Hollywood & Santa Monica, LA

Day 41: Up late again, packed, blogged and drove to airport for flights to LA via Houston, so we have been to Texas!  Have heard the locals say that American airlines are poor, US Airways, Delta, American and United being the main ones.  We experienced some of United’s service today, about to leave Charlotte on time when announced that a seat arm was broken, maintenance guy came to look, had no tools, wandered off and brought back duct tape to fix it, so left 50 minutes late.  Coming close to Houston, all back to seats etc announcement, to find out a man was trapped in the toilet (the same bloke that broke the seat arm, he was huge).  They could not open the door, the people behind us said the door latch was very fiddly to open, so he had to stay in the toilet for the landing!  Anyhow, we made the LA connection on time and so on to the very nice hotel in Santa Monica, ‘The Huntley’, recommended, apparently the place to be for star watching in the restaurant upstairs.

Rodeo Drive

Day 42: Up early for a one hour ride in to downtown LA, opposite the Chinese Theatre, and on Hollywood walk of fame, which we found out you pay $30kmto get your name on a star!! Went on a 1 hour trolley tour of the theatre district, then a 2 hour tour of the Hollywood area, Beverly Hills famous houses etc, quite interesting, the most being the $135 million they want for the ex Whitney Houston place, 28 bedrooms and 40 bathrooms, nuts. Even managed to stumble across and coyote that had ventured out of the bushes. 

Back to Santa Monica and a wander about the shops and the Santa Monica Pier to check out the sights and a bit of people watching, some interesting sights, there are also lots of vagrants in this area of town.

I think the sign sums it up, our trip is nearly over

Managed to catch the sunset on the beach tonight.

 

 

Charlotte NC

Autumn colours are just starting to show

Day 39: Up late, went to brunch with the Miller’s our balcony friends, had a nice long chat, emails exchanged and then to an “antique mall”, (which over here means your old junk shop), called The Depot Antique & Designer Mall at Gibson Mill, located inside the former ‘Cannon Mills’ textile factory, thousands of square feet full of junk and new stuff, but lots that I would have bought if at home, we were looking for old signs etc.  Off to Walmart to purchase extra suitcase then back to the resort so Sara could go on a wand quest around the hotel, looking for treasures clues etc, point the wand and watch wolves, raccoons and bears come to life and make the fairy and dragons on the screen come to life.

I think this hat will protect her

Day 40: Happy Birthday to Craig. Up late, shopping for glasses, race gear, laundry, a great birthday treat, swim and then dinner, we did let Craig pick where we went and it was great, Sara even managed to find Spaghetti that was nearly like our friend Maz’s which made her happy. Sitting here writing this listening to the cars ripping around the track, very distinctive bass noise. Just on the subject of food, Sara has been trying to find Mac and Cheese like I make at home, keeps trying them out to much disappointment, kept trying to tell her she would not get anything like we had at home and after the fourth time she admitted defeat and gave up, Mac and Cheese here consists of some thing out of a packet, made by Kraft and it is very very orange, really not nice to us at all, an acquired taste, like Dr Pepper soda.

Boone Hall Plantation and NASCAR

Day 36: Today up and at it and off to visit another plantation,  via a drive through Charleston, not time to stop though, (another place to come back to) managed to find a coffee shop owned by a Sth African, so had a wee chat about rugby, umm shame about the timing since we lost to them, also meet a German man who was 80, Mr Steiner, who had been part of Hitler youth. The plantation was one with a house to look at and still had the old slave quarters, it also had a really pretty entrance way with the Live Oaks lining it and making a bridge of leaves over the drive way, had a tour around the grounds, it was still a working farm, 780 acres was 4000, but a lot of that being swamp, not much you can do with that, also got to have a tour through the bottom of the house. What I have learnt about plantations, the houses that you see on TV etc are not really what the plantation houses were, they used to be small wooden and stone places, the ones that you see now have actually been built at the beginning of the 1900’s, the prettiest part is the driveway. We are now on our way back to Charlotte NC, a Nascar race to go to on Saturday.

Boone Hall Plantation

 

 

Day 37: Had an easy drive up to the Charlotte area, came on through to Concord where we are staying as it is very close to the track, then went to Concord Mills for a look around the outlet centre there.  Came to the place where we are staying, Wolf Lodge, there are five pools, water slides, wave pools etc, great fun, more of a water resort, very much set up for children, Sara presented with Wolf ears on her arrival.

