Wet n Wild n Walgreens

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So Saturday was our chance to cool down a bit after some ridiculous humidity. No kidding though the weather was still humid and hot and...  American Summer in Florida. However this time we had the brilliance of a water park to help us out. 

We didn't try to get to all the rides, we just took the opportunity to take a day to enjoy outside after we'd been cursing the very idea of staying in the sun. I really enjoyed the day and the few rides we did were awesome. So glad we bought our one time express passes because it was crazy busy as expected. 

Though when you're at a water park, there are lots of stairs and of course they're all outside in the sun.  This means the ground gets really really hot and the stairs are also ridiculously hot so you end up trying to run everywhere but then you land with more pressure on really hot ground. The result being you end up with the sensation that you've probably burnt your foot. This is not fun when your feet are already sore from a crazy amount of walking over the past few weeks. 

But still we had heaps of fun. Especially in the lazy river where you just get moved by the current and there are no stairs. I could've stayed there all day. 

We've done our minor grocery shopping at Walgreens. But it's actually kinda frustrating because there's no equivalent to Woolworths or Coles as far as we've been able to find so there's no fresh fruit and we have very minimal options. Both Yooga and I are looking forward to properly home cooked meals when we get back home. 

Orlando. 

Justine

Universally Excited

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Orlando! Day 1 and 2! Universal Studios! Island of Adventure! Theme parks!

On day one we bought express passes to get through as many rides as possible so we didn't have to worry about long lines every day of our time here. This actually worked a whole lot better than I'd initially expected. 

We got to so many rides (and I only skipped out on 3 that Yooga did) that we made it to the ones at HP world (which we were leaving for later days) that accepted the passes. 

To get between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure we caught the Hogwarts Express. The parks were awesome and we've allowed time to go back and do our favourite rides again. (although we have already done the men in black ride 3 times and I do plan on going again)

Day 1: 

Day 2:

Orlando. 

Justine

Waving Goodbye to Washington

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The last couple of days have been busier than I could imagine. We had to start earlier than I generally had (which is still not particularly early because most things don't open till 10) but it was definitely worth it. 

Sunday was another day out of the National Mall, we headed off to a couple of museums including that of Crime and Punishment, Spy and the Newseum. 

The crime and punishment museum was really interesting in its historical artefacts and other cool things like famous movie props. 

The Spy museum was really cool but a little confusing with its layout as different areas branched off and you never really knew where you'd been. But again cool historical artefacts and props (mainly from James Bond). 

I loved the Newseum. Unfortunately we didn't have as much time there as I would've liked. But we saw things such as a section of the Berlin Wall and one of its 'Death Towers'. We also saw the 7 editions of the newspaper published on the day of Lincon's assassination. 

Monday! We started at the Air and Space museum and saw a whole lot of planes and space travel technology. Not specifically my area of interest but still really really cool to see the original Wright Brothers plane and bits of the Apollo spacecrafts. 

We then went and had afternoon tea in the Smithsonian Castle, purely for the chance to say we had afternoon tea in a castle. The building is mainly admin now for the Smithsonian Institute in its entirety, it's gorgeous and has rose gardens and was just lovely to walk through. 

Continuing on to the Nat'l Museum of Natural History, I found it (unsurprisingly) very similar to the Natural History Museum in NYC. But this one had a massive section dedicated to semi precious and precious stones and other forms of gems and rocks. There were 3 foot high slabs of quartz and multiple highly valuable jewellery including a Harry Winston collar.

I also got a selfie with a triceratops model. 

We finished the day at the National Archives. Seeing the original documents of the Bill of Rights, the American Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Very very very very very very cool. 

Our final day in DC was the day I really got to indulge my political interests. We headed off to the Capitol, going via the Botanical Gardens. But the Capitol. We had a tour and saw heaps of cool paintings and statues and we were in the Capitol. And then we had lunch in the restaurant if the Capitol. Then we went and saw the House of Representatives (the line to go into the Senate gallery was ridiculously long So we didn't end up there). We went to the shop in the Capitol's visitors centre and I bought a Washington DC Capitol building jersey. Cause we were in the Capitol. 

Then we walked the tunnel to the Library of Congress (Jefferson building) and viewed the main reading room and some other cool stuff like a very very old hand written bible. 

We finished by walking past the Supreme Court of the USA. The day was amazing and I spent the afternoon of a political tourist buzz. 

Hopefully I'll be back here one day. 

DC. 

Justine 

Independence Day!!!

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In the nation's capital for the 4th of July. Very excited for the events of the evening. Only to have things go... Not quite as planned. 

Yooga and I started the day a bit late due to waking up to rain pouring outside, obviously a good omen for the day. Abandoning our plans of walking in the mall and in museums, we headed to Georgetown with the purpose of cupcakes and a new charm for my travel bracelet. A fairly easy commute involving very cheap hotel dogs for a snack, and a very very nice bus driver who gave us a free ride because we had the wrong tickets. We spent the early afternoon wandering and completing our purposes for the journey. (Georgetown Cupcakes had a very impressive line out the door and part way up the street. 

Being keen we left Georgetown en-route to the lawns of the Capitol and the concert that night (gates opened at 3pm so obviously in line by 2:15). We got in, found a spot with some friends of Jess M's and settled in for a long wait until the concert. Cue Uno. 

Until it decided to rain. A lot. 

To the point where, because of severe weather conditions everyone was evacuated to find shelter. We ended up in a car park with lots of other disgruntled and soaked concert hopefuls. With no clue how long the rain would last, we waited (luckily not too long) until we were given the clear to head out. 

Deciding that we weren't up for waiting in lines again or risking another clear out, we left for home and the comfort of dry clothes and indoors. 

Luckily, this did give me the opportunity to Skype hope to Kippax for the conclusion of Rocking Bambi. And I did get to see some Street fireworks in our area (because unlike at home fireworks aren't banned here). 

Happy 4th of July! Even if the weather didn't quite hold up for us. 

Washington DC. 

Justine 

These Places are Real

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So Yooga and I set out in our mission to see as much of DC as we could (and it's pretty darn difficult). 

After the monumental walk on Thursday, we used Friday to scope out some of the buildings  further down the mall. We started of with seeing the White House (from the wonderful security distance). The hardest thing for me to get my head around this trip is that things I see on TV actually exist. 

I had my first street cart hot dog, and we headed off to get a good view of the Washington Monument (Bilbo the Butterfly joined us). Continuing our walking (all very paced with short viewing breaks to maximise DC experience) we made it to the WWII memorial. Which was highly impressive and very busy. 

In the hopes of getting some more photos of the reflecting pool (because a certain relative hadn't realised I'd already sent them photos) we walked back to where we had been the day before. This did allow the opportunity to see the Vietnam memorial which we had missed on Thursday. 

On our way to the Nat'l Museum of American History, we stopped by the 56 signers memorial. Which was gorgeous but would have been improved if the water wasn't green and DC didn't have incredibly uneven footpaths (still really cool though). 

We then tried to get to most of the Smithsonian, but with the layout of museums here, you can always end up missing something without realising it existed. They're just massive. 

(Count Von Count, like actually, so cool) 

After that we had to call it a day (because everything starts closing between 4:30 and 5:30). Very tired and realising the humidity we're in for, we headed home. 

Awesome day. 

Washington DC.

Justine