Sabbatical Blog: 9/20 Savannah, GA

9/20 Savannah, GA
Today was the first day, of what I’d call crappy weather. It was gray, overcast and drizzling in some places. The good part is that it was still warm and humid. You really feel the humidity on a day like this.
Got an early start for Savannah. It is only a 2 hour drive from Charleston to Savannah.

We checked into the Westin Savannah Resort and Spa. It was a nice hotel, we got upgraded to a 10th floor corner room with a river view looking at historic Savannah. After settling in, we hit the pool… but it was too cold to swim, so we hit the Hot Tub instead. Even with the occasional drizzle, it was nice to sit and relax. After kicking back for some time, we showered up and headed across the river to pay historic Savannah a visit.

There are a number of things that most tourists would probably do, that we didn’t do, namely due to a lack of time, and having a baby with us. The Trolley tours seem to be popular. There is a Pirate’s House, which is now a restaurant. And many more things to see and do. We limited ourselves to a walk of River Street. Along the way we discovered a Savannah Secret. Pralines… some sort of Maple-candy coated Pralines. These things are good and addicting. (Goto www.SavannahCandy.com). We only bought a small sampling to consume. But after those were gone, we learned that they have another store in St. Augustine, FL. So we could re-stock for the road home!.

We had dinner at the Blue Moon Brewery. I had a nice Southern Creole dish. It wasn’t quite Jambalaya, but it was a close cousin and it was good. Only thing missing; Cornbread.

This is the Westin Savannah Resort across the river

Kylie and I on Historic River Street.

A big stone wall. The variation in color and the spanish moss was interesting. Traci likes this picture because she looks thin in it.

Sorry that these pictures aren't rotated? I don't know why. These are higher-res than my previous posts on the road. This is the site of the old Cotton Exchange. It is just doors away from the old State House.

Here's Kylie trying on momma's hat.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/19 Charleston, SC

9/19 Charleston, SC
Today was the first day we had to spend some time in Charleston, SC. It was surprisingly smaller than I’d expected. The town is quaint. We drove through town and explored a bit, namely driving down historic King St. The street still has the feel of the old department stores and soda shops, though now it has all the trendy brand name stores lining the streets. The interesting thing, is that everything closes early. Even though it is just a block from a college.

Looking for things to do that define Charleston, we did the Fort Sumter tour. The tour is run by the National Park Service. For Some quick history, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Sumter. Fort Sumter is known as the place where the Civil War Began. So once again on this trip, we got to continue our American History Lesson. Fort Sumter is essentially a man-made island at the mouth of the Charleston Harbor.

In order to get to the Fort you have to take a 30 minute passenger ferry. Along the way, they give you the history of the area. This was definitely one of our highlights of the South so far.

Here is Fort Sumter with the Atlantic in the background. All 5 Flags that flew over the fort are on display. In the South, they are still proud of their history and patriotism.

This is Traci in a hallway that used to lead to the powder room... not the bathroom, but the room where all the gunpowder was kept. Usually one of the safest places in a fort like this, but because the fort was built to defend towards the sea, it was vulnerable to attack from land from the other fort across the river.Here I am just outside, before we head back to Charleston.

Kylie walking around "Liberty Square".

Sabbatical Blog: 9/18 Colonial Williamsburg, VA - Charleston, SC

9/18 Williamsburg, VA – Charleston, SC
We scored some free passes for Williamsburg. We first had breakfast at the Colonial Pancake house.. It was a good greasy spoon kind of joint, but it was good. We walked through town again, but only really stopped in the James Craig Silversmith shop. We had a chat with the resident silversmiths who still make hand made jewelry and such by the colonial methods. We continued through town and decided we’d seen enough, especially after discovering how stroller unfriendly the individual shops are. So we headed for the car, and began our 7+ hour drive to Charleston, SC.

