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| Woodbury to Orient point, ferry to New London |
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| New London to Cape Cod |
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I was determined not to lay in bed all day today like yesterday. Yesterday was different though, i NEEDED the sleep!
I was out the door at 10am exactly for a run, after running half a mile i met up with another runner, she was a 68 year old retired dentist called Carol who ran twelve miles a day, six days a week and only had Sundays off! I increased my pace up a touch to keep up with her as i didn't like asking her to slow hers down i asked her if she minded me joining her and she said she would be welcome of the company! we ran and chatted for two miles one way at which point i left her turned around and ran two miles back on my own to my hotel. She couldn't believe what i was doing when i told her why i was in the USA, she had only ever been to two concerts in her life, both were people who i didn't know and cant remember.
There's a really cool diner next to my hotel and i went to take a couple of pictures of it this morning after my run. There's also a place next door that i took a picture of.
What i NEED What a WANT!
While i was talking to John K’s wife last night she mentioned a little town near me that i should check out called Huntington so I'm gonna take a drive over there and check the place out today.
Few random thoughts.
Things I've lost on the tour so far:
1 bottle of shampoo, 1 bottle of shower gel 1 pair of running shorts. Don't think that's too bad!
Shows I've seen so far : Sixteen
Shows left to see: Thirty Five
Number of Long Island Iced Teas : Lost count but none for the last few days. I'm over them now.
Best Long islands so far: The District steak house in Washington DC, they were amazing. only had one as i was driving
Best dinner so far: Has to be Joe’s in Chicago
The driving isn't as bad when I'm in the car with someone else but on my own it sucks!
Seeing a show on my own really sucks and i miss people I've seen and left so much.
Toronto seems so long ago!
So again this is a bit behind and this entry should have been two days ago. Think I'm more or less up to date now though.
Kim and Becca went to work early, Kim woke me up about 7:30 just to say bye and see you in Columbus, I got up around 9:30, had a shower, packed my case and wrote a little in my blog for ten minutes. I then headed over to Mark and Beth's house to see what Kami was up to. It was my last day here and i wouldn't see Mark again until Europe next year but i would meet up with Beth in Omaha in a few weeks, Kim at the Columbus show and Kami at the Philly shows.
We didn't know until very late last night that Mark had actually got a brick from the DC show!! well not a full brick but half a brick. He saw some guy walking down the street with it and asked him if he could have a piece, the guy said sure, tore it in half and gave him one half!
Mark and his brick! Posing with the brick, Kami, Mark, Beth and I
Kami and i decided to go to Mount Vernon, it was a beautiful day, a little too hot to be honest, i noticed the temperature gauge on the car said 91 degrees and that was at 10:30am! Took us bout 30 minutes to get there and we had something to eat as soon as we arrived. After that we made our way to the ticket office and got our tickets for the entrance and tour. Our tickets had 3:45 on, this was the time we could get inline for the tour of the house, it was 2:45 now so we wondered around the grounds a little.
There was a river boat ride however we weren't sure we would make it down to the dock on time before it left so didn't buy a ticket, we actually would have made it but i enjoyed just hanging out by the river and sitting in the sun.
Panorama of the Potomac river
It was cool to see all the old buildings that had been built to show what it was really like in the days when Washington lived there, was also cool to see that its still an active plantation.
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We made our way up to the house and arrived about 3:30, looked at all the different out houses and then headed over to get inline for a tour of the house itself. Unfortunately there were no pictures allowed inside.
The tour was very cool and it was amazing to think that Washington actually lived in this house, he sat on the chairs in this house, ate at the tables and so on! The building itself i didn't think was anything special inside but the outside was real nice and it was very clever how as it says above they made the wooden construction look like stone.
Around the front of the house the view was spectacular, they had a line of maybe 30 rocking chairs that you could just sit on and take in the view of the Potomac. We made our way down to the grass lawn in front of the house and sat in the shade for nearly about an hour. The sun was just starting to get cooler, there was no breeze at all and it was idyllic i could have laid there all night and not moved.
By the time we left the house was been closed up and there were only half a dozen people left taking in the view and enjoying the peace and quiet. I really didn't want to go but i had a 5 hour drive ahead of me and it was already approaching 6pm
We headed back “home” and i said my goodbyes to Mark, Beth and Kami. I turned on my tom-tom and headed to my hotel in Long island, 280 miles, 5 hours 14 minutes to go!! I was sad to leave “The Gunzingers” we always have such a good time together and this last few days had been no exception. id see Kim and Kami and Beth again though in a few weeks so have that to look forward to.
I got to the hotel around 1am, the drive up was pretty straight forward apart from when i got to New Jersey i could see a huge storm ahead and watched the lightening from afar for an hour before i actually hit the storm itself
So after Go Karting down the street and not getting to bed till 3am one would have thought i would have a lie in! not me, today was Jet skiing day!
Kim had called yesterday as Maki and I were driving down from Buffalo to say that her and Kenny had been out on the lake on the Jet ski as the weather was so nice and if it was the same tomorrow we would go out!
