New York

Wednesday 24th December
Thankfully my back seems to be getting better slowly so hopefully it won't slow me down in New York. I caught the bus to New York in time to celebrate Christmas. Once I arrived and checked into my hotel I went out and explored the Times Square & Rockefeller Centre areas. It's very wet today but that is keeping the warmth in so definitely no chance of a white Christmas. The city is beautiful though with lots of Christmas decorations. I went inside St Patrick's Cathedral which is under construction but still very busy being Christmas Eve. The Saks Fifth Avenue Christmas windows are cool, New York-ifying classic fairytales. And of course I saw the famous Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree!

With Christmas in full swing at home, I spend the evening skyping with the family.

Thursday 25th December
Merry Christmas!
The massive time difference here is weird, as I get up to start my Christmas day, it is over at home with everyone heading to bed. So, I got up and went for another walk around. Everything I read about New York at Christmas was that the city is super quiet today and to enjoy it. I didn't get out until late morning but it's not as quiet as I was imagining. Still I was able to see Times Square and Rockefeller Centre in the daylight and then walked up to Central Park and saw the ice skating. I ended up getting a ticket to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular staring the Rockettes (thought that was a great traditional New York way to spend the afternoon). It was a great show, very well done! Afterwards I headed back to my hotel to enjoy a traditional Christmas lazy afternoon with a feast of yummy cheese, prosciutto, sundried tomatoes, crackers and ice cream :)

Friday 26th December
After moving to our new hotel for when Emily arrives this afternoon, I went to the cinema to see Into The Woods and then had a slice of pizza (starting the traditional New York eating). Then I chilled out at the hotel until Em arrived. Yay, so exciting to have a friend!

Saturday 27th December
I took Em out to see Times Square and Rockefeller Centre and we also found Bryant Park which has Christmas markets set up around an ice skating rink. We spent the afternoon walking around, doing some shopping and found Grand Central Station. After walking back through Times Square in the evening I now realise that it WAS quiet on Christmas day! Wow it is sooo busy!

Sunday 28th December
This morning we headed down to Washington Park and then wandered around the Soho/NYU/NoHo/Little Italy/Chinatown areas. Lunch was at the famous Katz's for a pastrami sandwich. For dessert we found Magnolia Bakery and took some delicious cheesecakes home :)

Monday 29th December
The new Annie movie is being advertised so much and seeing it's set in New York we thought it would be fun to see it here. After the movie we joined the hundreds of other people in line for cheap theatre tickets. While we were eating at Applebees (got to try these places), Jen (from my tour in Scotland who's also here for New Years) came to say hi. She hadn't really seen much of the city yet so Em & I took her to see Rockefeller Centre (I feel like a tour guide in that area now). We fought the crowds in M&M World before saying goodbye to Jen so we could get to our musical 'If/Then'. A fantastic, modern show staring Idina Menzel who is phenomenal! So glad we saw it.

Tuesday 30th December
Seeing there is so much to do in New York we decided to get the New York Pass - $200 for 7 days entry into over 80 attractions including pretty much all the main sites. Today we kicked off with the Top of the Rock for great views of the city, then visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). I was very impressed with MoMA, there was a lot of cool, famous paintings including Starry Night! After lunch we went to Central Park and were surprised by about 30 seconds of a random snow shower while we were watching the ice skating! Very exciting seeing it's not looking good for much, if any, snow while we're here. After putting our names on the 3-4hr wait list at Serendipity 3(!!!) we made our way to the Upper West Side to go to the Museum of Natural History. We realised we didn't have enough time before they closed though so instead went to the New York Historical Society. They had a good film about the history of New York City and a great photography exhibit. By the time we made it back and into Serendipity it was dinner time so we ate and enjoyed their famous frozen hot chocolate for dessert.

Wednesday 31st December
This morning we did a Sightseeing Cruise from the Hudson River, down around the peninsula and famous New York skyline, under the Brooklyn and Manhatten bridges and back via the Statue of Liberty. Although it was absolutely freezing on the water we were lucky with a really beautiful, clear day. We got off in the financial district to visit the 9/11 Memorial. The area looks a lot different to when I was here with Bridge, the memorials have been well done. On our way back to the hotel we saw Madison Square Park and the Flatiron building.

