Day 58-62 (July 21-25) - Go Cubs Go!!!

We woke up in a Chicago hotel called the Inn at Lincoln Park this morning.  We arrived late yesterday evening in Chicago after a full day driving from Cleveland.  Although the city looks magnificent with massive skyscrapers our main concern was getting the RV through the traffic in one piece before we did any proper sightseeing. We quickly realised that Chicago wasn't the place for RVs in any shape or form.  We took one side street and Oli had to put his foot on the brake before we went under a low bridge that would have taken the roof off Harvey!  So before Oli's stress level boiled over, somehow we managed to find a hotel with a car park bigger than a shoebox.  We went into the hotel with our fingers crossed that if we stayed here we'd be able to keep the RV parked up for the five days.

The hotel is a charming little place and the staff were super friendly and helpful, and for 15 dollars a night we could keep the RV in the car park.  Yay!

Our room is very characterful - slightly art deco meets shabby chic Chicago.  And the best feature is the two separate bathrooms complete with tub either side of the room - one pink-tiled and one green-tiled - not hard to guess which one I chose! 

With so much to do in Chicago we decided to have an early night last night.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat in The Counter, which our hotel reception recommended.  We had delicious alcoholic milkshakes and we were given a pencil and tick chart to create out own burger.  The choice was extensive - I opted for pineapple as one of my main toppings being the health freak that I am LOL!!!!

We woke up this morning to the sound of thunder.  Front desk had told us that Chicago's temperature was over 100 degrees in the recent heatwave so this storm was exactly what the city needed to cool it down.  By the time we got ready and were about to head out, the rain had all cleared up and Chicago was back to its sunny self, slightly cooler at around 87 degrees, which was much more bearable for us.

The first thing we wanted to do in Chicago was to see a Chicago Cubs baseball game - but the first thing we had to do was get Oli's hair cut, as he was starting to look more like a college professor than a college boy!  

10 dollars later and Oli 3 pounds of hair lighter we jumped in a taxi which took us to the famous Wrigley Field baseball stadium, home of the Chicago Cubs, to watch our first ever baseball game!

Super excited but without tickets we headed straight to the box office and bagged ourselves two prime seats.  We had the tickets, now we had to kit ourselves out with the gear!  Inside a souvenir shop we frantically tried on t shirts and baseball caps until we had our favourite ones.

Now dressed the part, complete with bear claw foam finger, we headed into the stadium.  We were there half an hour before the game started as we wanted to soak up all the atmosphere.  As the stadium slowly started to fill up our excitement started to build.  With traditional Chicago hot dogs in hand we stood up when the national anthem was sung and cheered when the players entered the pitch for their warm-up.

The next three hours went by in a blur of cheering, whooping, singing, eating and drinking.  It was almost like being at a street party rather than watching a sport - the atmosphere is more like a family fun day out and watching the sport is almost secondary.

As if the game wasn't fun enough, we even got to witness a home run and to top it all off the cubs won, much to the home supporters’ delight!

Elated from our afternoon we bounced all of the 12 blocks back to the hotel where we changed out of our Cubs t shirts, and after a quick freshen up headed into the heart of the city.

We got off the bus 20 minutes later at Millennium Park.  Chicago's famous park boasts modern monuments such as the giant metallic "Bean" (actually called the "cloud gate").  This unusual piece of art is constantly surrounded by tourists all taking a picture of their mirrored reflection with the impressive Chicago skyline behind them.  

Another free tourist attraction in the park is the huge purpose-built sound stage.  I think Oli and I were expecting the stage to resemble something from a small festival, but this grand elaborate Sydney opera house-esque platform was impressive to say the least!  Throughout the summer a free concert is performed practically every night.  Tonight was Choral Masterpieces: Bernstein and Fauré, and the grass area was covered with people sitting on picnic blankets and deck chairs eating and drinking until the sky got dark.

We didn't stick around until the end as we wanted to explore the Theatre District before it got too dark.  It was easy to spot, not just because of its neon sparkly lights, but at the very start of the street the pavement is indented with "Chicago Theatre District" which is right up our street (if you'll pardon the pun!). 

