Overnight in the City of Brotherly Love

Dinner of Champions - Philly Cheese Steaks all around!

We were only in Philadelphia overnight really, so this will be a very short blog post.

From what we saw of the city (driving around and snapping photos from the car), it seems like a very nice place. Not really a great deal different than the places we’ve seen so far, but it does have some redeeming features.

First and foremost, Philadelphia is the home of the Philly Cheese Steak!  This is an absolute delicacy – finely shredded steak served on a bread roll with American cheese (or cheese whiz!  We decided against this option) and onions.  Yes, I know it sounds simple, but when you get something this right, you don’t want to screw it up!

If you’re ever in Philadelphia and would like the best Philly Cheese Steak in town, I’d suggest Jim’s Grill on South Street.  Amazing.  South Street by itself is well worth checking out – like Cuba Street in Wellington on crack – I’d more compare it to Newton in Sydney.

Then, after that we did a whistle-stop tour of Philly, taking photos and ooh-ing and aah-ing at: 

• The Town Hall:  Biggest municipal building in the States 
• The Philadelphia Art Museum:  Beautiful building, featuring the stairs from Rocky (also a statue dedicated to the character)
• ‘Love’ Park (Officially the JFK Plaza) featuring the work of Robert Indiana 
• Ben Franklin Bridge

Before heading down to the Waterfront for a quiet walk along the river – very nice on a summer’s eve.

The next day, we went and looked around Philadelphia’s old town, including the Liberty Bell Centre.  It’s quite a humbling feeling to be standing next to such an important piece of the Nation’s history.  What I think makes the bell unique is not necessarily it ever being in the right place at the right time, but instead the meaning that its citizens bestow upon it – from the battles for independence against the British, to the Civil War and the fight to end slavery, to the establishment of Civil Rights, the Bell has been a part of all of it as a symbol for liberty.  A truly unique representation of one of the founding principles for the Nation, it means what it needs to at any given point in history.

Or maybe I’m just reading too much into an old cracked bell...

Next stop, New York baby!

Baltimore

Take me out to the Baaall Gaaaame

 It’s been an interesting couple of days in Baltimore.  This was the one city that people have been asking, “why are you going there?”

They were wrong.

Baltimore has been a thoroughly interesting city.  It’s a really interesting mix of old and new – The Battle of Baltimore is the origin of the Star Spangled Banner at Fort McHendry, plus, of course Hairspray!!!

Then you have a new and everchanging waterfront with new and old – the Factory Building on the Waterfront is beautiful and you have new, well designed buildings which fit in quite well with the older structures.

We arrived in Baltimore late in the day on Tuesday and went and watched our first ever baseball game at Camden Park – the Baltimore Orioles vs the Boston Red Socks, and the local team won 7-1.  It was a great game, we had seats right behind home plate, so right in the smack of it.  Ah, the Great American Pass Time – we had hot dogs and beer at the Stadium.

Then off to a funky li’l restaurant for after-game debrief between us.

Wednesday morning we headed down to the Waterfront and after having a look around and going on a few historic ships including a submarine, we went through the National Aquarium.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience – sharks, puffins, and a dolphin show, this is a huge complex, I’d recommend giving yourself a good few hours to explore the three buildings.

In the evening, we headed out to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.  This is a colonial heritage area with beautiful old buildings.  One of the things you should do while in Maryland is have some Chesapeake Crabs – we ordered two dozen crabs and a pound of shrimp – surprisingly enough there’s not a lot of meat on a crab, but they were absolutely delicious!  And this is the first time I’ve had to use a mallet to eat dinner!

Miss Baltimore Crabs!

Before heading home from dinner, our host took us to the local news room where he worked, and we got to take photos of ourselves in the newsroom!  Super-cool!

This morning we headed out to Fort McHendry where we had a look around and learned about the history of the Star Spangled Banner.  Nick and I actually felt slightly patriotic while standing for the National Anthem, rather odd!

Baltimore is an amazing mix of different suburbs and styles – funky areas and real working class neighbourhoods.  The people are very friendly and the city can put on a real charm offensive. 

Next blog post – Philadelphia, PA

US Foods tried so far...

• Twinkie:  Calorie Overdose!  Sweet, sugary, full of things that are sooo bad for you.
• Po Boy:  A sandwich, traditionally chicken, southern cuisine.  Very good
• Ben & Jerry's ice cream:  Om nom nom
• Fish and Chips on Fisherman's Wharf:  Very fresh, very tasty!
• US Coffee:  General rule, avoid unless you know what you're doing.
• Purchased bread from supermarket:  Has added sugar. WTF??

Washington DC, Day 2 and 3

Corry eats his first twinky - what an experience!

Our time in the District of Columbia comes to an end.  It's been a wonderful few days.  Our hosts have been wonderful and we've seen a lot of the city.

Day Two of DC we hit the Smithsonian - who knew there were so many?  We managed to get in four (The Castle, Air and Space, Natural History and American History).  We could have spent a couple of days here - if you come through Washington, ensure you give yourself PLENTY of time to go through the museums - we ended up racing through quite a few that I would have liked to have spent more time on.

Highlights included (in no particular order):

• Kermit the Frog
• The Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz
• Dinosaurs at the Natural History
• The Hope Diamond and the Precious stones collection
• The Civil War exhibition 
• Eating my first ever twinky in the Sculpture Garden

All in all, a very educational day

Hi ho!

Mr Nick and Mr Corry go to Washington

Day Three started off by getting completely confused by the Public Transport System - if you intend to use the Metro, which I do recommend, there are lots of convenient stops and it's relatively easy to use once you get the knack, do your research first - where to get tickets etc.  Then we were off to the Zoo.

It was a stinking hot day, and there were misting machines at the Zoo which sprayed you with a fine mist of cool water, which definitely helped.  Definitely the highlights were the Pandas.  Real live giant pandas!  Not just people in costumes dancing in front of the Chinese Embassy (You know who you are).  

The advantage of DC is that almost everything is free - all the Smithsonian Institute centres (including the Zoo) are free of charge, it's free to stand and take photos of the monuments, so it's a great place to be a poor traveler.

That afternoon we hit the Spy Museum (very well put together, but not my cup of tea, it turns out), then went to the White House and The Capitol to take lots of photos.  You get a true sense of grandeur outside these buildings - just the sheer size and stature of these buildings is so impressive.

You get so much of a sense of what it is to be part of America in this part of the country - there's so much for them to be proud of, so much to build a sense of national identity around.  New Zealand is wonderful and it has a rich and interesting history, but it just can't compare to the States in so many ways.  For a start, they actually finished their parliament building!

Anyways, so how does DC compare?  Well, you get the distinct impression that this is the seat of government everywhere you look - there's not the colour and vibrancy of San Francisco on the surface.  But the stoicism actually adds something - the brick work throughout both the city and its suburbs is totally beautiful.  The sheer grandeur of the buildings is overwhelming and stunning.

It also creates a real sense of history - you feel these structures have been here since the city was founded - which many were.  Coming from a city that has a bad habit of knocking down structures due to earthquake risk every few years, the sense of history is great.

The people - well, this is a much more subdued city than SF.  Everyone keeps to themselves a lot more, not as smily and friendly as prior ports of call.  That's not to say they're not friendly, it's just not as noticeable straight away.

So this morning we have gone to brunch, and spending a couple of hours downtime updating blogs and Facebook, checking mail and bank balances.  This afternoon we're off to Baltimore where we have our first baseball game - I'm going to try and order a hot dog and beer!

Washington DC, Day One

We've arrived safely in Washington DC after a red-eye flight.  After flying across the states on Virgin America, I can understand why people fly business class - this was a tough one.

Over the last four days we've lost 19 hours, of which at least eight were good sleeping hours, so am feeling a little shot.  When we got into DC, we then had to catch a bus into town (a good half-hour journey), then a subway journey to stay with friends, so it's been a long day on two hours sleep.

So... a quick nap, then back to it!

This afternoon our host took us around DC to see some of the local monuments - Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln monuments.  Once again, very surreal to see these huge structures that you've seen throughout popular culture in person for the first time - especially the Lincoln Monument, the huge statue seated, quietly reflecting.

