Friday, 18 March 2011
St Louis
St Louis is 2 hours away from where we live and is our nearest major city. On Thurday 11th November all of the International Military personnel (14 in total) and their families if they wanted to, travelled to the military cemetry in St Louis and met up with the International RAF personnel based in the area to hold/host a joint memorial service also attended by a few members of the public, notably a selection of individuals with distant Scottish relatives. Rememberance Day is called Veterans Day over here and is marked by a national holiday on the 11th, as opposed to the UK where we are generally required to attend a memorial service on the Sunday. It was a small but lovely outdoor service, most of which I missed because Mini Monkey was not content standing at the back with me and seemed determined to take center stage so we went for a walk in the sunshine and found a drinking fountain which did the trick of keeping her entertained until the service ended. We then went to lunch with all of the others before heading off to our hotel. We almost walked back out of the hotel thinking we had walked in the wrong doors or something - there were quite literally hundreds of people crammed into the reception area, long snaking queues for check-in and a table overflowing with name badges. It turned out it was the annual, national convention for the Church of Our Lord and it was being hosted all weekend in our hotel. Once we finally got to the check-in we were surprised to be upgraded to a suite - but I guess they must have been running out of standard rooms. Once we had decided to tear ourselves out of our beautiful hotel room we had a short wander around the City and walked around the base of the arch (basically a huge arch which serves as a landmark and tourist attraction). We then met up with the others for a quick meal before heading out to watch the ice-hockey (organised by one of the Canadian families). We were a little bit concerned about Mini-Monkey's ability to sit through the entire match but it seemed that popcorn, coke and constantly standing up, throwing our arms in the air and cheering was enough to entertain her. It was actually really good fun and we must try to attend a few of the American sports matches whilst we are here. We headed home the next day and had a quiet night in before driving out to Osage Lake on the Saturday to attend a Marine Corps Ball at one of the large hotels there. There is also a large designer retail outlet here and we obviously found time to pop in and purchase a few more Tommy Hilfiger items to try and add to our 'Family Hilfiger' image (so cheap it is ridiculous I can buy polo style t-shirts from about 4 pounds and jumpers from about 6 pounds in the clearance section). The hotel opened up one of its conference rooms upstairs for childcare and we dropped Mini-Monkey off kicking and screaming before heading down for the ball. It is so interesting to attend the American functions, they are really different to ours. It is a while ago now so I can't remember the exact order of events but after we were all seated some soldiers in uniform carried the various flags in. The ball was held in honour of the Marine Corps 'Birthday' so an enormous cake was wheeled in next and an official cake cutting and tasting ceremony followed involving the senior people there. Then they mixed a grog, a rather random assortment of spirits and soft drinks, then a video about the current role of the Marines, a recorded message from the head of the Marines and then a speech from the senior person present. By this point we had been sat at our tables about 1.5hrs looking at our starters (salad pre-laid on the table). Then we had food and once the meal had finished at least half of the people went straight home/to bed which seems to be pretty standard here, parties tend to start and finish early. Then the band came on and I learnt a bit of line dancing before it just became free-style type dancing. We then went and got Mini-Monkey and let her have a little dance before heading off to bed ourselves.
Monday, 28 February 2011
Everglades
Air boat tour
"Do you want to hold the Alligator?"
"No thanks!"
Baby Gator
Mummy Gator
Daddy Gator
On the Air Boat
In the Conservation Area inside the Everglades National Park.
Gator Babes
Hiding
View from the observation tower
Mummy Gator - her babies are off to the left but barely visible in this picture.
A view across the Everglades. You can see it is just like a marshy swamp land. The deeper channels seen in the first few photos that the boats go on are channels cut through mining of the stone and do not occur naturally.
Arriving at the National Park.
Key West
The drive down to Key West - the remains of the old railway to the right.
Ahead the 7 mile bridge.
The Southern Most Point
The hotel pier
A local pier
Night time across the bay
Tarpee in the harbour - apparently not very tasty.
