US All In

A long lie in was required for Tuesday so we rose around 12. After sorting ourselves out we headed for Rockefeller Center to see the views atop the 68th floor. The attraction is billed as a better view than the Empire State due to the thick glass instead of railings and, to be honest, it was stunning. On the way up in the elevator the room is transparent so you can see it rising through the building. At tht top there’s (pretty much) unrestricted views north and south allowed you to take in the scale of the city. It’s a metropolis in the pure sense.

After dinner in the Hard Rock on Times Square we made our way to the Empire State. Seeing the city by day and by night in the one day was great. There’s pics from both below:

Rockefeller Center:

Empire State:

We left Niagra on Sunday morning. Sunday night would be spent in a New Jersey hotel right next to the Outlet mall but the guts of an seven hour drive through up state New York lay ahead. Split shifts of two and a bit hours saw us arrive on time and freshen the wardrobes on Monday. After spending a lot of cash we made our way into Manhatten to the hotel. Dar, being the most experienced driver, took it and man was I glad I wasn’t in the hot seat. Driving into the city is a nightmare. The GPS got slightly confused due to the high buildings plus traffic was unusually busy due to the UN meeting taking place.

The lads dropped the rental car out to LaGuardia airport (east of Manhattan) via Statten Island (South West of Manhattan) and they arrived back to amazing cheeseburgers and a hell of a lot of ketchup (don’t ask for extra over here, they include loads anyway).

Toronto to New York is a long drive. Eight and a half hours to be precise. On the trip across we had talked about how we’d tackle it. One suggestion was to travel from Toronto down to Niagra and stay there the night before travelling on to New York. That plan worked out quite well as we got to see a bit of Toronto (as shown in the previous entry) and it split up the longer drive.

Arriving in Niagra Falls was not what I had expected. It’s like Tramore on a grander scale. There’s a few casinos, a main tourist street and attractions like Crazy Golf and Ripley’s Believe It or Not. We arrived mid-afternoon after spending the morning in Niagra so after hotel check-in went directly for the Maid of the Mist. I spotted a staff member on the way down to the cliffs and asked where the ferry went from but she informed us it was closed. Shite. The one day we have to really see it (a beautiful clear day) and there’s an issue with one of the boats. We wander on down anyway to see the Falls from a distance and saunter up to the Maid of the Mist ticket office to quiz them on if it’ll be running again. As we approach one of the booths, most of them switch from CLOSED to OPEN. Happy days, we’re the first group through. No queueing at all and we’re on the boat within 10 minutes.

The Maid takes you right into the Falls. You’re probably aware of that from all the sources you’ve seen but it is truly spectacular. The rapids the boat has to contend with and the spray thrown up from the base assure you of the awesome power that’s generated by this natural wonder. We’ve crammed some really kick ass things into the holiday but this was certainly one of my highlights.

We didn’t get to see a hell of a lot in Toronto. We arrived by night and immediately went to dinner at the 360 Restaurant atop the CN Tower. It’s the tallest building in Toronto and provides spectacular views of the area. We all got steak which was delicious:

followed by a variety of desserts.

Stunning views, a rotating restaurant and a great evening out. The following morning we wandered around Toronto for a while and went into an Apple store managing to find the only Irish sales assistant who informed Dar that the best place to scout an iPod Touch was not in Toronto. Onwards.

We’d pushed on the night before to give us a shorter drive into Chicago. That didn’t account for the traffic we encountered entering the city though so it was dark by the time we reached the hotel. A quick shower, a change of clothes and a crazy taxi driver brought us to Chinatown. After finding a fairly abandonded restaurant we had what can only be described as the best Chinese food we’ve tasted. After a few beers in a local bar we retired to bed.

After covering a good few miles the day before we got a nice lie in before heading for Shedd Aquarium. Their oceanarium section is closed for renovations so we went into the Planet Earth 4D show. We’d been to a couple of 4D shows already in Universal so kinda knew what to expect. This was above and beyond though. From stuff in the chairs to bubbles coming out of the ceiling, it ended all to quickly and we headed for lunch.

Apres lunch we toured through the rest of the aquarium (otters ftw) and made our way out onto Michigan Avenue. According to the guide book I’d had a glance at, the best views of Chicago are from the John Hancock Observatory located on the 94th floor. Being that high up over a city is freaky. David Schwimmer talked us through the history of the city (audio tour, he wasn’t there in person :)) and made our way around to Pizano’s Pizza. Dave from Blogography had made reference to this place so I wanted to check it out. Man is their pizza good plus the locals eat there which is a sign in itself.

