NOTE: If you see a BLUE Highlighted word, if you click on it, it will take you to photos of that place.
BLOG # 5 (Where are we now map? - Complete trip Map)
Well, we are finally home in Sydney after our 13 week trip to the USA. As this is the final Blog for this trip, it may be a bit on the long side so I suggest you grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the journey.
My last Blog saw us leaving Chattanooga heading to Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is another great city with a lot to see. We visited the Coca Cola museum, a great city museum and a couple of heritage sites and the town where 'Gone with the Wind' was based.
Following three full days there we headed west again, this time to the capital of Alabama, Montgomery. As we only had one full day there, it was spent mostly at a heritage area of the city. We moved on the next day to Jackson, Mississippi.
This was another city with a great museum. We spent hours in the museum and then went to the old Capital Building which was next door.
From Jackson we headed South West to Baton Rouge in Louisiana. We only had one night there but managed to fit in a visit to a Cane sugar plantation which still had the original slave quarters, which is very rare these days.
From Baton Rouge we headed West back into Texas and down to Galveston. The weather was terrible with rain and high winds. As Galveston is right on the coast, we got the brunt of it. I would love to go back there again when the weather is fine as it was a really pretty vacation spot.
We did however manage to tour a historic home and on the way to Corpus Christi we stopped at the Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Houston.
Out next stop was at Corpus Christi. This is another beautiful vacation town right on the Gulf of Mexico.
This time the Weather gods were kind to us and the weather was beautiful. A couple of great museums there with a lot of history. We also for the first time went to Whataburger for lunch. This fast food hamburger joint originated on Corpus Christi and now has 700 outlets in the USA. The name came from the original owner who wanted people to say 'What a Burger' after their first mouthful of his burgers. He was right. They were the best burgers we had had all trip.
After a couple of days in Corpus Christi we move North to San Antonio. This was to me the second best city of the trip after New Orleans. In the middle of the City they have a man made canal system that snakes it's way through the city. The canal is only three feet deep (one metre for those born after the 1960's). The canals are lined with shops and restaurants and we took a boat trip along the canals. A truly beautiful city and canals are all illuminated with Christmas lights from late November. Unfortunately, we were there just prior to them turning them on.
We were also lucky to be there when the San Antonio Car show was on and so we spent a few hours there drooling over the cars and trucks. Interesting that all cars were open and you could sit in every one of them. I managed to try out the Ford Bullit Mustang and squeezed into the latest Corvette. And I mean squeezed into it. It took longer to get out than get in (take that one off the bucket list!).
Next stop was Austin, the Capital of Texas. Here we spent a fair bit of time out of the city as there were some interesting places to see just a little bit out of town. They had a gret museum in the city though.
From Austin we had a short drive back to Waco. We had visited it on the way from Dallas to Houston when my brother Paul and his wife Judy were with us but it was only a short visit so we wanted to see more. The main place we visited was the Dr Peppers Museum which is where it originated. I must say though, even though it was interesting, it wasn't as good as the Coca Cola museum in Atlanta and no freebies.
Our last stop was back in Forth Worth. We had a day to kill before catching our flight back to Sydney at 8pm that night, so we found a great little suburb just North of the airport called Grapevine. One thing the Americans do really well is decorate their towns for Christmas. They start early but that was great for us as we got to see it.
We flew out of Dallas/Forth Worth airport at 8:15pm Friday night and spent the next 17 hours flying back to Sydney arriving at 6am Sunday morning. Missed Saturday altogether. That's one day we will never get back.
And so ends our 2018 trip to the USA. We had a great trip and managed to get at least two things off our bucket list. 1- We have now been to every state in America. 2 - we have now been to every Disney Park in the World. We met some lovely people along the way and almost all of them had a desire to come to Australia. Debbie was more than happy after we visited about 20 Quilt shops along the way.
My view is that the USA is a great place to visit especially if you are doing it by car. There is so much to see and the culture is the same as ours so language is not a problem, food is cheap even with the Aussie dollar the way it is at the moment and fuel is dirt cheap (we were paying around 77c a litre) We travelled 13,100kms and only spent $1200Aus on fuel. One thing I really liked about the Americans is their respect for ex servicemen. Ex servicemen and women get discounts every where and even buying a house or car they don't need a deposit. They wear their previous service with pride on caps, shirts and badges. They get a 'Thank you for your service' every where they go by the general public. Back home, no such recognition by the public or the Government. They also have a great patriotic feeling. Every where we went we saw the Stars and Stripes flying from porches on house. Texas was the best with the state flag flying everywhere.
Would we go back? In a heart beat. We would love to spend a year just touring around as there is so much more we haven't seen.
Well, that's it for this trip. I hope I haven't bored you with all my rambling and that you have enjoyed the Blogs and Photos. I also hope that I have inspired you to go there and give it a try, but do it by car. You will see a lot more and the driving is a pleasure on their 6 lane freeways.
So that's it for now.
All our love to everyone,
Bill and Debbie
My last Blog saw us leaving Chattanooga heading to Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is another great city with a lot to see. We visited the Coca Cola museum, a great city museum and a couple of heritage sites and the town where 'Gone with the Wind' was based.
Following three full days there we headed west again, this time to the capital of Alabama, Montgomery. As we only had one full day there, it was spent mostly at a heritage area of the city. We moved on the next day to Jackson, Mississippi.
