Sunday 30th November
My first (and only) actual day in Atlanta so I went to the World of Coca Cola. I'd heard good things and realised that Coke was actually invented here! They have definitely embraced it, the place is huge with about 6 different exhibitions including everything you could possibly ever want to know about Coke and enough tastings to make yourself sick. Unfortunately most of the 100 flavours they advertise aren't actually coke but the company's other drinks but some are random things from around the world so that is cool. I eventually found the actual Coke tasting room at the back with the good old vanilla and cherry flavours etc. And just in case you didn't drink enough in there, they give you a free bottle of coke on your way out! Haha The World of Coke is in an enormous park where most of the other touristy things are and is a nice area in the city (first time I've thought that here). With nothing really else planned to do here I was going to see a movie but after walking around for a while, found out that there's no cinema in the city centre. Again I couldn't really find much so ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe and then just went back to my hotel. Atlanta is definitely not one that I'll be back to.
Monday 1st December
Flight to Miami Beach, Florida today. Arriving at the airport I instantly got the feeling of home... aka humidity, with the sea breezes though it is really nice! By the time I got to my hostel it was getting dark but I am staying only a block away from the beach so I went and had a look around. lt is a big beach, with nice white sand. I am definitely getting a Gold coast vibe. l wandered around the city and had dinner. I'd been wanting to see a movie and l found a cinema 5 minutes before the The Hunger Games started so my night was made.
Tuesday 2nd December
I don't have anything planned for the next couple of days except to enjoy the beach and warmth before I had north into the coldness. Unfortunately not the best weather forecast but still nice and warm. After checking out the beach in the daylight, I walked around the south half of the Miami Beach island.
I am officially sick again, never really got over the sniffles from tour and has finally developed into a fully fledged cold with a horrendous cough. Boo!
Wednesday 3rd December
Thought I should do something official here so booked onto a 'duck tour' (one of those truck/boat combos... I've never done one before). It was really good and took us around Miami Beach and then out onto the water to see all the celebrity homes on the little surrounding islands. I enjoyed the last of the day's sun at the beach before dinner along the esplanade.
Thursday 4th December
Off to Orlando today! Excited to do all of the theme parks (but first a bus day).
Friday 5th December
Day 1/park 1: Universal Studios.
A great day with lots of cool rides including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I even tried Butterbeer haha
Saturday 6th December
Day 2/park 2: Islands of Adventure (Universal Studios).
Another awesome day, the rides here very good (except the Jurassic Park log ride where I got unbelievable soaked, seriously could have jumped into a pool and come out dryer!) The Christmas parade started today so I got to see that, which included some of the balloons from the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.
Sunday 7th December
My cold has really knocked me around so decided to take a sick day to rest and see a doctor. Outcome is that it is just a cold but a bad one, so about $150 later I have medication for both the cold and cough (definitely getting my $$ worth of travel insurance this time).
Monday 8th December
After a rest yesterday I am ready to hit Walt Disney World!
Day 3/parks 3 & 4: Epcot & Animal Kingdom.
Epcot is an interesting park, very different from others. It is tailored more to education so each ride comes with a learning centre of sorts. After seeing some of it I made my way over to Animal Kingdom. It is kind of a zoo & park mixed. With the weather though (rainy) most of the animals weren't out so that part of it wasn't very exciting. I headed back to Epcot to check out the rest of it, which is all about the world. They have sections representing different countries. 90% of it was just shops and restaurants though, so a bit disappointing. I can see that it might be cool for Americans that have never travelled though.
Tuesday 9th December
Day 4/park 5: Hollywood Studios (Disneyworld).
A fun day with a few of the well known rides but the park is actually focused more on shows which was cool. The night show was very different, with a lot of the characters as well as lasers and special effects etc. I also went back to Epcot (to get my shuttle back to the hotel) and managed to see more of their night show which I missed last night. It was great, lots of fireworks!
Wednesday 10th December
Day 5/park 6: last but not least Magic Kingdom (the Disneyland of Disneyworld).
A fun day and definitely the busiest of all the parks. I watched the normal parade and the parade of lights, as well as the Frozen lighting of the castle which was cool. I had to leave before the proper night show to get my hotel shuttle (which I was honestly slightly devastation about) but was able to see most of the fireworks from a distance as I left.
A very fun week and surprisingly I think I preferred Universal Studios over Disney... the rides were better and Disneyworld is just so big that I think it loses some of it's magic.
