Last stop...Chicago

Caught the Amtrak train from Washington to Chicago....got a sleeper set up for the wheelchair.  The service was very good and the meals were all delivered to us as the wheelchair could not get to the dining room.  The one problem was that I had to sleep in the top bunk and that was interesting...getting up and down and not being as subtle as I should be, however Sully was the only one who hit the floor..thank god I didn't break anything.  Had trouble getting a taxi as they kept insisting that we couldn't fit with the wheelchair and all the luggage we are gathering.  Finally got one and we are at the Hyatt in Wacker Street..I kid you not, it is one of the main streets.
Chicago is lovely.  Lots of old skyscapers....no wonder they film so many movies here.  We bought a Hop On Hop Off Bus pass which goes for three days but only costs $35.00 each.  Yesterday we did the signature tour and the three neighbourhood tours that they provide.  We cannot get on all the buses but we can get on all the trolley buses...they lower a ramp at the back on request....and it has been a lovely way to get around.  Today we are planning a lunch cruise on the lake...guess we haven't done enough cruising on this holiday...but the main reason that we are here is because Sully wanted to see the Great Lakes. Also Sully plans a trip to the top of the John Hancock Building and I plan more shopping...I may find that one thing I have been missing all trip.....Shoes!!!!!!
Start the journey back tomorrow........

Friday in Washington

After we left the hotel, we went to the White House.  It is an impressive building and we veiwed it from the North Lawn and the South Lawn.  While we were there a Helicopter landed and took off and you would have to think it was the President.....if you think politics is crazy in Australia you check it out here - I will not miss that when we leave.
I then headed to the American History Smithsonian Museum and Sully headed back to the Air and Space Museum as 2 hours the day before was not enough.  He ended up spending about 10 hours in total and that was not even enough.  The American History Museum did not have Fonzies jacket on display ( not impressed about that) but I did see the First Ladies dresses, Judy Garland's ruby slippers, the original Kermit and a lot of displays about Americans at war and other iconic things that you think of when you think of the States.  There are 19 Smithsonian Museums and it would take a lot of time to get through them all.  Luckily there is no charge - indeed, like Canberra, lots of admissions are free.

After that we caught a taxi to the Pentagon Mall as I felt a need to shop.  Unfortunately most of their winter clothes are out but I have manged to spend some money and we have purchased 2 more overnight bags to bring it home - and there is still Chicago to go....we are sitting in the Hotel foyer waiting to get a taxi to Union Station for the 4pm overnight train to Chicago......bring it on!!

Night Tour of Washington

Joined Sully back at Union Station-it is so huge they also have a three story shopping mall- and we got on the Night Tour of the Hop On Hop Off Buses.  We went to all the usual monuments - they do love their monuments- and we got off at the Franklin Rosevelt Memorial and next to that is the new Martin Luther King Memorial.  Both are impressive but by far the most impressive is the Abraham Lincoln Memorial which we went to next and Sully got to see it also.  That day he had gone to the WW2 Memorial and they also have onefor Korea and Vietnam.  The tour gave you a diferent perspecitve of the Buildings and Monuments and it was also the only time we saw the monument to Iwo Jima - where the men are raising the flag- and that was also impressive.

Just something funny that one of the guides said during one of our tours - "Here comes Washington's Madame Toussards - they have them also in New York and some other places in the States and I believe they even may have one in London", yes, maybe they do and maybe it just might be the original one!!!!!!!!!!!!  If nothing else, Yanks really do believe they are the kings of the world!!

The next days in Washington

Joined the Hop On Hop Off Bus again.  We got on to the Yellow Line again and drove through Georgetown and then to the Harbour to do a boat ride on the Potomic River.  There was a group there called the Wounded Warriers and a lady came up to speak to us about it. It was set up to help rehabilitate wounded military personnel.  This particular section was all about kyaking and they had a fundraising function going on.  This lady was great to talk to, she was ex Navy and had got involved to give something back.  It was very interesting...maybe Sully could do that and get us to Brazil 2016???????
We tried to get on the boat but it was one of the few things that did not have wheelchair access.  There a group of Amish people on board who offered to help (one even said if he could lift his wife he could lift Sully....sounded like an Australian sense of humour to me) but Sully was not really interested in the boat ride so I went off on my own.

