the nation's capital at 6.30 and were amused to find so many Obama souvenirs in the airport. The thought that anyone would buy a Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott cap beggars belief.

We knew we were back in the real world when we spotted the line of homeless people lining up at a soup kitchen for dinner across the road from our hotel where expensive car doors were being opened for bejeweled guests heading out to the theatre. In our jeans, trackies and runners we felt pretty under dressed but luckily we ran into a fellow Aussie in the elevator and she was wearing junners too.

Even downtown the capital was very quiet for a Friday night. We found an Irish pub for dinner where we had delicious hamburgers and salad. It is of course a very sad day in the US with the school shooting in Connecticut. The flags are at half mast all over the city out of respect to this unimaginable horror :-(

Around the world in a day

After a sleep in to recover from Mickey's party last night we went to Epcot today. Learning from yesterday's mistake with the car we caught the resort bus, a very efficient and effective way to get to all the Worlds.

I think Epcot was designed to allow Americans the opportunity to visit the rest of the world without leaving home. The World Showcase is sort of a Royal Show + Expo kind of thing with displays from different countries that include info movies or rides, shops and restaurants. Interestingly, according to Epcot, the world ends at Japan because there was nothing of the Pacific on display. It was all vaguely interesting but the only part that I really enjoyed was Liberty Square with the fifes playing and the crowd pledging allegiance to the flag. I guess that's because I'm so focused on American history while I'm in America. The other countries were a bit of a distraction.

We enjoyed Spaceship Earth, the first attraction in the park. It gives you the chance to travel right up into the Epcot sphere with a great history lesson on communication. I also enjoyed the Gospel choir singing carols in the square and the 'Turtle Talk' comedy routine in the aquarium area. We also got to see manatees for the first time.

The Imagination Pavilion was lame and the 1980s 3D movie of Michael Jackson was just plain bizarre.
The park covers 300 acres and we walked everyone of them so it was great to get back to the resort and jump in the spa tonight. Epcot was interesting great experience but I wouldn't do it again.

One of the really odd things here is the number of people using electric scooters or 'gophers' as we call them at home. There they are used by the elderly and disabled. Here they seem to be used by anyone who is grossly overweight (fries with EVERY meal) or who just can't be bothered walking. I have no issue with the people who need them to enjoy the parks but for some they seem to be a way of barging through the crowds and beating the queues.

The highlight of the day was that Sophie arrived in Orlando after finishing Uni so our tour group becomes four for the next couple of weeks.

Micky's Very Special Christmas Party

We started the day with another trip to Downtown Disney, this time in the daylight to do a bit of Christmas shopping. Of course, our Christmas present to ourselves and the kids has been this trip but Christmas morning would be a bit odd without a few presents so the challenge is to find some lightweight reminders of our holiday to put into our tiny Christmas stockings.

In anticipation of an expensive dinner at the Magic Kingdom, we bought lunch at Walmart. Taine had a 'lunch pack', a ham & cheese sandwich, pack of crackers, apple, cheese stick and fruit box, all for $2.50! We had our regular chicken fried chicken and we made a picnic of it on the grass in the Walmart car park. Classy!

We had tickets to Mickey's Very Special Christmas Party, a night time ticketed event at the Magic Kingdom and our first look at the Disney Parks. We decided to drive our rental to give ourselves a bit more freedom over coming and going. Rookie fail. The hotel bus pulls up at the doorstep whereas the carpark costs $14 and is 2 1/2 miles from  the entrance!. You park the car, then you take a tram to the wharf and then you take the ferry or the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The evening didn't start well. We were supposed to be given special wristbands on entry but we weren't. It was dark in the park and we didn't have a map. I think we passed the blessed spinning cups 4 or 5 times before we stopped walking in circles. Just as we reached the furthest point from the entrance we were stopped for a wristband check. Of course we didn't have one so we were told we'd have to go all the way back to get them. Not happy Jan!

The bonus of after hours entrance ( and persistent rain) was shorter queues so we were able to go on quite a few of the rides that were open. My favourite was 'It's a small world'. Iconic Disney. Because we did 'Beauty & the Beast' as our school production this year, it was great fun exploring Belle's village and Gaston's tavern. We'll go back to them on Thursday when we do the park in the daylight.

The night ended in spectacular fashion with the fire works and Mickey's Christmas parade. We even saw fake snow falling on main street and to top it all off a young man next to us got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the castle. Magic indeed :-)