Thursday 11th December
Headed further north to Savannah, Georgia today. I am staying at an Airbnb place here and decided to stay for 5 nights. I am finally on the mend a little from my cold but after being sick and hitting my 7th month of travel, I want to take things a bit slower, plus Savannah is meant to be beautiful. I'm really glad I did too because I am staying with a cool couple, Andy and Parv. Not only did Andy pick me up from the bus station, they invited me along to a local event they were going to this evening (basically a birthday party for a local Italian restaurant mixed with an end of year/Christmas party for all of the tourist organisations in Savannah).
Friday 12th December
I spent today exploring Savannah on their local trolley hop on/hop off tour. It was pretty good and they pointed out all the squares, historic buildings and sites etc. I saw the location of the Forest Gump chair/bus stop too haha it really is a beautiful city. I visited the little history museum in the old railroad building and then checked out River St before going to The Pirates' House for a late lunch. I was basically the only person there and the bar tender was lovely and very animated so we had a great chat. She has never gone anywhere further than one state over so she loved hearing about my trip and Australia.
Andy and Parv had a game night with a couple of friends (Josh & Renee) planned tonight and invited me along. It was such a fun night! There was some that I never thought anyone would get (but we did and usually in about 15 seconds). Only a couple really stumped is... I wouldn't have guessed it but the hardest one was mosaic! Haha
Saturday 13th December
Josh works at one of the main hotels in Savannah that is right on the river and he was working this morning so invited us for breakfast which was lovely. Then I joined Andy and Parv with their neighbours to the local farmers markets and then a drink on their front porch! I am loving doing 'normal' everyday things with friends (even if their not necessarily mine hehe).
While we were there another of their neighbours gave us some tickets to the Holiday Homes tour. I had looked at this but decide not to do it but basically some owners of the beautiful historic homes open them up for an afternoon each Christmas for people to tour. We had 2 tickets with a few of the homes not used, so Andy, Parv & I went and saw them (they graciously let me see all 3 that were available). They are absolutely beautiful homes and all decorated very differently (one was very traditional and owned by an arts dealer so had enough art and sculptures to sink a battle ship while another is owned by an interior designer so is very modern).
Sunday 14th December
This morning Andy, Parv & Homer (their dog) took me out to Tybee Island which is the beach area of Savannah. It was a nice little area and again reminded me of home a little. After a stop for a drink we headed back to the city for Sunday afternoon football at Josh & Renee's place again. It has been so nice to have a fun, relaxed weekend; as amazing as travelling is, after so long it is a novelty to do everyday things.
Monday 15th December
My last day in Savannah I still needed to actually see the city properly so I took a bike out and explored. I visited some of the squares, walked through the shopping streets and had some eggnog ice cream from Leopold's (a famous ice cream parlour). I looked around the cemetery (not the big one in the tourist books but the one in the actual city) and saw the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist which was just beautiful inside. Before I went home I rode around Forsyth Park (near where I'm staying). It is a lovely big park surround by some gorgeous homes.
Tuesday 16th December
An early start today for my bus to Charleston but it was a nice short ride so I was able to explore most of the city this afternoon. I'm staying at an Airbnb place again but it's a bit further out from the main city area. I can't say the suburbs are the best, most of the houses are nice but there's a lot that haven't been cared for... a bit of a weird mix. There is a nice cafe a few blocks from where I'm staying though so after some brunch I made my way into the city. I found the visitor centre which is well done and figured out the free tourist trolleys, so was able to get the lay of the land. The main area of the city surrounds King St which is a nice shopping area. I went out and saw the waterfront which is actually really lovely and the weather was so nice and actually warm. That changed very quickly though and all of a sudden it was overcast and cool so I did some window shopping, through the City Markets and then up King St. I took the trolley out to the Fort Sumter National Monument but it was getting late (aka dark) so after a quick look around I headed back into the city. After an early dinner I headed 'home' (not sure the area out whet I'm staying is one to wander around alone at night).
Wednesday 17th December
I ended up seeing most of the city yesterday but didn't get down to the 'Battery' (the end of the peninsula), so I headed down there this morning. This end of the city is filled with the old mansions that this area is known for. They are beautiful and very impressive. On the waterfront there's a lovely big green park filled with old oak trees. This end of King St is also filled with high end antique and jewellery stores (there is a lot of money in a very small area here). I went back out to the Fort Sumter National Monument but had missed the ferry out to the actual fort so just had a look around the little museum and again headed back into the main city area. It is a lot cooler today so I headed back early. I'm staying a bit too far out here so just made the most of the comfort of a home and went to the local pub for some dinner and had an early night.