Day 38: Went in to Charlotte to do some shopping for sheets, lights, what have you for the house at West Elm, found out that the shop is now in both Sydney and Melbourne so a trip may be planned in the future.  The race was due to start at 7:50pm and as the afternoon wore on the weather got worse and worse until it rained quite heavily and as NASCAR do not run in the rain we thought it may be a no-go.  However, got talking to the Miller’s on the balcony below us, who have been coming here to this race for 17 years and they assured us it would run, as they would delay the start up until 10pm, and if not then, then the next day.  At 6:30 we decided to go to the track as we can see it from where we are staying, and it was fine.  Had a look at all the merchandising stands, turkey legs, mullets, drunks, rednecks, etc and then to our seats.  Huge noise from the trucks pulling around jet engines drying the track, so no problem with the start time. Ear plugs or muffs a must very very noisey when the cars start ripping around. Race was a disappointment, sadly for us.  We all thought it would be more exciting, but they are mad on safety, to the point of sanitising it too much.  For example, after 25 laps as there had been no accidents, therefore no safety cars, they brought all the race cars in to check on tires, and if someone had an oil leak, there was a safety car also.  However, it was an experience that I have wanted to do for a while, but won’t be in a hurry to do it again. I was thinking at half time that a book would have been nice, but imagine the horror of those around me if I had pulled one out (Linda)

What is with older men and pigtails over here, really not a good look, this man managed to make a real pain of himself at the NASCAR, standing up all the time and rather drunk.

St Augustine, then briefly Savannah

Day 33: To St Augustine Beach via Marineland where we had a session feeding and interacting with Hemingway, a 3 year old dolphin, and also seeing their turtles and stingrays, one turtle weighed 400lb’s! In captivity because as it had been attacked when little, also they had 5 spotted stingray that had been captured specifically to go to another aquarium which was disappointing to hear.  Came then slowly up to St Augustine beach where we have booked in for two nights, seems all good so far. Off down to the beach for a swim and a wander around, back to hotel for a chill out around the pool and time to actually read a book for the first time.

Day 34: Slept in and then off into St Augustine town, really pretty quite like New Orleans but a whole lot older and a lot less people. It had first been established by the Spanish and then England got involved, Cuba and Florida got swapped.....parts got demolished....can’t remember how it all went but the story is actually interesting, took loads of photos had a nice normal lunch, a Panini, checked out the light house, then back to do laundry, our clothes are now the cleanest around as the wash cycle took 1.5 hours!! Just back from lovely dinner.

 


Day 35: Today Savannah bound via Wormsloe Plantation ruins, a really pretty entrance way and that was it, a wee museum and a bit of a walk around through the bushes to the ruins of the house and to check out the mozzie swamp, a bit of a disappointment, then back to the car and off to Savannah city. Off on a tour around the city on a trolley bus with a tour guide, who was English!! It was great as the first guy spoke such bad English that the people behind us who were locals could not understand him! The town is really nice, a shame that we did not have the time to really check it out, on the list as a place we would like to come back to. First we had great ice cream and milkshake at Leopolds before heading off towards Charleston.  I got a good old fashion malted milkshake, something I have not had in years since I worked at the ‘Soda Straw’ in Masterton 25 years ago, yum.

Wormsloe

Everglades and Cape Canaveral

Day 30: Drove from Lake Buena Vista to Everglades City to see gators, and yes, we did.  Amazed that they seem to have no fear of the swamp boats and a load full of people, they were swimming after the boat looking up at us, maybe looking at their next meal? 

Mo, the guide, did a great job, also showed us racoons which came down and ate Tic Tacs from his hand.  There are three types of mangrove, red, black and white, the red ones which are the main ones we saw, look like hell on earth to me, just a huge tangle of roots in amongst mud and water, if you got lost in amongst them, I can’t see that you would find your way out.  From here we went on another swamp boat ride which was in a more open type area, amongst grasses rather than mangroves.  Mangroves are not native  but were introduced by the Spanish, and have just grown almost out of control.  No alligators to be seen here, but they had a zoo of sorts with American crocodiles, turtles, bobcats, lions, panthers, alligators,  zebu(small cow), vultures.  From here we drove again east and south to spend the night in Homestead.

Day 31: Drove to Key Largo Starbucks where we got talking to an ex military 85 year old for about an hour, very interesting and passionate about his country like most of his ilk.  Decided then to head back north via Coral Gables and then the Ocean Drive art deco are in Miami, quite interesting scenery.  Headed of north again and spent the night in Fort Pierce at the beach.