Sampling Key Lime Pie
Duval Street by day - the main party street.
One of many chickens wandering about loose on the island.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Miami, Key West and the Everglades
At the end of October Daddy Monkey took his first bit of leave and we booked flights from St Louis down to Miami International Airport. We spent 6 days away in total, 3 nights in Miami, 3 nights in Key West and then on our final day we drove up from Key West early in the morning and spent the day in the Everglades before catching our evening flight home.
We were actually feeling pretty exhausted and a bit run down when we arrived, the move from the UK combined with a non-stop and hectic schedule of events and trips in the US meant that we just hadn't stopped and we were glad to have a couple of quiet days with late starts (thankfully Mini Monkey obliged), afternoons relaxing on the beautiful beach and evenings sat outside at local restaurants eating good food. Miami actually has the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings anywhere in the world and we walked around a selection of them with Daddy Monkey pointing out the ones he recognised from various films/movies. I found it amusing that ALL of the shop dummies, from high end to low end stores, were victims of cosmetic surgery and unrealistic enhancements - no wonder everyone was so body conscious! Overall there was a really good atmosphere and we felt like we really were on holiday. We also went to the Miami Zoo, turning up mid-week during term time meant that we practically had the place to ourselves. Feeling a bit lazy (and it was a hot day) we decided to hire a bicycle cart thing, basically 2 bicycles with a large frame joining them, a bench seat and a sun canopy over the top. It was a great idea and helped by the fact that the zoo was so empty we were able to zip easily and quickly between all of the cages. Our favourite thing was the giraffe feeding (I haven't seen any zoo do it before) we walked straight through all the signs saying how long you would be queuing for from this point and were the only people there to start with. We paid our $2 and the man handed us a very large armful of leafy branches which we held out for the extremely eager giraffes. They stuck out their huge blue tongues and wrapped them around the branch and literally stripped all of the leaves off leaving us with an empty stick - we needed to hang onto the branch pretty tightly! The giraffes were so close we could pat their heads and they were not in the slightest bit unsure or afraid of us, once mini monkey had got over her initial fear she was fascinated.
After Miami we set off for Key West, the furthest most point in a 126 mile string of Islands originally connected by Henry Flagler's railroad in 1912 but after this was destroyed in a hurricane in 1935 the Overseas Highway was completed in 1938. I think we had expected something more reminiscent of a string of 'bounty advert' style bumps of sand connected by a thin road that would make us feel like we were floating between Islands. The reality was the Islands are all heavily developed rocky outcrops with minimal beaches and lots of lush/dense green vegetation. The road often did not actually afford any view of the sea, particularly for the first 70 miles or so and was a vast dual carriageway, concrete construction with fenced sides. Don't get me wrong, it was an at times very interesting and amazing experience to drive down through the Keys and the 7-mile bridge just after 'Marathon' (about half-way down) was truely impressive. Key West turned out to be the Gay Capital of Florida and Daddy Monkey was a little perplexed to find that our evenings out included men dancing in their briefs in the street, on the bars and in doorways. Also the walk back to our hotel took us past the local brothel with touts outside encouraging us to come us (what all of us?!?!?). So whilst it was not entirely what we expected there was a great party type atmosphere, a very laid-back vibe and some interesting sights (?!?!). We walked along the historic board walk, looked at fishing boats, saw lots of large fish swimming in the water, went to the southern most marker pointing to Cuba - which is the next land mass and ate lots of junk food. Our verdict - a good fun place for a night out, apparently great fishing; not that beautiful and not very child friendly.