Thursday 18th December
A relaxed start to this morning and then to the airport for my flight to Washington DC. I arrived at my hostel and it has a really fun vibe to it, a very social atmosphere which is nice (lots of Australians haha). They also have events every night and tonight is a night walking tour so I joined that and saw a little of the city. Unfortunately the Capitol building is completely covered in scaffolding at the moment but at night the lights glow through so it still looks quite nice. We stopped at a little pizza place for a drink before heading back to the hostel.
Friday 19th December
A massive day today! So many monuments and museums to see in this city. I stated early and walked around the Capitol again and the supreme court building. I have definitely gone north, it is freezing here! I defrosted for a while in the Botanic Gardens which is small but cool. Then I went to my first Smithsonian, the Museum of Air and Space. I got there just as their 'highlights' tour was starting so I joined that which was a good way to get through everything. They have so many awesome original artifacts like the Wright Brothers' first plane, the planes that did basically all of the world firsts, Amelia Earhart's plane and then all of the American space shuttles (some of course replicas) etc! They also had a planetarium so I saw one of those shows and bought some freeze-dried ice cream.
The National Mall (the long grassed area where all the monuments and museums are) is under renovation as well which is disappointing but I've been lucky with that stuff on my trip so not too bad. I spent the afternoon seeing all the monuments; it was a long, cold afternoon but so glad I did it, everything is definitely worth seeing. I started with the Washington monument, followed by the WWII monument & pool, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam & Korean War Memorials, FDR (Franklin Roosevelt) and Thomas Jefferson monuments.
As it got dark (and even colder) I was jut feet about to head back to the hostel when I noticed the glow of a Christmas tree in a large grassed area. When I went to check it out, I found not only 75 little trees (as well as the big one) but also the White House! Soon after I got there, a small crowd started forming and everyone was pushed back to a fence line so I stayed to check out what was going on. In the end it turned out that Barack Obama was being picked up by the helicopter version of Air Force One (whatever that is called). Not all that exciting but kind of cool to say that I've seen. l walked back through the city and had dinner at a place l was recommended in China Town before heading back to my hostel.
Saturday 20th December
This morning l went down to check out the White House properly and went to the visitor centre (which is kind of like a small museum). I found at that to do a tour of the White House you have to have an American resident apply on your behalf 2-6 months in advance! Crazy, although I was honestly surprised that they did tours at aII. So instead of that I went to the Museum of American History (the best exhibition was on their wars: Independence, Civil, WWI, WWII, Vitaam, Korean and 'Terrorism'). l found that there was Christmas markets on so l visited them (not fantastic but l did find some nice earrings).
A girl (Ashley) I met on my birthday in Munich lives here so I contacted her and funnily with tomorrow is her birthday! She invited me along to her celebrations tonight so I joined her friends for some drinks and to a club with a special event (a Stevie Wonder DJ set - random but very good).
Sunday 21st December
When I had the horrible cough in Miami I had pulled a muscle in my back and after a couple of days walking so much around Washington it had flared up and is quite painful. So I took it a little easier today but still had things I wanted to see. I went to the local markets (a lot more here than the Christmas ones but nothing too exciting) and then to the Museum of Natural History. A good museum but all stuff I have seen before.
This evening I made my way to the Kennedy Centre after finding out they have a free Christmas performance on tonight. A beautiful building, I kind of wished I booked to see a proper show but enjoyed the free one anyway. I got back to the hostel in time for craft night where we made paper snowflakes (haha most random hostel event ever but ended up being quite fun with a big group joining in).
Monday 22nd December
Off to Philadelphia today. I woke up and thought my back was a little better but then bent funny while packing and am now in real pain. Damn it! America really hates me, I really don't want to go to yet another doctor!
My hotel here is cool though, I'm in a massive suite (even though it's the cheapest place I found) and they have free evening drinks and nibbles! I enjoyed them and then went out to find dinner and a heat pack for my back (so thrilling!)
Tuesday 23rd December
I only have one day in Philly but it is a nice city, I could definitely spend more time exploring it properly. The only thing I really know about the city is that the Liberty Bell is here so I went to see that and then checked out the Macy's Christmas display for a few minutes (it was a light show narrated by Julie Andrews!). Then I enjoyed some much need pampering with a mani/pedi and haircut.
There are some great Christmas markets just near my hotel (in the LOVE park) that actually sell Christmas related things (first I've found which had really surprised me). After spending some time there, I went back for my hotel evening drinks again and then got my first Philly Cheese Steak! It actually was very nice.
Off to New York tomorrow for Christmas and 2 weeks in one city! Can't wait!
