CARTHAGE, TEXAS – A PILGRIMAGE FULFILLED

As a lifelong fan of Country Music legend Jim Reeves, Gerry persuaded Sue to take the opportunity to visit a small town in East Texas called Carthage, where Jim Reeves grew up and where a monument has been erected over his grave site. (He died in a ‘plane crash in 1964). We flew from Nashville to Shreveport, Louisiana, and then drove a little over an hour across the state border to Carthage where we stopped at the monument just outside of town. We stayed in Carthage overnight and also visited the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame the next day, before driving to Dallas – Fort Worth airport to catch a ‘plane back to Los Angeles for our connecting Qantas flight back home. Of interest was that Carthage is in Panola County which is a “dry” county – there is no sale of alcohol in the county, so no margaritas that night. Before flying out of LA, we met up for a meal with our eldest daughter, Michelle and her partner Anthony, who had just arrived that day for a 4 week holiday in the USA and Mexico. We spent a day in Melbourne on our return before flying back to Perth for a well-earned rest after our adventurous holiday.







The Jim Reeves Memorial



NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – THE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

On the General Jackson
Showboat

Our feet never touched the ground as we cut a swathe through the most famous music city in the world. First night was a river cruise with dinner and a country music show. Next day, a walk through history in the famous Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame, some shopping at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, followed by a southern Tennessee barbecue lunch. Evening saw us attend the 4,422^nd performance of the Grand Ole Opry. The show featured old and new stars of country music, with the highlight being a guest appearance by Dolly Parton. Our second row seats gave us a good vantage point. After the show, a late night supper and a couple of margaritas at the Wildhorse Saloon. Yee-hah.

  

Outside th Country Music Hall
of Fame





 

Inside the Country Music
Hall of Fame





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Get that hat

Dolly Parton on stage

WASHINGTON DC – AMERICA’S ANSWER TO CANBERRA

We made good use of our 3 days in the nation’s capital, after arriving by express train (Amtrak Acela) from New York. We went on a full day city sightseeing tour which included all the popular sights - the Capital, White House, Lincoln, Jefferson & Roosevelt memorials, War Memorials and a river cruise. We then went to Arlington National Cemetery to see the Kennedy graves, the tomb of the unknown soldier and the ceremonial changing of the guard. Next day we did the museums – Smithsonian (Air & Space + Natural History modules) and the extremely moving and disturbing US Holocaust Museum.

GERRY & SUE DO NEW YORK – OR DID NEW YORK DO US?

Times Square at 11.00 pm

5 days in New York – the bags got heavier and the wallets lighter. We saw 2 Broadway shows (a musical & a play), went on a harbour cruise, 4 city sightseeing tours (Manhattan & Brooklyn) + much walking, shopping & eating. Summary :
• City never sleeps (there’s a 24/7 Apple store)

• Wall to wall traffic, people & yellow cabs

• Amazing buildings – old + new, large & small, concentration is mind boggling
• The sheer size is just overpowering

At Rockefeller Centre

• Security presence everywhere





 

Sue on top of the Empire State Building





The famous statue

BOSTON

Leaving New Hampshire, we drove into Maine and had a fabulous lobster lunch on the Atlantic coast at the famous Lobster Shack at Cape Elizabeth (near Portland). After lunch we drove down the Maine coast into Massachusetts and arrived in Boston. Another great seafood meal at Legal Sea Foods whose slogan is : “If it isn’t fresh, it isn’t Legal”. Three days in Boston where we explored the city, Cambridge and Harvard, went to a night baseball game to watch the Boston Red Sox and went to a show called “The Blue Man”. Boston is very impressive – very clean, neat and tidy, steeped in history and fiercely conservative. No graffiti, but they do neglect their bridges.

On board the "Duck Tour" on
Boston Harbour

The Red Sox in action at Fenway Park

The library at Harvard

The beautiful State House

At the Blue Man show

FROM QUEBEC TO NEW HAMPSHIRE

We left Quebec City in our little hire car and drove south towards Montreal. Stopped for lunch at Trois Riviere and then onto Sherbrooke (still in Quebec) where we spent the night. Next morning drove south and stopped at Coaticook where we walked over the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world. Then south again and into New Hampshire, USA, where we ended up in North Conway for the night. Lots of activities (holiday weekend) and a feeding frenzy at the outlet shops there (Sue did some damage). Next morning, drove around the White Mountains, through lovely New Hampshire National Forrests and arrived at Bretton Woods. Here we boarded the oldest rack railway in the world for a 40 minute journey to the top of Mt Washington. The top was in the clouds, blowing a gale and a wind-chill factor of minus something. Back down and checked into the historic and beautiful Omni Mt Washington Resort for the night for a really up-market night.

Typical covered bridge in New
Hampshire

The suspension bridge in Coaticook

Town Hall in Sherbrooke

The base station of the cog railway
at Mt Washington

The impressive, luxurious and
historic Omni Resort at Bretton Woods

QUEBEC CITY IN QUEBEC

Le Chateau Frontenac dominates the
old city of Quebec

After Niagara Falls, we drove back to Toronto and flew up to Quebec City. We stayed 2 nights in the beautiful and historic converted castle, Le Chateau Frontenac, that dominates the old city on the banks of the mighty St Lawrence River. Quebec is a small city (~ 0.6 million), but steeped in history and the centre of the French connection in Canada. The old city’s narrow and steep streets and quaint shops made us think we were in Europe. Very clean and tidy, polite people, good food, quite European, but the Chateau Frontenac was the jewel in the crown.

The Chateau at street level

The lobby of the Frontenac

A painted mural on a flat wall
depicts a street scene

View of the St Lawrence River from
the top of the Chateau Frontenac

FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS TO NIAGARA FALLS

Following our time in the Rocky Mountains, we bade farewell to the west side of the country and flew from Calgary to Toronto, where we hired a car and drove the 90 minutes down to Niagara Falls. We did all the “touristy” things, like getting wet on the Maid of The Midst, went down the tunnels behind the falls and and walked the “strip” with ten thousand other tourists. We also discovered Niagara On The Lake – a beautiful place on Lake Ontario about 35 minutes drive away.

Night scene from our hotel

Typical street scene in Niagara On
The Lake

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS - PART 3 - LAKE LOUISE

We drove back on the Icefield Parkway from Jasper to Lake Louise – again, fantastic sights, and we even went for a ride onto a glacier. Arriving at Lake Louise just blew us away – a 500 room chateau at the head of the lake with views across to the snow covered mountains and glacier at the other end. We had the view from our room, over dinner and whilst enjoying “high tea” the next day. An unreal feeling like being in a postcard.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS & THE ICEFIELD PARKWAY – PART 2

Part 2 takes place in the town of Jasper at the northern end of the Rocky Mountains. We spent 2 days here - we saw wild elk on the side of the road and rode up the Whistlers mountain in a cablecar where it was snowing at the top station. Our accommodation was in a cabin, part of the Fairmont Jasper Park Resort. They had multi-coloured Margarittas here.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS & THE ICEFIELD PARKWAY – PART 1

After leaving Banff, we travelled the 290 km Icefield Parkway to Jasper and back. Neither words nor photos can describe the sheer majesty and beauty of this area – a scenic drive on an excellent road in valleys surrounded by 10,000 ft snow-capped, rocky peaks, lush green forests and rivers, lakes and waterfalls at every turn and more glaciers than most people would see in a lifetime. If this isn’t hikers and rock climbing heaven, then the next favourite pastime is climbing up frozen waterfalls in winter.