Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Bawstin
The train ride was OK - I managed to sleep most of the way, but Mark wasn't quite so lucky. Since we couldn't really turn up at our B&B at 8am, we grabbed a coffee and a bagel near Boston Common and tried not to fall asleep. Everyone on Boston Common seemed to feel as groggy as we did - apparently Boston is home of one of the biggest 4th of July parties. It was slightly mollifying to see that, while we were really tired, most of Boston was really hungover. We killed an hour or so on Boston Common, admiring the greenery, the lakes, the squirrels playing and the panhandler singing a seemingly endless song of "Change change change, change change change, has anybody got any change?".
At a slightly more respectable time of 11am, we arrived at our B&B in a brownstone on Beacon St. We were in luck - our room was ready (we'd emailed ahead at 1am!) so we caught up on some sleep and avoided the heat of the middle of the day.
Boston has painted a red line around town that takes you to American Revolution sites and called it the "Freedom Trail" - we did that for a few hours - highlights: Paul Revere's grave, the site of the Boston Massacre, and then grabbed a root beer at Quincy Market, enjoyed the sun on the pier before grabbing dinner near Faneuil Hall and heading home to catch up on some more sleep.
It was a much more relaxing start to our second morning in Boston - coffee and pastries at a cafe in Beacon Hill (the East Coast coffee is SO MUCH better). Then out to unbelievably beautiful Harvard, where we roamed around trying to look smart, and MIT, where the even the buildings are geeky. We completed the Freedom Trail by heading to the Bunker Hill monument at Charles Town, but the 36 degree heat was really starting to get to us - and we weren't alone. We happened upon a rather spectacular scene - all the roads around Bunker Hill were sealed from traffic and were clogged up by dozens of emergency vehicles, after a brownstone caught fire (the result of an illegal barbecue on a rooftop). Heaps of firemen were treated for heat exhaustion. We prescribed ourselves gelato and then checked out Old North Church - where the "two if by sea" lanterns were set up on Paul Revere's orders, Paul Revere Mall, Paul Revere's house etc. It was too hot to chew, so we got some lovely clam chowder and hideous pinot gris before heading out on our sunset cruise on Boston Harbour. We saw all the landmarks - the site of the Boston Tea Party, the various islands, the USS Constitution, Battery Wharf, Lincoln Wharf etc, but the highlight was definitely the Boston skyline with a blood-red sun sinking behind it. One last push before bed - Boston Cream Pie at Omni Parker House (delicious, if a little too long to arrive).
In summary - Boston was wonderful, the accents were brilliant, it put up some serious competition to Philly (our favourite US city thus far).
NYC - Part 1
It's been a while between blogs... New York City will do that to you!
Day 1
We arrived in NYC on Friday morning. It was pretty overwhelming to arrive in a city this size after having been in Winston for five weeks. Since we had our (rather large) packs, we decided against the subway in favour of a yellow cab. As we had hoped, our cabbie was indecipherable, crazy and a menace on the roads. We dropped our stuff off in our B&B, a ramshackle converted warehouse in the East Village and stopped by one of the East Village stock-standard organic food hipster cafes on our way... somewhere... we hadn't decided yet.
We eventually chose Chelsea, arriving by subway. The Chelsea Hotel was pretty cool, not as grungy as the books would have you believe, and we just sort of wandered about looking at New Yorkers. We bought week-long metro passes so we hot-spotted around the area. It was perhaps the worst decision we could have made to check out Times Square at 4pm on a Friday when we haven't really done big cities in a while. An overdose of lights and people and spruikers almost gave me a melt-down until I spotted the MAC shop and got some retail therapy. Mark, realising that 20 minutes in a make-up shop was actually to his benefit in the long run, kindly went along with this. Then to the Rockefeller Centre, the Lego store (awesome), Magnolia and along Fifth Avenue.
At 6pm we met Fran and Kate (my former workmates and friends) at Rue B in the East Village for a drink. Fleur (another former workmate and current NYC resident) and a bunch of NYC pals, and Dean (ANOTHER former workmate) and his wife Hamsa arrived and we got to the serious business of catching up, followed by dinner. It was a really great night, and also a bizarre experience to catch up with old friends in a place like this!
