Youngstown OH

So we had a bit of a nightmare train run to Youngstown due to Engine problems but we really didn't mind to much as we weren't in a massive rush to get there. We had heard lots of bad things not only about the train yard but the place its self, and it was just as I expected.




There was quite a bit of snow here, more than we had seen for a while. This pleased Willow lots and she even managed to make a snowman. Of course one of the down side to snow is it melts leaving large amounts of water in its place which results in a very muddy train yard. If you had wanted to go from a walk out of this yard (but we didn't) it was a bit of a hike to the road and then nothing to be seen from there either.

Once you escaped one of the worst train yards of the tour and heading to down town and the arena you found yourself no better off. I did venture out once to post a letter but the sound of jaws hitting the pavement (I tried to write sidewalk there and my UK spell check changed it to pavement) as I past made me decide not to repeat the experience.

Sorry Youngstown I tried to arrive with an open mind and like you but I failed.

Raleigh NC

Often before we get somewhere we hear what it is like, as so many people have done the tour before and we are on a two year loop, give or take a few cities. Sometimes a place lives up to what we have been told but so often we are disappointed. I think this may be because we don't go out partying and drinking that much (that much ha, I mean ever) and sometimes for a lot of people that part of a city can make or break it. Before we arrived in Raleigh we hadn't really heard much about it at all, so had no expectations.



The first nice surprise was where the train was parked, really close to downtown. Unfortunately for us we where the wrong end of the train and the bus was unable to drive down the side like it can most weeks. Still we have been the 'right' end most weeks, I guess it was our turn. It only took 20 minutes to walk from the train yard to downtown but another 10 minutes on top of that to walk the length of the train.



The North Carolina Museum of History is situated in the Bicentennial Plaza and has free admission. It was quite interesting though I would have enjoyed it more if I had gone without Willow because she became a bit bored. In the lobby they had a wings and things display which included a replica of the Wright Flyer, a Rogallo Hang Glider and a B-8M Gyro-Copter which in its time had been designed for home assembly. I could just see the glint in Tweedy's eye as he informed me of this.



Right across from the Museum of History was the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. This place really made the week for me, and for Willow. It was great, we went three times and still wanted to go back for more. It was another free museum, which is one of the reasons we went so much. On the first floor they have an Auditorium which showed various films through out the day and held science shows. We managed to catch a few films including Weird Nature: Marvellous Motion, Beneath the Blue and Lessons from the Journey.



On the third floor they had a room where they gave talks and you could meet animals. We went twice, the first time we met a baby alligator, a snake and much to Willows delight a turtle. The second time we met and touched various snakes. Also on the third floor was the discovery room, which allowed younger children to play and learn. Willow was maybe a little old for some of it but still loved it enough for more than one visit. We did smell tests and hunted for the queen bee in a hive among other things.



One the fourth floor they had a Living Conservatory you could walk through, full of butterfly's and a two toed sloth. Also on the fourth floor was our favourite room (no not the café though that was there too). The Naturalist Centre & Discovery Room was amazing. When you first enter you are given a little talk about what you can and cant do in there and that most museums don't have facilities like this, and it's true they don't but they all should.

They also have a great dinosaur area, with most of it on the third floor but some of it stretches from the first floor to the fourth. Some of these things where pretty big after all.



We nearly missed one of the most exciting finds for us. The remains of the first dinosaur ever found to contain a fossilized heart. It is a Thescelosaurus called Willo.



I liked Raleigh a lot, it was a nice city and I was sad to leave. Especially since everything we had heard about the next place was bad and we had seen photographic evidence to back up the claims.

Willo http://naturalsciences.org/microsites/dinoheart/index.html

Atlanta

This is our second visit (third for some) in as many months to this train yard. We stopped here a few weeks ago on one of the long water stops we sometimes have. There is not very much around though it is possible to walk and get a bus downtown. The train yard itself isn't to bad though the through traffic could slow down a little. It is just the situation of it, but it is one of those things you get use to.

