Rambling North America

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Rambling North America Rambling Bears
The Journey - Boston to Staten Island
December 4, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
We had a 10.30am departure for our Megabus ride to New York from South Station. Ready at 9.30 I rang for a taxi. It was a difficult conversation with the dispatcher. Was it my aussie accent? Who knows? I spelt the street name out, explained what streets it ran between, gave the suburb and the zip code for the suburb. After a 20 minute wait I rang again. Yes ma’am, the cab was dispatched to Dorchester. It should have been there 15 minutes ago. That’s good but ........... we are in North End. We were sent another taxi but the time was ticking closer and closer to our departure time. The traffic was horrendous and it was not a simple as the crow flies trip to the station due to the one way streets. We jumped out of the taxi, sprinted up the escalator, along the corridors out to the bus terminal. Thankfully the bus was a couple of minutes late as it arrived just after my heart had settled and my breath was back to normal. Next time we’ll walk. We could have done it in half the time and without the acquisition of more grey hair!
It was an uneventful trip to New York and we arrived in downtown Manhattan in the late afternoon.
After a quick dinner we took on the subway system to South Ferry, caught the Staten Island Ferry over to the island, a train ride to Great Kills and a walk to our Airbnb.
A slice of heaven - a great little unit on the ground floor of Ella and Victor’s home, in a charming suburb on the island. Americans go for the Chrissie decorations in a big way and it had been a very pretty walk in the early evening to get there.
New York here we come!Read more
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Not a Brilliant Start.
December 5, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Today - bus into Manhattan - easy. The bus stop is just around the corner from where we are staying and Ella had given us two metro cards to get us going. A very helpful young passenger we had met at our stop told us when we were coming up to where we wanted to get off - once again easy. After a strong cup of coffee and a hot chocolate at Pret we entered the subway and bought our unlimited 7 day metro cards - again easy. With cards in hand we approaced the gates and after a few swipes of the card the wrong way I had it mastered and we headed to Times Square to find the Tourist Information Office.
Perhaps we were tired after the long day yesterday, perhaps it was the miserably cold, grey, windy day - who knows but it all seemed downhill from there. Times Square was packed, humanity as far as the eye could see and everyone appearing to be in a hurry. Rubbish blowing up the streets, dust in the eyes. We questioned some of the local constabulary as to the whereabouts of the tourist office. We were informed that is was more of a shipping container than an office in a building, like I had assumed, and that it was bright pink and just across the road. Now, bright pink would stick out like dogs balls one would assume, even in the colourful Times Square. Wrong. It just wasn’t there. To the complete surprise of the policemen it had just disappeared. Shifted - who knows but after a bit of searching in both directions we assumed that it no longer existed.
By this stage, with the very cold weather and all, Noel needed to see a man about a dog. No restrooms were jumping out at us and I knew Macy’s was in the area so off we went on the hunt. Macy’s found now where are the restrooms. Macy’s is massive and in the midst of renovations but before a major catastrophe occurred we did find the restrooms and could now turn our attentions back to finding some sort of tourist information service.
A light bulb moment. A train station - Penn Station is close. Found ourselves a tourist information office at the station so we got what we wanted at last. Found more restrooms so we availed ourselves again because you never know if or when you’ll ever find another and bought onward train tickets to Washington while we were there. Should have bought train tickets while we were there but did not have enough money or ID on us to do so. At least we know where to go back to.
Over the crowds and the wind and the cold we headed back to Staten Island. The saving grace for the day was seeing The Statue of Liberty in the evening light - what a lady!Read more
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9/11 memorial
December 6, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C
Time to take on New York. Yesterday was not a brilliant start but the only way to go now is up.
Just one minor hic-cough on the way up though. Thought that our metro cards covered all travel. Nah. Not the express buses like the one we got yesterday and were on this morning. The lovely bus driver allowed for our innocent mistake and we were off to put a positive spin on the day and New York.
All our time today was spent at the 9/11 Memorial Site. We explored the Westfield Centre on the site first. The architecture of the Westfield Centre is impressive. On the inside the ceiling of the complex resembles the ribs of a sailing ship, on the outside it appears to be a large mythical bird.
The memorial museum - solemn, informative and extremely well done. Ditto the memorial ponds outside.Read more
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On The Up - Brooklyn Bridge
December 7, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
I know that I mention the weather a lot but the weather can make or break a day. Today - sunny, windy and a bit chilly but sunny none the less. With the sunshine it can be windy or cold or both and the day will be positive. So it was today.
