Sun 19th – After a great breakky and under an hours drive we were saying hellloooo Washington DC! We booked into Hotel Harrington which was in a fab spot to walk to everything we needed and also provided FREE parking ;o) Went for a stroll down to the White House (Barack wasn’t in for a cuppa and catch up) and also the Washington Monument. On the way back to our hotel we bumped into an awesome place called Frozen-Yo which had heaps of flavours of frozen yoghurt and toppings…yummo! We had a quiet night after tea…I finally started writing in my diary after, oh, the start of our trip, haha think it’s gunna take a while ;op We had a good breakky next door the next morning (picked up that we like food?? Kehe). Headed off and visited the Spy Museum! After our ‘debriefing’ and ‘mission instructions’ where we had to take a different identity, we explored and realized this place was massive. We were in there for about 3 hours. Was very interesting to learn the history of spy’s and how they’ve changed over the years. Also cool to see all their secret devices like camera’s, guns etc and how they camouflage. Maxwell Smarts telephone shoe was there ;o) We walked to the Lincoln Memorial next which was quite big! We also visited the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, Korean War Memorial and the National World War II Memorial. The reflecting pool was cool, the one from Forrest Gump. After all that we went to the Holocaust Museum and managed to get through only 1/3 of it in an hour so decided to go back in the morning. We planned to finish the Holocaust Museum and go to the Smithsonian (14 museums in 1) the next day…however it took us 4 hours to get through the Holocaust Museum in the morning!! We didn’t mind though as it was an amazingly interesting and extremely somber experience. Sooo without time to do the Smithsonian we just wandered past (does that count? Haha). Again we had breakky next door and we decided to treat ourselves to the buffet! It was delish…French toast, eggs, bagels, crispy bacon…mmmm ;o) Left Washington DC and headed to Virginia Beach. We found a great apartment which was right on the beach! And because we had a kitchen we were able to cook ourselves some tea which was nice…BBQ chicken salad and…wait for it…CORN! Kehe The next morning we woke up took a looksy out on our balcony and we saw dolphins in the water!! Was very cool. Had a walk along the beach however was very hot so was only a short one. Introduced Megan to Walmart (which she loved) and we stopped for the night in Greenville. Off to Wilmington next and again was VERY hot! Our mission today was to find somewhere to watch the GRAND FINAL!! After some research by Megan we found out that one of the channels in our motel was playing it from 1am so we’d only miss the first quarter. As you all know after a thrilling last few minutes the result was a draw. We went to bed at 4am not knowing how to feel about it as you all were I’m sure! We were all a little sleepy the next day and still couldn’t believe what had happened the night before. We went for a walk along the boardwalk right on the water and found a market and some cool shops along the way. We went on a Hollywood location tour with a funny and let’s say passionate tour guide! Haha was really cool and it’s crazy how many films and TV shows have been shot there. For those of you who don’t know it was the setting for Dawson’s Creek which was a very popular TV show in the mid 90s plus much more…ask Loz or google it! Kehe We drove to Charleston and arrived late so just had a nice tea and off to bed. Went to a cute market in Charleston then took a horse and carriage ride round the town. We saw some historic and BIG houses and learned the history of Charleston. The rich people live South of Broad and are called SOBs, slightly North of broad are SNOBs and slightly left of Broad are SLOBs ;op As we left Charleston it started to rain so was good timing! We drove to Savannah and called it a day. Upon waking up the rain hadn’t stopped ;o( Savannah claimed to be one of the prettiest towns in the US however due to the rain it was pretty miserable. Due to the weather we couldn’t do any touristy things like bus or boat tours so decided to go for a walk along the main st near the water. There were a few cute little shops and we ended up having lunch at the Cotton Exchange. We drove to Jacksonville next and scored a motel for $37!! What do you know it’s raining again! So what’s the best thing to do when it’s raining?? Ladies you should know…yup…SHOPPING! Haha We went to Super Target and yes it was quite super ;o) We then drove to Orlando!! We booked into the Days Inn motel and it was a great spot. Disneyworld and Harry Potter Land were round the corner and the Kennedy Space Center was not too far away either. Another thing to do when it raining is to go to the movies so we saw Easy A, was really good and funny and thanks to tight arse Tuesday we got our tickets for $6 each! The next day was Island of Adventure where the new Harry Potter Land was, WOOHOO!!!! Looked overcast so we were a bit worried however it turned out to be a dry and quite hot day. Harry Potter Land was awesome, they did it really well. The main part was Hogsmeade (town) where they had all the shops like: Zonko’s (tricks and jokes), Honeydukes Homemade Sweets, 3 Broomsticks (restaurant), Gladrags Wizard Wear, Owl Post (postoffice), Tomes and Scrolls Bookshop and the wand shop! We lined up for a show in the wand shop where you got picked for a personal wand. Guess what?? I got picked!! Haha was cool. Little did I know though that I still had to pay $30 for it so opted to take some pics and leave it at that ;o) We went on some cool rides. They had a Harry Potter one where it was like a simulation and you went through the castle then to the Quidditch field and chased through a forrest, felt like you were really there. The Hulk rollercoaster was great too! We went on some