tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56648103722089858352024-03-06T05:53:09.368+11:00Boots, BBQ, Blues & Big Rides - American StyleOn the road again! Tripping around the USA in January 2013 - through the home of cowboy boots, southern bbq, bluesy rockin' music and of course a rollercoaster or 10 thrown in for good measure!Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-69396727983010824762013-02-13T10:17:00.000+11:002013-02-13T10:17:42.940+11:00ADIÓS AMÉRICA - GRACIAS POR LOS MARAVILLOSOS RECUERDOS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading to Santa Monica</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the Pier</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Friday, 25
January to Sunday, 27 January 2013</span> – Our last day in America! Time certainly does fly when you’re having
fun! It was an early start for us as
Justyn and I were driving mum and dad to LAX for their flight to Hawaii and the
aim was to be there around 8.30am. After
stripping beds, emptying bins and having a cup of tea, we farewelled W Laster,
loaded up the Red Baron (left the others sleeping as they too were flying to
Hawaii that day but not until the afternoon) and hit the various highways and
freeways at 7.00am as we were not sure what the notorious Los Angeles peak hour
traffic might throw our way. Easily
making our drop off time, we said goodbye to mum and dad who were looking
forward to a week of rest and relaxation by the beach and drove across the LAX
Embassy Suites Hotel. I had booked a day
room here as our flight didn’t depart until 8.30pm and we wanted to have a
place to check our packing and shower before the long flight. Breakfast was included in our accommodation
so after checking in, parking and taking our bags to our room, we headed down
to the buffet. Fuelled up, we took Red
Baron back out on the road to fuel him up too and headed to Santa Monica Pier
which is where we thought we’d spend most of the day. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Monica Pier - Pacific Park Amusement park</td></tr>
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Located only 20 minutes from LAX, we found
the pier and parked, and jumped out to explore.
Most of the attractions and stores were closed for the winter but up the
end we watched a pod of dolphins enjoying the weather a lot more than us! Did you know that Santa Monica is the end (or
start) of the original Route 66? </span><br />
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It is
also the home of the original Baywatch but we didn’t see Pammy or the Hoff
strutting their stuff along the beach. Halfway
back down the pier, the rain decided that it would stick around and we were
rather drenched! Purchasing the
obligatory magnet souvenir, we thought perhaps a movie and a spot of shopping
might be a better waste of time than any outdoor activities! <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you spot Pammy & The Hoff on the beach?</td></tr>
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Our first port of call was t</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">he Promenade
at Howard Hughes Center. There was a cinema
but the times of the movies didn’t suit.
I was a bit grumpy as my shoes were completely drenched and I had been
planning to wear them on the plane so we did find a department store and found
not only new shoes for me, but jeans, shirts and a backpack for Justyn! On to the next centre! Villa Marina Marketplace Mall was located in
Marina del Ray so we thought that sounded nice so off we went – only to find a
mall in major construction… We could use
the gym if we felt so inclined… Oh well,
we stopped into the Starbucks and I almost had to slap Justyn to stop him
staring at the lady who was waiting for her coffee who had soooooooooo
obviously been through plastic surgery as she was botoxed and pulled and sucked
to within an inch of her life – you know that platypus type face! Hilarious!
Onto the next shopping centre!
Completing our circle, we headed around to Manhattan Beach to the Village
centre which turned out to be the same one Kelly and I had wasted time at on
our visit in 2004! With a Macy’s,
Sephora, CVS, sporting goods, cinema, food and many other options, we had found
the right place to while away the rest of the day. Again the cinema times worked against us, but
we stocked up on items we’d forgotten and decided to have a very late lunch at Islands
Burgers. </span><br />
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With a very kitsch Hawaiian
theme, we thought with everyone else flying there today, we would eat there too
as our tribute! After out late lunch, we
took Red Baron back to the hotel, repacked our bags, showered and readied
ourselves for the trek home. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Red Baron!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We farewelled
the car, shuttled to the airport, checked in and had a very boring 2 hour wait
in the very small terminal for Virgin Australia! With bulkhead exit rows, we were able to
stretch out, I took a head cold pill and promptly slept for most of the flight
home! A special mention to the
stewardess in our row who was a delight and looked after us (from what I
remember) the whole way. Due to the time
difference, we left the US on the Friday night, completely missed Saturday
(Australia Day) and arrived bright and early Sunday morning!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A wonderful,
wonderful holiday with great people (thank you again to Kay and Dave, Patty and
Keegan, mum and dad, Peter and the kids) who are as just a part of the fabric
of our holiday as the places and experiences we relished.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home! Bags exploded!</td></tr>
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Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-19546322053000625482013-02-12T12:55:00.000+11:002013-02-12T12:55:06.233+11:00RACING THROUGH THE REALMS TO IN N OUT<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justyn, Taylor & I racing in Lightning McQueen! Ka-chow!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Thursday, 24
January 2013</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> – Our last full day in Anaheim and we had yet to conquer
Radiator Springs Racers at California Adventure! The weather had finally caught up with us
again with early morning rain, and a forecast for overcast and much cooler
temperatures. We decided to all drive to
the Disneyland parking station and catch the tram in to keep as much out of the
drizzle as possible. We all has our
fingers crossed that Radiator Springs Racers would be working…. And it was!
The weather and being a weekday had kept the crowds way down so we
grabbed Fastpasses for a 1.30pm ride and joined the small 40 minute queue for
our first experience on this much-hyped ride.
Taylor, Justyn and I were in the front seat of a ‘Lightning McQueen’ and
the others were in another car which meant we got to race each other – just
like we were in a slot car! After we
boarded our car, we went for a bit of an idyllic drive through Ornament Valley
Range before entering the dark portion of the attraction where we ran into
several Audio-animatronic characters including the Sheriff, Mater and Frank the
Tractor. </span><span style="text-align: center;">At this point, we turned one way Ramone's House of Body Art for a quick paint refresh (that meant we were squirted with water mist…) while the others went into another section where they had their “tyres changed”. From there, both of our cars lined up ready to race outdoors a top speed of 65 kph. Pretty good fun although we really, really wanted to go faster!!! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone (on the right) enjoying the Tower of Terror!</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Agreeing that we all needed to ride the Tower of Terror again, we all went on it this time and it was just as great during the daytime as it was when we rode it during the night. We all then went our separate ways to ride or do things in California Adventure that we did not do last time and meet everyone back at the Racers at 1.30pm for our fastpass second ride. The kids went to ride California Screaming while Justyn and I went over to Soarin’ Over California which we had been told was a great experience (and it was!). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the Soarin' Over California ride</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">The attraction, which lasts nearly five minutes, takes you on a simulated hang glider tour of California, flying all over the state from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Yosemite National Park, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Disneyland itself during the Christmas season. The last few scenes transition from daytime to dusk and then to night, culminating in Disneyland's Holiday fireworks surrounding the riders in the nighttime sky. With each change of scene or recreation, scents (citrus, pine, sagebrush, ocean mist) fill the air as the ride vehicles themselves move gently to simulate the sensations of flight. It was pretty damn cool! As a huge Muppet fan, Justyn and I went over to Hollywood Land to enjoy Muppet Vision 3-D, featuring “live” Statler and Waldorf heckling from their balcony while mayhem ensues during the show. Some trivia for your, this was the final Muppets project that Jim Henson voiced Kermit. It was now time to head back to meet everyone for our second ride on Racers and this time Justyn and I rode on our own but unfortunately we went through the same section with Ramone’s body painting rather than through Luigi’s tyre change. Lucky Taylor was the only one who managed to have both experiences</span><span style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">!</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was creeping
closer to 2.00pm and we still wanted to head back across into Disneyland. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3dNnQtT1DAUlZDXaCbcagL43tMkNW3e4eFS2hkLB6kwlUc48la0TaEWNBWh6xwLgHn_MgHxTZtnVHCn8go1Pu4T_qdLZgpfZSiD4NVnqFCgqpyMa5OBWvO3eEVZOveSHCAOrnP94uxY/s1600/IMG_3982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3dNnQtT1DAUlZDXaCbcagL43tMkNW3e4eFS2hkLB6kwlUc48la0TaEWNBWh6xwLgHn_MgHxTZtnVHCn8go1Pu4T_qdLZgpfZSiD4NVnqFCgqpyMa5OBWvO3eEVZOveSHCAOrnP94uxY/s200/IMG_3982.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mad Tea Party spinning cups!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Agreeing to meet up later in Disneyland,
the girls went to track down the Disney princesses, the boys were having
caricatures drawn and Justyn and I took off straight to Space Mountain! We did grab Fastpasses, but there was
absolutely no waiting so we jumped on to explore the deepest darkest recesses
of space! Again! After lunch, while we were still in
Tomorrowland, we went on Star Tours again which meant that we only have 52 more
times to ride it to have experienced all of the possible adventures you can
have on this ride! </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of my
classic favourites is the Mad Tea Party, the spinning tea cup ride. In case you are from another planet, the ride
theme is inspired by the Unbirthday Party scene in Alice In Wonderland. The ride has gained infamy over the years for
the number of people who get motion sickness!
We also Fastpassed the Indiana Jones ride again and while waiting,
headed around to Critter Country.
Unfortunately Splash Mountain was also undergoing a major refurbishment
(I get that winter is the best time to refurb water rides, but all of them at
the same time??), so we jumped in the beehive that is the buggy vehicle for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh dark ride. More suited to the younger age group, we
still manage to enjoy ourselves through Pooh’s mishaps! Another classic favourite is the Haunted
Mansion (Disney does love a dark ride) in the New Orleans Square realm. This has a great lead up with lots of special
effects going on with portraits following you, breathing doors, stretching
rooms and other great illusions. Jumping
in our ‘doom buggy’, the ride took us through various haunted rooms, cemeteries
and theatres – the scariest encounter was a weird lady who recited
word-for-word the Ghost Host – including maniacal laughter! Obviously she is a fan of this ride… </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Still fondly remembering our beignets from
our time in New Orleans, we found a little café were we could enjoy banana
flavoured, Mickey Mouse shaped beignets so of course we had to indulge! After we had ridden Space Mountain and
Indiana Jones ride again, it was after 6pm and with the park closing at 8pm, we
just had some souvenirs to buy. We’d
found out that mum and Sally had already caught a taxi back to the house and
dad, Peter, Taylor, Britts and Byron were still going hard. So after we purchased our souvenirs, Justyn
and I walked around back into Tomorrowland to catch the monorail to Downtown
Disney. One of the park’s signature
attractions, the Disneyland Monorail System opened in Tomorrowland in 1959 as
the first daily-operating monorail train system in the Western Hemisphere. The monorail guideway has remained almost
exactly the same since then and five generations of monorail trains have been
used in the park, since their lightweight construction means they wear out
quickly. It follows a 4 km long route designed to show the park from
above. Alighting in Downtown Disney, we
found our way to the tram back to the parking lot and then drove back to W
Laster to wait for the boys. Farewell
Disneyland – it has been a blast!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3v4nH-j24cazG7sMxLsHdfJ-Orm0LCrLensdXZp2dfqpmF8F5PCjibxzxGjHtIrPur1-BQXL348YQfAXjlXxkvdaQImvujNBT8C0cC8der8AZCN-tA4PHsXgCMtZly5riKld_elCEtIU/s1600/In+n+out+burger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3v4nH-j24cazG7sMxLsHdfJ-Orm0LCrLensdXZp2dfqpmF8F5PCjibxzxGjHtIrPur1-BQXL348YQfAXjlXxkvdaQImvujNBT8C0cC8der8AZCN-tA4PHsXgCMtZly5riKld_elCEtIU/s320/In+n+out+burger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’d decided
that for our last meal together, it just had to be In n Out burger; a US
institution. While Justyn and I had
indulged on our previous trip to America, everyone else was pretty keen to give
it a try. Although he really wanted vegetarian,
Peter had to make do with the same beef patty as everyone else. Because the In-N-Out menu only consists of
three burger varieties: hamburger, cheeseburger, and "Double-Double"
(double meat/double cheese). The
hamburgers come with lettuce, tomato, with or without onions, and a sauce. Peter, Justyn, Brittany and I drove the
closest restaurant, joined the queue and placed our order for 8 cheeseburgers,
2 hamburgers, 10 serves of fries, 2 chocolate thickshakes and 5 lemonades… Your order is made only after you have placed
it, so we found a spare booth and sat down to wait for our order. Dashing home after we picked up the order, we
munched through our burgers, slurped up the thickshakes and commenced
packing! What a bummer! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Anaheim and
managed to pack a lot into the week but packing is a real downer!</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-62309653166358866512013-02-08T17:02:00.000+11:002013-02-08T17:02:09.622+11:00SCOOBY DOO, TRANSFORMERS, RIDES & WATER - ITS UNIVERSAL STUDIOS DAY!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wednesday, 23
January 2013</span> – The plan for today was to head into Los Angeles to knock over
Universal Studios in a few hours, then head to Hollywood Boulevard and take a
walk along the Walk of Fame and having a reasonably early night. Oh the best laid plans! I had pre-booked preferred parking at Universal
so our aim was to be at Universal Studios around the opening time of 10am but
had not taken into account the notorious LA traffic. It was a lovely day for a drive; the Red
Baron had satellite radio so we were entertained, there was not much smog
around – we actually were able to see the Hollywood sign on the drive! That was a first for me as there had always
been too much smog layering the metropolis of LA to be able to see it up in the
Hollywood Hills. Eventually we arrived
at Universal City, parked and made it into Universal Studios closer to
11am. Crowds were very light as it was
mid week and most of California was at work so we just had to dodge the
overwhelming number of Australians and jump in and have photos with the many
characters from the Universal studios collection. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitObDJV_r-gKWD14kRz6X-P6BZ5iqxw02r0OKlBMU8688ceZe26N8rKbP_ly1WuP-jmeSYup9Q-2VUfoLs6Dxg93qD5O2afpWt2ulG5cxAJTxMvwWlhPcuZMggSdch4bcIvjAPGtH6HM0/s1600/Universal+Studio+Characters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitObDJV_r-gKWD14kRz6X-P6BZ5iqxw02r0OKlBMU8688ceZe26N8rKbP_ly1WuP-jmeSYup9Q-2VUfoLs6Dxg93qD5O2afpWt2ulG5cxAJTxMvwWlhPcuZMggSdch4bcIvjAPGtH6HM0/s640/Universal+Studio+Characters.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzSPQ9S58MU0WAD7ADL_L814HHV5avs66szw9nrWL9LUL7Xdw6Mp-_dqAMnT9fm4gzUuR77UABYUZKdcPZqsShcoZhx-gnh501sPcZePtqisZCDhfVzWup9Y9ps2vztVEhZtMAOT9Kqg/s1600/IMG_0978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzSPQ9S58MU0WAD7ADL_L814HHV5avs66szw9nrWL9LUL7Xdw6Mp-_dqAMnT9fm4gzUuR77UABYUZKdcPZqsShcoZhx-gnh501sPcZePtqisZCDhfVzWup9Y9ps2vztVEhZtMAOT9Kqg/s320/IMG_0978.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entry into 'Krustyland' for The Simpsons Ride</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first ride of the day was the Simpsons Ride
- a simulator ride and uses computer generated 3D animation and state of the
art technology. The ride itself is four
and a half minutes long and is based on riding a rollercoaster in the In
cartoon theme park Krustyland built by Krusty the Clown. Sideshow Bob, however, is loose from prison to
get revenge on Krusty and the Simpson family. And so mayhem, water squirts and
discombobulating 3D ensues! Heaps and
heaps of fun! We then went to watch the
Shrek 4-D show which turns out is exactly the same as the one in MovieWorld on
the Gold Coast (could’ve missed that one….)
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We decided to
head down the 5 sets of escalators to the lower lot known as the Starway. There are 3 thrill rides at this section of
the park and we were gonna ride em all at least twice! Easily done as most rides we walked straight
through and on and away! Of the big
three, The Revenge of the Mummy was up first.
This ride is an enclosed steel roller coaster based upon the popular
Mummy movie franchise. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlDLe1ZanJdhD_wzhZoMB5IP3oPvVcjNWgX87KwF-QFoF-7q9aVasAZYNqwYtkPxdphZyoXccR6cPOwZQujYp88g8b-GP9nvPLH3ZM_fSw8tJ0oGN5qluAAZ2jzGNqg89CsE2145l5-w/s1600/DSCF0854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlDLe1ZanJdhD_wzhZoMB5IP3oPvVcjNWgX87KwF-QFoF-7q9aVasAZYNqwYtkPxdphZyoXccR6cPOwZQujYp88g8b-GP9nvPLH3ZM_fSw8tJ0oGN5qluAAZ2jzGNqg89CsE2145l5-w/s320/DSCF0854.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entry into the Mummy Revenge ride</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once we had made
it through the maze of the queuing area based on Ancient Egypt, we jumped into
the buggy, had our seatbeats checked and were promptly launched complete
standstill to a top speed of up to 70 kph!
The ride featured warrior mummies, treasures and tombs, a scarab beetle attack,
forwards and backwards motion and surround sound speakers inside the vehicles. @#$!!! Awesome!!! (Did I mention that you get squirted with a
water mist??) As we came out of the
ride, we could see up the end of the street a queue to have a photo with
Bumblebee from the Transformers. The
eternal child that wells up in me when I’m at a themepark squealed with joy as
I took off with Justyn behind me to have my photo with Bumblebee. Those that know me that I love, love, LOVE
Scooby Doo and love, love, LOVE Transformers (so Universal is the best!!!) The Transformers ride was still being built
on our last trip and when everyone caught up with us, we headed into the new Transformers
3D: The Ride. Reported to have cost
US$100 million to build, expectations were high! The ride vehicles are modelled after an
Autobot named Evac and moves on a track through each show scene and around 360
degrees at different angles. It was like
all the action of a Transformers movie was crammed into one five-minute, 3-D package
and it was jaw-droppingly amazing. (Surprise surprise your get squirted by water
during the ride.) Back out into the
sunlight and Bumblee had been replaced by Megatron so back into the photo-queue
we went to have our pic taken beating up the evil leader of the
Decepticons. While deciding if it was
warm enough to ride the Jurassic Park ride, a soft-serve Ben & Jerry’s ice
cream jumped into our hands so we milled around with the various characters
including tall Eyptians, Dora the Explorer and her cousin Diego while we
watched the splashzone of the next ride. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjsjlowwNOpJr_YUoeFzjRuu4fl5k6gmh_CYqd42aF6I1LBY_YxzdwbAmJenQVS4htTHWSlyq_G6Ah3-grapu2YjM0pKCJhzZQc0J5Rp1uxmaoueRc98ri0k5V2wcvGe1Wjx_N3gnsYQ/s1600/P1050445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjsjlowwNOpJr_YUoeFzjRuu4fl5k6gmh_CYqd42aF6I1LBY_YxzdwbAmJenQVS4htTHWSlyq_G6Ah3-grapu2YjM0pKCJhzZQc0J5Rp1uxmaoueRc98ri0k5V2wcvGe1Wjx_N3gnsYQ/s320/P1050445.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Splashdown! Jurassic Park the Ride</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Most of us decided that we were up for the risk (how wet could we
get??). The Jurassic Park ride is a
water ride about the Jurassic Park movie adventures. Lasting for about 5 minutes, the ride starts
out with a lovely quiet ride through scenes with very life-like dinosaurs of
the non-threatening type. The ride
starts to get bumpier and yes, you guessed it, wetter. Meaner dinosaurs start appearing and ends
with a humongous T-Rex looming down at us before we plunge down 26m into the
splashzone. With the exception of dad,
we all though we survived without getting wet until near the end when a little
dinosaur popped up and squirted me directly in the face! Oh well, it wouldn’t be a Universal ride
without a squirt! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We all
definitely wanted to ride The Mummy and Transformers again, so after
experiencing these again, we headed back up the Skyway to the Upper Lot for
lunch, and went our separate ways for a bit.
