Today was supposed to be the $84 “Level 9” tour of the Houston and Johnson Space Centers. Unfortunately things went awry as soon as I arrived. They had, apparently, over subscribed the Level 9 tours, due to a computer malfunction. How very ironic. (Well it would be, if they understood irony here. That makes it even more ironic. You could almost cut the irony with a knife in fact).
The Level 9 tour, by the way, is limited to 12 people per tour, and there are 2 tours per day. They last all day. The tour consists of a guided visit through all the working areas of the facilities, the opportunity to lunch with the astronauts – and is not open to persons under the age of 14. And was my only reason for visiting Houston.
Due to the computer error, it meant that I could not go on the tour. So they refunded my $84, and also gave me a free entry into the rest of the facilities (a $24 value) – and boy am I glad it was free.
The Space Center experience (apart from the Level 9 tour) is designed solely for children – and I can understand why they do this, (most of the children that visited today will be adults when we next go to the moon) it’s a theme park really. (Plus they have to raise funds somewhere, as I'm quite sure the lefties in charge now can't see the point in space exploration when there's a perfectly good healthcare system to take over and ruin). Sure there was a little bus ride through the Johnson Space Center, where the real work goes on, but I could only watch from behind glass as the Level 9 people proceeded through the actual working facilities, guided by a few professional looking, um, professionals. Having been twice to the Space Center theme park that is Kennedy in Florida, I had no real desire to repeat the experience at the smaller venue in 100 degree heat in Houston. Incidentally, Kennedy makes a good visit adult or child. Houston, really - just for the children. (Unless you go Level 9). There were bouncy castles in the main exhibition hall. Cameron would have loved it! But its not really for the adults.
My face print on the glass, and the odd fart was the closest I got to find out about the new programme to the moon, and how the recession and the lefties were going to affect Nasa’s future…. But I did find out some very useful information though, Amy (sitting behind me on the tour bus who was from the local high school) was in love with Eric.
Anyone who knows me, understands how much I like this country, its people, and its culture. In fact, I should have been born here – I could be a foreign Ambassador. (In fact, I have thought of my perfect job – being in charge of getting American cars made better for European roads. The American companies are hell bent on trying to crack the UK market, and keep wondering why they fail so miserably at it – I could sort this out for them! I can fix it! Just send the Tahoe!!! Or maybe not... but I could fix that too!). Anyway, I blame my parents for having me in England. Its all their fault.
One of the great things about America is the differences between people – all of the different cultures that have come together to make the place what it is today; the most multi-cultural country on the planet. One thing that everyone here remembers, regardless of colour or creed, is that they are American – and that means more to them than anything; and it’s a good thing. Being proud of one’s country is a great thing.
British people could learn a lot from this.
Unfortunately, as I have travelled around, I have been getting the feeling that America is somehow losing some of her national pride, or, hmmm, just not as outgoing as she was before? Perhaps it’s the constant battering she receives from the idiotic Enviro-Euro-Commies, or the recession? Or maybe its just me… maybe she is as patriotic as before, and I’m just not noticing anymore… July 4th is this coming weekend, so hopefully I’ll get to see some good fireworks and patriotic celebrations. America has a lot to be very proud of, and I'll be celebrating it right along with them.
So I was listening to K I L T radio this morning (The Station That Plays the Most Country Music – and no, Rutter, Hootie and the Blowfish were not on. (But their lead singer was!) aaaggggghhhhh they are not Country!) – not sure why its KILT radio? Perhaps when you lift up the covers, all you see is a bunch of assholes? They sounded ok to me though. (The people, not the assholes). Pretty entertaining. In Texas, you have to listen to Country. It’s the law. That and really its your only choice on the radio, they simply don’t broadcast anything else...
Speaking of the law. The five-o are out in force in Texas for sure, they’re bloody everywhere. They aren’t wearing Stetsons though, as you would expect… how disappointing.
Speaking of bloody. I have just been for the most expensive hair cut I have ever had ($14!!!!!). That and my scalp is now in shreds on the floor. The warm feeling on my head and down my neck as the lady sliced the clippers back and forth burying the head deep into my scalp was the blood pouring from new wounds. Actually she was a lovely lady, of Spanish descent who was telling me about her regular French customer (lets call him Jack) who spoke fluent Spanish. Jack, apparently, worked for one of the local oil companies.
By the time she had finished, she had trimmed my eyebrows as they were so long (was saving those to fold over the ever growing forehead) and removed most of the skin from the neck with the obviously blunt rusty clippers. But it looks good at least. Nothing a few plasters and a tetanus shot won’t fix.
I don’t have a beard anymore either. In some vain and frankly rather pathetic attempt at looking my age, I have shaved it all off. That and with a little encouragement from a third party who will remain nameless Claire.
Not sure it has worked, although she apparently likes it… Grey is a colour though. And a distinguished one at that.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Belts, buckles, and sarcasm
Well this is the second attempt as the thunder here in Houston, just knocked out the r-ow-ters (Think Michael Jackson, Ouch! Without the ‘ch’.) Whatever they are. I’ll ask Jon. And caused my connection to Blogger to be reset and lose all I had typed – and I’d just finished. So here goes again:
Speaking of MJ, its still all over the news here. (Farrah Fawcett’s funeral will be held Tuesday, but that’s not real news, its only on the ticker at the bottom of the screen). It proves unequivocally though, and all the scientists agree, that Global Mourning does exist. I was quite happy to drive my car before this, but now I think I’ll have to get a smaller fuel efficient one… with a 4.6liter V8 instead of the 5.3…
Gosh I love this country! Driving here is just brill. I mean, you can see for miles down the roads here. Literally miles. The bridges are incredible. This morning, driving out of N’Awlins, I feared for my life crossing the Mississippi. The bridge was that old, that they were building a new $433,000,000 one right next to it, and driving in the piles right at the side of the old ones which were currently holding up the dual lane roadway… Unfortunately the two lanes of traffic going my direction had ground to a halt, right above the murky waters of the Mississippi. (How many times can I get Mississippi into this blog). The bridge had seen one too many hurricanes for its own liking, let along mine, and was groaning and allowing its once firmly supported roadways to flex and bounce like ribbons… There was no where to go either – couldn’t open either side door due to the proximity of the wall, and the other traffic… just had to grin and bear it.
