I left my heart (and my liver) in New Orleans

So we leave Memphis early on a Monday morning and board our coach to NOLA!

We stopped in the morning at generic American rest stop which had a cool Louisiana shaped sign (see picture!) and then I *think* (it was a month ago - need to get this blog finished before I forget everything) we stopped in some little place and got amazingly huge sandwiches. And may I say it was ridiculously hot still and getting more humid.

So we continued to NOLA, as we drove we went through Brentwood, LA (home town of Britney Spears - Naomi, Erin and I were the only ones sad enough to admit to knowing this when Justin asked who came from there) and as we drove in New Orleans Justin told us a bit about the city and the impact of hurricane Katrina.

Justin used to live in New Orleans and coincidentally he left the city just a few days before the hurricane hit. We drove on a massive motorway/flyover type thing which I remember seeing people walking on in footage from years ago. We also drove past the Louisiana Superdome which is where thousands of people tried to shelter from the hurricane. It's repaired now but it was pretty wrecked by the storm, I really can't imagine what it must have been like. Shame on the US gov for not doing more to evacuate the poor and vulnerable.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express which was in a good location, only a couple of blocks from Bourbon Street. Not the nicest inside however, Erin and I got to our room to find it had an industrial carpet cleaner left in it. We really didn't want to know why they had been shampooing the carpet. Then, revelling in the fact that we had more that 30 minutes to get ready, we decided to try out the hotel pool. Let's just say it was about the size of a paddling pool. Oh well, it was hot and humid so at least we got wet!

Post cruise fun with Kate and Naomi

The first night we had signed up for a paddle boat cruise on the Mississippi. The boat was pretty cool and they played some jazzy type music. There was food which again was yucky and not what we were told it would be. Can I just say 80% of the food I ate on this tour was pretty gross. We all had a few drinks from the worlds slowest bar staff and enjoyed the views.

After the cruise we headed to the original 'Pat O'Briens' home of the famous New Orleans hurricane to meet up with the rest of the Contiki's. Hurricanes are like an institution in NOLA and wow are they strong. They don't taste that strong as such, but I had 2 in about 1 1/2 hours and combined with a few vodkas on the boat I was very tipsy!

Next we hit another NOLA 'landmark' 'Tropical Isle'. This bar is the home of the hand grenade. The bar only sells these drinks (and I think maybe beer) and you can get them slushy style or regular in one of two sizes, if you get the big size it comes in a nifty neon yellow cup and you get a little mini hand grenade floating in your drink. I really do wonder who thinks of these things. Needless to say these were also very strong, so by this point you have in the region of 70 very merry contikis! So we headed off to Razzoo's for more fun, dancing on the stage, test tube drinks and other fun. I am pleased to say I was good and started drinking water here (there are photos for proof!) and so started to sober up and remember the night!

http://www.tropicalisle.com/

Razzoo's - Messy

So the next day I rose reasonably early but bed looked so comfy I decided against an early departure. I did manage to get out though and see the city, I mainly walked around the french quarter which is really pretty. I've always thought New Orleans looks nice after seeing it in films like interview with a vampire and runaway jury. I did some souvenir shopping etc and got a pedicure - generally enjoying having my first afternoon to myself!

Night two I went for dinner with some friends and then we stopped off at Cafe du Monde to try their famour Beignets (see below) which are like pillow shaped doughnuts covered in icing sugar. LOTS of icing sugar. They must go through tons of the stuff. Nice, but sickly.

We then headed to a 'locals' bar which Kris (other bus manager) had chosen. It was okay, but lacked atmosphere. That night was one of those could go either way nights and I wanted to have fun as it was Janice's last night (she was only doing the half tour 'Southern Adventure'). We decided to head over to Bourbon Street and stopped in Tropical Isle. I admitted defeat though - still sick as I had been from Dallas and after such a humid day I called in a night just after midnight.

Onwards to Tallahasse and Florida.

New Orleans was lots of fun and crazier than I could imagine. Will be going back at some point, that's for sure!

Memphis, I love you

So, we arrive at our next destination, Memphis, TN.