Mum, dad, Justyn and I went to take in the Blues Brothers show and then
catch up with the others to finish with the Backlot tour. Unfortunately the Blues Brothers show was
cancelled with no reason, but we could see fire engines and areas blocked off so
we weren’t sure if there was an issue in the area where they were building a
new ride but the Universal people kept on smiling! </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZQp9jHpFrcXUuUNfhgtgg3SFnpRTvE6e9nKAH_Aw9yOQ59uvOHJ5OkXa8Cz-WfUzSgjmklkw-Bmbkggg3Kxl5wkBfv6YPHHQBwatmssahPNRNLxsrtqKiDEpzgNaR4Q6sVLPrqoqgYM/s1600/P1050470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZQp9jHpFrcXUuUNfhgtgg3SFnpRTvE6e9nKAH_Aw9yOQ59uvOHJ5OkXa8Cz-WfUzSgjmklkw-Bmbkggg3Kxl5wkBfv6YPHHQBwatmssahPNRNLxsrtqKiDEpzgNaR4Q6sVLPrqoqgYM/s200/P1050470.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fire engines on the job - no props!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jake and Elwood still made an appearance so
we managed to grab some photos with them and went to grab a late lunch. I found out later that a firefighter was hurt
in the process of extinguishing a minor blaze in the former Terminator 2
building – starting around 1.15pm, the fire was brought under control in around
an hour with no one the wiser! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After
lunch, we found everyone and headed down to catch the last Backlot tour of the
day – so much for whizzing through Universal in a few hours! The Studio Tour is a 45 minute ride which
uses tram vehicles to take you through Universals back-lot. The tour is the signature ride at the
theme. After passing the Starway, the tram
arrives at the lower lot and passes through the stages where film productions
take place. The television show
‘Parenthood’ was filming that day so on various parts of the tour we had to
keep quiet until we passed through the various studio sections. The tram then takes the guests to Courthouse
Square section and then other buildings in the backlot. Afterwards, the tram
enters a tunnel leading to the attraction: King Kong 360 3D. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Xc6HrdKzo8x7jDOI0NBIILr0hdww_FLYJJ6qtBk7rJWYHTzl2qCtSBUnsmPjnVR9r9XmZG0CKuIV0F7GFmruFgaX_P1IKgArw3Oc1_LctUSZuL6-fg_t051uvwdyMQitQyARHe3EWaY/s1600/P1050526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Xc6HrdKzo8x7jDOI0NBIILr0hdww_FLYJJ6qtBk7rJWYHTzl2qCtSBUnsmPjnVR9r9XmZG0CKuIV0F7GFmruFgaX_P1IKgArw3Oc1_LctUSZuL6-fg_t051uvwdyMQitQyARHe3EWaY/s200/P1050526.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the world's largest 3-D experience. You don 3-D glasses as the tram enters a sound
stage dressed as a re-creation of Skull Island.
For 2.5 minutes you watch in 3-D glory as all around you (in all your
peripheral vision including the ceiling) King Kong and a Tyrannosaurus Rex
fight. Another astounding visual effect
that needs to be experienced to believe!
Travelling through various sets from the Universal films we see the
Bates Hotel from Psycho, War of the Worlds after the plane crashed into the
street and How The Grinch Stole Christmas are visited in the tour. We also saw 'general purpose' sets, such as
the neighbourhood Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives, and a neighbourhood
that is made to look like an old west town. Apparently this ‘western area’ has six
streets, each with the essentials of a saloon and sheriffs station. Before the advent of sound, up to six westerns
could be shot at once here! The trams also
stops at The Fast and the Furious: Extreme Close-Up show and it then travels to
the Flash Flood attraction where we of course got splashed! We were attacked by Bruce the shark from Jaws,
and finally the Curse of The Mummy's Tomb which is a spinning tunnel so you
feel like you are falling… </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROHgjJPanWbq8swJIOlzcdCrNi1O2xtHstxBJ6cUq7YjlZMfLal8DTRsdKRc4_xwzsk1ZCmH_QgYsp5pvi-XGcvCoC8irOESBASaPsonaMpDggJlPASS-H9sqilbYCdyQpOVOOvsQeU8/s1600/P1050559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROHgjJPanWbq8swJIOlzcdCrNi1O2xtHstxBJ6cUq7YjlZMfLal8DTRsdKRc4_xwzsk1ZCmH_QgYsp5pvi-XGcvCoC8irOESBASaPsonaMpDggJlPASS-H9sqilbYCdyQpOVOOvsQeU8/s200/P1050559.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parting of the seas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The backlot
changes each time you tour it which always makes it a highlight of the
visit. By now it was late afternoon and
the park was closing at 5pm so it was decided that unfortunately we would give
Hollywood Boulevard a miss on this trip.
The boys all wanted ride The Simpsons again so while mum and I did some
souvenir shopping they hit the ride once more. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeozZecHShN93Ttn5kPluu9V7sNH9tq6Ai5V6hipLAdLaQA1jlbPOB1oW-Sy9q5hcRf0dLdSyaDzyhcA27nZTdebSLAyHhXSvhyphenhyphenbW2pDqW2PQwaLDrzwAAygMv99UOVKXcYLJFoWIgbs/s1600/P1050568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeozZecHShN93Ttn5kPluu9V7sNH9tq6Ai5V6hipLAdLaQA1jlbPOB1oW-Sy9q5hcRf0dLdSyaDzyhcA27nZTdebSLAyHhXSvhyphenhyphenbW2pDqW2PQwaLDrzwAAygMv99UOVKXcYLJFoWIgbs/s320/P1050568.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruce the shark from Jaws!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9R8704ynTUodH7-PJVgWf4TlHOQpki40ySfefRcr075DSyW6tUjEZGp_TFw9CAJM-6k8IEQTlkJ3U84_KpBsoblIQKsQS0KPoKsdRRf2UPPKg_XLoGiCX3t4a5pOjtXSSi056VjFZqgU/s1600/P1050578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9R8704ynTUodH7-PJVgWf4TlHOQpki40ySfefRcr075DSyW6tUjEZGp_TFw9CAJM-6k8IEQTlkJ3U84_KpBsoblIQKsQS0KPoKsdRRf2UPPKg_XLoGiCX3t4a5pOjtXSSi056VjFZqgU/s200/P1050578.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At 5pm, it was time to head back on the Los Angeles freeway and set a
course for Anaheim. But with one stop on
the way! Peter took the kids directly
home, but we wanted to hit the Citadel outlet mall as it was open until
9pm. That gave us a few hours of
shopping (well a couple of hours after we limped our way there in the traffic). Shopping bonanza! Mum and dad went one way and we went the
other – lucky Red Baron had a big boot to fit all the shopping in (including
another bag for us to bring our purchases home in!). We arrived back at W Laster around 9.30pm to
a home cooked meal that Peter and Sally had prepared for us – a great way to
end the day!</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-67870590109378434972013-02-07T17:12:00.001+11:002013-02-07T17:12:19.374+11:00"TOWER, THIS IS GHOST RIDER REQUESTING A FLY BY"<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tuesday, 22
January 2013</span> – The plan was to be on the road by 10.00am as we were driving
down to spend the day in San Diego.
Unfortunately the busy day / late night put us a little behind schedule
but we were soon on our way following Patty and Keegan in their scooty Prius
down the I-5 which hugs the coastline.
Peter and the kids went on ahead of us as they were going to hit
Legoland and then catch up with us later in the day for dinner Mexican
style. A very comfortable drive, it was
stress-free following Patty in our Red Baron for the 90 minute drive – even
Simon had it easy! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-h_joGOrbdWCLsFJSZMIb6ejK5mtVMt53HKBoVru2kFp0dXifzNpPH8rSZt1XGju-CrrEysCymv0MwP1Bp6uOTAZ7CzFmS461gPU7tQekl3yf4_Cy40PXox1fNppNqXUsJXLrMzdGis/s1600/P1050176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-h_joGOrbdWCLsFJSZMIb6ejK5mtVMt53HKBoVru2kFp0dXifzNpPH8rSZt1XGju-CrrEysCymv0MwP1Bp6uOTAZ7CzFmS461gPU7tQekl3yf4_Cy40PXox1fNppNqXUsJXLrMzdGis/s320/P1050176.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baja fish taco from Margarita's Cantina</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Arriving around
lunch time, our first stop was the San Diego Seaport Village on the San Diego
Bay. A popular tourist location, there
are lots of little shops for browsing and many options for dining. And dining was the main reason we were
there. On our last visit to San Diego,
Patty bought us here to try a popular local meal – the fish taco. It was really delicious and we thought that
mum and dad would love to try it while enjoying the beautiful surrounds. The restaurant called Margarita's Kitchen
& Cantina had a queue and after securing a table in the outdoor area, the
boys joined the line to place our order.
Also joining us was Patty’s mum Barb who had so generously given up her
room for us on our visit in 2010 – it was wonderful to catch up with her again
too! With exceptional margerhita’s,
Mexican beer, corn chips and guacamole to interest us while we waited for our
tacos, we soaked up the glorious winter day in the mid 20oC’s listening to the
live music. In the middle of our
catching up, we had a phone call from Peter who had three very disappointed
kids who upon arrival at Legoland found that it was closed for the winter! So they decided to tag along with us for the
rest of our day in San Diego. By this
time, our baja fish tacos had arrived - a scrumptious piece of golden fried
fish, shredded cabbage, chipotle sauce and salsa fresca in a fluffy corn
tortilla, with a wedge of lime perched on top.
What a lunch! And what could be
better to finish it off but Ben & Jerry’s ice cream! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbaxZsw9yX6HGVTVcWJwIU5PZ8V8aBB7XBgALbzm1oTZFRNh3tjtsLlA6DI-GJu6FB2DoufNx_FhL-FuKhBZs_hGiu3WiKq1Ul95IzFY9UgXY8T_CEi7-YTxqbLqvncqBzzj1G2AR-GE/s1600/P1050213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbaxZsw9yX6HGVTVcWJwIU5PZ8V8aBB7XBgALbzm1oTZFRNh3tjtsLlA6DI-GJu6FB2DoufNx_FhL-FuKhBZs_hGiu3WiKq1Ul95IzFY9UgXY8T_CEi7-YTxqbLqvncqBzzj1G2AR-GE/s320/P1050213.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">After we finished our ice-cream, it was time
for a ride on the famous carousel. Last
time Keegan and I rode, this time Taylor, Brittany, Byron, Keegan and I all
rode the nearly 120 year old hand-carved wooden horses. Some trivia for you about the Seaport Village;
it was built on landfill over Punta de los Muertos (Spanish for Point of the
Dead), where the Spanish expedition of 1782 buried those who had died of scurvy!
In later years it was a railroad yard
where goods and other materials used to come through the area. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While Patty,
Barb, Peter and I moved the cars closer to our next stop, the rest of the group
wandered around the paths and headed down towards the USS Midway, our planned
afternoon activity. Commissioned a week
after the end of World War II, the Midway was the largest ship in the world
until 1955, she served for an unprecedented 47 years, saw action in the Vietnam
War, and was the Persian Gulf flagship in 1991's Operation Desert Storm.
Decommissioned in 1992, she is now largest museum devoted to carriers and naval
aviation. With an audio guide and
‘doscents’ (ex-military) available for any other questions, we spent a couple
of hours checking out the crew's sleeping quarters, the engine room and ship's
jail, and pilots' ready rooms, as well as primary flight control and the bridge
high in the island over the flight deck.
It was actually very interesting and of course the highlight for
everyone was pretending to be Maverick from the movie Top Gun requesting a
fly-by… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Say Cheese!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkV1vr3-zdqTPCx6msJ-3Xq982EQXUPcbGRult8n0mlPVPFLTnG77_tbQkMG-UQ5Mfz5cVItswNPevPHyfgmK0c2a10FfEIJdgKGoEzZC-w3mrNXlc__nCCK_bR3i3HptOijhut1HXwlQ/s1600/P1050232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkV1vr3-zdqTPCx6msJ-3Xq982EQXUPcbGRult8n0mlPVPFLTnG77_tbQkMG-UQ5Mfz5cVItswNPevPHyfgmK0c2a10FfEIJdgKGoEzZC-w3mrNXlc__nCCK_bR3i3HptOijhut1HXwlQ/s320/P1050232.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be tourists!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for Takeoff on the deck of the USS Midway</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUG5L9KqPr9tpr4Rw9VnhIAgi0q8YLJ0zDfJBiyDynKx4nVbFvXW5ZKhyphenhyphenlzb3W7s5pLEANQI-aecxaHt_6JZGxEv5iFqCN-lVNTKdZkK6XvnrpSr-fviVF928KEpvxufJKcxZRYDf-rs/s1600/IMG_3917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUG5L9KqPr9tpr4Rw9VnhIAgi0q8YLJ0zDfJBiyDynKx4nVbFvXW5ZKhyphenhyphenlzb3W7s5pLEANQI-aecxaHt_6JZGxEv5iFqCN-lVNTKdZkK6XvnrpSr-fviVF928KEpvxufJKcxZRYDf-rs/s320/IMG_3917.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyjTqFEvk-CpXt22IWFymJ9gZ2Ww7SJUa5Ex2ny-rphjwM7Svb_lmIYNvSefjjVlKph7Kja8Dxxv0K24tJs3gVlz1AcgAxamZhylNV-r3ADPheMy6UCX85eu1hjlP6wUNBjoMwvI1sg-M/s1600/IMG_3905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyjTqFEvk-CpXt22IWFymJ9gZ2Ww7SJUa5Ex2ny-rphjwM7Svb_lmIYNvSefjjVlKph7Kja8Dxxv0K24tJs3gVlz1AcgAxamZhylNV-r3ADPheMy6UCX85eu1hjlP6wUNBjoMwvI1sg-M/s320/IMG_3905.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pilots Ready Room</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor captaining the boat</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The sun was now
setting and it was time to head across to Old Town where we were having dinner
with Patty, Keegan, Barb and Patty’s sister Julie who I had last seen in 2004
in Boston! Unfortunately we did not have
enough time or day light to wander around Old Town, a national park that commemorates
the early days of the town of San Diego and includes many historic buildings
from the period 1820 to 1870. During the
day, you can wander through these historic buildings which include a
schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, San Diego's first newspaper office, a cigar and
pipe store, houses and gardens, and a stable with a carriage collection. Many have demonstrations of what life was like
during this era. There are also stores,
with local artisans demonstrating their craft.
The restaurant of choice was Fiesta de Reyes’s Café de Reyes. Located in the centre of the courtyard, we
enjoyed Mexican beers, sangria and one of their famous frosty margaritas while
dining under the stars. The atmosphere was
warm and festive and the food was delicious. An added plus was the live Mexican music and
dancing while we ate. I attempted to
make my way through the giant plate of slow roasted tender pork carnitas and
tomatillo sauce enchiladas, topped with cheeses, whilst Justyn tackled the chicken
burrito which had juicy stewed chicken with cheddar and jack cheese, pico de
gallo, and rice, all stuffed in an oversized flour tortilla. Whew!
Way too soon it was time for Patty to take Keegan home as she had had a
couple of HUGE days entertaining us and after hugs with everyone we said
goodbye to the McEvoys until next time. Thanks
again Patty and Keegan for visiting with us!!