This was another city with a great museum. We spent hours in the museum and then went to the old Capital Building which was next door.
From Jackson we headed South West to Baton Rouge in Louisiana. We only had one night there but managed to fit in a visit to a Cane sugar plantation which still had the original slave quarters, which is very rare these days.
From Baton Rouge we headed West back into Texas and down to Galveston. The weather was terrible with rain and high winds. As Galveston is right on the coast, we got the brunt of it. I would love to go back there again when the weather is fine as it was a really pretty vacation spot.
We did however manage to tour a historic home and on the way to Corpus Christi we stopped at the Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Houston.
Out next stop was at Corpus Christi. This is another beautiful vacation town right on the Gulf of Mexico.
This time the Weather gods were kind to us and the weather was beautiful. A couple of great museums there with a lot of history. We also for the first time went to Whataburger for lunch. This fast food hamburger joint originated on Corpus Christi and now has 700 outlets in the USA. The name came from the original owner who wanted people to say 'What a Burger' after their first mouthful of his burgers. He was right. They were the best burgers we had had all trip.
After a couple of days in Corpus Christi we move North to San Antonio. This was to me the second best city of the trip after New Orleans. In the middle of the City they have a man made canal system that snakes it's way through the city. The canal is only three feet deep (one metre for those born after the 1960's). The canals are lined with shops and restaurants and we took a boat trip along the canals. A truly beautiful city and canals are all illuminated with Christmas lights from late November. Unfortunately, we were there just prior to them turning them on.
We were also lucky to be there when the San Antonio Car show was on and so we spent a few hours there drooling over the cars and trucks. Interesting that all cars were open and you could sit in every one of them. I managed to try out the Ford Bullit Mustang and squeezed into the latest Corvette. And I mean squeezed into it. It took longer to get out than get in (take that one off the bucket list!).
Next stop was Austin, the Capital of Texas. Here we spent a fair bit of time out of the city as there were some interesting places to see just a little bit out of town. They had a gret museum in the city though.
From Austin we had a short drive back to Waco. We had visited it on the way from Dallas to Houston when my brother Paul and his wife Judy were with us but it was only a short visit so we wanted to see more. The main place we visited was the Dr Peppers Museum which is where it originated. I must say though, even though it was interesting, it wasn't as good as the Coca Cola museum in Atlanta and no freebies.
Our last stop was back in Forth Worth. We had a day to kill before catching our flight back to Sydney at 8pm that night, so we found a great little suburb just North of the airport called Grapevine. One thing the Americans do really well is decorate their towns for Christmas. They start early but that was great for us as we got to see it.
We flew out of Dallas/Forth Worth airport at 8:15pm Friday night and spent the next 17 hours flying back to Sydney arriving at 6am Sunday morning. Missed Saturday altogether. That's one day we will never get back.
And so ends our 2018 trip to the USA. We had a great trip and managed to get at least two things off our bucket list. 1- We have now been to every state in America. 2 - we have now been to every Disney Park in the World. We met some lovely people along the way and almost all of them had a desire to come to Australia. Debbie was more than happy after we visited about 20 Quilt shops along the way.
My view is that the USA is a great place to visit especially if you are doing it by car. There is so much to see and the culture is the same as ours so language is not a problem, food is cheap even with the Aussie dollar the way it is at the moment and fuel is dirt cheap (we were paying around 77c a litre) We travelled 13,100kms and only spent $1200Aus on fuel. One thing I really liked about the Americans is their respect for ex servicemen. Ex servicemen and women get discounts every where and even buying a house or car they don't need a deposit. They wear their previous service with pride on caps, shirts and badges. They get a 'Thank you for your service' every where they go by the general public. Back home, no such recognition by the public or the Government. They also have a great patriotic feeling. Every where we went we saw the Stars and Stripes flying from porches on house. Texas was the best with the state flag flying everywhere.
Would we go back? In a heart beat. We would love to spend a year just touring around as there is so much more we haven't seen.
Well, that's it for this trip. I hope I haven't bored you with all my rambling and that you have enjoyed the Blogs and Photos. I also hope that I have inspired you to go there and give it a try, but do it by car. You will see a lot more and the driving is a pleasure on their 6 lane freeways.
So that's it for now.
All our love to everyone,
Bill and Debbie
BLOG # 4 (Where are we now map)
Eight weeks down and three weeks to go before we head home. So far the trip has been fantastic with plenty of sights and experiences along the way.
As I write this Blog, we are in Choo Choo country. Yes, Chattanooga, Tennessee. We arrived yesterday and we leave tomorrow to continue our journey.
Lets go back a couple of weeks. We left Jacksonville, Florida and headed north to Charleston, South Carolina. Along the way we made a detour to Hilton Island, South Carolina to visit with my old boss from ASC, Tony and Betty Smith. They live in a beautiful gated community and enjoying their retirement. We had lunch at their magnificent home and then Tony drove us around the estate showing us the two 18 hole golf courses and the clubhouse. What a magical place to live especially if you are a golfer.
We arrived in Charleston later that day. Charleston had many interesting places to see including Patriots Point which is a naval museum. We also took a boat trip out to Fort Sumter which is where the first shots of the Civil War happened. Next day we headed into the city to visit the Charleston Museum.