The Kerryman pub was our last stop where we got chatting to a few Americans (hi to Chelsea and Amanda). Several beers and hours later we made our way back to the hotel. Alas is to say we didn’t rise as early as we’d hoped for the drive to Toronto.

The drive east from Yellowstone was always going to be tough. We had the target of Rushmore to hit though so we pushed on. We set out early enough on the road so as to give us a chance of hitting Rushmore late in the afternoon and staying in Rapid City that night.

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. The car has been grand but for the fact that we’re spending a good few quid on filling her up each time. With the way we’re heading around to Toronto we should have two nights in Chicago.

It’s 8pm at Yellowstone, 3am Irish time and we’re cruising around Yellowstone Lake. The sun is setting as I type and we’ve captured what should turn out to be some brilliant shots of the moon reflecting off the lake.

After drying ourselves off after rafting we headed back into the park. On the drive through that morning we had encountered a couple of small hot springs but the Mammoth Hot Springs stop off allowed us to truly appreciate what these geysers through up. From there it was around via Tower Fall (lives up to it’s name) and Dunraven Pass (think Lord of the Rings style vistas) to Old Faithful. Apparently it erupts every 90 minutes so we were lucky to only have a 15 minute wait. We wondered why there was free seating where we were but soon realised that the wind takes most of the water erupted over us. The video I took with Paddy’s camera should give some idea as to the chaos that ensued. Let me tell you this though, Japanese tourists move fast.

As for wildlife within the park, we saw three or four buffalo, one particularly up close. We also caught a lot of Elk and there might have a Moose in there too. I’ll definitely come back to Yellowstone. The place is awe-inspiring. It’s really hard to get a sense of scale to it but consider this. I drove for 3 hours today and covered about half of the park in an S shape, Dar is now back in the driver’s seat and he’ll have done 2 and a half hours by the time we reach COdy. Now I know why they call it “Big Sky Country”.

This morning we set out from the town of West Yellowstone. The town is located just before the park entrance and wasn’t too much of a drive up from Twin Falls, Idaho. Dar took the first stint driving in and we headed for the town of Gardiner just outside the North Gate. We’d booked in to go white water rafting and this was an activity we were all eagerly anticipating.

After a few safety announcements and the gear kit out we headed for Yellowstone River. Our boat was just myself, Paddy, Dar, an English couple - Simon and Sandra and our guide/bloke-who-knows-what-to-do, Chris. After an initial quiet period on the river the rapids appeared and we duly got quite wet while trying to stay in the boat. The rapids weren’t as high as they would be earlier in the year but it was really enjoyable none the less and great craic of a Sunday morning.

It’s bloody hilly. Let’s get that out of the way first. We arrived last night to the Donnatello having driven up Highway 1 from LA. Two things high on our list when talking about San Francisco were a Segway Tour and a trip to see Alcatraz. We got to do both today and man were they sweet. First up was the Segwaying. Myself and Paddy has done a Segway tour in Budapest last year and really enjoyed it. These were newer models though so you lean sideways to turn, even better. The tour itself took in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, little Italy, past Lombard Street (twistiest street in SF), the church where Marilyn Monroe and Joe di Maggio married, Coit Tower and a WWII submarine and warship. We also saw Bush Man, a homeless guy who hides behind a bush and scares people for money (pic of him here). I would have tipped the guy had we not been tooling past at a rate of knots.

From there it was a quick pint in Tiernan’s and off to Pier 33 to catch the ferry out to Alcatraz. The place is jam packed full of history. It was used for a long time by the military as a base of operations before becoming home to some of the US’s most dangerous criminals. The audio tour was all it promised to be and featured former inmates and guards telling their stories of “The Rock”. After almost completing the tour (we missed a room), we were ushered back to the last ferry of the evening. We didn’t get to ride the tram, that’s a regret for me but a small one in the context of what we did.

UPDATE: Well that was different. We woke up to a strobe light and a screaming alarm. The hotel’s fire alarm was wailing so we got dressed quickly and made our way downstairs. The fire department arrived a couple of minutes later and a false alarm declared. Back to bed so.