It was a full day of driving. We got into the hotel late, and learned that we made a mistake in booking our hotels. We somehow skipped a day in our reservations. So they took us in a day early, but were nearly full. Sadly, we had no choice but to take a smoking room (with a 1000 point credit). It was tolerable for a night. I’m surprised how sensitive I am to even the residual smoke particles and such.

The next day we moved to our originally scheduled room. Much nicer to be in the smoke free environment.

We don't have a lot of pictures from this day... just a few photos we took at a rest stop somewhere in North Carolina.


We let Kylie out to run-around and get some of the wiggles out. Here Traci was tickling her.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/17 Washington, DC - Colonial Williamsburg, VA

9/17 Washington, D.C. – Williamsburg, VA
This morning we got up, and made another stop to Bread and Chocolate for breakfast. The food was still good, as was the coffee. We set back to the hotel and headed out to do a walk around the Whitehouse. It is heavily secured as you’d expect, but it somehow different than visiting Buckingham palace, or the houses of Parliament. It is right there… seemingly at your fingertips. A symbol of the free world, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We discovered that the view from the South lawn is the most prominent view of the Whitehouse. The North side, isn’t much more than the circular driveway.

While we were outside on the north side, we met a couple from Devonshire, UK. It’s on the Southwest coast beyond Bath. We chatted with them for a bit, before circling around the block(s) to get to the south side.

We decided to bag the Capitol Building as we’ve been near enough to satisfy our curiosity. We headed back to the Hotel to pack-up and hit the road.

The drive to Williamsburg was easy. We checked into the Four Points Colonial Williamsburg, and then walked over to the historic Colonial Williamsburg. We came across the first home to the Continental Congress. Sadly, everything was closed… but we still walked the mile long road to have dinner at the Trellis restaurant, as recommended by the hotel. This is near William and Mary college.

The food was outstanding, and the retired couple sitting next to us were great to talk to. He was a retired IA cop, they’ve moved out to the foothills of Shenandoah and live on some acreage.

We hurried back home so Kylie go to bed. Since I opted for the upgraded room, we got a 2 bedroom suite that is detached from the main Four Points Sheraton… which meant that I had to bring my laptop over to the main building if I wanted to take advantage of their free wi-fi service. When checking in, we also got a couple of free-drink coupons from the attached lounge/restaurant. So while over there I had a couple drinks while blogging.

After my second drink (spread out over a few hours), I started to feel sick to my stomach… maybe too much food, (at dinner I must have drank a gallon of water), or the food was too rich… in either case I didn’t think I had too much to drink… In the end it was a losing battle and I lost my dinner that night. Something hit me hard, I came back to the hotel room, and pretty much called it a night.

Here's Kylie after getting into Traci's make-up bag.


Here we are on the North Side of the Whitehouse (photo taken by the couple from Devonshire).


This is the famous view of the symbol of the free world!


This builing was the original Capital of the Colonial states.


Here's a look down some of Colonial Williamsburg, horse poop and all.


Here's Traci and I being shamed in the stockade.


This was the Governer's Palace... though compared to European Palaces, it's more of a mansion.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/16 Washington, DC

9/16 Washington D.C.

We slept hard last night, but not long enough. Kylie first woke up at 5:30AM (10:30 AM UK time). She fell back asleep for nearly 2 more hours, so we got 8 hours of sleep. Not bad, but not enough after a full day of traveling.

We were up and ready to go by 10AM. The earliest so far this trip. Our missing luggage was already delivered to the Hotel by the time we called down.

We had breakfast at a nearby restaurant that the Concierge recommended. It’s nice to be paying for things in US Dollars again. The exchange rate for Pounds definitely makes things expensive. The Souvenir T-shirts from the Hard Rock London were roughly $35 each at 17.50 Pounds each.

After breakfast, we ventured out to the Holocaust museum. Unfortunately Kylie fell asleep in the car, and didn’t stay asleep in the museum. She did really well in the Baby backpack though (good thing we got it back). We must have spent at least 3 hours there. It’s amazing to recount the atrocities of the Holocaust, and particularly how unwilling other nations were to take Jewish exiles in.