We are all over the subway system now. Got it nailed! Love the ferry ride over to start our day and from South Ferry awe have a choice of four lines. Hopped of at City Hall/ Brooklyn Bridge. Walked the Bridge over to Brooklyn. Amazing! What a photogenic city. Amazing views from the bridge back to Manhattan. Loved the bridge and also the Manhattan Bridge just up from the Brooklyn. Once off the bridge we walked the suburb of Dumbo. Had coffee and a muffin/scone and were going to walk back on the Manhattan Bridge but it was so noisy with traffic and trains ad sooo windy that we got the subway over to Greenwich to purchase tickets to ‘Red Roses green Gold” at the Minetta Lane Theatre.
Tickets in our grubby paws we then walked to Washington Square, wandered a bit more then headed back to the island. Thank god for google we have these subways mastered.Read more
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Another Crack at Penn Station & a Wander
December 8, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C
Another crack at Penn Station indeed! Only took two attempts. Counting down the stops on the subway but forgot that the Penn Station stop can also be called 34th Street. The drivers usually say both but this time no and we sailed past it only to realise our mistake. We hopped off at the next station. There was another train on the next line and Neil immediately thought it was going in the opposite direction and would take us back. He bee lined for a carriage and to catch up with him I didn’t think just followed. It was an express train and quickly took us in the wrong direction and a long way off. Eventually we were able to get off and got back to where we wanted to be. Did I say we had these subways nailed?
This time we had a card for the train tickets to Washington and our IDs. Expensive! Didn’t want to buy the train! Coach/bus tickets are a lot cheaper but the train is the easier option. One less subway train to catch and less walking with bags.
From the station we wandered up 5th Avenue exploring the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, The Chrysler Building, Bryant Park Saks of Fifth Avenue and the Rockefeller Building with it’s famous Christmas Tree and Ice Rink and decorations. The window decorations in the Saks’ windows look like they are worthy of a look but today the crowds on the street would have made strolling past a bit difficult. Hopefully we can return.
As we were walking up to Grand Central on the opposite side of the road we got talking to a cleaner, an interesting fellow and immigrant from former Yugoslavia. As we left him he decide he needed to go over to the station anyways and offered to give us a guided tour. I guess we offered comic relief to the working day. The walking lights had changed but that didn’t deter him. He stopped the traffic and we dodged across. After a guided tour on the different levels he left us and, I guess, returned to work. Love these random interactions, They are what make travelling.
We were at the Rockefeller Building on dusk and the crowds were horrific. I don’t think the beautiful tree and lights are a secret anymore!Read more
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Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
December 9, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
Today was our planned day to go to Central Park. Victor was in the backyard as we left the apartment and it was beginning to snow. He offered to drop us off at the station so we gratefully accepted.
The snow steadily increased as we travelled towards Central Park. On the ferry it appeared to be a white out. The Statue of Liberty wasn’t visible and we pass quite closely. When we stepped out of the subway the snow covered the ground completely. After a short in walk in the wrong direction we headed towards the park. First stop - the Dakota Building - home of John Lennon and the spot where he was assassinated. Yesterday was the anniversary of his death so I guess it was a timely visit to the park. Across the road from the Dakota is the park and the entry into t The Strawberry Fields, the memorial gardens for him.
Central Park was a winter wonderland. It was hard to see where we were going as it was snowing heavily and I guess we didn’t really walk too far as we had no idea where we were going but it was amazing. We both stayed on our feet fo that was a bonus. Not that Neil is a worry with the snow but me ....... Neil kept saying, “Walk with confidence.” Yeh!
Came out of the park a fair distance from where we went in despite attempting to get back t the same spot. Had some lunch at a Starbucks (not out of design but everywhere was packed) and met Marina, a lovely young Ukrainian working in New York.Read more
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Red Roses Green Gold
December 10, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 3 °C
The snow stopped overnight but it was still thick on the ground as we headed out. The hounds were out in the back yard playing in the snow. Lola had the biggest grin on her face - it was obvious that she was thoroughly enjoying the snow. Victor offered us another lift down to the station and I was very grateful for it. The footpaths were icy and I am sure I would not have made the distance without ending up on my butt.
We arrived downtown with plenty of time to have some lunch, wander Greenwich and enjoy some music in Washington Square Park. A pianist was playing a grand piano (who knows how he got it there) in front of the arch. What a talent! It was lovely standing in the sunshine and listening to his playing.