Oli and I were in our element, snapping pictures outside the theatres, and most exciting of all was the famous Chicago theatre.  Our posing for a photo doing jazz hands was inevitable!

There was me thinking that we'd casually strolled down this street at the spur of the moment but Oli had planned it all along!  He had sneakily researched and found an Italian restaurant called Petterino’s without me knowing and brought me to itJ  The place was right in the heart of the theatre district and the décor inside included thousands of autographed pictures and caricature drawings, the place was oozing with character and I especially loved the red velvet booths which we were lucky to be seated in.  

The maitre d’ was a tall bald chap with a lovely campness, he took well to us English and told us of his English friends.  A moment after we were seated the waiter bought us two glasses of champagne compliments of the maitre d’ as a welcome to Chicago.  We had a great night in the restaurant and the staff couldn’t do enough, bringing a gorgeous selection of warm breads and creamy butter, constantly topping up our water glasses and suggesting dishes for us to try.  The cocktails were fab and our food mouth-watering - I went for the large shrimp cocktail to start and the special farmer’s pasta.  We were so full after the meal that we couldn’t possibly have dessert – but Oli took the menu just to be polite and on spotting the pink peppermint ice-cream with hot fudge sauce we decided to order one with two spoons!  It came out bright pink and had its own little jug of hot fudge sauce – peppermint and hot fudge not something I thought would have gone well together but it tasted soooo yummy that I thought I’d died and gone to heaven!!!

On leaving the restaurant I made sure to tell the maitre d’ that we had really enjoyed our food and that the staff were really amazing and made us feel really welcome.  He then produced two red velvet boxes which contained homemade fudge as a gift – this is the nicest place ever!!

That was 3 nights ago.  Since the above we had two more days in Chicago.  We did a lot of stuff like taking an architecture river boat tour, we went up the Sears/Willis tower which was the highest building in the world for 22 years – it has a glass box on the side of the building on the 103rd floor which we stood on.  

We visited the Art Institute of Chicago where we saw tonnes of stuff including famous paintings by Van Gough, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Magritte and Dali.  

We did a lot of walking around the city taking photos of sculptures like the giant Marilyn Monroe and famous works by Henry Moore.  We visited Millennium Park again and sat and watched the human art water fountain where video footage of local people is projected onto a wall from which water spurts out! 

We popped into Bloomingdale’s, the Hershey’s store and the famous Chicago Cheesecake factory (didn’t eat there though but just had to have a look as the smell drew us in!). 

We enjoyed various meals out, we had to try Chicago’s famous Giordano’s stuffed pizza and for our last night we went to Smith and Wollensky and had the most amazing steakJ  Our four days just weren’t long enough, there’s so much to do here that we barely saw the tip of the iceberg – oh well we’ll just have to come back here again someday…that’s another place in America to add to the ever growing list!

J&O 

Day 56-57 (July 19-20th) – I love Rock and Roll!

A slightly disturbed sleep last night, the RV park we were staying at on the shore of Lake Erie had a power cut so we didn’t get to sleep til v late as we had to rig up our own generator and then switch it back again when the power retuned in the early hours of the morning!  We decided to have a bit of a lie-in to try and gain a few more hours shut-eye after the chaos.

Once up we got cracking and went on our way!  We had about a 3.5 hour drive to Cleveland so not too strenuous after our big day yesterday in Niagara Falls (btw Niagara Falls was amazing, we went on the Maid of the Mist boat as close as boats can get to the falls – which is pretty close and you get drenched!  We also walked in tunnels under the actual falls and got to see the water gushing from standing within the rock face tunnel behind it - fab day seeing a fab sight I’ll never forget!). 

After only about half an hour we accidentally took a wrong turning and ended up near a small beach alcove, the sun was shining so spur of the moment we threw on our swimming costumes and went for a dipJ  The water was amazing, although it looked like the sea as there was water as far as the eye could see - it was in fact a lake - “Lake Erie” one of the great lakes!  If I was still doubting that surely this must be the sea then the warmer water and fresh unsalted taste of it soon left me in no doubt that Oli was right and yes this was actually a lake!!

