Monday Sunday morning I had set aside to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. According to the brochure it was open from 10am. Unfortunately when I got there it was closed until 1pm, the time of my flight. So I only got to look on the outside. Disappointing, as Eva said it was the most impressive part of visiting Memphis. So..back to the airport and back to Atlanta...it is a major hub, this was my fourth transit there. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to leave the airport , so I read [View Full Entry]

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Day 84- Saturday Aside from the fact that I have long wanted to visit New Orleans for it's own sake, as a unique and fascinating city, I was really imressed to to see various aspects of the Mississippi River. The location New Orleans is interesting...between the final curves of the river and the amazing Lake Pontchartrain...so extensive and with such amazing long "bridges" across. These are things that I for one can only begin to comprehend having seen them with my own eyes. And since they enter into our cultural heritage through movies and social historyI commend them to you all [View Full Entry]

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Day 83- Friday This is my third day in this great city and I am just about to check out and make my way to Memphis for the weekend. I am pleased to say that there seem to be quite as few tourists (mainly from the US) here at present and it seems to be business as usual for most.. Nevertheless, lots of places are still awaiting restoration and some have closed down. I think Amtrak must have a death wish. Not only do no US residents know anything about Amtrak passes such as we have enjoyed for $350 for 30 [View Full Entry]

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Day 83 (maybe?)- Wednesday I started off yesterday by doing one of those on/off bus tours around the old part of town. Their idea was that you stay on board for 11/2 hours to see everything then spend the rest of the day going back to visit in detail where ever you wished. However, since the old town is laid out according to a very careful grid plan around some 20 squares with lovely public gardens in the centre of each by the time the mini bus had taken me round in no fewer than 20 small circles I was confused [View Full Entry]

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Day 81- Monday After spending a great day in Washington, visiting all the classic locations yesterday I left Connie and Nora about 5.30pm to go to the Kennedy Centre. According to my guidebook there are daily free performances there . So... left them at the National Portrait Gallery ( one of 18 parts of the Smithsonian complex) and went to see the great cultural centre. LIke all of Washington...monumental...no expense spared...magnificent with an expansive terrace overlooking the Potomac river. The was indeed a live free performance on at 6pm, A Jazz pianist with guitar, drums and saxopho [View Full Entry]

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Day 80- Washington We aren't mad...we had to move on today as there seemed to be no vacant rooms in NY..even in New Jersey! And according to Nora there are no vacancies in youth hostels till the end of October! So..when you come... get your acts together and don't be like us. Plan ahead and book!!! Actually, I wasn't worried as I am returning to NY for about five days at the beginning of next month as I have four nights booked at the Met! The season doesn't start till then. An there will be a few matinees and other slots [View Full Entry]

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Day 79- Friday Sitting here in the magnificent reading room of the NY Public Library on 42nd street in order to use the computer. The internet in my hotel didn't seem inclined to co-operate for me. After my busy day in Boston on Monday, we picked up a hire car in order to go to Cape Cod and Nantucket. This entailed driving a couple of hours to the south, stopping of at Plymouth on the way. Here we saw a replica "Mayflower" and saw the rock inscribed to commemorate the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620. Then on to Provincetown, on [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday Morning The blog server was down for 6 hours last night, apparently so of Monday, 8th September I can report: I set out early this morning from our very nice and relatively cheap hotel in Chelsea, beyond Logan airport at 8.30am. There is a shuttle bus from here to the airport train station, via the airport. From the station, I travelled two stops toward downtown, to "Aquarium" , the same as yesterday. Here I alighted and began walking. I am sure I must drive Connie crazy. At night I read my guide book and prepare a list in my notebook [View Full Entry]

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Day 74- Sunday Reflecting on yesterday, my highlights were the Boston Public Library and the the " Make way for ducklings scenarios, both live and bronze in the Boston Common. Today I set off on a trolley "hop on, hop off tour" with additional support from the Boston subway. It was a glorious late summer's day, perfect for wandering around going in and out of famous edifices and walking around. I guess today's highlight was the JFK presidential library. After enjoying the great James Garner, Jack Lemmon movie "My Fellow Americans" I had to check out at least one presidential library. [View Full Entry]

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Day 73- Saturday After maintaining an average of at least every second day till we reached the US I'm afraid things have been more difficult to maintain. One obvious difficulty is that we have mainly been with Connie's family and even though there are computers around , when one is with a group of people it is difficult to get some quiet time for solitary activities. So to back track over the past week... Last Sunday and Monday I was in Palm Beach with Connie's sister, Christine and her husband, Joe. They live in a golfing resort and the likes of [View Full Entry]

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