Day 2
We got off to a bit of a slow start, which was helped greatly by a visit to Veselka, recommended by my workmate Nick (who is a connoisseur of pretty much everything). It's a Ukrainian cafe in the East Village and the potato pancakes and omelettes are incredible. It was a lovely walk in the sunshine to Greenwich Village, past Columbia University and into Washington Square Park (we thought it was weird that people were lying on the grass in bikinis when there was no beach or river anywhere nearby). As we were wandering along Bleecker Street, we saw a familiar face - former PM Helen Clark, who was in the midst of taking some friends on a walking tour (her husband told us it's her weekend job). On the way to see NYC's narrowest house, we spotted a Rhode Island number plate - which marked the final in the set of all 50 US number plates. Much excitement ensued.
I had a Gossip Girl moment at Grand Central Station, which continued on Fifth Avenue at Saks, Bendel's and Bergdorf's (where I got some new sunglasses). Mark's patience was rewarded at the Apple Store on Central Park.
Back to Greenwich Village to buy a bottle of rose and meet my very old friends Shiloh and Matt, now resident in Toronto. After an hour or so of catching up, we got some dinner at a lovely wee trattoria on Father Demo Square (Matt showed us Jim's pizzeria of Along Came Polly fame). The rest of the evening was spent at Cafe Wha?, where Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix first got going. We arrived to catch the tail-end of a comedian and then a really amazing covers band played until midnight - there were about 5 vocalists (all of whom were incredible), and about 10 in the band in total. The highlight was definitely the guy who was pretty much the real-life version of Bill Nighy's character from Love Actually. We said goodbye to Shiloh in Matt in Greenwich Village, with the Empire State Building lit up in the background.
Day 3 - Independence Day
Subway to Soho to meet Fran for brunch at Dean & DeLuca's flagship deli... which turned out not to do dine-in. So we went around the corner to a nice-looking cafe. We checked out the menu and pronounced it "fine" - only to be interrupted by a New Yorker who put us straight. Apparently this place (Balthazar) is not just fine - "Dinner is an incredible dining experience. Lunch is amazing" and then something along the lines of "Brunch will change your life". And we were lucky that there was no line because everyone was in the Hampton's for the holiday weekend. Balthazar was lovely, visually stunning, the food and coffee really were beautiful, but you'd expect them to be when the brunch bill came to over $90US!!
We headed to Fleur's Upper East Side apartment (I didn't think they made them this spacious or lovely in NYC - Fleur's a very lucky girl!), where we met the rest of the gang and headed to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to celebrate the fourth of July with A-Rod and co. Baseball is really awesome, partially because the experience isn't just about the game, it's about the hotdogs, the crowd and the extreme Americana - and it was very cool to witness a really tight Yankees win in extra time. After pizza at Fleur's, we headed to Wall St, where (thanks to Fleur) we had the good luck to celebrate Independence Day by watching the fireworks with a bunch of mates at a rooftop party - 51 floors up! It was a very surreal experience, marred only slightly by having to say goodbye to everyone afterwards.
When we got back to our B&B, the owner's birthday party was in full-swing... her friends kept coming up to our floor to use the bathroom, the bass was pumping and we couldn't sleep. So we decided that, instead of lying in bed unable to sleep, we'd just leave for Boston immediately (at 2:40am) and sleep on the train.... which is how we arrived in Boston at 7:30am!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Cause for celebration
Not long before that, we also bumped into Helen Clark, who was showing some visitors around her new neighborhood. We had a chat about old times.
Friday, July 2, 2010
The streets of Philadelphia
So, amidst all of the driving and getting Winston ready for the drop-off, we kind of forgot to think about the fact we were headed for Philadelphia. We knew that its city centre had 'the most historical square mile in the USA', and that Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell were there, but that was it really. At any rate, we LOVED Philly. We're now on a fancy train to NYC!
We arrived about 2pm on Tuesday and got to our B&B, which shall remain nameless for reasons which will become apparent later. Our landlady, whom we will call Jane*, showed us to our massive room (shared bathroom - still good though), told us the places to go for a drink/dinner/to see the Amish in action and then we headed out. We wandered past Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was debated, and then headed to an awesome bar called Varga.