For New Years, we met a friend of Alix's, Damien, who's also travelling in New York, for a nice dinner in the Upper West Side. We were lucky to be able to stay at the restaurant well after our booking so we didn't have to face the cold until we had to. To ring in the New Year we headed into Central Park to watch the fireworks which were very good but relatively small for New York City (& watched the crazy people start a fun run at midnight). Happy New Year!

Thursday 1st January
Today we went to Madame Tussauds and then joined a TV and movie sites walking tour through Central Park (great tour). For lunch we went to the famous Gray's Papaya for hot dogs (actually quite good, much better than the street vendors). Then we ventured into the American Museum of Natural History. Great big museum but we were both absolutely exhausted by the time they closed so we found a place for dinner (dim sum) and headed back to the hotel.

Friday 2nd January
Em went to the Statue of Liberty this morning so I had a bit of a sleep in (didn't really need to go again). Instead I went to the Discovery Museum where they had an exhibition called Body Worlds. It was very interesting, basically the had all these human bodies that had been donated after death and there were preserved in different ways to show off either muscles, skeleton, blood vessel or organs etc. Afterwards I met Jen at Shake Shack (a very popular burger and shake place) for lunch and then met back up with Em. In the evening we joined a walking tour of Broadway which was really interesting. We didn't get to go into any theatres but walked around and learnt some history about them and for the shows that have played there. I learnt that the actual definition of 'Broadway' (vs 'off Broadway') is that the theatre seats at least 500 people.

After the tour we met Jen again for dinner in Hell's Kitchen at a Mexican place before she heads back to London tomorrow. Em and I then went to the Empire State Building to get a view of New York at night.

Saturday 3rd January
This morning we did a walking tour of the Brooklyn Bridge & DUMBO area (Down Under the Manhatten Bridge Overpass). It is finally snowing today! So very cold but also very exciting :) After the tour we had lunch at Juliana's in Brooklyn (the original creator of Grimaldis) pizza which is the really famous place right next door. Then we warmed up with some hot chocolate before heading back to Manhatten. Em was catching up with a friend that's in town so I headed to the 9/11 Tribute Centre & memorial (which she had done after the Statue of Liberty). The tribute centre is a small exhibition but very moving with lots of personal stories from the day. I checked out the memorial again at night (and in the rain).

Sunday 4th January
Another tour this morning, this one of the Highline which is the old raised railroad that runs above the city that they have converted into a cool garden and public area. It is nice and would be lovely to see in the summer. The tour also showed us the Chelsea Markets and meatpacking district which has been converted into a really nice area. In the afternoon we went up to Lincoln Centre to do a tour of some of the theatres. We were able to go into the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera House, and New York City Ballet. Then it was back to Central Park, going back to the Mall and the central area and seeing 'the castle'.

This evening we went out to Attaboy, a speakeasy that Pam had told me about in Turkey. It was a nice little place that definitely plays the part, you would NEVER find it if you didn't know where you were going. And they actually know their product, making individual cocktails for you dependant on your tastes.

Monday 5th January
Our last day of our New York pass, it was time to do the big galleries... the MET and Guggenheim. The MET once again was enormous and you could spend days in there without seeing everything. They had a cool little temporary exhibit of mourning clothes from the 19th century. The Guggenheim was not really my taste in art (very modern) but the building is cool and they did have a few more traditional exhibitions. One of which included a few pieces by Picasso and my mind was blown when I found out that he only died in the 1970s! Crazy, I definitely did not realise that he was alive so recently!

Tuesday 6th January
Tash and her friend Karen arrived last night so we planned to meet up with them this morning AND it is actually properly snowing today! So we met them and all went to Central Park to go ice skating. We picked a great day as the millions of people that were here over Christmas have gone back to school and work, and it was fun to actually skate in the falling snow. Em and I had booked to do a tour of the UN this afternoon so before we went to that, we ran up to the Mall in Central Park to get the traditional view (and of course photos) of it all snow covered! The tour of the UN was interesting and we got to go into the actual Security Council meeting room (and saw the sniffer dogs doing a check before they ushered us out as there was a meeting about to start).

Our last couple of nights are our big Broadway shows, tonight we saw The Lion King! I have been waiting to see it for so many years so I was very excited to finally see it. It was amazing and so well done but I think my expectations were a bit too high. Still, a great show and awesome to see it on Broadway.

Wednesday 7th January
We went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum today (it opened less than a year ago). There was a lot of information there, both about the history of the actual World Trade Centre and of course 9/11. Obviously a very sombre museum but interesting that they have built it in the footprints of the buildings, so you are actually underneath the memorial and can see some of the original foundations etc. After quite a few hours there we wandered down to Wall St and saw the famous bull statue. We realised we hadn't actually been to Macy's yet, so headed there for a little before getting ready to meet Tash and Karen. After a nice dinner it was time to see Aladdin! Another fantastic show, they did a great job of all the big scenes including the magic carpet ride!

Thursday 8th January
The last 2 weeks have gone by sooo quickly! Em is headed home today and it's time for me to go up to Canada. I've decided to stay 1 more night in New York but am moving hotels so we both had a big morning of packing. After I said goodbye to Em, I went shopping to get a few more layers for Canada (it is currently -20 degrees there!) In the evening I met up with Tash & Karen one last time for a drink at my hotel before they went to their show for the night.

North America part 2 (East Coast)

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!

Deep South and Delta Blues (Grand American Adventures tour)

Tuesday 18th November
An early start this morning to meet my tour. As expected it is a small tour, just me and 2 older couples from England and of course our tour guide. Should be a good tour though and it is a 'premium' tour so I am looking forward to some nice hotels! After the usual introductions etc it was on the road bound for Nashville. Our first stop was at the Jack Daniels distillery ironically enough located in a 'dry' county, so no taste tests but it is a very picturesque area and every drop of Jack Daniels is produced right there. The little town that it is next to, Lynchburg, is very cute too and is where Moon Pies are from (kind of like a Wagon Wheel but no jam).

We arrived in Nashville and got checked into our VERY nice hotel and then headed out to 'Music Row' to see the Honky Tonks before an early dinner at the Wildhorse Saloon (my first taste of actual southern fried chicken! haha). The place is known for doing line dancing and has some big acts play (none tonight though). Just as we finished dinner another tour guide offered us free tickets to the Grand Old Opry! They had extra that they didn't want to go to waste and we didn't have tickets because it was sold out as they were inducting a new band tonight! So we went along and got to see the show and 'Little Big Town' inducted. Very cool.

Wednesday 19th November
A free day in Nashville to improve my music knowledge. l started at the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum and then went to the Johnny Cash Museum. The Hall of Fame was interesting and the Johnny Cash museum was small but very good and at least I knew his music a bit more (thanks Hollywood). Apparently Nashville is home to a sweet/candy bar called a 'Goo Goo' so I had to try one of those... very sweet! Basically marshmallow, caramel, peanuts and chocolate.

I'm coming down with another cold (damn it) so had a quiet night tonight.

Thursday 20th November
Back on the road today, our first stop at the Shiloh Civil War Military park. It was very interesting to learn about the Civil War and see some of the battle fields. Just up the river is a place aptly called the Catfish Hotel (famous for serving catfish from the river) where we stopped for lunch.

We arrived in Memphis, staying at the Peabody Hotel, which is famous for the ducks that live in the hotel, spending their days in the hotel lobby fountain and their nights in the penthouse! As well as the ducks, it is a beautiful hotel. After we were settled, we headed down to Beale St to have a look around and dinner at BB Kings.

Friday 21st November
A lot to see in Memphis so it was up and straight to the Rock and Soul Museum. This is more the music l know, or have at least heard of, so a little more interesting for me. I also visited Sun Studios which was very cool, especially the actual recording studio where Elvis, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded! In the afternoon the group all met up to go out to Graceland. We saw Elvis' cars and planes (wow!), checked out the museum and then went over to the actual mansion. What a house! They have done well in both preserving it and setting it up for tourists. They had even decorated some of the rooms for Christmas which was really beautiful. We actually came this afternoon specifically because they were lighting the Christmas lights so we watched that - the lights were turned on by John Stamos (aka Uncle Jesse from Full House) and of course an Elvis themed Santa arrived for the fun. On our way back to the city we stopped at a traditional BBQ place for dinner.

