Candlewood Suites Philadelphia-Mt. Laurel Mount Laurel

... br>
Day 3:
Continue south on 101 and stop at Kalaloch Beach, home to plump sunning sea lions and Kalaloch lodge, lunch!
Drive on to Mount Rainier National Park & do an afternoon hike.
Stay at the Paradise Inn

Day 4:
take Route 410 thru Rainier's eastern border and climb above the tree line at Chinook Pass (open may-Nov)

... br>Spend the morning hiking up Grouse Mountain, located 15 minutes outside the city. Head north over the Lions Gate Bridge, then drive all the way up Capilano Road. The trek is 2,800 ft up on a wooded dirt trail. At the top you can grab a latte and enjoy the view of the city. Tram it down for $5.
On the way back into town stop by Vancouver's oldest tourist attraction ...

... later in August which the guides on the tour seem the laugh at as people think that was the official that was read out...
Linda had a real hassle on this tour with the accent of the guide. She gave up half way thought and just told me to translate the whole thing to her when I get a chance.....another classic.

After the tour was complete we ran through the rain and headed over to the Liberty Bell center and checked that out.....Took a few ...

... and the fact it wasn't allowed.

So from then on we had to make a move to fit everything in. 1st up was the Lincoln memorial. THe a jog for about 2kms to Arlington cemetry for some more pics.
Then it was a jog back to the Washington memorial. We actually got tix for this as we were there so early....Went up and snapped more pics before then running for the hotel and booking out to get the 12.00 bus back to Phili.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States tman7deuce

... how much it sways at the top. We spend 20 mins or so there then decided to head back to NY.
On the way back the boat stopped at Ellis Island....another 30 min stop which was another story in itself. So basically and 30 min climb and look out the crown took us from 08:00 - 12:30 ish......not good boys!!!

Once back on the mainland, headed to the WTC site and ran into the Steel ball that was originally at the site between both towers. The thing looks like it has been in a war zone ...

Just a quick one to say hi to all my mates from another US city of the revolution (a couple of hundred years ago) now the city of Brotherly Love & soft cheese ! Have spent a few days eating and drinking and catching up with Andy's former life / acquaintances etc - lots of rowing talk and seemingly collecting specimens for a stacked boat at Henley 2010. Back to London on Monday night and work shortly thereafter yeuck.

... and I would have liked to have seen the bell... but, oh well, next time maybe :)

The theatre we were playing was the Irvine Auditorium at University of Pennsylvania. The space was gorgeous. Not a lot of stage or wing space, but the theatre itself was stunning. Clearly it used to be a Cathedral, and now is used for orchestral concerts (amazing accoustics!) and theatre. Funny how that seems to be a recurring theme in history :)

...the plane arrived...i waited for a shuttle..i looked around..i saw people around me...i knew i was in Philadelphia...

...definitely a city...a very busy city. Downtown, people just honk, walk the streets, buy foods from the side of the road from little carts and so much more I am sure. I know for sure that I need more time here to see everything this city has to offer. BUT the most important this is that I got to see the Philadelphia Museum of ...

... to stay back on saturday to see kids off that were leaving and Spike Lee came to pick up his son so it was really cool to be able to see him in the flesh. All i wanted was to see one famous person here and i have so i'm happy with someone as famous as him. And we went to Target on sat arfternoon after all the kids were gone, the counselors who were back and they had a Pizza Hut in there can you believe it? It was so weird. But it had so much different stuff ...

... had to reprint (because go figure, there is no such thing as an amendment page for such issues). Once I get back to the Visa office, the doors are locked, I try the door bell while praying they'll still take it today...she gives me gripe, "you should have dropped it off this morning"..."yes mam, I tried, but I was told to get an amendment page, in which there is no such thing and they had to reprint my passport..." she lets me in and is lecturing me on how I'm lucky that ...