From Charleston we headed north again up the coast to Wilmington, North Carolina.
This town was hit by Hurricane Florence a few weeks before we arrived so they were still cleaning up a lot of the mess. In Wilmington we visited the Battleship 'North Carolina' which is huge.
We took a drive into town which is a small village and they had wooden boat show on at the time. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at the time so was unable to get any pictures.
From Wilmington we headed north west to Richmond, Virginia. In Richmond we visited two magnificent estates and went for a day in the city. Richmond was two milestones for us. First its where we turn around and start heading back to Dallas via another 10 cities. Secondly, its the last state we had to visit to complete one of our bucket list items, and that was to travel to every state in the USA. Virginia was the last state. Tick that one off the list.
From Richmond we headed south west to Charlotte, North Carolina. The drive there (500kms) was in a continuous down pouring of rain. The rain didn't stop the whole trip. Not a lot to see in Charlotte but their museum wasn't too bad.
After a couple of days in Charlotte, we headed west across the Smoky Mountains to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It was a great drive through the mountains.
Pigeon Forge is an interesting place. It sort of like a mini Vegas without the casinos. Its quite spread out over a 4 km drive with all the dinner shows, go cart tracks and other venues on each side of the road. Bit tacky but people seem to like it judging by the crowds. Just down the road though, is Gatlinburg which is really nice. Sort of alpine feel to the place. There has a great car museum there which featured Hollywood cars.
The last day in Pigeon Forge, which happened to be Halloween, we visited Dollywood. We sort of had mixed feelings about going there but we are glad we did. Its a theme park set up by Dolly Pardon and although its a theme park, the theme seems to be mountain/country rather than comic book or Hollywood themes. Although it was Halloween, there were no scary things like ghosts or skeletons anywhere. Lots of pumpkins though. In fact thousands of them. They had some awesome rollercoasters though and a great steam train ride.
From Pigeon Forge we headed south to Chattanooga where we are now. Today we travelled to the top of Lookout Mountain on the Incline Railway and visited downtown. This afternoon we went to Ruby Falls which is a 140ft waterfall, 1200ft underground which you access via a 600ft lift which takes you down to the 1km cave system that takes you to the waterfall. Even though most people associate Chattanooga with the Glenn Miller song, it was actually the site of a major battle during the Civil War and saw the decline of the Confederate Army after that.
Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow we're off to Atlanta, Georgia and continuing our journey west back to Texas. Next Blog will be in a couple of weeks.
Please enjoy and keep in touch.
Bill and Debbie
As I write this Blog, we are in Choo Choo country. Yes, Chattanooga, Tennessee. We arrived yesterday and we leave tomorrow to continue our journey.
Lets go back a couple of weeks. We left Jacksonville, Florida and headed north to Charleston, South Carolina. Along the way we made a detour to Hilton Island, South Carolina to visit with my old boss from ASC, Tony and Betty Smith. They live in a beautiful gated community and enjoying their retirement. We had lunch at their magnificent home and then Tony drove us around the estate showing us the two 18 hole golf courses and the clubhouse. What a magical place to live especially if you are a golfer.
We arrived in Charleston later that day. Charleston had many interesting places to see including Patriots Point which is a naval museum. We also took a boat trip out to Fort Sumter which is where the first shots of the Civil War happened. Next day we headed into the city to visit the Charleston Museum.
From Charleston we headed north again up the coast to Wilmington, North Carolina.
This town was hit by Hurricane Florence a few weeks before we arrived so they were still cleaning up a lot of the mess. In Wilmington we visited the Battleship 'North Carolina' which is huge.
We took a drive into town which is a small village and they had wooden boat show on at the time. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at the time so was unable to get any pictures.
From Wilmington we headed north west to Richmond, Virginia. In Richmond we visited two magnificent estates and went for a day in the city. Richmond was two milestones for us. First its where we turn around and start heading back to Dallas via another 10 cities. Secondly, its the last state we had to visit to complete one of our bucket list items, and that was to travel to every state in the USA. Virginia was the last state. Tick that one off the list.
From Richmond we headed south west to Charlotte, North Carolina. The drive there (500kms) was in a continuous down pouring of rain. The rain didn't stop the whole trip. Not a lot to see in Charlotte but their museum wasn't too bad.
After a couple of days in Charlotte, we headed west across the Smoky Mountains to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It was a great drive through the mountains.
Pigeon Forge is an interesting place. It sort of like a mini Vegas without the casinos. Its quite spread out over a 4 km drive with all the dinner shows, go cart tracks and other venues on each side of the road. Bit tacky but people seem to like it judging by the crowds. Just down the road though, is Gatlinburg which is really nice. Sort of alpine feel to the place. There has a great car museum there which featured Hollywood cars.
The last day in Pigeon Forge, which happened to be Halloween, we visited Dollywood. We sort of had mixed feelings about going there but we are glad we did. Its a theme park set up by Dolly Pardon and although its a theme park, the theme seems to be mountain/country rather than comic book or Hollywood themes. Although it was Halloween, there were no scary things like ghosts or skeletons anywhere. Lots of pumpkins though. In fact thousands of them. They had some awesome rollercoasters though and a great steam train ride.
