Hello everyone,
I'm trying to summon the effort to blog, however, it is absolutely boiling in California right now and I am seriously concerned for my health over the next week. I'm off to Vegas on Wednesday where it is due to be 48 degrees! Thank god for air conditioned casinos.
The last post I did was from New Orleans and I was just about to go to Bourbon Street for the evening. It really is incredible how your opinion of the road changes the more drinks you have. Completely sober, it is a bizarre place and not overly enjoyable; after one or two you begin to see the appeal; and after a few more (or one of the cocktails on offer) it becomes the greatest place on earth. Someone should definitely do an in-depth study as to why that is. I am willing to volunteer as guinea pig, I will need the backing of a wealthy investor and a spare liver on standby. I was down on Bourbon Street that night with two British girls called Laura who were on an almost identical travel route as me for a couple of weeks so we teamed up to take on the best of the deep South. We discovered the signature cocktail of New Orleans, the hand grenade, which is truly delicious, and tastes so much of melon it is almost certainly good for you.We spent the evening in the home of the hand-grenade and singing 'Wagon Wheel' at every opportunity.
The following day, feeling interesting to say the least I walked to the stadium of the New Orleans Saints, the originally named "Super Dome". However, to get there I did have to walk through a fairly suspicious area, perhaps best summed up by a poster on lampposts with a sad looking child on them saying "Ceasefire - please stop the shooting" (Sorry mum!). Needless to say my pace quickened somewhat from then on, and my neon green sunglasses and camera went deep into my pocket. However, evidently I survived and made it to the megabus bright and early the next day for a mammoth road trip with the Lauras to Austin Texas.
Austin is not what I expected from Texas at all. Far from the guns and beer culture I was expecting it is a cultural, music-orientated and 'foody' town. The nearest to a redneck I have found is me, sporting a fairly spectacular t-shirt tan. The hostel we were booked into was full of bizarre characters, a charming man named David who was there to pursue a music career and insisted on serenading us that evening. I am going to go out on a limb and suggest he probably won't be gracing the charts anytime soon, but it did give me the opportunity to bust out my shoddy covers of Passenger songs. We ate very well in Austin, after arriving too late to get to a man vs food location with the greatest name so far (Juan in a Million), apparently he only needs to open til 3pm as he is too rich/lazy. We ended up eating some great hot dogs, and a BBQ place the following day might be the best food I've had so far on the trip.
The final day in Texas was spent at a natural (read full of algae) pool, with a diving board, followed by an evening of pub games. I had to leave the Lauras there and head to San Francisco alone and bleary-eyed at 4.30am, although I managed to catch up with sleep on the plane. I nodded off on the runway in Austin and didn't wake until they announced we were about to land! My hostel in San Fran was amazing, huge communal ballroom and free breakfast and food for most of the week.
I failed to heed Twiggy's warning and was scared by Bushman, a homeless guy who hides behind bushes and jumps out at you, to the hilarity of passers-by. Did all the touristy things, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge and managed to make it onto Alcatraz, and more importantly, off it.
I've now spent a couple of days in San Diego, lazing about as it is so warm. I've been looked after by a group who I was put in contact with by a guy called Kevin I met in Nashville. Today I ticked off the only thing that was on my list of things to do in San Diego, the zoo. It definitely is quite a strange experience going to the zoo on your own, but it meant I chose exactly what I wanted to see and what I could ignore (Honey Badgers, yes, random garden birds, no). It is an amazing zoo, with Pandas, Polar Bears and even the extremely rare common magpie. Tomorrow I'm off to LA for a few days before meeting up with Paul again in Vegas to end the USA part of the trip. Will no doubt blog the end of my trip from back in the UK, and try and filter how many photos I put online! That is of course ignoring the huge possibility that I am discovered in Hollywood and flown off to star in movies and such.
Wish me luck for Vegas. Peace!
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Southern adventures
If anyone asks you to Atlanta, Georgia, you should say no... and then you should punch them in the face. No seriously, that place is the worst place on earth. But I'm getting ahead of myself, the last time I wrote I was going 'gator hunting in the Everglades, and as you can see I survived it. Saw a couple of small alligators in the wild, then held a 3 foot one in captivity which was pretty cool, not exactly Steve Irwin style, but still felt like it could have done some serious damage.
Spent the last few days in Miami chilling by the pool, getting sunburnt and occasionally trekking around the South Beach or Downtown area. There was quite a predatory gay Colombian guy that seemed to take quite a shine to me in the hostel, his opening question was, "do you have a girlfriend?", followed up by "you no like?". It did lead to one unfortunate moment, when I slipt on the wet floor and literally fell into his arms. Not one of my manliest moments I'll admit.
