Manhattan

New York started with me putting my life on the line and stepping into the street to hail a yellow cab. "East 18th and 3rd" I demanded in my best NYC voice and then proceeded to weave through the streets, dodging pedestrians and other cabs and gazing open-mouthed at the height of the buildings, the noise of the horns and sirens and the masses of people.

I have spent the last few days really just wandering around. There are so many famous sights here that you can just wander along any old street and there they appear. I have seen the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, Central Park, Wall Street, Ground Zero, the Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty, Broadway and 5th Avenue, Madison Square, Times Square, lots of shops and restaurants and my oh my lots of people.

Unlike other places in the States, people seem to prefer walking to driving which is a nice change. The weather has been quite cold but there are always places to duck inside when you need to warm up. Bronwyn, with whom I'm staying, has a studio apartment in a central location which is very convenient and although small, a nice place. She works long and I think tedious hours but also makes time for plenty of late-night fun. The city does not sleep so things can be found to do at any time.

Being the good country lass that I am there is only so much megatropolis that I can handle at a time so I am going upstate for a few days but will be back here for Easter.

The Capital

Apologies for the gap since the last blog. The weather has been great and I've not wanted to use up any outdoor time. I spent 5 days in Washington DC, staying with a family friend, Andrew. He lives with a guy who works for the Republican Party and I happened to arrive in town just as the parliament was voting on the Health Care Bill so my first port of call was a protest rally. I didn't have much of an idea what the issue was and the longer I stayed at the rally the more confused I became. Everybody there seemed to have a different message on their placards. Since it was one of the first warm sunny days of the year I think a lot of people just went along to enjoy a day in the park - either that or they just like to disagree with anything the government tries to do.

The Mall is pretty amazing. It is a long grassy strip from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Monument with the Washington Monument in the middle. The Washington Monument is one big phallus, presumably a symbol of American potency. There are many other memorials and and monuments around the mall, all impressive and the White House off to the side. Across the Potomac River is the Arlington Cemetery, which is vast and still has plenty of room to grow so keep those service men rolling in. Next door is the Pentagon, I believe the worlds largest office building. I spent 2 days visiting all these places which all add up to affirm that America is great, we are the most powerful nation in the world, and don't anyone forget it! It is a beautifully designed outdoor space and well worth the time spent there.

Bordering the Mall are the seemingly endless Smithsonian Institute Museums. I visited the Air and Space Museum, which houses loads of air and space craft that achieved phenomenal feats. Armstrong and Aldrin's lunar module is there along with the Wright Brothers first plane, Lindbergh's and Erhard's crafts, satellites, telescopes (including the Hubble), a moon rock and much, much more. Incidentally, in the 1960s I could not have been a stewardess for American Airlines because I'm too tall and heavy, neither could any males or anyone over 30.

Next was the Museum of the Native Americans. This was an interesting place with exhibits covering Native people from Alaska to Argentina. It displayed all the different tribes separately so became a bit overwhelming after a while as there were so many.

My final museum (though you could go on for months and not visit them all) was the Holocaust Museum. This was amazing in a cold, chilling and horrific way. I would say it's not a place recommended for small children but a must-see for anyone who might not understand what the regime was all about.

Also during my stay in DC I had dinner in Georgetown which has a more European vibe and met lots of great, forward thinking and passionate people.

Next stop... NYC!

Shenanigans

Interestingly, St Patrick's Day here is not celebrated on 17th March! Well it is but it's moved to the nearest weekend and it's pretty big. Columbia blocks off some streets, sets up a few bands, dresses in green and drinks BUDWEISER (in green cups). It's all rather raucous as a good Irish party should be! There is also a curious passtime called shagging which I'll tell you all about some time... It's not what you might think!

For a bit of a change of pace Chris, George and I took a canoe trip down the Saluda River, a peaceful and contemplative way to spend a couple of hours. The water was pretty cold but luckily no-one fell in!

Historic South

For the past couple of days I have been off touring some historic communities in both South and North Carolina. The first place I visited was Brattonsville, about an hour north of Columbia. This is a historic village remembering back country (inland Carolinas) farming just before and after the Revolutionary War. There are replicas of single room pioneer log cabins, slave huts and a plantation home (incidently this is one of the plantation homes used in the movie The Patriot). There is also a farm with various livestock and produce of the era and costumed staff performing crafts like weaving flax and spinning cotton. Of course there is also a battlefield nearby where Farmer Joe and his 3 musketeers defeated a British batallion of 20 000 men on horseback in a battle that was the turning point of the war. (Did you sense the sarcasm?) The whole area is surrounded by woodland and farmland and there are hiking trails throughout so it made for a pleasant day's outing.

