Their Nation's Captial

The next stage of our USA trip took us to Washington DC. The flight from Boston was a short one, but Cazzie still managed to get a good hour's sleep in!

We arrived mid afternoon and decided it would be a good idea to take the subway to our hotel. This seemed like a flawless plan until it was time to get off the subway and walk the "very short distance" to our hotel. After about 30 mins of dragging our ever increasing in weight suitcases around in a very large circle while the temperate got warmer and out clothes wetter, we decided it was time to give in and ask directions. It seemed that we have been doing laps of our hotel!

The hotel was lovely and we managed to check in with no problems. After a quick shower we headed out to have a little wander around while trying not to go and see any of the numerous sights that we had planned to do for the next 2 days. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and a coffee before it was time to meet with Don and Glenna, a couple of my parents friends who live near Washington. We had about 30 mins to kill after getting ready so we popped across the road for a quick drink and this is where we saw that there had been a massive crash on the Subway on the line we were on about 4 hours ago with a few dead and 100's injured! I guess it wouldn't be the same if we visited a country without there being some form of disaster!

The meal with Don and Glenna was lovely. They took us to a suburb of Washington called GeorgeTown where we had Italian, share stories about all our various holidays and future plans, and Don picked up the tab - result! They dropped us back at our hotel just before midnight.

The plan for the next day was to take the hopefully open subway to Union Station which is sort of like Grand Central Station but in DC. This is where we would pick up our tickets for the open top bus tour. The ticket we got was valid for 48 hours and we were delighted it was as there was so much to see and do!

I could detail every single sight we saw, but I think that would even bore me, but there were some real highlights which included Capitol Hill, The White House, The Mall, The Monument, The FBI building and The American History Museum, but there were 2 places that stood out for me, The World War II Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The WW2 Memorial was completed in 2004 (in fact, all the historical building we saw looked like they had just been completed in the last 5 years!), and was there to show all the states that took place during the war. At either end of the monument were the two oceans - Pacific and Atlantic with a fountain in the middle. The whole thing was terrific.













Then there was Arlington National Cemetery. I'm going to be honest with you, I didn't really know what this place was all about and the only reason we went there was because it was on the bus route, but I' so glad we did. This is the place where members of the Armed Forces, members of their family and pretty much anyone else connected to a war that the US has been involved in are buried. It receives 4 million visitors a year. I'm not really sure how to describe it. It's 420 acres and I could not even start to guess how may are buried here. It seems as well that any soldier that died while they were actually serving in the forces got one type of headstone and anyone else who used to be a part of the forces got a choice. This is what got me I think.























This was just one view of one area from one direction. And further more, all these headstone and lined up not just horizontally and vertically, but diagonally too. It was stunning, precise, clean and perfectly maintained. There are other nationalities here too including Korean and Japanese.

President JFK is also buried here, and is one of only 2 Presidents to have that honour. We felt like we were stalking him!

Again, I could go on abut what else is here, but if you are interested, follow this link.

That pretty much brings us to our final night in Washington where we headed back to GeorgeTown for dinner and a drink. After an OK meal we found a piano bar - winner. We got right on it despite that fact that the piano dude was awful!! We decided to go for a wander to see if we could find another bar that tickled our fancy, but being America, a lot of that bars are in hotel and restaurants, so we ended up back in the piano bar. In true style, we finished the night sat round the piano, singling very loudly and telling the guy how great he was!

Overall Washington is a great place. You get to visit all the places you see on the telly and there are some lovely areas to shop, eat and drink as well as lots of suburbs, huge parks, endless fountains and monuments. It's well worth spending 3 days here as there is loads to do!

All the pics can be found here.

One funny stories from DC. We knew that Barak Obama was in the White House when we visited it and he was conducting an interview with Good Morning America. Everytime Cazzie saw a black man she asked me "Is that him???"

Now it's off to Philadelphia!!

Lots of love

Stuoobs

xxx

Cheers Boston!

