Day Ten

Didn't sleep much. Wasn't helped by a television being on very loud at 5am somewhere in the hotel and staying on until 7.30am.

Left hotel and drove 20 miles north east. Arrived at a meadow.

It really is in the middle of nowhere. Just a field which will now remain infamous for the rest of time. Total respect to those on board United 93 who showed true courage and selflessness in order to prevent hundreds more deaths. It is a very fitting tribute, beautifully designed and we were glad we made the effort to get there in order to pay our respects.

Next we started to head east. We stopped for lunch in a small diner called The Little Dipper in Chambersburg. Another great meal and even cheaper than last night.

We carried on our journey and eventually reached Gettysburg, the site of the most famous battle in the American Civil War. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had no idea how big the site was or how you would get to see it. We went into the visitor centre to weigh up the options. You could get a coach tour, have a guide travel with you or just guide yourself around. We decided to buy an audio guide which was a third of the price of the other choices.

Met someone famous.

Abe the Babe

Went back to the car and put the cd in. It told us what to do and we followed.

It took you on a chronological tour, starting with what happened on day one through to day three. It guided you around the various battlefields and mapped out the movements of the troops.

Climbed up a tall tower to get a better look.

High Tower

It lasted over two hours and was fascinating. Now realise how the car in the Dukes of Hazzard was a history lesson. General Lee being the defeated commander.

Devil's Den

Having finished the tour of the battlefields, you end up in the Soldiers' National Cemetery. Went and saw the monument that now stands where one of the most famous speeches of all time took place, the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. Only 272 words long but is considered a masterpiece.

Having been thoroughly impressed with the tour we headed towards our hotel for the night in Pine Grove. Listened to more radio. Heard a song called 'Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off'.

Thoroughly tired now. Tomorrow is a slightly less busy day.

States visited - 8

Day Nine

Got up, had breakfast, watched first few games of Murray v Federer. Then had to leave. Tried to find it on the radio to no avail.

Headed back a few miles to the entrance of Shenandoah National Park.

Fans of Top Gear may remember this episode.

Top Gear

In it, they start a road trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very long road in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is meant to be one of the best driving roads in the world, but they get very bored as they can only go 35mph in their sports cars.

Well in Shenandoah NP is the Skyline Drive, a road which is set in the last section of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It follows the crest of the mountains for 105 miles, all at 35mph. Now the speed for us is not an issue as we aren't test driving cars, but we are looking forward to what should be some great scenery. We pay our $15 park entrance fee and set off on our merry way entering at the very southern point of the park.

We stop at the first couple of viewpoints but soon realise that we can't stop at them all otherwise we will never reach the other end. As we drive it starts to become apparent that it actually isn't a good driving road at all. There are trees pretty much along both sides of the road for miles at a time so you can't see any further than the first tree. Occasionally there is an overlook where you can stop, but most overlook the same view, just from a slightly different angle. And doing only 35mph means you just see slow moving trees.

A View of Trees

We carried on driving as we had little choice but to keep going as there are only two points along the 105 miles where you can exit. We made the decision that we would exit on the second one. It is still roughly 75 miles from where we had entered the park, so we tried to push on as best we could mindful of the speed limit and the rangers and radar monitoring it. We did briefly touch 60mph at one very boring part. We decided to stop at one point to use the facilities and look in the normal tacky kind of shop. Ann got some Red Velvet Cake Fudge. We also saw this.

What is it? No idea!!

Saw some American Civil War information about somebody who did something.

Info

Eventually we managed to leave, having spent three hours in the park. Got onto a quicker road. Stopped in Front Royal to get lunch. Decided to do something different and went into a supermarket. Mooched about for a while and then got some stuff to make a packed lunch. Set off to find somewhere to eat it. Ended up near a cemetry. Was quite quiet except for all the coffin. Boom Boom.

Carried on north, out of Virginia, briefly into West Virginia and then Maryland. Ann tuned the radio into some bluegrass music. We sang any old lyrics in a drawl with an occasional yodel thrown in. Was hilarious. Then suddenly we had a moment of joy as we realised we were approaching a place where we had been two years ago. Sure enough there it was, Hancock. The place we had eaten lunch on our first driving day last time when we went from Washington to Niagara. High fived as we drove past. Soon entered Pennsylvania.