Okay, I'll admit it, I know little to nothing about Memphis (beyond Elvis and 'Walking in Memphis') and it wasn't a place I was super excited to be visiting, how wrong was I!

We drive into the city to the sound of Marc Cohn and do a quick city tour of a few sights such as Beale St (whilst discovering the Bieber is in town and the city if full of tweens!).

Our hotel is pretty nice if unremarkable, and the first night I had opted in to a dinner at a famous barbecue place called 'Rendezvous'. So the night is hot and sticky and we get there and there is a big queue outside, I think this was because we had reserved a pretty huge section of the restaurant - sucks for those without a reservation! So we have a random buffet type meal of ribs which was pretty rank imo, and we've also paid to have free beer, but me being sick couldn't drink the damn stuff which was annoying so ended up going to the bar for a cheeky glass of wine. The atmosphere was pretty good though, we had a jukebox in our section and I attempted to liven up the atmosphere with a great double bill of the Venga boys and the Macarena (see evidence below of me attempting to do the dance). Didn't catch on, shame!

Next - Beale Street - Saturday night, one word, awesome! Okay so there is lots of ID checking this night, once to get onto Beale St, then to get in a bar and then for every drink, overkill? So, first stop is BB Kings blues club. The music is pretty cool but Naomi and I were just not feeling it, the bar was smallish and the Contikis there were all spread about and we were lacking the group fun we normally had. So after some dramas in getting Kate her ID (which had been 'borrowed'). Naomi and I decided to pace the street, first we found Janice, De and Trudy and had some hugs and hellos and they wanted to continue there wanderings so we parted ways. Now at this point, I still wasn't feeling in (lots of nights partying was starting to take its toll!) but this was the city where Naomi and I learned to work through the funk as it ALWAYS turns out to be a good night. First turning point, bumping into Mick who was in such a high and infectious mood! Second point, having a huge blue slushy cocktail thing in a big glass - strong! Last point, returning to BB Kings and finding we have taken over large sections of the dance floor! Brillaint night, only spoilt by tripping on cobbles on the way home and ripping the bottom of my dress, grr!

Drag myself out of bed the next day, determined to see stuff even if I didn't get to bed til after 3 (this was the start of a theme!). Firstly we went to Graceland. Now I'm not an Elvis fan, but it was kinda cool. The house was actually very small but it was decorated as it was when he died. There was also all his records, some costumes etc and LOTS of people. Tons. And they walk slowly!

Next we went to the Lorraine Hotel where MLK jr was shot, very sad. It's now a civil rights museum (closed when we were there as it was a Sunday morning) and there is a lady outside who has been protesting about the museum for over 20 years, she says MLK would have thought it a waste of money and the millions spent on it should have been spent on poor people. I think I agree with her, even if she is a little crazy. We also visited Sun Studios where Johnny Cash made music among others. I must admit, I didn't get of the bus here. The heat, humidity and lack of sleep got the better of me! Later that afternoon we also headed to see a baseball game, the Memphis Redbirds. Baseball is pretty dull though, so we enjoyed a bit of the buffet we had provided, watched a bit, I bought a foam finger and we headed back to chill.

Last night - included dinner which was okay but they decided to put this huge band on next to us which mean we couldn't really talk to each other. We had a few drinks in and Irish bar next door and again another in BB Kings but the groups I was with decided to call it an early (ish) night and prep ourselves for the next leg to New Orleans. And I'm glad I did. Do you know what they call Bourbon St (main party street in NO)? Beale St on crack. And that is VERY accurate description as I will further explain next time :)

Memphis, you were one of many surprises on my trip, so glad I got to visit you, may we meet again!

Cadillacs, carnivores and cowboys!

So we resume our journey with a pretty long drive to Texas (don't mess with Texas!), more arid landscapes and dodgy rest stops! On our way we stopped at a tourist attraction known as 'Cadillac Ranch' which according to wikipedia was started in 1974 and is basically a bunch of Cadillacs buried in the ground and

people come along and spraypaint them (or attempt to -the paint I had was rubbish). So we spent half an hour climbing on the cars, painting, taking photos :)

(okay sorry for the underline, cannot get rid of it!)