After a couple of hours of fun and splashing about we dried off and had a picnic, it was a perfect unplanned afternoonJ

By the time we got back on the road it was 3:30pm and we still had 3 hours to drive, the only reason we were wanting to go to Cleveland was to go to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  We wouldn’t get there til at least 7pm as we also needed to stop for gas along the way and by then the place would be closed.  We checked the guide book and sure enough the museum closes at 6pm except on a Wednesday when it’s open til 9pm – today was Wednesday, hurray we would make it after all!!

Sure enough we got there with a couple of hours to spare after having problems trying to find parking.  With my rock Kiss t-shirt on (another purchase in Florida) we headed to the museum.  The museum is set on the waterfront in the heart of downtown Cleveland, the iconic glass building in the shape of a pyramid was just how I’ve seen it on tv many a time.  

Inside, the spacious modern building has 6 floors with various rooms and spaces to display the memorabilia; unfortunately as we arrived so late we had to skip things like the U2-3D 1.5 hour show.  Another thing we had to miss out was the Inductees hall of fame film – if you watched all the films they were showing it would have taken about 8 hours, you could easily spend two days in there!

The museum takes you through the history of music and its influences, the journey featured a lot of stories and places we have actually come across on our travels here in the States like Memphis’ Sun Studios for example.  Although the museum was heavy on American music it does pay homage to the British invasion with the likes of the Beatles, The Stones, The Who, and David Bowie to name a few.

The memorabilia (no photography allowed!) varies from stars’ automobiles, instruments, costumes, lyrics, programmes, tickets etc and is nicely displayed mainly behind glass but there is a section unglassed.  Seeing things like Michael Jackson’s red torn Thriller jacket and a sparkly glove so close made me wanted to reach out and touch it – I would have done but the security guy was watching us like a hawk!!  

The two hours flew by but we did manage to get a good feel for the place and go to every floor, my only fear was it was now 9pm closing and I hadn’t got to the gift shop!  Luckily the gift shop stays open til 9:30 so we were able to buy a magnet and postcard as our own memorabilia…..I would have liked John Lennon’s original Sergeant Peppers outfit but you can’t have everything eh!

Today was one of those days that simply worked out perfectly and time was on our side….sometimes there’s just not enough hours in the day but it’s what you do with them that counts!

J&O

Days 49-55 - Blog on!

Thought I’d give you all a quick recap on what we’ve been up to since Boston (day 48) up until day 55 – be prepared for a long one!!  After Boston we unexpectedly spent the following day in Salem - I studied Auther Miller’s The Crucible at college so I knew that Salem was the town where a mass witch hysteria had broken out in 1692 and people were hanged! 

Salem very much remembers the history and the town and is awash with “Witch” museums, shops, the taxis have a witch silhouette on them and other spooky things – they even have a “Dairy Witch” instead of a Dairy Queen fast food joint!  Although Salem has all this “tacky” stuff the museums have all been built in keeping with the theme and the actual town is really pretty.  Unlike Roswell, Salem has the right balance of fun tourist attractions but also has a nice community full of history, pretty houses and shops. 

We took a trolley bus hop on/hop off tour which picked us up at our RV park Winter Island and then into town (the tour guide told us that where we had parked was the site of the last public hanging in Salem!).  We hopped off at various points such as the witch dungeon where we watched a live reconstruction of a witch trial and learnt the history of the town. 

We also saw the gravestones with the hanged people’s last words on them (most proclaimed their innocence including a mother accused by her 7 year old daughter!).  Although Salem is known as “The Witch Town” the tour guide told us that no one believes there were any witches and it was just innocent people who got hanged (anyone who confessed to being a witch was spared the hanging).  The town takes it all with a pinch of salt but it’s a real fascinating place to visit.