On the final day we went to the Everglades which were great. Due to time constraints we were only able to go to a limited area and it is somewhere that we would be keen to explore further at a later date. First we drove to Shark Valley Loop which is a conservation centre within the Everglades National Park and went on a 2 hour 'tram' tour, which is basically like an oversize golf buggy seating around 20 people which drives a man made loop through the Everglades stopping at an observation tower you can climb up and look out over the surrounding area. Our tour guide told us lots of information about the flora, fauna, birdlife, wildlife and of course Alligators that inhabited the habitat. We saw a selection of birds and a few alligators and their babies. We then went drove to a different place just outside the National Park and went on an air boat tour (airboats are not permitted within the National Park). It was advertised as an adrenaline rush type experience but we found it quite sedate apart from the fact that it was INCREDIBLY noisy when the engine was running even with the cotton balls they gave us shoved into our ears. We travelled along the man made waterways (dug when they were excavating stone from the area for use building roads) and saw a couple of rather large Alligators up very close and lots of vegetation and were then given the opportunity to hold a baby Alligator with its mouth taped shut. It was probably our favourite day and I would definately recommend both places.
We loved Florida overall and are keen to return in the future to explore a bit further.
We were actually feeling pretty exhausted and a bit run down when we arrived, the move from the UK combined with a non-stop and hectic schedule of events and trips in the US meant that we just hadn't stopped and we were glad to have a couple of quiet days with late starts (thankfully Mini Monkey obliged), afternoons relaxing on the beautiful beach and evenings sat outside at local restaurants eating good food. Miami actually has the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings anywhere in the world and we walked around a selection of them with Daddy Monkey pointing out the ones he recognised from various films/movies. I found it amusing that ALL of the shop dummies, from high end to low end stores, were victims of cosmetic surgery and unrealistic enhancements - no wonder everyone was so body conscious! Overall there was a really good atmosphere and we felt like we really were on holiday. We also went to the Miami Zoo, turning up mid-week during term time meant that we practically had the place to ourselves. Feeling a bit lazy (and it was a hot day) we decided to hire a bicycle cart thing, basically 2 bicycles with a large frame joining them, a bench seat and a sun canopy over the top. It was a great idea and helped by the fact that the zoo was so empty we were able to zip easily and quickly between all of the cages. Our favourite thing was the giraffe feeding (I haven't seen any zoo do it before) we walked straight through all the signs saying how long you would be queuing for from this point and were the only people there to start with. We paid our $2 and the man handed us a very large armful of leafy branches which we held out for the extremely eager giraffes. They stuck out their huge blue tongues and wrapped them around the branch and literally stripped all of the leaves off leaving us with an empty stick - we needed to hang onto the branch pretty tightly! The giraffes were so close we could pat their heads and they were not in the slightest bit unsure or afraid of us, once mini monkey had got over her initial fear she was fascinated.
After Miami we set off for Key West, the furthest most point in a 126 mile string of Islands originally connected by Henry Flagler's railroad in 1912 but after this was destroyed in a hurricane in 1935 the Overseas Highway was completed in 1938. I think we had expected something more reminiscent of a string of 'bounty advert' style bumps of sand connected by a thin road that would make us feel like we were floating between Islands. The reality was the Islands are all heavily developed rocky outcrops with minimal beaches and lots of lush/dense green vegetation. The road often did not actually afford any view of the sea, particularly for the first 70 miles or so and was a vast dual carriageway, concrete construction with fenced sides. Don't get me wrong, it was an at times very interesting and amazing experience to drive down through the Keys and the 7-mile bridge just after 'Marathon' (about half-way down) was truely impressive. Key West turned out to be the Gay Capital of Florida and Daddy Monkey was a little perplexed to find that our evenings out included men dancing in their briefs in the street, on the bars and in doorways. Also the walk back to our hotel took us past the local brothel with touts outside encouraging us to come us (what all of us?!?!?). So whilst it was not entirely what we expected there was a great party type atmosphere, a very laid-back vibe and some interesting sights (?!?!). We walked along the historic board walk, looked at fishing boats, saw lots of large fish swimming in the water, went to the southern most marker pointing to Cuba - which is the next land mass and ate lots of junk food. Our verdict - a good fun place for a night out, apparently great fishing; not that beautiful and not very child friendly.