From Pigeon Forge we headed south to Chattanooga where we are now. Today we travelled to the top of Lookout Mountain on the Incline Railway and visited downtown. This afternoon we went to Ruby Falls which is a 140ft waterfall, 1200ft underground which you access via a 600ft lift which takes you down to the 1km cave system that takes you to the waterfall. Even though most people associate Chattanooga with the Glenn Miller song, it was actually the site of a major battle during the Civil War and saw the decline of the Confederate Army after that.
Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow we're off to Atlanta, Georgia and continuing our journey west back to Texas. Next Blog will be in a couple of weeks.
Please enjoy and keep in touch.
Bill and Debbie
BLOG #3 (Where are we now Map)
It's been a busy two and a half weeks for us. Since I last wrote we have visited Orlando, Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville. We leave Florida tomorrow and head North to continue our journey.
OK, let's start with Orlando. We rented a two bedroom apartment in a resort at Kissimmee not far from the Disney theme parks. It made a nice change from living in hotels rooms for the previous weeks. We managed to get to two Disney theme parks whilst we were there. The 1st was Animal Kingdom, which was OK but nothing to write home about. The tour of the wild animals was probably the best part. The 2nd park was EPCOT. This was great with lots to see and ride. The best ride was the Chrysler Test Track, a bit like the Cars ride in Disneyland, LA but twice as fast. There are several countries represented around a large lake, a bit like World Expo in a way. Each country had buildings in their own style and some had shows or displays. This was the last of the Disney theme parks we have visited throughout the world and was still not as good as Tokyo Disney or the new Shanghai Disney. It is quite expensive as well. It cost over $150 each to get into each park and the car parking was $30 a day. They have only just increased that but another $5. I estimated that there would have been over 2,000 cars in the carpark that day and we are in the off season. In the holidays that number would more than likely be over 5,000. Not bad, $175,000 a day during the holidays before anyone even walks through the main entrance.
The day in between the theme parks, we drove down to Vero Beach and met up with Ray (Naomi's future husband) and his mother Sharon for lunch. We had a great lunch at a little café called Mrs Mac's Filling Station. After lunch we went to a Treasure Museum along the coast. That part of Florida is famous for ship wrecks and pirate activities. Great little museum.
The third day we headed up to Daytona Beach for the flea market. Fantastic flea market and managed to pick up a few bargains there before heading down to the beach for lunch. We rounded out the week with a game of mini golf at a local course. Great fun and we putted around 36 holes all together.
After a week in Orlando we headed South to Miami. Whilst there we drove out to the Everglades for an airboat ride, which was fantastic. We didn't see any Alligators though but the boat ride was worth it. Our big day was a trip down to Key West the southern most point of continental USA. It was a long drive, about three and a half hours each way, but worth the drive. Whilst in Miami we visited the Vizcaya Mansion. This mansion was owned by James Deering who was Vice President of International Harvester. This was an impressive place especially when you consider he was a bachelor all his life.
From Miami we headed North West to Tampa stopping along the way at Bowmans Beach just south of Fort Myers so Debbie could do a bit of shelling. We have never seen a beach with so many shells on it.
In Tampa we went to the History Museum and the Ringling Bros Circus museum. The History museum was excellent and the drive to the Circus museum in Sarasota was well worth it.
After 3 nights in Tampa, we headed across the state to Jacksonville. Whilst there we drove into the city to see a small Navy museum which has an Australia section in it and managed to see some dolphins swimming down the river. Our second day saw us driving to St Augustine which is only 50kms down the coast. This was where the Spanish explorers set foot on American soil back in the 1500's long before Columbus. What a magical town. We could have spent two days there instead of just the one day.
And so that brings us to present day. We head off tomorrow for Charleston, South Carolina with a stop at Hilton Head Island on the way. We are having lunch with my old Boss from ASC, Tony Smith and his wife Betty who live on a gated community there. I haven't seen him since the 90's so I am looking forward to catching up.
Hope you have enjoyed the Blog and I will pen my next one in a couple of weeks.
Bye for now,
Bill and Debbie
OK, let's start with Orlando. We rented a two bedroom apartment in a resort at Kissimmee not far from the Disney theme parks. It made a nice change from living in hotels rooms for the previous weeks. We managed to get to two Disney theme parks whilst we were there. The 1st was Animal Kingdom, which was OK but nothing to write home about. The tour of the wild animals was probably the best part. The 2nd park was EPCOT. This was great with lots to see and ride. The best ride was the Chrysler Test Track, a bit like the Cars ride in Disneyland, LA but twice as fast. There are several countries represented around a large lake, a bit like World Expo in a way. Each country had buildings in their own style and some had shows or displays. This was the last of the Disney theme parks we have visited throughout the world and was still not as good as Tokyo Disney or the new Shanghai Disney. It is quite expensive as well. It cost over $150 each to get into each park and the car parking was $30 a day. They have only just increased that but another $5. I estimated that there would have been over 2,000 cars in the carpark that day and we are in the off season. In the holidays that number would more than likely be over 5,000. Not bad, $175,000 a day during the holidays before anyone even walks through the main entrance.
The day in between the theme parks, we drove down to Vero Beach and met up with Ray (Naomi's future husband) and his mother Sharon for lunch. We had a great lunch at a little café called Mrs Mac's Filling Station. After lunch we went to a Treasure Museum along the coast. That part of Florida is famous for ship wrecks and pirate activities. Great little museum.