Carried on upwards until we reached our destination, Somerset. Checked in to the hotel. Found out Murray had won gold. Watched some TV before going out to dinner. Walked down the road to a diner a few hundred yards away. Ate the best meal of our trip so far. Was awesome and probably the cheapest we have had too. Whilst sat eating we saw five coaches going past carrying a marching band of some sort. Then two HGVs went by carrying their stuff. Boy, they must be a big band. The waitresses got a bit worried as they thought the coaches were turning into the carpark. We then decided to have dessert. Enquired what the burnt sugar pie was. Waitress tried to describe it being some sort of cake and then said I'll show you. She bought over the cake. We looked and said ok, we'll have a slice to share. To our amazement, she took the clingfilm off and gave us the entire cake. It turned out to be just one portion.

Photo doesn't do it justice.

 We start eating, but having stuffed ourselves already it proves tricky. Ann gave up after a few mouthfuls. She tried to claim she had at least a third of it, but she is lying. Ann suggests that we take it away. I say don't talk such nonsense. Attack it with vigour. Eventually, some hours later, emerge victorious.

Man v Cake: Man won!

 Very impressed with myself and the diner. It is called the Summit Diner. Feel like I have climbed a mountain and need oxygen.

Summit Diner

Roll back to hotel.

Have noticed this plate in the car park.

He lives again and drives a Kia

Ann is back to her old ways of falling asleep. I may try to do some sort of exercise in the morning to offset the cake.

States visited - Eight

Day Eight

If you ever had the inclination to read our blog from two years ago you may remember that I was not a fan of American Bed and Breakfasts. It seemed that in all of them the breakfast part was very different to good old Blighty.  It was at a set time, you had to sit with the other guests and you got absolutely no say in what food arrived in front of you. Needless to say when we were planning this trip, I made one and only one request - that we didn't stay anywhere which was a B and B.

When we arrived at the Granville (G..G..G..G...Granville, f..f..f..f..fetch yer cloth) Queen Inn yesterday I became very suspicious. It was a house not a hotel. They did say breakfast was anytime between 7.30 and 9am which was a good start, but something didn't feel right.

So this morning when we went down for breakfast we got to choose where to sit. Another promising sign, but suspicions were still there.  Then suddenly bang there it was. No asking what would you like. Just stuff put in front of you. Sat there and stared at the stuff I didn't want.  The woman came back ten minutes later and asked why I hadn't started eating. Told her I didn't want any of it. Ann gave me evils. Woman said 'Oh'. Eventually she brought something I wanted. Ate it.

Checked out. Credit card still worked. Then as we were about to pull out of the driveway, a sudden procession came the other way.

Must be Tractorfest 2012

Then it became Horseandcartfest 2012

Our journey today was alot like yesterday, a fair bit of it was on smaller roads, so more entertainment. First off, noticed if yesterday was Forrest Gump Friday, today was Strimmer Saturday.

Next we saw Sharon Baptistchurch's husband, Warwick Baptistchurch, and their daughter, Eureka Baptistchurch.

Also had a tour of England as we went through Suffolk, Norfolk, Windsor, Sunbury, Keswick and the Isle of Wight. We saw a Uhaul van nearly flipover having clipped the side of the road, it looked odds on like it was going over.

We stopped for lunch in Charlottesville. Looked around at different places. Eventually ate at a Quiznos Sub Store. It was very nice.

Cracked on with the last part of our journey.

Had a sudden thought. Whatever happened to Karl Howman from Brush Strokes?

Arrived in Staunton, Virginia. Couldn't find the hotel. It wasn't where there satnav said. Looked around a bit, eventually found it.

Checked in. Watched some Jubilympics. Saw Mo Farrah win gold. Saw football be crap. Skyped.

Went out for dinner. Went to Kathy's.

http://www.kathys-restaurant.com/

Had pancakes. They were yum. Ann had what was meant to be eggs and ham with other stuff. Turned out to be half a pig. It beat her in the end. Worked out why everyone in there was about thirty stone.

Diner

Went for a drive to see downtown Staunton. Saw it, then got lost. Luckily had satnav with us, so it rescued us.

Got back to find Last of the Summer Wine on TV.  Ay up, Nora.

Looking forward to tomorrow's drive. Should be spectacular.

State visited - Five

Day Seven

Got up. Watched a bit of Olympic tennis. Had waffles for breakfast. The first hotel so far to have a waffle iron. Result.

