Day 15 - Tuesday 23rd September 2014.

Our very last day.  We will be flying back in the early evening but need to get moving to Newark Airport in the afternoon.  Arriving back in Manchester about 7.30am Wednesday.

We have been through the normal breakfast routine.  I get up by 8am and the kids come down shortly after 9am.  We swipe a bagel each and cream cheese to make our lunch.  I always have a bage for breakfast too.  Not surprisingly I am starting to look like a bagel, certainly round but no hole in the middle.

We had a tour around Radio City Music Hall before leaving the city.  It was well worth it.  I hadn't appreciated how grand it was.  It's a beautiful Art Deco building in the Rockerfella Center.  Here are a couple of pictures..

...and lastly we had our last walk to Central Park and Coloumbus Circle on a beautiful day.

See you back home.

Day 14 - Monday 22nd September 2014.

The last full day.

We had covered most things we wanted to do but there were dome things still on our list!

First we went to the Chrysler Building.  You can't go up but we went to the foyer. 

Onward to Chinatown.  Everyone seemed to be Chinese and we were right next to Little Italy.

This was part of a Chinese market we walked through.  Some strange items were on display!

This was part of Little Italy.

This was the firestation used in Ghostbusters.  The sun was in the wrong place for a good photo and so was the fire engine.

A tiny bit of retail therapy was needed too.  A bit on the expensive side but worth a visit.

Bit of Art.

Day 13 - Sunday 21st September 2014

Our meal out with the Wood's at Ted's Montana Grill was good.  We mainly had buffalo burgers.  They were very tender and tasty.  The Wood's had a pre-paid City Pass ticket that included going up the Empire State Building at night so they went off to do that and we took a chance to get an early night.  Although we are now watching 'Gangs of New York' film.  It's a violent film of the early part of New Yorks gang history, I don't think it's based on any real truth!

The day was given up to getting to and from the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey to watch the New York Giants v Houston Texans American Football match.  The Wood's came with us too.  The tickets had been expensive (and we were in the cheap seats at the top) and they were a bit of a hassle getting them delivered to the hotel.  Never mind, it all worked out.

The stadium was massive, in held approximately 90,000.  This photo of John, Oliver and Daniel was taken at half time.  The final score was 30 - 17 in favour of the Giants.  It was a good game and I really enjoyed getting a full match commentary from the New Yorker that I was sitting next to.  He was brilliant at explaining all the rules and I converted him to be a Burnley soccer fan!

The trip back to New York was slow but we went out for an Italian meal and laughed at the over zealous refilling of our water glasses by a young waiter.  I think it was his sole purpose in life to refill our glasses if they were not completely full.  We were frightened to drink any more water otherwise we would have drowned!

We had a great Football experience which is what I have wanted for a long time.  Mission accomplished!

Day 12 - Saturday 20th September 2014

Had a great concert last night.  Rusted Root were great, the venue was really intimate and we sat at a table to 4 other people who were really friendly.  We had a dance during the concert and got a photo with the lead singer.  

Met up with Catherine and family again this morning at the Rockerfella Center.  We went up to the Top of the Rock, all 69 floors and enjoyed the views.  It's taken us this long to get to the top of a skyscraper.

We decided not to do the Empire State Building as it costs the same and the view is not so good (so I have been told).

Then back into Grand a Central a Terminal and had coffee and lunch.  Then up to Central Park again to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  When we got there there was a German Parade with floats and bands.  All in costume too.  It was a bit strange seeing lederhosen in New York.  Anyway, we managed to get in the museum again for 10 dollars each and enjoyed the Egyptian section and American and European painting sections.

This is inside the museum.  The building facade was the front of the Bank of America in Wall Street and was dismantled and brought here.

Outside of the museum.

Off out to Teds Grill tonight.  

Day 11 - Friday 19th September 2014.

A quieter day was planned. 

Set off to South Bronx on the metro to see the Yankee Stadium.  Home of the Yankees Baseball team. It was a nice tour of the stadium where we found out about Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Vernon 'Leftie' Gomez!  

This photo was taken in the players dugout.  We then walked south through Harlem which felt a bit different from the centre of the city.  No other tourists and we stood out.  John regularly gets approached by black men trying to sell stuff. They start the conversation by saying... 'Hey big guy, do you play basketball? Where do you come from?'.  If he replies they hook him into some sales pitch.  It was all done without any feeling of threat but there is a little bit of pressure being applied because two or three other guys appear.