So to the Theatre. The Minetta Lane Theatre is a relatively small theatre with an intimate feel. It wasn’t a packed show but it was a good audience. We were sitting in a great position close to the stage but on the cross aisle so we had plenty of leg room. The musical based on the Music of The Grateful Dead related the story of Jackson Jones and his family, swindlers who gambled their way to riches. Glad we went - it was a great afternoon’s entertainment. The cast were very talented, all able to play multiple instruments.Read more
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Central Park in Sunshine
December 11, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C
Although Central Park was stunning in the snow, because it was snowing so heavily we were not able to fully explore the park. Today we decided to return, starting at the memorial to John Lennon again, wandering around the lake in brilliant, and through the Shakespeare Garden to the Belvedere Castle. From there we walked to the east side of the garden had a warm cider at the Central Park Boathouse, found the Alice in Wonderland Statue and on to a subway station in the south west corner. So nice that the city has such a grand park at its centre- the lungs off New York.Read more
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Walking The High Line & Chelsea Markets
December 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
It was a shame that today was not the sunny day we had yesterday but just the same The High Line walk was great. There are a lot of construction sites in the area and it would be nice to come back in another four years perhaps to see what they have done to the area.
The High Line was a disused overhead freight line that was converted into a green space, with gardens trees and statues along its length. The gardens of course had all gone to seed and were brown due to winter.
We lunched at the Chelsea Markets. So glad we did. Such a great place to lunch, such a choice and amazing coffee!Read more
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Art on The Line
December 12, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
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Our Last Hurrah in New York
December 13, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ -2 °C
Our final day before moving on. I wanted to go back and have a look at the Saks Christmas windows so we went back to give Times Times a fair go then wander 5th and Maddison Avenues. Because we were earlier in the day than our previous days the crowds were not so bad and were able to see everything we wanted a second look at.
I had read that the Christmas windows at Macy’s were very special but they don’t hold a candle to the Saks’ windows. The theme for the windows this year is Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. My photos don’t do the windows justice but the are also kind of special in that they also have New York reflected in them.Read more
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New York to Washington
December 14, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
Last night I had arranged with Ella to drop us off at the station but she insisted on taking us down to the ferry terminal. Overnight we had more snow, not a heavy amount but enough to cover the round again. We left giving ourselves an hour to get to the terminal. Everything was going smoothly until we encountered a traffic jam within half a kilometre of the terminal. No-one was going anywhere fast. Ella took off round a corner and up a hill then informed us that she had never driven in this area as this was in the ‘dark side’. It did seem logical that if we travelled round the block we would end up heading back to where we wanted to go. However, going round the block wasn’t possible because of the narrow one way streets. Long story short - after heading in the opposite direction and a wrong turn we did make it to the terminal in the nick of time. Quick farewells, a mad dash through the terminal, a stop to allow the sniffer dogs to do their job on our bags and more running. We slid in to the back of the line as the final passengers were boarding and the gates about to close.
No more dramas. Subway to Penn, lunch at Pret a Manger and a short wait for our train.
Once in Washington we had dinner at the station before getting a cab to the apartment as we were not going to be able to do a grocery shop tonight - too late.
Despite using google maps to direct him to our address the cabbie dropped us off at the wrong address. Of course we didn’t realise this and the house we were dropped at had a lock box for the key as ours was to have. I guess in a way it was lucky the code didn’t work or we could have been making ourselves at home in someone else’s home. A call to our host, Colleen, and she quickly realised we were a street down and came round the corner to meet us and direct us to where we were supposed to be.
We have the downstairs section of Colleen’s terrace - one bedroom, lounge room, dining room, bathroom and kitchen/laundry, tastefully decorated and comfy.Read more
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Sleet in Historic Capitol Hill
December 15, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C
Sleep in this morning. So nice. Quick coffee, shopping list and off to find somewhere for brunch and a supermarket.
Historic Capitol Hill is a beautiful old residential area. Our street is a narrow one way, the houses mostly narrow terrace houses. From our place it is about a 20 minute walk to Eastern Market. As we stepped out our door it was beginning to lightly sleet. It was very cold hitting our faces but still a pleasant walk along the streets to through Lincoln Park the shopping area in Eastern Market. We passed a frozen fountain on the way - so cool, literally and figuratively. Found a nice bakery/cafe for a delicious brunch and with a full belly went to the supermarket for our supplies.
On our return walk the sleet had snow mixed in with it and was settling on the ground. Once home we caught up on the domestic chores. Neil made a a baked veg and mushroom risotto and me, the washing.Read more
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Washington to Nashville
December 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Up at sparrow fart for 5.20am shuttle pickup. After the Boston taxi debacle and our Washington cabbie dropping us off at the wrong address I was a little nervous about it but it all went like a dream and we arrived at Dulles Airport with plenty of time up our sleeve.