We came back to the Hotel so Traci and Kylie could take a nap. I wandered around a bit, and picked up my Washington D.C. Starbucks mug.

Later we ventured out to the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall Memorial, WWII memorial, and walked to the Washington Monument. They had a live Jazz concert going on. Kind of cool to hear the music blaring from the monument as you approach. By this time it was dark, and Kylie needed to eat before having to go to bed. So we headed back to the car, and went in search of food.

After getting turned around several times on I-395, we found food, and drove by the Capitol Building. Then headed back to the hotel to call it a night.

Tomorrow we will walk by the White House, and the Capitol Building. Sometime in the afternoon we’ll head to Williamsburg, VA. Our next stop on our journey. It should only be about 2 hours from here.


At the Lincoln memorial.





The view from the reflecting pond.


At the Washington Monument.






Me at the base of the Washington Monument.


The Capitol Dome

Sabbatical Blog: 9/15 London, UK - Washington, DC

9/15 Flying to Washington D.C.
Today we began our day with packing up for the flight home. This time we have a daytime flight. We flew out of London Gatwick this time. Our day began with a rush to get packed since I didn’t wake Traci up at 7AM like I should have. We got out act together (maybe the adrenaline helped), and made got a Taxi to Victoria Station. This was the first London Cabbie that actually talked to us. He even got out to help us with our luggage when we got to the Train station. This is what we were used to from our past experiences, but the whole time in London, we rarely had a cabbie who talked to us much more than, “where to?”

We lucked out, as soon as we got to the Train platform, there was a Gatwick Express Train, nearly ready to depart. We loaded up and within 30 minutes we were at the Airport. We made it to the Continental counter in time for them to close our flight behind us. Much better than last time we flew out of London. I originally budgeted for 2 hours in advance, and Traci thought we only needed 1.5 hours… I think the truth is you need 2.5 hours if you account for all the security checks and queues. None-the-less we made it…

… Well, all except for one of our bags. The Baby backpack, at Gatwick, they don’t put the backpacks on the conveyor, even though we had it bagged in plastic. Who knows where our backpack ended up, but it wasn’t on the Baggage Claim conveyor for Customs clearance. We were told to notify the Baggage claim agent in Washington D.C. when we get there.

Because of the delay in waiting for our missing luggage we missed our connecting flight to D.C. So they put us on the next flight at 5PM. It’s only a 45 minute flight from Newark to Washington D.C. Pretty quick, but not long enough for me to finish the Sudoku puzzle in the flight magazine.

When we got in, we headed over to Hertz to claim our rental car that will take us all the way down to Florida. They initially had us in a Mazda 6. This would’ve been okay, but we couldn’t fit our luggage in the trunk, so they got us a Suburu Outback wagon. It is a little smaller than the Ford Mondeo wagaon we had in England, and much weaker in the way of Horsepower. Oh well, it will be fine.

We had a short 5 mile drive to our hotel, the Westin Grand. It’s not the nicest hotel we’ve been in, but is reasonably nice. The problem with these city hotels, is that there is no parking. So we’re always paying for parking or valet parking…. Then we have to deal with the valet guys giving us the “tip me” look.

Needless to say, we didn’t do much this night other than drive around a bit to see some of the sights.

We don't have many pictures from this day. This was on the Gatwick Express. 30 minutes from London to the airport.


And this was in Newark, before we caught our next flight to D.C.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/14 Heptonstall - London, UK

9/14 Back to London
We made the drive back to London okay. It took a little bit longer with some of the traffic, and only one wrong turn in getting back to the Hertz location.

After getting checked into the Hotel. We took another walk through St. James Park. It’s amazing how many couples are making out in the grass. I’m not used to seeing that in the states. Even in Central park, I don’t recall many people being affectionate with one another in the park. Simply, Joggers, bikers, walkers, strollers, and people sitting, reading, contemplating. It’s a bit different on this side of the pond, but quite lovely none-the-less (a few British-isms for you).
We found the childrens play area and had some fun trying out all the un-safe play equipment by today's standards. The slid was lots of fun, and Kylie really enjoyed it.

