Washington To Florida

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July 19th 2008

Published: July 25th 2008

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White House

After our relatively short flight from LA to Washington we arrive literally minutes away from our hotel, the Country Inn & Suites which was immaculately clean and good value for money. We are only staying a couple of nights therefore only have one day to visit the Capital before we depart and make the 1000km drive towards Florida. Not wanting to drive into Washington itself we head off for the local tube and take the easy option, with this being a Sunday we only have to pay around $5 for a full day ticket. We are making our way towards the White House which we would have loved to internally visited, however there are numerous applications you have to make prior to being considered for entry, and as these needed to be submitted 6 months prior it made this option a non starter. As we arrive out of the metro onto the street we make a few turns and are immediately presented with the World War II memorial building which is pretty impressive by anyone’s standards, standing along side is the Washington Monument. We walk down towards the Lincoln Memorial along side of the huge man made lake (the one from

World War I and II Monument

Forest Gump where Jenny comes wading through as he is giving a speech) we look back in awe at the amazing sight of all these monuments and the White House sitting proudly at the end.

There is some sort of Israeli day taking place on the grounds in front of the White House which would explain the tube being crammed full of Jewish people, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves with various activities from theatrical performances to live groups. After a look at the outside of the White House which is much larger than expected, it was back onto the tube towards Eastern Market on Capitol Hill for a quick browse and some lunch. Its not quite Portobello Road in Notting Hill but it was worth a visit for the excellent lunch we had at one of the many cafe's.

Next place to visit was the Military Cemetery in Arlington. This was an unbelievable place which left you with a sombre feeling. The sight of headstone after headstone immaculately presented in military fashion with each one being exactly the same distance apart from its neighbour and going on as far as the eye could see. This brought

Washington Monument

home the amount of deaths endured during war over the last 100 years or so, over 290,000. After visiting the headstones of the perhaps most famous family in America - the Kennedy's, it was off towards the Amphitheatre where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers can be found. This is guarded 24 hours a day every day by the 3rd US Infantry Division who every half hour perform a changing of the guard which has to be seen to be believed. Finally we make our way towards the Pentagon for our last visit of the day, however we make the huge mistake of taking the tube to the Pentagon itself only to realise that it brings you out at the exact spot and you can not see anything as you are too close to the building. We wish we had more time here however we need to be in Florida in 5 days time and have quite a journey to make so its adios and onward we go.

We are travelling in a car that resembles the vehicle the ant hill mob used in whacky races, we love it and it really stands out in the crowd, or we

Tomb of Unknowns

Guards on Patrol 24/7

thought it did until we reach Florida where they are 10 a penny. Anyhow, its a straightish road and we head off for Richmond which will be our 1st stop over. As we arrive at Richmond we don’t really think much to it so decide to head for Virginia Beach instead which is only a couple fo hours away. This turned out to be a good decision as the place looked lovely with its huge flat promenade nice beach and appetising sea. We stayed here a couple of nights and thoroughly enjoyed it however please be aware that there is a military site and during our stop it must have been 'learn how to take off and land as many times as you can in 5 hours' week, it was constant and very very noisy, going on until around 10pm. I would have thought an ideal place for any plane spotting enthusiast and their family, fun for all. We are a little behind schedule now and make our way towards Jacksonville. One thing we realise during our travel is the far superior signage system the East has compared to the West. Information such as what is available at the next

Villa 1

Our pool

exit such as dining, hotels and petrol was clearly displayed at every exit, something not evident on the West. We eventually arrive at Smithsville which is just North of Jacksonville but does offer the some cheap accommodation and is surrounded by a huge mall which hosts all the top designers like George from Asda and Primark....just kidding. Not sure if we mentioned it but its around 97 degrees and has been for an age, oh my god how will we cope on our return. After dressing up in relatively old clothes for the last 6 months it was too much of a temptation to pass, and I must admit we shopped for England. It was an early start next day, so at around 10:30 we made our way to our villa which is based in the district of Davenport.

