Pastures new

Yet again, to me, its worth recapping on yesterday's events before moving-on to consider today's points of interest. In particular,  I want to mark our visit to the Smokehouse Grill, for dinner. Having asked the desk manager about the adjacent 'Chicago Grill', he gave it the thumb's down and recommended the nearby Smokehouse Grill as an alternative. So to there we went! Entering the establishment, I was immediately endeared by the red-chequered table cloths and rustic feel ..... and the model train running round the walls was an added bonus, reminiscent of an excellent eatery that we'd once patronised in West Yellowstone. Studying the menu we realised that everything (apart from salads) had a significant smoked component. When in Rome ..... we plumped for smoked ribs accompanied by 'the works' and pour-on, home-made, BBQ sauce. The result? Delicious and I got to use a 10% saver coupon ..... how cheap can you get!? (Our waiter was an interesting guy ..... polite, efficient, but totally devoid of any conversational dialogue!) Anyway, moving on, today began and continued with  sunshine throughout and we were soon on the road again. Our journey began with a visit to Historic Yorktown, a mere twenty minutes away. Situated by the sea, Yorktown is a pristine village of a town which could almost of been transported in toto from rural England.

The site of early Colonial settlers, Civil War battles, and the annual Gloucester Daffodil Festival, its a 'must see ' place. After Yorktown, it was 'South' to the Outer Banks and a chance to see and experience North Carolina for the first time. The traffic was heavy, as 'Summer' had officially started and people drained towards the beaches. (The Outer Banks comprises a long narrow spit, running some 125 miles into the Atlantic and has beaches running along its length). Nearing Kitty Hawk Beach where we were scheduled to stay for two nights, we stopped at Mel's classic retro Diner for a hot dog and then at Walmart's for provisions (beer!).

The forefront of Walmart's was festooned with bicycles and beach paraphernalia ....... the tourist were coming! Arriving at the Holiday Inn at Kitty Hawk we were immediately impressed by the location and its association with the Wright Brothers and their successful attempts to to put man in the air. In the evening we ate a great dinner at the ocean-facing Black Pelican, once  frequented by the famous brothers. Struggled to recall a musical highlight of todays drive, but then realised that James Taylor had a ready-made solution ..... "Carolina on my mind!"

Shades of our Colonial Past

Today was again a little grey, but not depressingly. We were up and soon ready to roll. First, however, we had to reclaim the car and get hold of a luggage cart, complete with Bell Boy! The latter was now an old familiar to us, but his Southern drawl coupled with  the speed of his vocal delivery resulted in our being unable to understand more than forty percent of what he said. Nevertheless, it all worked out fine and we were soon heading for the Berkeley Plantation, near Charles City, along Route 5. Traffic was easy and the scenery very green, and we arrived at our destination early. We took the tour of this famous estate, founded after an English Adventurers party landed there in 1694 (and site of the very first Thanksgiving celebration) and were impressed by its historical links with the Civil War, Declaration of Independence, and line of US Presidents.

Tour over, we wandered the gardens, down to the James River and spotted a number of Red Cardinals (birds!) before taking-up the next leg of the day's journey. Continuing on Route 5 we arrived in Williamsburg around midday. The latter, together with Jamestown and Yorktown, form a triangle of early Colonial settlements, the character of which has been preserved by creating 'living museums', comprising buildings, costumed staff, and arts and crafts, styled in the period of the early English settlers. Definitely worth visiting! Mid-afternoon and we checked in the nearby Best Western and decided to do our first 'laundry' of the trip ....... mundane, but essential! Listening to the radio today,  as we rolled past green plantations and forested landscape, we figured that Ben E King's "Stand by me" was a good musical reminder of the day.  

A Rainy Day in Richmond!

It seems that today's blog ought to commence with a brief recap of yesterday's introduction to Richmond, where we arrived late-afternoon. The city is bigger than we imagined and staying in the Business area, it was difficult to grasp the significance of Richmond, in an historical context. Nevertheless, setting out on foot to gain our bearings, we soon drew similarities between Richmond and other cities such as Philadelphia. Our tourist map was sponsored by the Capital Ale House and this seemed a reasonable destination for dinner .... a good choice, actually! Sitting on 10th and Main, this classical bar has a great atmosphere, friendly staff, an array of fine ales, and great food ...... including the best fish and chips outside of Santa Fe's Second Street Brewery!

Anyway, rain then settled-in for the evening and threatened to spoil our only full day in the city, but fate played a helpful hand. This morning brought light drizzle which persisted throughout the day, persuading us to head for the Virginia State Capitol Building, after first dropping into to Starbucks!

We were warmly received at the Capitol Buiding and pointed towards an in-progress tour comprising the guide, Betty Allen, and two ladies from Georgia and Oregon ....... Kay and Phylis. The tour was both interesting and informative. Betty was knowledgeable and her enthusiasm shone through endearingly .... she must have been a truly inspirational teacher, in her day. Following the tour's conclusion, we lunched with Phylis and Kay and parted as good friends. We continually count ourselves privileged to meet such interesting and engaging folk on our travels.