A short drive later we arrived at our non-descript hotel in Amarillo (White bus had bagged the 'character' hotel next to the restaurant, but we were near the bar and 24 hour iHop!) and due once more to our lateness it is a mad rush to shower and get changed before dinner, Erin and I were becoming quite good at this!

We hopped on the bus to 'The Big Texan', a very cool, tacky, trashy, cowboy steak type place. As 'everything is bigger in Texas' I started with a 32 oz beer in a glass that was so big I could hardly pick it up!

Now, some foolish souls (Joel, Leah, Johnny and Shawn) had decided to try the steak challenge. 1 hour to eat a 72oz steak, bread roll, starter and jacket potato. If you do it it is free. Did they manage it? No. Was it fun watching them try? Yes! They looked so sick! It was the biggest piece of meat I had ever seen on a plate. Even our free included meals were huge. Like I said, bigger in Texas.

After dinner, we moved to the bar area and played with the games there (shooting arcade was fun but fixed I'm sure!) and managed to wrangle myself a few more free drinks. We then headed to Buckles Western Bar down the road. There was less than 10 people there when we arrived then 50 Contiki's rocked up and took over the place. This was one of the best parts of being in such a big group, we brought the party where ever we went! The evening was fun, met some real cowboys, stayed til kicking out time, managed to get 8 people in a 5 seater taxi and went to iHop at 3am. Good times.

Next day was another early start to Dallas! On our way we stopped at Walmart to 'get our western on' in prep for the Rodeo in 2 nights time. Got myself a rather fetching cowboy had (had to leave it on the bus though :( ) and a kids cowgirl shirt, fabulous.

We entered Dallas to the Dallas theme tune and saw a few sites and visited a sculpture of some cattle called Pioneer Plaza (kind boring!) and then hit the hotel, Hotel Indigo. Nice hotel, but our room only had one bed so I had to sofa-bed it those 2 nights. Was weird being so close to the ground.

Anyway, we had our included meal that night at 'Gators', it was a fajita buffet, okay I guess. The bar was a dive though and then they started karaoke. Glad to moe on the Justin's suggestion for a nicer bar a short ride away called 'Blackfriars'. Nice place, not too expensive. I was one of the first to go but gradually the rest of the Contiki's filtered in and we all got a bit snap happy, lots of photos taken that night!

Next day we headed for the JFK museum and saw where he was shot. Was kinda interesting but I am still not warming to American Museum, they are so wordy and kinda boring and it took a long time to go around. We also went out to the grassy knoll and took some pictures. We then grabbed a taxi and tried to go to a mall. We had a crazy taxi driver who insisted on taking us to a stupid locals mall which took ages to get to and was a nightmare to get back from. Trust your instincts guys, when you think someone is sussed, say no!

That night was rodeo time! By this point I was sick. I'd felt sick the previous night but now I knew I had a cold, it sucked. But I continued on! We took the Bus to Fort Worth and some of us went to visit Billy Bob's, the 'biggest honky tonk in the world'. It was empty when we were there but was still pretty cool, would be a great party when full!

We then mooched over to the stockyards and got some seats for the rodeo. Great fun, lots of flags, national anthems, crazy cowboys, kids chasing animals, hot dogs, popcorn and general good times.

We left in high spirits and tried to get in the mood for more fun by singing along to music on the bus. Then Vara (aka 'the Italian Stallion') decided it would be a good idea to do a strip. Thankfully it did not get down to the full monty but underwear was involved and he sat on my lap (!) and crushed my hat :(

That night I stayed out very briefly but illness got the better of me and I retired early like a good girl. I'm glad I did as the night appeared to end with 3am visits to strip clubs and dodgy alcohol dealings. Sometimes you are glad when you miss out on the 'fun'!

Til next time . . .

A big hole in the ground, a fuzzy pucker and a hot air balloon

The Grand Canyon, Colorado and Albuquerque

So lets whiz through the next few days . . .

