Globe-trotting Greens

Tom and Mandy's year of adventure: August 2014 to July 2015

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King Lear, Blue Hills and Boston Beer

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The End

Monday 27th July So, after a weekend with Tom's cousin Jenn and her husband Ted in Boston, doing very British things to get us ready for home such as eating a picnic while watching a production of King Lear, drinking beer on the Harpoon brewery tour and watching trashy TV, we are finally flying home tomorrow night Where has the year gone? Five years of savings, hopes and dreams realised, so many friends and relatives met and such unforgettable experiences. How do you sum up everything that has happened? Well, here's a few things that we have learned along the way... - There is always time to visit a reclined Buddha - Food is central to all civilisations and you will find welcoming people wherever you go - Never question whether to go on safari: just do it - Anyone can do what we did. You just need perseverance to save up and determination to see it through and you will never regret it - Being a tourist in your own country is so underrated. We plan on starting as soon as we get back... - You only live once so make it count! Thank you all so much for reading this blog. We've certainly had fun writing it! ~Mandy

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Hello Vermont!

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Hello Vermont!

Friday 24th July After travelling unspeakable distances up the country on small roads to avoid paying the tolls (where conversation went something along the lines of "If I have to look at you one more time in that cat T-shirt I will die", "please drive in a straight line" and "I've just realised I eat my apple let handed"), we arrived in Vermont. It's beautiful and our AirBnB was a stunning house up in the hills, so rural that the owners left the keys in their cars and their house unlocked. After a couple of days in Manchester pootling about, we arrived in Stowe, passing through loads of cute villages that reminded us a little bit of the Cotswolds. We also happened to fall into the Ben and Jerry's factory, where we did a tour and scoffed one of their new flavours. The tour was seriously cheesy, with phrases such as "If you can't take the stairs, feel free to use the Vanillavator", "I'm going to scoop you all up for the next tour" etc. etc. and they had a graveyard for all the long forgotten flavours. You have to admit though, their ice-cream is pretty darn good! ~Mandy

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A quick stop in Washington DC to see Damian and Catherine

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Old Rag Mountain

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Old Rag Mountain

Sat 18th July Don't they always say that you should do something every day that scares you? Well, I reckon we achieved that today. Staying near Shenandoah National Park, we decided to do one of the ten mile hikes in the area called Old Rag. We arrived fairly early, sprayed ourselves senseless with bug repellant (I had scared myself with stories about ticks so wanted to be extra sure) and set off up the hill. After trudging through the bright green forest we found that the trail became increasingly stony and the hill got steeper. A couple of hours in, we found a section where we had to leap onto a huge inclined rock and scrabble up it. I gave some advice to an older lady about how to do it and was feeling quite smug when we got to a sensational view over the valley below. We were actually above the clouds! We had made it! After eating some food and taking photos, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was a section to our right that went even higher. Looking more closely, I discovered there were walkers on the trail. What? This was not the peak! In fact, the fun had just begun as the "rocky scramble" (as Lonely Planet put it) led to the top. We squeezed through gaps, shimmied down steep sections and pulled ourselves up and around the rocks for what seemed like miles. As it was the weekend there were others around, which to me was beneficial as if I got stuck, someone would give me a leg up or pull me up by the arm. I definitely flashed my knickers a few times! It was like rock climbing for beginners! Eventually, we reached the top, sweaty, dirty and exhausted, and I lay down for a rest. Clouds were now way below us and we saw just how far we had come. After a rest we decided to start back and after some more jumping and sliding across the mountain, we discovered that once again, we had been foiled; there was now a sign that read: 'summit'. Seriously?! We were so tired that we got to it, had a cursory look around and headed off on the five mile trail back to the car park. What a mad walk! But of course, the mad ones are always the best... We celebrated our achievement in a Southern food joint, aptly called Green's, where I had my first rack of ribs ever. They were INCREDIBLE. Apparently they covered them in BBQ sauce constantly for over 8 hours and then served them with sides like corn and mac n cheese. Yum! ~Mandy

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Monticello and Charlottesville