We continued our walk through the northern part of Central Park. In areas we hadn't been to.

What Rebekah didn't know was that Catherine, Alan, Oliver and Daniel were also having a holiday in New York and had arrived this afternoon!  I was regularly texting Catherine telling her our position and arranging a meeting.  We met at Bethesda fountain in Central Park and Becka was completely surprised.

We all walked down to Times Square before splitting and going back to our hotel before going to a concert at BB Kings Blues Bar to see a band called Rusted Root.

Not such a quiet day after all!!!

Day 10 - Thursday 18th September 2014

We really enjoyed watching Phantom of the Opera last night. The theatre was very grand and the performance was powerful.  We came back to the hotel and concluded watching 'When Harry met Sally' film.

This morning is gorgeous and sunny again.  We west off walking up to Central Park.  It's very big and I keep loosing my bearings (that's different from loosing my marbles!).

We spent most of the afternoon in the Natural History Museum.  I had been told that you can ask for a reduced price ticket.  Normal ticket entry price starts at 22 dollars each but I managed to get in for 10 dollars each.  I know I must be a cheapskate but I justified it because Americans can go into our big museums for free!  Everything so expensive here it's nice to get something cheap.  The museum is vast and well displayed.  We mainly looked at stuffed animals and dinosaurs bones.

This was one of the displays, not the remains of John's last order of barbecue ribs!

Rebekah had contacted an American friend she had met in Manchester (a friend of a boy who was a flatmate when she was at Uni).  He was called Jonathan and he worked for a music management company in New York.  He is involved in managing bands like Walk the Moon, Ray LaMontagne and Passion Pit.  He suggested meeting up in a bar on East Side called Top Hops.  It was a nice bar with hundreds of different beers.  He was really friendly and interesting.  It was great to meet him.  He was going on to see a concert of some up and coming artist so he left and we went to eat.

We went to a diner called Katz that was nearby.  It just happened to be the place they filmed a famous 'yes, yes, yes' scene in When Harry met Sally!  I had my first burger and fries of the holiday.  Becka had the best ever hot pastrami sandwich I have ever tasted.  Not much sandwich and an awful lot of pastrami that was soooo.. tender.

Back to the hotel, very tired after another great day.

Day 9 - Wednesday 17th September 2014.

Last night we ate out at John's Pizzeria and just to prove it here is the photo...

It's been a great day.  The weather has been prefect, sun and blue sky.  After breakfast we went to the box office and bought tickets for tonight's performance of Phantom of the Opera.  Then caught the metro to South Ferry, the very bottom of Manhatten Island.  From here we caught the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Ellis Island is the place where about 12 million immigrants entered America and it is believed that hall the US citizens can trace their ancestry through people who came through the Island.

The photo is taken in the 'Registry Room' where hundreds or more immigrants would be processed at once.

We also walked up Wall Street where there was a large police presence because of the anniversary of the 'Occupy Wall Street' demonstration.  That was a sit down protest against capitalism in 2010, or so I am told by my advisor on American Society!  I have already amused her (Becka) by calling ex President Grover Cleveland, Cleaver Groveland!

Lastly we went to Ground Zero and saw the new World Trade Centre building.  

Back to the hotel to prepare for the Phantom.

Day 8. - Tuesday 16th September 2014.

No problems with the flight from Norfolk to Newark.  It was also fairly easy getting into New York by train and metro to Times Square.

We met these couple of characters in the Square!

The hotel is about 4 blocks up and one to the east of Times Square.  It is OK but not quite the Hilton.  The good news was that my tickets for the Giants v Houston Texans American Football match were waiting for me at the reception......yeah!

We quickly had a little walk around the area and found lots of places nearby. Grand Central Terminal, the New York Library and the Rockerfella Centre.

We had a late lunch of a hot 'Philly cheese steak sandwich'.  Very nice too.  Believe it or not I haven't had a burger or fries yet this holiday.

Back at the hotel for a shower and then back out later. Not sure where yet.  Too many choices.

Day 7 - Monday 15th September 2014

Quiet day at the house.  Sorry no excitement and no photos!

Cleaning the bathroom and kitchen isn't very photogenic.  We did manage a walk into Duck in the afternoon for an ice cream and a little shopping.  It was pleasant and hot.

We are travelling to New York early tomorrow morning.

Day 6 - Sunday 14th September 2014

We travelled back from Washington to Duck.  The weather was nice again and we stopped on the way at Jamestown Settlment.  This is the first successful settlement of America by English settlers in 1603, well before the Pilgrim Fathers and just after the first unsuccessful attempt at Roanoake Island.