water rides last and got absolutely saturated!! Was really fun though ;op After a great day we stayed at the same motel as last night and the same room too haha! Little did Loz and I realize it wouldn’t be as funny as we thought, more info to come… Today is DISNEYWORLD!! Another beautiful, hot day ;o) Very different to Island of Adventure but still awesome. We arrived just in time to see the morning show in front of the main castle with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and all their friends! Also saw the main parade with all the fancy floats. Great themed shops too! Wanted to go on the famous Tea Cup ride but was closed for maintenance ;o( A fun place for “kids of all ages” ;o) Okay to explain why staying in the same room (above) was not funny… Loz and I realized we had been bitten by…BEDBUGS!! The first night we stayed there I had the bed to myself then the next night Loz and I shared so she got bitten and I got double whammy bitten ;o( They are horrible and itchy and new ones have just kept popping up, I even have them on the soles of my feet!! We bought some spray which didn’t help and now have a cortisone cream which isn’t much better. They have gotten worse, really red, hard and big and are still itchy +++. Looked it up on the net and they have 2 tubes which they bite you with and they said that you would normally find them in clusters of 3 cos that’s the times they feed like breakky, lunch and tea. Loz and I have some patches where they’ve had dessert as well! Hopefully they start to go away cos we are both really sick of them… The next day we headed to the Kennedy Space Centre. Really great place. We saw the launching pads and also got to have a look inside a replica of a space ship. Went on a simulation ride of a launch, was pretty cool. The spaceship Discovery was out on one of launch pads ready for Nov. We would have just missed seeing it being taken out to the pad on a huge platform. Takes about 8 hours to get it out there and they have it out there a month before launch. We headed for Fort Lauderdale next and after a LONG drive we finally arrived. Loz found an Irish Pub that was playing the grand final rematch so we dumped our stuff and headed straight there. Ate tea at nearly 11pm! It was good though, cos kept us awake for the game. Was a pity the Sainters didn’t get there but the Pies deserved the win (Ted, you must have been happy! Did you watch the game?). We met some Aussies at the pub which was cool, apparently there’s heaps of them working in Fort Lauderdale, mainly with the luxury yachts. Again another 4am bedtime… Very sleepy this morning ;o/ Headed for Keywest, really beautiful drive along the water. The water was so blue and green in some places! Stayed at a really cute little beach style motel really close to the middle of town. Had a walk around the shops and had tea at Hard Rock Café. The next day we went to visit a little monument that marks the Southern-most point of the US. There was actually a line to take pics haha! Went to the beach and had a wander along the beautiful sand, Loz and Megan had a walk in the water too. We then headed back up to Miami Beach. After battling with finding a park we finally found a motel a block from the beach and for a really great price! We were a street back from all the restaurants and shops too. After tea we went to a place called Nikki Beach which was recommended to us as a happening place on a Sunday. Really cool bar on the beach, was nice to relax and chat ;o) Monday 4th Oct – my bday!! Haha well not really but Loz had given me a coupon to say that on the 4th of oct (my bday backwards 10th april) we will eat lots of cake and icecream and have fun…what an awesome idea kehe! We drove to Sawgrass Recreation park and went on an airboat ride (like in CSI Miami that Horatio rides in) and it was so much fun. To make it better we saw 2 alligators, one was huge and just next to boat!! They also have a little wildlife area with panthers, wolves, skunks, raccoons and reptiles. We all held a snake (sooo smooth) and I held a prickly bearded dragon (native to Oz!). Well done to Megan as snakes are her fear! We also held a baby alligator, was so cute and also had a smooth belly. After, we went to a mall that was also recommended to us. Was sooo massive we ended u staying till 8:45pm! Had tea and went out to a place called B.E.D. There is a show called Jersey Shore here and that’s where the kids in the show go out so was pretty cool. We all had so much fun, danced the night away! Didn’t get home till 5am soo we all had a good sleep in and slow morning. Went for a bit of a shop and was planning on going to the beach BUT the weather had other ideas. It was really windy so the sand was getting thrown around everywhere and not very nice so that plan didn’t work. We saw the beach though so all good haha. It was Megan’s last night so we went to a really nice restaurant for tea. We packed up and headed for the airport to drop Megan off. Cant believe how fast that month went! Felt like only yesterday we were picking her up from JFK. Was sad to say goodbye and reduce our team down to 2 again but she may join us in Thailand next year so that would be heaps of fun!! Loz and I headed off to Tampa next. We booked into our motel and then did domestic things for the arvo like postoffice and washing. After all that it brings us to today 7th Oct where we arrived at Tallahassee. Just took our time getting here and had a relaxing arvo. Highlight was tea (yes food again) cos we went to a buffet for $9.99 each and it was fantastic!! Had heaps of yummy food, mainly roast meats and veggies and a huge dessert bar, geez I love America kehe ;o) So we are heading towards Nashville and will arrive in the next couple of days. Hope you are all great and keeping well and happy! We’re really looking forward to seeing Di and Geoff in under a month, so exciting!! Take care and big love and hugs from us both XXX