Packed up and headed north. There was no direct route via Interstates so we spent most of the day on smaller roads. Although this made the journey slightly slower it meant there was a lot more to see on the road. It was much more entertaining.

First up we came up with a name for a character in a play when we passed the hilariously named Sharon Baptistchurch.

On that note we also saw this if ever you need a miracle.

Lord above!

Also noticed it must be Forrest Gump Friday as everybody we saw was out on their ride on mower cutting the grass. I am talking everybody, not one or two, but everybody.

Had an amazing experience when we had to drive around a roundabout. What the hell?!

Saw a Pepsi bottling plant. They are obviously using new techniques these days.

No caption needed

Stopped for lunch at a Subway. Got our order, went to pay. Credit card declined. What the ...? She tried again. Still declined.

Spent the next part of the journey wondering why it would be declined. Hatched plan to check if it was really or if the Subway was just rubbish. Got to Edenton, North Carolina. Arrived at the Granville Queen Inn. Checked in. As we hadn't paid for the room yet we asked them to try the card as payment to see if it worked. It didn't.

http://www.granvillequeen.com/




Dumped our stuff and headed out to McDonalds to use the free internet as the B and B appeared not to have any. Skyped mum and she went and checked our phone messages. Was one from card company asking us to call them. She gave us the number. We called. They unfroze the card. Sorted.

Went out for a wander around downtown Edenton.

The riverfront at Edenton

Another storm approached. They seem to follow us. This one never really developed.

Had dinner in a place called 309 Bistro. Was nice. Ann said it was the best crab cake she had ever had. Credit card worked.

Made our way back to room. Found there is internet access but is very weak. At least I may be able to get this uploaded. Ann inevitably has found Independance Day on TV.  'Welcome to Earth'

Tomorrow we head inland.

States visited - Four

Day Six

Got up, had breakfast, checked out of the hotel. Paid someone money to bring our car back even though it's their job. Will never understand that. Got in car and drove.

Left Georgia and headed into South Carolina. Not much to say about it. It has lots of trees.

Saw this sign.

No thanks

Left South Carolina and entered North Carolina. Slightly less trees. After a four hour stint of driving we stopped for lunch and fuel in Chadbourn. Got asked about our accents. Said we came from England. One girl asked us if we had driven or flown. Resisted the temptation to say yes we have driven from England under the Atlantic Ocean. Said we had flown to Miami and had driven up and we were on our way to Maine. She then said 'Couldn't you land any closer to where you wanted to go?' Stopped answering questions at that point.

Had lunch and then carried on driving. Listened to a fair bit of radio. Ann got annoyed with me making up my own lyrics to country and western songs.  Arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina at 4pm. Checked in to the hotel. Dumped our stuff. Headed out. Only one thing we wanted to see here while we stopped over.

Having served in WW2 the USS North Carolina was decommissioned in 1947 only 6 years after being commissioned. Then in 1960, the US Navy announced its intention to scrap her. The people of North Carolina campaigned to have the ship moved to the state to preserve her.

It was a self guiding tour, so basically you got to wander around the ship above and below deck. Got to see nearly the entire ship. Really interesting but very warm. Sweated quite alot. Ann got carried away.

Fire

 Did quite like the dentist's room.

Open and say ahhhhhhhhhh!

Then as we were leaving we saw something else quite interesting.

Massive storm came in. Ran away to the hotel.

Now we are going to bed with a little bit more travelling to do tomorrow.

States visited - Four

Day Five

Went to bed last night quite annoyed as the hotel's internet wasn't working so couldn't post the blog that I'd written. Woke up slightly less annoyed but protested by not getting up early and having a swim.

Had breakfast in the hotel. Read the paper USA Today whilst eating. It said that Britons were getting annoyed as we hadn't won any gold medals. Got back to the room to find out that we had won our first.

Made our way to the ticket booth for Old Town Trolley tours. Bought tickets and waited for the trolley. It is basically a small bus with open sides so you can see things. One turned up. Got on. The driver told us he was called Hollywood. Said it was good for getting girls at high school as he used to say to them 'If you want to be a star you gotta go to Hollywood'.

Trolley went around the town. Hollywood told us about various things. He kept calling Ann 'England'. He said I looked like a lawyer. Was enjoying the journey. Then suddenly we all had to get off and change trolleys. Got on another. The driver was a woman called something. She wasn't as entertaining as Hollywood. Tour was ok, but didn't really go into any depth. It did enable us to see most of the old town without walking. Tour finished.