After Salem we started making our way to Maine, thanks to the waitress in Boston we now had a destination -  Camden!   We spent three nights in Maine but could have spent longer as there are lush green mountains and then beaches and lakes.  Maine is known for its seafood so first on the list of things to try was lobster rolls - a guy at the first campsite we stayed in said there was only one place we must get them from and that was “Red’s Eats”. 

Red’s was not what we were expecting - we pictured a restaurant with cute red checked table cloths but as we drove nearer it became obvious that Reds was a shack by the side of a road with the longest queue beside it!  Well at least it was near a lake so a nice spot for lunch!  We must have queued for about 45 minutes and my mouth was watering watching everyone enjoying their food, luckily we made friends in the queue and chatted away till we got to the front.  This cute shack is world famous and has a massive list of quotes from where it’s been mention in magazines and on TV! 

We ordered the original Lobster roll, a pound and half of pure lobster meat in what looks like a hotdog bun (and of course two large root beers).  Bill and Anne Marie, the American couple we met in the queue, had saved seats at their table for us.  We had a great lunch with them swapping travel stories, they may be visiting London soon and if so I’ll save them a space at our table in a London restaurantJ

After lunch and our farewells we made our way to Camden (I kept picturing Camden in London), the town is situated around a harbour with a real relaxed vibe to it – people sit outside cafes just watching the world go by.  It was about 6pm by now so we headed to a campsite in a state park that had been recommended to us.  During our trip we have stayed in both campsites and state parks, state parks are more basic than campsites and don’t have things like swimming pools or Wi-Fi but have prettier views and therefore I’d rather stay in state parks. 

This state park, Camden Hills, was very picturesque with its forest of trees and many paths for nature walks.  We decided to go to the local shops to buy marshmallows and hotdogs to have around the campfire.  The people in the local shop were really friendly and suggested we have “S’mores” (which we were told are Graham Crackers with a Hershey bar in them and toasted marshmallows – an American campfire tradition!)  We bought the supplies and while at the checkout a woman in front of us said “oh S’mores I love them” – think we made a good choice!  On leaving the shop the sky had turned black and the heavens had opened – no way was this rain going to clear up so we’d better wait ‘til another night to have the S’mores!

The next day the sun was shining so we headed off to see more of Camden.  First we went on a trail to a high point where you can see spectacular views of the harbour.  We then did a little hike up to Battie Tower for more picturesque views of this stunning Maine landscape.  

We drove to the harbour popping in to the little shops selling arts and crafts and souvenirs.  For lunch we sat in a seafood restaurant overlooking the harbour and ordered crab cakes and a massive whole lobster to share.  

When it arrived Oli showed no mercy and made me be the first to crack it – I don’t even like shelling a prawn but I had to give this scary creature a go!  Totally worth the mess as it was the most delicious lobster we’ve had on this whole trip so far…but I suspect there may more to come!

After a long lazy lunch we sadly had to leave Maine and start heading towards Canada.  Oli’s twin sister Suzie lives there with her husband Joe and we couldn’t come all this way and not pop in and see them!

The drive to Canada through Maine to New Hampshire and then the tip of Vermont I think has been my favourite stretch of drive so far.  Yes the Blue Ridge Parkway was impressive but this was just as pretty but felt more hidden.  We hardly passed any cars during the 6 hours so it felt like we had this lush hilly road to ourselves.

It was strange nearing the end of that scenic drive, knowing that soon we’d be out of America and crossing the border to Canada.  At the customs stop sign we were told not to leave the vehicle as we handed over our passports to the immaculate looking officer.  Oli was panicking slightly and stated to fidget like we had done something wrong but I was in a chatty mood and couldn’t stop talking to the officer when he returned.  