I then continued north across the state line to a city called Winston-Salem (you may guess from the name that this is tobacco heartland). In the centre of this city there is a restored village called Old Salem. It is the same idea as Brattonsville with costumed craftsmen and women acting as guides and interpreters of days gone by. It had quite a different style though because this village is not a shrine to any battles. The people who lived (and still live) here are Moravians, a religious community with German roots. They were predominantly craftsmen and tradespeople but lived self-sufficiently so also did their fair share of farming, cropping and baking. The Old Town, while holding to traditions for tourist purposes, still functions as a part of everyday life. There is an old tavern where you can get a hearty bratwurst and sauerkraut, a gunsmith who's hand-made rifles sell for a mere $5000, a butcher, a baker selling wood-fired oven delights, a candlestick maker, a tailor, a doctor practising herbal remedies and of course a church to welcome the faithful. The Moravian community had very strict rules regarding the genders and married men and women were not allowed contact with one another except at church meetings. Nowdays the village incorporates an Academy which reminded me a lot of Soro Academy in it's architecture and general vibe. Nearby there is also a wonderful Toy Museum and a separate Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts showcasing the craft skills of the early settlers. I was one of the few tourists around so was lucky to have private guided tours of both of these museums as well as most of the craft houses mentioned above.

War correspondence

I'm holed up indoors today as it is pouring rain but it is reasonably warm so I think this is the start of the spring rains and within a month there will be buds, flowers and new leaves all around.

I have spent my last couple of days on an American war trail, not by design but because much of what is considered touristy in the south relates to one war or another. It is my observance that Americans seem to be 'proud' of their wars . Australians remember wars and respect soldiers who fought but do not glorify and exalt them like here.

Interestingly, during the Revolutionary War (against the British) many South Carolinians fought on the side of the British and the Brits were looking in control for a while until one fellow who knew the layout of all the swamps started some guerrilla tactics and made a real nuisance of himself and eventually wore them down. Lucky for them, when they gave up America, they found Australia to send all the crims to instead!

Most people here seem very proud of all the bloodshed in exchange for their independence and can't understand why we haven't done the same. But the war that confounds me the most is the Civil War which essentially was fought over slavery. To me (and I would think to most people) slavery was and is an incredibly heinous act but here in the south, they still seem to be fighting that war, or are at least bitter about the end result. I'd have thought that period of history would be something you would be ashamed of but this does not seem to be the case. The confederate flag is proudly flown in front of the Columbia State House. It's hard to imagine how African-Americans must feel about that.

I finally made it to the State Museum which had some very interesting displays and information about history both natural and cultural as well as an extensive exhibit on technological developments in the C20th.

On Wednesday I returned to Charleston for a tour of Fort Sumter which is a man-made island fort in the harbour entrance and is where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. It's quite an interesting historic sight which would have much more significance to an American than to me.

Across the river from Charleston is Patriot's Point (what else would it be called?) and moored here is a decommissioned aircraft carrier called the Yorktown which you can climb all over and has many decades worth of military aircraft on the flight deck and in the hangar, including one of the Apollo crafts which this ship rescued from the ocean. There is also a submarine next to it that you can feel claustrophobic in. Not being very well schooled in the inner workings of the military (Top Gun is the best exposure I've had), much of what was on display was out of my league but if this was your thing I guess it would seem like heaven. As well as all the machinery you can walk through the living areas of the ship which are pretty vast and complex in a ship this size (so much so that I got lost and thought I might never see the light of day again) and you can pretend to be the captain up on the navigation deck which is high enough to have a great view of Charleston. All in all a cleverly done military museum.

Columbia

I'm back in Columbia today and the plan was to check out the museum but of course Monday would be the only day that it's not open. So instead I thought I'd wander through the State Parliament House and happened to arrive at the same time as a tour so latched onto the back of them and was shown around by a very stalwart South Carolinian patriot who was adamant that anything SC was the first and the best! It is a lovely building following the renovations necessary after Sherman, surprisingly, burned it down in the war.

Charleston

Charleston is beautiful! Part of this has to do with a warming in the weather but mostly it is a pretty harbour town with a lot of charm and character. George and Christine gave me a quick spin around the old town with its grand southern homes and cobblestone streets. The place is dripping with war history as it was a strategic port for both or the American Wars and below you can see a Civil War mortar that faces out towards the small island in the middle of the harbour, Fort Sumter.

Lunch was good southern shrimp and grits (which tastes scrumptiously better than it sounds) with oyster and mussel appetisers.

The afternoon was enjoyed at Middleton Plantation (above) which is more about the grounds than the house because one of the Middletons bankrupted himself supporting the confederate army and then Sherman came in and burned his house down anyway (Sherman did a lot of reaping, pillaging, burning and various other mindless destruction in the south and is not very popular around the traps) and poor old Middleton had no money to rebuild. Later generations have restored the gardens, however, which are extensive and very well manicured. Unfortunately most of the blooms are not yet out so I did not get to see it at it's peak however I feel that spring is definitely on its way!There is much of Charleston that needs closer scrutiny so I plan to return for a few days later in the year.

Congaree NP

Congaree NP is a swamp forest not far from Columbia. There are a series of boardwalks and trails throughout and we went on a guided wander with a ranger who was very informative about the trees in the area. Many Champion Trees (the largest of their species in the state or country) are to be found in Congaree Swamp.

