Miami, Florida

Were going to Miami.....according to Will Smith. Luckily Colin had the song on his ipod which was in the boot and we decided to only play the song when Sabine was with us. We headed as far south as we could go and drove straight to the airport to collect Sabine. We were a bit late but luckily so was her flight so it worked out perfectly. It was fairly overcast as Hurricane Ike had detoured and missed us going straight across Cuba to Texas but we were getting a bit of bad weather. We headed down to South Beach and found the hotel. Lovely hotel situated only 1 block back from the beach. We went for a walk and the water felt beautiful, I couldn't wait to get in. We went to Big Pink's for dinner and it was great. A typical American diner and the choice was beyond belief. So much food and the servings were immense. And turned out it was a local hangout for the Miami Beach Police department with many officers (plain clothed) coming in to eat. Then a relaxing evening.





The next day we were off to Kennedy Space Centre. There was supposed to be a launch but due to the hurricanes it had been cancelled. Oh well we still wanted to look around. We missed the last tour at 2pm by 10mins but were able to go around the main complex. We went on a simulated shuttle launch and went inside a real life shuttle. Looks to look at and we saw a 3D Imax movie narrated by Tom Hanks about the moon. Then it was time to drive the 3hrs back to Miami. A swim and brief rest and we had dinner at local place Sabine & I found called Fresh on 5th. It was great for freshly made to order salads & sandwiches. Then it was a bit of pub crawl along the main drag. It was lovely to sit outside and watch all different types of people walk past. Lots of fun.





Next day we headed off to the Alligator Safari park in the Everglades. It was awesome! We had a 40min airboat ride and our driver gave us a bit of history when we were out amongst it all. Apparently they are in drought so most wild alligators were in a different part as there was more to eat there. But it was beautiful and the boat was so much fun, I kept thinking about Horatio on CSI Miami!!! We did end up seeing 2 wild alligators. We got back to the park and then they had an alligator talk and we got to see 4 of the biggest alligators ever! Then I got to hold Snappy. He felt like sausages before you put them on the barbie. You almost wanted to hug him until you saw the razor sharp teeth. We then wandered around the park viewing all the gators. What a fantastic experience.



Back to South Beach for more swimming before we headed out for the night. We walked around checking out all the clubs before we finally decided on an Irish Pub!!! We met a couple of girls and chatted to them for a bit, then we headed off to the night club Mila recommended....Mango's!! Oh My Goodness!! It was so much fun, the girls were dressed in spandex bra's & knickers and doing the mambo/tango/rumba whatever it was on the bar. The blokes were half dressed doing the same moves. It was totally crazy and hilarious. We had an amazing time and at about 3am decided to head home. Steve was still enjoying himself so we left him there.





Next morning I was up early and out down the beach after breakfast. This was going to be my last chance before we flew out that evening. The weather was perfect and the water was divine. There was a strong rip so decided to head in. Wish I could have stayed, I love the beach. It was back to the hotel to shower and check out. Sabine & I were downstairs waiting for the boys and they came down a bit late. Steve had super red eyes and Colin was feeling pretty sick! he he he The afternoon was spent lying on a couch out the front reading my book and snoozing. About 4pm it was time to go and I was really sad to leave as it was perfect.





We got to the airport and said goodbye to Sabine as she was getting a different flight back. Finally our flight was announced and sadly we had to go. Luckily this must have been a newer plane as the seats were bigger and we had on demand videos. Up we went and when they were serving dinner we went through some extremely scary turbulence. It was so bad the flight stewardess had to sit down too. People were spewing everywhere, it was really scary. I had to watch Sex & the City to try to take my mind off it. Luckily if finally stopped (an hour or so later) and it was smooth sailing from there. Made it home in time for my bus back to Portsmouth and finally walked in the door at 1pm.



What a trip.

Disney World, Florida

After leaving Slo-vannah behind we headed south down the interstate for 5hours! It was a slow and monotonous journey but we finally made it to Disney World. A few wrong turns and we arrived at The Wilderness Lodge Resort where our cabin was ready for us. Each hotel/resort is a mini town in itself. The place is HUMONGOUS!!! After we checked out the cabin we headed to the marina to get the ferry to the Magic Kingdom. It was late afternoon but we were told we shouldn't miss the parade and fireworks over Cinderella's castle. And it was fantastic. It's just like in all the pictures. Everyone was so nice and friendly, weather perfect and I was super excited. We had some dinner then managed to stick a ride in the Haunted House in before the parade. I had been pre warned by Colin that he gets frightened easily but luckily it wasn't too scary for him. As the sunset the parade started and all of Disney's characters came out to play! I loved seeing Ariel, Poseidon, Chip N Dale, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Daffy and many more. What made it even better is that there were kids everywhere and they were so excited too. The atmosphere was fantastic. After the parade passed by we walked over to Cinderella's castle and took a seat on the concrete directly in front and on the dot of 9pm Tinkerbell sailed from the top window down! It was incredible, she must have been a couple hundred feet up in the air and going down a zip line in the dark! Then the fireworks started, and breath taking is the only word. They were in time with the music and there were so many of them! It went for a good 20mins before we then had to head off back to the campsite for the night.

