Tania and I have just returned from a conference and holiday on the East Coast of the US - and what a fabulous time we had!
We started with a week in New York; definitely the most inspiring, energy charged & busy city we have been to - "concrete jungle where dreams are made of"- no doubt about that. We choppered over Manhattan, rode through Central Park in a horse drawn carriage and visited Ground Zero, all the iconic things you do in NYC. The absolute highlight was spending the day and night sitting in Arthur Ashe Stadium watching the quarter finals of the US Tennis Open. To see play before our own eyes; Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Jean-Martin Del Potro, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Tomas Berdych and the Maestro himself Roger Federer, was definitely a once in a lifetime day. We literally sat there and pinched each other - Are we really here!?!?
We moved up through Pennsylvania and stayed with friends. I met a few real life Hillbillies - great, friendly, sharing and caring people. Real America does get a bad rap. We then travelled to Canada to see Niagra Falls. We both found them better than we expected - awe inspiring in fact. I recall Tania's comment as we were on the "Maid of The Mist" boat trip - "This is just like Moses parting the Red Sea".
From Canada we flew to Boston - what a beautiful city. We walked "The Freedom Trail" and went to the home of the Celtics - "The Boston Garden" - which was a real highlight for me. We also got along to Fenway Park and got to see the Red Sox play the Yankees - probably the biggest rivalry in US sport. It was fantastic to get amongst it and join in the banter of the fans. I can tell you it's a very different experience to sitting in the stands at Mt Smart watching the Warriors (way more fun and a lot less agro).
Lobster was on the menu regularly here - it's actually cheaper than steak at restaurants. Our final destination was Washington D.C - what a treat that was. From the Reflection Pond to all the monuments one day, the White House and Smithsonian Museum the next. Seeing the memorials certainly did raise many emotions for me - we both took some time at this point to reflect. I thought of my mum, who passed away about 5 years ago, a lot. The museums were full of things I never thought I would ever see; the original plane the Wright Brothers first flew in and the space suits worn on the Moon by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to name just a couple.
The final thing we did in D.C was definitely for me the most inspirational and touching - visiting Arlington Cemetery. Wow - one word comes to mind - "Respect".
Being present for the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers was absolutely indescribable, like nothing I'd ever seen before. "Absolute respect for their fallen comrades". It's hard for me to put into words how I felt or what it meant to me.
My advice: get there to see it if you can. Seeing the gravesite of JFK was something I also thought I'd never get to see.
Now that we are home and can look back on what we did, what we saw and where we went…Man, what an orsum trip!