After getting the Kylie’s wiggles out and some walking for us, we headed back towards the hotel and to the original Hard Rock Café (again). It’s good food, and reasonably priced relative to some of the other nearby options. This time we picked up a few souvenir T-Shirts from the Hard Rock Store, even got a Hard-Rock shirt for Kylie.

Kylie wandering around the near-ancient cemetary behind Larry's house.


It seems weird, but is very common. It is apparently a high-traffic area on the main footpath for many residents. This is one of the oldest towns in this part of England. And the Church dates from between the 13th and 15th Century.

An overview of some of the Church Ruins.


Another favorite photo of the Ministry of Defense from across the pond in St. James Park.


Kylie and Traci having some fun at St. James park.


Kylie having a Solo Slide. Her face lit up with joy the first time we sent her down by herself. The first time we went down together, but it was safe enough for her to go by herself. We don't have slides this long at any of the parks around us in the states.


On this trip, Kylie has started playing with plugging her ears, and experimenting with her voice. This is us at the Hard Rock Cafe. Large open churches create a loud echo for a little voice, and plugging her ears means she needs to squawk louder.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/13 York, UK

9/13 York
Today, we made a short 1 ½ hour road trip to the town of York. Part tourist trap, part city, and part history. York is very old. It still has the remains of the Roman wall that used to protect the city. The oldest church in the town of York is York Minster. It is a large church that is reflective of its age.

We were told to go to Betty’s for lunch/tea, but at the time we were hungry, and couldn’t remember the name of the place. So we ate at Reed’s teahouse in front of York Minster. The food was good. I had a Ham and Cheese Omelette, where Traci’s was sans the Ham. The coffee, however, was horrible. Good thing they have at least 2 Starbucks in York.

Kylie trying on her shades before we leave for York.


Traci outside the wall of York.


York Minster Cathedral. I had this question, Why is the Minster a Minster?
Minster Churches are basically churches that were established in the Anglo Saxon period as missionary teaching churches. York Minster is also the Church of the Archbishop of York. He is the most senior bishop in the North of England. It is where he has his seat, called a Cathedra, which makes York Minster a Cathedral as well.

Not all Minsters are Cathedrals, and not all Cathedrals are Minsters, but York Minster is both. The present Minster is the largest Gothic Cathedral in northern Europe and was built over a period of 250 years

When was the Minster built?
The first Minster was built for the Baptism of an Anglo Saxon king called Edwin in 627 AD. It was small and built of wood and named after St Peter. This church slowly grew and developed into a quite large stone church. This church was badly damaged when York was captured by the Normans in 1069.

Between 1080 and 1100 a new stone Minster was built, this was the direct ancestor of the Minster that we have today. In the year 1220 Archbishop Walter Gray started to rebuild the Norman church by making the South Transept much larger the north side was enlarged at about the same time. In 1295 work began on the Nave, which took 70 years to complete. The East end was started in about 1360 and was completed by around 1407 when the central tower collapsed. From 1407 to 1433 a new central tower was built. The Minster as we know it today was finally finished in the year 1472. It had taken about 250 years to build!


Here we are at the Tea House/Cafe in front of the Minster.


Here are some more remnants of the wall.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/12 Heptonstall, Hebden Bridge, and Halifax, UK

9/12 Heptonstall/ Hebden Bridge, Halifax
We got some good sleep, and visited the village of Hebden Bridge below. It is a quaint little village. Allegedly this area of England has some of the oldest towns. Towns that date back well before the 1400’s. According to Larry, Hebden Bridge has a large Lesbian population. You probably wouldn’t notice except for the larger number of Aromatherapy shops per square block. There seemed to be a few too many of these for a small English village.