Colin's 32nd Birthday. We were struggling with washing at the time so Colin decided to wear the t-shirt I got him for his birthday. Many comments were received over it.

We were up at 7am and were down at the mess hall for brekkie. $10 for all you can eat and the selection was unbelievable. So much to choose from you didn't know where to begin and our server was so bright and bubbly for such and early start we thought there might have been something in the water. After filling up we were off to the Animal Kingdom to start. What an adventure! We went on the safari park ride and saw about 10 different types of animals which usually are found in Africa. Then it was on the water ride where we got soaked totally and had to go around for the rest of the morning nice and wet. We headed up Everest on one of the newer rides in the park and it was so much fun. I heard for the first time Colin screaming like a little girl and it was pretty funny! We stopped off in Dino Land and went back to prehistoric times to rescue a dinosaur then it was time to leave the Animal Kingdom and head to the next park. On the way out I managed to get my picture with Timon!!!

Epcot was the next port of call and sadly a bit disappointing. We though a specific ride was there but got our parks mixed up. The boys went on a fast car track thing, I decided against as we had just had lunch and didn't want to have to experience it twice. There was much more to see and do in Epcot but as we were quite time restricted we made the decision to head to Disney Studio's.

Disney's Studio's was great, the main street was so bright & colourful. They were having a parade as well during the afternoon so we headed over to the Star Wars attraction and went on that ride. It was fun and I'm sure if you are a huge Star Wars fan you will love it. Next it was over to the serious ride......Aerosmith's Rock n Roller Coaster. This is the ultimate ride!!! If you want a shot of adrenaline this is the ride for you. By far my favourite ride ever. It was so scary you should have heard Colin! loved it, 2 thumbs way up! There was another ride which was an elevator which went up and down at random but I had just had an icecream and didn't think it would stay down so we all passed on that ride.

Last park to visit was The Magic Kingdom again. We headed over to the legendary Space Mountain ride in Future Land. It was quite funny to see this area as back in it's hey day it must have looked super high tech! Now it is just amusing. Space mountain was a great ride because Colin was in the front car by himself and all I could hear where girly yelp and squeals coming from him during the ride. I couldn't stop laughing!

Then we went to Frontier Land and did another roller coaster which was good and ofcourse we did Splash Mountain last. It was a lovely log ride where you go along watching the story being played out of Brier Rabbit. Colin was mentally scaring himself already and found the cute little bunnies sinister and when the time came to go down the fall, he had to grab hold of my arm!! Soooo funny.

So after 10 hours of fun we were exhausted and headed back to the homestead for an all you can eat dinner. As it was Colin's birthday the staff brought out a piece of cake with a candle and the whole dining room sang Happy Birthday to him. Very unexpected but lovely. Then it was off to bed for a well deserved rest.

Next morning we were up and packed and ready to hit Miami and see Sabine! The cd that Mila's got me for my birthday - The Top Gun Soundtrack - came out and was played full volume! We were cruising the interstate in style!

I would recommend Disney World to everyone, young or old. We were so lucky that it was slow season as the most we had to wait was 10mins for a ride so got to do 4 parks in one day. People say you need a day per park. I would hate to see it in peak season.

Charleston, South Carolina & Savannah, Georgia

Deep down south!! After Wilmington we headed down to Charleston, South Carolina for a couple of days. We had a lovely hotel right in the middle of town and we went for a walk in the evening to scope out the city. I had been there last year so it was nice to re-visit such a beautiful city. We stopped at Jestine's for dinner as it was recommended by Fiona. It was delicious and the service fantastic. I had the most amazing coconut cream pie!

The next day with weather warnings about hurricane Hannah which was coming up the east coast, and we decided to do a horse drawn carriage tour around the historic district. It was really overcast but humid and the tour was beautiful. It was nice to hear all about the buildings and history of Charleston. After lunch the storm hit and it was such a nice afternoon relaxing reading books and hanging out. Colin & I decided to hit a local coffee shop in between showers and chilled out chatting to the locals. Most of the shops were closed due to Hannah. Steve came down in the evening for dinner then it was a quiet night in.

Further south and we hit Savannah or Slo-vannah as one local called it. It was so hot and humid but absolutely beautiful. Everyone was so friendly and nice and it was a dream. It was a chilled out afternoon swimming and walking round town. The next day we headed out around town and did a lovely tour, saw were Forest Gump sat in the movie. IT's fake!!! There isn't even a bench it's actually a flowerbed, and the fake bench is in a museum. It was great fun and we headed out for dinner that night to the Pink House which is quite famous in Savannah. We then kicked on to a local club, but weren't too sure where to go so the southern hospitality kicked in and we met some really nice people who took us to a place called Bar Bar. It was so funny seeing some people and what they were wearing and dancing. It was super fun and we met heaps of funny people.

After a few days it was time to head off to the state of MIAMI!!!

Lucy in motion...

