Orion's Mini tour of the 13 colonies. Er, I mean United States - East coast

[Orion]

We started our journey in the early morning hours of the 21st. (at about 6am) We drove through Ohio and Pennsylvania to finally arrive at our destination (according to my trusty new tomtom) around 8pm. I had noticed that even when I was sitting down I still felt I was moving. :p My eyes were also shaking as well. Not a pleasant feeling to tell the truth. We went out to eat at the closet restaurant that we have near the hotel Doubletree which ended up being a franchise restaurant called Uno's from Chicago. Funny that I would have to drive to New Jersey to eat at a restaurant that is based in Chicago. I

'm now in new Jersey, just east of Philadelphia, Today we will venture to Chinatown where my wife will scarf down her favorite foods and I will just watch her. From that point, we will go see the Liberty Bell and then go to the US Mint Museum (where I will acquire some monies!). I would also like to go to the Hard Rock Cafe here, just so I can pick up a few things. first, I have to find it!

More reports later.... Maybe some pictures as well. Internet at this bloody hotel is 10 bucks for a 24hr period! I can't complain too loudly, since my aunt was the one that got me the room at 39 bucks a night! And the 24 hours starts when you first log into the internet.

Orion

[Captn' Red]

Ori out on adventure. :F


Enjoy your time off man ^^


And holy schnitzel, 10 bux! >_>

[0235]

well they need to make their money somewhere.
i live in a really rubbish place (highest teenage pregnancy in EUROPE! in 2007 (i think)) and the cheapest hotel is £70 per night!

[Orion]

Today went well and I found out a tomtom doesn't work all that well in a large city. The buildings are too tall and they tend to block the signal from the GPS's. But I remembered what I seen online as to where things were and we stumbled across the Hard Rock Cafe and we got to see many of the other sites that I had planned as well. Like the US Mint and the Federal Reserve Bank. (where they print the money.) As Souvenirs go, We got a small bag of shredded money. I bought some trinkets from the Mint... A Bottle opener for my brother, and a flashing name tag keyring for my Aunt who's help made this trip possible. At the Hard Rock, I got a Shot glass for my Sister-in-law and a few pins for other friends. All in all it was fun, yet tiring. I'll have pictures later.

[Orion]

Today we left and made our way up the NJ turnpike to Stay the night at a Hilton just three miles west of Manhattan. We took the bus into New York since I had no desire at all to drive in that city and we walked over to Times Square where we Went to McDonald's for my daughter and the Hard Rock Cafe for me to buy more pins for my collection. After this, we went to the Empire State building where We went up to the 86th floor and looked out over Manhattan. From that point we hailed a cab to go into Chinatown for my wife to grab something to eat and then I got McDonald's myself since I didn't want to waste time finding a place to get a pizza. So I ended up eating an unsatisfying cold supper since It took us about an hour to get back to the hotel room. My feet are sore and feel like they are twice as big. My legs are also a bit sore as well... Good thing I wore my walking shoes!

Tomorrow we will journey to the Statue of Liberty to see how tall it is. Maybe I will get my pizza. We will see.

[Captn' Red]

lol hope you finally get that pizza of yours Ori.


Just watch out for robbers and shit >_>

[kryss]

Good luck on the pizza/chinese food questing!

[Zanibas]

Thank gosh you visited the Statue after they reopened. Visiting it while closed is like visiting the Eiffel Tower and not going up it....

...not that I can relate or anything...

Take some pictures if you get up there, okay?

[Orion]

Unfortunately, we never got to go into the Statue. We just walked around it. Wife didn't want to take the time to actually go into it. Oh well... Time to go and find something to eat. -.- No pizza for me. I'll be going to Red Lobster Probably.

[Flyvåpnet]

Orion, you've got to be kidding.  Well, to each their own.  At least you've all seen the Statue in person and can vouch for its actually being there!

The New Colossus

By Emma Lazarus, 1883

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

It's a lovely idea, put forward in that "Statue of Liberty" poem by Lazarus, but it's a pity the reality has been somewhat different.  My paternal ancestors from Ireland went through the meat grinder that was Ellis Island; yet no lessons were learned from that experience, as we can see by the treatment now accorded people from Mexico (and elsewhere) who wish to live here in the U.S.