Mid-afternoon, we set off to walk the city's historic Liberation Trail, through the Gaslight Quarter, alongside the canal and James River, to Brown Island and into Historic Tredeger Park .... once the site of manufacture for most of the war material employed by the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Unfortunately, time constraints prevented us from spending sufficient time here, but it was well worth seeing. By now, it was early evening as we walked up 5th Street to Main and payed a return call to the Capital Ale House, where both the IPA and Fish and Chips were on par!!       I have to admit that toda's musical pick is an acquired taste, inspired by our current location "Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel!"

I cannot tell a lie!

Yesterday evening we drove to the Crab Shed, by St, Michaels Harbour. Its a really picturesque spot overlooking the sea and a focal point for crab-mad connoisseurs. Of course, we don't fit the bill in this respect, but 'when in Rome'! We engaged with the waitress, a charming local girl, who advised that for novices like us, Snow Crab was the one to go for. However, witnessing giant plates of crustacean being delivered to the adjacent table, complete with bags and wooden mallets, convinced us to opt for a less technical option! We ordered giant lump crab salad ....... delicious and no mallet required! As we sat munching crab and gazing into the harbour we watched as clouds grew grey and the water transformed from 'mill pond' to 'heaving mass'! We overheard say that whilst the restaurant was still open, it would probably close soon, if the storm threat crystallised. That did it for us! Having cleared our plates, we set off for the car and retreated to the motel, stopping only to pick-up and ice lolly, at which point rain appeared. However, to be truthful,the full fury of a storm wasn't realised and we enjoyed a great night's sleep! This morning, the air was cooler, but it was clear that we had a muggy one ahead.We retraced our steps tos Washington, managing to steer our way round a series of 360-degree loops in its highway system, and docked at Mount Vernon ..... George Washingtons estate, just outside the historic town of Alexandria.

It oviously receives many visitors and today was no exception. But we joined the masses and enjoyed a meander through the grounds and Washington's fully restored home ....... well worth the visit. We spent the early part of the afternoon driving the hudred or so miles south to Richmond VA, once the the capital of the States. The I95S was busy and outside it was in the nineties, but we arrived at the Omni Hotel at around 3:00pm ..... the Omni is quite flash and close to all the attractions, but like all such establishments, everything is kerrrr-ching! Wifi has to be paid for, cars have to valet-parked, and its impossible to get hold of a luggage cart without there being a Bell-hop attached! (Fortunately, I managed to guess the code for opening the safety deposit box, thereby avoiding at least one charge ..... and we have a good view!!

(The guest mini bar menu showed the price of a bottle of Beefeater Gin to be $140 ..... not many drunkes around here!) A good day and another Sirrus XM 60's piece of music by the Animals to round it off.

Hitting the road!

Our stay in Washington inevitably drew to a close all too soon, but with the weather holding-up it was with good to dust-off our spirit of adventure and link-up with our hire car. The Holiday Inn Capitol Hill had been an excellent stay in all respects, except that it was almost compulsory for all meals taken there to be covered in melted cheese! That apart, it has set the bar for the remainder of our acommodation on this trip. Making an early start proved the sensible option, as our cab driver dropped us at the back of Grand Central Station 'to save us time'! ....... we followed the signage for 'Car Rental Pick-up' and soon arrived at the Alamo garage, only to discover that the check-in desk was in the main hall of the station! Anyway, having wheeled our way around the station and up and down between its varios levels, we eventually took possession of a full-size Hyundi ...... complete with Sirrus XM Radio!! Making our way into the Washington traffic rekindled memories of previous trips and its good to have freedom again. We exited the city without a hitch and were soon at the Bay Bridge in the Chesepeake Bay area (Maryland).

The scenery was dominated by a green and pleasant agricultural landscape and the traffic thinned considerably as we moved away from our point of origin. Our first stop, the 'Old Wye Saw-mill', was reached within the hour and whilst it was an historic sight to behold, the absence of coffee was a real downer!

Moving on, we headed for Easton, a town famous for its part in organising the rebellion against us Brits! The town is a perfect picture of Georgian architecture and boutique shopping. It would be easy to mistake it for somewhere in rural England.

We had lunch at The Doc's Bar ..... Caeser salad and fresh crab cakes .... the best! Then, we drove out to St. Michaels, a town famous for its misleading of the British forces during the rebellion. Its a beautiful place and its harbour enjoys great views of the bay. (Of course we had to call at the very classy ice-cream parlour!).

With the outside temperature approching ninety, we made our way to the Best Western motel and checked-in. Storms threaten this evening .... watch this space! My musical memory today is an instrumental track, inspired by having listened to Sirrus XM again ..... 'Sleepwalk', by the great Les Paul.

Here come the Marines!

