Heres a quick video we took last weekend at Seaworld Orlando to get you into the holiday spirit!
NEW Video from SEAWORLD!
29 11 2009Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Christmas, killer whale, miracles, Orlando, seaworld, shamu, video
Categories : North America, Orlando
Our Cure for Bus Fatigue!
29 11 2009Bus fatigue…it hits you hard. Especially when you hit the road on a Greyhound Bus at 6pm on the Friday evening and don’t arrive at your destination until 2pm the following day.
This is the journey that we undertook to arrive at Daytona Beach. It certainly doesn’t make it easier when it takes an extra 2 hours to get from the bus station to your hotel using public transport. Sure we could have taken a taxi, but we always feel like we have accomplished something when taking public transport, and we also save ourselves some cash as well! It’s not hard to do the maths on how much you can save on a $2 bus fare compared to a $12 taxi – that’s another pitcher of beer at the local pub!
We came up with a great way to get over the bus fatigue….lying on the beach! Daytona Breach was certainly different from beaches back home, and most other beaches that we have visited in fact. We found this out the hard way….the VERY hard way! The sand at Daytona Beach is rock hard! We’re guessing that’s why they allow cars to drive down certain parts. It took a while to remember to look both ways before exiting the beach!
The hard sand also made the local sun lounger rentals a huge hit – stinging us $15 per day to sit on the beach! But after a long journey on Greyhound Buses, our bodies weren’t ready to then endure the sand of Daytona!
The rest of our time was spent walking the tacky boardwalk with surf shops, arcades and greasy food. Being a town mad about cars (hence Daytona 500), the cars that drove the main drag were also interesting, ranging from old style vintage cars, to supped up beasts! It seems that everything in Daytona revolved around the Beach and Car Racing!
We spent the two days in Daytona the same as the first – and slowly recovered from our bus fatigue….shame we had to do it all over again tomorrow night!
Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: bus, Daytona Beach, greyhound, public transport
Categories : Daytona Beach, North America
Washington DC Video!
28 11 2009New Video time – this time from Washington DC! Enjoy!
Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : Uncategorized
Fat VS Fab!
28 11 2009Travelling around the USA the one thing you can`t ignore is food, it`s everywhere. The trouble is, in the States there`s great food and bad food. What makes this difficult is that the bad food is more accessible, 
ten times cheaper and is much more appealing after enduring a ten hour bus journey. But does this make you feel better? The comfort of everyday fast food is that you already know what you’re getting (most of the time!) and their on every street corner. Talk about convenient!
On the contrary, this also makes you want to spend some extra cash and time to find where the great food is!
In our trip so far we’ve been both victims of fast food and lovers of local cuisine, listing our favourites below:
THE ‘FAT’ FIVE:
5. Taco Bell
4. Dominoes
3. McDonalds
2. Dunkin Dounuts
1. WENDYS
THE ‘FAB’ FIVE:
5.Wendys
4.Red Fish Grill, New Orleans
3.Terminal Market, Philadelphia
2.Cheescake Factory, Chicago
1. PIZZIERA UNO,CHICAGO
The ‘Fab’ food can taste so delicious, but can also be a gamble in finding a satisfying place to spend your extra hard earned cash. Do you make the decisions based on how many people are seated? Or do you trust recommendations? As you can see above – we’ve been lucky with our ‘Fab’ decisions! We certainly can’t forget our first bite into a Deep Dish Pizza in Chicago!
You may also notice that the fast-food restaurant Wendy’s features on both lists – and that’s because so far it seems to satisfy both the bad and the good. It’s cheap, easy and great food. In fact in some parts of the States can Wendy’s be classed an American dish?
Either way – Fat or Fab – we’re being Supersized in America!
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Food
Categories : North America, Uncategorized
Gator Me Crazy!
27 11 2009It was our last day in the Big Easy! Sadly this evening we were heading on our biggest bus trip so far to Florida!
We wanted to make the most of the last day here and once again wandered the French Quarter to soak up the atmosphere. Today seemed to be a big family day, being the day after Thanksgiving the families were out in full force! We began by reliving some our favourite 
parts of New Orleans – including another visit to get some Praline chocolate from the Farmers market! After watching a parade of Tubas walk past the markets celebrating Turkey Day, we headed to one of the many Voodoo stores throughout the French Quarter. Voodoo was a very popular form of magic in New Orleans, and spiritual guidance is still very popular. Everywhere you looked you could get your palm read, or find out what your future held, including in the Voodoo stores in town. We decided against the Palm Reading but purchased our first Voodoo doll. The doll we decided on is intended to bless your home once it’s placed over the entrance to your house!
