The train didn't move between Washington DC and Fairfax as they are really close, well close enough but still and hour away on the circus bus. Because of this me and Willow didn't go in very often, we stayed at home and did school there.
It was a shame though as Fairfax did seem really nice from the little we saw. The arena is right next to a college campus and surrounded by trees which made it really pleasant due to the sun shining. It made for a great Easter Egg hunt setting also.
We did do more in the two week stand here but it was all done travelling to DC so has been covered in previous blogs.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Smithsonian. Washington DC
Washington is a great city but what made it even better was The Smithsonian Institution. I knew there where loads of museums and places to visit here, but I only found out they where all free a couple of days before we arrived. This meant we didn't have to worry or work out which ones we could visit, it meant we could visit as many as we could squeeze in.
They recommend that you go to the Information Center at the Castle first, which we didn't do. I went there later on, on my own. There isn't much there but it is a nice building and nice gardens, and I guess a good place to start as there is so much to do and you can get some sort of plan.
The first museum we went to was the Air and Space Museum. We went to this one first because Willow wanted to meet Able the space monkey. She is so tiny we nearly missed her among everything else. I thought she looked a bit sad.
Outside the Air and Space Museum is 'The Voyage Exhibit', a journey through our solar system. Willow really liked this as it still had Pluto. “Poor Pluto, shouldn't have been sacked from being a planet”.
We didn't spend as much time as I would have liked in the American History Museum but Tweedy was very excited in because he got to meet Kermit.
The National Zoological Park is also part of the Smithsonian and just a short metro ride away from The Mall. It is a really nice Zoo though quite a few bits were closed when we went, getting ready for the 'season' to starts I guess. It was still very enjoyable, even more so than some of the others we have been to recently. The pandas were great, you could see them so easily. I had been disappointed last time I saw them at San Diego as you had to que and then just saw a glimpse. The main bit that was shut was the elephants, but we see them close up nearly everyday any way.
The Natural History Museum is full of all sorts of interesting things, so much so that we went there twice. We found lots of stuff from 'Night at the Museum' including the Giant Squid, dum dum (Easter Island Head) and T. Rex. A new Exhibit had only just opened, Human Origins and it was really interesting. The Hope diamond also lives here, and is said to be the largest diamond of it's kind. I guess I'm not a diamond kind of gal, because I really wasn't that impressed with it and Willow had expected way more than she saw.
The American Art Museum and The National Portrait Gallery is one of the only museums open after 5pm, so we went there one day after the others had shut. I wasn't sure if it would grab Willow the same was as some of the other museums as she usually prefers hand on interactive type places. I was pleasantly surprised at how much she liked it. So much so we went back a second time as Tweedy wasn't with us the first time and she wanted to show him some stuff she had liked. I enjoyed the Exhibition 'Framing the West'.
The Renwick Gallery didn't grab Willow as much, though she did like the fish made of toys. It was interesting to see how many toys had been used, some that I recognised from my childhood.
As well as the actual museums being great, most of them are housed in amazing buildings and gardens within walking distance of The National Mall. It amazes me and pleases me that all of this is free to the public.
They recommend that you go to the Information Center at the Castle first, which we didn't do. I went there later on, on my own. There isn't much there but it is a nice building and nice gardens, and I guess a good place to start as there is so much to do and you can get some sort of plan.
The first museum we went to was the Air and Space Museum. We went to this one first because Willow wanted to meet Able the space monkey. She is so tiny we nearly missed her among everything else. I thought she looked a bit sad.
Outside the Air and Space Museum is 'The Voyage Exhibit', a journey through our solar system. Willow really liked this as it still had Pluto. “Poor Pluto, shouldn't have been sacked from being a planet”.
We didn't spend as much time as I would have liked in the American History Museum but Tweedy was very excited in because he got to meet Kermit.
The National Zoological Park is also part of the Smithsonian and just a short metro ride away from The Mall. It is a really nice Zoo though quite a few bits were closed when we went, getting ready for the 'season' to starts I guess. It was still very enjoyable, even more so than some of the others we have been to recently. The pandas were great, you could see them so easily. I had been disappointed last time I saw them at San Diego as you had to que and then just saw a glimpse. The main bit that was shut was the elephants, but we see them close up nearly everyday any way.