It was a really nice area and had an interesting museum, reconstructed Indian Village, a Fort and three full size replica sailing ships that would have been used.  There were guides in costume to give information too.

The stories of John Smith and Pocahontas are all covered in the visit.

We are outside the entrance.

The Indian village.

Not too sure about the canoe!

We got back to Duck after 5pm and later went for a pizza at Trisha's house.  She was a lady who had worked with Rebekah. 

War Paint!

Lincoln Memorial.

White House.

Day 5 - Saturday 13th September 2014

We have the whole day to sightsee in Washington.  It's been a bit cooler today and we had a rainy afternoon.  What a good job I packed a folding umbrella.  I even had the foresight to have it in my rucksack!  When it started raining I complimented myself as I kept myself dry.  My only mistake was letting John hold it when it briefly stopped raining and he quickly fiddled with it and snapped it!  The heavens opened again and I got soaked.  This prompted a story from Rebekah about President William Harrison who was an older aged President who was determined to prove his vitality by riding a horse on his Inauguration Day. It rained and he caught pneumonia and died within a month!  I hope that doesn't happen to us.

Anyway back to the holiday..... We did the tourist stuff by revisiting the White House and then the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and Congress Building.  We also visited the Archive Museum to see the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution.  We were also surprised to see a copy of the Magna Carta.

We also went to see Smithsonian American History Museum.  There was lots to see.  We looked at exhibitions on Thomas Edison, American Presidents and Wars involving America.  It served a purpose in that we could dry off and only went out when the weather was fine.

We did a little bit of shopping and then going out for a meal.  Probably going to Chinatown area?

Day 4 - Friday 12th September 2014

Last night we watched TV programmes about the terrorist attack on 9/11.  What a happy thing to do!  It was very moving.

We arose early to set off to Washington.  We were away by 6.30am.  I had booked the Hilton Garden Hotel for one night but I already decided we would stay for two nights so that we could visit Mount Vernon on the way and have a whole day in the city on Saturday .  We could travel back on. Sunday and see Jamestown.

The journey went alright.  I recokoned on about 5-6 hours.  I am still getting used to the driving from the left side of the car.  John gets frightened by me getting too close to other cars on his (passenger) side. Ts a bit like role reversal. I used to sit in the passenger side when I was teaching John to drive, often getting worried about the car being too voles to the kerb!

When we got to Mount Vernon the weather was lovely and bright with temperatures that felt around mid 70's Fahrenheit.  This place was the home of George Washington.  It is about 15 miles south of the city on the banks of the Potomac river.  It is a big tourist attraction, it has a museum and a farm and all in a beautiful setting.

After, we drove into Washington and had no problem finding the hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel on 14th Street.  It's only a couple of blocks from the White House.  It's a nice hotel with all facilities and they are kind enough to park my car for me.  It's a bit like me working at the Gilpin Hotel except the Gilpin doesn't charge 40 dollars a day for the parking!!

We walked out in the evening to get our first view of the city proper.  We walked past the White House, it looks very different from the street perspective than it does from the TV pictures we normally see.  

Our attention quickly turned to our stomachs and we went to a restaurant called 'The Pig'.  It has been recommended by a girl at the hotel bar.  For main course Becka and John ordered Pork Knuckle and I ordered Porchetta but Becka said she had actually intended to order the Porchetta so I swapped with her.  She wasn't disappointed because she said it was the best meal she had ever had!  Our meal was good too and it reminded me of the Schweinaxe German speciality that I had on my earlier holiday.

John is having a bit of a hard time as he can't drink alcohol here.  He doesn't seem to mind.  Back at the hotel Becka and I sat at the bar and I tried a bourbon whiskey called Knob Creek!  It amused my sense of humour but I refrained from trying to explain my amusement to the barmaid!  Probably a wise decision.

Back to the room to cuddle up next to John.  Good night John boy!

Resting place of George Washington.

Vernon's at Mount Vernon.

Answer to previous question.

Replica of the first powered plane.

Lunch at the Black Pelican.

Day 3 - Thursday 11th September 2014

This is the anniversary of 9/11, the attack on the Twin Towers.  Flags are at half mast.

Hello, it's Richard again.  By the way, I dispute that Becka told me about not having a post box!