At this time of the year it is quite light as there are no leaves on any of the trees however in the summer it becomes a very dense forest. The trees are all happy to live with their feet in the water as the area is often flooded. It is a very different kind of forest to those found in Australia so rather interesting for me to see.

Columbia SC

I'm now a year closer to old age but all is well. I have arrived in Columbia, South Carolina (in the USA you seem to always have to say the state after the town because there are so many places with the same name) and am staying with some old friends of Mum and Dad. It's is fantastic to have a room of my own and great home cooked food !

Yesterday George and I did a tour of the city and had a look and a few local landmarks. 2 rivers meet here so the waters are used for commerce in the form of old cotton mills and current hydro electric plants as well as for recreation with canoeing and kayaking. I'm hoping to go on a little canoe trip but will wait for a warm day to do so.

Over the weeked there are a couple of out-of-town trips planned so I'll keep you posted.

Sunny Atlanta

Well today dawned much friendlier that yesterday. Still cold and windy but I was brave enough to venture out for a bit. I cruised around Centennial Olympic Park and had a chat to Old Mate Pierre here.

Then the wind got the better of me and I sought the shelter of the nearby Acquarium. It is fairly new and very big with a beluga whale exhibit and an Open Ocean tank with, among thousands of other fish and rays, 4 whale sharks. There was also a Tropical section with mostly Indo-Pacific reef critters and a Rivers section with alligators, pirhanas, Amazon snakes and frogs, and bottom-feeding fish which you view from underneath - a nifty angle. As acquariums go it was rather good and not at all crowded.

After New Orleans, Atlanta seems a very organised city and while there's not much touristy stuff here, it's nice to see clean streets and complete buildings around the place.

Snowy Atlanta

Well all round today was not the greatest day of the trip. I took the overnight bus from New Orleans to Atlanta which was chockas, smelly and full of crazy people (that's what Greyhound USA is all about) and then when I arrived in Atlanta there's a snow storm. I can feel a winter flu brewing in the recesses of my throat so I stocked up on Vitamin C, throat soothers and Chicken noodle soup, wrapped myself in a warm blanket with an Agatha Christie novel and whiled away the day listening to the howling wind. My weathergirl Chris in South Carolina promises this is the last of the serious winter storms! Hope she's right.

Plantations

Oak Alley Plantation

Laura Plantation

New Orleans

I have been a bit slow with the blog lately but that is because I have slowed down the pace of my trip, to conserve funds and to spend some time just hanging out with people.

I have been in New Orleans for a week and it is rather a difficult city to describe because it is full of contradictions. Parts of the city are beautiful with very strong French and Spanish influences in the architecture. There are sections where old money just oozes through pavements and it all runs at a slow, laid back and often seedy and drunken pace. The history of the area is lush and fascinating and the food is divine - although not very good for the waistline.

But then you step out of the old town built on the high ground and the whole area is one of the saddest examples of humanity I have ever come across. It has been 5 years since Katrina but the whole place still looks like a war zone. Almost all of the New Orleanians I have met spend their days talking up their fabulous city (as much to convince themselves as anyone else) and their nights behaving debaucherously and bemoaning the lack of government funding to rebuild the city (perhaps justifyibly so). There are some rebuilding projects but obviously not nearly enough. Rather stupidly, as far as I can see, the levee that collapsed and caused most of the major damage has been rebuilt to exactly the same strength (or lack there of) as before the hurricane. It is a skinny concrete wall holding back a very big canal. I also did a little research and the estimated damage cost from the storm and flooding was around $100 billion - Yes that is a large sum of money - but bear in mind the USA military budget for 2009 alone was between $800 billion and $1 trillion. Priorities?

Anyway that's enough of Morwenna' s State of the Union proselytism. I spent much of my week wandering the streets of the French Quarter and enjoying the various street performances and bands that are everywhere. I have also been enjoying creole cuisine especially gumbo - mostly because it has a cool name - and lots of fried chicken, fried shrimp and fried green tomatoes.

I spent a day wandering the cemeteries. The tombs are all above ground as the water table is so close to the surface and as creepy as it sounds, the cemeteries are one of the most scenic things in the city.

I checked out some of the swamp land, which is vast and bleak at this time of year. It is supposedly inhabited by gators but I didn't see any. I visited Lake Pontchartrain, the 2nd largest saltwater lake in the USA (60km by 40km) and travelled along the Mighty Mississippi for a little way. One thing you can say for New Orleans, it is not short of water frontage.

I visited a couple of plantations along the Mississippi. There seems to have been rather a lot of animosity between the Europeans and the Americans which was highlighted by tours of two different plantations. The French plantation was very much a place of business and the tour informative and obviously well researched so that the darker side of the plantation lifestye (slavery among other things) was not swept under the carpet. The American plantation, however, seems to have been as much a show of wealth as anything else. This tour was conducted by a hoop-skirted lady with a fake accent and was like a walk through the set of Gone With the Wind - very romanticised and surreal. The people who actually did the real work were not even mentioned.

I am now looking forward to an overnight Greyhound ride to Atlanta, Georgia as my tour of the south continues.