The Natural History Museum is full of all sorts of interesting things, so much so that we went there twice. We found lots of stuff from 'Night at the Museum' including the Giant Squid, dum dum (Easter Island Head) and T. Rex. A new Exhibit had only just opened, Human Origins and it was really interesting. The Hope diamond also lives here, and is said to be the largest diamond of it's kind. I guess I'm not a diamond kind of gal, because I really wasn't that impressed with it and Willow had expected way more than she saw.
The American Art Museum and The National Portrait Gallery is one of the only museums open after 5pm, so we went there one day after the others had shut. I wasn't sure if it would grab Willow the same was as some of the other museums as she usually prefers hand on interactive type places. I was pleasantly surprised at how much she liked it. So much so we went back a second time as Tweedy wasn't with us the first time and she wanted to show him some stuff she had liked. I enjoyed the Exhibition 'Framing the West'.
The Renwick Gallery didn't grab Willow as much, though she did like the fish made of toys. It was interesting to see how many toys had been used, some that I recognised from my childhood.
As well as the actual museums being great, most of them are housed in amazing buildings and gardens within walking distance of The National Mall. It amazes me and pleases me that all of this is free to the public.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Washington DC
*There was a lot to see and do in Washington, so this Blog edition is a little bit pic heavy*
Before we arrived in Washington we heard so much about it, good and bad. The good was Washington itself was meant to be an exciting city with lots to do. The bad was the train was parked in a really bad neighbourhood. We just hoped the good lived up to all the hype and the bad was totally exaggerated.
It didn't look promising as we rolled into the train yard, passing some fairly run down estates and had a police guard 24 hours a day at either end of the train. We had been warned before we arrived here “Do not go walking around anywhere near the train”, which is just great when even the taxis wont come out this way. As usual though I think people over react and you can really see that America is brought up on fear. Yes it wasn't the best area but I think during the day it was OK to go out though I made sure we where home before dark. It was about a 30 minute walk to the metro that took 10 minutes to get you down town, so there was no way I was going to be stuck on the train for 3 weeks.
Washington has some wonderful elaborate buildings and you could spend a lot of time just wandering around taking them in.
Another thing Washington has a lot of is memorials and many of these are on the Mall. I really liked the mall, it always seemed to have something going on, like a quidditch game and was a great place to just people watch.
One of the newest Memorials is the World War II Memorial.
We had to go to the Lincoln Memorial to see the big Lincoln that helped in 'Night at the Museum 2' and he is indeed big and you can get an amazing view of the Mall and the Reflecting Pool from here.
At the opposite end of the mall is State Capitol, another impressive building.
Just next to The National Mall was a Sculpture Garden which was really nice a peaceful, and free to get in.
Next to this was a Butterfly garden, another peaceful place, though it being an outdoor garden and the weather only just starting to warm up, there weren't many butterfly's to be seen.
Our stay in Washington coincided with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This is a two week festival to celebrate the start of spring and the cherry blossom trees that seem everywhere in this city. We managed to catch a few bits of the festivities mainly on the Saturday we went to the Mall for a pillow fight.
Every year in most of the main cities around the globe there is a pillow fight to celebrate National pillow fight day. It is a flash mob type of thing and I asked Willow if she would like to go and surprise surprise she was totally in to the idea. So on our last Saturday here, me and Willow hid our pillows and headed for the fight at the Washington Memorial. Willow said to me on the way in “I have never really had a proper pillow fight.” There where about 600 people fighting so I guess it doesn't get much more 'proper than that and it was so much fun.
The only museum we paid to get in was The International Spy Museum. We had heard it was really good and it was OK but to be honest with so much free things to do in Washington I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone as there are better things to do for free. There was a little to much reading of things and Willow got a little bit bored in there.
There are a lot of shops in downtown Washington but if you want to shop here I would recommend a short walk or metro ride to Georgetown. We had heard it was nice but hadn't really been that bothered about going as we aren't really that in to shopping. I'm glad we changed our minds and checked it out.
Another place that was a nice surprise was The Old Post Office Pavilion. We went there to grab something quick to eat and realised you could go up the clock tower to get an amazing view of the city.