Atlanta's nick name is Hotlanta. Apparently it can get really hot here but we didn't experience any of that. I would go as far as saying we experienced some of the coldest weather we have seen so far here, which was a shame as I'm sure we would have done so much more if it hadn't been so cold. Not that we didn't do anything, we would have just done more. We had a few days of snow and they coped a bit better than Charlotte, even thinking ahead. Loads of schools closed before the snow even hit which was quite funny as they were shut for a snow day and there hadn't even been a flake fall from the sky.

The Phillips Arena is right downtown and near quite a lot of shops and attractions. It was also attached to the CNN center so very easy to pin point. It is also a decent downtown, somewhere you could actually spend time, if it hadn't been for the cold.

We really didn't have to go far to find a decent park this week. Right across the road from the arena was the Centennial Olympic Park. Within the park is a visitor centre which is also a café so if it gets too cold you can reheat with a hot chocolate and cookie. There is a water fountain/display which would be fun if it was hot as you can play within it. This isn't so appealing when there is snow on the ground, though Willow was still up for it. A few time during the day there is a water display set to music which is OK but I was under the false impression that there where also lighting that went with it but I was wrong. So deciding to go watch it at dusk to get the best effect was pretty much a waste of time. There are also sculptures and gardens but of course the highlight for Willow was the two play parks at the bottom of the park. Shame the weather wasn't slightly better for her to make more of it being so close.



Before we arrived we were told about Underground Atlanta, and at first I thought it would be a tour of some old tunnels that once was the city. It was in fact a kind of mall that seemed under the city. In fact it use to be the main area of Atlanta until the streets became congested and they built over it. It was pretty good to go to on one of the colder days and it had a bit of an old feel to it in a history kind of way, but there really wasn't a lot within it.



While we were in Atlanta so were two other circuses. UniverSoul which has been at the same place as us a few times but I have still yet to see it. I think quite a lot of people from the show have seen it now. The other show was the Big Apple circus. The circus had an outing to visit and so many people went they had to put on a couple of charter buses. We did plan on going with everyone, but due to a late night (Tweedy had been to see the blue show the night before) we didn't manage to get up in time to catch the bus. We did however see a dress rehearsal when we first got there which was lots of fun and also meant we could hang out a little at the end and say hi to people. I really enjoyed the show and it felt like a 'real' circus. It was the first time we had seen Bello perform, and I enjoyed it a lot. The Curatola brothers where also there who we worked with a long time ago. So long ago in fact that they came to our wedding, so it was nice to see them again. Later in the week the Big Apple returned the visit and they came over to our show.

Another Feld show The Nuclear cowboyz was also in town while we where here and I was lucky enough to be able to get some tickets for me and Willow to go. Unfortunately for everyone else the show times clashed so no one else could. It was a fun show with loads of fireworks, pyros and lighting. Oh and motorbikes and quads doing somersaults to rock and punk music.

On one of the really cold days (and there where lots of them) we went to Atlantic Station which seemed a nice part of town. There is a cinema there and an Ikea. Oh I wish I had somewhere to live so I could justify a trip to Ikea. Instead it was used as a free play zone for Willow.



Coca Cola was invented in Atlanta and there is a museum called World of Coke to celebrate this fact. Now I'm not saying I drink a lot of the stuff but I seemed to have collected enough points off the tops of diet coke to buy admission for 2 adults and a child so that was handy. It was OK but I'm glad I didn't have to pay actual cash for my tickets. There was a lot of history and memorabilia and a few films to watch, including a 4D film about the secret formula. The best part though is the tasting deck, some good and some spit in the sink bad.




Right next door to The world of Coke is The Georgia Aquarium and it is the largest in the world. Neither Tweedy or I went but lots of people from the show did go, including Willow who went with Rebecca. She really liked it and came home with a new fluffy otter friend.

Valentines day fell while we visited Atlanta and all I'm going to say on that subject is I really, really don't get the American Valentines day celebration at all.