From Miami I flew to spend a day in Atlanta as it was cheaper to do that than go straight to Nashville. All the reviews for my motel were pretty derogatory, warning of the homeless shelter next door, but I thought after a year with the Big Issue I would be alright with that. I was wrong. About three to four hundred people crowded around all day and night. That coupled with the rain didn't do much for my perception of Atlanta, but I think you could be there in glorious sunshine and it wouldn't hide the fact that the place is an absolute dump. How on earth it got the Olympics I will never know.
From there I got the coach to Nashville which is now my favourite place in the US. There's a street called Broadway with bars all the way down with live music constantly. I think I've had my fill of country music for life, but it was a really cool place. Stayed at a very music-based hostel as well and met a lot of fun people. Very bizarrely met up with my friend Jake who I haven't seen in about 6 months and didn't know he was in the country! After Nashville I got another Greyhound to Memphis to meet up with Paul and sleep on his sofa. As I'm not the biggest Elvis fan there wasn't a huge amount to do in the area, but I went to the Gibson guitar factory which was interesting. That evening we went to a house party and took on some Americans at beer pong, which led to Paul being forced to sit under the table for the duration of the next game for not making any shots! The following day was Saturday so Paul was free for an American adventure. We went to play 'disc-golf', which is essentially throwing frizbees on a golf course. I'm not going to say I was a natural, but I guess living by the beach for so long has honed my skills somewhat. That evening we went to a drive-in cinema which was an experience, I'm not entirely sure it added anything to watching films as it was hotter and harder to see the screen, but it seemed like the sort of thing to do whilst over here.
After Memphis I took an 11 hour coach down to New Orleans where I am currently sat inside because it is too warm to leave the hostel. There is a place called Bourbon Street where I went last night which is essentially a row of bars with very strong cocktails and a distinct smell of vomit. From here I will be off to Austin Texas, followed by a trip to California and finally Vegas for the 4th July. I'm off to find some shade and food before hitting Bourbon Street again tonight. For anyone interested I think I'm now up to 8 Man vs Food locations on the trip.
Peace out!
Spent the last few days in Miami chilling by the pool, getting sunburnt and occasionally trekking around the South Beach or Downtown area. There was quite a predatory gay Colombian guy that seemed to take quite a shine to me in the hostel, his opening question was, "do you have a girlfriend?", followed up by "you no like?". It did lead to one unfortunate moment, when I slipt on the wet floor and literally fell into his arms. Not one of my manliest moments I'll admit.
From Miami I flew to spend a day in Atlanta as it was cheaper to do that than go straight to Nashville. All the reviews for my motel were pretty derogatory, warning of the homeless shelter next door, but I thought after a year with the Big Issue I would be alright with that. I was wrong. About three to four hundred people crowded around all day and night. That coupled with the rain didn't do much for my perception of Atlanta, but I think you could be there in glorious sunshine and it wouldn't hide the fact that the place is an absolute dump. How on earth it got the Olympics I will never know.
From there I got the coach to Nashville which is now my favourite place in the US. There's a street called Broadway with bars all the way down with live music constantly. I think I've had my fill of country music for life, but it was a really cool place. Stayed at a very music-based hostel as well and met a lot of fun people. Very bizarrely met up with my friend Jake who I haven't seen in about 6 months and didn't know he was in the country! After Nashville I got another Greyhound to Memphis to meet up with Paul and sleep on his sofa. As I'm not the biggest Elvis fan there wasn't a huge amount to do in the area, but I went to the Gibson guitar factory which was interesting. That evening we went to a house party and took on some Americans at beer pong, which led to Paul being forced to sit under the table for the duration of the next game for not making any shots! The following day was Saturday so Paul was free for an American adventure. We went to play 'disc-golf', which is essentially throwing frizbees on a golf course. I'm not going to say I was a natural, but I guess living by the beach for so long has honed my skills somewhat. That evening we went to a drive-in cinema which was an experience, I'm not entirely sure it added anything to watching films as it was hotter and harder to see the screen, but it seemed like the sort of thing to do whilst over here.
After Memphis I took an 11 hour coach down to New Orleans where I am currently sat inside because it is too warm to leave the hostel. There is a place called Bourbon Street where I went last night which is essentially a row of bars with very strong cocktails and a distinct smell of vomit. From here I will be off to Austin Texas, followed by a trip to California and finally Vegas for the 4th July. I'm off to find some shade and food before hitting Bourbon Street again tonight. For anyone interested I think I'm now up to 8 Man vs Food locations on the trip.
Peace out!
Monday, 3 June 2013
Flying solo!
Hello all, and greetings from your favorite tomato.
I may or may not be sporting a healthy bright red glow currently, based on me forgetting that despite it being cloudy, you can still sunburn. Lesson learnt.
Chris, Rhys and John have all left so I'm back to flying solo for a while, so the blog posts might become slightly more frequent as I don't know anyone here yet! Chris, Rhys and I headed down to Ocean City, Maryland in search of drunken college folk after Philadelphia. We developed a new tactic of telling Americans that the Brits can out-drink them, which more often than not leads to them buying you a drink to try and prove otherwise.
