So I try to go away for my birthday each year and in 2012 I turned 40 so I wanted to make it special... lets face it though, it would be hard to top my 38th birthday when I was watching the All Blacks play England in Twickenham.
I had spent about a year & half trying to figure out where to go and what to do. I thought about NYC, London, New Zealand, driving drive around Australia... the list went on. I settled on the country - USA and then I had to decide on a place. I was going to do NYC but then I thought it would be awesome to have others come with me so to make it easier for people to get to, I decided on Hawaii. Seven days in Waikiki in November... sounded awesome..
The final itinerary was 7 days in Hawaii, 6 days in NYC, 3 days in D.C, 1 day in Philly and then 2 more days in NYC for Thanksgiving. Two of my nieces came with me to Hawaii and then one of them came with me to NYC so it was a real family affair. I honestly don't think it would have mattered where we went... we could have gone to China and had the best time because it was the 3 of us together.
Obviously you have preconcieved ideas about America because you see it all the time on tv shows and movies etc, and after watching Hawaii Five-O for a few years, I had a certain view of Oahu - rightly or wrongly. Also because it's been a couple of months since the trip I can look at the trip with a different perspective too.
We stayed just two blocks from the beach down the Diamond Head end of Wakiki - it was a perfect location.. easy walking distance to most places in Waikiki, close to transport and of course the essential ABC store. We spent the week shopping, laughing and eating. We went to Pearl Harbour (amazing experience), did a round the island tour (the bus driver was awesome), discovering Teddy's Bigger Burgers (still haven't had a better burger!) and meeting new and interesting people. We manage to meet a NZ Naval Officer at Pearl Harbour that knew one of my brothers; we also met a couple of ladies from our hometown of Christchurch, one of whom happens to work for the same company as one of my nieces... all these things make me realise just how small the world actually is. After the 7 days it was sad to say goodbye to both Hawaii and the girls... but NYC awaited!
NYC - my neice and I arrived on the day of the Veterans Day Parade... my first NYC parade - it was awesome. We were staying with a friend on Park Avenue so it was a quick walk down to 5th Avenue to watch the parade. We spent a lot of time on the Hop on Hop off bus - which, after a UK trip a couple of years ago, is something I would do in every place I go. They really give you a great sense of where you are. We had arrived two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, so whilst for the most part, you would not know anything had happened in Manhattan - once you got down to Battery Park, you could see the damage and a lot of places were still closed for the duration I was there. Of course, coming from Christchurch my neice and I were use to (sadly) a city that had endured a natural disaster.
In NYC I went to a play (Jake Gyllenhaal was in it and he was brilliant), Times Square, Rockefeller Center, The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular (this was AMAZING!!!!!), Staten Island, did 3 different loops of the Hop on Hop off bus including Brooklyn, Downtown and Uptown ones, The Met. The night before Thanksgiving I also went down to see the balloons being inflated at the American Museum of Natural History - so did the rest of Manhattan apparently! Kind of put me off going to see the Thanksgiving Parade so instead I went on the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island and back and then walked around the Financial District... not a lot of people around so it was really good. I have to be completely honest - NYC was not my favourite place on this trip. I really can't explain what it was about the place that I didn't like. Also I am not saying I hated it and to be honest I would definitely go back but it would probably more of a stopover than a destination for me.
Washington D.C - I loved DC! I loved the history, the buldings, the people.. it was just a great place. The night I arrived I did a night tour which took in the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial and the White House, which was a lot smaller than I though it would be. The next day I did a full day tour to Mt Vernon, which was probably the highlight of my whole trip. I loved Mt Vernon, I loved the house, the setting, the season.. it was autumn when I went, which is my favourite season. On the way backt to DC the tour went to Arlington, which was incredibly huge. I spent the next day just wandering around the city, including seeing the Capitol Building, National Archives, the Old Post Office (has great views of the city) and the White House again. I was rather sad to leave DC to be honest... but then I go to....
Philly - I LOVED PHILADELPHIA!!! I was only there for 1 day but that 1 day made a HUGE impact on me. I love the layout of the city, that it had very distinct areas of historical, and modern buildings. I was lucky enough to have personal tour guide with me for the day, which was really awesome - Lois was able to give me a lot of history that I wouldn't have known otherwise. She also took me to a lot of different places that I might not have gone otherwise. We visited Christ Church (loved this cute little church), Independance Hall (awesome!), walked around the historic district and I experience what I like to call my near perfect moment.. it was just everything together that makes a moment just wonderful. We drove around the South Street area, down to the Art Museum, visited Bellvue Hotel and City Hall. If I was sad to leave DC, I was totally guttered to leave Philly and it is definitely a place I am going to go back to for longer!
So ends my first trip to the United States. Overall I did have a great time and I can't wait to go back to discover more of this country.