He asked us questions like, why we were here (to visit Oli’s sister I said), will we be here long (hope not I slipped up) and had we got any gifts worth over $60 (crap that reminded me I forgot to get Suzie a present)!  My face turned to panic when I said “oh crap I forgot to get his sister a present, how bad am I?!”.  Oli mumbled “stop talking” and the officer looked sternly at me before his face creased into a smile and he replied shockingly “ma’am you are fabulous!!!!  That lightened the mood - we all laughed, he handed our passports back stamped for Canada and we were offJ 

It took about two days to drive to where Oli’s sister Suzie lives in Canada, a place called Dundas about an hour from Toronto.    The days passed really quickly and now seem a blur but the things I remember were that Canada seemed pretty and green with flat fields (the closest I’d seen to an English countryside).  We stopped at two different campsites for the two nights before getting to Suzie, and Oli and I tried to be like real campers.  We built camp fires and finally got to toast marshmallows and make S’mores.  The Hershey’s tasted a bit bitter (or like poo as I kept saying) so we adapted the S’mores to have Nutella instead and they were totally yummy! 

One night I cooked a pizza (this was the first time I’d used the oven) and it burnt – not my fault, defo the stupid oven, so we had hotdogs round the fire and toasted more marshmallows.  We sat round the campfire and chatted into the dark nights, one night while we were sitting out I heard a rustling in the bushes behind us from which appeared a porcupine – I resisted the temptation to scream and we just sat and watched it in the dark until it disappeared.  We have seen a lot of wildlife on this trip (the wild bear in the Blue Ridge Parkway was a sight I’ll never forget) but seeing chipmunks for the first time was a real treat!  My experience of chipmunks is Alvin, Simon and Theodore from the cartoon so when this tiny little striped fluffy thing ran past us I squealed in delight – I love staying in these campsites ‘cos you just don’t know what you’re going to see!

We finally got to Suzie on 16^th July and it was really nice but strange to see familiar faces after 7 weeks.  Suzie and Joe took us out for dinner that night where we enjoyed cocktails, good food and had a right old catch upJ  The next day we went to brunch at Cora.  The menu had soooo much yummy choice that it took us ages to order but we were in no rush. 

Afterwards we drove about an hour to go cherry picking, we were just in time as we were told today was the last day of the season – phew I was wearing my “cherry picking “ outfit complete with fruit flip-flops and a headscarf, what a waste that would have been!  We started our cherry picking adventure by boarding a tractor which took us into the orchards.  As soon as we were in Suzie was up a tree picking away – she had clearly done this before!! 

We enjoyed our couple of hours there, I for one had red/purple lips by the time we finished (Suzie told me to try them as we picked!).  We had a fab time picking/eating cherries, I broke a strap on my flip-flop but that was the only casualty of the afternoon.  We got back around 7pm with time for a shower and change before all heading out to dinner.  Joe had booked us into the the CN Tower restaurant in Toronto but due to Oli and I having problems at our campsite with the electricity supply we were late. 

Once in Joe’s nifty convertible he said he’d be able to get us there just a little later than expected – then we hit massive amounts of traffic and no matter which diversion Joe took we ended up back in traffic!  Time for plan B as it was getting late and we were all hungry, we pulled off the freeway and went into a Milestones restaurant instead.  The food was yet again yummy with even yummier cocktails!  The only downer for that night was when we got back to the RV park the owner was waiting up for us (they didn’t have a card machine and we didn’t have cash so told them we’d get money out while at dinner, and we did).  We told him we were worried the electric still wouldn’t work and he insisted that his voltage was fine and it was “us” – I assure you it wasn’t “us” but the voltage was wrong, we haven’t had any trouble at any other campsite then or since! 

Anyway cut a long story short his wife popped her head out of the window and said “I’m calling the police” – why because we were worried/complaining about the voltage??  They were without doubt the rudest people I have ever met, it may have been 1am but there was noooo way we were going to be treated like “trailer trash” and pay them money for the privilege!  We drove out and within 10 minutes we found a beautiful quite alcove to park in for the nightJ

The next day we headed to Hamilton Beach.  The sandy shore is situated along lake Ontario, another of the great lakes.  We walked along the beach and had lunch overlooking it.  More strolling along for a couple of hours and an ice cream later at around 5:30pm we soon had to say goodbye to Suzie and Joe.  It was great to catch up with them both, the day after we left they were actually flying to the UK for two weeks, we look forward to catching up again with them when they are back in the UK for ChristmasJ

The four of us in the RV before saying goodbye

I have written a couple more blogs summing up what we’ve been up to over the last week and will upload soon if you still fancy reading!