Peter also decided it was time to hit the road and get the kids home and
into bed so mum, dad, Justyn and I took the opportunity to have a wander
through the shops that were still open, buying some beautiful Mexican tiles and
other souvenirs before we too pointed the Red Baron back to W Laster,
Anaheim. </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-88068163774635872572013-02-06T15:43:00.000+11:002013-02-06T15:43:55.855+11:00BIRTHDAYS WITH THE MOUSE <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQipiV9rnRIueyLm9l-M1PowpXz75haISGsjgiHVW_PDsKRu5fZ0OJFNLf8WFOhTNpmjxOBTiWPBB6rPMXZH5ps4cFtJhyphenhyphenQ3ZsuY19l0H-1EWNEfGWtD9aPf3RO2ExZ7hRtqd2OJQA9sU/s1600/419755_542405309110857_458318359_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQipiV9rnRIueyLm9l-M1PowpXz75haISGsjgiHVW_PDsKRu5fZ0OJFNLf8WFOhTNpmjxOBTiWPBB6rPMXZH5ps4cFtJhyphenhyphenQ3ZsuY19l0H-1EWNEfGWtD9aPf3RO2ExZ7hRtqd2OJQA9sU/s320/419755_542405309110857_458318359_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keegan, Carolyn & Britts with Cruella deVil</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Monday, 21
January 2013</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> – Happy Birthday Mum! Today
was going to be a big day as not only was it mum’s birthday, but we were
spending the day in Disneyland! The
granddaddy of all themeparks started by a mouse! To a chorus of cats meowing ‘happy birthday’
from the card (as well as kids who thought it would be hilarious to mimic the
card cats), we were all up and ready to go and meet Patty and Keegan out the
front of the Big D. Dad, Justyn and I
walked to the tram while Peter drove the others to save the little feets from
the big day ahead. With everyone wearing
Happy Birthday Grandma badges, we joined the throngs heading into the wonderful
world of Disney. And what a magical
place! Straight up Main Street Sleeping
Beauty’s castle can be seen from wherever you are in the park. To our left, Mickey Mouse was conducting a
big band and numerous other characters from Disney movies were posing with lots
of excited people. Unfortunately I only
managed to nab a pic with the infamous Cruella De Vil, who was at her charming
evilest best! Heading into Tomorrowland,
our first ride of the day was to be the newly revamped Star Tours, The
Adventure Continues. Patty and Keegan
jumped on the Astro Orbitor which we heard was heaps of fun while we queued to
ride with R2D2 and C3PO on a 3-D chaotic flight through space. Did you know that with multiple beginnings,
middles, and ends, there are 54 possible routes the ride can take! Only 53 more times to ride!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgK-7qyVf4e3XOwo6VwXKYX-L7Z2O63eii7GkyaUPKpRzHp0rWDNyDAAJX2vO3OV7N-syPpXhIzMHCV0TXDauiCxNALoeSU6ncojloAwuDAazBg0uOFVpXrSePs4vHqcnReUoNhqwKW8U/s1600/P1050037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgK-7qyVf4e3XOwo6VwXKYX-L7Z2O63eii7GkyaUPKpRzHp0rWDNyDAAJX2vO3OV7N-syPpXhIzMHCV0TXDauiCxNALoeSU6ncojloAwuDAazBg0uOFVpXrSePs4vHqcnReUoNhqwKW8U/s320/P1050037.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Birthday G'ma!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After our tour
through space, it was time to head to the Plaza Inn where we had booked a
surprise birthday lunch for mum including a Minnie Mouse cake. This was fantastic as we had reserved seats
in an air conditioned restaurant and we were thoroughly looked after by the
‘cast members’. The birthday badges we
were wearing indicated to all ‘cast’ in the park to wish “happy birthday” to
group and ensure that they acknowledged the birthday person. I would recommend this to anyone who is at
any Disney park around their birthday!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1GODz3nG6OdOnD7z8eONJ5NCLbd1SOxDcBModAAN8bydCbsbTRxJsfGD79sLFM989_SJwbSQx94_OHY-ybCRIEaqYbZWg7dzAS2cmVXCXuAZ2huA5m5yEAUjhz0AI3bZpsMKHEVkY7I/s1600/P1050035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1GODz3nG6OdOnD7z8eONJ5NCLbd1SOxDcBModAAN8bydCbsbTRxJsfGD79sLFM989_SJwbSQx94_OHY-ybCRIEaqYbZWg7dzAS2cmVXCXuAZ2huA5m5yEAUjhz0AI3bZpsMKHEVkY7I/s200/P1050035.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Minnie B'day cake</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After lunch, we
headed back into Tomorrowland to grab our Fastpasses for Space Mountain (we
were able to by-pass the queue and ride between 9.40pm and 10.40pm!) and have a
shoot out on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.
Teamed with the Brittster again, this is a ride that is equal parts
shooting gallery and dark ride. Once on-board
our space vehicle we grabbed our laser pistol and shared the joystick which
controls the 360-degree spin of the buggy to give your greater aim. As you can see by the pic, I won that round! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We also Fastpassed Autopia and went to catch
the Disneyland Railroad (Justyn does love a train!). The track encircles Disneyland and provides a
grand circle tour around The Magic Kingdom through each of its realms including
a visit to the "Grand Canyon/Primeval World" dioramas. After the train ride, it was back to Autopia
and this time Byron was in the drivers seat.
Literally. This is a self drive
ride, where we steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track on
guided rails but there still serious steering involved! Byron did pretty well chauffeuring me around
the park! On our way to the next ride,
it was definitely ice cream time and Justyn and I just couldn’t go past the
Mickey Mouse shaped ones! We thoroughly
enjoyed our treats while we were in the line for the Finding Nemo Submarine
Voyage, an adventure through the Australian waters with Marlin and Dory as we
searched for Nemo. Although the
viewports windows are below water level, the "submarines" do not
actually submerge when "diving". It was pretty cool as it involved the Pixar
animation amongst the sculptured seascape.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mickey Icecreams</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We had been in
Tomorrowland for most of the day so with Space Mountain the only ride left to
tackle in this Disney realm we headed across to join the queue for the
Matterhorn Bobsleds. It is modelled
after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Swiss Alps and is the first tubular
steel continuous track roller coaster ever constructed and thus a coaster landmark. Closed for six months in 2012 for a major
refurbishment, the mountain was painted to make it more reminiscent of the real
Matterhorn Mountain. Justyn, Patty, Keegan and I were in a train
together; each in our own section in single file. Most of the ride happens inside the mountain
and once we are at the top, the bobsleds descend unpowered through the
Matterhorn's many caverns and passageways past the growling Yeti before
plunging into a water break. I think
this was Keegan’s favourite ride based on the giggles behind me! Some trivia for you - in the 1980's, The
Matterhorn Ski Club began buying Seeing Eye Dogs with the unclaimed coin change
and items that fell out of pockets during the ride. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After the
Matterhorn, it was decided that it was finally time to tackle the ‘dinosaur in
the room’; the ride that brings either squeals of delight or groans of pain at the
perceived torture ahead, “It’s a Small World”.
A Disney staple, it is almost mandatory that first time visitors endure
this ride! A couple of us were seasoned
professionals, however it was still set up still for the Christmas so it was a
mash-up of the well known song with Christmas caroles…. Happy happy joy joy! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of us on It's A Small World</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Located in the realm of Fantasyland, this musical boat ride features over 300
brightly costumed audio-animatronic dolls in the style of children of the
world, frolicking in a spirit of international unity, and singing the
attraction's title song, which has a theme of global peace. Did you know that this ride goes for 15
minutes!! Now the Disney first-timers
can truly say they’ve been to Disneyland!
(Yes Justyn, I promise you that I will never, ever drag you through It’s
A Small World again…) The Disneyland
parade was starting soon and we managed to grab a good place to watch it from
so while everyone waited or went to get jumpers, I found a pretzel in the shape
of Mickey’s head – well I just had to try it!
We heard Mickey’s Soundsational Parade before we saw the first
float. The parade included Disney
characters from throughout the years over about nine floats, each with many
characters singing the catchiest tune from their movie. Some amazing drummers led the first float
with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Pluto following behind on their music float
accompanied by Chip 'n' Dale and Goofy – I was certainly singing along with
“M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E”! Other floats
celebrated Aladdin, Princess Ariel from ‘The Little Mermaid’, The Frog
Princess, The Lion King, Peter Pan and Donald Duck’s ‘The Three Caballeros”. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mickey's Soundsational Parade</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the larger floats presented some of
the many Disney princesses such as Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora
(Sleeping Beauty) Belle (Beauty & the Beast) and Rapuzel (Tangled). Brittany and Keegan were very cute blowing
kisses to the characters hoping for a wink or return kiss. 16 was the final count that they
received! The final float was my
favourite with Mary Poppins and Bert riding carousel horses up the street
surrounded by the chimney sweeps singing ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Parade over, we
headed over to Adventureland (bypassing Frontierland as the Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad was closed until October 2013 for extensive renovations) to
ride Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Unfortunately this was where we said goodbye
for the day to Patty and Keegan as it was close to 9pm. While they watched the fireworks, we queued
for the Indiana ride which is an enhanced motion vehicle dark ride attraction
based on the Indiana Jones films. The
queuing area is pretty amazing as it is very detailed queue and leads you
through dimly lit temple chambers and eerie passageways containing
booby-trapped sections reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies. Boarding military vehicles, the ride takes you
on a turbulent high speed adventure, which includes the rolling boulder from
the first Indy movie. It is very fast
and very bumpy and very cool! We had
time to fit in one more ride before heading back to Tomorrowland to ride Space
Mountain. Pirates of the Caribbean was
the universal choice. In New Orleans
Land, the Pirates ride is a dark log flume style indoor boat voyage float
through a larger-than-life pirate adventure featuring gunshots, cannon blasts,
burning buildings, and carousing and pillaging pirates, all accompanied by the
song "Yo Ho Ho A Pirate's Life for Me" (Disney does love a tune that burrows deep
down into your brain encouraging you to sing aloud for the next 3 days…) Did you know that the film is based on the
ride and not the other way around? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor, Justyn, Peter & Sally on Space Mountain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Feet weary and
hungry, we weaved our way back to Tomorrowland for a very late dinner before
riding the much anticipated Space Mountain.
In 2010 when Justyn and I were in Disneyland with Patty, we queued for
close to three hours to ride this rollercoaster as the Fastpasses had been
exhausted. And we did it again although
the queue was a shorter 90 minutes…. So
to walk through and by-pass this lengthy wait was awesome. I was paired with Byron again for this ride
and he was a little nervous to say the least!
Space Mountain is an indoor steel roller coaster that has been thrilling
riders since 1977 (with a number of upgrades along the way including an
on-board soundtrack and a complete track replacement!). The special effects while on the ride change
at night giving a different experience dubbed "Rockin' Space Mountain". Because of the darkness, it is near to
impossible to gauge exactly where the ride is going to go next, it offers no
drops any steeper than 40 degrees, and there is no point in the ride that would
cause anything more than the most pedestrian of thrills for even a mild fan of
coasters. That said, this ride is an
absolute classic and a screaming heap of fun!
So much so that we ran around and did it all again! Nearly 11pm by the time we had ridden Space
Mountain again, it was time for us to head home. Another magical day of a full on 12 hours at
the self proclaimed “Happiest Place on Earth”!
PS Happy Birthday Mum!</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Byron and I front row on Space Mountain!</td></tr>
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Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-45128036738459558602013-02-05T11:45:00.000+11:002013-02-05T11:45:21.520+11:00MUSIC, MARKETS & MEETING OLD FRIENDS<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gospel Brunch performers at House of Blues</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday, 20
January 2013</span></b> – Today was planned as a reasonably quiet one to catch up on
laundry, blogs, postcards, television and enjoy the house. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Justyn had planned for us all to head into
Downtown Disney to the House of Blues for a Gospel Brunch. Starting at 11am, we walked to the Disney
tram and caught it to Downtown Disney.
Dodging the many fans of the San Francisco 49ers who were queuing to get
in to the various venues showing the semi final live, we collected our tickets
and headed into the House of Blues. An
astounding buffet was part of the brunch – we enjoyed southern specialties such
as cornbread muffins with maple butter, pecan caramel sticky buns, hickory
smoked bacon, sausage links, homemade biscuits and country gravy, breakfast
potatoes, homemade waffles, omelette station, southern fried chicken, homemade
macaroni and cheese, Creole chicken and shrimp jambalaya, carved smoked turkey
breast and baked ham, and even brunch dessert!
After fueling up, we sat back and watched a great gospel show with the
most amazing singers – by the end the entire crowd was up on their feet
clapping and dancing along. Regardless
of your religious persuasion or lack thereof, the music and their passion was
very uplifting and you couldn’t help but get into the spirit of the
occasion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After being
entertained by the gospel show, we decided to go separate ways for the afternoon. Mum and dad found a shady spot to listen to
the musicians playing in the square, Peter and the kids hit the Lego store
before going to the outlet mall for some shopping and Justyn and I wandered
around Downtown Disney mixing people watching with some shopping. Finally we collected mum and dad and caught a
taxi back to the house to have a bit of rest and relaxation!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7GS5tSVjeeT2gmBNAbGe3UP4jrLrPHkyc0qJSNHO2xDe51Hp4fxN45DSnEQcCNH06IhgQRkYdMWWcQl9Bl1rrkYKkIVTxLlpKkiqmw7KxsoNP2DetIFS-xwr_yk5XxD4cVJwrytoxas/s1600/P1050008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7GS5tSVjeeT2gmBNAbGe3UP4jrLrPHkyc0qJSNHO2xDe51Hp4fxN45DSnEQcCNH06IhgQRkYdMWWcQl9Bl1rrkYKkIVTxLlpKkiqmw7KxsoNP2DetIFS-xwr_yk5XxD4cVJwrytoxas/s320/P1050008.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justyn & lego hulk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Later this
afternoon, our friend Patty and her daughter Keegan who live in San Diego were
coming to visit so Justyn and I decided that we needed a few items from the
grocery store so we took the Red Baron (the name of our Dodge Journey SUV of
course!) out for a drive around the local streets. Visits to the diverse American grocery stores
are a huge source of entertainment for Justyn and me as we love checking out
the different items and especially gazing longingly at the cereal aisle! There was no cinnabon cereal but we danced a
little jig when we discovered find Ben and Jerry’s Late Night Snack icecream in
the freezer section! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnapkhhIAiIXbJM82lCfMFPT7ol876aA0l2M_2idTGMnxtwkjHc6OqYnLyz8MTKEQ9v33ziiP13DOGoJOFNwQwoEbHwlydtGCaj2bdhl69hoM-a8EqXgER1nyfHBC3qkiKpy5h-sd_3U/s1600/P1050018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnapkhhIAiIXbJM82lCfMFPT7ol876aA0l2M_2idTGMnxtwkjHc6OqYnLyz8MTKEQ9v33ziiP13DOGoJOFNwQwoEbHwlydtGCaj2bdhl69hoM-a8EqXgER1nyfHBC3qkiKpy5h-sd_3U/s320/P1050018.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner at W Laster with family & friends</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oMDPFGOgiKJjvdj-ffH6t4z_mapYCsizgfp0P8HKUxAFoAEsWGhLODaN77fHmOpRhk79Y08jVTCp1hpO1OzemCyDYr2ZJOhAPoPKdJ20fI7G88Aj9Wm-N-kAk6mq-SyPIkleoBkkctQ/s1600/P1050021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oMDPFGOgiKJjvdj-ffH6t4z_mapYCsizgfp0P8HKUxAFoAEsWGhLODaN77fHmOpRhk79Y08jVTCp1hpO1OzemCyDYr2ZJOhAPoPKdJ20fI7G88Aj9Wm-N-kAk6mq-SyPIkleoBkkctQ/s320/P1050021.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Byron!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before long
Patty and Keegan were knocking on the door.
We had last seen them nearly three years ago when we were riding
rollercoasters so it was wonderful that we were able to catch up again. They had booked a hotel not far from our
house and stayed for dinner. When the
shoppers returned, it was wonderful to be able to introduce Keegan to Taylor,
Brittany and Byron and the two girls got along instantly. For dinner, we decided to try The Cheesecake
Factory based on Patty’s recommendation so with order in hand, Peter and Taylor
braved the traffic and queues to fetch our dinner which included a Banana Cream
Cheesecake! Dinner was great (even
though the cheesecake was completely frozen…) and there was lots of laughs and
stories over glasses of wine and beers.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-22839405717334049132013-02-04T16:45:00.001+11:002013-02-11T16:21:03.787+11:00CALIFORNIA DREAMING WHILE ON CALIFORNIA SCREAMING!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsI-LefpduNYKWI4mtklu9ETcaBD57VMtdFSgbMqmn1WpfPzRCDMyE4MPYsbtf0Ye9eQj37q9t8EEJ3TeALD6YSyNk2JHNQS6tzK4qLg_okz2oxL219qkYAcNNSKUZ0RAETlnb7jhon74/s1600/P1040832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsI-LefpduNYKWI4mtklu9ETcaBD57VMtdFSgbMqmn1WpfPzRCDMyE4MPYsbtf0Ye9eQj37q9t8EEJ3TeALD6YSyNk2JHNQS6tzK4qLg_okz2oxL219qkYAcNNSKUZ0RAETlnb7jhon74/s200/P1040832.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buena Vista Street</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday, 19
January 2013</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> – Well we heard the kids long before we saw them as Justyn and I
were in the room next door to them.
Sound asleep when we arrived last night, they were up and buzzing and
ready to hit Disneyland as soon as they could drag us out of bed. Our house in Anaheim was wonderful – it had
everything you could think and things you </span>didn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> think of, but while Disneyland
was on the other side of the wall, we had to walk a few blocks around the wall
to find the tram to take us into the Park.
We counted the tram as the first ride of the day! Santa had bought everyone a Southern
California CityPASS which gave us a three day hopper pass to Disneyland /
California Adventure, one day to Universal Studios and one day to Sea World San
Diego. This weekend was also a long
weekend in California with Monday a holiday for Martin Luther King Jr so we
were expecting a few queues! First stop
was to be Cars Land in California Adventure.
The weather was unexpectedly warm – about 26oC – so we went just wearing
tshirts and leaving the jackets and jumpers behind. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK45l65cs3ASGmW7jhA4lACH51fop9z7xzzn2iGcfl7jg2DNSD-Qe5NiVMD6tN3R1hmFkfuV_NIapt7-HSknKGKmCoxzi26eucFvdHYPRjUFtTwE2hHK1M4QJMT_Nr3Maa08Jj0c4wwLE/s1600/P1040840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK45l65cs3ASGmW7jhA4lACH51fop9z7xzzn2iGcfl7jg2DNSD-Qe5NiVMD6tN3R1hmFkfuV_NIapt7-HSknKGKmCoxzi26eucFvdHYPRjUFtTwE2hHK1M4QJMT_Nr3Maa08Jj0c4wwLE/s320/P1040840.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boys in line at Luigi's Flying Tires</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After a coffee and hat stop (because we left
the hats at home too….) the first ride in Cars Land was Luigi’s Flying Tires –
a dodgem car style of ride that of course was over too soon to justify the
wait. All the fast passes to the big
ride of the park – Radiator Springs Racers – had already been given out for the
day, but as the park was open until 10pm tonight, we didn’t fear that we would
get our chance to take on the one of the most expensive theme park attractions
in the world at an estimated cost of over $200 million! Posing and chatting with Lightning McQueen
and Mater, we headed across to Paradise Pier to take on the California
Screaming rollercoaster. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-wxRElq8vdFXNBNb7MF9HLucSFbrRydJsxqj6tpvwZbXVrM0dtzYU-lv0Obr41B_pXNQw-FWikjPxeeGJrEvBfUu5cbibVGnZFGGynPNRxPSMtXxRyRTDTy3zleRKi8X-31BKp9jYYU/s1600/Rollercoaster+Screaming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-wxRElq8vdFXNBNb7MF9HLucSFbrRydJsxqj6tpvwZbXVrM0dtzYU-lv0Obr41B_pXNQw-FWikjPxeeGJrEvBfUu5cbibVGnZFGGynPNRxPSMtXxRyRTDTy3zleRKi8X-31BKp9jYYU/s320/Rollercoaster+Screaming.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screaming on the Screamer!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/J-V7PVF1shM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">California
Screamin' is the 8th longest roller coaster in the world 1,851 m long and it is
also the longest ride with an inversion (or as Brittany calls it, a loopy loop). Though built of steel, the structure as
designed visually mimics the features of a wooden coaster found throughout US
at seaside amusement parks (eg Coney Island).