Speaking of bridges heading out of Louisiana, I travelled along a bridge which must have been 30 miles long. Literally. There were no exits off that one either (but there were safety lanes), but if you had exited, you would have ended up in swamp. This one had the wow factor for its impressive length.
Headed into Texas, where the only thing bigger than the cars, are the burgers, hats, and belt buckles.
It seems like the Americans have the same problems us Europeans have with regards to roads with 3 lanes too. “Awww Hank, cant we just stick to the miiddle, these laynes aw faw too cunfusin’” “whaaaay huney I think we should do that” – I’m pretty sure that’s how the conversation goes over here, because that’s where they end up. Riiiiight in the middle. They do allow overtaking and undertaking here, but only in some States and its very confusing as to when it is acceptable and when it isn’t. Just don’t do it when the five-o are looking, I think is the general rule... D’uh Po-leese have themselves a variety of tactics, including pursuit cars with varying effectiveness – Dodge Charger; pretty effective, Chevy Suburban (same as a Tahoe but longer and weights even more) probably less so, you kind of notice when one of those is bearing down on you… and you don’t have to be going too fast either, or it wouldn’t be doing very much bearing…
One of the benefits of driving over there that I have found, is that I’m not tired. Doing 300+ miles in the U.K. and I’d be ready to eat someone’s head, then promptly fall asleep. Over here, I’m bright as a daisy. That could either be the Tahoe, or the roads, and I’m not sure which. I do love the Tahoe, it is The Best Ve-hicle in the world, and I do honestly think everyone should have one. It is brill! If you haven't driven a Tahoe, you simply haven't lived. (Well its not to much drive as encourage but that's the kind of honesty I like).
Speaking of speeding too, heading into Houston (still about 20 miles to go to downtown) the five-o were ready at a section of Interstate that went from 70mph to 60mph for no good reason. Oh yes were they ready. Swarming all over the traffic like flies around shi-is that the time? Better get on with the story. I slammed the old anchors on and performed and elk manoeuvre to avoid being noticed (not really, if the Tahoe even smelled an elk anywhere nearby, it would just roll onto its side shaking in fear at the mere thought of having to change lanes quickly – perhaps that’s another reason why people stay in the middle. American cars just aren’t built for steering).
Everything is bigger in Texas. If you English people thing America is big, then Texas, I guarantee – is bigger still. The gas – petrol – stations are bigger with more lanes, the roads get bigger with more lanes, the junctions between roads get bigger – even Sat Nav Bird sounded impressed, in her inimitable specifically chosen American accent “ooooh take me down the next exit right ooooh” – (ok, maybe that was just my imagination, but I swear it was what I heard). The roadways are built in such a way as to direct traffic in the most efficient way possible – to get people from place to place quickly (unlike Britain where the roads are built to cause as much congestion as possible, and if that’s not enough, the traffic lights are phased in such a way as to cause the maximum wait times and stress). Giant traffic lanes swoop in from the left and right, and run onto the main freeway as extra lanes, then they will have exits both from the left and right which swoop away to different other roads – its art work! Magnificent! They make Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham look positively straight and boring in comparison.
The main ring road around Houston is called the Beltway. It is very wide (6 lanes each way), and has a very long way to go round, like its namesake leather accessory item which circum-navigates the middle of the levi-wearing locals. Is there any wonder though, when you can buy a triple Whopper Meal (make it a Large) from Burger King right off the menu? Its not even special order!
Not that I’m saying all Americans are fat you understand. That would be slanderous, and plainly wrong. There are very many beautiful people here as well. I mean the kind of beautiful even Hollywood struggles to reproduce. Jessica Simpson beautiful. They make me feel quite uncomfortable in fact. The Jessica Simpsons seem to have partners that think they are better looking than David Hasselhoff thinks he is. And that’s a lot of thinking.
Of course, I am happy again these days – well happy in the sense I have a new partner, and she needn’t be worried by Jessica Simpsons. They do fine with David Hasselhoffs.
One other thing that did happen this evening was, on my way back from dinner, I entered the lift (in some cultures, that phrase would be banned) – elevator – with a couple who had just been in the hotel pool. They looked Mexican but spoke with an American accent. Lets call them Meximericans. So I said to the meximericans “Chilly out there isn’t it” (thought I’d test the water - makes me laugh – just the sort of thing Sam would have slapped me for actually), the lady meximerican started laughing, she clearly understood the sarcasm, but the bloke meximerican looked at me like I was the most stupid human being he’d ever seen (and that was very very very stupid) and said “What? Its like 103 out there today”.
And on that note, I will leave you. Tomorrow I am heading to the Houston Space Center to have an $84 lunch with some Astronauts.
See y’all soon, y’hear?
Speaking of MJ, its still all over the news here. (Farrah Fawcett’s funeral will be held Tuesday, but that’s not real news, its only on the ticker at the bottom of the screen). It proves unequivocally though, and all the scientists agree, that Global Mourning does exist. I was quite happy to drive my car before this, but now I think I’ll have to get a smaller fuel efficient one… with a 4.6liter V8 instead of the 5.3…
Gosh I love this country! Driving here is just brill. I mean, you can see for miles down the roads here. Literally miles. The bridges are incredible. This morning, driving out of N’Awlins, I feared for my life crossing the Mississippi. The bridge was that old, that they were building a new $433,000,000 one right next to it, and driving in the piles right at the side of the old ones which were currently holding up the dual lane roadway… Unfortunately the two lanes of traffic going my direction had ground to a halt, right above the murky waters of the Mississippi. (How many times can I get Mississippi into this blog). The bridge had seen one too many hurricanes for its own liking, let along mine, and was groaning and allowing its once firmly supported roadways to flex and bounce like ribbons… There was no where to go either – couldn’t open either side door due to the proximity of the wall, and the other traffic… just had to grin and bear it.
Speaking of bridges heading out of Louisiana, I travelled along a bridge which must have been 30 miles long. Literally. There were no exits off that one either (but there were safety lanes), but if you had exited, you would have ended up in swamp. This one had the wow factor for its impressive length.
Headed into Texas, where the only thing bigger than the cars, are the burgers, hats, and belt buckles.
It seems like the Americans have the same problems us Europeans have with regards to roads with 3 lanes too. “Awww Hank, cant we just stick to the miiddle, these laynes aw faw too cunfusin’” “whaaaay huney I think we should do that” – I’m pretty sure that’s how the conversation goes over here, because that’s where they end up. Riiiiight in the middle. They do allow overtaking and undertaking here, but only in some States and its very confusing as to when it is acceptable and when it isn’t. Just don’t do it when the five-o are looking, I think is the general rule... D’uh Po-leese have themselves a variety of tactics, including pursuit cars with varying effectiveness – Dodge Charger; pretty effective, Chevy Suburban (same as a Tahoe but longer and weights even more) probably less so, you kind of notice when one of those is bearing down on you… and you don’t have to be going too fast either, or it wouldn’t be doing very much bearing…
One of the benefits of driving over there that I have found, is that I’m not tired. Doing 300+ miles in the U.K. and I’d be ready to eat someone’s head, then promptly fall asleep. Over here, I’m bright as a daisy. That could either be the Tahoe, or the roads, and I’m not sure which. I do love the Tahoe, it is The Best Ve-hicle in the world, and I do honestly think everyone should have one. It is brill! If you haven't driven a Tahoe, you simply haven't lived. (Well its not to much drive as encourage but that's the kind of honesty I like).
Speaking of speeding too, heading into Houston (still about 20 miles to go to downtown) the five-o were ready at a section of Interstate that went from 70mph to 60mph for no good reason. Oh yes were they ready. Swarming all over the traffic like flies around shi-is that the time? Better get on with the story. I slammed the old anchors on and performed and elk manoeuvre to avoid being noticed (not really, if the Tahoe even smelled an elk anywhere nearby, it would just roll onto its side shaking in fear at the mere thought of having to change lanes quickly – perhaps that’s another reason why people stay in the middle. American cars just aren’t built for steering).
Everything is bigger in Texas. If you English people thing America is big, then Texas, I guarantee – is bigger still. The gas – petrol – stations are bigger with more lanes, the roads get bigger with more lanes, the junctions between roads get bigger – even Sat Nav Bird sounded impressed, in her inimitable specifically chosen American accent “ooooh take me down the next exit right ooooh” – (ok, maybe that was just my imagination, but I swear it was what I heard). The roadways are built in such a way as to direct traffic in the most efficient way possible – to get people from place to place quickly (unlike Britain where the roads are built to cause as much congestion as possible, and if that’s not enough, the traffic lights are phased in such a way as to cause the maximum wait times and stress). Giant traffic lanes swoop in from the left and right, and run onto the main freeway as extra lanes, then they will have exits both from the left and right which swoop away to different other roads – its art work! Magnificent! They make Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham look positively straight and boring in comparison.
The main ring road around Houston is called the Beltway. It is very wide (6 lanes each way), and has a very long way to go round, like its namesake leather accessory item which circum-navigates the middle of the levi-wearing locals. Is there any wonder though, when you can buy a triple Whopper Meal (make it a Large) from Burger King right off the menu? Its not even special order!
Not that I’m saying all Americans are fat you understand. That would be slanderous, and plainly wrong. There are very many beautiful people here as well. I mean the kind of beautiful even Hollywood struggles to reproduce. Jessica Simpson beautiful. They make me feel quite uncomfortable in fact. The Jessica Simpsons seem to have partners that think they are better looking than David Hasselhoff thinks he is. And that’s a lot of thinking.
Of course, I am happy again these days – well happy in the sense I have a new partner, and she needn’t be worried by Jessica Simpsons. They do fine with David Hasselhoffs.
One other thing that did happen this evening was, on my way back from dinner, I entered the lift (in some cultures, that phrase would be banned) – elevator – with a couple who had just been in the hotel pool. They looked Mexican but spoke with an American accent. Lets call them Meximericans. So I said to the meximericans “Chilly out there isn’t it” (thought I’d test the water - makes me laugh – just the sort of thing Sam would have slapped me for actually), the lady meximerican started laughing, she clearly understood the sarcasm, but the bloke meximerican looked at me like I was the most stupid human being he’d ever seen (and that was very very very stupid) and said “What? Its like 103 out there today”.
And on that note, I will leave you. Tomorrow I am heading to the Houston Space Center to have an $84 lunch with some Astronauts.
See y’all soon, y’hear?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Warning, may contain fish!
Differentiating the nuances that exist between states as you roll through, can be tricky to the causal observer. However, Louisiana and New Orleans in particular are contrasting to say the least.
I absolutely love New Orleans (N'Awlins). Its a brilliant place. It has so much character, history, and an amazing atmosphere about it.
You walk through the French Quarter (the bit that would be the last part to flood in a disaster - as they open different flood gates to avoid the French Quarter getting hit) you smell a strange smell - it lingers throughout the whole of the area. Its a mixture of cigars, cajun spices, and beer... and later in the day, sweat.
The streets are very narrow, one way only and some even get closed to traffic. The streets are in a grid (like most US cities), but there are unusual shops, and bars everywhere. The architecture is very strange too - wooden buildings, french looking buildings - some in good condition, some not. Its very eclectic. People are friendly, and the five-o (NOPD) are everywhere keeping the order. I felt perfectly safe walking around - like everywhere I have been so far, I have never felt threatened or vulnerable as a tourist alone. Must be my muscular, taught physique which keeps the potential miscreants at bay.
Anyway, the French Quarter and Market Area can be walked through, taking in the atmosphere and sights as you go. There is the Church of St Louis to visit along the way, and you can wander aimlessly into different shops, trying to avoid the voodoo ones - had enough bad luck, thank-you.
There is so much to see here, there is no way I could have fit it all in today. It would have been good to visit the cemetaries (they are closed on Sundays from 12:00), and perhaps take in a walking tour (but I didn't have enough cash because my ever so helpful bank have cancelled my atm card).