Wilmington, NC

After an extremely long and boring 6 hour trip from Washington DC, we finally arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina at about 8pm. We decided we had better stop for dinner as we were quite late and pulled off into one of the local motorway diners. It was revolting. Some chicken place, I can't even remember what it was called as i have blanked it from my memory it was so awful. Colin even bought a piece of pecan pie that was disgusting, it looked like pure lard he was eating. He actually had to take 2 bites to believe how bad it was. Unfortunately Lucy was already in bed so I was going to have to wait until the morning to see her. But it was fantastic to see Fiona & Andrew. Their back porch looks fantastic and the swinging chair is great. Andrew also showed me the pizza area which is amazing, and the herb garden is so much bigger than in the pictures. But it was time for bed as a bit day tomorrow!!


Happy Birthday to me!! 2nd September 2008 and I had just turned 32. Can you believe it. I woke up early and could hear Lucy downstairs so I got up and went down. Totally ignored her at first as she was a bit shy but after about an hour of chatting to Fiona & Andrew she came around! She is the CUTEST girl in the WHOLE WORLD!!!!! And you can chit chat to her all day long. Some words were a bit hard to understand but with two translators nearby (Fiona & Andy) it was great. Andrew made pancakes for breakfast and the boys finally got up too. For my birthday I got a great North Carolina shirt from Lucy and a gift voucher for Ryan Air from the Thoms. After brekkie we headed off to Wrightsville beach for a lovely morning of swimming and relaxing. Andrew made an amazing motorbike in the sand and it took ages to convince Lucy to sit on it. She is super independant and you can't make her do anything she doesn't want to do. After the beach I took the boys to the mall and did a bit of window shopping followed by lunch at TGI Friday's! Back home for a relaxing afternoon with a great bbq out on the entertainment area. The weather was perfect, food great and company fantastic. After dinner we had birthday cake, a lemon meringe pie that Fiona had made special. It was so delicious, you can see how delicious it was by the photo of Lucy trying to eat as much as possible at once! That night I decided to stay in as I was tired and lets face it, I am getting old.

Wednesday morning the boys decided they would do some tourist things. They went to the USS North Carolina and then to a shooting range. I decided to opt out of both and I took Lucy to the beach by myself! No tears or tantrums, we waved goodbye to mum and went to the beach for a couple hours. It was great fun but SOOOO much work. The amount of times I had to go down to the ocean to get water in her bucket! But we rode the waves and got dunked a few times by the time Fiona came back to get us. It was great. That afternoon was spent relaxing playing with Lucy then it was off to the local Thai restaurant for dinner. Lucy loves goyza's and I reckon she stuffed about 10 in her mouth! It was a lovely restaurant and we sat outside in our own little hut. After dinner the boys and I headed downtown to check out the local night life. Unfortunately it was only 8pm and nothing was going on so we did the only thing and English person could..... go to an Irish bar. We had a couple of drinks, Colin's choice was classic and by 10pm I was tired and wanted to go home. The bouncer said nothing really kicked off until 11pm but I couldnt' be bothered waiting.

The next morning we were up early and packed. It was time to leave and head to Charleston. We still had hurricane Hannah & Ike to worry about but it didn't look like we were in any immediate danger. So it was a bit sad to say bye to Fiona, Andrew & Lucy but we had to go. Lucy decided at that moment that she wasn't going to give me a hug goodbye or wave, so bit of a bummer but I had got heaps of hugs that morning so off we went!

Washington DC

After an uneventful flight Colin, Steve & I arrived in Washington DC! We picked up our hire car and made it thru the traffic of downtown to our amazing retro Hotel Helix (http://www.hotelhelix.com/). Our rooms were fantastic and we got changed and met up with Zach & Ellen. It was great to see Zach and felt like I had only just seen him last week. Ellen was Zach's friend from Chicago and was so much fun. After the rounds of hugging we headed over to the Washington Nationals stadium for a game of baseball game against the Atlanta Braves. It was fantastic and the atmosphere was electric. Even though we lost it was extremely entertaining and afterwards we headed back to the hotel where the others went for a drink in the lobby but I decided to go to bed to get ready for the big tourist day.

Sunday we met Zach & Ellen in the National Archives to view the original Declaration of Independence. It was amazing to see even though you couldn't really read it. I took a picture of Colin whilst we were in there and forgot to take off my flash and got in trouble with the guards. Luckily it didn't cause a national incident. After lunch we headed over to the National Crime Museum where we ended up spending 3 hrs walking around. It was great fun and felt a bit like CSI operatives. Then it was down to the Lincoln Monument, Washington Monument, Korean Memorial, Vietnam memorial at sunset the pictures were amazing. We headed out that night and had mexican for dinner and tried to get into some of the local clubs. Unfortunately the lines were long and we couldn't be bothered waiting so we decided to go back to the hotel lobby for a drink. On the way home we noticed some people hanging out on a fire escape and being the friendly person I am shouted out hello. They invited us up to their house party and we decided to go up! Whats the worst that could happen? It was fantastic. We made a huge group of new friends and rocked the party all night! We ended up leaving about 2ish after dancing and eating oreo's!

Monday we drove to Alexandria where Zach lives and met up for brunch at a local restaurant. The time was going to fast and I was sad to leave Zach and Ellen. Zach gave me a lovely jumper for my birthday to commemorate my time in Washington, then it was off to go to Wilmington, 6hrs away.