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So I left New Orleans (not knowing that a few weeks later it would be changed forever when levelled by Hurricane Katrina) and flew into Orlando, Florida, to be greeted by a great old mate, Rob, and his new fiance, Norma (above). The weather was balmy and I chilled out at his brand new pad, swam in his pool, did the 'Rob specialty' free Disney tour, some Orlando clubbing, checked out his church and did the fun parks over the space of the next two weeks. We hit the coast a couple of times for a few waves and even sited some manitees (right) (animals that I had never before seen). Kind of a cross between a fat seal and a dolphin but very slow (thus their near extinction at the hands of boat propellers).
Rob and I picked up some very dodgy, crumpled, half price, Universal Studios tickets from a just as dodgy little corner stall. We got access to both parks and the rides absolutely rocked - Spiderman 3D, Back to the Future, Jurrasic Park, Terminator 2, a great skate demo, Fear Factor shows (bottom left), Jaws boat rides, Incredible Hulk rollercoasters - after both parks in one day my head juices were spinning sideways.
The next day Robs brother got hold of some free tickets for Sea World so I left Rob to sort out wedding plans and did another day of funparks with his 2 nephews. Sea World is a whole different deal and far more hands on. Patting and feeding dolphins, touching huge sting rays, walking through polar parks with rare white whales and hundreds of penguins, as well as log rides, whale shows, and water ski demos. So my head juices were still spinning sideways and the next day I was off to D.C.
Flew into the US capital of Washington D.C. and stayed with Annie's (a friend from UNE) Aunt Janice (below in Baltimore) for about 5 days. She was one of the most delightful and hospitable persons I have every met. Working for the World Bank (left and middle)she got me an access pass so I could check it out and together we made a trip out to Annapolis (former USA capital) and Baltimore (also a former US capital and where the US anthem was inspired and written in a war with the British).
In DC I did the loop of memorials, monuments and national buildings including the IMF, the White House (middle left), Washington Monument (top right), WWII memorial (bottom middle & bottom left), Korean War memorial (top left), Vietnam War mermorial wall (bottom right), Abraham Lincoln statue (top middle), and the Lincoln Memorial (Forest Gump) reflection pool (right middle).
On my final day in DC I successfully crammed 6 top museums, back to back, into 8hrs. The National Air & Space Museum with Appollo mission gear(bottom left) and the first round the world trip balloon capsule(bottom right), the National Museum of Natural History with dinasaurs and stuffed wildlife(bottom middle) and a solid gold Monopoly set(left), the National Museum of the American Indian with a cool movie shown on the ceiling, walls and floor and my first Buffalo Burger, the National Museum of American History where I was educated on all the First Ladies (ie President's wives), and the National Gallery of Art with some impressive Reubens.
