21.08.09

Shopping in New York during the morning, then after lunch Graham drove us all to the airport and we put Robert and Lucy on a plane back to Blighty. Took for ever to drive back through New York and on to our next destination which was Long Island. Eventually arrived at our hotel and then we were off again shortly in search of some tea. We picked a Diner and I have to say that I have never been served with so much food. I think I had a whole salmon and some more, wonderful!

22.08.09

Graham had set his heart on visiting Montauk Point , so although it took us most of the day and we had difficulty finding anything for lunch, it was well worth it once we got there. We walked up the famous Light House and then I spent ages taking photos of the Pacific Ocean until it was just too dark. If you get the opportunity it should be on everyone's list of places to visit.

23.08.09

I, on the other hand had set my heart on visiting the house of The Great Gatsby, yes, I know it doesn't exist, but a house that has floor to ceiling windows that open inwards and have floaty translucent curtains...unfortunately all we found was one of Getty's houses, which just had to do.

Another lunchtime missed, and then a long drive around the edge of New York and finally reaching Philadelphia at sunset. Dinner was at a French restaurant, where we had cocktails and good food then on the way back to the hotel there were cockroaches to negotiate at every step - different.

24.08.09

A day in Philidelphia with lots to see and history to absorb. First we visited a textile museum (at my insistence) where we viewed a full sized fabric whale which had been made with such detail, it even had barnacles. It was unfortunate, but we weren't allowed to touch. Lunch was at the local market, turkey sandwich, delicious. Then we saw the Liberty bell and finally waited patiently to be shown round the Government Offices. Graham fell in love with the guide - it must have been the uniform, or was it the fact she was over 6 foot tall and a bit of an authoritarian...? Our last visit was to another museum where we watched a very interesting video about the life and works of Dale Chihuly - fascinating.

25.08.09

Morning spent in Philadelphia, I wanted to go back to the market and buy Robert some lego candy - which was very much appreciated when he eventually received it some months later. Then on to Washington. We had another fantastic room on the top floor with an annex room. A long walk followed taking in the Washington Monument and The White House. I still can't believe that The White House is right in the middle of the city. When you see it on the news it always looks to me as though it is on a hill, set away from everything else, but it isn't! We almost missed tea, finally finding a Subway open at 10.30pm having made it back to the hotel first to find they stopped serving at 9pm.

26.08.09

My mum's 81st birthday. I hope Graham still drags me off places when I'm 81...

A very hot day seeing the sights. First we took the underground to Capitol Hill to see The Capitol. It is just utterly breathtaking, so white, so big, so detailed, expletives cannot to it justice... It was so hot we took refuge in the visitor's centre underground where it was cool. I managed to leave my handbag on a seat, but it was safely retrieved before anyone else noticed. Then we walked down the hill in front of the Capitol, Graham went to see the Space Museum and I went to the Art Museum where I saw the only Leonardo Da Vinci in the whole of America. It is quite beautiful (as in very).

Meeting up, we had to beat a retreat to the hotel to recover and then came out again under cover of darkness to see the Vietnam War Memorial and The Lincoln Memorial. Again we ended up in Subway at 10pm.

27.08.09

First a quick trip to see the main station where I was allowed a quick look at some shops then back to the hotel and off Charlottesville, stopping off on the way to visit a farm being run as it was in the 1600s with the main crop being tobacco. Tummies rumbling, we hoped to find somewhere for lunch, but having found a lovely park next to the Potomac River all we found were hot dogs. I ate half and then had an ice cream - I hope I never have to eat another...

There were vantage places to watch the rapids, which was great, especially when we saw there were some canoeists coming down.

28.08.09

Our only truly wet day, so to spite the weather we visited the Luray Caverns which were absolutely spectacular. The icing on the cake (literally) being at the end where the stalagmites had been wire up to be played like an organ. On the way back we paid a huge sun to drive on the Ridge Parkway. A bit of a disappointment as it was misty and cold, we had a few deer jump out at us, but as for seeing any views it was a wash out.

We had dinner in Charlottesville where it felt the whole of the town had turned out for a Friday Night's 'knees up'.

29.08.09.

The day I had been waiting for, our trip to Walton's Mountain. We arrived early and with the sun shining to herald our arrival. I know if I was pleased or disappointed, only that it wasn't quite as I had expected. A High School given over to a museum of the Waltons. Good in a way because the now closed school still has a purpose, but everything was a bit amateurish. Precious newspaper cuttings, pinned to noticeboards were ageing with no protection. There were lots of photos of the actors and detailed autobiographies. It was more about the television programme than the actual characters. All very interesting all the same. The house where Earl Hamner lived was across the road and really rather small having recently been sold and renovated to a standard never before achieved. There was no 'real' Walton's Mountain, but hey, does that really matter?

The afternoon was spent in another park with a long walk to see a natural bridge of stone and a waterfall at the end. Also some snakes sunning themselves on the wall, but the least said about them the better and the Amish girls who frightened them back into the wall...

The evening ended with another drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, with spectacular views...

30.08.09

Spent the night in another lovely hotel at Roanoke. Having arrived late last night we had a delicious steak at Applebys. Was allowed to run riot in a craft shop, great fun! Explored some of the old part of town and had burgers at a busy restaurant where the live music was so loud we had to move outside.

Drove to a far away lake late afternoon, which was lovely, but didn't like the way areas were designated to you were only allowed to do certain things in certain areas - like swim or sail. Didn't affect as we arrived at closing time... Finally got the photos I wanted of sunset behind The Blue Ridge Mountains - even if the telegraph poles got in the way!

01.09.09

Running our of puff at this stage in the holiday, all I wanted to do was go home! On our travels today we ended up at a gemstone panning station. All good fun, you bought your bag of swag, a mixture of gem stones and road building stone then decanted into a steam of running water and extracted the pretty stones. Froze our fingers doing it, Hermione wasn't too happy either. Followed a truck back down the mountain with its brakes full on..

Day ended at a grotty hotel in Charlottestown next to the airport ready for an early flight back to New York the next morning.

02.09.09

Flight was on a small airplane which bucked and wiggled in the air. Even the pilot felt the need to tell when he'd 'found' some smooth air - I was not impressed...

With a few hours to spare we took the train into New York, had a burger at an Irish pub, caught the train back and eventually boarded the plane home.

Great holiday, just a bit long...