Philadelphians, as it turn out, are a really friendly lot. Within about 10 minutes, we'd started drinking beers with a couple of locals (who didn't know each other either) and who were very interested in our trip. They explained local culture, places to visit, why Obama is less popular than he was before, why America is the way it is (various reasons for this, the one that I remember is "The Constitution needs updating" - Lefty: I thought of you - this guy was also half European!). We ended up having a few more beers than we'd intended... and I finally had a root beer float (basically a spider with Vanilla ice-cream, root beer and whipped cream on top with a cherry - this bar was really nice though so it was fancy). We then headed to a restaurant recommended by one of our new friends for some excellent Italian and then staggered our way home to be greeted by Jane's tiny barking dogs glaring at us from behind their little gate in the hallway.
Up bright and early the next morning (and feeling surprisingly fine) we set off for Independence Hall, and swung by the Liberty Bell on the way. The Liberty Bell is kind of cute - I think the enormous crack in it makes it cuter. The tour of Independence Hall was great - another stellar effort by the amazing National Park Service. The ranger took us around the court room, the signing room, and the upstairs rooms (the ballroom and weapons rooms which are only open 6 weeks per year). By this point, we needed coffee, so we headed towards the Delaware River, dropping into the Carpenters' Guild (the first Trade Union Building in the USA - I think - and where Benjamin Franklin had a library, and met French Spies to find ways to deal to the troublesome English). Finally we found a coffee and spent some time sitting in the pleasant, not-too-humid sunshine and enjoyed being on holiday. Then down to the Delaware, to Penn's Landing, where William Penn and his settlers first arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682. We looked across the river and contemplated walking the 1.6 miles across the bridge to New Jersey, but decided we'd just enjoy Philly.
Next stop was Elfreth's Alley - "probably the longest continuously inhabited street in the USA" - originally small row houses for working-class Irish families in the 1700s. It's extremely charming and very close to Betsy Ross' house - "where the first star-spangled banner was probably sewn" (although this does not reconcile with information at the Smithsonian in DC). Then to pay our respects at Benjamin Franklin's grave. He's our favourite of the founding fathers, a real rockstar amongst early statesmen. And despite his huge number of achievements as a scientist inventor, author, politician, journalist, humorist and statesman, his grave says only his name and the dates of his life (contrast and compare: Thomas Jefferson). Then past Chinatown, City Hall and into U-Penn, an Ivy League University founded by Ben Franklin. It's really beautiful and, as expected, covered in Ivy.
By this point, our feet hurt and we needed a drink, so we headed to Rittenhouse Square for a drink in the sunshine. Note: Rittenhouse Square is a pretty "nice" area - you should see what a bottle of Kiwi Sav sells for there!). The waitress told us we looked disgustingly relaxed. We did a wee bit of damage at the surrounding shops on the way back home, where we were barked at again before we undertook the most important mission yet: finding a Philly Cheese Steak. Everyone recommended Jim's on South Street, including, as demonstrated on our arrival, Billy Joel, Bruce Willis, various stars of 21 Jump Street, Anne Heche and Mr T. A Philly Cheese Steak is chopped beef, with cheese on a bun. It is both disgusting and wonderful, and somehow, unlike with most fast-food, we didn't feel disgusting afterwards. After a quick drink at Varga again (we were greeted like old friends by the staff), we headed home and got barked at again.
Our second day in Philly started well, we got up, went to a cafe, had a couple of excellent espressos and nipped in back at Jane's to drop off the laptop. As we went back down the stairs, one of Jane's dogs, an angry little sausage dog, charged Mark and savaged him on the leg, leaving some scratches and two little vampiresque puncture wounds. At first we thought it was OK, but when it started bleeding I insisted we go to a pharmacy (as you can imagine, Mark insisted it was all fine). The pharmacist had some concerns about rabies and tetanus and recommended a visit to the ER. We went back to Jane's to ask about the Sausage Vampire shots (which it had, and our concerns were poo-pooed).
So we headed off to an otherwise relaxing day: excellent lunch, a tour of what remains of Franklin's house, his post-office (he set the first one up), his printing room and book-bindery. On our way to Varga, a girl greeted us in the street with "Hi nice couple from NZ!" (we realised later she'd sold us our coffees that morning), and the bar staff had our stools ready. We think that's why we like Philly - after a very short amount of time it felt a bit home-like.