So we set of for Arizona and the GC and stopped on the way on the historic route 66 in the town of Selighman. Delightfully tacky, lots of tat and souvenir shops on a ‘route 66’ theme, so in the spirit of ‘getting my souvenir on’ I purchased the first of my license plates which will soon be finding a home on my wall! We continued on and made it the GC that afternoon and headed to the visitor centre for our included dinner (bad cafeteria food with Sprite that tasted like soda water) and then we attempted to watch the sunset. Attempted I say because our bus were the poor souls who had to stay an hour away in Williams, Arizona as all the local hotels were full, but hey I saw a bit of pink cloud!

That night we were all wrecked from Vegas and a long day travelling (we didn’t get to the hotel til about 9.30pm that night :() and happily I pulled in for my first early night and felt very proud of myself when I managed to get up early the next day to do some laundry!

Next day was helicopter rides over the Canyon! I was pretty excited but it was not overly exciting in the end. Taking off and landing was pretty cool as you could feel the speed at a lower altitude and you did get some sense of how big it was but it’s still hard to comprehend. If I ever go back I’d like to camp in the canyon, I think that would be the best way to see it. Afterwards we had a few hours in the Canyon so Naomi, Little Erin and I headed to El Tovar lodge in search of decent food and boy did we find it! I think of all the meals I had there this must rank in the top 5, there were even vegetables and the most pretty deserts ever. Then we did a little walk around, bought some souvenirs and took pictures. That night involved some card games in our room (me, Big Erin and Naomi) and a few drinks in the Doc Holiday bar in the hotel, where some random local decided to show everyone his wolf/dog. Weird.

Cortez was up next, long-ish driving day. On the way we stopped in the famous monument valley, home of car commercials and cowboy movies. We got driven around in the most rickety bus you have ever seen, it’s windows had been taken out and it looked like it could die any minute. We stopped a couple of times and took pictures and people bought jewellery from some of the Navajo stall holders on the way and I have to say it’s a pretty cool place. On the way out we had to get up a steep bank, but our bus decides it doesn’t want to. After much grinding and crunching the driver decides he needs to back up to get some speed (!) to get up the hill. At this point some people decide to bail and walk up it. Me being the brave (foolish?) person I am stays. And we start reversing, and reversing, and reversing for about 5 mins, until we think – is this ever going to stop? Eventually we do and our crazy driver floors it up the bank, we are all screaming and wooping (the other bus is cheering us on also by this point) and finally we make it to the top in a cloud of dust and grossness (just stopping before we go over the edge of a cliff may I add!).

After that excitement we shopped a little and continued to Cortez, stopping at the road where Forrest Gump stops running in the movie (our first movie moment of many!) for a fun little photo op.

So we finally get there and have our dinner at ‘Mexican Fiesta’ another delightfully tacky affair with the biggest margaritas I had seen (up til that point!). Amy decided to have 2 and entertained us all on the bus with her rendition of big spender, good times. The ‘hard core few’ then headed straight to the bar next to the hotel and sampled some local beverages including Fuzzy Puckers (Naomi – ‘Is there alcohol in that?’) and met some random locals. I decided it would be a fine idea to stay up really late, but I still made it on the bus the next day (yay me!).

We then drove to Albuquerque, again getting to the hotel quite late. Tonight was an included dinner in the hotel and it was pretty rank. I think I had some kind of enchilada but it tasted and looked yucky. Well at least I didn’t need to calorie count at this stage! I was again a good girl and went to bed nice and early. Hot air ballooning the next day and with a 5am wake up call I did not want to chance it.

So 5am the next day we all gathered and got in some little buses to the launch sites. In my balloon was Little Erin, Kate, Tai, Mark, Ben, Aaron (and maybe some more!). We moved to a site away from most of the balloons and we went up really, really high to start with as they were looking for some wind to move us closer to the others, but alas it was not to be found. We cruised around for about an hour, it was very peaceful and quiet (especially being so early in the morning) but the heater was so hot when they turned it on, the ‘pilots’ were sweating loads. We landed pretty well and the others helped pack the balloon (I took photos!) and then we headed off for some champagne and got some little certificates which was cute.