So after the guys left I spent an interesting few days in Richmond, Virginia, which didn't start off too well, with the taxi driver attempting to charge me $60 for a ten minute ride. Fortunately I was in the very strong bargaining position of not having $60, so I managed to get him to back down to a more reasonable $30. My room in the hotel was a smoking room (who knew they still existed?) which meant that it smelt pretty strongly, which in turn led to my clothes smelling like those of a 40-a-day man.
My hotel was also fairly remote, very convenient if you have a car, but completely impractical if you don't. I fitted into the latter category, and with the absence of a bus, the walk into town was a casual hour and forty five minute trek. Having previously discovered that Americans don't walk anywhere, I now discovered that this often meant that pavements didn't either. This led to a few sketchy moments, attempting to cross ten lane wide roads with a small central reservation for a break, it was very reminiscent of the arcade game frogger at times. Fortunately I managed not get squashed or arrested and made it to and from Richmond successfully both days. I did my best to do the cultural sites, the Fine Art Museum for example where I made sure to make the appropriate 'hmmm' noises if anyone caught me staring blankly at a piece of art for too long, not exactly knowing what to make of it. But in general it was a very nice place to spend a few days.
So now I am in a hostel in Miami called 'Posh South Beach Hostel', where they have really done their best to be upmarket and snazzy. It kind of works, but looks quite a lot like what might happen if you crammed 30 beds into the changing room of a nice gym. However, there is a pool and the beds are comfortable, so I can't complain. I have now perfected my ability to introduce myself to someone, hear their name, and then completely forget it within seconds. I tend to go with 'mate' in situations afterwards if I see them again.
I spent my first full day in Miami hiking up to the top of South Beach to a place called Bay Harbor, exclusively because it is mentioned in the tv show Dexter which I love. However, once again, I may have overestimated the walking distance, and it took me the best part of three hours to trek there. Upon getting there, it also became clear that despite being based there, the tv show was evidently not filmed there, so I had pretty much entirely wasted the day. Oh well, at least I got a healthy sunburn for my troubles.
I've booked myself onto a tour of the Everglades tomorrow to go in search of 'gators etc so if I don't update again, look for me in the swamps. Wish me luck!
Sam/Tomato face
I may or may not be sporting a healthy bright red glow currently, based on me forgetting that despite it being cloudy, you can still sunburn. Lesson learnt.
Chris, Rhys and John have all left so I'm back to flying solo for a while, so the blog posts might become slightly more frequent as I don't know anyone here yet! Chris, Rhys and I headed down to Ocean City, Maryland in search of drunken college folk after Philadelphia. We developed a new tactic of telling Americans that the Brits can out-drink them, which more often than not leads to them buying you a drink to try and prove otherwise.
So after the guys left I spent an interesting few days in Richmond, Virginia, which didn't start off too well, with the taxi driver attempting to charge me $60 for a ten minute ride. Fortunately I was in the very strong bargaining position of not having $60, so I managed to get him to back down to a more reasonable $30. My room in the hotel was a smoking room (who knew they still existed?) which meant that it smelt pretty strongly, which in turn led to my clothes smelling like those of a 40-a-day man.
My hotel was also fairly remote, very convenient if you have a car, but completely impractical if you don't. I fitted into the latter category, and with the absence of a bus, the walk into town was a casual hour and forty five minute trek. Having previously discovered that Americans don't walk anywhere, I now discovered that this often meant that pavements didn't either. This led to a few sketchy moments, attempting to cross ten lane wide roads with a small central reservation for a break, it was very reminiscent of the arcade game frogger at times. Fortunately I managed not get squashed or arrested and made it to and from Richmond successfully both days. I did my best to do the cultural sites, the Fine Art Museum for example where I made sure to make the appropriate 'hmmm' noises if anyone caught me staring blankly at a piece of art for too long, not exactly knowing what to make of it. But in general it was a very nice place to spend a few days.
So now I am in a hostel in Miami called 'Posh South Beach Hostel', where they have really done their best to be upmarket and snazzy. It kind of works, but looks quite a lot like what might happen if you crammed 30 beds into the changing room of a nice gym. However, there is a pool and the beds are comfortable, so I can't complain. I have now perfected my ability to introduce myself to someone, hear their name, and then completely forget it within seconds. I tend to go with 'mate' in situations afterwards if I see them again.
I spent my first full day in Miami hiking up to the top of South Beach to a place called Bay Harbor, exclusively because it is mentioned in the tv show Dexter which I love. However, once again, I may have overestimated the walking distance, and it took me the best part of three hours to trek there. Upon getting there, it also became clear that despite being based there, the tv show was evidently not filmed there, so I had pretty much entirely wasted the day. Oh well, at least I got a healthy sunburn for my troubles.
I've booked myself onto a tour of the Everglades tomorrow to go in search of 'gators etc so if I don't update again, look for me in the swamps. Wish me luck!
Sam/Tomato face
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)