So far Boston stands out as the most liveable city. Great lake/river to row, sail or run around and plenty of open areas or park. Visited MIT uni and Cambridge which were eerily quiet due to Spring break. Still the few there were throwing a 'football' and enjoying the Spring weather.
Met up with NIck from pitchers and went out in Boston's version of Lygon st for a great feed. Surprisingly given the uni atmosphere the bars close pretty early 1-2am which was annoying, but it worked out that a few of girl's working at the hostel didn't mind kicking on in their private quarters so still had a couple of big nights.
Followed the Freedom trail to check out the tourist attractions including Boston Common, the Massachusetts State House, the Park Street Church and the Granary Burial Ground, King's Chapel, The King's Chapel Burial Ground, the Benjamin Franklin Statue, The Old Corner Bookstore, The Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere's House, The Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burial Ground, the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument.
From Boston headed back to NY to recover and catch up with Sam and the sth african's for their last week of secondment. Friday saw another $25US all you can drink nights till 12 and departed for Vegas for a road trip with Sam, stuey and lachy (pp boys) Monday in far better shape than when I arrived in NY.
Sam and I met up with Stuey (who'd evidently waited for us at the bar) and Ewaldt (sth af) in vegas mon night. Copped a hit with $40US cover charge but as big a place vegas is there was only so many options on a MOnday night and we figured that we might as well make the most of our time. Already up on the tables as well as free drinks for playing it was a no-brainer. Wasn't disappointed and the cover charge was $ well spent when we heard that the sth african boys night was a bit of a flop.
Walked in 8 or 9am in need of a couple of hrs sleep! We stayed at the MGM Grand which offers pretty much whatever you could want inside, no doubt carefully constructed to cater for everyone's needs to keep the ppl happy and gambling - although the 2 rarely go hand in hand. Met up with Lachy and recovered with 4 types of vodka mixed with red bull at a club pool/spa called wet republic - found the rought to avoid cover charge haha. Vegas was surreal and I can both understand why they call it sin city and schoolies for adults. On our final night we wanted to do a casino/bar crawl right along the strip. Having run along the entire strip in desert temp the previous day I knew only too well how far we had to get to our starting point and cabs only rip you off.
Countless ppl lined the street trying to coherse you to their strip clubs. Having been too busy at clubs, the pool and on the tables we decided to accept the free ride to the other end of the strip with the promise of a free drink on arrival. We were outside mainstream vegas before we knew it and sobered up a bit! Sam nearly got burned by an atm which had a transaction of fee of $55US ouch! We were warned on the way that it was a russian-mob run club and it might not be a good idea to stick to our plan to take up the free spirit and walk straight out. Was thinking he was right when after 5mins we got up to leave and the front entrance was blocked. Led out through the narrow back entrance we were greeted by a big russian who thanked us for coming, ordered us to come back and put us in a limo straight to our starting point! Great result! 20mins later and a pretty funny start to the night.
3 days was more than enough in vegas and was prob even to 30up on the tables but down a heap on living/drinking expenses. Picked up the hire car and got to driving on the right side in the states which was great! Made a quick stop over at the Hoover dam and headed for the Grand Canyon. Arrived less than 15mins after sunset as hard as I tried to bridge the gap! but there was still enough light to ackowledge how spectacular the view beneath us was! Consecutive decision was made to be back at 530am for sunrise - our body clocks were screwed anyway so what difference would it make. Ignored the national park cover charge justifying it as we are poor backpackers! Would have been great to trek down to the bottom and white water raft but time didnt permit unfortunately.
LA after a long drive and hit Santa Monica blvd. A couple of the boys woke early to someone ranting and firing gun shots in the car park of the room at 3am. I was spent from the drive so slept through it all. Checked out the hollywood hills, stars and rodeo dr and ran along venice beach but the highlight of both LA and San Francisco would turn out to be the US version of the great ocean rd drive than crossed through 'big sur'. We stopped along the way to some amazing views and national parks. The road wasn't in the greatest shape and particular around sunset on the west coast you had to be very careful. No rails and steep cliffs would be unforgiving!
Alcatraz tour in San Fran was cool, headphones allowed you to get a feel for the experience and looking down at the strong current and icy water it was easy to see how 2k could look impossible at the time (1946-63). The island was originally a fort perfectly situated to defend against any intruders coming through the heads. Walked along the waterfront and had to laugh when we stopped at a bar at 4pm advertising happy hr out the front and found the only others inside were 4 aussies.
Most evident in San Fran was the extent of the drug issues. When the girl working on the hostel desk hands you a map and highlights a large triangle of an area to avoid and a sad face therein you know it can't be good. Given it was the most direct route we walked through a number of times and were struck by the no. of crack heads and the few cops present! Each time you keep your valuables hidden and walk fast. It's like there being a massive area to avoid 2 blocks from melbourne central. Arnie needs to get his act together!
At least when you're in a dodgy area the food and services are always cheap. The hostel was great inside but location meant its price was good as were the restaurants and laundrymats. The others left for their respective trips and I had a couple of days to plan eastern europe and recover which was def a good thing.