When we got back I had minutes to grab my stuff (and change as it had gotten so hot!) and we were on the bus to Amarillo! First stop for lunch though was the pretty town of Santa Fe. It’s very touristy and affluent and it’s where you can buy native American jewellery and such like and generally is a pretty place to walk around, except for the fact it chucked it down as we were leaving!

Next time, Amarillo and the 72oz steak challenge, yokel bars and more!

Planes, buses and hummer limos - LA and Las Vegas

So I left for the US on a cold a dreary Tuesday morning, my journey brightened by the Rastafarian bus driver at LHR singing along to the Millionaire song on the shuttle from T5 to T3 :)

I had the ‘joy’ of flying United to LAX. What is the problem with American carriers? Bad service, scruffy staff, bad (and hardly any – they served us one meal and a sandwich in 10 ½ hours!) food and no wine! Also next to me was a pretty huge American guy so I managed to get out of my seat once in 10 ½ hours and had like 4 movies to choose from so ended up watching a Miley Cyrus movie – joy!

So I get to the airport and meet my first kooky person, a woman from Manchester who was off to Comic Con to see some actor she was obsessed with (apparently he is in the Tron movie which is coming out) and was then flying to Canada to stake out some place where he is filming a new movie. Kooky person number one – tick! The fun continued on the bus to the hotel where this American dude (apparently in LA to go to court – go figure) was harassing these Brazilian girls by trying to talk in Portuguese and insisting the driver take us to In’N’Out Burger. God I was glad to get of that bus (kooky person number 2 – tick!).

Hotel No. 1 – Kyoto Grand Hotel in Little Tokyo. Nice hotel, nothing really around it apart from some food places and the odd shop, meant I had to pay $2 for the tiniest tube of toothpaste at the hotel gift shop (I had to forget something!). First night in the hotel I met my first Grand Southerners! Ex-Geordie boy Mark, Kiwi Mike, The Jonas Brothers Joel and Tony, Janice from N.I. and Naomi and Deani from Oz. We went for noodles in an asian sport bar (weird I know), gave the leftovers to a homeless guy and finished the night in the roof bar.

Day 2 I decided to go see the city and booked what turned out to be a pretty mediocre (and overpriced tour) but I saw the Hollywood bowl, the Hollywood sign, the Chinese theatre and walk of fame, Rodeo drive, farmers market, Beverly Hills, Chinatown and probably some other stuff I’ve forgotten. That night was out pre-tour meeting. I found out I was going to be on the ‘gold’ bus (it was actually gold in colour!’ and my tour manager was Justin (and can I just say that that combination was a key factor in the fabulousness of my trip!).

De and Janice were on the other bus (boo) but the rest of the people I had met were goldies so so far so good. Finished the night with more asian food (we were in Little Tokyo!) and a few bar drinks where I first met the lovely Trudy who scared us with how much she could drink!

Grand Southern Day 1 – LA to LV. An early wake up call (8am??) meant we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed for our first bus journey. A hearty breakfast of whole wheat bagel and skinny latte set me up for what would be one of our shortest drives, about 4 hours or so.

As we traversed through the arid landscapes of California and Nevada Justin introduced us to what would be our day song, ‘In My Head’ by Jason Durillo. We established very little thought had gone into this choice and were dubious about the lyrics (‘Just sleep with me now say the word and we’ll go' etc) but it turned out to be a whole lot more catchy that the White bus one ‘Sins of our youth’ (no I still don’t know what it is).

We arrived in Vegas about 1-ish and I met my new roomy, Erin! I was later to discover she was from Gateshead. Honestly, fly halfway round the world and end up rooming with someone from 10 miles away, what are the chances? I was very lucky though as Erin is super lovely and we have no excuses for not keeping in touch. We stayed at Harrah's on the strip, pretty nice hotel, big rooms and a pretty good way to start the trip!.

