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!

London... again

Tuesday 28th October
A very early start this morning to fly back to London one last time. Had a pretty good flight (4hrs meant entertainment!). Through the British questioning again and I made it into the city. Didn't realise it was school holidays though, my god it is busy! I met up with Jus & Dom for a late lunch and made my way to Abbey & Jonathan's new place in Balham to meet them. They were actually moving in today so after dinner with Abs, we all got settled in their unit.

Christmas had arrived while I've been in Turkey, with decorations staying to go up everywhere. Have to say that I am excited for Christmas this year, not having to fall with any of the usual stresses that working in retail brings!

Wednesday 29th October
Abs took the day of work today so we started with brunch at their new local cafe. We had tickets to the matinee of Book of Mormon which was great. Definitely what they warn (inappropriate and offensive) but it's done in such a light hearted way that it is hilarious. Couldn't believe it, we had had mocktails at TGI Fridays before heading to the theatre and who should we see waiting for tickets bit Susan from my Turkish tour! Who said Loddon was a big city?

After the show we did a little bit of shopping (I need to start picking up warmer clothes!) and met Jonathan for dinner.

Thursday 30th October
The only plans I've made for this trip toLondon is to try and catch up Ruth all the people I've met over the last 5 months who are living here. I'm not got to manage to see everyone but today I caught up with Bethany (from my Scotland tour) for lunch and some shopping (woohoo got a big winner jacket so I won't freeze when I get to America). Then I met Kirsten (from my Baltics/Eastern Europe tour) for coffee. And finished the day with dinner with Abs & Jonathan. I quite like the south of London, there is so much around, I didn't even have to go into the actual city today at all.

Friday 31st October
Happy Halloween! While there is a few things around for it, I thought that it would be a bigger deal here, especially seeing is getting so big at home now. Had another day of catch ups with a late brunch with Ashey (Croatia tour) and drinks/dinner with Barbara in the evening. In between I went to see London Tower now that the WWI poppy memorial is finished. There were soooooo many people though so could barely see it but it is very impressive what they've done. Then I just killed done time in the city and finally at least started my planning for America (even if it was just 2 nights accommodation so I have somewhere to go when I arrive).

Saturday 1st November
It is Abbey's birthday today so we got up and went for breakfast and then headed into the city to do something. Unfortunately we didn't organise anything but we had a good day around the city and ended up going on the Emirates Airline (a gondola across the Thames) and had afternoon tea at Attendant (a little cafe that is in an old public toilet that I went to with Bethany last time I was here). In the evening we met Abbey's sister and partner for her birthday dinner in the city.

Sunday 2nd November
Can't believe I'm actually going to America today, it was always so far away - the end of my trip - and now it's here! Sad to be leaving the normal/social aspect of London now that I know so many people here but ready for the last leg of my trip. It's a very long day of traveling though, have to leave 5hrs before my actual flight time, then 2 hrs to Zurich before a 9hr flight to New York (at least it's only a quick lay over in Switzerland).