We walked around a bit, and had lunch at AJ’s Fish and Chips. This place was good! And the prices were refreshing, everything was very reasonably priced. The Fish and Chips lunch special was 4.95 ($10 US), and included a large cup of coffee, bread, salad, and Haddock and chips.

After Lunch and browsing a few shops, we headed to the fabled Hospital that we tried so hard to find the night before. Much easier now that we know where we are. We paid a visit to Janine in the Hospital, and visited with her for awhile before Larry got off work. Larry checked Janine out of the Hospital (no formal process, she just lets the nurses know she’s leaving). They are okay with her being gone for 2 or more hours. We headed back towards Leeds (near where we got lost the night before) and had TGI Friday’s (UK style). Our only constraint was family friendly, and this was Janine’s choice since she was craving a Milk Shake. We were okay with anything. The food was as you’d expect, with exception of the milk shakes. They had to be sent back… they were too thin for Traci and Janine.

This is the view of the hills from Heptonstall, where Larry and Janine live. There's no parking in the town, so you have to park up the road a bit.


The little town of Hebden Bridge.


We stopped at a park in Hebden Bridge so Kylie could walk around a bit. While at the park she met a kitty cat that was more interested in chasing birds, but stopped to say hello. And then off to smell the flowers with Traci.


Here's us visiting Janine in her hospital hotel room. She had already been here for a week by the time we got here. Just recently, we learned that she's been discharged home for now.


From left clockwise, Janine, Larry, Me, Traci and Kylie at the world famous TGI Friday's.

Sabbatical Blog: 9/11 London, UK - Heptonstall, UK

9/11 London to the North
Today, we pick up our Rental car, and try to cram our stuff into it, before heading towards Manchester to visit Traci’s old friend Larry Chan and his wife Janine.

Before picking up the car, we made a quick journey to the London Eye for go-around. It was the perfect day for the Eye it was almost completely clear. After the Eye, we hurried back to the hotel to check-out and catch a Taxi to the Hertz location. We upgraded to a station-wagon so we could accommodate our luggage, we got a Ford Mondeo Wagon, 6-speed Manual Diesel. Despite being a Ford, it was actually a nice car. It had seat warmers/coolers and had plenty of power for the Motorway. Getting out of the city was a little nerve wracking with traffic and just starting to drive on the left side of the road, on the right hand side of the car, and shifting with my left hand. I think I must have stalled the car like 3 times on the way out of the city. (there was traffic so it wasn’t that bad).

It is about a 3 and half hour drive to their place, however, there are a few slowdowns along the way due to construction. Average speed is about 80 mph, though the regulation speed limit is 70 mph, but I didn’t learn that fact until asking Larry and Janine. There are no speed limit numbers posted on the road, only in the slow down areas.

We took the M1 to the M62 and were to meet Larry and Janine at the Hospital. Larry and Janine are expecting a baby any day now, by C-section originally scheduled for 9/14, but re-scheduled for 9/19. Larry gave us the wrong Junction to get off the Motorway. And without detailed map, we couldn’t find our way to the hospital (of which we didn’t have the name of). We only knew we wanted to get on the A629, from there we were certain we could find the hospital. After another 3 hours of being lost, stopping for directions in the small towns of northern England. We got reasonably close the hospital, and was able to borrow the cell phone of the Security guard at a Tesco gas-station/mini-mart. The people at this Tesco were especially nice and helpful, in trying to get us on track. We finally arrived at Larry and Janine’s place in Heptonstall around 11PM. It was a long day, but we were truly blessed in that Kylie didn’t freak out on us after having been in her car-seat for so long! She was so patient, if she had been freaking out, throwing a fit, it would’ve have increased the stress level by at least an order of magnitude.

Big Ben!


Traci and Kylie on our way to the London Eye.


Traci and Kylie checking out the view from our eye-pod.


Me with Big Ben and the House of Parliament in the background.


And Me, gearing up for our maiden journey driving on the wrong side of the car. It was very strange shifting with my left hand, and it took some getting used to the 6-speed transmission, since Reverse was off to the left of 1st gear.