The morning of the next day I had a quick shower and finished packing and then we got to the station so I could get ready to get on my train. I stood and waited in line for a while and talked to a family who were also waiting to get on the train, the father was putting his two little girls and his mother on the train and he was going to join them a few days later. They were great fun to chat to and it was nice having someone to talk to while we all waited. We boarded [View Full Entry]

---

---

In the morning we woke up to get breakfast from the hotel, which was pretty average. They had an okay selection but none of it was stunning. I grabbed a couple of packs of the grits that they had there so that I could take them home and show them to people who have never seen them before. After we had eaten we grabbed things from our room and headed out to Jeff’s dad’s place which was in a beautiful part of the country. We spent a few minutes talking but had to head out pretty quickly to get to New [View Full Entry]

---

---

On boxing day we set out pretty early to head to Louisiana and Jeff’s family. It was the perfect sort of a journey for me because we got to see another big chunk of Arkansas a little bit of Mississippi and then drive through Louisiana as well. On the way out of Little Rock I was trying to take photos of the Capitol as I hadn’t seen it yet and so Daters pulled off the road and did a detour so that I was able to see it up close. We stopped to take some pictures and then headed on our [View Full Entry]

---

---

We had to leave the house pretty early my first day in Little Rock to go and see Daters’ grandparents. We packed up all of the family Christmas presents and set off for Hot Springs. We stopped at a small gas station where I grabbed a drink and some lovely homemade cookies. We went the back route to their house which was great because I got to see more of the countryside of Arkansas, it was pretty obvious why it is called the Natural State. We got to see some of the marshes and forests between Little Rock and Hot Springs. [View Full Entry]

---

---

The first morning in Memphis was amazing having woken up and being amongst friends. Daters and I had a rough plan of what we were going to do but nothing concrete so we swung by a lovely little deli on Mud Island called Cordelia’s where we bought coffee and headed into the centre. We were aiming for the Amtrak station and went to the correct area but it took us ages to find it and when we did the woman there was completely unhelpful and told me that I couldn’t pick up my ticket anywhere but New Orleans. So, we walked [View Full Entry]

---

---

The next morning was spent hurriedly trying to get all of my things packed and then heading into the airport. I was in the new terminal, which is apparently, very exciting. I got there very early and had to unfortunately pay to check my suitcase, something I didn’t know beforehand. I got all of that sorted and had my boarding card printed and ready with a long time to go so sat and waited to say goodbye, which we did with a decent amount of time to spare. I went through the expert traveller security gate which is supposed to be [View Full Entry]

---

---

I got up and left pretty early in the morning to go back to Union Station to catch the train to Cary, NC. It was quite sad heading out of DC so soon but I was bounce-up-and-down-on-the-seat excited to get to see my friends in North Carolina again. I got some food and actually met the only miserable person I had encountered the whole time in DC. She asked me for my ID while I was buying water and chips in a store in the station and proceeded to rant about the UK not accepting US driver’s licences as proof of [View Full Entry]

---

---

On the Sunday morning I got up and had some breakfast with Tony and Gail before finishing off all of the rest of my packing and deciding what I should leave behind. I hadn’t filled the box that I was going to send back home so I am going to send Gail some more things that I pick up along the way to send home. It was the first day of bad weather that I had seen while I was there which was a shame because I couldn’t take pictures of their back-yard which is completely beautiful. We all got into [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sorry that this has not been put up for a while but my laptop was not online for ages and then the admin part of the site wasn't working so there are going to be a few in quick succession. This one starts on the 26th of November. Thanks, Vick. After getting some rest in a very comfortable bed I woke up to my first morning at the Newell Residence. Gail and Tony had work to get finished before the holidays so Jess, Bec and I headed out for a drive around and to see some of the area. We took [View Full Entry]

---

---

The last morning that I spent in Philadelphia was more sightseeing. I had a couple of errands to run and then decided to stop and get some breakfast at a café called Mrs K’s. Apparently it is quite well known to locals, according to the woman I asked for a recommendation. The food was pretty much, but as ever it was far too much for me to manage. To try and work some of the breakfast off I walked up to Betsy Ross’ house which is in a lovely area by lots of great shops including several clothing boutiques and a [View Full Entry]

---

---