Another warm day in the Capital and one on which the annual Memorial Day Parade is held to honour the nation's war veterans. Constitutional Avenue is closed to traffic and from 2:00pm the mother of all parades begins (Possibly excluding Macey's New Year bash in New York!) Anyway, after having had our morning caffeine kick in Starbucks we walked over to the National Mall where we visited the Smithsonian Museum, to admire its unique collection of ad hoc memerabelia ..... including a watch contained in a nut-shell taken from George Washington's estate, Napolean's napkin, and pieces of the Bastille and Newgate Prison! Not only was our visit culturally rewarding, but it provided shelter from the heat!

From the Smithsonian, we headed over to Constitutional Avenue via the Museum of American Culture, where were entertained by exhibits dedicated to the history of the American Presidency. Here, everyone gets reasobal billing with the exception of Mr Nixon, although he hasn't been totally expunged! By 1:00pm it was time to take a tactical stroll to locate a shady spot from which to view the big parade. Soon we were sitting beneath a tree surrounded by better-prepared locals who had brought chairs etc. (But no alcohol anywhere in sight!)The parade got off on-time and we soon witnessed a seemingly endless array of marching bands and military vets.

It has to be said that the event was colourful, well-organised, and was appreciated by the many spectators, who showed a lot of genuine patriotism. For the cynical, I guess you had to be there! We stuck it out to the grand finale, after which we took five in a lovely French-inspired cafe near the Modern Sculpture Garden. All-in-all, we've thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Washington this time round, particularly as gloriuos weather combined with the National Holiday enabled us to see much more of the city and once again appreciate its residents hospitality! What can I say ..... only one piece of music will do; The Marine's Hymn!

Rolling Thunder!

To begin, today's blog-heading is not an indication of the local weather, which has been sunny with temperatures hitting the nineties, but rather it was the 27th Rolling Thunder event in which tens (if not hundreds)of thousands of ex-war vets drive their motorcycles around Washington's National Mall, to protest about the treatment afforded to their comrades. In addition to those taking part in the event ther's an equivalent number of bikers who turn-up to spectate! So, with ninety percent of those involved resembling Leon Russell (of ZZ Top!) and most of the bikes being fat-tyre, flat-head, Harleys, its quite some spectacle!

(Yesterday, we watched one biker flash past with a live parrot on his shoulder!) Refreshingly, there were relatively few Police involved in marshelling the event, as there was absolutely no trouble whatsoever. Earlier in the day we took ouselves to the White House via the Treasury Building and met a longstanding resident peace protester (but not the longest-standing, who's resided there since 1981!)before heading for a spot on the River, close to Georgetown, to people-watch and enjoy an early lunch at Tony & Joe's Seafood Place..... excellent crab sandwiches again!

As we walkeed back towards the National Monument we stopped at several points to watch the motorcade, before joining the audiance at a free event-related concert.

Having hit the streets at 8:30am, we were ready to return to our hotel in the Capitol Hill area, by 3:00pm. (Yesterday, we managed to hold-out longer, by visiting the City's Spy Museum! Actually, a pretty coolplace to visit...... especially if your a James Bond fan!) I guess today's musical choice 'Born to be Wild' is an obvious one!

A New Chapter (2014)

As memories of our previous West Coast roadtrip were beginning to fade in the aftermath of a typical UK winter, we were ready to set-off again ...... this time for a circular East Coast trip, beginning in Washington DC. Arriving on Friday 23 May (the start to Memorial Weekend) we took a 'GO Shuttle Bus' ride from Dullas Airport to Capitol Hill and checked-in to the Holiday Inn ...... a great place to stay; close to all the tourist attractions and comfortable! Having slept-off the trans-Atlantic flight we got off to an early start, commencing with the impressive Sculpture Park in the National Mall area. Having drank-in 'Rodin' and 'Henry Moore' we joined (walking alongside!) the joggers towards the National Mall where we bought tickets for the 'Big Bus' tour. We joined the Yellow Route at the White House and rode for almost an hour before disembarking at Georgetown, close to the staircase featured in The Exorcist! Georgetown is just about thhe oldest part of Washington and boasts many cobbled streets and river-fronted Colonial-style buildings. We stopped for lunch at a cool waterfront restaurant and enjoyed some quality soft-shelled crab sandwiches, before walking to the Lincoln Memorial via the water-front promenade. Reaching our destination, we were greeted with literally thousands of 'Harleys', amassed in advance of Sunday's 'Rolling Thunder' motor-cycle parade. Most if not all of the bikers are military vets and we were privallaged to meet chat to a couple of really nice guys who had just arrived from California and Arizona. We gaped at the bikes and then strolled to our next destination 'The Spy Museum' where we joined the multitude and took-in a somewhat cheesy, but enjoyable, visit. By the time we reaquinted ourselves with our hotel, sore feet and a touch of sunburn evidenced the fact that we were off to agood start! Memorial Weekend and the presence of so many military vets made it an easy task to pick a song today ..... it had to be 'The Boss' and 'Born in the USA'!