J&O

Day 48 - Cheers to Boston!

My name is Lulu and it’s been over two weeks since I last blogged!!!  Where do I start….Boston!  We spent a couple of days in Boston from 11^th July and as a treat booked into a Mariott Suite hotel for a couple of nights.  This was a welcome relief as I had been unwell for a couple of days with a severe headache so staying in one place for a bit did me the world of goodJ

After a day or two round the hotel pool to recoup we finally ventured into the heart of Boston via the overground train and what a lovely surprise it was. 

Skyscrapers surround historic buildings unlike anywhere I have seen before.  Although built up, Boston still finds space for its common, a beautiful grassy area with a shallow pool where we saw children splash away in delight and shriek with laughter when the fountain was turned on sporadically.  Oli told me that in winter the pool turns into an ice skating rink – how beautiful that must look!  Although the city was alive with traffic you feel a world away sitting on the common surrounded by trees and people sitting under shady trees to relieve them from the hot sun.  

With a picnic we bought in the local shops we too sat under a huge tree on the common for an hour and watched the world go by…this was the closest I felt to home, just us two sitting in a park it all felt very “normal” and for a few moments I forgot we were miles away from home!

After our picnic we strolled around the common stopping to look at the various monuments and sights such as an old fashioned carousel.  With a map in hand we started to head for the Freedom Trail which is a historical 2.5 mile tour of the city on foot – even without a map you can do this tour as there is a red brick line on the floor of the city leading the way for you to follow! 

Not on the route but top of Oli’s “historical sites” to see was the 1990’s cult tv show Cheers bar (where everybody knows your name…) The outside of the bar is where the exterior shots are filmed.  The bar is actually called the Bull and Finch but also has the Cheers sign and is a real tourist attraction.  You can go inside but it’s a bit of a disappointment for fans as you expect it to be as seen on the tv but it’s nothing like that – Oli was not impressed and didn’t even want to stay for a root beer!

So we finally got started on the Freedom Trail tour, the red bricks took us to sights such as The Massachusetts State House with it’s gold leaf domed roof, the site of the first ever public school in the US and the Old South Meeting House where the Boston Tea Party started.  

Other sights included the house of Paul Revere who made the famous midnight horseback ride to warm the Americans that “The British are coming, the British are coming”!  There were loads of other interesting things along the way but far too many to name them all. 

We also popped into what is claimed to be the oldest tavern in America called the Bell in Hand tavern.  Unfortunately it didn’t have root beer and with a thirst only that would satisfy we ended up stopping off nearby in a deli called Nick Varano’s.  This little place has bags of charm, walls covered in old newspapers and photos of celebs in the deli.  We wondered up and down the area known as “Little Italy” - my fave place there was a cupcake shop called “Lulu’s”!  

We’d seen one in Savannah but this was another independent.  The tiny shop was crammed with goodies in an array of colours and flavours, on the wall were pictures of “Lulu” the owner – glad she was also a blonde!  The young girl behind the counter was super excited that I was wearing a pink Wonder Woman vest (I bought it in Florida).  She then had a 5 minute outburst of her love for Wonder Woman – seriously this girl was a hard core comic book fan and seemed to think I was, just because of what I was wearing….didn’t have the heart to tell her I just bought it because it was pink!!

With all the culture and fab restaurants in Boston how on earth would we pick a place to have dinner!  Well in the end there was only one place to eat –the oldest continuously serving restaurant in the US “The Union Oyster House”!  Although it was a Monday night the place was packed, even booked reservations were running 30 minutes behind – blimey this place must be good!  We were told we had a 45 minute wait, with our bellies grumbling we grabbed a booth near the bar and ordered our starters there (clever us) and the choice was simple - Boston clam chowder! 