We had stayed overnight at Janines house at Corolla and by 9.30am we were swimming in the Atlantic with great big waves crashing down on us.  We got back to Becka's house and after showering etc we set of for lunch at the Black Pelican at Kitty Hawk with three of Becka's work colleagues, Trish, John and Joy plus Janine.  It was nice to meet them and had a nice meal.

After lunch we went to the museum and memorial for the Wright Brothers who made the world first powered flight in 1903.  It was very interesting.

We stopped and played crazy golf on the way back to the house.  We plan a quiet evening before driving up to Wahington DC tomorrow.  It's about 6 hours drive.  So, we are staying overnight in the city.

Day 2 - Wednesday 10th September 2014

Hello! Becka here, writing from sunny Duck and enjoying the company of my much missed Dad and brother! I'm very happy to see them and it's been the longest period of time away from them and the almost the furthest from home I've ever been. Although it is kind of surreal having them around here again after so long, haha! I finished my last shift at Wee Winks Market and Deli yesterday and prepared myself and the house for their arrival. Had a great evening settling them in and catching up on what we've all been up to. 

This morning we drove to have the token Walmart shopping experience which turned out to be one of the specific must-do things in America according to my sponsor company's guidelines.. We had to have a good hard think about exactly how much we were going to need for the week that we are here, trying to buy the minimum of things so we don't have to throw too much out next Tuesday...we still managed to get too much I think! But it was a fun introduction to an aspect of American culture they've all heard about. I think it's going to be really nice being a tourist for the week because I haven't really had the chance to see a lot of the main attractions of the Outer Banks, or OBX as it is shortened to.  Dad, of course, immediately drew up an itinerary for the week, jotting down a few main things we need to do. The list includes lunch out with some of my friends from the store, a round of jet skiing possibly, and a cheeky night in Washington DC!!!!!! We are definitely going to make the most of these last two weeks out here, I hope the weather stays fine. 

When we got back, my friend Janine popped round to say hello and Dad gave me some 21st birthday cards that hadn't quite been able to reach me over here. Dad gave my house address to all my family and friends not realising (or forgetting, because I had told him) that the house I'm staying in does not have a post box! So I didn't get many cards on my birthday but I carried on and went to celebrate in Las Vegas! Bless my soul ;). 

After Janine left we had a wander down into the town of Duck and I got to see a few places and shops I hadn't managed to get round to seeing before and John and Dad got to the place I had been basically stranded in for 4 months! We went into my place of work, Wee Winks, and my Dad got to meet my bosses Nathan and Ninnette. They were about as welcoming as usual..which was not a lot haha, but at least that's out of the way and once we sort out getting my last pay cheque in the bank I don't have to worry about them anymore. They weren't the nicest of people to work for as you may have guessed. But we purchased the couple of things we had forgotten to get in Walmart (there's always something) and hopped over to the next door liquor store which John promptly got thrown out of as he was underage despite being almost 7 foot tall. Dad also accompanied the visit with a joke that I would be embarrassed to repeat on here...they're ruining the pristine reputation I've built for myself all summer already! ;) 

Once the essentials were acquired (gin and toilet paper) we walked back down the sound side boardwalk and took a particularly American lunch of donuts and ice cream haha, and sloppily made our way over the road to the beach side, and walked all the way down back to the condo. The guys managed to sunburn the backs of their necks of course. 

I took my turn at getting burnt as well (when I embarrassed Dad and John with my skills on the tennis court just behind the house).  I missed putting sun cream on the tops of my shoulders..but that will make it only the third time I've managed to get burnt since I've been out here. As a walking UV light sponge I think that's pretty impressive. 

After a dinner of the traditional Vernon bangers and mash combo and a few drinks, John and I introduced Dad to 'Cards Against Humanity'.  A party game for horrible people. The game involves answering the questions on the black prompt cards with the rudest, crudest, most ridiculous, most politically incorrect answers you can in order to win. Needless to say it was fun..and disturbingly educational for all involved, especially so later on when we met up with Janine again at her beach house in Corolla. As I had the UK version of the game we did have to explain a couple of things to her...like who Jedward is. That was painful. 

So we had a fantastic first day here in OBX and according to Dad's plan, tomorrow we can look forward to swimming in the sea and going for lunch with my work friends. I'm not sure what they're all going to make of each other but they have really made me feel welcome in a way the people I've come across who are my age never have. So overall we've had a great day and I can't wait to go to Washington, New York and then back home to some decent rain! 

Healthy eating......not!

Nice beach at Duck.

John looking after his old Dad!