Visiting New Orleans is definitely worth doing for anyone - I highly recommend it. It is a very different American city. As it is slipping deeper into the Gulf of Mexico however, sooner rather than later would be my advice. The powers that be have decided to build bigger walls to keep the sea, and river out, but how long this will last, or whether it will even work is beyond me. According to the lady on reception, the 9th district is the one demolished by Katrina - and has essentially been wiped off the map. This not an area which can be viewed from the expressway.
Then there's the heat. It was 100F in the parking garage. It felt like 105F outside in the sun - humidity 67%, which is not as high as it can get. I was sweating as soon as I'd turned the engine off. No wonder everyone down here has a sun tan.
To cool down, I popped into a local jazz bar with a live band. And selected ice cold Bud Light as my cool down drink of choice. Well, ice cold Bud Light (well you wouldn't want a warm beer would you?) is good for cooling down, quenching thirst, calming down, and having with dinner. Its very versatile!
For lunch, I went to another music bar, this time on the banks of the Mississippi. Had a small bowl of Jambalaya (too hot for warm food really). My opporunity to sample real local cuisine. It did contain fish (I knew this before I chose it) but it was rather nice. Lots of flavour (not so much fish). One of the bar staff, was cutting his way in to a vat of some sort of shell fish. He offered me one, but I declined... I know its supposed to be nice, but I couldn't think of anything much worse - this not really liking fish thing is quite limiting! Wouldn't have been able to handle the fish gumbo which is a real shame. I just don't like fish that much!
Having had problems with the bank, travellers cheques, and running out of cash, I have since discovered that casinos offer incrediby useful tourist services. Mum and Dad would be well advised to note this. They offer the discerning travller the following free services:
1. Travellers Cheque cashing
2. ATMs
3. Air Conditioning
4. Toilets
Casinos are your friend!
I absolutely love New Orleans (N'Awlins). Its a brilliant place. It has so much character, history, and an amazing atmosphere about it.
You walk through the French Quarter (the bit that would be the last part to flood in a disaster - as they open different flood gates to avoid the French Quarter getting hit) you smell a strange smell - it lingers throughout the whole of the area. Its a mixture of cigars, cajun spices, and beer... and later in the day, sweat.
The streets are very narrow, one way only and some even get closed to traffic. The streets are in a grid (like most US cities), but there are unusual shops, and bars everywhere. The architecture is very strange too - wooden buildings, french looking buildings - some in good condition, some not. Its very eclectic. People are friendly, and the five-o (NOPD) are everywhere keeping the order. I felt perfectly safe walking around - like everywhere I have been so far, I have never felt threatened or vulnerable as a tourist alone. Must be my muscular, taught physique which keeps the potential miscreants at bay.
Anyway, the French Quarter and Market Area can be walked through, taking in the atmosphere and sights as you go. There is the Church of St Louis to visit along the way, and you can wander aimlessly into different shops, trying to avoid the voodoo ones - had enough bad luck, thank-you.
There is so much to see here, there is no way I could have fit it all in today. It would have been good to visit the cemetaries (they are closed on Sundays from 12:00), and perhaps take in a walking tour (but I didn't have enough cash because my ever so helpful bank have cancelled my atm card).
Visiting New Orleans is definitely worth doing for anyone - I highly recommend it. It is a very different American city. As it is slipping deeper into the Gulf of Mexico however, sooner rather than later would be my advice. The powers that be have decided to build bigger walls to keep the sea, and river out, but how long this will last, or whether it will even work is beyond me. According to the lady on reception, the 9th district is the one demolished by Katrina - and has essentially been wiped off the map. This not an area which can be viewed from the expressway.
Then there's the heat. It was 100F in the parking garage. It felt like 105F outside in the sun - humidity 67%, which is not as high as it can get. I was sweating as soon as I'd turned the engine off. No wonder everyone down here has a sun tan.
To cool down, I popped into a local jazz bar with a live band. And selected ice cold Bud Light as my cool down drink of choice. Well, ice cold Bud Light (well you wouldn't want a warm beer would you?) is good for cooling down, quenching thirst, calming down, and having with dinner. Its very versatile!
For lunch, I went to another music bar, this time on the banks of the Mississippi. Had a small bowl of Jambalaya (too hot for warm food really). My opporunity to sample real local cuisine. It did contain fish (I knew this before I chose it) but it was rather nice. Lots of flavour (not so much fish). One of the bar staff, was cutting his way in to a vat of some sort of shell fish. He offered me one, but I declined... I know its supposed to be nice, but I couldn't think of anything much worse - this not really liking fish thing is quite limiting! Wouldn't have been able to handle the fish gumbo which is a real shame. I just don't like fish that much!
Having had problems with the bank, travellers cheques, and running out of cash, I have since discovered that casinos offer incrediby useful tourist services. Mum and Dad would be well advised to note this. They offer the discerning travller the following free services:
1. Travellers Cheque cashing
2. ATMs
3. Air Conditioning
4. Toilets
Casinos are your friend!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
You know you're a redneck when...
... your checked shirt finishes 6 inches before your pants start. (That's an American joke, by the way).
The day started well in Panama City Beach. (PCB. Sounds like something you make circuits on, or a new type of venereal disease). Anyway, so I went down for the free continental breakfast (after my fourth massage spa of course) and was happily chewing away at my frosties watching Michael Jackson's first autopsy, when a large lady appeared. She carried a clear plastic box with a green lid which had vents in the top. On closer inspection, it was revealed to be a box containing live crickets. I don't know about you, but I prefer waffles and coffee for breakfast... (or one of Shanes magnificent sausage sandwiches on white with a bit of brown sauce. He never offered me live crickets though. Maybe he's missing something).
Anyway, after that (mis)adventure this morning (it put me right off my frosties, let me tell you), it was time to hit the road again. It hurt my fist. Yep they make the roads out of tarmac here too. (Oh no has it been that long since I've had a proper face to face conversation with someone I know, I've resorted to humour like that???).
Panama City Beach (see photos) was out of this world though. What a fantastic little place! When I say "little" - its used as a noun, not an adjective. The beach was amazing - lovely white sugary sand, that crunched under foot. Roger was right! Unfortunately I was only passing through PCB, really (plus what the hell do you do on a beach on your own apart from get pulled out to sea on the rip tides), but the 10 minutes or so I spent walking on there were beach heaven! (Although it was 8:30 in the morning, the temperature was already up to 87F and the reflection from the sand meant my skin was peeling off my body after about 2 minutes). Florida could well be my favourite U.S. state. This would definitely be a place I'd like to come back to - the beach alone is worth the trip, and the shopping area of town looked very nice too; but I didn't explore this.
So I carried on along my 320 mile trip from PCB to New Orleans (or N'Orlins to the locals). Man! There are some big trailers (caravan type things) out here. They seem to attach to some sort of mounting mechanism (pretty much in the same way as a trailer attaches to an articulated lorry) on the back of your pickup - should you have a pickup, of course. They don't attach to Tahoes for example. I'm pretty sure in square footage terms, some of these trailers are as big as my house.
One can also see why the cup holder was invented. The roads can get pretty boring and long. (Although not boring today, as there was plenty of traffic). Having a nice cup of tea to drink along the way is almost a requirement. Unfortunately, one thing Americans can't do is make tea. So I settled for coffee instead. This is possible even though the outside air temperature is at 41C, because the inside of the car is at -5C. The AC is so good in the Tahoe, even the beer is frozen. And yes, stored in the boot. Sorry trunk.
Along the way I passed a few funny signs. One of which was for Bagdad. The sign was shortly after a mock-Navy Jet was stood at a Rest Area. Thought better of visiting Bagdad in the currently climate...
Finally arrived in New Orleans though. It wasn't what I expected somehow. My expectations were of a hurricane damaged landscape with a small section in the middle still standing which was Bourbon Street, and untouched. Erm no.
New Orleans is a massive sprawling city like many other American cities. In fact, I entered into the New Orleans suburbs 16 miles before getting to the downtown (centre) bit. There are some large buildings which mark out downtown quite clearly on the landscape, just like in Miami, or New York City. The surrounding areas are all low lying buildings - so from 16 miles away the road is higher (sort of roof line) of the houses below it, which gives you a great view of the entire place. One thing about it, is that it is very very very flat. Oh and there are a lot of brand new buildings in the suburbs too... It is easy to see how a hurricane could just cause so much damage - there is no land mass to speak of to stop one. New Orleans is sort of nestled between the Gulf of Mexico, and a massive lake, Pontchartrain.
I didn't see much in the way of hurricane damaged places though, maybe that is because I had to keep one eye on the road, or maybe it was because most of it has been cleared up now. Or it could be that my route into the city wasn't a particularly badly hit part.
The shower is so powerful at the Best Western Bayou Inn, that it has rubbed my hair clean off. I needed a hair cut previously, but this has solved the problem! Nice one! (Just got to remember to put sunscreen on my head now).
Chilis for dinner. Nothing to report there, except the bstards wouldn't accept travellers cheques and I'm getting pretty annoyed at this now. Things have certainly changed over here since 2007.
Stats:
69% oil life left
19mpg average (24 UK mpg?)
2,000 miles covered
105 U.S. gallons used
3 Dennys + 1 independent cooked breakfast
10 bud lights + a few more
The day started well in Panama City Beach. (PCB. Sounds like something you make circuits on, or a new type of venereal disease). Anyway, so I went down for the free continental breakfast (after my fourth massage spa of course) and was happily chewing away at my frosties watching Michael Jackson's first autopsy, when a large lady appeared. She carried a clear plastic box with a green lid which had vents in the top. On closer inspection, it was revealed to be a box containing live crickets. I don't know about you, but I prefer waffles and coffee for breakfast... (or one of Shanes magnificent sausage sandwiches on white with a bit of brown sauce. He never offered me live crickets though. Maybe he's missing something).
Anyway, after that (mis)adventure this morning (it put me right off my frosties, let me tell you), it was time to hit the road again. It hurt my fist. Yep they make the roads out of tarmac here too. (Oh no has it been that long since I've had a proper face to face conversation with someone I know, I've resorted to humour like that???).
Panama City Beach (see photos) was out of this world though. What a fantastic little place! When I say "little" - its used as a noun, not an adjective. The beach was amazing - lovely white sugary sand, that crunched under foot. Roger was right! Unfortunately I was only passing through PCB, really (plus what the hell do you do on a beach on your own apart from get pulled out to sea on the rip tides), but the 10 minutes or so I spent walking on there were beach heaven! (Although it was 8:30 in the morning, the temperature was already up to 87F and the reflection from the sand meant my skin was peeling off my body after about 2 minutes). Florida could well be my favourite U.S. state. This would definitely be a place I'd like to come back to - the beach alone is worth the trip, and the shopping area of town looked very nice too; but I didn't explore this.
So I carried on along my 320 mile trip from PCB to New Orleans (or N'Orlins to the locals). Man! There are some big trailers (caravan type things) out here. They seem to attach to some sort of mounting mechanism (pretty much in the same way as a trailer attaches to an articulated lorry) on the back of your pickup - should you have a pickup, of course. They don't attach to Tahoes for example. I'm pretty sure in square footage terms, some of these trailers are as big as my house.
One can also see why the cup holder was invented. The roads can get pretty boring and long. (Although not boring today, as there was plenty of traffic). Having a nice cup of tea to drink along the way is almost a requirement. Unfortunately, one thing Americans can't do is make tea. So I settled for coffee instead. This is possible even though the outside air temperature is at 41C, because the inside of the car is at -5C. The AC is so good in the Tahoe, even the beer is frozen. And yes, stored in the boot. Sorry trunk.
Along the way I passed a few funny signs. One of which was for Bagdad. The sign was shortly after a mock-Navy Jet was stood at a Rest Area. Thought better of visiting Bagdad in the currently climate...
Finally arrived in New Orleans though. It wasn't what I expected somehow. My expectations were of a hurricane damaged landscape with a small section in the middle still standing which was Bourbon Street, and untouched. Erm no.