Saturday 22nd November
This morning we drove out to Tupelo (Elvis' birthplace). It really is amazing to see how he started life, l don't think you could get two further extremes in life. This afternoon we made our way to Clarksdale and visited the Delta Blues Museum before going to our hotel for the night, actually a house from before the Civil War (known as it was specifically not built by slaves!). We actually stayed out in the separate guesthouses but still cool to stay there. This evening we were surprised with a cool old limo to take us out to Ground Zero (a famous local bar/venue part owned by Morgan Freeman). We watched a very interesting, animated local band (the lead an extremely large guy called 'Big Boy' who played the harmonica!).

Sunday 23rd November
An early start today to drive to Natchez to be there in time for church! We joined in on a Gospel Church service at the Pilgrim Baptist Church. It was most definitely an experience - the gospel singing was great (the preaching was a bit intense though). After church we went into town and had some tamales for lunch. In the afternoon we had free time to check out the William Johnson House (museum), he was a 'free man of colour' who kept a journal about his life in those times, one of the only accounts from that perspective (and interestingly owned slaves after being born into slavery himself). Very interesting to learn more about that time. Then l walked around town and saw a few of the old southern mansions and homes, and walked along the Mississippi River front at sunset.

Monday 24th November
Before leaving Natchez we did a tour of the Longwood Mansion. It is the largest Octagonal house (in the US?) but was never finished due to the Civil War. Only the basement level was ever completed but it was occupied by the family for generations. The other 4-5 levels (!) are literally just a sheIl, even including what was meant to be the main entrance. Still, they have kept the original furnishings in the basement level so very impressive to see. After a quick brunch at a cool little place in town, it was off to Lafayette. As soon as we arrived we met our Cajun food tour. We spent the afternoon going to 6 local restaurants to taste in best in Cajun cooking. l tried everything from alligator to po-boys (sandwhich/sub) to deep fried Oreos but my favourite thing was the Bon Temps roll (kind of like a sausage, spinach and cheese spring roll).

That night we went out to a Cajun (Zydeco) music hall and l tried some sweet potato pecan pie (sooo sweet!)

Tuesday 25th November
We are off to New Orleans today but before we get to the city we did a swamp tour. We didn't see any alligators (too cold now) but we did catch some birds and got to see the swamp and river, the vegetation is so diverse in such a small area. One more step before we got to New Orleans was at the Piggly Wiggly! haha I didn't realize though that it was the very first supermarket, so there's actually some history to go with the novelty.

After settling in to our New Orleans hotel, we set out to see the city. We are staying right next to the 'French Quarter', a fantastic location to be able to just walk everywhere. We were warned that it's not a safe city though, so might keep that walking to during the day. We went down to the riverfront (yep the Mississippi again) and then through and around the French Quarter. After dinner at the Gumbo Shop (gumbo is pretty nice) we tried our luck at getting into Preservation Hall. It was originally an art gallery where they brought in musicians to play in the background but at some point they took over and it's now a very popular venue where they play local New Orleans jazz music 3 times a night. It's such a small little place though so you have to wait in line and see how many people they can squeeze in standing up. We were very lucky and JUST made it in. lt was a great set, a true taste of New Orleans jazz.

Wednesday 26th November
A day to explore the city properly, in the day light. After breakfast I headed out and wandered through the French Quarter to the French Markets. l had to check out the Voodoo museum seeing it's so big here. A very small museum but lots of information and interesting, not sure I really 'get' it though. One of many things New Orleans is famous for is pralines, so of course l had to try one... yummy! Kind of more like fudge but very good. After walking around some more (it's a nice city to just do that) I stopped at Cafe Du Monde to try their (again famous) beignets (kind of like a doughnut covered in icing sugar)... l am glad I don't have diabetes here! l wanted to see the above ground cemeteries New Orleans is known for (seriously, there is a lot to see/do here) so l found the one nearby. They had/have to bury people in above ground tombs here because it is so low lying that the regular flooding would mean bodies floating down the streets if buried 'normally'.

Tonight we boarded a steam boat river cruise down the Mississippi. Yet another 'must do' here, it was a nice night.

Thursday 27th November
Happy Thanksgiving! To celebrate we headed out of town to the oldest and largest plantation mansion in the area, the Nottoway Plantation. After a walk around the grounds, we had an enormous buffet lunch complete with all the traditional Thanksgiving food (Turkey, corn, mashed potato and 'yams' aka sweet potato). It was delicious and fun to celebrate a different holiday. Once we got back to the city we went out and watched the Thanksgiving parade (l also saw some of the New York parade on tv). After a rest (Thanksgiving tradition haha) we met up again and headed out to a club called the Howlin' Wolf (that used to be a theatre) for a free comedy show and a gig by a band called Rebirth Brass Band.

Friday 28th November
We are off to Alabama today. First we stopped in a little town called Meridian (Mississippi) for lunch at the oldest restaurant in the state, Weidmann's. We continued driving to Alabama and arrived in Birmingham at our supposedly haunted hotel (I can't confirm this thankfully). This is a nice but very quiet city, so we all headed out to a (very nice) diner for dinner before having an early night.

Saturday 29th November
Our last day of tour today. We aren't getting on the road until this afternoon so this morning I headed to the Civil Rights Institute. A very well done museum, all about segregation and the fight for civil rights in America - very interesting! And just across the road from the church where 4 girls were killed (and many injured) in a bombing by the Ku Klux Klan in the 60s, so sad!

Before our final trip back to Atlanta we stopped at Cracker Barrel (a southern chain, actually originally a store but now have a restaurant attached) for lunch. We had heard advertising for it at the Grand Ole Opy at the start of tour so Anita thought it was an appropriate end.

Once we arrived in Atlanta we said our goodbyes and I headed to my hotel. That is it for tours for my trip so it's solo sailing until Christmas.

North America part 1 (North Eastern States)

Monday 3rd November
Woke up feeling surprisingly ok after the flight, because of the time difference I was still able to get almost a full nights sleep. I need to do some serious travel planning but I am staying just a couple of blocks away from Central Park so I spent the morning walking through just the North West corner enjoying the Autumn colours and beautiful weather! I found a little pub (still with their Halloween decorations up - another novelty, although I suspect next year at home will be just as big) and was quickly reminded of American serving sizes!

I spent the afternoon doing a bit of travel planning (trying to find tours in the States but not many run during Winter) and watching a little tv! A perk of being here is that the US tv catch up websites aren't blocked!

Tuesday 4th November
I only booked 2 nights accommodation in New York as I'll be spending time here over Christmas/New Years. So today I took a bus up to Boston, Massachusetts. The only hostel available is a fair way out of town but easy enough to find. Of course it was dark by the time I arrived though (it's pretty much dark at 5pm here now), so I just had dinner at a little local Mexican place (there isn't much around but there is a Mexican restaurant every few blocks if not more in the US).

Wednesday 5th November
Out to explore Boston city today. They have their 'Freedom Trail' clearly marked throughout the city that takes you to most of the historical buildings and sites here. Very helpful for tourists and most sites have enough written information there that you really can do it without a tour guide. So I spent the day following that and seeing everything from the site of 'the Boston massacre', the old burying grounds where some of the big players in American history are buried, and Faneuil Hall (there is more but the main building is a big food hall). I also visited Boston Common, America's oldest public garden, which is really beautiful (I'm glad I made it here for the Autumn colours). Along the trail is the 'North End' or "Little Italy", full of Italian restaurants, bakeries and deli's, and finally it takes you over the Charles River and up to Bunker Hill and the monument. Bunker Hill is actually a lovely little area with great views back over Boston (and I was even treated to a few more late Halloween decorations still out). With it dark by 5pm, dinner is getting earlier and earlier but after killing a little time I made my way back to the North End for some yummy Italian for dinner.

Thursday 6th November
Off to Harvard this morning! I took the train out to Cambridge in the rain and had a look around the town before taking a tour of the university. It really is a lovely place and so much history to inspire their students. All students there have to take a subject in all faculties before they pick their major (or constitution as they call it) which I think that's a great idea.

I wanted to do some sort of tour of Boston and haven't really seen it at night so found a night ghost walking tour. It was absolutely pouring rain but I'm glad I did it as it was a great tour. More historical than the normal tacky ghost tour, the ghost stories also told us about some history of Boston that you wouldn't otherwise hear.