We survived! Although we weren’t
too sure about Brittany who couldn’t quite work out whether she loved hated
it! Through the tears, we learned that
it was ‘fantastic’ and we just had to do it again! We grabbed fastpasses and went to ride
Mickey’s Fun Wheel before doubling back to ride the rollercoaster again. Checking the queue for Radiator Springs, it had moved to a 3 hour wait time so we gave that another miss - there were still many more hours left in the day! Moving through the park, we headed to lunch
with return fastpasses for the The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror that I was
really looking forward to experiencing. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiiW73vSYkp0hDJjRufvYjfLV7qv91k3Itaq4FLyj5z0zjrg195NAxWCthn-Q_2G8tSwSMvi72w1EPZDijdTMfJubk-3QVVtdQokwHGt-BDyDI7LMOTUjcDXnif-1XskW1VphCJe_7IGU/s1600/Lightning+McQueen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiiW73vSYkp0hDJjRufvYjfLV7qv91k3Itaq4FLyj5z0zjrg195NAxWCthn-Q_2G8tSwSMvi72w1EPZDijdTMfJubk-3QVVtdQokwHGt-BDyDI7LMOTUjcDXnif-1XskW1VphCJe_7IGU/s320/Lightning+McQueen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chatting with Lightning McQueen "Ka-chow!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With a frozen Disneyland margherita under my belt, we took a spin
underwater on the Ariel’s Adventure riding in little shells through the
retelling of the movie – very cute and a good way to ease ourselves back in the
rides. We watched the Pixar Parade and helped
Mike and Sully rescue Boo in the Monsters Inc ride. (Taylor, Justyn and I may have ridden
Monsters Inc without anyone knowing while Brittany was having her face painted
– shhhhh don’t tell anyone!) Finally it
was time to ride the Tower of Terror. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo7ACNUjaIiMUz9_HPTW_DAxUlYfAEM7uk3GL0ih4OOxg3ykXHl0HTmraUEiDHVncGzRoSWW1Lf1td3qtM9s3La7TB0cZa5ERblMMTNfIduheADmumYyq3c5yUystqbDmk_8zq6HkGVY/s1600/P1040881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo7ACNUjaIiMUz9_HPTW_DAxUlYfAEM7uk3GL0ih4OOxg3ykXHl0HTmraUEiDHVncGzRoSWW1Lf1td3qtM9s3La7TB0cZa5ERblMMTNfIduheADmumYyq3c5yUystqbDmk_8zq6HkGVY/s200/P1040881.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pixar Play Parade</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Peter and I with the three kids were the only ones who decided to be
brave – it was quite dark inside and the lead up to the ride is a bit scary so
while Taylor was excited and Byron went very quiet, Britts was becoming quite
anxious as to what lay ahead. The ride is
an accelerated drop tower thrill ride and based upon the television show The
Twilight Zone (duh). The attraction
takes place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel and the story of the hotel,
adapted from elements of the television series, includes the hotel being struck
by lightning in the late 1930’s, mysteriously transporting an elevator cart
full of passengers to the Twilight Zone and causing an entire wing of the
building to disappear. A bit of trivia
for you - all of the “cast members” (that is what Disney calls their employees)
wear a costume that resembles that of a 1930s bellhop, and is the most
expensive costume in any park in the world.
This was one of my favourite rides of the whole trip! As we still had three fast passes to use
within the allotted hour, Peter comforted Byron who really didn’t like it and
Brittany dragged Taylor and I around to do it again all the while shouting “I
loved it! I loved it! Let’s do it again!
Let’s do it again!” In true Disney
style, the second ride was different to the first and it was to become one of
our favourite rides of the trip! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4BsVAJ2WXzqoYHi9ux9uHwNAAc3pShXiXymF3Qfo9FDyloRvXrEeruivedTxFZEIxJIqgHDS7PHhzFOwQ1DPC6kxOe93RepobwxCMh8oe1qgmREOzG3oXXu6uDiDpA46DKCTFCIX954/s1600/P1040862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4BsVAJ2WXzqoYHi9ux9uHwNAAc3pShXiXymF3Qfo9FDyloRvXrEeruivedTxFZEIxJIqgHDS7PHhzFOwQ1DPC6kxOe93RepobwxCMh8oe1qgmREOzG3oXXu6uDiDpA46DKCTFCIX954/s200/P1040862.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">By this
time we had been at California Adventure for about 9 hours and we decided to
join the queue for the Toy Story Midway Mania ride – our longest queue of the
day at 50 minutes! But a huge
interactive Mr Potato Head entertains you while you wait, and he is
hilarious! Finally our turn arrived and
I was paired with Brittany. Wearing 3-D
glasses we boarded a spinning vehicle that travels through a virtual
environment based on classic carnival midway games. Your little buggy stops at each ‘carnival
game’ and your score is recorded by an onboard display screen as points are
acquired with individual toy cannons firing simulated projectiles at virtual
targets. A lot of fun! It looked like we had missed our opportunity to ride Radiator Springs, but we still had two more days at the Disneyland parks so we were sure to fit it in somewhere! With half an hour to go before the World of
Color show was on as our final activity for the day, we trawled along the
various vendors looking for jumpers as we had forgotten that it was winter time
in America! And the night time is quite
cool! Unfortunately we were unsuccessful
so we took up our spots to watch the amazing World of Color. The show has more than 1,000 fountains and
includes lights, water, fire, fog, and lasers, with high-definition projections
on mist screens. Did you know it cost
$75 million to create?? It was pretty
spectacular as well as memorable. Now
10.00pm, we managed to crawl our way home after a pretty exhaustive first day
on the rollercoaster that is Disney! </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArmOObAPv377mApcv4SDCKQhgyohH1TZURlfarJgufAFuWI7wMOfRQNI68n9tQiDBF0cUvXq3HzyeOmHRzGX2Xbo9O5Njc0L2hC6RHURae_YXJD0DSo1q_YeW7jNLAGkmbdQwsWBK5c0/s1600/800px-World_of_Color_projected_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArmOObAPv377mApcv4SDCKQhgyohH1TZURlfarJgufAFuWI7wMOfRQNI68n9tQiDBF0cUvXq3HzyeOmHRzGX2Xbo9O5Njc0L2hC6RHURae_YXJD0DSo1q_YeW7jNLAGkmbdQwsWBK5c0/s400/800px-World_of_Color_projected_logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World of Color - Disney style</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-62334482332565615632013-02-04T12:15:00.000+11:002013-02-20T15:14:19.460+11:00ALL THE TASTES & SIGHTS OF NAWLINS IN ONE DAY!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xUDBGpvww3iOHvrQh1Cd-3Wg5_NMntKVoPUuVEZgUOb5_an9HlobKNJ7i23kgzbhp4vb5VBC69JI_82GT0wE3prlWcvw8n8pvC0xhgq527mDU38UXDL3lL9_E2Ci7xu4cJSF3hi9bHQ/s1600/P1040551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xUDBGpvww3iOHvrQh1Cd-3Wg5_NMntKVoPUuVEZgUOb5_an9HlobKNJ7i23kgzbhp4vb5VBC69JI_82GT0wE3prlWcvw8n8pvC0xhgq527mDU38UXDL3lL9_E2Ci7xu4cJSF3hi9bHQ/s320/P1040551.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Friday, 18
January 2012</span> – our last day in New Orleans loomed as another beautiful winter’s
day on the Gulf Coast. We had a fair bit
to pack in before we headed to the airport at 5.30pm for our flight to Los
Angeles to join up with my brother and his family for a week of themeparks,
rollercoaster, themeparks, big rides and did I mention themeparks??<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LhCAltWfltuBz5iy7p7zcwWmGJVixfAn__Z_TJ_yDGVKko0zJQ9QoK8ekWyEcuyMbnxBI8rvgukVWQz3HbovZccJvd2S0zH_BE9JTjBeHGGTbMzyog5zClmQRdwDSypgoKeMZSVC26c/s1600/SuperDome+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Superdown dressed for the Superbowl</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LhCAltWfltuBz5iy7p7zcwWmGJVixfAn__Z_TJ_yDGVKko0zJQ9QoK8ekWyEcuyMbnxBI8rvgukVWQz3HbovZccJvd2S0zH_BE9JTjBeHGGTbMzyog5zClmQRdwDSypgoKeMZSVC26c/s1600/SuperDome+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">As we had a
historical culinary walking tour booked for the afternoon, we decided the best
way to see all the other ‘best bits’ of New Orleans was to jump on the Hop On
Hop Off bus. If we managed to jump on
around 9am, this would give us a good three hours to tootle around the city and
the chance to actually ‘hop of and on’ at a few attractions we wanted to see up
close. Justyn, mum, dad and I walked up
to Canal Street, grabbed the bus and headed up to the top deck for the best
vantage point. These buses while being
ultra-touristy are a great way to see the sights of any city. This morning, our bus was taking us from
Canal Street past the Riverfront and Harrah's Casino (tick – saw that last
night <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Garamond; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Garamond; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>) and onto the Superdome. The stadium’s steel frame covers a 13-acre
(5.3 ha) expanse and its 273 foot (83 m) dome has a diameter of 680 feet (210
m), making the Superdome the largest fixed domed structure in the world. And it is also the venue for the SuperBowl so
there was a lot of action happening around it and no opportunity for us to get
off and take a tour which Justyn was keen on until he found out tours had been
suspended until after the big game.
After circumnavigating the Superdome, we headed back past the National World
War II Museum (tick) and along Magazine Street where after Hurricane Katrina
many retailers moved to start again and this area was not as badly affected as
many other parts of the city. Because of
this, Magazine Street has a real eclectic feel to it as you can find antique
shops next to mardi-gras specialists next to boutiques of all persuasions! </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGLBrfL4CNj3POOE1UNgQC9ozXke_JYH3gAa0Fu5uTaSd6y9tI31BlY8NJlcWD0TpJ9OYDedXE0NNJ1jwsBXSKJ_FplwLLNaHiXrwMeleqWY19Q2lKXYWVAMFZdm2f8yH0Wyd7RMfgEk/s1600/P1040632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGLBrfL4CNj3POOE1UNgQC9ozXke_JYH3gAa0Fu5uTaSd6y9tI31BlY8NJlcWD0TpJ9OYDedXE0NNJ1jwsBXSKJ_FplwLLNaHiXrwMeleqWY19Q2lKXYWVAMFZdm2f8yH0Wyd7RMfgEk/s320/P1040632.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the beautiful houses along St Charles Ave</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Magazine Street flows out into a more
suburbian area which is where many magnificent southern mansions adorn the
tree-lined route heading through St Charles Avenue – the start of the main
Mardi-Gras parades. Many of the trees
bear evidence of the years of parades (the first parade was on Shrove Tuesday
in 1838!) with beads of many colours shapes and sizes draping the trees like
its Christmas all year round. The
traditional colours of mardi-gras are purple, gold and green which symbolise
justice, faith, and power and glimmers of these colours twinkle at you from the
trees. Just duck your head from the top
floor of the double-decker bus so the tree limbs and their beads don’t smack
you in the face!! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFk5-sL-SpuZkbvpzr-uWCth64sIaOMpDuTuSaHK1ADXbbhrvbEVSuN4b0LwJ0WqX3YKiEQQgUkc7Av7kxHIyj2BG7CHdXUbFG3mJO1fEpxsFhceATYUGlKWLCxGDUgnCukKE_VXyBJFw/s1600/St+Charles+Avenue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFk5-sL-SpuZkbvpzr-uWCth64sIaOMpDuTuSaHK1ADXbbhrvbEVSuN4b0LwJ0WqX3YKiEQQgUkc7Av7kxHIyj2BG7CHdXUbFG3mJO1fEpxsFhceATYUGlKWLCxGDUgnCukKE_VXyBJFw/s400/St+Charles+Avenue.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mardi gras beads in the trees</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn382uM19wUcjjXz-hp5p2E0PXDRAfBwzex4wjgXShgxxhiihyUTI8SluEqopQbhcjMGsW0iCs_DtzJDHdp9Zch1iOsu1g9q3IKTaby3cuGapq7bAiQIY566LUOGzTyvnJWHHgcmuWotM/s1600/P1040689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn382uM19wUcjjXz-hp5p2E0PXDRAfBwzex4wjgXShgxxhiihyUTI8SluEqopQbhcjMGsW0iCs_DtzJDHdp9Zch1iOsu1g9q3IKTaby3cuGapq7bAiQIY566LUOGzTyvnJWHHgcmuWotM/s200/P1040689.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mardi Gras World Welcomes You!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The beautiful 19<sup>th</sup>
century houses continued to line the streets as we travelled from St Charles
Avenue into the Garden District on our way to Mardi Gras World which was where
we decided to jump off the bus and stretch the legs. We had just missed a tour of this warehouse
complex where they have been making and building Mardi Gras floats since 1947
and contented ourselves with browsing amongst the large sculptures of
creatures, people and floats. A very
unique industry! Time was ticking so it
was back on the next bus which headed through the Arts District and to the
historic Jackson Square, originally known in the 18th century as "Place
d'Armes,". This famous landmark
faces the Mississippi River and is surrounded by historic buildings. It is also home to an artist colony and fresh
produce markets – quite a festive place!
Heading through the French Market, we continued through the area known
as Treme which is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city, and early in
the city's history was the main neighbourhood of free people of colour. Historically a racially mixed neighbourhood,
it remains an important centre of the city's African-American and Créole
culture, especially the modern brass band tradition. Treme is home to several museums dedicated to
African American life, art, and history, as well as Armstrong Park, a memorial
to the great jazz legend Louis Armstrong.
The last ‘hop-off’ stop for us was the St Louis Cemetery #1 / Basin
Street Station stop as this was the site of New Orleans oldest and most famous
cemetery. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FEpJIntydA1-lyLhAMxNYix3Yu1P_ca-rYMNqn-E_hzj4uEFr5d_ejcM8bY4ijSl3-zKJcbp6N-UYjTXE7i9qd20Sjqd9LljK9jOgj263IotK4QyiK_JG9HMTh8vxuX6LPbBl3ORy0M/s1600/IMG_3761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FEpJIntydA1-lyLhAMxNYix3Yu1P_ca-rYMNqn-E_hzj4uEFr5d_ejcM8bY4ijSl3-zKJcbp6N-UYjTXE7i9qd20Sjqd9LljK9jOgj263IotK4QyiK_JG9HMTh8vxuX6LPbBl3ORy0M/s200/IMG_3761.JPG" width="150" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nic Cage's Tomb (apparently)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTze5kMCO8WI9YEmb2hEBgR52Lrq-IUEHU_kGpMKvoCEJEo4yZBBNipCnIhA1dAPp0fgJQgIJcVH4yqCAw9PF0g69crewGjwYmBYQZY4cM6TKyjM_3w3o3AApMJi43JRrzZ_EWCC3EEY/s1600/P1040758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTze5kMCO8WI9YEmb2hEBgR52Lrq-IUEHU_kGpMKvoCEJEo4yZBBNipCnIhA1dAPp0fgJQgIJcVH4yqCAw9PF0g69crewGjwYmBYQZY4cM6TKyjM_3w3o3AApMJi43JRrzZ_EWCC3EEY/s200/P1040758.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Voodoo priestess Marie Laveua tomb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
All of the graves are above
ground vaults and most were constructed in the 18th century and 19th century,
although the tour guide said that Nicholas Cage has his pyramid vault built in
this cemetary and ready for him when he is ready! The renowned Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau is
believed to be interred in the Glapion family crypt here also. Marie Laveau's tomb is believed to be the
third most visited burial site in the US after those of Elvis Presley and John
F. Kennedy! People still bring offerings
and leave "XXX" marks on the tomb in the hopes that the priestess
will grant them their wish. The cemetery
covers just one block, but it is supposed to contain the remains of 100,000
dead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwCZRFdknoBKGB8eD01RMH-jTxA2R-appfSvCxc5bDTVDqtdkT_ilnocidN6TZRP2-5ODhomAgnOQwpkUcwrClf4hg_POlJQRzFWwGajqEYZh5lZekogv8FDIFg0wmCMUmOQnUimTxcs/s1600/king+cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwCZRFdknoBKGB8eD01RMH-jTxA2R-appfSvCxc5bDTVDqtdkT_ilnocidN6TZRP2-5ODhomAgnOQwpkUcwrClf4hg_POlJQRzFWwGajqEYZh5lZekogv8FDIFg0wmCMUmOQnUimTxcs/s200/king+cake.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mardi Gras King Cake</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is where
we chose to end our journey of the ‘Hop-On Hop-Off’ bus as it midday and our
historical culinary walking tour was starting at 1pm just a couple of blocks
away. Making our way back into the
French Quarter, we continued to be entertained by musicians playing on odd
corners as the afternoon was getting started (and it appeared that many
tourists were getting their party started early too!) The meeting point for the tour was at New
Orleans oldest restaurant (and oldest family run restaurant in the US) Antoine’s. While mum and I waited across the street
admiring the King Cakes being prepared (the king cake is made usually of
braided Danish pastry, laced with cinnamon, always iced in the Mardi Gras colours
and hidden in each king cake is a tiny plastic baby. The person who finds the
baby must buy the next king cake or host the next party), Justyn went with dad
to the New Orleans Fire Department to drop off some patches and a tshirt from
his Mid Richmond Rural Fire Service team and pick up some NOFD tshirts – a
pretty groovy souvenir I reckon!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hKydsV2DMFvVV08W8NHmUxaHZs3MeqJSV9gm7XtV_gbjvffrG0v84M3mVK2t3i06fhfwHU8B_nYuu75pPTsXptannHs6QUJzE3cYzlSqkWfmco5kLlr3ikP8-iBqPdXmXLRjL0RTLMU/s1600/IMG_0924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hKydsV2DMFvVV08W8NHmUxaHZs3MeqJSV9gm7XtV_gbjvffrG0v84M3mVK2t3i06fhfwHU8B_nYuu75pPTsXptannHs6QUJzE3cYzlSqkWfmco5kLlr3ikP8-iBqPdXmXLRjL0RTLMU/s320/IMG_0924.JPG" width="239" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Antoine's World Famous Gumbo</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK34LaWUAqHOTE4bqK5TxKlajCEmn554RMEEDRDSD9zOKeJIOSTXt8joBI8IVstu_bJYzds3rSr3WwkqqDTCITswYANf08eqy272ZDz8ynhouF_xnQCk639W-ztEqrgCUl3GWFQVM1vM/s1600/P1040797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK34LaWUAqHOTE4bqK5TxKlajCEmn554RMEEDRDSD9zOKeJIOSTXt8joBI8IVstu_bJYzds3rSr3WwkqqDTCITswYANf08eqy272ZDz8ynhouF_xnQCk639W-ztEqrgCUl3GWFQVM1vM/s200/P1040797.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Rex Room at Antoine's</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By this time,
our guide extraordinaire Renee, arrived and shepherded us into Antoine’s into
their famous ‘Mystery Room’ to give us some history of Nawlins, the restaurant
and outline the afternoon ahead.