I opened the curtains at around 9am and the weather looked gorgeous, i was SO excited and couldn't wait to get out on the jet ski. Kim and i went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast around 10am. Kenny and Becca were still in bed and wanted a couple of more hours of sleep. I've never eaten at a cracker Barrel and that was another first for me! we looked around the store first as we had to wait 15 mins for a table. The stuff they sell in there is crazy! all the old toys you used to see when you were a kid and the candy section alone was huge. I hadn't seen half the candy that was there and told Kim i would defiantly have to find one in LA before i leave for back home as i didn't want to buy anything now and schlep it all over the USA for 2 months before coming home!
I had sourdough toast, scrambled egg, bacon and biscuits!(the American ones, like our scones but salty and without raisins) Kim had similar but also had the apple soaked French toast, OMG it was amazing and melted in your mouth.
We headed back to the house and got there just as Kenny was getting the jet ski ready:)
After getting to the river area we unloaded the Ski and Kim and i walked down to the beach area while Kenny parked the truck and rode the Ski round to the beach.
I had never even sat on a ski let alone drive one and to be honest i wasn't expecting Kenny to let me drive it alone, how wrong i was!, there's the life vest, don't go fast before the poles in the water, there's the throttle, enjoy and off you go!!! i couldn't believe it!
As Kim and i were walking to the beach i had seen Kenny drive the ski out and as soon as he got the the posts in the water (the no wake zone) he opened it up and let it rip. OMG it was unreal! this things is basically an engine with a fibreglass cover on it and a seat!! its a 4 cylinder engine with a supercharger and puts out 225BHP and does over 70MPH on the water!!! that's more power than most cars in the UK!
So, i took it easy getting out of the no wake zone and took it easy for the first couple of minutes just to get an idea of how the turning circle is and throttle and stuff, it was SO easy to drive! i couldn't believe how easy it was to turn!
Kenny giving me the low down My first time even sat on a ski!
After a couple of minutes i opened the throttle fully and went for it, the feeling was amazing and i could hardly keep my eyes focused on the Speedo as it went to thirty, then forty, then fifty and i then saw sixty! my arms were feeling it a little and my legs too, i could feel the ski taking off as i hit the small waves and felt it crashing down, in reality i bet it wasn't even lifting more than 3 or 4 inches but it felt like 3 or 4 feet! i then saw sixty five and i backed the throttle right off just as i hit sixty eight. I just sat there for a few seconds, the adrenalin was rushing through my veins and i just felt so excited, it just felt so good!
I opened it up again and just held of for grim life, twenty, forty, sixty, SEVENTY!!! again i backed off and just sat there, this was just so exhilarating i was loving every minute of it. I headed back to the beach and i cant even begin to imagine how big the smile on my face was when Kim and Kenny saw me!
Kim went out for a blast and then Kenny, it was crazy just how quick you disappeared from view, one minute he was in full view the next Kenny was just like a spec in the distance and all you could see was the water shooting up out of the back. He stopped for a while and Kim and i got a little worried, upon getting back ton shore we asked if everything was good and he said “yeh i just had to pee” lol hence going out in to the middle of now where.
Kenny knew how to ride it and knew the limits it would take, although he did say its virtually impossible to tip it over, Kim said he overheats it a few times with all the turns and blasts but only has to wait a minute or two for it to click back on.
Kim and i went out on it together with her driving and i just clung on for dear life! After me pointing which way to go we headed out and spotted a train going over the bridge over the river, we headed out to try race the train but there were too many reeds in the water which would have just clogged up the motor, something you have to watch out for. We pottered around about 30 miles an hour and then i just said to Kim, “go on open it up” i just grabbed hold tighter and i think we saw nearly 60mph with us both on. We tried jumping the wake that a boat had just left but weren't very successful.
We headed back to shore and i took it for another blast around and started to get a bit cocky, throwing it into corners and ripping it up a bit, i really enjoyed it and it has to be one of the best things I've ever done!
Kenny said anytime i was around we could go out on it and invited me back to also go on his dads yacht which from memory is over 60feet in length and a site to see! cant wait Kenny! see you next week,lol
We loaded the ski back on the trailer and headed back to the house to get ready for the show later on tonight.
Kenny and I Kim in the truck Jet ski, Kenny and I
I took a shower and then headed over to Marks and Beth’s house (i was staying with Kim and Becca’s in Beccas sons bed, see below!)
My bedroom for a couple of nights! which was much appreciated
I took a shower and headed over to Mark and Beth's around 2:30. We left for the pre show meet up an hour or so later. Mark, Beth and John in one car and Kami, Jessie and myself in the other, it was a 30 minute drive into DC and by the time we parked up and got to the restaurant it was 5pm.
Driving into Boston
The restaurant was a really nice place, a nice steak house that had an upstairs bar and a great bar tender. He made us up a couple of tables together as there were 10 or so of us expected. My friend Dennis from New Orleans was due in and id spoke to him earlier in the day to let him know where were were. I hadn't seen him since he came to London in 2002 and was looking forward to seeing him again.
Myself, Dennis and Mark Dennis and Kim
Dennis had got the jacket signed in Dublin in 2002 and had managed to save it from his house after his house was wrecked by hurricane Katrina! We ordered food and i had crab cakes with mashed potato which was so yummy. We also ordered some mixed appetizers that were HUGE!!
2 trays of appetizers
Kami, Jessie and i headed over to the venue around 6:30 and met up with everyone else as they arrived.
John, Jessie and Kami Kenny, Kim, Dennis, Becca, Beth
Full album of jet skiing pics here:
Washington DC meet up pics:
