Washington DC

After a pretty average night in Philadelphia (it was hot and muggy with bed bugs and some strange inbreds...) we drove south to the capital - Washington DC.

Us on Capitol Hill - the US Congress building.
Our first rainy day! It was still quite warm and humid though.
Washington DC is the home of the Smithsonian Museums, founded by an Englishman called Smithson who never actually came to the USA funnily enough. We went to the Air and Space Museum - John is standing in front of the Apollo 11 Command Module.
The original 1903 Wright Brothers' Flyer.
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Also known as the White House.
South side of the White House.
John and the obligatory 'funny' photo with the Washington Monument - a 170m obelisk built to commemorate George Washington.
MC and the Washington Monument.
The World War II memorial on the Mall. Washington DC is definitely a city of memorials and monuments!
A marble Abraham Lincoln looks down the Mall from inside his huge Greek temple memorial. This is also the site where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.
John F Kennedy's grave and eternal flame at Arlington National Cemetery. Jacqueline Kennedy and two of their infant children are buried alongside him.
The Marine Corps War Memorial outside Arlington Cemetery. It is based on the iconic photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
MC on a secret squirrel mission at the Pentagon.
Us on the Mall at night with the Capitol building in the background.
Capitol Hill by night.

We both enjoyed DC - lots of COLUMNS (mostly Doric and Ionic, less Corinithian and NO Composite FYI) to appreciate (haha!) and lots of history.

Having experienced the big city life we are now going bush and heading down to Virginia and North Carolina to check out Shenandoah National Park and the Appalachian Mountains, driving the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway south toward the Smoky Mountains.

Ithaca, Niagara Falls and Philadelphia

About halfway between Boston and Niagara Falls is the Finger Lakes region. We stayed the night in Ithaca, which is perched above Lake Cayuga and boasts pretty scenery, lakeside vineyards and several waterfalls.

Ithaca Falls in the town centre.
Taughannock Falls, the water drops 66m, making it about 10m taller than Niagara Falls.
Goose Watch winery on the shores of Lake Cayuga. We stopped here for a spot of wine tasting and a souvenir bottle.
MC picnicking in Taughannock Falls State Park.

Refreshed after our Finger Lakes stopover, we continued on the road to Niagara Falls. There are two Niagara Falls townships, one in USA and one in Canada, with the Falls straddling the international border. The Canadian side is blessed with a far better view so we had a quick look around Niagara Falls, USA and then headed over the border to Canada.
The gushing (or phat as John would say) Niagara River on the American side which feeds the Falls.
Side view of the American Falls from Niagara Falls, New York, USA. Over the river is the skyline of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada!
The awesome $1.59 breakfast at the Flying Saucer diner in Niagara Falls.
Full after brekkie at the Flying Saucer.
The American Falls from the Canadian side. We took a boatride on the 'Maid of the Mist' which gets you up, close and personal (not to mention completely drenched!) with both Falls (there are two - the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls). The American Falls drop 20-30m and are 320m wide.
Luckily they gave us free full-body ponchos on the boat - you definitely needed them! The spray was like being outside in pouring rain. This is one side of the huge Horseshoe Falls from the boat. These Falls drop 53m and are 800m wide.
American Falls and styley poncho-clad MC.
From this viewpoint you can see both the American Falls on the left and the Horseshoe Falls on the right.
John trying to be funny. Funny how he never gets sick of these photo opportunities.
American Falls.
Horseshoe Falls.
Amazing Horsehoe Falls. It is really hard to capture the mightiness of these Falls in a photo.
This is Niagara Falls, Ontario township. The whole town is like a themepark, definitely not what we imagined! The Falls are also illuminated different colours at night but our photos didn't come out very well.
The Horseshoe Falls completely dwarf the 'Maid of the Mist' boat.

After a fun day exploring Niagara Falls we set off south on a 7-hour journey to Philadelphia.
City Hall in Philadelphia. The statue on the top is quaker William Penn who founded the city and had the state (Pennsylvania) named after him.
Probably the best thing in our short time in this city - famous Philly cheesesteaks for lunch.
The building where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

We didn't really enjoy this city so only spent a few hours looking around before heading south again to our next stop - Washington DC.