Antoine's features a 25,000 bottle capacity wine storage and 14 dining
rooms of varying sizes and themes, with several featuring Mardi Gras krewe
memorabilia. Apparently one of these
rooms is regularly requested by Brangelina when they are in town! The Mystery Room acquired its name due to
Prohibition as during this time, those in the know would go through a door in
the ladies' restroom to a secret room and exit with a coffee cup full of
booze. Our first taster on the tour was
of gumbo. This was an exquisite bowl of
rich Creole gumbo with blue crabs, oysters, and gulf shrimp (and much, much
better than Emeril’s I must say!).
Leaving Antoine’s, we crossed the street to where mum and I had been
watching the King Cake preparation to Leah’s Pralines. French settlers brought the praline recipe to
Louisiana, where both sugar cane and pecan trees were plentiful. The praline is easily the most famous of any
confection made in New Orleans. Not only
did we get to sample a number of different types of pralines, but we received sample
bags to take with us! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Mro7eXeRTik8W-1C0LPnHUtBN2HKbYoZIwzJyThvj-_NoQpmH0QDCBHz6vMTRDUDdv9WxcpQRfy4CZ1dGvKJZN8DAUALrgq46fky8IBhBEwmN3cmL20zGq3UsgvBvVOaiTOWRb6bvSM/s1600/IMG_3786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Mro7eXeRTik8W-1C0LPnHUtBN2HKbYoZIwzJyThvj-_NoQpmH0QDCBHz6vMTRDUDdv9WxcpQRfy4CZ1dGvKJZN8DAUALrgq46fky8IBhBEwmN3cmL20zGq3UsgvBvVOaiTOWRb6bvSM/s200/IMG_3786.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shrimp arnaud at Arnauds</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC2b-AIL8fyjUQdDG0AjpePrpMDGfEXvG8_oMIwC5iYNxQxHK7vTdzjQnzKOVp8npPvv50h4MqF_8NelgOeGJoVi5XF-yw4y702BTr4ghhil2y8QeVN8Z23O_Vt5lLn3MS_69YpmOrYU/s1600/IMG_3788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC2b-AIL8fyjUQdDG0AjpePrpMDGfEXvG8_oMIwC5iYNxQxHK7vTdzjQnzKOVp8npPvv50h4MqF_8NelgOeGJoVi5XF-yw4y702BTr4ghhil2y8QeVN8Z23O_Vt5lLn3MS_69YpmOrYU/s200/IMG_3788.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Turtle soup at Desire Oyster Bar</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAucz1KX_IWmkyJji0bY3Ah6Dd3Hfz6PiAC5qaRf2Kn9QhFP0QYQ90t2zkgCvPpXFEYUP0vLiozLNy9meSZUe4bhfGkxV45Gu-4vdVzEOd0NKfzZjgtrRprrcuB9ns1ot3U69aNJ_ljA/s1600/P1040822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAucz1KX_IWmkyJji0bY3Ah6Dd3Hfz6PiAC5qaRf2Kn9QhFP0QYQ90t2zkgCvPpXFEYUP0vLiozLNy9meSZUe4bhfGkxV45Gu-4vdVzEOd0NKfzZjgtrRprrcuB9ns1ot3U69aNJ_ljA/s320/P1040822.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mum, dad and i enjoying a muffaletta at La Divina</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">More seafood
was on the menu at our next cuisine stop.
Arnauds Remoulade are famous for their shrimp arnaud, a dish that has
held first place on Arnaud’s menu since the self-titled Count opened the
restaurant in 1913. It is considered the
benchmark by which all other Creole remoulade sauces are measured. More please!!
At our next restaurant Desire Oyster Bar, we were given a small bowl of
brown liquid that was a little reminiscent of the gumbo, but it was not gumbo! It was turtle soup! Among Creole communities, turtle soup is
known as Caouane and in New Orleans, it is a specialty of several neighbourhood
and classic Creole restaurants such as Desires.
Turtle soup is generally padded out with beef but they use snapping
turtles that are not any endangered species list. Let’s just say that I’ve tasted it and do not
feel the need to order it off a menu any time soon….. The next stop was a café called La Divina for
a traditional New Orleans muffaletta.
As you know, Justyn and I indulged in a muffaletta at our diner stop in
Lake Charles, but what is a muffaletta I hear you asking? A traditional style muffuletta sandwich
consists of a muffuletta loaf (a large, round, and somewhat flattened loaf with
a sturdy texture) split horizontally and covered with layers of marinated olive
salad, capicola, mortadella, salami, pepperoni, ham, Swiss cheese and
provolone. Thank goodness we also
received a sampler of gelato to wash it all down as I am not a huge fan of
olives! Guiding us through Jackson
Square, Renee our guide took us through a store called Creole Delicacies and
out the back to have live demonstration of a roux being made by a real creole
chef called Saundra. For the non-chefs
amongst us, a roux is s a cooking mixture of wheat flour and fat (traditionally
butter). It is the thickening agent of a number of the mother sauces of
classical French cooking which is also the basis for much of the Creole and
Cajun recipes. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkohRNVFpI-iX_VuhGQC3vYw-2y7OebqECWhNiBTg1RWhgcCC8G3rZuZ_5cxi1SdD2eJHOFON088YrD4BECdV7k8G8vcwVXe3cswzEXU7fdDZbpbicVsVhPwbXC8ZqCudPOtxWk89edaI/s1600/IMG_0931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkohRNVFpI-iX_VuhGQC3vYw-2y7OebqECWhNiBTg1RWhgcCC8G3rZuZ_5cxi1SdD2eJHOFON088YrD4BECdV7k8G8vcwVXe3cswzEXU7fdDZbpbicVsVhPwbXC8ZqCudPOtxWk89edaI/s320/IMG_0931.JPG" width="239" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saundra preparing a roux</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Apparently if you cook
the roux until it is dark, then you are making Cajun food, whilst maintaining
the lighter side sets you up for Creole food.
While Saundra was stirring the roux, we sampled mardi gras dip and the
traditional red beans and rice. Red
beans and rice is an emblematic dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine (not
originally of Cajun cuisine) traditionally made on Mondays with red beans,
vegetables (bell pepper, onion and celery – the holy trinity), spices (thyme,
cayenne pepper, and bay leaf) and pork bones as left over from Sunday dinner,
cooked together slowly in a pot and served over rice. Meats such as ham and sausage are also
frequently used in the dish. The dish is
customary - ham was traditionally a Sunday meal and Monday was washday. A pot of beans could sit on the stove and
simmer while the women were busy scrubbing clothes. Red beans and rice is very much part of the
New Orleans identity. Did you know that Jazz
trumpeter and New Orleanian Louis Armstrong's favourite food was red beans and
rice - the musician would famously sign letters "Red Beans and Ricely
Yours, Louis Armstrong”! Our last stop
on the New Orleans Culinary History Tour was Tujague’s (the second oldest
restaurant in Nawlins) for some beef brisket with creole horseradish
sauce. What a dish to end on – the
brisket could have been cut with a spoon it was that tender! Renee also promised that Tujague’s made the
best Sazerac in the city and we should try definitely try it! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKOw7X5sPj7hZWIvB-CGlZ93m9VKRcxKvtjXGOHTJaoX3gY7CQ6zyFmHZ2WltLfPQHaUehOlkHBdYFrzc3BnB-VYGv90p5n-LYf4CnYDn0fmWlB4JkILmMGKrAxfqKJpcW_VxZbpxc6lQ/s1600/IMG_3810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKOw7X5sPj7hZWIvB-CGlZ93m9VKRcxKvtjXGOHTJaoX3gY7CQ6zyFmHZ2WltLfPQHaUehOlkHBdYFrzc3BnB-VYGv90p5n-LYf4CnYDn0fmWlB4JkILmMGKrAxfqKJpcW_VxZbpxc6lQ/s320/IMG_3810.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sampling the Sazerac</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Sazerac is a local New Orleans variation
of an old-fashioned cognac or whiskey cocktail, named for the Sazerac de Forge
et Fils brand of cognac that was its original prime ingredient. The drink is some combination of cognac or rye
whiskey, absinthe, and bitters; it is distinguished by its preparation method -
using bittersand two chilled old-fashioned glasses, one swirled with a light
wash of absinthe for the slight taste and strong scent, the second chilled
glass is used to mix the other ingredients, then the contents of that are
poured or strained into the first. It is
sometimes referred to as the oldest known American cocktail, with origins in
pre–Civil War New Orleans. For those
film spotters, a Sazerac cocktail features prominently in an episode of the TV
series Treme when chef Janette Desautel (played by Kim Dickens) tosses one in
the face of restaurant critic and food writer Alan Richman (appearing as
himself). Richman had angered many New
Orleanians in 2006 with an article in the magazine GQ in which he criticized
New Orleans' food culture post-Katrina. Despite reservations, he agreed to
participate in the scene and called Sazerac "a good choice of weaponry,
because it symbolizes the city". (Let
it be know that I can now tick tasting a true Sazerac off my list and need
never put it on any list again…. I’m not
really a whisky / cognac drinker!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1tnQKyJUs-PRwq3fObT4zmSMXEr0WSWZjqWoCDkpiE1ViHqJB-P2U2_BofgJJ0y2UXm2hVyk_fvP4bNAgNz1Qfb52Y5noc2RVvQY6P0ciwIrERicvxPG4EVCUvwfmNm4d3eP79VSFAA/s1600/IMG_0932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1tnQKyJUs-PRwq3fObT4zmSMXEr0WSWZjqWoCDkpiE1ViHqJB-P2U2_BofgJJ0y2UXm2hVyk_fvP4bNAgNz1Qfb52Y5noc2RVvQY6P0ciwIrERicvxPG4EVCUvwfmNm4d3eP79VSFAA/s320/IMG_0932.JPG" width="239" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Justyn with our luggage at Budget Rentals LAX!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally our
time in New Orleans was at an end. After
thank Renee for the fabulous time we had on her tour, we made a mad dash back
to the hotel to meet our afternoon airport pick up. We loaded up the taxi SUV and mum, dad,
Justyn and I headed to the airport to catch our flight to Los Angeles. Checked in, it was a 3.5 hour flight that I
used to catch some sleep as upon landing at LAX, I was to be the dedicated
driver for the four of us – needed some wits about me for that! Upgrading our car to a Dodge Journey to fit
four adults, four suitcases plus various hand luggage and backpacks, we programmed
Simon and cruised on up the various interstates for the 40 minute drive down to
Anaheim where we were staying for the week – 6 adults and 3 children in the one
house! You would think that at 11pm at
night the drive would be reasonably uneventful, but remember this is LA! Heading along the interstate, we could see a
police car with its lights blazing zigzagging across the six lanes of traffic
slowing us all down to about 20mph. Cars
would come flying up beside us only to see the cop car and drop back to the
speed we were doing. We must have
travelled like this for about 15 minutes!
Eventually near an exit, the police veered across to the right where
they let us reclaim the 65mph speed limit.
Finally we arrived at W Laster Street in Anaheim, woke up Peter as he’d
forgotten to leave the door open for us, dropped luggage off, put mum and dad
in charge of making a much-needed cup of tea and headed back out to the 24hr
Denny’s up the road to fix us a late night snack! Then finally bed around 1am! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-20533750272040818572013-01-31T09:32:00.001+11:002013-01-31T09:54:02.596+11:00MARDI GRAS MEETS SUPERBOWL (WITH SOME HISTORY THROWN IN...)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPCckxHVsUX59LVzVnZ7IIqj_TWqwnTAmQ_72pJgRb9qeAUrbtmTzKLFx7RNMDakGCZ9K3Hgo5qP_hM6hc5CwVlOEuDx-q4RevkP_rafz6RKYjN7O62oqF3VXVwY7Z8_xPB-1Cjb2prs/s1600/IMG_3639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPCckxHVsUX59LVzVnZ7IIqj_TWqwnTAmQ_72pJgRb9qeAUrbtmTzKLFx7RNMDakGCZ9K3Hgo5qP_hM6hc5CwVlOEuDx-q4RevkP_rafz6RKYjN7O62oqF3VXVwY7Z8_xPB-1Cjb2prs/s320/IMG_3639.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outdoor breakfast Hotel Le Marais</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgq81hwQr1MctYGMqX1bBiA8rZK1_xqDDsrsgyXOQtNTWmmBzXytie6Pdb54wtmsyzvuQVIxQ2ZqN3D2SAt_CDRoxuTV22AGQ5dWpldgDkMW18jz9XrwGqo3VUkAX8D7J5ihNjB_RZjA/s1600/wwiimuseumpix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgq81hwQr1MctYGMqX1bBiA8rZK1_xqDDsrsgyXOQtNTWmmBzXytie6Pdb54wtmsyzvuQVIxQ2ZqN3D2SAt_CDRoxuTV22AGQ5dWpldgDkMW18jz9XrwGqo3VUkAX8D7J5ihNjB_RZjA/s320/wwiimuseumpix.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National WWII Museum</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Thursday, 17 January 2013</b></span> – Well we were close to Bourbon
Street alright!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The live music continued
outside in the wee hours but fortunately our hotel was reasonably sound-proofed
allowing us old-fogies (well me actually) to sleep!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breakfast was provided in our hotel, so after
meeting up with mum and dad, we planned our itineraries for the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mum and dad wanted to go riding airboats on
the bayou’s and spot alligators while Justyn was keen to head to the National
World War 2 museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So after agreeing to
meet up for pre-dinner drinks at the end of the day mum and dad pottered off in
one direction and Justyn and I walked out into the sunshine of the New Orleans morning
and headed up Magazine Street towards the museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justyn thoroughly enjoyed himself at the
museum but unfortunately some of the larger exhibits were closed as New Orleans
was hosting a little thing called the Super Bowl on February 3 and these areas
in the museum were being set up to host media and various functions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some may wonder why The National World War II
Museum is located in New Orleans, a city known for other tourism sites but
which is not usually associated with 20th-century military history. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The museum opened as the D-Day Museum,
focusing initially on the amphibious invasion of Normandy, then opening a
second gallery exploring the amphibious invasions of the Pacific War. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the Higgins Boats vital to D-Day operations
were designed, built, and tested in New Orleans by Higgins Industries, the city
was deemed to be the natural home for such a project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A highlight of the museum is the ‘Beyond all
Boundaries’ film that is shown as a 4D experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justyn’s favourite Tom Hanks narrates the film
and the voices of some of Hollywood’s top stars bringing to life the words of
actual World War II participants and war correspondents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuIU06b6FzLj5O1c2o7WL-aLkjcBTReX5DdNZq5yPOF7s3bwJHB1V29Wn6MKTZTsrntDqF7689wZcGc2QnWI0g6oVmTQ526PKMRsqDD_OCtWd5oQidwbPVp3WmPw0aNamb6jnZgAyGtE/s1600/P1040491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuIU06b6FzLj5O1c2o7WL-aLkjcBTReX5DdNZq5yPOF7s3bwJHB1V29Wn6MKTZTsrntDqF7689wZcGc2QnWI0g6oVmTQ526PKMRsqDD_OCtWd5oQidwbPVp3WmPw0aNamb6jnZgAyGtE/s200/P1040491.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creole Queen on the Mississippi</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiSVukP5u6VQ41xUyrcoPw_AABw6Br5p2z3BX6GCZxhHuRhPpKbO-l02vJQVZr5gRS9eWrZuhCdutSCzRu3yJNImSOvIf6SQUspTvZ7Mp326xvUTvMEwFr-daLPdvKZDK12x8-KbmsGo/s1600/IMG_3683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiSVukP5u6VQ41xUyrcoPw_AABw6Br5p2z3BX6GCZxhHuRhPpKbO-l02vJQVZr5gRS9eWrZuhCdutSCzRu3yJNImSOvIf6SQUspTvZ7Mp326xvUTvMEwFr-daLPdvKZDK12x8-KbmsGo/s200/IMG_3683.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe du Monde beignets</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Finally I had had enough of trawling the museum and dragged
Justyn away and out to see some of the more famous sites of ‘Nawlins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found ourselves following the route the
mardi-gras will take –evidenced by the street closures and seating being
built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did you know we missed the start
of Mardi-Gras by just one day!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXayIZ6hK9bwnrsFaTkNPm4_V0RwIzKQWlKQbMQqxTDlyCbGHcJX_vwRRsele3JdZYIGvystzUkhIcB0w8VAVqaCBGyngBPpdSrnD1qHskyACYfqUDD1LBAMQ6uW_dX5O_ls4PPNVVhDE/s1600/P1040470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXayIZ6hK9bwnrsFaTkNPm4_V0RwIzKQWlKQbMQqxTDlyCbGHcJX_vwRRsele3JdZYIGvystzUkhIcB0w8VAVqaCBGyngBPpdSrnD1qHskyACYfqUDD1LBAMQ6uW_dX5O_ls4PPNVVhDE/s640/P1040470.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting up for Mardi Gras, NOLA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxVYS5cNxwdVWh5V_SrFDF_EZH37xD65u32W0WSektCokcHyDso6c599gLWtfOrDxMXPSqPTUeVCLGOpMLUQ0Twhyphenhypheni8qFCZ0p0Nl3u60JM99u0E_VUdRehVR3dMtSX0B6M2Mn9WcggrU/s1600/P1040552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfulTfwlHw-nAIRaYOJgddiT75UGq8sBELseRl2e1od4SFkLHz44bAtwCGmcACcyLNUL7n5ohkFl2iAprSEFLRsBeKTgObGVU5eJFOBd4US-Oq0Rtq6-ly0anMqSXdSqyZ27PkacAJyU0/s1600/P1040508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfulTfwlHw-nAIRaYOJgddiT75UGq8sBELseRl2e1od4SFkLHz44bAtwCGmcACcyLNUL7n5ohkFl2iAprSEFLRsBeKTgObGVU5eJFOBd4US-Oq0Rtq6-ly0anMqSXdSqyZ27PkacAJyU0/s200/P1040508.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Next
time….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the city’s icon’s were
being adapted not only for mardi-gras but also the Super Bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Large decorated footballs popped up in the
oddest places representing each year of the Super Bowl and its location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our wanderings found us down on the
Mississippi where the Creole Queen Riverboat was setting off for a run up the
river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A huge storm had swept through
the Gulf region so the river was churning and brown, but the sky was blue and
the sun was glowing and it made for a beautiful backdrop for the paddle
steamer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time my stomach was
demanding a taste of something from the famous cusine of New Orleans, so we
found the Café du Monde.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All they serve
are café au lait and beignets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beignets
are fluffy globs of dough deep fried and absolutely smothered in powdered
sugar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was delighted!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New Orleans are also famous for the po-boy