Friday 7th November
Took a day trip out to Salem today, as it's only a quick train ride out of Boston. The city is a ghost town after Halloween but it is a really lovely little town and I'm liking spending time in the New England 'fall' (even if the temperature has dropped dramatically today... apparently a storm in Alaska is bringing arctic weather right through Canada and most of the US over the next week). The city of Salem is funny, obviously it is famous for the witch hunt/trials and they certainly embrace it (there are endless witch related shops, shops with names like 'Salem Screamery' the local ice cream shop, and psychics galore; however the local National Park Rangers (who run the visitor information and Maritime History area) really try to pull away from it and try to steer people more to their Maritime history. Understandable considering the witch trials lasted for 9 months but their Maritime history is some of the oldest in the country. Having said that, they still play a movie/documentary about the witch trials at the visitor centre which I watched to refresh my memory of it all. After lunch I visited the Maritime historical site and had a tour through the 'Friendship of Salem', a replica of one of the ships from their strong trading days when they were still a colony of Britain. We also went through Customs House from back then and saw some items like the list of taxes they charged on incoming produce and the old silver dollars that they literally cut in half and into pieces to get a lower value.

After a walk back through town and a visit to the Witch Trial Memorial, I took the train back to Boston to try some of the famous Boston cream pie before I leave tomorrow.

Saturday 8th November
Farewelling Boston today, a really nice city but my experience dampened slightly by some terrible hostel roommates and not really being in the right travel head space after being on tours and with friends for so long. Starting to get back into it though and used my bus trip to Albany (actually the New York state capital) to do some research for my time in the States.

That bit of travel excitement came to an ubrupt end though when I completely stacked it on my way from the bus stop to my Airbnb place. Absolutely bit the dust, smashing my tablet screen and my head on the sidewalk. Thankfully it wasn't worse as there was absolutely no one around. After checking out the enormous egg that developed instantly and a few tears (luckily it's not deep enough for a true head jury amount of blood), I picked myself up off the ground (not that easy strapped into backpacks! Haha) and made it to my place for the night. Not staying in the best area but the guys were very nice and concerned about me, offering what help they could. Ironically enough, my host owns a computer repair shop, unfortunately though he didn't have the part to fix mine.

That welcome put an end to my plans to check out the city of Albany so it was a quite night in.

Sunday 9th November
Woke up this morning to some lovely swelling and the start of a black eye (possibly 2). l left my place early so I could at least see a little of Albany but being Sunday the city is a ghost town. After wandering around feeling lost l found a bagel shop and Starbucks and treated myself to a yummy brunch. Then it was on the bus to Buffalo.

I met up with Andy, who I'm staying with, when I arrived and he took me to a local bar for some traditional buffalo wings! Then we went to see some of his friends play an amateur ice hockey game.

Monday 10th November
My face has swollen up impressively, l have 2 very swollen, black eyes (even the bridge of my nose has come up!) l still haven't really had a headache though which is really weird. A big day today though so it was on with a bandaid and sunglasses and off to see Niagara Falls! The river is extremely impressive and the first view you get is the 'American Falls', which is actually the small part of the falls! On the viewing platform you can see the 'horseshoe falls', the main part as well and can see why these falls are so impressive... just so much water! And the famous mist rising from the base. We crossed over to Canada, my last country on my trip! The views are even better from the Canadian side, you can basically walk right up to the very edge of the falls. We got treated to great weather and a nice double rainbow and then walked up into Clifton Hill which they've built up into kind of a mix between a carnival and Vegas!

After heading back over to the USA we hiked down to a cool spot down the river after the falls where the water is so powerful has created a natural whirlpool in a curve of the river!

Tonight a local bar was having their 6th birthday celebrations which meant an open bar and free food! We had a good night with a friend of Andy's and saw the nightlife of Buffalo.

Tuesday 11th November
Today is Memorial Day here is the US (so quite similar to our Remembrance Day appropriately) so Andy showed me the enormous Buffalo cemetery where they were having a ceremony, and they have a large area dedicated to military personnel (each gave marked with an American flag). The cemetery is the biggest I've ever seen and is a beautiful area. Next we went to the water front (of Lake Erie) and to the war memorial area, along with a ship from WWII and airforce planes.