On one of our first wanders around the city we went to The White House since it is one of those must see tick the box type of things. The road seemed to be blocked off and the lady we bought our ice creams from said it meant the president would be leaving soon. So we hung around a bit and watched President Obama leave, it was pretty amazing the amount of security there was on the ground and in the air. We were quite pleased to see him, it is a bit like going to London and people ask did you see the Queen. We went to Washington, “Did you see the president?” “Yes we did”
All in all I really liked Washington.
*Smithsonian Blog to follow*
Before we arrived in Washington we heard so much about it, good and bad. The good was Washington itself was meant to be an exciting city with lots to do. The bad was the train was parked in a really bad neighbourhood. We just hoped the good lived up to all the hype and the bad was totally exaggerated.
It didn't look promising as we rolled into the train yard, passing some fairly run down estates and had a police guard 24 hours a day at either end of the train. We had been warned before we arrived here “Do not go walking around anywhere near the train”, which is just great when even the taxis wont come out this way. As usual though I think people over react and you can really see that America is brought up on fear. Yes it wasn't the best area but I think during the day it was OK to go out though I made sure we where home before dark. It was about a 30 minute walk to the metro that took 10 minutes to get you down town, so there was no way I was going to be stuck on the train for 3 weeks.
Washington has some wonderful elaborate buildings and you could spend a lot of time just wandering around taking them in.
Another thing Washington has a lot of is memorials and many of these are on the Mall. I really liked the mall, it always seemed to have something going on, like a quidditch game and was a great place to just people watch.
One of the newest Memorials is the World War II Memorial.
We had to go to the Lincoln Memorial to see the big Lincoln that helped in 'Night at the Museum 2' and he is indeed big and you can get an amazing view of the Mall and the Reflecting Pool from here.
At the opposite end of the mall is State Capitol, another impressive building.
Just next to The National Mall was a Sculpture Garden which was really nice a peaceful, and free to get in.
Next to this was a Butterfly garden, another peaceful place, though it being an outdoor garden and the weather only just starting to warm up, there weren't many butterfly's to be seen.
Our stay in Washington coincided with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This is a two week festival to celebrate the start of spring and the cherry blossom trees that seem everywhere in this city. We managed to catch a few bits of the festivities mainly on the Saturday we went to the Mall for a pillow fight.
Every year in most of the main cities around the globe there is a pillow fight to celebrate National pillow fight day. It is a flash mob type of thing and I asked Willow if she would like to go and surprise surprise she was totally in to the idea. So on our last Saturday here, me and Willow hid our pillows and headed for the fight at the Washington Memorial. Willow said to me on the way in “I have never really had a proper pillow fight.” There where about 600 people fighting so I guess it doesn't get much more 'proper than that and it was so much fun.
The only museum we paid to get in was The International Spy Museum. We had heard it was really good and it was OK but to be honest with so much free things to do in Washington I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone as there are better things to do for free. There was a little to much reading of things and Willow got a little bit bored in there.
There are a lot of shops in downtown Washington but if you want to shop here I would recommend a short walk or metro ride to Georgetown. We had heard it was nice but hadn't really been that bothered about going as we aren't really that in to shopping. I'm glad we changed our minds and checked it out.
Another place that was a nice surprise was The Old Post Office Pavilion. We went there to grab something quick to eat and realised you could go up the clock tower to get an amazing view of the city.
On one of our first wanders around the city we went to The White House since it is one of those must see tick the box type of things. The road seemed to be blocked off and the lady we bought our ice creams from said it meant the president would be leaving soon. So we hung around a bit and watched President Obama leave, it was pretty amazing the amount of security there was on the ground and in the air. We were quite pleased to see him, it is a bit like going to London and people ask did you see the Queen. We went to Washington, “Did you see the president?” “Yes we did”
All in all I really liked Washington.
*Smithsonian Blog to follow*
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Cincinnati OH
I think everyone was pleased to leave Youngstown, even the snow seemed whiter once we left. We didn't know what lay ahead in Cincinnati but it had to be better than what we left. It wasn't hard to be an improvement but I think I would have liked it anyway.