and a well-known deli specialising in all versions of po-boys was not far from
Café du Monde – Johnny’s Po-Boy’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Along
the way we stopped in at a record shop called Peaches which is a local
institution specialising in the music of Louisiana – Zydeco, Local New Orleans
Rap, Blues and of course Jazz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Continuing to Johnny’s, Justyn ordered the roast beef po-boy and went
with the more traditional fried oyster po-boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And both were ‘dressed’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a
taste sensation!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those who are
asking “but what <u>is</u> a po-boy”, it is a traditional submarine sandwich
almost always consisting of meat, usually roast beef, or fried seafood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyEaMvHiIJu_Rt_xRuxBNRjoN6ZHBKBm5KUjs-9MV1MhK6W3Io6vyKfLYXS_dZ36Jbnn3u5p9ex3VYrBJo9x5kYqb-2NsEarAQ-9PAQlhyYwkY30MuNeqaZ_Rc-sEdLZ2Q4gxGqEFwA0E/s1600/IMG_0912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyEaMvHiIJu_Rt_xRuxBNRjoN6ZHBKBm5KUjs-9MV1MhK6W3Io6vyKfLYXS_dZ36Jbnn3u5p9ex3VYrBJo9x5kYqb-2NsEarAQ-9PAQlhyYwkY30MuNeqaZ_Rc-sEdLZ2Q4gxGqEFwA0E/s320/IMG_0912.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fried oyster po-boy from Johnny's, NOLA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-4d4U-72FOgUno3emLNjJfTqHyzXx15hb5foUOEfBbjJ2Fcarx6E9aX87SJ6T-lDs7pEtMz9D1SYgJEtRCtsB9-4t1p_Gyrup_LlfpT97KhoJ4DO9r6KXkK7CxSQzmbQDDcZusjrLhzg/s1600/IMG_3684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-4d4U-72FOgUno3emLNjJfTqHyzXx15hb5foUOEfBbjJ2Fcarx6E9aX87SJ6T-lDs7pEtMz9D1SYgJEtRCtsB9-4t1p_Gyrup_LlfpT97KhoJ4DO9r6KXkK7CxSQzmbQDDcZusjrLhzg/s200/IMG_3684.JPG" width="150" /></a>The meat is served on baguette-like New
Orleans French bread, known for its crisp crust and fluffy centre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A "dressed" po-boy has lettuce,
tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise; onions are optional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After our late lunch, we headed back to our
hotel to drop of some souvenirs we had collected along the way and set out to
explore the area around the hotel known as the French Quarter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a beautiful part of the city, with
gorgeous architecture and this afternoon our stroll was accompanied by the
music from many bands and buskers set up on most street corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often we found ourselves stalling whilst
listening to the various genres being played around us.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVUGrvNO7qpCchQYnNGV3ILxivIiUDxEzG-S5nc2EObMTi61Uu-Erjwh6Yf80EQEGIZur1elq7ULSCPDDkN23U5q-8dr3BomOMndzALsdGWEoEBcUjdWLlt7m3O7IquhRgYJgYY-vK4I/s1600/P1040519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVUGrvNO7qpCchQYnNGV3ILxivIiUDxEzG-S5nc2EObMTi61Uu-Erjwh6Yf80EQEGIZur1elq7ULSCPDDkN23U5q-8dr3BomOMndzALsdGWEoEBcUjdWLlt7m3O7IquhRgYJgYY-vK4I/s320/P1040519.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buskers on Bourbon St, NOLA</td></tr>
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Too soon it the sun was setting and the winter chill was
moving in signalling time to head back to the hotel to get ready for
dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had booked into Emeril
Lagasse’s flagship restaurant for another exceptional New Orleans dining
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justyn and I became familiar
with Emeril through various cooking shows such as Top Chef that we regularly
watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emeril initially gained fame in
the culinary world as executive chef of Commander’s Palace which is a famous
New Orleans restaurant. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After leaving
Commander’s he opened his first restaurant, Emeril’s, with an emphasis on
Creole and Cajun cooking styles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
dining experience more than lived up to expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had three people waiting on us (plus a
sommelier) and they were all engaging, professional and very knowledgeable; we
felt like VIP’s!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For appetisers, mum,
dad and Justyn all went with the gumbo and I had the special of the day which
was Sweet and Sour pigs tail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all
went in different directions for our entrees (main course) with Justyn enjoying
the "Mac N’ Cheese" which was sautéed gulf shrimp with artisanal
pasta, vermouth cream, guanciale and brioche crumbs, mum decided on the Sweet
Barbecue Glazed Salmon with andouille potato hash, crispy onions and house made
Worcestershire, dad hit the gamier side with the veal special and I had one of
items that have been on Emeril’s menu since opening the restaurant in 1990, the
Andouille Crusted Drum (a local fish) with grilled vegetables, shoestring
potatoes, glazed pecans and creole meunière sauce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There wasn’t much talking at the table while
we were all in our own little rapturous worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then there was dessert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With
not much room to fit it in, we managed to share two of his well-known desserts
- Emeril’s Banana Cream Pie with a graham cracker crust, caramel sauce,
chocolate shavings and his Key Lime Ice Box Pie with torched cinnamon meringue
and tequila gingersnap crust – heavenly bites of deliciousness each one!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_GTXaZSwlLyiHUGiTg64u3tDDDZ36mbxYTA9sRt_5WndZrtJFwBeXqH5KNsQx8h58LG-yoH_lMQK8R3UeV9ngzDsZ52FQEFP0LJOliIC0LlSf3uZ6tr1GqtQMbpjhgEdd66amN3Rmgw/s1600/IMG_3700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_GTXaZSwlLyiHUGiTg64u3tDDDZ36mbxYTA9sRt_5WndZrtJFwBeXqH5KNsQx8h58LG-yoH_lMQK8R3UeV9ngzDsZ52FQEFP0LJOliIC0LlSf3uZ6tr1GqtQMbpjhgEdd66amN3Rmgw/s200/IMG_3700.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGT-j5dU3EGxkzm6A8AcXin4dRWhQq1QZR8USC51Jns9nQ5dAwAf2vNHN1HA1iEJC1qY0XP7QVJGRJU-qJh0S_lRhx09v4Fmh-1SUp6vFMK1b1BOf_QNvuJKcuUOQz2rpkt0gqTGasgFc/s1600/IMG_3711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGT-j5dU3EGxkzm6A8AcXin4dRWhQq1QZR8USC51Jns9nQ5dAwAf2vNHN1HA1iEJC1qY0XP7QVJGRJU-qJh0S_lRhx09v4Fmh-1SUp6vFMK1b1BOf_QNvuJKcuUOQz2rpkt0gqTGasgFc/s200/IMG_3711.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxDhZL3kYNgFKVuxyWHQPOsesd_qFygC1NzjhWgs5AeDAVmRIR5vUjCsS73NLiPT2USkS7x49NZ8ZoSjQj4MZ5G2ob_kq4OV0NFdrpKJkfSij4cYF6yl9NCNrX4VlrLGcZzsnw0o0XvFE/s1600/P1040542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxDhZL3kYNgFKVuxyWHQPOsesd_qFygC1NzjhWgs5AeDAVmRIR5vUjCsS73NLiPT2USkS7x49NZ8ZoSjQj4MZ5G2ob_kq4OV0NFdrpKJkfSij4cYF6yl9NCNrX4VlrLGcZzsnw0o0XvFE/s200/P1040542.JPG" width="150" /></a>We were all very full from our fantastic meal so we decided
to amble back to our hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emeril’s was
in the Warehouse District so it wasn’t far to wander.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before long we came across Harrah’s Casino
and instead of going around, we headed in to put a few pennies through the slot
machines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justyn was the only one to
come out the other side a winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
knew when we were getting close to our hotel as Bourbon Street became louder
and louder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another Nawlins institution
we felt we needed to experience, we dodged the hordes stumbling around the
street clutching their hurricane cocktails in fish bowls, the spruikers toting
‘It’s go-time for ho-time’ strip clubs and the bachelor/bachelorette groups
covered in beads and swinging from the lamp posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All quite entertaining through my slightly
tipsy eyes (well I had had a couple of cocktails and glasses of wine with
dinner!)</div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-76894628696645508382013-01-30T11:53:00.000+11:002013-01-30T15:20:35.419+11:00BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER LOUISIANA STYLE!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4uhgM6YWr8oqpjLYBNGSXy-7ggskDQVSumU51pdRh3VxCa-ELUw0v1XEq3S1fZcZD-pYf90025KjZ_y2AA_PS2zsTsKuQU9oZs_RpKFCS5RrD_bxovfak8LbWE5MHHp8Qzh56j7cDx98/s1600/IMG_0902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4uhgM6YWr8oqpjLYBNGSXy-7ggskDQVSumU51pdRh3VxCa-ELUw0v1XEq3S1fZcZD-pYf90025KjZ_y2AA_PS2zsTsKuQU9oZs_RpKFCS5RrD_bxovfak8LbWE5MHHp8Qzh56j7cDx98/s320/IMG_0902.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">French Press French Toast & Breakfast Sandwich</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wednesday, 16 January 2013</b></span> – First up, here are some fun facts about Lafayette!<br />
<ul>
<li>Lafayette is the center of Cajun culture in Louisiana and the United States (this is different to Creole which is mainly found in New Orleans). </li>
<li> Cajun food is rural, more seasoned, sometimes spicy, and tends to be heartier - game food is the basis rabbit, hog, duck etc</li>
<li>Lafayette is said to have more restaurants per capita than any other American city </li>
</ul>
It was still damp outside but we had slept well and very comfortably in our Loft 7. During his Lafayette wander the day before, Justyn had discovered a great little café for our breakfast, so after rugging up against the 3oC weather outside we walked a few blocks to the French Press Bakery. We were warmly welcomed inside and had our very first decent cup of restaurant tea (our first decent cup was with Kay & Dave!). My selection was very easy – the French Press French Toast which was cream cheese and banana stuffed french toast with berry-champagne compote for me please! Justyn went with the Breakfast Sandwich which had eggs, avocado, bacon, tomato, spicy chipotle aioli and choice of cheddar, swiss, or goat cheese in a spinach wrap and served with cheddar grits – also delicious! Wandering back to the loft, we passed a ‘chain gang’ which was a group of prisoners cleaning up the streets of Lafayette wearing bright orange jumpsuits with black and white striped pants accompanied by the tiniest female guard – one of those sights you just never see in Sydney!! Our destination today was New Orleans and while it was only about 2 hours away, we wanted to stop in Baton Rouge and at an outlet mall along the way. But first a Lafayette magnet! Perhaps the Lafayette Visitor Centre would have them? Nooooooooo – and no souvenirs there at all but if we were interested in duck hunting then they could assist us with the appropriate licence…. Thanks but not this trip! <br />
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Across the road was a Walmat – with an odd fascination of this conglomerate, we detoured into the Walmat – perhaps they might have a magnet?? No magnets but it was a bit of an eye-opening visit as it turned out to be in not a great part of town… We did get a Louisiana 2013 calendar though! Spinning the wheels on the White Kitty, we jumped on the I 10 WB again and headed for Baton Rouge. This part of the journey took us into the Atchafalaya area and onto the Basin Bridge which is a pair of parallel bridges with a total length of 29.290 kilometres or 18.2 miles, it is the fourteenth longest bridge in the world by total length! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN4Ag0LD3HOTxvGep0FVBJ8tL5CRNzRq9_G_FZ9_pK3mR1GUiThRidSuE6wl8K6mmBV7y2VIs_0FoVTgfb6eHOgvsavIx6mrsITs3h3RmhjEanObecwapXxj2Upj91Ijiqjl5OOZufq1Q/s1600/atchflayabridge_0085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN4Ag0LD3HOTxvGep0FVBJ8tL5CRNzRq9_G_FZ9_pK3mR1GUiThRidSuE6wl8K6mmBV7y2VIs_0FoVTgfb6eHOgvsavIx6mrsITs3h3RmhjEanObecwapXxj2Upj91Ijiqjl5OOZufq1Q/s320/atchflayabridge_0085.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Atchafalaya Basin Bridge (aka Long Ass Bridge)</td></tr>
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The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge is apparently also known as the ‘Long Ass Bridge’ which was very apparent when we came across an accident on the other bridge (going EB) not long after starting on it where a truck cabin was burnt out and the traffic backed up behind it went for about 15 miles! With no place to turn around and stuck with trucks, cars, pickups and trailers, it was a very looooong wait for those people heading eastbound and we were very lucky that it wasn’t on our bridge side! Baton Rouge was upon us not long after the Basin Bridge but the weather and time wasn’t on our side so we decided to continue on the I 10 WB to the Tanger Outlet Mall in Gonzales. It wasn’t busy so we gave ourselves 2 hours to shop and dine before we had to have the White Kitty back at the hire car at the New Orleans airport. And shop we did! Woo hoo – gotta love an outlet mall – and gotta love an outlet mall with a Cracker Barrel! If you read my last blog of our trip to the US in 2010 (Life Begins at 40 Rollercoasters) you will know of my fascination with the Cracker Barrel. Where else can you have breakfast at 3pm in the afternoon! And not just any breakfast…. Try the Sunrise Sampler (which I did) – two eggs cooked to order with grits, sawmill gravy and homemade buttermilk biscuits along with real butter and the best preserves, jam n' apple butter, served with fried apples, hashbrown casserole and a sampling of smoked sausage, country ham and thick-sliced bacon. And the bottomless soda of course! Justyn kept it simple and went for the Homemade Beef Stew and coleslaw with corn muffins. But no magnet!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcCzcvSjWyd_yaX63icXE4V-HSgytdhaXqkm1nJcxxm1lhyphenhyphendASibC5ajf71a2yj6ArFqXANKVL3LgeNOO_oKQywXH5Ns7Hxz1qrvHZOF7-1Ybxh6GPlzo8fCxHoKpjVAKFpxbEL7MRIE/s1600/IMG_3614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcCzcvSjWyd_yaX63icXE4V-HSgytdhaXqkm1nJcxxm1lhyphenhyphendASibC5ajf71a2yj6ArFqXANKVL3LgeNOO_oKQywXH5Ns7Hxz1qrvHZOF7-1Ybxh6GPlzo8fCxHoKpjVAKFpxbEL7MRIE/s200/IMG_3614.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cracker Barrel feast!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOHYxbiDdd3rkwqfU6rNjnhFZJfWJFSetTFeyCXCG8dAcib0VeH_US6DrPCs8kIZSc8n2DU9r0L7Xp5n0NZgq4vGRi9j_J3oS0AuyRj4GSO8j0osSHYj_oUI3SS5nOyK4ikKXNfEh-fpg/s1600/IMG_3634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>We now had an hour to return the White Kitty to the NOLA airport and roadworks and Simon did their very best to challenge that timing and our stress levels! We finally made it, jumped into the shuttle to the airport then to another shuttle to take us to our hotel in New Orleans. Phew!
Mum and dad were also arriving in New Orleans today and we found that they had already checked into their room at the Le Marais in the French Quarter. After dropping our bags off in the room, we met them for a couple of cocktails and beers in the hotel bar and a catch up of each other’s travels prior to meeting in NOLA. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qHeVqVui_MW7auTbYtvCgY6h9LK7a4FFO-ZAzOAFtPtno0wOkPJbAmOmTBLumZZFVYYWMWSJJdcTGVR5XDgY_Hf_CR5cZTbNQ6Uc0-Ky9itxOwS-l4jS9n6rqjDQDkjy83U3xMXZjMo/s1600/IMG_3634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qHeVqVui_MW7auTbYtvCgY6h9LK7a4FFO-ZAzOAFtPtno0wOkPJbAmOmTBLumZZFVYYWMWSJJdcTGVR5XDgY_Hf_CR5cZTbNQ6Uc0-Ky9itxOwS-l4jS9n6rqjDQDkjy83U3xMXZjMo/s320/IMG_3634.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We left the dinner decision up to Justyn who took us to SoBou (which stands for South of Bourbon Street). What a great restaurant – they describe themselves as “A Spirited Restaurant”– it was like a creole tapas so we could order lots of small plates and share. And share we did – pork crackling, a divine apple & pear salad with green apples, poached asian pears, autumn greens, camembert cheese & salted pecan tuile, with muscadine wine vinaigrette, crispy oyster tacos, duck debris & butternut beignets, crispy fried chicken, creole mac ‘n cheese and a foie gras burger. All great dishes – no duds! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyaXeFzgIOAF5kYuOIQ7rqPBDgIDc_hb7hnsAdExbsEDkl5_yBtZu5YcURFHgabBdFIWuWZ9ARb8ivXoe_88GsT8po1zTfHaczTqs15Y_pqliA-5EtfMIs-2yfP11i9Z9yCn8fYMc783Y/s1600/ChocolateComaBar+SoBou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyaXeFzgIOAF5kYuOIQ7rqPBDgIDc_hb7hnsAdExbsEDkl5_yBtZu5YcURFHgabBdFIWuWZ9ARb8ivXoe_88GsT8po1zTfHaczTqs15Y_pqliA-5EtfMIs-2yfP11i9Z9yCn8fYMc783Y/s320/ChocolateComaBar+SoBou.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chocolate Coma Bar, SoBou NOLA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7n5RwncD58_b46e3cdfv5KhqGyc2mM9mo21Tp2c7CGRL8O5U1NVm0_iKbiicr4P7OkCNQBOMLaZQw1JOHDuAoxxZOLT2iRpEP2LI4C1wMrdo91mFZkowzT5tjoNks14pXrncCgWzilQI/s1600/sobou2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7n5RwncD58_b46e3cdfv5KhqGyc2mM9mo21Tp2c7CGRL8O5U1NVm0_iKbiicr4P7OkCNQBOMLaZQw1JOHDuAoxxZOLT2iRpEP2LI4C1wMrdo91mFZkowzT5tjoNks14pXrncCgWzilQI/s200/sobou2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creole Mac 'n Cheese & Fried Chicken</td></tr>
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For dessert we indulged in a chocolate coma bar which was a flourless dark chocolate torte with white chocolate mousse, candied pecans & sea salt caramel covered in milk chocolate and served with a shot of chicory coffee shake, the ‘dark and stormy banana rum cake’ and the sweet caprese which was sugarcane soaked navel oranges, citrus vanilla bean panna cotta, fresh mint with Steen’s cane syrup and balsamic reduction – mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wandering back to our hotel, we headed up to bed but Justyn went for a wander to the infamous Bourbon Street and to find his NOLA bearings – he wasn’t gone for long as even though it was a week night, Bourbon Street was apparently living up to its reputation!!