Boston

After five nights in New York, we caught the train up to Boston for city number 2 of our trip. Boston is an attractive, compact city and we both enjoyed the slower pace there after our time in New York. We also learnt a whole lot of American history during our stay.
Beautiful Boston Common, America's oldest public park.
Statue of George Washington at the entrance to Boston Common.
Boston is home to the nation's first university, Harvard, founded in 1636. Above is a statue of its namesake, John Harvard, who donated his books and half his money to the college.
MC pretending to be a student again at Harvard.
John enjoying the sun in the Harvard grounds.
We went to a Boston Red Sox baseball game at Fenway Park which is the oldest ballpark in the USA, built in 1912.
The Red Sox were playing the Baltimore Orioles but unfortunately they lost 4-2. Nevertheless we enjoyed the experience (well John did, MC was a little bored by the 5th innings...).
As you can see, Boston is the home of lots of America's oldest things, such as the tavern above. Other firsts include the first public school, newspaper, library, labour union and subway.
MC's entrance (the Ashburton one, not the Hooker one!!)
John outside Massachusetts State House, the start of our history-laden 'Freedom Trail' walking tour around Boston. We learnt all about the start of the American Revolution and visited the graves of many of its heroes such as Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Some juxtaposition - the new John Hancock tower dwarfs the ornate Trinity Church.

After three nights in Boston we picked up our rental car and began the first leg of our roadtrip which will end in three weeks time in Texas. Driving on the righthand side of the road has taken a bit of getting used to but we are getting the hang of it now, although MC is always putting on the window-wipers instead of the indicator!

Not far out of Boston we stopped for lunch in Springfield which is the birthplace of both Dr Seuss and basketball!
Some Dr Seuss-related sculptures in Springfield.

Next stop is Ithaca in the Finger Lakes region, about halfway between Boston and Niagara Falls.

New York

After a relatively quick flight over the Atlantic but really looooong immigration queue at JFK airport, we arrived in New York. We stayed in an airport hotel for the first night as we didn't arrive till late and so got a good night's sleep and breakfast (complete with waffle batter-dispenser to make your own waffles with - yum!) before heading into the city the next morning. Because MC's stinginess and and New York City hotel prices aren't a good combination, we had opted for much cheaper apartment-style hostel and got a really good deal which seemed to good to be true....
.... and this was the sign that greeted us upon our arrival at said apartment!! So we were a bit hesitant to enter but were reassured by previous guests and a lady who lived in the building just laughed it off, and it luckily it turned out to be fine and we are still alive! And have a few more dollars in our pocket.
John being a robot at the top of the Rockefeller Centre.
Manhattan at night from the Brooklyn Bridge.



24 hour chess playing place in Greenwich Village. Thought you would like it here Dad!
The cool Flatiron building.
John calling for help.
Madison Square Garden.
Times Square.
The city from the 'Top of the Rock' (Rockefeller Centre).
Skyscrapers and Central Park from the Top of the Rock.
Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.
The unofficial self-guided Flight of the Conchords tour - Dave's Pawn Shop.
The New Zealand Consulate.
Bret and Jemaine's apartment in Chinatown.
Ground Zero. Just a big building site.
John on Liberty Island.
The Statue of Liberty.
View from the boat.
Downtown Manhattan from the Liberty Island ferry.
This sculpture used to sit outside the World Trade Centre. It was damaged on September 11 and then moved to its current site as a memorial to the victims of that day.
Wall St.
The Brooklyn Bridge, the world's first suspension bridge, connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn.
Macy's New York, the world's largest store.
Empire State Building from Broadway.
Times Square.
The awesome M&Ms shop.
Watching cake decorating at Magnolia Bakery, of Sex and the City fame.
Kiwis at the Rockefeller Centre!

Napping in the sun in Central Park. Our accommodation was pretty close to Central Park so MC got to do a bit of running in the park as well as sleeping!
Manhattan skyline from Central Park.
John Lennon Memorial in Central Park, over the road from where he was killed outside his New York apartment.
Strawberry Fields in Central Park, a memorial garden to John Lennon funded by Yoko Ono.
MC and her twin in Central Park.
Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.
The first of many hotdogs!

We are loving the USA so far, the weather has been brilliant (except for a wee freak tornado that luckily struck as we were in the Subway in New York), the people are ultra-friendly and the food is great. Our next stop is three nights in Boston before we pick up our car and the roadtrip begins!

John's food diary so far: hotdogs, burgers, fries, hotdogs, The Baconator, donuts, bagels, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, giant sodas, pizza, cookies, cheesecakes and more hotdogs. The diet's catching up on me though, my last visit to the throne required 9 flushes - a new personal best!