On the final day we went to the Everglades which were great. Due to time constraints we were only able to go to a limited area and it is somewhere that we would be keen to explore further at a later date. First we drove to Shark Valley Loop which is a conservation centre within the Everglades National Park and went on a 2 hour 'tram' tour, which is basically like an oversize golf buggy seating around 20 people which drives a man made loop through the Everglades stopping at an observation tower you can climb up and look out over the surrounding area. Our tour guide told us lots of information about the flora, fauna, birdlife, wildlife and of course Alligators that inhabited the habitat. We saw a selection of birds and a few alligators and their babies. We then went drove to a different place just outside the National Park and went on an air boat tour (airboats are not permitted within the National Park). It was advertised as an adrenaline rush type experience but we found it quite sedate apart from the fact that it was INCREDIBLY noisy when the engine was running even with the cotton balls they gave us shoved into our ears. We travelled along the man made waterways (dug when they were excavating stone from the area for use building roads) and saw a couple of rather large Alligators up very close and lots of vegetation and were then given the opportunity to hold a baby Alligator with its mouth taped shut. It was probably our favourite day and I would definately recommend both places.
We loved Florida overall and are keen to return in the future to explore a bit further.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Willis Tower and the Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Polar Bear swimming widths
Willis Tower - Mini Monkey demonstrating zero fear of heights!
The long look down! Those little looking buildings are in fact also high rise/sky scrapers.
Millenium Park
Country and Western Music Festival
Jaume Plensa's Fountain
The Cloud Gate
Daddy and Mini Monkey with me in the background taking the photo
The Cloud gate and City View
Chicago
We headed up to Chicago for Columbus Day weekend in early October. We had been told that we could do the journey in 6/6.5 hours with no stops but with a short stop, a road closure and no detour signs as we approached the city (thank goodness for GPS) and traffic it took us 7.5hrs and we all felt totally exhausted. Well we did, predictably mini monkey, glad to be freed from the confines of the car, was keen to run around and stretch her legs.
After a short rest we decided to head out for a quick look around the local area before it got dark. We got a great deal on a hotel (we love priceline.com) and were staying two blocks back from Millenium Park so we went straight there. It is full of modern art and sculptures but our two favourites were Jaume Plensa's 50ft high fountain that is basically 2 tall blocks facing each other with images of local residents projected onto them and every 15 minutes the faces 'spit' water out of their mouths. The other was 'the bean', Anish Kapoor's silver-drop sculpture officially called Cloud Gate, it is like a massive, smooth, silver drop of water that reflects the city skyline and the all of the people staring into it. We also discovered that at the back of the park there was a large open air stadium which was holding a free country music festival so we sat right at the back in an open patch of grass and mini monkey got to run around whilst Daddy Monkey drank a beer and I didn't (having recently discovered that I was pregnant - good news!).
The next morning we speed marched to Willis Tower - previously named Sears Tower and currently the tallest building in the States - we had been warned that the queues can get pretty bad so we were glad to find that they were short when we arrived and we probably only waited about 20 minutes to get the lift up to the 103rd floor viewing gallery. There are windows all around to get city views but on one side there are three small bay style windows with glass floors that you can step out into and look down. Mini Monkey was fascinated and would not pose for a photo preferring to spend her time nose to the floor, I made fun of Daddy Monkey for not wanting to step out onto it and then confidently stepped out myself and felt my stomach lurch as I looked down and even I had to admit that it was actually pretty high and a bit scary.
We then hopped onto an open top bus and did a tour around the city sights before getting off at Navy Pier. To be honest this was just a pedestrianised pier full of shops and fast food outlets but we had a good browse and some lunch. We then walked across to Michigan Avenue and the Magnificent Mile which is the main shopping street and wandered around a bit, window shopping, but to be honest we have been so spoilt by the designer outlet centre an hour from our house that we found everything way too overpriced and hadn't really come to Chicago to shop anyway. We then jumped onto a water taxi and did a bit of a boat trip down the Chicago River to the China Town stop where we got off and had a good look around - once we had actually found it!