We had a bit of time to spare so we went for lunch. Went to a place by the river called Bernie's Oyster House.

http://berniesoysterhouse.com/riverstreet.htm

Food was good. Watched the Jubilympics whilst eating. Got asked about our accents. Noticed a story on the news that a severed head has been found by the Hollywood sign.

Made our way to get our cruise ship boarding pass. Got on ship which was in the style of a old paddle steamer. It was going to take us up the Savannah river.

It turned out to be not quite what we had expected. Savannah is the third busiest port in the USA. The tour turned out to be about the port and stuff. We thought it would go up the river away from the port. It didn't. Did go under a big bridge.

A bridge too far

They talked about the famous Florence Martus known as The Waving Girl of Savannah. She apparently waved at every ship that entered the port for forty four years. Get a life, love.

Having watched some of the Jubilympics earlier we were also treated to this little beauty.

Eternal Flame

Savannah held the some of the sailing events during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and this was the cauldron that held the Olympic flame here.

Having got off the ship we wandered back to the hotel. Decided that as it was quite hot, about 92 degrees we felt like a swim. Went up to the hotel pool which is on the roof. Had swim. Was delightful. Went back to room to relax.

In the evening we went out for dinner. Wandered around looking for a place to eat. Settled on Anna's.

Tapas by Anna

Sat inside as it was still very warm. Ann commented that it looked like we were eating in someone's garage. Food was good though.

Having eaten we decided for dessert to head over to Leopolds again as we had enjoyed it so much last night. Did order slightly less this time. After I had asked for a chocolate shake, the girl who I asked turned to one of her co-workers and said 'Can I have a chocolate shake' in a Dick Van Dyke style Mawy Poppins accent. We then had a long chat with another girl who was serving us mostly about accents and how you pronounce 'charades' - charaids or charards.

Managed to eat all of the ice cream again. Is the best place in the world.

Waddled back to the hotel to find that the Internet had been fixed and that I can now get on with this.

Tomorrow we move on.

States visited - 2

Day Four

Got up and had breakfast in the hotel then packed ready to head north.

Got straight onto I-95. Had text conversation with Kevin Green, Ermington CC’s vice captain. He and his family are staying near Orlando and they were heading to Daytona Beach today. We were passing Daytona on our way north. By the time we passed by, they were already at the beach. Did see the Daytona Race Track.

Had sudden thought that driving in Florida was like the 80s computer game Outrun.

Stopped for fuel and lunch at a place called Yulee, which is at the very top of Florida. Had Subway sandwiches.

Cracked on and soon crossed the border into Georgia. Motored on up and soon we were arriving in Savannah. Checked into hotel and then sat down for a bit.

We then headed out for an early evening stroll. Headed to Bull Street and then wandered down to a small square. We are now going to have a film quiz. Look at the picture. Do you recognise it? If you don’t, then I will tell you later.

Any Idea?

More on that later. We carried on wandering about looking at some interesting buildings such as this one.

Theatre

We then decided to stop by Leopold’s Ice Cream.

http://www.leopoldsicecream.com/

Seemed like a good idea. I ordered some Mocha Chocolate chip and double chocolate chip ice cream and a chocolate milkshake. Ann had a Hot Fudge Sundae with Butter Pecan and Vanilla ice cream plus a strawberry milkshake. Both the milkshakes had about 3 scoops of ice cream in as well.

Sundae Bloody Sundae

By the time we had finished we felt very fat. Ann gave up on her milkshake so I had to make sure none went to waste. Decided that instead of starting the Pancake Bungalow back home we would create a 1950s diner/ice cream parlour with a proper jukebox and stuff.

Now to help you out with the film quiz, I shot a quick video that may help you get the answer.

We then had to walk off the bloatedness so went for a stroll down by the Savannah River on the aptly named River Street. Saw a massive ship go by.

It was sort of like the Barbican in Plymouth except it was lovely and warm and there were no English people getting tanked up on booze. A very pleasant end to the day.

Now if you still are struggling on the quiz, this is the answer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7voy1vit6Y

When we got back to the hotel it was on TV. Magic. Ann is now sleeping off the ice cream and I am trying to burn calories by typing fast.

Tomorrow we will explore more of this picturesque city.

States visited - 2