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-26160928033620860922013-01-30T11:30:00.001+11:002013-01-30T11:30:20.297+11:00CROSSING THE (STATE) LINE INTO CAJUN COUNTRY!Tuesday, 15 January 2013 – Today it was time to head across the state line and into Louisiana. The weather was atrocious for any real sightseeing in Houston, so even though checkout time was midday, we were in the White Kitty and on our way by 10am. Our driving plan was to head to Lake Charles in Louisiana for a lunch stop before making our way to Lafayette for our overnight stop. We jumped on the I 10 WB, put the foot down and tootled our way along the interstate for a couple of hours before reaching Lake Charles. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdOLMn101ujDgT4axvaNkg248X75HHkJsXPVNpr9GJujYfBbAbQ09v9bg02aDSKFDH6F5FAZUC2lT1NgwVSp1JsMaXw-NWyEt9OmcXd9q4svZBx09xFW1faj6gViX2-11P_A3lZL0949M/s1600/IMG_3548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdOLMn101ujDgT4axvaNkg248X75HHkJsXPVNpr9GJujYfBbAbQ09v9bg02aDSKFDH6F5FAZUC2lT1NgwVSp1JsMaXw-NWyEt9OmcXd9q4svZBx09xFW1faj6gViX2-11P_A3lZL0949M/s200/IMG_3548.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pronia's Deli & Bakery</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40n0O84NU2HI0MuwbH7yGGpI4l9oNahLj4smMgP6ksmDvogbkizHEcAjEsSnvKpz3ZN1GixE8LB_qEAneU26H2JRoo5aSxVwMcd0VNrUMxXvi3cUo79SfsNo4Nl4GsAW58rZdWHmDsXA/s1600/IMG_3550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40n0O84NU2HI0MuwbH7yGGpI4l9oNahLj4smMgP6ksmDvogbkizHEcAjEsSnvKpz3ZN1GixE8LB_qEAneU26H2JRoo5aSxVwMcd0VNrUMxXvi3cUo79SfsNo4Nl4GsAW58rZdWHmDsXA/s320/IMG_3550.JPG" width="240" /></a>The state line was marked on a bridge with absolutely nowhere to stop, but Justyn still managed to check us in on FB as we flashed by! We did notice the change in landscape as we left Texas and entered Louisiana – we were surrounded by ‘casino’s’ which means that if you have a slot machine in your foyer, you are designated a casino, and the many bridges we travelled over. Texas is very flat and Louisiana seems to be very ‘bridgy’!
Arriving in Lake Charles (with a detour of the city provided by Simon…), we stopped for lunch in the rain at a diner popular with university students, Pronia’s Deli and Bakery. As usual, eyes were bigger than stomachs and we sample fried cheese sticks, a muffaletta, tamales, meatball sub and the bottomless soda. I attempted to find a magnet but they didn’t have any so we decided to find the Lake Charles visitors centre – they always have souvenirs don’t they?? Well no they don’t… But they could sign us up for duck hunting if we were interested. Thanks but no, a magnet was all we wanted! And it was darn cold in Lake Charles!! We had a lovely chat with a couple of retirees who saw us trying to take a ‘selfie’ and jumped out of their motor home to offer their photography services. After telling us they were a long way from their home near Chicago and heading to Florida for the rest of the winter; they asked where we were from and just about fell over when we told them Australia – they’d never met any Australians before so we turned on the ‘strine, had a chat then both went on our ways. Time was ticking on and we wanted to get to Lafayette before the sun set so back onto the I 10 WB we went and set of in the White Kitty. <br />
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Justyn had decided on our accommodations for our night in Lafayette and so he went with a loft style over a hotel. The rain was pouring down and the light was fading as we arrive at Buchanan Lofts. With car parking across the street and no lift, poor Justyn was on luggage duty once we arrived (well I did do all the driving!) It was a very unusual place – gorgeous but with no one on duty to check us in! We called the cell number, received a code to enter once they confirmed our booking and went up the stairs. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeUITobpkKztDA4VwZZ0qOdOSPDk2VaqMgqfJ4axsImsn9yi_MDJkP_p8wtvIPnc8U-RCxLw2sgXA2rkVOJhyphenhyphenOyrN2jtCAZ6PRziV5nT7b5beepaqkJ7z55S7jR9kIeGnzfQh0UA1-FE/s1600/P1040424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeUITobpkKztDA4VwZZ0qOdOSPDk2VaqMgqfJ4axsImsn9yi_MDJkP_p8wtvIPnc8U-RCxLw2sgXA2rkVOJhyphenhyphenOyrN2jtCAZ6PRziV5nT7b5beepaqkJ7z55S7jR9kIeGnzfQh0UA1-FE/s320/P1040424.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buchanan Lofts, Lafayette</td></tr>
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Most of the lofts had their doors open and we encountered another lady who was checking out the lofts and picking which one she wanted to stay in! Obviously you couldn’t get into the lofts where people were staying but she was definitely eyeing Loft Number 7 which we had already selected!! As the weather was miserable, Justyn went for a wander before meeting the loft lady to get our key and I stayed indoors, showered and caught up on the blog. Dinner was really great Japanese from around the corner at Tsunami Sushi and an early night in front of the telly with a load of washing on!
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-78774761342333996692013-01-16T16:32:00.000+11:002013-01-30T14:36:33.473+11:00IS THERE LIFE ON MARS AND IF SO, DOES IT SHOP??Monday, 14th January 2013 – We were spending the whole day in Houston and the weather decided that it would finally snap and actually spend some time as winter… I think the top was 4 or 5oC. Our first destination for the day was the Johnson Space Centre where NASA maintains the control room for all space missions. <br />
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The cool thing for me about the visit was the update on the Curiosity Rover on Mars and what it was doing up there. Apparently it has a friend rover on Mars – the poor little Spirit arrived on Mars in 2004 but unfortunately froze to death in 2010 during the Martian winter when he got stuck on a rock and was unable to move his solar panels around to collect enough sun to power him and ‘died’. But the rover Opportunity is still grooving around on Mars and actually helped the Curiosity mission team pick the best spot for his landing. It was all really fascinating actually! You can follow Curiosity’s progress at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html - I will be! Inside the Johnson Space Centre, there are lots of experiments you can do and many of them incorporate the Angry Birds Space game as it was developed in conjunction with NASA! <br />
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According to the blurb, game developers incorporated concepts of human space exploration into the game. From the weightlessness of space to the gravity wells of nearby planets, players use physics as they explore the various levels of the game set both on planets and in microgravity. Angry Birds is educational!! We also took the tram ride to Building 30 which were NASA still manages many space missions including monitoring the current astronauts up in the International Space Station. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvKriK8Sg0SCGDUDRczDjQel7Km9gOepNjLAd4mesA-Z8XUKsDdImtljd6hZxyZl5dfdjT-NdzAbkO-btUitXu2GQcGiS7DLD8bIBJPOQuq5Xgk2bUBztttFy4THUHe1WT_3ifCy_7ZU/s1600/P1040309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvKriK8Sg0SCGDUDRczDjQel7Km9gOepNjLAd4mesA-Z8XUKsDdImtljd6hZxyZl5dfdjT-NdzAbkO-btUitXu2GQcGiS7DLD8bIBJPOQuq5Xgk2bUBztttFy4THUHe1WT_3ifCy_7ZU/s320/P1040309.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NASA Mission Control</td></tr>
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They allow you into the refurbished mission control that was used up until the end of the Space Shuttles but was set up to look like it did when they were managing the Apollo 11 landing on the moon in July 1969. The next stop on the tram tour was the Rocket Field with actual rockets used to fire into space with the absolutely humongous Saturn 5 rocket built in the 60’s housed in a hangar. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BOv-ooegeBogtTKGmhmpjU9A42eKBeiF-RfVN_OOC3rvaEUAlZBbJ5jLSxJpcSk8DvG8l_ywEO8w_kx8-6eHO8iNAMVCuK868nGPapY0TxzpdT6QJXnRf48dJLdsvV0Pu4Zbv1bfP6g/s1600/P1040344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>And since we were in Houston, there was much quoting of Apollo 13 “Houston we have a problem”! Despite freezing our little butts off, the visit to the Johnson Space Centre was ‘out of this world’!
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxnDmkQE4UhWqiBZEp9nNko8RbLbOqAp0AQpZAztYQ41gS7OGceZj2HdRTMcik0X276AWpXs30_wOWNS8vC8S-9gYd3whBeohXqUe6JEsOVzOB6gJkt5ieCCBfAD5CvgJvKk6w886dZN0/s1600/the-galleria-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxnDmkQE4UhWqiBZEp9nNko8RbLbOqAp0AQpZAztYQ41gS7OGceZj2HdRTMcik0X276AWpXs30_wOWNS8vC8S-9gYd3whBeohXqUe6JEsOVzOB6gJkt5ieCCBfAD5CvgJvKk6w886dZN0/s200/the-galleria-15.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Houston Galleria Skating Rink</td></tr>
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Skirting the outer parts of Houston (which recently overtook Chicago as America’s third largest city), we drove to the Galleria which, continuing the theme of ‘it’s bigger in Texas’, is one of the country’s largest shopping malls. So large that there are numerous hotels including the Westin and Sheraton connecting directly into it… It is open until 9pm every night so we resisted the urge to throw on some ice skates and partake in some ‘freestyling’ on the blades and contented ourselves with shopping! As it is winter here, there were some amaaaaaazing sales on winter clothes to make way for their summer styles.
Shopping Part 1 completed, it was home to the hotel for an early night, pack and get ready for our drive across the border to Louisiana. We didn’t get to see much of Houston except for loop roads and freeways on this trip – guess it means we will have to come back!!<br />
And of course, here are some fun facts about Houston:<br />
<ul>
<li>Houston was the first word spoken from the moon - The Apollo 11 mission established a place in history for the city when
astronaut Neil Armstrong spoke the now-famous line, “Houston,
Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” </li>
<li>Strange but true: It is illegal to sell Limburger <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD10">cheese</span> on Sundays in Houston. </li>
<li>At 634 square miles, the City of Houston could contain the cities of
New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and
Miami.</li>
<li>The first successful human heart transplant was performed in Houston by Dr. Denton Cooley (1968). </li>
</ul>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-34798156808676897422013-01-16T14:56:00.000+11:002013-01-30T14:22:32.168+11:00REMEMBER THE ALAMO! (BUT NOT THE HOUSTON TEXANS LOSS IN THE NFL SEMIS...)Sunday, 13 January 2013 – We were very lucky today as not only did the Westin where we were staying give us free wifi, as it was Sunday we also received a 3pm checkout!! No strings attached! That gave us plenty of time to get out and see more of the beautiful city of San Antonio. Our first stop was the River Walk Center to grab some breakfast and it was there that I encountered my first Cinnabon of the trip. Absolutely sensational with a cup of Starbucks Awake (read “British Breakfast”) tea!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQTMD7MxFv0Cf3GYvq_PoYdhgC-M0iXyn8O0nvEB51gXX2LKK63IzIoyCHGoKRxYeQAhLIJjOUoNidyVY6Q57UZwPFcWGGRPcPBRgqNc0YopRxSN-G0dmIPsz9jxslHyLeVmYn8s8e5A/s1600/Cinnabon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQTMD7MxFv0Cf3GYvq_PoYdhgC-M0iXyn8O0nvEB51gXX2LKK63IzIoyCHGoKRxYeQAhLIJjOUoNidyVY6Q57UZwPFcWGGRPcPBRgqNc0YopRxSN-G0dmIPsz9jxslHyLeVmYn8s8e5A/s200/Cinnabon.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cinnabon!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fuelled up, we walked across to the Alamo.
A quick history lesson for those who are not aware of the legend of The Alamo:
The Alamo as it appears today represents nearly three hundred years of human activity. The Spanish started building the Alamo in 1724. For most of the 1700s the Alamo was a Spanish mission. They stopped using it as a mission in 1793. In the early 1800s, the Spanish stationed soldiers at the old mission and after Mexico's independence from Spain, Mexican soldiers occupied the Alamo. Back in those days, Texas was a part of Mexico. Due to changes in the Mexican government, Texans wanted to be independent from Mexico. Also in those days, Anglo-Americans in Texas were called "Texians" and Hispanic-Americans were called "Tejanos". In December 1835, a group of Texan volunteer soldiers fought against the Mexican soldiers in San Antonio and won. The Texans then occupied the Alamo. This "independent-mindedness" didn't sit well with the Mexican government so on February 23, 1836, Mexican General Santa Anna arrived outside San Antonio with about 6000 men to suppress the rebellion. Even though there were only around 200 of them, the Texans inside the Alamo decided to stick together and defend their position. Some of the defenders included famous people, like Jim Bowie (who created the Bowie knife) and Davy Crockett. <br />
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Despite the overwhelming odds, the Texan defenders held out for 13 days against Santa Anna's army. The Mexicans' final assault on the Alamo started around 5.30 am on March 6, 1836. They attacked the walls of the Alamo on four fronts. The defenders fought back bravely, but eventually they were overwhelmed. An hour later it was all over and Mexico had won the Battle of the Alamo. About 6 weeks after the battle of the Alamo, on April 21, Sam Houston's army defeated Santa Anna's army at the Battle of San Jacinto. So according to legend, the brave men of the Alamo had not died in vain. From their sacrifice emerged Sam Houston's battle-cry, "Remember The Alamo!" that led to Texas liberty.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeJNQkN6JeHnD5bqGA44UVEe8xWHeE7SmqNHa-HoOZUhR5ow3mw5MOV1Cv4mP5BuZh8XNQslwOJeD8hswyRWp23Q0c73bIwyDl5YO0qkch6cBR5JkDS4i5NmoWXB-7hNoHrSiOfVNrlE/s1600/P1040164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeJNQkN6JeHnD5bqGA44UVEe8xWHeE7SmqNHa-HoOZUhR5ow3mw5MOV1Cv4mP5BuZh8XNQslwOJeD8hswyRWp23Q0c73bIwyDl5YO0qkch6cBR5JkDS4i5NmoWXB-7hNoHrSiOfVNrlE/s400/P1040164.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember the Alamo!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadxPljEoOuiB6NBEgQfR4CfPlmgPcVr_QtmQzyOBr0ODCtkPb0OXR5nS43H3vxLQXzQR_GIbiH6RKWtyO7N5_1nPAF5jPrkK6PcmvXnQUPS70VTBl8Znu7IRSs1XcHiHN8tLmrBK6ntQ/s1600/P1040217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadxPljEoOuiB6NBEgQfR4CfPlmgPcVr_QtmQzyOBr0ODCtkPb0OXR5nS43H3vxLQXzQR_GIbiH6RKWtyO7N5_1nPAF5jPrkK6PcmvXnQUPS70VTBl8Znu7IRSs1XcHiHN8tLmrBK6ntQ/s200/P1040217.JPG" width="200" /></a>Before coming on holiday to Texas, Justyn pulled the movie ‘The Alamo’ with Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton out of the collection. While I realise that it was a ‘Hollywoodification’ of the battle, I am glad that I had watched it to give me a greater appreciation of the reverence that The Alamo is held.
After the obligatory purchases, and photograph with Davey Crockett hat, in the Alamo gift shop, we decided to stroll around the River Walk area for an hour or so to get a different viewpoint in daylight. Apparently the river is drained for cleaning and maintenance the first week in January except for 2013 so we were very lucky! San Antonio would not have been as beautiful with a dry creek in the middle of town!
Finally it was time to leave San Antonio – but not without some fun facts!<br />
<ul>
<li>San Antonio is the 3rd largest city in Texas with over 1.1 million peeps and the 11th largest in the US </li>
<li>San Antonio was named in honour of St Anthony of Padua the patron saint of children </li>
<li>Chili was ‘invented’ in San Antonio in the 18th Century. It officially was "introduced" to the nation at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.
• </li>
<li>Arguably the most famous San Antonio resident is Tommy Lee Jones.