Lunch was near and we needed a snack – and we couldn’t finish our time in New Orleans without trying yet another southern delicacy, this time Alligator! We decided on a ‘Swamp Roll’ from ‘Gator Me Crazy’, which was a spring roll type snack with Alligator and cheese inside! Honestly it wasn’t too bad. Unlike what we thought – it didn’t taste fishy, more like a salty chicken type of meat, just a bit more chewy. It was certainly doable and we were able to keep it down!
The bus was ready to leave, but before we left we joined the mammoth line at the ‘Central Grocery Company’ opposite the French Markets for an Italian ‘Muffuletta’. We took away and enjoyed the sandwich on the bus to Florida. It was delicious! It took us straight back to the food that we had enjoyed in Europe, and certainly made the small seats and legroom on the Greyhound bus bearable…well for a little while anyway.
Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: aligator, florida, gator, muffuletta, New Orleans, praline
Categories : New Orleans, North America
Ghosts on Thanksgiving!
26 11 2009Happy Thanksgiving! And for us Kiwis it was our first in the USA!
We treated ourselves to a sleep in this morning, while coverage of the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade was being broadcast live from New York City. Sadly our 3:30pm (it was a BIG lazy day for us!!) rolled around we soon found ourselves at local restaurant ‘Red Fish Grill’ on the world famous Bourbon Street for our Thanksgiving Dinner. The meal consisted of the traditional Thanksgiving treats, like turkey, veggies and pumpkin pie. But being the ‘Red Fish Grill’, they also provided some great seafood choice as well. Being a buffet meal we made the most of it. We haven’t been so full for so long!
That night we finished as traditional Thanksgivings do…by going on a Ghost Hunt! New Orleans is steeped in spooky history and is considered one of the most haunted cities in the United States! This made a fun evening for us as we joined ‘Haunted History Tours’ and headed around the French Quarter in the dark!
We were lead to hot ghost spots around the city including a haunted bar, where the ladies were warned not to spend much time in the bathroom – especially when doing makeup – as stories have circulated about a ghost that haunts the bathroom and shoves you!
Another highlight was visiting what is known as New Orleans most haunted building. There were plenty of gory stories about the building, including slaves being kept underground and their fingernails markings found, people being tortured and murdered and even a lady jumping off the second story balcony to her death. Reports have been made that this ghost can still be seen on the balcony; in fact we were able to snap a photo of the balcony and on inspection of the photo found a round ‘orb’, which our guide suggests that a supernatural being was present in the photo! Believe it or not – it was great fun. And a little fact – that haunted house is now owned by actor Nicholas Cage. He doesn’t sleep there – in fact no one does – but uses the mansion for dinner parties!
We slept with one eye open this evening…..
Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ghost, macys, New Orleans, parade, red fish grill, thanksgiving
Categories : New Orleans, North America
Gator Hunters!
25 11 2009Ever since watching the ‘Waterboy’ movie starring Adam Sandler, we’ve always wanted to ride on an airboat. If you’ve ever seen the movie you’ll understand – if not…then rent it!
Today was the day that we were to live that dream and ride on an Airboat with ‘Airboat Adventures’, traveling around the Louisiana Swamps in search of Alligators! After the hour shuttle ride out to the 
swamp, we were soon sitting on the front seat of the airboat, and decked out with air muffs. These airboats sure were loud…and fast!
Before we knew it we were making smooth sweeping corners dangerously close to the banks of the swamps. At this time of year its difficult to find alligators in their natural habitat. As cold blooded reptiles they seek the sun, so stay out of the cold swamp waters and seek the sun on the floating logs and banks. Our eyes were peeled.
Luckily we were able to spot a great selection of Gators catching the few rays that they day had produced. During the trip we were also surprised that a gator was on board with us the whole time! The driver then gave us the chance to hold the live gator!
That night we made our way back to the French Quarter for dinner, we were on the hunt of another local dish, this time the classic Gumbo! To be honest we didn’t know what to expect but went on a recommendation from the New Orleans tourist board to try the Gumbo Shop. Jax opted for the traditional Shrimp Gumbo and Jordan (not being a major fan of seafood) opted of the Chicken version. Gumbo can be described as a seafood stew/soup. Jax compared the dish to a cross between Spanish Paella and Seafood chowder – once again a great meal in New Orleans.
We couldn’t eat too much though – we had to prepare or stomachs for our first Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow!
Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: adventures, airboat, alligator, gator, gumbo, New Orleans
Categories : New Orleans, North America