Day 32: What a fascinating experience at Cape Canaveral, really enjoyed it.  From the crawler that travels at 1mph to launch ad B where the Apollo’s launched from to the movies to the control centres to the space shuttle Atlantis etc, it is a must visit.  Had not expected this, so a real bonus.  Daytona Beach so far has been a bit of a let down, a bit like some parts of the Gold Coast, run down and all the motels on the beach so you can’t see much.

 

 

Orlando Disney & Universal Studio

Day 26: Spent the entire day at Universal Studios, the Hogwarts side, (Sara was keen to purchase a wand, but the price a bit steep) as there are two parts and not possible to see it all in one day.  Very proud that Sara has overcome most of her fears of drops and rollercoaster’s, so went on all the rides that we had planned to.  Got extremely wet on a couple of them, this one came down from the top, under the bridge and out the bottom, but as the weather is so warm, 30 degrees, that is not really a problem.  Just as we were about to come home, the heavens opened as has been threatening for a few days now, so washed the roads clean, and also most of the love bugs from the front of the car.

Day 27: Today was Disney’s turn, off to Magic Kingdom with all the little girls dressed up in their princess dresses in 100% humidity, boiling hot with lots of kid having temper tantrums when they were not getting their own way, very glad that we did not take Sara here any younger than what she is now, but also she is just a wee bit too old for Magic Kingdom now, loves all the pretty things, but past the princess stage. Went on a few rides, did a 'small world' again last time we did it was on our honeymoon, 22 years ago ha ha, but again the weather opened the flood gates and down it came, which pretty much ended the day for us in fantasy land, Disney Poncho’s on and home for a swim once the thunder and lightning had stopped and the pool was reopened. Had to laugh Sara took her shoes off so that they did not get filled with water and the staff were most keen she put them back on, hmmm since when do kiwi kids wear shoes in the first place. So far Universal is winning in the favourite stakes over Disney.

Day 28: Universals turn again today, off to see Diagon Alley from Harry Potter series. Really neat to see all the buildings and shops that they had made like the books and this dragon that was wrapped around the building and belched out flames.

Harry Potter and the escape from Gringotts was the start of a day of rides, all of which we enjoyed, sadly Linda unable to do any due to space constraints for her leg.  The flying cow in the Twister ‘ride it out’ was quite funny to see. A warm wet day but no torrential downpours today.

Day 29: Disney’s Epcot was on the agenda today, and it was very hot for us at 32 deg and no wind at all.  Did the Test Track twice, Soarin’, Space Ship Earth in the Epcot ball, American adventure, Impressions de France and Mission to mars which made us all feel sick, yay.  My leg got too sore so we got an electric scooter which was helpful (I just needed to be three times my size and I would have felt right at home, whizzing around).  Epcot was more about all the countries, a bit different to the other days, where it was all about rides. Back to the hotel and in to the pool to cool off, we all had headaches despite all the water we had drunk and dinner by the pool to relax. I would have to say that Universal was my (Linda) favourite of the two places, more compact and easier to get around, Disney very spread out, but still impressive.

Orlando via Perry

Day 24: Drove via all the coast roads and all the lovely beach houses

 

 

 

 to Perry in Florida.  Stopped at Appalachicola for lunch and a wander, pretty town with oyster and shrimp boats.  Another great home brewed coffee, the locals will not drink it, they go get the filtered muck from another shop, only the tourists will drink according to the barista.  Sand still incredibly white.  Can’t get over how nothing seems to be torn down once past its use by date, just left to get grown over and tumbled down while new facilities are built right beside the old ones, Linda reckons it’s because of the amount of land they have here.  Went out to dinner at a local Mum and Pop operation, Pounceys, where among other things we had gator tail and swamp cabbage, both surprisingly good.

Day 25: Got up early, for us, and drove for about 3.5 hours to Orlando.  Saw our first other farmed animal beside cows, goats and quite a lot of them, also evidence of logging in this area, but the most spindly looking pine trees ever. The further south we got the hotter it got, up to 92 degrees F.  Went to a visitors centre and after a lot of discussion, bought tickets for four places, not cheap at $1100 USD, hope it’s worth it! 

After checking in at the hotel, we went and had a look around downtown Disney, everything of a Disney theme, just another way of getting your dollars from you, they had a great lego shop, working on Craig to buy a lego pack that is a Kombie van.

Lego friends Friend

Minnie Mouse Stuff