New Orleans is a massive sprawling city like many other American cities. In fact, I entered into the New Orleans suburbs 16 miles before getting to the downtown (centre) bit. There are some large buildings which mark out downtown quite clearly on the landscape, just like in Miami, or New York City. The surrounding areas are all low lying buildings - so from 16 miles away the road is higher (sort of roof line) of the houses below it, which gives you a great view of the entire place. One thing about it, is that it is very very very flat. Oh and there are a lot of brand new buildings in the suburbs too... It is easy to see how a hurricane could just cause so much damage - there is no land mass to speak of to stop one. New Orleans is sort of nestled between the Gulf of Mexico, and a massive lake, Pontchartrain.
I didn't see much in the way of hurricane damaged places though, maybe that is because I had to keep one eye on the road, or maybe it was because most of it has been cleared up now. Or it could be that my route into the city wasn't a particularly badly hit part.
The shower is so powerful at the Best Western Bayou Inn, that it has rubbed my hair clean off. I needed a hair cut previously, but this has solved the problem! Nice one! (Just got to remember to put sunscreen on my head now).
Chilis for dinner. Nothing to report there, except the bstards wouldn't accept travellers cheques and I'm getting pretty annoyed at this now. Things have certainly changed over here since 2007.
Stats:
69% oil life left
19mpg average (24 UK mpg?)
2,000 miles covered
105 U.S. gallons used
3 Dennys + 1 independent cooked breakfast
10 bud lights + a few more
Friday, June 26, 2009
Supplementary - Black Angus
Black Angus Steak House for dinner.
I was greated by an ugly looking fish. No seriously. Fish isn't a metaphor. Not sure what his name was (I'm assuming 'it' was a 'he' but 'it' could just as easily have been a 'her'). He was a Paku, a big 15 year old brute. He was about 3 feet long and two feet high (and about 1 inch wide!). That is unless he was actually only 3 inches tall, and two inches high - and it was the walls of his glass prison that were 3 feet thick, giving the illusion he was big...
Well he (lets call him, um, 'Tiny') could do 0-60 faster than anything I've ever seen that big. He must have been about Tahoe size (in fish terms) and he was much faster - relatively. Not sure how economical though. Maybe a rat or two, he looked capable of devouring pretty much anything that was put in his tank. Miles-per-rabbit?
The other thing that happened was my waiter, Josh, (who wasn't 2 feet high) got a dressing down of a rather arrogant lady.
Let me put you in the picture some more.
So I was eating my dinner (caesar salad, this toasted sourdough bread loaf in oil - delicious - steak and fries, literally steak and fries - no veg, not even a hint at veg, glad I ordered the caesar), and in walks a very tall and not-particularly-skinny lady, and a very short gentleman. The lady was American, and the guy was spanish - and couldn't speak a word of English. Anyway, so I'm eating away and Josh-the-waiter goes over and does his intro. She stops him, and nastily says "Pardon me? Don't you mean 'you'". I'm like "huh" and he's like "huh" (And so one time? I was at Band Camp? I realise not everyone will appreciate this little jokette) What he had said to offend the poor woman was "Hi my name is Josh, and I'm going to be helping us today" instead of "Hi my name is Josh, I'm going to be helping you today". Strictly speaking, I suppose she was right, but OMG what an obnoxious woman! He's just trying to do his sodding job, and be polite about it! Polite to people LIKE YOU luv. Later on she was joined by a couple of guests, and was explaining to them how she'd sorted him out, and her guest says "oh so you're not in a good mood" and she replies "no, I just have a lot of rules".
ARRRGGGGGGHHHH Its people like that, who REALLY get on my wick! Like that irritating woman in the tube when Sam had her purse stolen... stop me if I've told you this one before!
Time for more Bud light and a spa by the sounds of things!
I was greated by an ugly looking fish. No seriously. Fish isn't a metaphor. Not sure what his name was (I'm assuming 'it' was a 'he' but 'it' could just as easily have been a 'her'). He was a Paku, a big 15 year old brute. He was about 3 feet long and two feet high (and about 1 inch wide!). That is unless he was actually only 3 inches tall, and two inches high - and it was the walls of his glass prison that were 3 feet thick, giving the illusion he was big...
Well he (lets call him, um, 'Tiny') could do 0-60 faster than anything I've ever seen that big. He must have been about Tahoe size (in fish terms) and he was much faster - relatively. Not sure how economical though. Maybe a rat or two, he looked capable of devouring pretty much anything that was put in his tank. Miles-per-rabbit?
The other thing that happened was my waiter, Josh, (who wasn't 2 feet high) got a dressing down of a rather arrogant lady.
Let me put you in the picture some more.
So I was eating my dinner (caesar salad, this toasted sourdough bread loaf in oil - delicious - steak and fries, literally steak and fries - no veg, not even a hint at veg, glad I ordered the caesar), and in walks a very tall and not-particularly-skinny lady, and a very short gentleman. The lady was American, and the guy was spanish - and couldn't speak a word of English. Anyway, so I'm eating away and Josh-the-waiter goes over and does his intro. She stops him, and nastily says "Pardon me? Don't you mean 'you'". I'm like "huh" and he's like "huh" (And so one time? I was at Band Camp? I realise not everyone will appreciate this little jokette) What he had said to offend the poor woman was "Hi my name is Josh, and I'm going to be helping us today" instead of "Hi my name is Josh, I'm going to be helping you today". Strictly speaking, I suppose she was right, but OMG what an obnoxious woman! He's just trying to do his sodding job, and be polite about it! Polite to people LIKE YOU luv. Later on she was joined by a couple of guests, and was explaining to them how she'd sorted him out, and her guest says "oh so you're not in a good mood" and she replies "no, I just have a lot of rules".
ARRRGGGGGGHHHH Its people like that, who REALLY get on my wick! Like that irritating woman in the tube when Sam had her purse stolen... stop me if I've told you this one before!
Time for more Bud light and a spa by the sounds of things!
Westward (Ho!)