The third day we headed up to Daytona Beach for the flea market. Fantastic flea market and managed to pick up a few bargains there before heading down to the beach for lunch. We rounded out the week with a game of mini golf at a local course. Great fun and we putted around 36 holes all together.
After a week in Orlando we headed South to Miami. Whilst there we drove out to the Everglades for an airboat ride, which was fantastic. We didn't see any Alligators though but the boat ride was worth it. Our big day was a trip down to Key West the southern most point of continental USA. It was a long drive, about three and a half hours each way, but worth the drive. Whilst in Miami we visited the Vizcaya Mansion. This mansion was owned by James Deering who was Vice President of International Harvester. This was an impressive place especially when you consider he was a bachelor all his life.
From Miami we headed North West to Tampa stopping along the way at Bowmans Beach just south of Fort Myers so Debbie could do a bit of shelling. We have never seen a beach with so many shells on it.
In Tampa we went to the History Museum and the Ringling Bros Circus museum. The History museum was excellent and the drive to the Circus museum in Sarasota was well worth it.
After 3 nights in Tampa, we headed across the state to Jacksonville. Whilst there we drove into the city to see a small Navy museum which has an Australia section in it and managed to see some dolphins swimming down the river. Our second day saw us driving to St Augustine which is only 50kms down the coast. This was where the Spanish explorers set foot on American soil back in the 1500's long before Columbus. What a magical town. We could have spent two days there instead of just the one day.
And so that brings us to present day. We head off tomorrow for Charleston, South Carolina with a stop at Hilton Head Island on the way. We are having lunch with my old Boss from ASC, Tony Smith and his wife Betty who live on a gated community there. I haven't seen him since the 90's so I am looking forward to catching up.
Hope you have enjoyed the Blog and I will pen my next one in a couple of weeks.
Bye for now,
Bill and Debbie
BLOG #2
As I write this blog we are in Pensacola, Florida. We have been to a few places since my last blog and seen a heap of sights.
In my last blog we were on our Caribbean Cruise and had just visited Montego Bay. As I stated we weren't that impressed with it but our next stop was Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. This was completely different. We really liked the Grand Cayman. The people were very friendly, prices were very good and the town was very picturesque. From Cayman we sailed to Cozumel in Mexico. Again this was a great port to visit and we enjoyed our time there.
Overall, the cruise was great. We were lucky with the weather especially when it's Hurricane season. The shows were great, the food amazing and the crew were excellent. We met some really nice Americans on the cruise and saw some great places. I still can't get over the size of the passengers though. If the cost of the cruise was per kg of body weight, most would not be able to afford the cruise.
We arrived back in New Orleans on the 23rd of September and after leaving the ship we visited the Mardi Gras World. This is a large building which produces and houses most of the figures and floats for the annual Mardi Gras. The array of figures and floats they have in stock is amazing. A very colourful place to visit. We then checked into our New Orleans hotel and spent the next three days visiting some amazing places in New Orleans. What a beautiful city. We loved it. The city is so spread out and it was such a pleasure experiencing all they had to offer. We brought a three day Hop On- Hop Off pass and this proved to be the best decision. The bus stopped at all the places we wanted to visit including the National World War 2 Museum, the Garden District, were we did a walking tour, the French Quarter and Canal Street (the main street in New Orleans). We strolled down Bourbon Street but weren't impressed. It just looked like any other street in New Orleans. Maybe because we went during the day that it didn't have the atmosphere we were expecting. On the last day we visited the Civil War Museum which was interesting and then took a drive to the site where the Battle of New Orleans was fought. Luckily the rain stayed away that day as we spent a bit of time out in the open. When it rains here, it rains. It has bucketed down on several occasions, luckily we were either inside somewhere or in the car driving.
We left New Orleans on the 27th and drove to Pensacola via Mobile, Alabama. That was another place which was great. We could have spent days there not just the few hours we had there for lunch and sightseeing. The History Museum was excellent and we managed to stop at the Battleship Memorial Park for a quick few photos. The weather was horrible so only managed to get a few photos of the Battleship USS Alabama and the Submarine USS Drum.
We had only one full day in Pensacola so we went into the Historic District to see some 18th century homes and they had a huge market set up. It only happens once a year for three days so we were lucky to see it. The stalls were selling amazing handicrafts and we could have brought a truck load of goods if we had some way of getting them home cheaply. We ended up buying a Hush Puppy mix and dispenser. In the afternoon we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum which had a huge collection of aircraft (167 aircraft in total ,all inside the museum). Because it's on a Naval Airbase we had to jump through hoops to get in including showing our passports. It was worth the hassle as the Museum was fantastic.
We left Pensacola the next day and drove the 300kms to Tallahassee. As we arrived early, we went to the Tallahassee Auto Museum. This museum was unbelievable. They had over 180 cars on display included a lot that were rare cars. Beside the cars, they had other collections including Adding Machines, Dolls, Pianos, Pedal Cars, Batmobiles, Outboard Motors and a huge collection of Pockets Knives (I asked and they said they stop counting at 10,000). The cars were fantastic. Some had as little as 7 miles on the clock and they had two Ford GT40's straight from the factory. Some of the cars were worth over $1,000,000. This was right up there with the best Auto Museums we have visited. Whilst in Tallahassee we also visited a Living History Museum, which is village set up the way it was back in the 1700s with the staff dressed in period costume. We also visited the Museum of Florida History which was very interesting.