So, night number one, start as we mean to go on! Had dinner at Bucca di Beppo (not bad not great!) shared a bottle of wine with Naomi and met some new people, Hayley, Ray, Chris, Bruce and Mick (who came across a little sleazy at first but is such a lovely guy!). We then headed off on a little tour of the strip and then our first ‘surprise’, Justin felt ‘ill’ and ran off the bus. When he got back he told us some guy had asked him to witness a wedding and we were invited. All a ruse of course but we got to go see Elvis sing in the Little White Wedding Chapel and saw Alana and Mick ‘get married’ (which turned into the start a great friendship!). We then headed to freemont street which is old school Vegas and got some 2ft long drinks and watch the light show on the canopy, it was to Queen music, we will rock you. Pretty cool J We then visited the 'sign' and got the usual pictures that everyone needs to get in Vegas!

Next, we hit the Palms and free entry to the Playboy Club and Moon (which apparently has a retractable roof, pretty sure it didn’t move when we where there, it was pretty humid!). Had lots of fun, got a picture with some bunnies, drank $12 vodkas and danced, danced, danced until my feet hurt and Naomi and I made the executive decision to leave!

The following day I dragged myself out of bed and hit the pool with Naomi which was quite refreshing and then headed to Caesars Palace and the Bellagio for lunch and 1c slots (I’m a big spender!). That night we sampled the casino buffet (not too bad but big queue) then headed to the ph casino to meet the others for our limo ride! We had the choice of a hummer limo or the ‘party bus’, I had on heels so we chose the sitting-down-ness of the limo and off we went. We stopped again at the sign (white bus didn’t go last night, sucks to be them!) and cruised the strip, went past the Bellagio as the fountains were on (beautiful!) and played an ‘informative’ game of I have never.

Now, by this point I was ready to go home, I was tired and my eye had been hurting all day (from my LASIK!). However the magic words ‘free entry’ and ‘free champagne for ladies’ were uttered and I decided to check out the Cathouse at the Luxor (the pyramid one!). Turned out to be muchos fun, free drinks, getting dragged in VIP area (and then getting kicked out!), dancing on a sofa/podium and general good hearted silliness. I left at a reasonable hour (2 ish) and got some shut eye for the early start and visit to Arizona and the Grand Canyon!

TBC!

Grad-U-A-Tion!

Okay, so first of, changed the url of my blog today to something a bit more useful for post-America life ( esp. as I will hopefully do another such travel thing at some point in the future!).

Okay so today was graduation (mark II). An anticlimax I have to say. I was in pretty much a right grump most of the day. My feet hurt (new shoes), had to trapse back and forward across campus as all the places I had to go where about as far away from each other as they could be and my I have a huge round moon face in my grad picture (hopefully wont have to look at it much!). To be honest I think the main thing is - it is an anticlimax. I didn't have any big family stuff planned to celebrate like lots of my friends since I'm not really close to lots of my family and its a really long and boring day. I also think back to my BA graduation and that ended rather sourly. My ex and I ended up arguing over something that night which to be honest could have been fixed if A- he had just been honest with me in the first place and B- he had just said sorry (even if you don't mean it if the other person is drunk/tipsy it can save a whole load of grief). Anyway that was 7 years ago and I never really though about it much until today but I guess some things do stay with you can colour your perception of later events.

Anyway, this is my last post about stuff other than my travels so 6 days to go until the fun-ness of 11 hours (+1) on a plane and the joy of jetlag (but as they say west is best!). Going to endeavour to stay up and make the most of my day and a half of LA, hopefully see a bit of the famous nightlife and meet some of the fabulous people who I will be sharing the trip with.

Anyway, sorry this is a little dull/depressing, its definitely up from here!!!

Love Jill xxx

Not so bad a week after all!

Okay, another quickie!

So I have made some progress this week on the old getting stuff ready front, bought a bag for the plane, a weighing thingy for my case (can't be over 20kg when I first get on the bus) and starting to get together some clothes which will not make me die of heat exhaustion in the summer humidity!

Also on a job seeking not I have not one but THREE interviews for next week. Hopefully one of these will lead to a job but if not at least I know that my applications are worth the effort I am putting in.

Wish me luck!