So driven today from Savannah to Panama City, Florida. Its a 399 mile (sorry, actually its more like 417, but I'm talking from when I set off from Dennys (!) this morning, a few miles out of Savannah) trip on Interstate mainly.
It was more stressful than the highways I have been used to, mainly because its higher speed and there's more traffic, and there are similar motorway type issues that we face in the UK, with people not moving over, getting right up your behind so far you can almost taste their engines, and the Five-O popping up everywhere...
So far as I can see though, there are two major plus points of these 70mph super highways:
1. All traffic, more or less, is doing 70mph +, including the trucks. Which means as the road is only 2 lanes in either direction (between major metropolitan areas - in major metro areas, there can be as many as 7 lanes), there are less pinch points of traffic backing up when trucks are trying aimlessly to overtake each other, at a significantly lower speed than other traffic.
2. There are NO SPEED CAMERAS!!!!!!!!!! (Not that anyone particularly speeds much, 70-80mph seems to be the norm).
There were some road works along the route. If you think the 50-zone on the M1 south of Nottingham is long, THINK AGAIN. The Road Work zone on the I-95 must have been 4x that length. At least it wasn't limited to 50 though! (55!). And of course, there are no super-irritating and blood-pressure increasing average speed cameras. Just the Five-O waiting around every corner... oh and speed fines double when workers are present... (a good incentive not to speed methinks, particularly as there is a posted minimum fine of $100. I believe the system is an incremental charging rate dependent upon the number of mph over the limit you were doing - but don't quote me, hopefully I won't get to find out).
Two other key things have happened today, my trip has changed direction; I'm now heading West instead of South. In fact, I can't travel much further South in the U.S. (as I have now past the long bit of land which juts out down below the rest of the United States, which makes up the majority of Florida) without falling into the Gulf of Mexico.
The other thing which has happened, is that I've changed timezone and am now 6 hours behind the U.K. That means my stomach is having to wait another HOUR before it can have food. Something it has forgotten existed, until I typed this blog just now. Now I'm hungry :-P
The Tahoe is performing admirably, I hardly noticed the 7 hours I spent in there today, really! Its like driving an armchair. The only minor negative point is that the economy (pmsl - economy is not an adjective when talking about the Tahoe) dropped from 21mpg to 18mpg on the Interstate... just shows you what the difference is from driving at 50-60mph to driving at 70-80mph.
The thermometer tipped 100F earlier, but has since gone back to 97F.
Oh the only other thing to say is that my Ramada room is totally different to the one in Viringia Beach! This is cheaper, AND its amazing! It has like two separate areas - a sofa, a king bed, a 32inch plasma, and most of all, a massive spa bath (as well as a normal bathroom, with bath and shower over!)!!! Photos will be online later, when I've frozen a few budlights, and got the spa filled. Well, if its there....... ;-) Pity Claire's not here to enjoy it with me :-( ooops too much info for normal readers!
Sorry Janice!
Going for dinner now, hopefully steak. I think there's a Black Angus near here.
It was more stressful than the highways I have been used to, mainly because its higher speed and there's more traffic, and there are similar motorway type issues that we face in the UK, with people not moving over, getting right up your behind so far you can almost taste their engines, and the Five-O popping up everywhere...
So far as I can see though, there are two major plus points of these 70mph super highways:
1. All traffic, more or less, is doing 70mph +, including the trucks. Which means as the road is only 2 lanes in either direction (between major metropolitan areas - in major metro areas, there can be as many as 7 lanes), there are less pinch points of traffic backing up when trucks are trying aimlessly to overtake each other, at a significantly lower speed than other traffic.
2. There are NO SPEED CAMERAS!!!!!!!!!! (Not that anyone particularly speeds much, 70-80mph seems to be the norm).
There were some road works along the route. If you think the 50-zone on the M1 south of Nottingham is long, THINK AGAIN. The Road Work zone on the I-95 must have been 4x that length. At least it wasn't limited to 50 though! (55!). And of course, there are no super-irritating and blood-pressure increasing average speed cameras. Just the Five-O waiting around every corner... oh and speed fines double when workers are present... (a good incentive not to speed methinks, particularly as there is a posted minimum fine of $100. I believe the system is an incremental charging rate dependent upon the number of mph over the limit you were doing - but don't quote me, hopefully I won't get to find out).
Two other key things have happened today, my trip has changed direction; I'm now heading West instead of South. In fact, I can't travel much further South in the U.S. (as I have now past the long bit of land which juts out down below the rest of the United States, which makes up the majority of Florida) without falling into the Gulf of Mexico.
The other thing which has happened, is that I've changed timezone and am now 6 hours behind the U.K. That means my stomach is having to wait another HOUR before it can have food. Something it has forgotten existed, until I typed this blog just now. Now I'm hungry :-P
The Tahoe is performing admirably, I hardly noticed the 7 hours I spent in there today, really! Its like driving an armchair. The only minor negative point is that the economy (pmsl - economy is not an adjective when talking about the Tahoe) dropped from 21mpg to 18mpg on the Interstate... just shows you what the difference is from driving at 50-60mph to driving at 70-80mph.
The thermometer tipped 100F earlier, but has since gone back to 97F.
Oh the only other thing to say is that my Ramada room is totally different to the one in Viringia Beach! This is cheaper, AND its amazing! It has like two separate areas - a sofa, a king bed, a 32inch plasma, and most of all, a massive spa bath (as well as a normal bathroom, with bath and shower over!)!!! Photos will be online later, when I've frozen a few budlights, and got the spa filled. Well, if its there....... ;-) Pity Claire's not here to enjoy it with me :-( ooops too much info for normal readers!
Sorry Janice!
Going for dinner now, hopefully steak. I think there's a Black Angus near here.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Life is like a box of chocolates...
Never a truer word said I think.
Two surprise deaths in the world - Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett. Only yesterday Farrah was on the local news here, having finally (after 30 years in the relationship) announced she had agreed to marry her life partner.
It just brings it home again and again, that life is TOO SHORT to waste, if you haven't already had first hand experience of this fact. Get on with doing what you want!