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Monticello

Thursday 16th July Today we went to see Thomas Jefferson's house. He was the third president of the United States and he had an uber house up on a hill above Charlottesville. We had a guided tour of the house, which was incredibly choreographed; as soon as our group moved into another room, a later group came in and an earlier group vacated the new room. It was the smoothest operation ever and yet they made it all seem so relaxed! We decided we liked Jefferson as he liked music, loved French food and had an amazing pulley system that meant he could collect bottles of wine from the cellar below straight into the dining room and then put the empties on the other side to get rid of them. He even had a rotating cupboard so servants could put food in it and flip it round for him to take and serve to his guests! Sounds like perfect hosting to me. However, we were a little unconvinced about the fact that he was crucial to the Declaration of Independence (and said all men were created equal) yet had over 600 slaves in his lifetime to run his household. Hmm... ~Mandy

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A concise riverside drinks menu

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The beautiful view from Terry and Irene's stunning apartment in West Palm Beach

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The Kennedy Space Center

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The Kennedy Space Center

Friday 10th July Tom has wanted to come here for, well, a long time. We got up early and drove a couple of hours north from West Palm Beach to Cape Canaveral on the Space Coast. It was a fantastic place: we had a Q&A with an astronaut, tours of the launch pads, close up views of the retired Shuttle Atlantis and watched a fascinating 3D film in an IMAX theatre about the Hubble Telescope (those 3D glasses are seriously cool, if slightly disorientating after too many fizzy drinks). Tom went away very happy and I went away at least knowing some basic facts about space. Mission accomplished! ~Mandy

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The Everglades

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The Everglades

Wednesday 8th July

After some deliberation as to which tour to do, we settled on an airboat tour of the Everglades at the northern end of the park.

Covering much of the southern tip of Florida, the Everglades are like a huge swamp, with thousands of crocs, “gators”, bird life and snakes. DEET-ed up to the eyeballs, our boat took us gliding through the midst of it in its serene beauty.

We spotted loads of cheeky looking alligators, who smirked at us as they surfed their way to the sides of the creeks, and a beautiful, huge heron. After a show where the park warden put his hand and head into some alligators’ mouths (some people are just plain careless), we had a wander about and Anton reinstated our obsession with Magnums. Yum!

Our next stop was the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (try saying that after a few wines), which has the third-largest coral barrier reef in the world. We were bound for a snorkelling trip and, after hiring the equipment and taking a trip to the aquarium to try to memorise the names of some of the fish we might see (I forgot all names instantly as we left the building), we were on the boat. A rather attractive man called Dustin was to be our guide.

After half an hour we arrived at the edge of the reef. After the usual struggle with masks / ridiculous flippers / spitting water out of the snorkel / a falling down bikini, we were in the water. The waves were pretty darn crazy and after an hour or so we headed back to the boat, hugely impressed by all the gorgeous fish (which included my all-time favourites, the Sergeant Majors and baby Sergeant Majors too). They were so cute!

After a rather nauseous ride back to shore, we thanked the lovely Dustin for his, er, marine knowledge and headed back to West Palm Beach via large quantities of Italian food.

~Mandy

Devastatingly, there are no photos of Dustin.

~Tom

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Welcome to Miami

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Welcome to Miami

Monday 6th July After my brother Anton arrived yesterday, we were not messing around: we hit Miami Beach. After an apparently necessary "greasy" lunch (large quantities of greasy burger, greasy fries, greasy beer etc. etc.) we somehow found ourselves flat-out on the beach. Anton and I were unable to move but Tom managed a rather active schedule of hunting for bottles of water and swimming whilst we lay there like beached whales. Eventually we made it into the sea with water as warm as the beach; I don't think I've ever swum in water so warm. Now we must discuss the Miami vibe. There were some VERY glamorous people here: stunning beach babes in jaw dropping bikinis; bars with crowds outside papping B-list celebs (too many iPhones in the way to see who); roller-skating teenagers and of course, some very glitzy shops. Everyone seemed extremely relaxed for a Monday and even the office workers weren't in a hurry. Happy hour at 4pm anyone? ~Mandy