After a very early flight from Vegas, we arrived in Boston mid afternoon. I knew from previous Vegas trips that we would need something to do on our first night in Boston, otherwise we would all pass out very quickly. With this in mind, we decided to take in a Red Soxs baseball game on Friday night. A quick check-in at the hotel, where we were offered a half price upgrade to a better room that included access to a bar on our floor which served free snacks between 5 and 7 and a free breakfast. The cakes here were amazing!! We enjoyed a few beers here before we headed to Fenway Park.

The plan was to get foot long hotdogs, beer and foam fingers. This was followed with military precision.

After another baseball game where I really didn’t know what was going on and my 3^rd successive game where the home team lost, we all headed to a local bar to grab some fried food and a few more beers. The evening was a great success and stopped us all from pulling the rip cord very early on.

The next day we had booked ourselves on the trolley bus tour of Boston – you know the type – the tours round a city where you get a guide at the front telling you all about the stuff you are passing and you can hop off and hop on where ever you want to, to walk around. It is very touristy but the only way of seeing all the best parts of a city. We took a walk to the first stop and grabbed breakfast on the way. The street we walked down was lovely. Full of boutiques and antique shops. Really English. Really quaint. After a great breakfast, we hopped on the trolley and began our tour. Our guide was excellent and we learnt all about the history of Boston, the English invasion, the famous Tea Party, MIT and Harvard and more importantly, the Cheers bar. There is the replica bar, where we stopped and had a beer, and about 1 mile away is the actual place where all the outside shots were taken.

The replica bar was in a place called Quincy Market. This place was full of shops, bars, restaurants, street entertainers and a large market. It was a great place and really bustling.

We hopped back on the bus and continued our tour. Then we got told something that is truly genius. We had all noticed that there wasn’t much traffic about and wondered why. A few years ago, traffic was so bad in Boston that the powers that be decided to build a network of roads underground. This is a great idea. Anyone that wants to get from one side of Boston to the other now uses these tunnels meaning they don’t have to clog up the city centre. Screw the congestion charge, we could do with this in our major cities. It’s a great idea. The only trouble with this plan was that it is very expensive. Original budget for these tunnels were $3 billion, but it cost nearly four times that much.

A few more stops on the trolley and we were back where we started. It was a great tour and I can highly recommend it.

It was time to head back for a shower, so we took a walk through the park that was by our hotel. There were lots of wedding parties having picturesque photos, boats on the river and lots of little ducklings.

For dinner, we headed to Little Italy and after a few glasses of wine in a few bars, we were ready to eat. We dined in a lovely little Italian restaurant and were given a great table. A few more glasses of wine and lots of lovely food, we were all ready to hits the bars of Boston, so we headed a place that had a live band on and proceeded to get smashed. The band was great and the drinks flowed. A great night had by all and we were chucked out at 2am. Cazzie’s feet were hurting, so we taxied it back to the hotel, where she decided to do cartwheels in the corridor of the hotel at 2.30am which we were amazed that it woke no one up! Videos will appear later on YouTube!

The expected hangover greeted us the next day, so a fry-up was next on the agenda. After a walk around the shops and a trip to a couple more places such as the Boston Library, it was again tea time. There is a bar at the top of the Prudential tower that we wanted to go to which gives great views of Boston. As the weather was rubbish, the views were not so great, but the cocktails were! I think I won with my Tropical Splash.

Hunger was very much upon us, so after a great recommendation from our Concierge, it was time to go to Abe and Louie’s. We were told that this place is much better than Smith and Wollanskies. I was somewhat sceptical but as I always say, there’s nothing like local knowledge. I will be doing a separate post about our dining experience here. Enough said.

After our meal, we were all pretty much spent, so we retired to bed as Cazzie and I had to leave to 9am to catch our flight to Washington DC.

Boston is a terrific city. Full of culture and history with plenty to keep you occupied for 3 days.

See you in DC!

Love

Stuoobs

xxx

Viva Las Vegas

Let me start off by telling you something that you should already know. Las Vegas is the greatest city on Earth and I will argue this fact with anyone who wants to. This place has everything and lots of it. I not going to bang on anymore about how good it is – but if you only visit one other place in your life, make sure it is Vegas.

This was the 4^th time I have been here. Cazzie and I arrived from Houston on Sunday night and checked into the Bellagio. We wandered around to find something quick to eat before Paulie and Karen arrived from the UK.