We’d never had it before and me not being a soup person (Heinz tomato the best I can do) I wasn’t sure if I would like it.  The creamy lumpy bowl was put in front of me, it smelled really good so I grabbed a spoon and dug in if slightly hesitantly.  As I brought the steaming spoon to my lips I closed my eyes and put the lumpy soup-like stuff into my mouth….hold on a minute, I thought, this is really yummy!! 

We did wait just under an hour to get the table upstairs but while we waited downstairs we were proper tourists and took photos of everything including the live lobsters in the tank awaiting their conclusive fate!  The curved oyster bar downstairs for those just wanting a quick bite was turning over continuously while we waited, a curly haired ginger man seated on a stall was talking loudly and entertaining the customers..he may have entered the restaurant alone but left with a bunch of new friends which made me smileJ

Finally we got our table upstairs and this charming, wooden almost boat-like décor was really charismatic.  Although we waited a while to give our order we were given corn bread to nibble on.  If you’ve never had it it’s nothing like bread, it’s sweet and has a cake-like texture, it’s soooo yummy, but I do feel like I’m having dessert before my main course!  Although I enjoyed the chowder I was a bit fished out and where I hadn’t been well, today was the first day I’d eaten for a few days so I thought I’d better play it safe and opt for plain chicken and boiled rice.  Oli on the other hand went straight for the medium lobster at $40 dollars.  Complete with his bib on he tucked into the lobster with his tips from the waitress on how to break and eat it.  Oli can be messy at the best of times with food so here he was in his element, the phrase “don’t play with your food” can be excused when eating a whole lobster although I draw the line on Oli using the lobster to wave at me and becoming its puppeteer!!

The waitress clearing our plates (and Oli’s mess) was lovely, she had been rushed off her feet all night but couldn’t stop chatting to us (the English travellers).  She lives in Boston but travels a lot and recently came back from a tour of Europe.  We told her we were heading to Maine the day after tomorrow and she gave us some good tips of exactly whereabouts to go.  Watching a programme nearly a year ago on Stephen Fry travelling America he went to Maine and had lobster – that was our whole reason for going there and we hadn’t a clue exactly where to go!  She (Tegan) told us of a place in Maine called Camden and said it was near to beaches and the mountains so thanks to her we had our destination sorted!

With our bellies full on good food and Oli’s cheeks slightly rosy from the ale it was time to head back to catch a train home.  The short walk to the station soon made us wish we had got our bill sooner, the next train was 50 minutes away so we did what we do best – got a taxi!

The taxi driver was Brooklyn born and couldn’t stop talking at us for a full 20 mins, I definitely met my match!  He loves English music and sounds like he has an amazing collection of memorabilia, Beatles autographs, Stones autographs and things like The Who's tambourine.  He told me the best scam I've ever heard.  

He said years ago Elton John was in concert in the US and he couldn't get any tickets for love nor money, on the radio there was a competition to win 4 Elton J tickets.  Think he said all you had to do was call up and be the number of the radio station i.e caller 102.  He rang up but of course didn't win – but that didn't stop him!  The cheeky monkey rushed down to the radio station and proclaimed he was the lucky winner of the tickets (he remembered the real winners name) and without question they just gave him the tickets for that night!!  Gets better!  He then admitted he's never told his wife this but another time he couldn't get tickets for Rod Stewart, he had found a Policeman's badge and before handing it in he saw ticket touts and said he would have to arrest them if they didn't hand over their Rod Stewart tickets – his crafty tactic worked and he and friends went to the concert!

Finally back at the RV we had nowhere to park up, we drove around for what felt like hours and asking hotels if we could park in their car park overnight (one lady said we could for $50 – stuff that!). We eventually parked up in a car park behind a pet store and managed to have a restful sleep if only for a few hoursJ

Boston apparently is beautiful in the autumn, but it was also beautiful when we saw it at the beginning of summer…and I imagine just as beautiful in winter with its snow and ice rink – I can only conclude that Boston must be beautiful all year round and would definitely want to go back there someday!

J&O