Two surprise deaths in the world - Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett. Only yesterday Farrah was on the local news here, having finally (after 30 years in the relationship) announced she had agreed to marry her life partner.
It just brings it home again and again, that life is TOO SHORT to waste, if you haven't already had first hand experience of this fact. Get on with doing what you want!
* * *
Woke up this morning and decided to go get a proper breakfast again. Drove 7 miles to the nearest Dennys! Fantastic.
Picked up a couple of leaflets for things to do in Savannah. One of the best ways to see the town is actually on foot, so went to book in for a walking tour. Unfortunately, the particular tour I wanted (a general tour) there was only me who signed up for it, so I had to go on the Civil War tour instead. Not my usual thing really, but it was actually quite interesting! It opened up a whole new world of history to me! Not to mention that I was in famous company. There were three of us on the tour, plus the tour guide. Brad Pitt and his wife Eva Mendez were the other couple, and Hazel was our tour guide. I'm quite sure that Hazel had personal experience of the Civil War, and had met most of the generals and political figures she talked of. She was that old. Either that, or she had been in the sun far too long, bless her. Lovely lady though. (Actually it did me a favour. She was very spritely - for an older lady - and I was struggling to keep up in the heat, 94F (34C), felt a bit light headed on a couple of occasions. Either that, or she had slipped Rohypnol into my water when I wasn't looking).
Savannah is certainly one of the nice cities to visit in America, and gives you a good insight into the past, and how America has changed in the last couple of hundred years. The architecture is a contrasting mixture of old colonial buildings, and modern concrete and clay building plonked in between - when they thought it was a good idea to rip up the old stuff and build new stuff in the 60s. Unfortunately their ideas of new buildings in the 60s, were not good ideas - and the result is a bit of a mish mash. But it is interesting! (if you like that sort of thing) and its a nice, friendly, honest, and clean place. Somewhere definitely worth visiting if you're ever in the vicinity.
Sorry - I keep getting critisised for being boring, but this is how I experience the world! I can jump out of a plane in the biggest drop zone in Europe, somewhere over Spain. I can bungee jump in England! But I can't do a Civil War Waking Tour of Savannah in England! Oh no, you have to be here for that!
One of the other interesting factoids that I learned, was that during the Civil War, the buildings all had a concrete facade put over them, covering all of the windows, thereby making the building look like one big concrete slab. (They have replicated this well with the 60s buildings, but not sure whether it was intentional...). It was only more recently, when the concrete facades were removed, that the windows were discovered on a lot of these buildings - and the windows kind of make the design really.
Savannah is also famous for its squares. These are sections of land interspersed with the buildings, which are full of trees, benches and usually have a monument of one war or another at their centre. They make the place interesting and give some relief from the heat under the trees. It has 21 squares (24 originally). One of which is Chippewa Square, where the famous scene from Forrest Gump was filmed. The bench where Forrest sat to give his pearls of wisdom is not there - it has been replaced by a flower bed, and there is little evidence that Hollywood had ever visited. See the photos. The other fact about the movie was that traffic flow was diverted in the opposite way around the square (which is more of an oval). Not sure why this was, and will probably never know.
So far, this region feels like real America, not the tourist sort you get in Florida (to be fair, if I lived in Florida, I'd get pretty sick of the British tourists, and their "tipping, what's that? I'm not paying 15%" / "this place is too big" / "this place is too brash" / "its not like England" closed off mindset (but yet they still come over here?) (yes we are not all like that, but some unfortunately are)) its more a genuine American place, where real people live and work, and enjoy their lives. Like Buxton is to Brits. Or Wakefield. (Only a little bigger). This is where you would come (and I'd include Charleston in this as well) to experience the proper, down to earth, good old fashioned America, a little off the beaten tourist track for us - although Savannah is a tourist town much more so than Charleston, I haven't met foreign tourists like me yet).
Liking this traveling thing though, I'm seeing a lot in a short time - and seeing everything I want to.
Fuel Used: 1 Hartland Scramble, 2.1 litres of water.
Spanky's for dinner again tonight. Liked it so much last night (that and the small fact there is very little other choice in a 7 mile radius of here, plus drinking several budlights, you gotta only be a short weave away from the hotel in the big truck). Special Pizza. Hmmm. Legendary. Unfortunately as I couldn't wait for it to be made, thought I'd order an appetizer. Hot bread and cheese dip. It was two baguettes of bread and a whole vat of that warm melted cheese, which is not really melted cheese at all. Unfortunately, it smelled delicious, and after the first bite, by stomach realised it had not eaten since 9am, and proceeded to devour the two baguettes like its throat had been cut. That meant I couldn't finish my pizza. You do realise why there are rather people though - the flavours were incredible! If we had food as good tasting as this to eat every night in England, I'd be the size of a house! If there's one thing they know how to do here, its cook. (That said, thus far I have only seen one lady who was rather too large for her struggling chair, and she was a software engineer. If I was a software engineer, I think I'd rather focus on eating too).
* * *
One thing I forgot to mention yesterday, was part of the trip down on the Interstate 95, which is a 70mph road. I was doing around 70, when from out of nowhere a massive logging truck was up my chuff, wanting to get passed! He must have been doing closer to 80mph. And I'm not talking about a small UK rig, I'm talking a massive Kenworth with a huge pile of logs on its trailer. That's something I have yet to get used to - the trucks can go as fast, or faster than you! They ain't stuck at 56mph. The funny thing was, up his behind was the five-o! They didn't bat an eyelid. This "Arrive Alive Drive 55" thing is a myth! Should be more like "Get to where your going in one piece. Get out of the way of logging trucks!"
As I'm driving down these two lane highways (two in each direction, separated by a grassy median) I keep having visions of a cop coming the opposite directions, passing me, me looking in the rear view mirror to see him blues and twos on, doing a power slide across the median grass and mud everywhere, coming after me in a Smokey and the Bandit-esque scene... but that's not happened. Well not yet anyway...
Interstate time tomorrow, the I-95 and I-10 two roads all the way to Panama City, Florida, where I have another night in a Ramada. Not particularly looking forward to that, considering my last Ramada experience...
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