We were all set to go at about 8 pm and we headed over to Planet Hollywood Casino. Paulie and Karen grabbed a quick bite to eat while Cazzie and I played the tables. It was fairly clear that this wasn’t going to be a late one as jet-lag and Houston had caught up with us all. After a few gins on the blackjack table, we all called it quits.

So Monday was upon us and the weather was glorious. I have only ever been in Vegas during the winter and therefore never been able to take advantage of any of the wonderful pools that these 5 star hotels have. It was decided to eat at the poolside cafe before spending the next few hours soaking up the sun.

It was now time to get dinner and I have heard that the burgers at the Paris Hotel were the best you can get. I did have my doubts, but I needed to try them for myself. We rocked up to the Burger Brassiere and we were a tad disappointed that it was a sports bar. I was expecting more of a bistro type place. Anyway, we cracked on and ordered the Kobe Beef burger and I have to admit, it was great. I have had plenty of burgers in my time, but this was the best. And not only was this the best burger, we ordered a stack of onion rings, which were right up there too.

This is the beauty of Vegas – 4^th time here and the trip is never the same. In fact, I think the only constant during my 4 trips, apart from the gambling, is the Piano Bar At Times Square in New York New York. This is my fav place in Vegas. 2 duelling pianos, playing requests from the very drunk crowd, but in a way that everyone gets involved. Paulie and I, along with 8 other blokes, ended up in front of a lady on our knees, who was sat on top of the piano having requested “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling”.

After a few Kamikazes and copious amounts of Vodka Cranberry, we were ready for bed.

Tuesday rolled round and the format was similar to Monday. Bit of breakfast by the pool (well, it was more like lunch by the time we had surfaced) and another sunbathing session. The next place on our list to eat the Bellagio Buffet, rated as the best on the strip. The queue for the buffet was about 70 deep, but I had managed to get us a free line jumping pass, so all 4 of us waltzed straight to the front of the queue, which must have really pissed everyone else off. The buffet itself was amazing. Crabs legs, huge shrimps, Elk, Prime Rib, Italian, Chinese and Indian. There was almost too much to choose from. The best part of this buffet were the desserts.

We all grabbed 2 / 3 each, put them in the centre of the table, took a bit from each one and decided upon our 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd favourite. The results were

1 – Lemon Meringue pie

2 – Chocolate pudding

3 – Strawberry Tart

To be honest, there wasn’t much to choose between them as they were all amazing.

Paulie and I then jumped on the blackjack table while Cazzie and Karen took themselves off to one of the many bars in The Bellagio. Before we knew it we had been sat at the table for 6 hours, had 15 gins and the girls were very drunk! It was about 6 am before we finally called it quits. If my memory serves me correctly, we were the last 21 table still standing!

Wednesday was my birthday and I started it with a hangover. After opening my cards we again headed down to the pool for food and sunbathing. We had booked ourselves into the miX restaurant at The Hote1 (yes, it does end with a 1 not an L) at Mandalay Bay for this evening. It was right at the top of the hotel with fantastic views.

The meal was terrific as was the restaurant. A tad pricey, but hey, it was my birthday. We headed back to the Bellagio where we spent a few more hours and a few more gins on the blackjack table, finally getting to bed at about 3.30 am.

Our last day started like the others with food by the pool. I finished the book I was reading, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, which is very funny. Tonight we had tickets to see The Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Vialli and the Four Seasons. This has been rated at the top show in Vegas and I can’t really argue with that fact. It was brilliant. Really well done and the guy that played Frankie was amazing. When you do go to Vegas next, see this show.

We ended up eating in the Venetian before heading back to the hotel. It was a concisions decision to make this a quiet night as we were up at 6am to catch our flight to Boston.

Again, another wonderful trip to Sin City. As mentioned earlier, it was yet another different Vegas experience. We didn’t really venture out that much. We had done the Grand Canyon, Shopping, walking to all the other Hotels and Casinos, so it was a more relax Vegas trip in the day time. This put us all on good form for the night time activities, not that you can really tell the difference between night and day when you are there.

Anyway, it’s off to Boston. See you there

Love

Stuoobs

xxx