We left Tallahassee on the 1st of October and arrived in Kissimmee (just south of Orlando) and settled into our two bedroom condo for a week of theme parks and other touristy things.
That's it for this Blog. Next one will be when we leave Florida in about two and a half weeks.
hope you enjoy and keep in touch.
Bill and Debbie
In my last blog we were on our Caribbean Cruise and had just visited Montego Bay. As I stated we weren't that impressed with it but our next stop was Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. This was completely different. We really liked the Grand Cayman. The people were very friendly, prices were very good and the town was very picturesque. From Cayman we sailed to Cozumel in Mexico. Again this was a great port to visit and we enjoyed our time there.
Overall, the cruise was great. We were lucky with the weather especially when it's Hurricane season. The shows were great, the food amazing and the crew were excellent. We met some really nice Americans on the cruise and saw some great places. I still can't get over the size of the passengers though. If the cost of the cruise was per kg of body weight, most would not be able to afford the cruise.
We arrived back in New Orleans on the 23rd of September and after leaving the ship we visited the Mardi Gras World. This is a large building which produces and houses most of the figures and floats for the annual Mardi Gras. The array of figures and floats they have in stock is amazing. A very colourful place to visit. We then checked into our New Orleans hotel and spent the next three days visiting some amazing places in New Orleans. What a beautiful city. We loved it. The city is so spread out and it was such a pleasure experiencing all they had to offer. We brought a three day Hop On- Hop Off pass and this proved to be the best decision. The bus stopped at all the places we wanted to visit including the National World War 2 Museum, the Garden District, were we did a walking tour, the French Quarter and Canal Street (the main street in New Orleans). We strolled down Bourbon Street but weren't impressed. It just looked like any other street in New Orleans. Maybe because we went during the day that it didn't have the atmosphere we were expecting. On the last day we visited the Civil War Museum which was interesting and then took a drive to the site where the Battle of New Orleans was fought. Luckily the rain stayed away that day as we spent a bit of time out in the open. When it rains here, it rains. It has bucketed down on several occasions, luckily we were either inside somewhere or in the car driving.
We left New Orleans on the 27th and drove to Pensacola via Mobile, Alabama. That was another place which was great. We could have spent days there not just the few hours we had there for lunch and sightseeing. The History Museum was excellent and we managed to stop at the Battleship Memorial Park for a quick few photos. The weather was horrible so only managed to get a few photos of the Battleship USS Alabama and the Submarine USS Drum.
We had only one full day in Pensacola so we went into the Historic District to see some 18th century homes and they had a huge market set up. It only happens once a year for three days so we were lucky to see it. The stalls were selling amazing handicrafts and we could have brought a truck load of goods if we had some way of getting them home cheaply. We ended up buying a Hush Puppy mix and dispenser. In the afternoon we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum which had a huge collection of aircraft (167 aircraft in total ,all inside the museum). Because it's on a Naval Airbase we had to jump through hoops to get in including showing our passports. It was worth the hassle as the Museum was fantastic.
We left Pensacola the next day and drove the 300kms to Tallahassee. As we arrived early, we went to the Tallahassee Auto Museum. This museum was unbelievable. They had over 180 cars on display included a lot that were rare cars. Beside the cars, they had other collections including Adding Machines, Dolls, Pianos, Pedal Cars, Batmobiles, Outboard Motors and a huge collection of Pockets Knives (I asked and they said they stop counting at 10,000). The cars were fantastic. Some had as little as 7 miles on the clock and they had two Ford GT40's straight from the factory. Some of the cars were worth over $1,000,000. This was right up there with the best Auto Museums we have visited. Whilst in Tallahassee we also visited a Living History Museum, which is village set up the way it was back in the 1700s with the staff dressed in period costume. We also visited the Museum of Florida History which was very interesting.
We left Tallahassee on the 1st of October and arrived in Kissimmee (just south of Orlando) and settled into our two bedroom condo for a week of theme parks and other touristy things.
That's it for this Blog. Next one will be when we leave Florida in about two and a half weeks.
hope you enjoy and keep in touch.
Bill and Debbie
BLOG #1
NOTE: If you see a BLUE Highlighted word, if you click on it, it will take you to photos of that place.
There is an expression “Get off your bum and do something”. Well, in my case it's "get on your bum and do something” And that something is to sit down and write my travel blog. So here we go ........
Our journey began on the 9th of September 2018. We met Paul and Judy (my Brother and Sister-In-Law) at the Domestic Terminal at Sydney Airport. They had flown down from Brisbane and we were all staying at an airport hotel overnight before catching our flight the next day.
We flew out of Sydney International Airport at 12:30pm the next day on a Qantas A380 direct flight to Dallas, Texas, a 15 hour flight. Although the flight was long, there were plenty of things to keep us occupied including meals, movies and a good period of sleep. We arrived at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport at 1pm the same day. The flight seemed longer that ½ an hour
Earlier this year I had purchased a Sat/Nav for the car On Line. I tested it before we left and it was working a treat. It had USA maps already installed and I looked forward to using it during the trip. When we cleared Border Security and Customs we hopped on a Shuttle Bus to take us to the car rental centre. There we rented our transport for the next 2½ months (a 7 seater Toyota Sienna) and proceeded to load up with our luggage. Out came the Sat/Nav and you wouldn’t believe it, it wouldn’t start up. It didn’t matter if I talked to it in gentle tones or threatened it with a long painful death, it wouldn’t start. So here we were at Dallas Airport and had to get to our Fort Worth Hotel. I had to remember images from Google Maps which I researched before leaving. I knew the general direction we had to go and after some wrong turns and missed turn offs, we finally arrived at our hotel.