The train yard wasn't one of the best but the week before was still fresh in our minds so it wasn't that bad. Actually I think we were very lucky the rain stayed away most of the week and it only turned into a river the last couple of days. Nothing a pair of boots couldn't deal with though. The main thing I disliked about this train yard was it was one of those open ones that the public can access fairly easy. I know there are a lot of people that get excited about our train but it does make me feel a little uncomfortable when people are walking up and down taking photos. I really don't like eating my dinner and looking up to a camera lens.
The arena was down town in Cincinnati Ohio, right next to the Ohio River. You could take a short walk across the bridge and you arrived in Newport Kentucky. I quite like walking from State to State. There was a bridge right next to the arena you could cross but I preferred the next bridge up which was called The Purple People Bridge. It was quite a nice bridge and holds events during the year, but I really loved the name.
It was also worth the walk across the bridge as it went to Newport on the Levee which is advertised as a river front Town Square which I guess is what it is. There are shops and restaurants and an aquarium and a cinema. We went and saw Alice in Wonderland, it was OK but I was thrown a little as it took me a while to warm to the hatter. Warming normally doesn't need to happen.
Right outside the arena beside the river was 'The Public Landing' though I'm not really sure what this was. From here though you could walk along the river-front park and take in the Ohio river or some art and sculptures including a few pigs which apparently is something Cincinnati is famous for. Willow however was much more impressed by the two play parks there. We managed to go a few times.
A short walk from the arena was Fountain square which is one of the main areas but as usual is mainly eating places though there is a Macys which seems to please most people. I think the square does host a few events through out the year and while we were here there was a St. Patrick's day parade but it was raining fairly hard that day which meant we didn't go.
Cincinnati seems to have a great library system in operation which would be great if you lived here. It is also quite nice for those visiting with free internet access, a reading garden, shop with second hand books and art displays. There is also a separate children's library with its own nice secure garden and learning centre though we were unable to make use of that as the times clashed with school.
One thing we did hear said quite a bit before we got here was “you must go to Skyline Chilli's”. Well we went and to be honest we weren't that impressed by it at all.
The train yard wasn't one of the best but the week before was still fresh in our minds so it wasn't that bad. Actually I think we were very lucky the rain stayed away most of the week and it only turned into a river the last couple of days. Nothing a pair of boots couldn't deal with though. The main thing I disliked about this train yard was it was one of those open ones that the public can access fairly easy. I know there are a lot of people that get excited about our train but it does make me feel a little uncomfortable when people are walking up and down taking photos. I really don't like eating my dinner and looking up to a camera lens.
The arena was down town in Cincinnati Ohio, right next to the Ohio River. You could take a short walk across the bridge and you arrived in Newport Kentucky. I quite like walking from State to State. There was a bridge right next to the arena you could cross but I preferred the next bridge up which was called The Purple People Bridge. It was quite a nice bridge and holds events during the year, but I really loved the name.
It was also worth the walk across the bridge as it went to Newport on the Levee which is advertised as a river front Town Square which I guess is what it is. There are shops and restaurants and an aquarium and a cinema. We went and saw Alice in Wonderland, it was OK but I was thrown a little as it took me a while to warm to the hatter. Warming normally doesn't need to happen.
Right outside the arena beside the river was 'The Public Landing' though I'm not really sure what this was. From here though you could walk along the river-front park and take in the Ohio river or some art and sculptures including a few pigs which apparently is something Cincinnati is famous for. Willow however was much more impressed by the two play parks there. We managed to go a few times.
A short walk from the arena was Fountain square which is one of the main areas but as usual is mainly eating places though there is a Macys which seems to please most people. I think the square does host a few events through out the year and while we were here there was a St. Patrick's day parade but it was raining fairly hard that day which meant we didn't go.
Cincinnati seems to have a great library system in operation which would be great if you lived here. It is also quite nice for those visiting with free internet access, a reading garden, shop with second hand books and art displays. There is also a separate children's library with its own nice secure garden and learning centre though we were unable to make use of that as the times clashed with school.
One thing we did hear said quite a bit before we got here was “you must go to Skyline Chilli's”. Well we went and to be honest we weren't that impressed by it at all.
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