The next day we got the bus out to Lincoln Park which has a large, free entry Zoo. Mini Monkey absolutely loved it and we saw a mass of animals. The one we all enjoyed the most was the polar bear which had a large swimming tank with a glass wall and as the weather was quite warm the bear was repeatedly swimming underwater widths right up to the glass and around and back again. That evening we listened to a bit more free country music and tried to mentally prepare ourselves for the long drive home the next day.
After a short rest we decided to head out for a quick look around the local area before it got dark. We got a great deal on a hotel (we love priceline.com) and were staying two blocks back from Millenium Park so we went straight there. It is full of modern art and sculptures but our two favourites were Jaume Plensa's 50ft high fountain that is basically 2 tall blocks facing each other with images of local residents projected onto them and every 15 minutes the faces 'spit' water out of their mouths. The other was 'the bean', Anish Kapoor's silver-drop sculpture officially called Cloud Gate, it is like a massive, smooth, silver drop of water that reflects the city skyline and the all of the people staring into it. We also discovered that at the back of the park there was a large open air stadium which was holding a free country music festival so we sat right at the back in an open patch of grass and mini monkey got to run around whilst Daddy Monkey drank a beer and I didn't (having recently discovered that I was pregnant - good news!).
The next morning we speed marched to Willis Tower - previously named Sears Tower and currently the tallest building in the States - we had been warned that the queues can get pretty bad so we were glad to find that they were short when we arrived and we probably only waited about 20 minutes to get the lift up to the 103rd floor viewing gallery. There are windows all around to get city views but on one side there are three small bay style windows with glass floors that you can step out into and look down. Mini Monkey was fascinated and would not pose for a photo preferring to spend her time nose to the floor, I made fun of Daddy Monkey for not wanting to step out onto it and then confidently stepped out myself and felt my stomach lurch as I looked down and even I had to admit that it was actually pretty high and a bit scary.
We then hopped onto an open top bus and did a tour around the city sights before getting off at Navy Pier. To be honest this was just a pedestrianised pier full of shops and fast food outlets but we had a good browse and some lunch. We then walked across to Michigan Avenue and the Magnificent Mile which is the main shopping street and wandered around a bit, window shopping, but to be honest we have been so spoilt by the designer outlet centre an hour from our house that we found everything way too overpriced and hadn't really come to Chicago to shop anyway. We then jumped onto a water taxi and did a bit of a boat trip down the Chicago River to the China Town stop where we got off and had a good look around - once we had actually found it!
The next day we got the bus out to Lincoln Park which has a large, free entry Zoo. Mini Monkey absolutely loved it and we saw a mass of animals. The one we all enjoyed the most was the polar bear which had a large swimming tank with a glass wall and as the weather was quite warm the bear was repeatedly swimming underwater widths right up to the glass and around and back again. That evening we listened to a bit more free country music and tried to mentally prepare ourselves for the long drive home the next day.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Graceland
A pink Cadillac driven by Elvis and later gifted to his Mother which she continued to drive for the rest of her life.
Seating area next to the bar - not the 3 TV screens, very advanced in its day. there was also a billiards room on this level.
The bar in the basement.
The jungle room. This photo does not do it justice, it it a totally over the top, informal sittingroom filled with animal skins, a thick green shagpile carpet, heavily carved wooden furniture etc
Set off to the left just after going through the front door, Elvis had a formal dining room and on the right a formal sitting room. We were not allowed upstairs. As you went back through the house there was a downstairs bedroom used by his parents, then the kitchen and the 'jungle room' and access to the basement level.
Some of his earlier jumpsuits which he became so famous for, later on these became much gaudier and a cape was added.
The final resting place of Elvis Prestley and his parents.
The front of Graceland. It is set back from the road and reasonably well shielded from view by tall trees.
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