I had managed to find a villa at the last minute on good old ebay with available dates which matched perfectly with the other villa we would be using for our final 2 weeks. As we arrived onto the estate where we would be stopping everything looked really nice however there was one garden that appeared to be letting the

Cutting Grass

Im lovin it....

others down. As we were nearing the number we were looking for we got that horrible feeling saying I bet that’s ours, and yes of course it was. Miraculously as we pulled onto the drive my mobile started to ring and it was the owner who was back in England calling to say the Management Co. had popped out to get a key cut and would be along in 15 minutes, no problem we said and I had to tell him that all of his grass was as dead as a witches t*t. He was a little upset but said the watering restrictions imposed must be the cause, not really mate everyone else's is fine. As we are waiting we decide to have a butchers around the back to see the all important pool, were we in for a shock. Where the lining of the pool was supposed to be all nice and blue, this had been taken over by some rather disgusting slimy green algae which made it look like something a pig would not drink out of. It could only ever happen to us. It was at this time the Management Co arrived with the keys, however after

Our Car

Shaq's huge ford

seeing the state of the pool there was no way we would be staying despite his reassurances he could have it back nice and clean within 24 hours. Look mate, Jesus you are not. The inside of the house lived up to the outside, no bedding on the beds, floor filthy and thousands of tiny flies dead on the floor. A quick phone call to Mr Prat in England thanking him for wasting our time and we were off with now nowhere to stay.

Over the road from Villa de Hell was a guy working on the grounds of a rather nice villa, turned out to be a cockney geezer but we cant hold that against him, who was more than helpful and thought he may be able to resolve our current crisis. Nobby as he likes to be called offered to take us to a villa over the road from where he lived that was available for all but 2 of the nights that we needed. Talk about chalk and cheese, this place was marvellous and just what the doctor ordered, without hesitation we took up his kind offer and moved in there and then. Not only had

White House

Karen posing

Nobby sorted out the accommodation but also worked tirelessly to rectify our internet connection problem, he and his wife Debs were really becoming true friends and we spent a few merry evenings with them. I cannot recommend enough their services for anyone looking for a management company or anyone seeking a villa in Florida. Their web site is www.sunshinehomesusa.com - use them, you will not be disappointed.

The next couple of weeks were really just taken up relaxing beside the pool, reading, watching tv and getting back to basics in the kitchen with some home cooking, I say basics, have you tried Karen's cooking....lol. With the occasional trip out to the usual theme parks and the odd round of golf, life really does not get much better. On one of our nights out on International Drive we saw Shaquille O Neil leaving a restaurant with his wife and kids, check out the vehicle he was driving, definitely a one off. We went to Busch Gardens a couple of times mainly to check out the ride 'Sheikra' which holds you for 4 seconds completely facing down at the top of a 200ft drop before plunging you down at a 90

Arlington Cemetery

Not one headstone out of line

degree angle at 70mph....exhilarating.

We had a couple of days where we did not have a villa, so decided to stay on International Drive at the Wynn Hotel & Suites and it was here where we both realised we were now sick to death of hotels and longed to be back in a villa. It was only for a couple of days during which time we were able to visit the usual array of shops, bars and restaurants the strip has to offer before moving to our final destination which was located in Haynes. Again we had a beautiful villa and carried on where we left off by doing as little as possible and enjoying the serenity of the beautiful surroundings. On our last Saturday night prior to leaving for home we visited Kissimmee old town to see the array of vintage motors, this is something that you must do if your ever in Florida. The olde time shops and cars are really well worth seeing and so is having a go on the go karts, a lotta fun as the yanks would say.

This is our final blog of our travels as we are about to leave

Amphitheater

for home. This has been an amazing journey and although we have been questioned for giving up everything back home, jobs, house cars etc. it doesn’t matter, these are material things and something that can be replaced over time. The memories we both have and the experiences we have shared will be something we will have for ever. We are both very proud of our journey and will look back and reminisce on our travels for the rest of our lives. There are far too many highlights to mention on this blog but one that stands out for us both is our visit to Cambodia. Here we have a country that only recently went through hell with the Khmer Rouge regime. Most people live a very basic lifestyle, yet everything they do for you they do with a smile and a pleasure, they really are a race of beautiful people and would we recommend this as a place you must visit. The temples of Anchor Watt at Siem Reap are awesome.

We are now back in the UK now and reality has really set it, still its not all doom and gloom as the headlines will have us believe,