Then, after working through the monuments, we went for dinner at Bugsy's in Arlington, VA.  I'd highly recommend, if you have a spare few hours when visiting DC, that you head out to Arlington and have a look around.  The structures are beautiful brick buildings from the time of the Revolutionary war.  

Tomorrow = Museum Day.  Smithsonium Day.

Good Bye San Francisco

Flying books in North Beach

It's been a long day...

I'm typing this blog post late at night in San Francisco International waiting for our flight to D.C.  I'm kind of sad to be leaving San Francisco.

We've had a very busy day at museums - first the SF Museum of Modern Art, then the Cartoon Art Museum (this is a bit of a hidden treasure, and well worth the $7 to get in!  I'd recommend this gem!)

SFMOMA was great.  It's one of those weird experiences to see work by artists you've heard about but, being on an island in the bottom of the Pacific you never get to see - Picasso, Matisse, Pollock, Warhol, Kahlo... Well worth it if you're in town.

Then when you get to the top of the gallery, there's a rooftop garden cafe where you can order a decent coffee and where the staff have hidden photos of Waldo on sky scrapers around the building - hilarious!

Today was a bit of a tidy up day, finishing off things we hadn't got around to - walked through Chinatown and found the Gate, up to Coit Tower, the Painted Ladies (WooHoo!  Full House Moment had.), finished off one final walk along the Waterfront to the Ferry Terminal Market (very cool, don't miss this for shopping!).

So my final thoughts on San Francisco...

One of the first things you notice about the city is the architecture.  The city suffered a major earthquake and fire at the turn of the 20th century and many of the houses were rebuilt in the Victorian/Edwardian style, which makes this a truly beautiful city with a lot of character.  The houses (and the gardens) have been very well maintained, with each having its own personality without them feeling out of character.  It's truly a wonderful city to explore on foot.

The people I had the pleasure of interacting with were exceptionally friendly - everyone I met was happy to help with directions, offering to take photos of the two of us, generally smily, happy folks.  This extended to the roads as well - drivers were courteous and we had no problems being pedestrians. 

The public transport is cost-effective and easy to use.  Purchasing a three-day pass was our best option and we took the subway, street cars, cable cars and buses throughout.  They were frequent, clean and easy to use.

Generally speaking the food is great - plenty of options and the areas that specialise are wonderful - seafood at Fisherman's Wharf for instance.  Coffee was... mixed.  I don't like strong coffee but even I found this weak.  Hrmm... not a good sign.

All in all, a great place to visit.  I haven't ever flown into LAX, but I don't understand why you would when this experience has been so easy and enjoyable.

Next up... DC.

Here we go!!!

San Francisco, Day 3

Guess where I is....

(Sorry in advance folks, this is gonna be a long post...)

Three words.

Golden.

Gate.

Bridge.

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE!!!

The first thing you notice as you get off the bus at the bridge, at least the day we were there, is the change in weather.  While the weather in San Francisco is warm and dry, the area around the bay is covered in a layer of sea fog.  While this kept the area nice and cool, it did unfortunately limit the views and photo opportunities available.

But you know what?  Don't care.  We're at the Mother Friggin' Golden Gate Bridge, beeyatches!

It's one of those moments where you think "We're there.  We're actually there".  You see so many photos of it, you can picture it in your mind's eye, but for some reason until you're actually there it doesn't quite seem real.

And then I was standing on it.

I was standing on on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The fog horns going off underneath.  The cars rumbling by.  The oh-so-slight swaying and vibrating.  It was surreal.  It was amazing.  It was beautiful and breath-taking and oh-so-slightly scary... and then oh-so-real.

And then, all too soon... It was over and done with.  We'd walked across and back, and we'd done it.

Another experience I'd highly recommend is Fort Point underneath the Bridge. A five minute walk from the Visitor Centre, it's a beautiful brick Fort with magnificent views of all the steelwork under the bridge.  Most enjoyable.

This was followed by a visit to the Palace of Fine Arts (Most spectacular faux-Greco Roman structures set amongst amazing gardens and beautiful suburbs, followed by the Exploratorium.

Unless you are a child aged 12 or under, DO NOT GO to the Exploratorium.  A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME!!!  Nick and I left with a headache.  Do Not Recommend.

Dinner in the Castro and then to bed.

P.S. - I got my coffee.