We've just been asked not to "dilly dally" by the train conductor, so better get going. We're almost in New York
*Not her real name
We arrived about 2pm on Tuesday and got to our B&B, which shall remain nameless for reasons which will become apparent later. Our landlady, whom we will call Jane*, showed us to our massive room (shared bathroom - still good though), told us the places to go for a drink/dinner/to see the Amish in action and then we headed out. We wandered past Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was debated, and then headed to an awesome bar called Varga.
Philadelphians, as it turn out, are a really friendly lot. Within about 10 minutes, we'd started drinking beers with a couple of locals (who didn't know each other either) and who were very interested in our trip. They explained local culture, places to visit, why Obama is less popular than he was before, why America is the way it is (various reasons for this, the one that I remember is "The Constitution needs updating" - Lefty: I thought of you - this guy was also half European!). We ended up having a few more beers than we'd intended... and I finally had a root beer float (basically a spider with Vanilla ice-cream, root beer and whipped cream on top with a cherry - this bar was really nice though so it was fancy). We then headed to a restaurant recommended by one of our new friends for some excellent Italian and then staggered our way home to be greeted by Jane's tiny barking dogs glaring at us from behind their little gate in the hallway.
Up bright and early the next morning (and feeling surprisingly fine) we set off for Independence Hall, and swung by the Liberty Bell on the way. The Liberty Bell is kind of cute - I think the enormous crack in it makes it cuter. The tour of Independence Hall was great - another stellar effort by the amazing National Park Service. The ranger took us around the court room, the signing room, and the upstairs rooms (the ballroom and weapons rooms which are only open 6 weeks per year). By this point, we needed coffee, so we headed towards the Delaware River, dropping into the Carpenters' Guild (the first Trade Union Building in the USA - I think - and where Benjamin Franklin had a library, and met French Spies to find ways to deal to the troublesome English). Finally we found a coffee and spent some time sitting in the pleasant, not-too-humid sunshine and enjoyed being on holiday. Then down to the Delaware, to Penn's Landing, where William Penn and his settlers first arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682. We looked across the river and contemplated walking the 1.6 miles across the bridge to New Jersey, but decided we'd just enjoy Philly.
Next stop was Elfreth's Alley - "probably the longest continuously inhabited street in the USA" - originally small row houses for working-class Irish families in the 1700s. It's extremely charming and very close to Betsy Ross' house - "where the first star-spangled banner was probably sewn" (although this does not reconcile with information at the Smithsonian in DC). Then to pay our respects at Benjamin Franklin's grave. He's our favourite of the founding fathers, a real rockstar amongst early statesmen. And despite his huge number of achievements as a scientist inventor, author, politician, journalist, humorist and statesman, his grave says only his name and the dates of his life (contrast and compare: Thomas Jefferson). Then past Chinatown, City Hall and into U-Penn, an Ivy League University founded by Ben Franklin. It's really beautiful and, as expected, covered in Ivy.
By this point, our feet hurt and we needed a drink, so we headed to Rittenhouse Square for a drink in the sunshine. Note: Rittenhouse Square is a pretty "nice" area - you should see what a bottle of Kiwi Sav sells for there!). The waitress told us we looked disgustingly relaxed. We did a wee bit of damage at the surrounding shops on the way back home, where we were barked at again before we undertook the most important mission yet: finding a Philly Cheese Steak. Everyone recommended Jim's on South Street, including, as demonstrated on our arrival, Billy Joel, Bruce Willis, various stars of 21 Jump Street, Anne Heche and Mr T. A Philly Cheese Steak is chopped beef, with cheese on a bun. It is both disgusting and wonderful, and somehow, unlike with most fast-food, we didn't feel disgusting afterwards. After a quick drink at Varga again (we were greeted like old friends by the staff), we headed home and got barked at again.
Our second day in Philly started well, we got up, went to a cafe, had a couple of excellent espressos and nipped in back at Jane's to drop off the laptop. As we went back down the stairs, one of Jane's dogs, an angry little sausage dog, charged Mark and savaged him on the leg, leaving some scratches and two little vampiresque puncture wounds. At first we thought it was OK, but when it started bleeding I insisted we go to a pharmacy (as you can imagine, Mark insisted it was all fine). The pharmacist had some concerns about rabies and tetanus and recommended a visit to the ER. We went back to Jane's to ask about the Sausage Vampire shots (which it had, and our concerns were poo-pooed).