Thanks for the updates, by the way!  Orion's Reports From the Field sounds like a good title for a television series.  So, feed us some photographs if and when the opportunity arises.  Drive safely and have fun!



=^..^=

[Orion]

Our next to the last stop is in Washington DC. I am sitting in the air conditioned comfort of our hotel room no more then a few blocks away from the White house. Last night we walked around a bit after my customary stop at a Hard Rock Cafe to pick up more pins and shot glasses. I seen the Washington Monument at night and the Capital building as well. <both from afar though> Today we ventured out into the hot temperatures to walk around the White House and see the statue that was dedicated to the Big Red One. (one of the Army's most famous and oldest Infantry Divisions) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Infantry_Division_%28United_States%29 My wife of course did not know it's significance but I did once I seen the red number one done up with red flowers right in front of the statue. I had taken pictures of this as well as other things we seen, like the White House, and the Washington Monument. Then it was off to the Smithsonian to look at the Air and Space Museum. I was under the impression that the Smithsonian was only one building, but it is all the buildings in the National Mall. After visiting that and plopping down 50 odd bucks on the souvenirs, we desired to go back to the hotel where my wife and daughter are enjoying themselves at the poll, whereas I am typing this and waiting my turn to use the small Laundry room at this hotel... You would think that they would have more then 2 washers and 2 dryers in a place like this. :p

Well, This was our last day here. We will be heading out to Hershey Pennsylvania in the morning.

[Tragic]

Man, how'd I miss this thread?

Seems you've been having quite a journey Ori. Can't wait to hear about the Hershey factory trip!

[0235]

wow, if i were there i would hope they would give some free samples

[Orion]

Ok, for those in the know, I am back home once again. I have a few days left of vacation so that is nice. I can actually recoup some of my lost sleep. (maybe) We got up early to go and see some of the things we missed from yesterday. My wife wanted to see the Capital Building and also the Lincoln memorial. (we seen the new Planet of the Apes movie a few nights ago so she wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial the most. I just drove around in a circle so she could see everything that we had missed. I drove by the Lincoln Memorial and seen that there was no way to drive by the front of it so we would have to get out of the car and walk to see it. (which she wanted to do) I just kept on driving around until we got to the Capital building. They had most of the roads blocked off for either construction, or to make sure people don't get too close to the building in their cars. My wife was able to get a real good shot of the building though as I made my closet approach from the East side. In the photo below, we were probably a few blocks from the Capital Building.


We then made our way back to the Lincoln memorial to find a place to park the car. I was able to find one spot that hadn't been taken up and used most of the smaller change that both my wife and I had to feed the parking meter for 50 minutes of parking.(no sense in taking a chance of getting car towed. We then made our way to the Memorial. On the way there we seen the Vietnam Memorial

And then we went past another Vietnam Sculpture
They were working on restoring this one, which is why it was in a small building that you couldn't get closer to. The glare from the glass was bad enough that you can't really see it well although I am sure there are pictures of this exact same sculpture somewhere.

Then it was off to the Lincoln Memorial.


We took many pictures here and I have a few of the view from the memorial itself.  I'll have to link more pictures later.

[Flyvåpnet]

Welcome back, Orion!  I'm glad you all had a pleasant and safe tour of what's inside The Beltway.  Thanks for posting those photographs (I like your hat!) and for calling me on instant messenger several times during your trip.



That sculpture near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a political statement at odds with the beauty of the Memorial itself:  Right-wing veterans' organizations objected to the Memorial because, in their unimaginative view, it wasn't sufficiently "traditional" and needed a statue.  (The subtext of right-wing displeasure at a female of Oriental ancestry having won the design competition was plain to see as well.)  The Memorial needs a statue about as much as you or I need a hole in the head, but money talks and hence that sculpture was erected.  Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was brilliant and I'd love to see that place in person some day.  A few familiar names are on that wall and I'd like to find them.



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