With my only knowledge of United Airlines being when they hit the news back home for forcibly removing a doctor from one of their overbooked planes I was also a tad nervous about what to expect with the airline. However it was all smooth sailing or flying in this case. The flight was almost on time and the flight attendant friendly and courteous. The interior of the plane could do with a bit of an update but all in all it was a good flight.
So we arrived in Nashville and had our bags just after 9.30am and had till 3pm for check in at our apartment. How to kill the next 5hours? We started with breakfast at Tootsie’s Airport Cafe. The cafe had Joe West entertaining the punters waiting for their flight or having a bight to eat after their flight as we were. He was good so we ate our delicious breakfast and settled in to enjoy the singing. Our host messaged and we ended up being able to checkin early as there was no one in the apartment last night. Great news. We listened to Joe a little longer, got a cab and headed in to Nashville.
We settled in, did a grocery shop, bit of a wander in our hood and that was our day.Read more
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Rain, Rain Go Away!
December 22, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
Well it had to happen eventually. We have been blessed with the weather in many ways during our travels but today it rained and rained.
We have been on the move and on the go so we decided to enjoy the rain and have a day in. So be it.Read more
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Our First Exploration into Nashvegas
December 23, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
After the heavy rain yesterday the wind blew up overnight and the weather event continued til mid-day when both eased.
We are staying in mid-town Nashville just off Broadway, the main drag that leads to Nashvegas - the Honky-Tonk strip. We kept our wandering to Broadway today poking our heads into each bar that had live musicians playing. After walking down to the river and up the other side of the street we settled on Tootsie’s Orchid Bar. We had a great afternoon and evening listening to the band there. We had a great time and are thinking of returning on Tuesday to listen to them again.Read more
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Honky Tonk Land
December 24, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C
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Merry Christmas
December 25, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C
Today was wet and cold. Christmas is family time and not a lot was going to be open today. Some of the bars downtown were opening at 5pm but we decided to stay indoors, stay dry and warm and have a quiet one. We had rung Selina and Mike and Chris and Shelley the day before as Australia is a day ahead, Voxered Jess and Steve and messaged numerous others so all was done.
Merry Christmas Neil, I love you.Read more
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Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
December 26, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
We are not huge country music fans but you can’t come to Nashville and not go to the Hall of Fame and Museum. The build in itself is quite spectacular and no expense has been spared in the construction of it.
And so saying that I am not a fan of the music genre, the museum was really interesting. The roots of the genre were well documented, and the lives of many of the famous country singers were outlined in detail. Country music has often been aligned with hill-billy music in the past, hence the evolving into a cowboy kind of style in clothing with the cowboy boots and hats and cowboy shirts to distance themselves from the hick image. Nashville became a little bit cool in the 60’s when artists such as Bob Dylan came to record here.Read more
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Nashville to Memphis
December 27, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
A travelling day. Taxi to the Greyhound Station then bus to Memphis. Most of the bus terminals are in the downtown areas of the cities but not so Memphis.The terminal was at the airport so it was another bus to a downtown hub and yet another bus to our destination - Sleep Inn at Court Square in Downtown Memphis.
We had been lucky to get our room. I had tried on two prior occasions to no avail but a cancelation must have come through and trip advisor notified me of the room availability. It is over the New Year period so although the hotel is a cheaper one, the room didn’t come cheap. However, we seem to be in a gem of a spot, Marriott Hotels flanking either side. Our room overlooks Main Street with a nice treed park across the way. We arrived at night and the rotunda and many of the trees are lit up. So pretty! Main Street is a closed street so our room will be quiet.
Google maps is such a handy tool when travelling. A quick search for restaurants nearby and we were soon seated at DeJavu, a creole restaurant, a short walk away.Read more
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Beale St and Rock n Soul Museum
December 28, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C
The famous Beale Street is a pleasant walk from our hotel. The sun is shining but the temperature is dropping. The east side of the states is plummeting into a big freeze and the freeze is reaching its tendrils down into the way south.
Beale Street once was a predominantly black neighbourhood - an area of housing, businesses and the launchpad district of many famous rock and soul musicians. The street was mostly demolished many years ago and what is now left is a strip of bars and restaurants. Many places have their themed statues - here in Memphis it is the guitar. You can find many up and down the street, all painted by different artists.