So we headed off to an otherwise relaxing day: excellent lunch, a tour of what remains of Franklin's house, his post-office (he set the first one up), his printing room and book-bindery. On our way to Varga, a girl greeted us in the street with "Hi nice couple from NZ!" (we realised later she'd sold us our coffees that morning), and the bar staff had our stools ready. We think that's why we like Philly - after a very short amount of time it felt a bit home-like.
We've just been asked not to "dilly dally" by the train conductor, so better get going. We're almost in New York
*Not her real name
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The Capital of Capitals
Our time in Washington was one of Museums and Monuments, and we didn't waste a second of our three days there.
On the first day, we walked the National Mall, covering off the important monuments. We were a bit disappointed at how filthy Washington is - it could be so beautiful if it were just a bit cleaner. One of the Reflecting Ponds (the one outside the Capitol) had been completely drained and the one outside the Lincoln Memorial was unbelievably dirty.
We've become big Lincoln fans while here, so we were pleased that the Lincoln Memorial was beautiful and really reflected the man himself - unlike the Washington Memorial which, while impressive, didn't really seem to relate in any way to Washington. By about 11am our legs and feet were about ready to drop off. The Mall covers a huge area and the heat was stifling. We were particularly thankful for the moments spent inside cafes/museums/shops where the aircon seemed to be set to "Wellington-Winter."
The first museum we got to was one we've both been excited about for a while - the National Science museum. We put our sensible adult personalities away for the day and wandered about the dinosaur exhibit in awe. The highlight for me was a Triceratops skull, but actually seeing Tyrannosaurus Rex's tiny withered little arms was pretty cool. They were all there - a massive brachiosaurus, diplodocus, stegosaurus, pterodactyl.
It was hard to tell who was more excited: us, or the roomful of six year olds. The exhibits are amazing - the earliest 'human' skeleton (I think) called Lucy, woolly mammoths, gigantic sloths - we've got tonnes of stuffed animal photos. The Hope diamond was also pretty cool. We swung past the sculpture garden and sat with our tired feet in the fountain on our way to the National Gallery - we'd just got to the Da Vinci (allegedly the only one in the US) and the Botticellis when the Gallery closed and we had to get out.
The majority of the next day was spent at the Air and Space Museum where again we wandered round like small children, me especially so. The Apollo 11 command module, the Wright Brothers "flyer", and literally dozens of amazing planes, rockets, etc. Charlotte experienced a moment of feminist pride when she spotted the plane Jean Batten flew across the Atlantic and across the US (it's a very stylish red).
We wandered out to the White House (no audience with Obama... he may have been at Burger King), which was very pretty in the distance, and then down Pennsylvania Avenue and back to the Mall to visit the National History Museum. It was unbelievably packed (although the kids seemed a little less riveted here than at the Science and Space Museums). It was pretty good, despite the lack of dinosaurs or space rockets. The original star-spangled banner was a highlight, as was Lincoln's top-hat and the first ladies' inaugural ball-dresses (the queue to see Kermit the Frog and Judy Garland's red shoes was too long, we just glimpsed them in the distance). Back home relatively early to start the daunting task of cleaning and emptying Proud Winston.
We were at the front of the queue the next morning for the National Archives - slightly too early... we were there at 8:30 for a 10am opening. The prospect of a ninety minute wait sent Mark off into the wilderness to find coffee for us. Charlotte was disgusted at American queueing etiquette (or lack thereof). A relatively long but haphazard line had formed, with us at the front. Two teenage girls wandered past everyone and stood in front of us. Charlotte said "This is the front of the queue", the girl replied "Oh. Do you want us to go back there?" Anyway, the queuing and outrage was worth it to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights - great to see them first hand. The gallery also included an original Magna Carta, off to one side, in a much less auspicious cabinet, with fewer people looking at it. There was also an excellent 'other exhibits' section, including photos (and some videos) of the Presidents as kids. It has to be said that George W. Bush was a very, very cute child. Then a visit to the Hirschhorn Art Museum - the highlight was definitely the Yves Klein exhibition. Followed by the Native American Indian Museum and a visit to the Museum of American Art, which included some awesome Presidential portraits and some 'twentieth-century legend' portraits (including a Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol). We also dropped by the Ford Theatre - site of Lincoln's assassination, and waited out a massive rainstorm in the shops.