We had lunch from a local Taco truck (the first in Buffalo and the one to really start the food truck popularity), which was so yummy! Then we went up to the City Hall observation deck for a great view over Buffalo. In the afternoon we went out to the outlets for a bit of shipping and a trip to Walmart!

Hockey is very big here so after dinner we went out to a new local bar to watch the game. Then it was onto my bus for an overnight trip to Chicago.

Wednesday 12th November
Eventually got to my hostel and had to wait to check in. Spent the afternoon doing some research and chilling out. Not feeling at the top of my game with my head injury, the swelling has finally gone down today but with that has come the headache.

I found a Lou Malnati's (famous for their traditional deep dish pizza) for dinner. Chicago is great for food, there are so many things/places I want to try while I'm here.

Thursday 13th November
Woke up to the first flurries of snow this morning! As if Chicago isn't cold enough, they are having a cold snap this week so I've hit the negative temperatures quickly.

Decided it was time to get my head checked out so I found a doctor and a couple of hours later I had an appointment at the hospital for a CT scan. I had some time first to get in some sightseeing so I had a good look around Millennium Park, saw the famous 'bean', some very bizarre statues and the 'all seasons' garden in which I failed to see the fall/winter component! I tried Chipotles for lunch (pretty good for a chain), and then walked up Michigan Ave. The city is really beautiful, they have even done the skyscrapers well! I can see why people say it's like a calm New York city, it has the same vibe to it but not quite the same. The water front along the river is really nice, with the impressive Wrigley and Tribune buildings. The Tribune building has stones/bricks/tiles etc from many other buildings, monuments and historical areas from all around the world, embedded into the external front of the building. Very cool! I continued up the 'Magnificent Mile' (shopping area) and found the hospital. I spent longer filling in forms than I was actually getting anything done, and $1500 later I had the all clear (just soft tissue swelling and very bad bruising).
It is absolutely freezing today so I started to walk around the area further but gave up and headed back to the hostel.

I find out that Kate Voegele (from One Tree Hill fame) was performing in Chicago tonight so made it out to that. A small little venue but a great set, she is really great live!

Friday 14th November
l made my way down to Museum of Science and Industry this morning. I had read they have a big Christmas exhibition and I wasn't disappointed. They have about 50 trees set up around their main floor, each decorated traditionally from different countries around the world. After paying the entrance fee I had a look around the rest of the museum before l walked back towards the city along the coast of Lake Michigan.

As dusk fell it really started snowing, it is so pretty! I made my way out to Navy Pier which I was surprised to see basically deserted on a Friday night, even in the cold. There is a lot of construction going on in Chicago, the downside of travelling in 'off season'. I found some life inside though and had a traditional Chicago style hot dog for dinner. l chilled out at the hostel this evening and met some American guys who were quite interested in Australia (always entertaining).

Saturday 15th November
l visited the Lincoln Park Zoo today - even a free, inner-city zoo was almost deserted, it must be cold! Unfortunately a few animals were inside due to the weather and the Winter displays/animals aren't open yet but l still saw lots: giraffes, gorillas, a lion, tiger, alpacas, and even a beaver. A little frozen, I found a patisserie for a coffee and then did some shopping around the district/suburb.

Sunday 16th November
My last day in Chicago today, I wanted to spend some more time in the actual city and still need to get some boots (Converse don't quite cut it in the snow!). After I finished shopping I headed back to the hostel via Lucky's Sandwiches for a late lunch and the biggest sandwhich I think I've ever had.

I got a last minute ticket to see A Christmas Carol for tonight, they run an annual season. When I arrived they had a local choir singing Carols in the foyer, nice touch! The show was good, not my favourite but quite well done.

Monday 17th November
My first domestic flight of my trip, unfortunately with American security l still had to be at the airport 2hrs early though. Arrived in Atlanta and it is still freezing (apparently they don't usually have these kind of temperatures until February!). l had a little look around the downtown area near my hotel this evening and can't say I'm impressed. The only street l found with a few restaurants was basically closed down for a TV show filming (show is called Hindsight) so I kept walking around and only found a lot of 'undesirable' characters so ended up grabbing McDonalds just so I could get back to my hotel.

I am meeting my next (and last) tour early tomorrow morning to explore the south!