</li>
</ul>
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Our next destination was Houston which is nearly 200 miles (or a three hour drive) east of San Antonio. So we loaded up the White Kitty and purred down the I10 EB at the speed limit of 75 mph (125kph woo hooo!!) towards Downtown Houston. Our accommodations for the next two nights was at the Embassy Suites Downtown so we could do some washing! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5t7sU1qYjYaX61TFEXWC_xCCU2c29ncpwRB9cutWKzFbugzT47xQTboU2dUJDJCf7Bc5wunUNQ95NHtRk0IcAtMIGNNIlc2eLNVEI6oOz3aTt25IuZKrd1Un09cA4b1yaPfp6LuyZWY/s1600/common_grackle_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5t7sU1qYjYaX61TFEXWC_xCCU2c29ncpwRB9cutWKzFbugzT47xQTboU2dUJDJCf7Bc5wunUNQ95NHtRk0IcAtMIGNNIlc2eLNVEI6oOz3aTt25IuZKrd1Un09cA4b1yaPfp6LuyZWY/s200/common_grackle_3.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A grackle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Grackles galore surrounded all the buildings in this area but as it was a Sunday night the traffic and people were light on the ground. We valet parked and checked in before heading off to eat at Hearsay Gastro Lounge http://www.hearsayhouston.com/ a very popular dining destination (and historically important building designed by Eugene T. Heiner) for the locals and fortunately for us open on Sundays!! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zJ9wD_CdPud8EUNN7e_1sLJE8HHopvn7Q8_8l2cYd-bOkXOe46viwUitdl293TAd1bv6kY9ZQXPy8i8kZF4g8P94CoTJ0q_Mc87h2t9DPPMu-aYpaj6wulaQ5dcuisAa0kC98dQjgfw/s1600/hearsay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zJ9wD_CdPud8EUNN7e_1sLJE8HHopvn7Q8_8l2cYd-bOkXOe46viwUitdl293TAd1bv6kY9ZQXPy8i8kZF4g8P94CoTJ0q_Mc87h2t9DPPMu-aYpaj6wulaQ5dcuisAa0kC98dQjgfw/s320/hearsay.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hearsay Gastro Lounge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dessert - Chocolate gateau</td></tr>
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While the dude who sat us was a touch testy as his team the Houston Texans were in the process of losing to the New England Patriots in the NFL finals series being held in Boston, Justyn enjoyed the beef brisket sandwich and four-cheese mac n cheese and I went for the stuffed chicken breast washed down with a Gin Gin Mule and a Karbach Hopadillo. After dinner we tackled the washing and then it was bed time!
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-49312396168303036792013-01-15T15:46:00.000+11:002013-01-30T14:16:23.528+11:00BEER, BEIBER, BOATS & BURGERS - SAN ANTONIO STYLIN'<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Saturday, 12 January 2013</b></span> – a lazy start to the weekend for us at Dave & Kay’s. Their daughter Katie and her husband Luke and their three kids Sawyer, Jimmy and Betty were coming over for a home –made breakfast and a wander through the local park. The weather continued to favour us with a warm day despite being overcast – locals were wandering around in t-shirts and shorts! For brekkie, Kay whipped up her secret family pecan cinnamon buns with goof; we are lucky enough to be included in the family so we now have the recipe!! Apparently ‘goof’ makes you goofy so to help run the crazy out of everyone, we all went for a walk around their local park, climbing trees and squirrel spotting! We then spent a quiet afternoon nursing Chloe and stalking 3-Car (the house cats) and catching up some more with Kay and Dave before they took us to their favourite Mexican restaurant Povelos for a late lunch of fajitas, enchiladas and burritos. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mexican lunch @ Polvos, Austin TX</b></td></tr>
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They also apparently make a mean margherita but as I was driving down to San Antonio shortly, I wasn’t able to put that claim to the test! Dave and Justyn enjoyed a couple of Mexican beers though… the winner there a beer called Victoria!
After lunch, we farewelled Kay and Dave who had been the most generous hosts and they dropped us at the airport where we picked up our car for the driving portion of our holiday. I thought I’d booked a Dodge Avenger but the lady at the care hire place was having a bad day and we had quite a bit of trouble getting a car – I really didn’t want to drive a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Focus! I wanted a car with some American heritage! In the end after she tried to upsell us to a BMW 5 and a Lexus, we settled on a Chrysler Cruze (yes, I know its just the Holden Cruze rebadged…) Oh well, we were on our way!
San Antonio was a little over 80 miles to the south of Austin which equated to about a 90 minute drive. We loaded up the White Kitty (the name of our car), programmed Simon (our GPS) and headed out onto the Interstate. It was a pretty uneventful drive until we neared San Antonio when we drove into the middle of the start of two major happenings and people trying to get to them– Monster Truck Jam at the Alamodrome and a Justin Beiber concert at the AT&T Center… It took us over an hour to travel what Simon predicted should have taken 6 minutes! I was caught in the wrong lane a couple of times and pushed my way in hoping the truck I was nosing ahead of was a Beiber-loving fan and not off to the Monster Trucks toting their guns on their gun racks! My stereotyping was completely unfounded as the San Antonian’s were very lenient in letting people in! We finally made it to the Westin Riverwalk, left the car with the valet and after checking in, set off to explore the famous Riverwalk area of San Antonio. The night was still quite warm, although a change was expected and the Riverwalk was just beautiful. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Antonia Riverwalk at night</td></tr>
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The San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río) is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath the streets of Downtown underneath the level where cars drive. It is lined by bars, shops and restaurants with trees, gardens and waterfalls giving it an ethereal, almost otherworldly feel. Strolling along the paths, you have no idea of the city bustle going on above you. It is spectacular. As we had eaten lunch late, we decided to jump on the last river cruise and take a tour of the waterways. Our gondolier Dave ferried us around the 5 miles of waterways pointing out the sights and history for 40 minutes. After the rivercruise, we felt like a little bite so headed to the Hard Rock Café for a burger and mac ‘n cheese before wandering back to the hotel for a well deserved sleep.
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Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-17564741889033759262013-01-14T17:02:00.000+11:002013-01-30T14:25:08.536+11:00AND THEN THERE WAS BBQ.... TEXAS STYLE BBQFriday, 11 January 2013 – Another beautiful day dawned in Austin (although we weren’t awake to see it) so after packing our bags and departing our great stay at the Intercontinental, we headed to the Hideaway Theatre Café for a tea and breakfast burrito which seems to be the standard brekkie choice. No celebrity sightings this time for Justyn! After some souvenir hunting, we joined the highly recommended Austin Overtures Tour which takes in Austin and the surrounding Hill Country in 90 minutes. Maggie was our wonderful guide who was very entertaining and informative and we saw a lot of the surrounding areas including the Historic Downtown, Texas Capitol Complex, the University of Texas, Old East Austin, and the Texas Hill Country in West Austin – areas we just would not see otherwise. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Texas University - Longhorns College NFL stadium</td></tr>
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Here are a few of the best fun and interesting facts we learned about Austin, Texas!:<br />
<ul>
<li>The Austin, Texas state capitol building is the largest state capitol building in the U.S. and is made from Texas pink granite. </li>
<li>Austin is home to one of the largest college universities in the nation. The current enrolment is over 50,000 students and 24,000 faculty and support. Famous UT Alumni include: Walter Cronkite, Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellweger, and Farrah Fawcett.
• </li>
<li>Austin was originally called Waterloo, has an average of 300 days sunshine per year and is the 13th largest city in the US! </li>
</ul>
After enjoying our tour with Maggie, we were going to stay with really good family friends of Justyn’s who live in Austin. Living not far from SoCo, Kay picked us up in her zoomy Prius (lots of Prius’ in Austin!) and we settled in for an afternoon of catching up before her husband Dave came home with the fixings for his World Famous Margheritas and a variety of Fat Yak and Shiner Bock local Texan beers. We were pretty keen for some Texan BBQ so Kay and Dave took us to their favourite bbq place Salt Lick BBQ at Driftwood, just outside Austin.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(l-r) Carolyn, Kay, Justyn & Dave at Salt Lick BBQ</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The food!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86XlFZWOCyjIXY3OUoI9Nx5fPCk-bE_9YVtstzCtr97Ya4JlYf2hkmg4ga9zyJ3caa4IdUYFqnatB45_4lAYTELHvGTUB8Lx1MTpO9o2FI4VboHpRmbDcuNy-zvxLCxr6N-j1R92bN2A/s1600/P1040069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86XlFZWOCyjIXY3OUoI9Nx5fPCk-bE_9YVtstzCtr97Ya4JlYf2hkmg4ga9zyJ3caa4IdUYFqnatB45_4lAYTELHvGTUB8Lx1MTpO9o2FI4VboHpRmbDcuNy-zvxLCxr6N-j1R92bN2A/s200/P1040069.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most awesomest BBQ menu!</td></tr>
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We ordered the ‘family style’ serving which included all you can eat (YES!!!) brisket, sausage and pork ribs (AWESOME!!!), warm potato salad, coleslaw and the best bread EVER! Finger licking deliciawesomezingous!!! After we had eaten our fill, I just had to find some room for a bowl of peach and blackberry cobbler! Returning to Kay and Dave’s, there was time and room for one of Dave’s World Famous Martini’s!!
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-10759781122380966212013-01-14T03:39:00.000+11:002013-01-30T12:40:25.720+11:00BOOT SCOOTIN' WHILST AUSTIN STAYS WEIRDThursday, 10 January 2013 – A sleep in for me – 12 hours sleep actually – while Justyn went wandering the streets for good cup of tea. Austin is a bit of hipster-ville so we expected to be able to get decent tea! While at the Hideout Theatre Café, Justyn saw a guy who he thought looked like Beck (we saw Beck in concert at the State Theatre in Sydney only a couple of months ago) so he went up to him and said just that! So while they waited for their drinks, they briefly chatted together and Justyn was so excited he forgot what they spoke about – “nonsensical” I think he described it as!
A slow start to the day, we finally ventured out to see the sights of Austin. Keep Austin Weird” seems to be the catch-phrase around town, so we were on the lookout for any ‘weirdness’! It was a stunning day with gorgeous blues skies, perfect for ambling! Our wanderings were based on locations of telephone shops so we could grab a US data SIM to use on the go so we headed off towards the first shopping centre. We passed the Willie Nelson statue as he is a local, but were unable to get a photo of it today as there was a television crew filming it and they made it difficult to get near – we’ll try again tomorrow! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTQP12cBwliIsZ4i6iPvwYSGbuBJQ9FlwiEH3LdjpyDpfkyUmM_jTajSYPGnFWvLKdVI1k5HFd-J-D0o3z15lD8zFmdtTc-2_f2ZezwRg1bxORcEPcWRX8ceT0-Xat1tRAb2s3wbQppw/s1600/IMG_3311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTQP12cBwliIsZ4i6iPvwYSGbuBJQ9FlwiEH3LdjpyDpfkyUmM_jTajSYPGnFWvLKdVI1k5HFd-J-D0o3z15lD8zFmdtTc-2_f2ZezwRg1bxORcEPcWRX8ceT0-Xat1tRAb2s3wbQppw/s320/IMG_3311.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stevie Ray Vaughan statue</td></tr>
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This was also the first of the shopping districts recommended by the hotel concierge and a few blockies did not reveal a mobile phone outlet so we headed across the lake to see the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue which overlooks the Lady Bird Lake which was on Justyn’s ‘must-do’ list – he is a famous guitarist – before heading to SoCo (South Congress Street district). Top of my ‘must-do’ list was the purchase of my first pair of cowboy boots. Friends had recommended Allens Boots in Austin and a check on the internet also showed that this was the place to get the coveted boots. And Allens just happened to be in SoCo! And it was another shopping area for us to find a data SIM card! Meandering from the park towards SoCo, we passed the Performing Arts Centre the infamous bat bridge where between April and October thousands of bats nest during the day and then fly out en masse at sunset – it is supposed to be spectacular and a major tourist draw card but unfortunately we are not visiting at the right time of the year! Another feature of Austin is the food trucks. Just about any food type is represented by a food truck and our favourite is Ms P’s Electric Cock Fried Chicken! Many eateries line each side of South Congress and it made our lunch decision very difficult.
So in our true style, we (I) put that decision off as Allens Boots loomed large on the hill top. I drew a deep breath, opened the door and the world of cowboy boots materialised right in front of my eyes. Where to start???? The first aisle seemed like a good choice so I headed up the first row feeling a little overwhelmed by the variety and realised that each row represented a size – keep in mind that each aisle was approximately 40 metres long and they had girls boots and boy boots – huge! I found my aisle and started looking again but realised that this was a momentous purchase for me and that some assistance would be required. Rebecca came to the rescue and after a few try-ons, we managed to workout style of boots and fit; all I needed to do was pick a design. Still having trouble and aimlessly wandering my size aisle, Rebecca came back, grabbed a pair of the shelf and handed them to me – these were the ones. And when I tried them on, they were the pair that fit the best too. I let out squeal of glee (which unfortunately Rebecca heard and commented on) and took the purchase plunge. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IELMW2-AwOYS-tHtAwyDAWw8EDjJoWsSWVCwRp8z1NEOMVM8OeT7UVYq3uYeNwfAhFBEJBEWj476GEjd9eGZIDd5m0DlSFg8JR0VFUPqU_6TTrIuBycfGshx5hM6S7LKHsL6fLaI6ns/s1600/P1030965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IELMW2-AwOYS-tHtAwyDAWw8EDjJoWsSWVCwRp8z1NEOMVM8OeT7UVYq3uYeNwfAhFBEJBEWj476GEjd9eGZIDd5m0DlSFg8JR0VFUPqU_6TTrIuBycfGshx5hM6S7LKHsL6fLaI6ns/s320/P1030965.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My boot purchase from Allens Boots, Austin TX</td></tr>
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I am now officially a rootin’ tootin’ cowgirl!
Our tummies were telling us that lunch was now urgently required so we headed back to a taco eatery called Güero’s Taco Bar. Drink and food – check. Since this second shopping borough did not yield a mobile store either, out next stop for our weary feets was the hotel to drop our purchases off before heading off for the third attempt at a phone card. All our meanderings through Austin didn’t reveal any ‘weirdness’ but it did highlight the social vibe of the city with bars and restaurants for blocks upon blocks catering for all tastes. A lot of outdoor venues and almost all with music, both live and recorded, and rooftops galore which showcased the awesome weather that Austin has – 22oC in the middle of winter! Our third shopping area did throw up an AT&T store where we attempted to get a US sim (somewhat successfully), and it also had a Whole Foods Market which those of you who watch Top Chef will instantly know. It was supermarket nirvana! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty Potatoes at Whole Foods, Austin TX</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-ynGRteo0spyVzxSw25Jv_-NG7iPksa5R95Yu-7k2-FWRXownquhGNUK2iawhW0LNDE_s0NhMOT2OmBWdy-QPV3O7QVjvDMm-bEH5CKxPYUKfnpGpgYv5fnBBfX556L8lHYmTjOWsoM/s1600/Second+Bar+Burger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yyWp8P-J0vIF10BO41QQMjGUnS5NevRF7UQ-KcN6K6nEDWcx_stTkjqRmCqO92j56jjaS6gZzV7E8ssECLmCWyOpUqZEB9FXSR7XRX3hej6vLKPLCOo37K7ugHxBj1ZAgegQfXq3C_o/s1600/Second+Bar+Burger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yyWp8P-J0vIF10BO41QQMjGUnS5NevRF7UQ-KcN6K6nEDWcx_stTkjqRmCqO92j56jjaS6gZzV7E8ssECLmCWyOpUqZEB9FXSR7XRX3hej6vLKPLCOo37K7ugHxBj1ZAgegQfXq3C_o/s200/Second+Bar+Burger.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIDtsQYi2CFmlpqlT-nphNxh90yhMa9zoSTpbICcU9u1slHwHsqFqCzV5k-ccWTAv6B12k7G26VgPcT864BqacAgbPn1HQLL7FzkeJCDFT40kGsjUIp5Cj4ox4SCW3gyK21xiY57x6taY/s1600/Second+Bar+Austin+Menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The freshest food, with baristas, bartenders, pre-made food stalls dotted throughout the store – just an amazing amazing place! The mosey to this area did give us our second celebrity sighting of the trip (pretty good considering the people who live in Austin including Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Lance Armstrong, Robert Plant – just to name a few…) Paul Giamatti was walking straight towards us! He had a hat on, his head down and at the last minute gave us eye contact! I detected a slight smile and head incline but Justyn said I was clutching at straws...
Dinner tonight was Justyn’s choice and we went to Second Bar and Restaurant on Congress for the burger which was voted one of the twelve best in the state. It was a great venue and the pomme frittes with truffle aioli was out of this world. Justyn had the Congress Burger and I went with the short rib with grits. Dessert was pretty spectacular, pumpkin cheesecake in a jar with roasted pineapple and graham crackers – sublime!!!
And as for the Austin ‘weirdness’; if encountering men with beards and pony-tails is weird, then Justyn fits right in! <br />
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Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-42633046066930016642013-01-14T02:56:00.000+11:002013-01-30T12:31:40.471+11:00BANGERS + (BEER / CIDER) = SLEEP<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">9 January 2013 (01/09/13) – Yee-haw!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are in Texas!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are staying at the downtown hotel, known
by the locals as SFA (nooooooooo the letters don’t stand for that, it’s the
Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental) which is central to everything! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After arriving this afternoon, we relished the hot
shower and the chance to change clothes after travelling in the same outfits
for 36 hours, before heading out to Bangers for dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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Bangers is <u>the</u> sausage and beer house
where they create both sausages and beer in-house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in a street that looks like a regular
street of houses, but the houses are bars and restaurants – pretty groovy
actually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The seating is communal at
Bangers, stuffed pig heads adorn the walls and the menu is overwhelming
considering the only choices are sausages and beer!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to try the Smoky Bear sausage which
was wild boar xxxxxxx with a kolache (sweet) bun, caramelized onions,
sauerkraut, and special bbq sauce – deeeelicious!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justyn went for the bbq bacon and shrimp
sausage with white cheese grits which was also awesome!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smoky Bear Sausage (top) & BBQ Bacon & Shrimp Sausage (bottom)</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The variety of beers was astounding and
Justyn had a difficult time deciding what to choose but went with a Live Oak
Big Bark Lager followed by a Adelbert Naked Nun Wit infused with coriander and
orange peel – both went very well with the sausage!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not being a beer drinker, I started on the
ciders one of which came in a bottle the size of a wine bottle!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a cherry infused apple cider called
Cherry Tree which I made a decent effort on but the lack of sleep caught up
with us so we went back to the SFA, and fell asleep at 8pm!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664810372208985835.post-70678162677676177692013-01-02T12:07:00.000+11:002013-01-02T12:07:22.667+11:007 Days From Departure<h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">The excitement is building!</span></span></h2>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">VIEWING PREPARATION: The Big Easy, The Blues Brothers 2000, Man Vs Food</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I can almost taste the BBQ - well that might be the home-style barbeque we had yesterday, but the anticipation of that first juicy bite into the smokey rib or brisket in Texas is making my mouth water 7 days out from our trip!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So some things are planned, others are left up to how we feel on the day, but there's no doubt that travelling through America is one of our great joys. Doubly special this time as we will be sharing our adventures with the family as well!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and California are on the agenda for this trip - a let me tell you that purchasing a pair of my own cowboy boots are going to be a highlight!</span>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917115219222237963noreply@blogger.com0Dee Why NSW, Australia-33.7535622 151.28613989999997-33.779967199999994 151.24579939999995 -33.7271572 151.32648039999998