Our first priority after check in was to find the nearest Walmart and make some essential purchases. These included, pillows (as we stay at a lot of hotels during our trip it’s nice to have the same pillow each night), an electric jug. The hotels all have those silly coffee drip machines which is fine but we like to have a cup of tea every day and the drip machines are useless for that. We also brought our own tea bags and Maconna coffee. I also purchased a new Sat/Nav for the car and a throw away phone in case we breakdown and I have to contact the rental company.
We spent two days in Dallas/Fort Worth. The 1st day was spent in the city of Dallas where we visited the 6th Floor Museum. This museum is housed in the building Lee Harvey Oswald used to assassinate John F Kennedy back in the 1963. Fascinating museum which gives a detailed history leading up to the assassination. We also visited South Fork Ranch which is where the TV series ‘Dallas’ was filmed. Even though we did a tour of the ranch house, it was never used for internal shots for the series as the owners of the property still lived in the house when they were filming. All internal shots for the series were shot at the studios back in Hollywood.
The second day was spent in Fort Worth and we witnessed the daily cattle drive. This is where they herd about 20 long horn cattle down the main street. Great sight to see.
The next day we loaded our bags into the car and headed south. We were originally suppose to go directly to Houston but as Paul and Judy will only be spending six weeks with us, they would have missed out on seeing Waco, Texas. We are all fans of the TV show ‘Fixer Upper’ with Chip and Joanne, and that is where the show is based. We spent about two hours there as they have a Market and Bakery in the town. There were a lot of tourist there spending big money on over priced goods. Our only expense was lunch from a food truck. We then headed east to Houston arriving at around 4pm.
We only had one full day in Houston and as the Space Centre is the main attraction, we spent most of the day there. The complex is huge. It included a very large museum with all kinds of space exhibits and a tram tour around the facilities. This tour included the Mission Control Centre. We went inside to see it but it is in the process of being dismantled. Next year is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and they are restoring the Mission Control Centre to the original condition it was in as of July 1969 including showing the data that was on all the screens at the time. Should be a sight to see next year.
From Houston we traveled south east to New Orleans. We only had one night in New Orleans as we were leaving next day for our Caribbean cruise. That night we went to a local restaurant and tried Gumbo. Yummy describes it in one word. It’s sort of like a soup/stew with prawns, rice, a thick roux, spices and a few veggies. Definitely have that again. Debbie has a list of things she wants to try on this trip so that’s one down off the list.
The following day we headed to the Shipping Terminal in downtown New Orleans and parked the car in the multi story car pack at the terminal (very handy). We boarded our ship (the Carnival Dream) at 1pm and sailed at 4pm. It took about 8 hours for us to finally reach the Gulf of Mexico after sailing down the river from New Orleans.
We spent the next two days at sea in cloudy by dry weather. The seas where calm the whole time. The ship is great with excellent food and great entertainment on board. Our balcony cabin was located on the 9th deck just below the Lido deck. The Lido deck is where most of the passengers ate (hamburgers, chips, pizza and other fat laden meals).
We only ate there for lunch as one place has sandwiches which was all we needed. Our breakfast and dinner were in the main dining restaurant where we had fantastic food every morning and night. I would make a guess that 70% of the passengers onboard are Obese, 20% just over weight and 10% within normal range. The food they consume from the Lido deck is astounding. They pile their dishes with all sort of different foods and eat all day. They are still scoffing down pizza at midnight. Deb says she hasn’t seen any whales in the sea but there a plenty on board.
Our first port of call was Montego Bay in Jamaica. We were disappointed in this place. We didn’t go on any tours but took a hop on hop off bus to the local town. The prices some shops wanted to charge were ridiculous. $38US for a T shirt, $8US for a fridge magnet. You are hustled every 5 metres along the street by tour operators or shop owners. There is a lot of poverty and we had no sooner got off the bus and we were offered drugs. Wasn’t sorry to be leaving Montego Bay although there are probably beautiful areas around the island that would be lovely to stay at.
I have rattled on enough for now so I will close this Blog. My next blog will cover our other to ports of call (Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico) plus New Orleans, Pensacola and Tallahassee.
I hope you enjoy the Blog, if not, let me know by sending $200 and a letter of grievance to bill and debbie traveling in the USA.com. All others, see you next time.
Bill and Debbie
There is an expression “Get off your bum and do something”. Well, in my case it's "get on your bum and do something” And that something is to sit down and write my travel blog. So here we go ........
Our journey began on the 9th of September 2018. We met Paul and Judy (my Brother and Sister-In-Law) at the Domestic Terminal at Sydney Airport. They had flown down from Brisbane and we were all staying at an airport hotel overnight before catching our flight the next day.