The Rock n Soul Museum is nowhere near to the scale of the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville but we both really enjoyed it as we were a lot more familiar with the artists than we were in the Country Music Museum. All museums are interesting, however, when you are learning something you didn’t know before regardless of the topic. More trivia facts to stow away in the memory cells. Will they ever be retrieved again. Who knows?Read more
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Gracelands
December 29, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C
The hotel is packed with Ohioans down in Memphis to watch their team, Iowa State, play Memphis tomorrow at the Liberty Bowl. Their college sold 15000 tickets so there are at least that many and more in town at the moment and I guess that is one of the reasons why accommodation is expensive this weekend, that and the New Year. Expensive and difficult to find when I was looking just 3 weeks ago.
We were not sure about heading to Graceland today with so many of them here, instant crowd and all. The shuttle out there from Beale Street is free so we thought head out there and if it’s too crowded we’ll head back into town and return tomorrow. Luckily Ohio State had a prep rally in the morning and a parade in the afternoon so the crowds weren’t too bad.
Thankfully we took cash as well as our travel card as our ticket payment with the card was declined.
The Elvis Experience Tour - a tour of all the exhibit halls which included his cars, his costumes, his career, icons influenced by Elvis and his early life in Tupelo, an introductory film about Elvis and Gracelands and a Gracelands itself.
The exhibitions were interesting and really well presented. This tourist attraction is a real money spinner and money has been spent to present everything well. And Gracelands ......... in a word - kitsch. Kitsch, yes, but tacky to the point of being totally over the top and cool in a way. It was certainly a product of that era, the 60s and early 70s. The green shag pile carpet on the ceiling was a shocker but I rather liked the jungle room.
The shuttle returned us to Beale Street. Beale Street was jumping. The bright lights, the load music from each restaurant and bar and chaotic crowds in the street reminded us of Khoa San Road in Bangkok, a very cold Khao San Road.
After a stroll through it we continued on to 2nd Avenue for dinner at Las Magaritas.
A good day.Read more
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The National Civil Rights Museum
December 30, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in downtown Memphis on April 4 1968. The room where he died, 306, and the adjoining room 307 were withdrawn from use and maintained as a memorial to the activist leader. Today the motel and the boarding house across the road from which the fatal bullet was fired are part of the large complex that is the civil rights museum. The museum timelines the history of black Americans from Africa as a saleable commodity in the slave trade, their struggle and their fight for freedom and true equality. The multi-media displays are extensive and powerful. It took us close to five hours to see in the museum. The last exhibits were rushed a little as we were on overload.Read more
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New Year's Eve
December 31, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -6 °C
The Peabody Hotel, one of the fancier if not fanciest hotel in Memphis, has a great and very cute tradition, The Peabody Ducks, that has been ongoing since the 1930s. The hotel has 5 american mallards, 4 female and a male. Two ceremonies are held daily - one at 11am and the other at 5pm. The first to bring the ducks from their duck palace across the roof to the elevator, down to the ground floor lobby and along the red carpet to the fountain where they pass the day away. At 5pm the ceremony is performed in reverse.
We arrived at the hotel not long before 11 to find that we weren’ the only ones to decide to see the ducks today and thus we had no chance of finding a vantage point to watch the duck parade. We decided that with to morrow being New Year’s Day we would probably have a better chance of seeing them -the crowds would either be hung over or gone.
With that decision made we returned to Main Street for lunch then returned to the hotel to prepare for the evening.
Beale Street was the centre of Memphis’ New Year celebrations with stages erected at either end and the length of the street closed to traffic. With the outside temperature -13C with a feels like of -17 C we decided to get into a bar that had live music. Our choice was Rum Boogie Cafe. The band Free World was excellent. All the musicians were accomplished and talented at their chosen instruments and we had a great night.
The walk back was very, very cold.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!Read more
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2018 - Peabody Ducks & Mississippi River
January 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ -7 °C
Today we saw them. We got there early, got a table right in front of the fountain and sat down to some tea and cookies while we waited for the parade to begin. The Duck Master explained the tradition of the ducks, how there happened to be ducks in the lobby of the hotel in the first place and a little a about the history of the first duck master and the duck training process.
Once finished the master ascends to the roof to collect his charges. With a great fanfare the elevator doors open and the ducks march the red carpet to the fountain. They even have marching music. I guess there are possibly days when they march but today they positively sped. Any faster and they would have taken flight. Once they hit the water in the fountain they raced each other round and round seemingly excited to be in their fountain. Or was it more 4 females trying g to escape a determined male?
Afterwards we went upstairs to the mezzanine level to see their memorabilia room.
Despite the extremely icy wind we then ventured down to the Mississippi River to walk along the river walk between the two bridges. And because of the extremely icy wind we terminated our walk and returned to the hotel earlier than intended. So cold!!!
Our last supper in Memphis was at Las Margaritas again, both of us dining on seafood chimichangas.Read more
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