After that we decided to split up as Sully wanted to go to the Mall and the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space and I wanted to go to the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery.  It turned out that the Lincoln Memorial was wheelchair accessible and I was very impressed with the whole building.  Martin Luther King made his "I have a dream" speech from the top of the stairs and in front is the pool where Forrest Gump found his Jenny in the middle of a protest.  You look down from the steps to the Capital Building and the Washington Monument...very impressive.  From there I went to Arlington Cemetery where JFK and family are buried.  There are also about 400000 military and Public Service personnel buried there - they average 25 funerals a day.  It is very soberting to hear the guns firing.  I did a tour in the Cemetery and it was very informative.  The tour was wheelchair accessible.  Went to JFK section and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Arlington House which is at the top and the home of Robert E Lee.  I did not think I would enjoy it as much as I did.

Washington and the Wheelchair

After a continental breakfast on Floor 10 of the Capital Hilton, we headed out to check out the Hop On Hop Off Buses.  There was some trepidation as not all the buses in New York were accessible even though the phone call Sully had made from Australia assured us they were.  Anyway after a slight hiccup (waiting at the wrong spot) a bus arrived and it was accessible and we were assured that all the buses were the same.  We did the Yellow Route which included George Town and all the monuments you could think of....lots of buildings had the name George Washington in them and any other presidents name that you could think of.  The Lincoln Memorial looked impressive and the Ford theatre was quite small.  There were a lot of Hotel Stops and there were a lot of stories telling us why they were famous.  Union Station is where most of the lines cross over and we stopped there for lunch.  They even have shopping there and tomorrow night we have booked a night tour from there and I just may have to shop first.  We took the Blue Line tour into Virginia which included Arlington Cemetery (lots of hills we were told so we checked it out from the bus) and the Pentagon (no photos allowed but they let you drive by) and a huge Shopping Mall near by that they even have a stop for.

We got off at the Willard Hotel and went a few blocks back to the Hotel.  Once again we are having Happy Hour in the bar as we cannot be bothered moving again.  More bus trips tomorrow although we may split up and cover things we like ( I do not want to go to the Aerospace Museum at the Smithsonian - I want to see Fonzies jacket at the American History Museum of the Smithsonian).

Amtrak and the Wheelchair

Today we caught the train from Penn Station in New York to Washington.  Apart from the taxi driver dropping us one lane over from the gutter (and not cracking a smile once) everything else went smoothly.  The Service from Amtrak was simply brilliant.  Paul (a redcap porter) showed us to our seats in the waiting room and then came and collected us 20 minutes prior to dearture and got us onto the train.  Sully stayed in his chair and I sat across from him.  We had a table between us and the cafe was just behind us.  There were wheelchair accessible toilets but Sully did not need them.
In Washington we were greeted by Reid (another brilliant Red Cap) and we were directed to the Taxi rank.  Once there Reid turned up with our luggage and arranged a taxi.  The taxi driver was brilliant compared to his New York counterparts and was actually friendly.  I am blogging from the bar of the Hilton Capital where we are staying.  After being given a room with a bath, we are now in a room with a roll in shower which is besides the President's Room and we are now entitled to Breakfast in the Executive Dining Room.  Go figure - you book six months ahead and they still look amazed when you show up with a wheelchair!!

We arrived in time for a storm and have decided to stay in for the night.  The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow...bring on Washington!!!!

New York on the last full day

We got onto the Hop on Hop off Bus intending to head to the Brooklyn Bus but we got caught in the Occupy Wall Street Protest and it took ages to get to Battery Park..some of them should just get a job.....so I left Sully to the Brooklyn Loop and I headed back to Macy's which had been a plan of mine from the first day.
The night before, for Sully's birthday - he likes to keep that day quiet - we had gone to tea on the 48th floor of the Marriott hotel on 44th Street as it had a revolving Restaurant and we were there for at least one revolution so we decided that the view from the Empire State Building could not have been worth the two hour line up.  This restaurant had been recommended by our Greeter Bob and it was a great recommendation.
Macy's was huge and daunting.  I finally found something I really wanted to buy and started heading back to the hotel.  I found something to wear to Jessica's wedding just around the corner from the hotel ($375 reduced to $75) and now I am happy.  The shoe floors at Macey's were daunting and I found nothing worth taking off my hiking boots for....the place would have been wheelchair accesible but I did not let Sully loose as he would have just winged about the prices - although they were amazingly cheap- and I wanted some time to
myself.
I have bought Sully a tee shirt that says ' I survived a New York taxi ride" and that sums up any taxi rides we had in New York.  None of the drivers showed an ounce of happiness - hey you are not cleaning toilets-  at least they are working!!!!

But apart from that - I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!!!!!