We flew out of Sydney International Airport at 12:30pm the next day on a Qantas A380 direct flight to Dallas, Texas, a 15 hour flight. Although the flight was long, there were plenty of things to keep us occupied including meals, movies and a good period of sleep. We arrived at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport at 1pm the same day. The flight seemed longer that ½ an hour
Earlier this year I had purchased a Sat/Nav for the car On Line. I tested it before we left and it was working a treat. It had USA maps already installed and I looked forward to using it during the trip. When we cleared Border Security and Customs we hopped on a Shuttle Bus to take us to the car rental centre. There we rented our transport for the next 2½ months (a 7 seater Toyota Sienna) and proceeded to load up with our luggage. Out came the Sat/Nav and you wouldn’t believe it, it wouldn’t start up. It didn’t matter if I talked to it in gentle tones or threatened it with a long painful death, it wouldn’t start. So here we were at Dallas Airport and had to get to our Fort Worth Hotel. I had to remember images from Google Maps which I researched before leaving. I knew the general direction we had to go and after some wrong turns and missed turn offs, we finally arrived at our hotel.
Our first priority after check in was to find the nearest Walmart and make some essential purchases. These included, pillows (as we stay at a lot of hotels during our trip it’s nice to have the same pillow each night), an electric jug. The hotels all have those silly coffee drip machines which is fine but we like to have a cup of tea every day and the drip machines are useless for that. We also brought our own tea bags and Maconna coffee. I also purchased a new Sat/Nav for the car and a throw away phone in case we breakdown and I have to contact the rental company.
We spent two days in Dallas/Fort Worth. The 1st day was spent in the city of Dallas where we visited the 6th Floor Museum. This museum is housed in the building Lee Harvey Oswald used to assassinate John F Kennedy back in the 1963. Fascinating museum which gives a detailed history leading up to the assassination. We also visited South Fork Ranch which is where the TV series ‘Dallas’ was filmed. Even though we did a tour of the ranch house, it was never used for internal shots for the series as the owners of the property still lived in the house when they were filming. All internal shots for the series were shot at the studios back in Hollywood.
The second day was spent in Fort Worth and we witnessed the daily cattle drive. This is where they herd about 20 long horn cattle down the main street. Great sight to see.
The next day we loaded our bags into the car and headed south. We were originally suppose to go directly to Houston but as Paul and Judy will only be spending six weeks with us, they would have missed out on seeing Waco, Texas. We are all fans of the TV show ‘Fixer Upper’ with Chip and Joanne, and that is where the show is based. We spent about two hours there as they have a Market and Bakery in the town. There were a lot of tourist there spending big money on over priced goods. Our only expense was lunch from a food truck. We then headed east to Houston arriving at around 4pm.
We only had one full day in Houston and as the Space Centre is the main attraction, we spent most of the day there. The complex is huge. It included a very large museum with all kinds of space exhibits and a tram tour around the facilities. This tour included the Mission Control Centre. We went inside to see it but it is in the process of being dismantled. Next year is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and they are restoring the Mission Control Centre to the original condition it was in as of July 1969 including showing the data that was on all the screens at the time. Should be a sight to see next year.
From Houston we traveled south east to New Orleans. We only had one night in New Orleans as we were leaving next day for our Caribbean cruise. That night we went to a local restaurant and tried Gumbo. Yummy describes it in one word. It’s sort of like a soup/stew with prawns, rice, a thick roux, spices and a few veggies. Definitely have that again. Debbie has a list of things she wants to try on this trip so that’s one down off the list.
The following day we headed to the Shipping Terminal in downtown New Orleans and parked the car in the multi story car pack at the terminal (very handy). We boarded our ship (the Carnival Dream) at 1pm and sailed at 4pm. It took about 8 hours for us to finally reach the Gulf of Mexico after sailing down the river from New Orleans.
We spent the next two days at sea in cloudy by dry weather. The seas where calm the whole time. The ship is great with excellent food and great entertainment on board. Our balcony cabin was located on the 9th deck just below the Lido deck. The Lido deck is where most of the passengers ate (hamburgers, chips, pizza and other fat laden meals).
We only ate there for lunch as one place has sandwiches which was all we needed. Our breakfast and dinner were in the main dining restaurant where we had fantastic food every morning and night. I would make a guess that 70% of the passengers onboard are Obese, 20% just over weight and 10% within normal range. The food they consume from the Lido deck is astounding. They pile their dishes with all sort of different foods and eat all day. They are still scoffing down pizza at midnight. Deb says she hasn’t seen any whales in the sea but there a plenty on board.
Our first port of call was Montego Bay in Jamaica. We were disappointed in this place. We didn’t go on any tours but took a hop on hop off bus to the local town. The prices some shops wanted to charge were ridiculous. $38US for a T shirt, $8US for a fridge magnet. You are hustled every 5 metres along the street by tour operators or shop owners. There is a lot of poverty and we had no sooner got off the bus and we were offered drugs. Wasn’t sorry to be leaving Montego Bay although there are probably beautiful areas around the island that would be lovely to stay at.
I have rattled on enough for now so I will close this Blog. My next blog will cover our other to ports of call (Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico) plus New Orleans, Pensacola and Tallahassee.
I hope you enjoy the Blog, if not, let me know by sending $200 and a letter of grievance to bill and debbie traveling in the USA.com. All others, see you next time.
Bill and Debbie