After a dinner at the Capital Grill, we headed home to get Winston sorted for his dispatch. Our time with him came to a - slightly emotional - end the next morning in a dirty parking lot outside D.C. He was an excellent Sputnik and got us safely (nearly 6000 miles) across the States. We wish him well in future endeavours. Fortunately, we were not charged for the (now three) missing wheel hubs.
We're now in Philadelphia (and loving it). More updates to come.
PS. There are a bunch more WDC photos in the gallery if you're so inclined.
On the first day, we walked the National Mall, covering off the important monuments. We were a bit disappointed at how filthy Washington is - it could be so beautiful if it were just a bit cleaner. One of the Reflecting Ponds (the one outside the Capitol) had been completely drained and the one outside the Lincoln Memorial was unbelievably dirty.
The first museum we got to was one we've both been excited about for a while - the National Science museum. We put our sensible adult personalities away for the day and wandered about the dinosaur exhibit in awe. The highlight for me was a Triceratops skull, but actually seeing Tyrannosaurus Rex's tiny withered little arms was pretty cool. They were all there - a massive brachiosaurus, diplodocus, stegosaurus, pterodactyl.
It was hard to tell who was more excited: us, or the roomful of six year olds. The exhibits are amazing - the earliest 'human' skeleton (I think) called Lucy, woolly mammoths, gigantic sloths - we've got tonnes of stuffed animal photos. The Hope diamond was also pretty cool. We swung past the sculpture garden and sat with our tired feet in the fountain on our way to the National Gallery - we'd just got to the Da Vinci (allegedly the only one in the US) and the Botticellis when the Gallery closed and we had to get out.
The majority of the next day was spent at the Air and Space Museum where again we wandered round like small children, me especially so. The Apollo 11 command module, the Wright Brothers "flyer", and literally dozens of amazing planes, rockets, etc. Charlotte experienced a moment of feminist pride when she spotted the plane Jean Batten flew across the Atlantic and across the US (it's a very stylish red).
We wandered out to the White House (no audience with Obama... he may have been at Burger King), which was very pretty in the distance, and then down Pennsylvania Avenue and back to the Mall to visit the National History Museum. It was unbelievably packed (although the kids seemed a little less riveted here than at the Science and Space Museums). It was pretty good, despite the lack of dinosaurs or space rockets. The original star-spangled banner was a highlight, as was Lincoln's top-hat and the first ladies' inaugural ball-dresses (the queue to see Kermit the Frog and Judy Garland's red shoes was too long, we just glimpsed them in the distance). Back home relatively early to start the daunting task of cleaning and emptying Proud Winston.
We were at the front of the queue the next morning for the National Archives - slightly too early... we were there at 8:30 for a 10am opening. The prospect of a ninety minute wait sent Mark off into the wilderness to find coffee for us. Charlotte was disgusted at American queueing etiquette (or lack thereof). A relatively long but haphazard line had formed, with us at the front. Two teenage girls wandered past everyone and stood in front of us. Charlotte said "This is the front of the queue", the girl replied "Oh. Do you want us to go back there?" Anyway, the queuing and outrage was worth it to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights - great to see them first hand. The gallery also included an original Magna Carta, off to one side, in a much less auspicious cabinet, with fewer people looking at it. There was also an excellent 'other exhibits' section, including photos (and some videos) of the Presidents as kids. It has to be said that George W. Bush was a very, very cute child. Then a visit to the Hirschhorn Art Museum - the highlight was definitely the Yves Klein exhibition. Followed by the Native American Indian Museum and a visit to the Museum of American Art, which included some awesome Presidential portraits and some 'twentieth-century legend' portraits (including a Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol). We also dropped by the Ford Theatre - site of Lincoln's assassination, and waited out a massive rainstorm in the shops.
After a dinner at the Capital Grill, we headed home to get Winston sorted for his dispatch. Our time with him came to a - slightly emotional - end the next morning in a dirty parking lot outside D.C. He was an excellent Sputnik and got us safely (nearly 6000 miles) across the States. We wish him well in future endeavours. Fortunately, we were not charged for the (now three) missing wheel hubs.
We're now in Philadelphia (and loving it). More updates to come.
PS. There are a bunch more WDC photos in the gallery if you're so inclined.
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