4 A.D. - 4 [days] A(fter) (D)eparture
This morning I was awoken by someone dragging what could only be an anvil across the floor of the room next door, but it was only a short while `til our alarm went off. And today we were off - out of good old NYC and south west to Philadelphia. Just when I was getting settled! But first things first, we skyped back home, what with it being Father's Day.
After saying goodbye to Vanderbilt YMCA, we took our final subway ride to the Greyhound terminal. After making our way to gate 66 (is that like route 66???) we were put in a separate line on account of us having Discovery Passes. Did this mean we would be the first to get on? After all, we had spent far more money than anybody else. No, we were last to get on, but at least we got seats next to each other on either side of the aisle. I've heard Greyhound described as "not exactly the pride of America, but it works", and for the time being it was still a novelty and I enjoyed the experience. I put on Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd for a bit of atmosphere as the coach started up to head out of the great metropolis. It's a 10 minute song, but due to gridlock it had finished before we'd even left the terminal.
As an aside, I compiled a playlist on my Ipod of my favourite songs for being on the road. If you'll indulge me...
Disc 1 - The Thrills:
Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd); Pack up (Eliza Doolittle); Far from home (Levellers); On the road again (Canned heat); Time we left this world today (Hawkwind); The wanderer (Johnny Cash); Destination anywhere (The commitments); The wanderer (Status quo); Wandering star (Lee Marvin); Born to go (Hawkwind); Born to run (Bruce Springsteen); Wherever I may roam (Metallica); Get miles (Gomez); Me and Bobby Mcgee (Janis Joplin); Immigrant song (Led Zeppelin); Coming to America (Neil Diamond); Should I stay or should I go (The clash); Travelling riverside blues (Led Zeppelin); Road to nowhere (Talking heads); We are the road crew (Motorhead); Let's get lost (Ride); Stone free (Jimi Hendrix); American girl (Tom Petty); Robot tourist (Ten Benson); Highway star (Deep purple).
Disc 2 - The Chills:
Fast train (Solomon Burke); Drive (R.E.M.); 2000 light years from home (Rolling stones); Going to California (Led Zeppelin); Draw your brakes (Scotty).
Pretty eclectic, huh? And obviously there are more thrills than chills, because that's the kind of chap I like to think I am! Anyway, the point of all this is that if you know of any great road travelling songs to add to my playlist then please email me at the address at the top of the page.
Back to the journey - we trundled through New Jersey, me getting particularly excited to see the same toll from the start of the NJ turnpike that was shown at the beginning of every episode of The Sopranos. New Jersey is an industrial wasteland (at least in the north) and I've read that it's a state with an image problem. Whatever the cause, we weren't sticking around to find out and two hours later we'd arrived at "The city of brotherly love", which is kind of apt as Tim and I haven't fallen out...yet. The bus terminal at Philly was ghastly, but then they often are in the seedier parts of town. Fortunately we didn't have far to walk to our hotel at 301 Chestnut Street.
The Society Hill Hotel could be better, it could be worse. The room is basic, but clean, and at least we have more space than two convicts sharing a tiny cell as we did in the YMCA. Plus we have a private bathroom - woohoo! The only downer is that we're sharing a double bed, but we've got our sleep sheets to keep us apart. Outside it's a strange mix of well-kept ex-colonial tourism to the right and tacky bars and cafes to the left. We see sights like this at the crossing below our window...
The air conditioner at the bottom of the shot may look a little ropey, but it's about three decades newer than the one we had in NYC - this one has digital controls! And that's about it for Philadelphia so far. I'm off to the nearby K-mart to see if I can pick up another pair of shorts. Yes, you read that right. And if I get to see some of the Pennsylvania Dutch along the way, it'll be a bonus.
This morning I was awoken by someone dragging what could only be an anvil across the floor of the room next door, but it was only a short while `til our alarm went off. And today we were off - out of good old NYC and south west to Philadelphia. Just when I was getting settled! But first things first, we skyped back home, what with it being Father's Day.
After saying goodbye to Vanderbilt YMCA, we took our final subway ride to the Greyhound terminal. After making our way to gate 66 (is that like route 66???) we were put in a separate line on account of us having Discovery Passes. Did this mean we would be the first to get on? After all, we had spent far more money than anybody else. No, we were last to get on, but at least we got seats next to each other on either side of the aisle. I've heard Greyhound described as "not exactly the pride of America, but it works", and for the time being it was still a novelty and I enjoyed the experience. I put on Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd for a bit of atmosphere as the coach started up to head out of the great metropolis. It's a 10 minute song, but due to gridlock it had finished before we'd even left the terminal.
As an aside, I compiled a playlist on my Ipod of my favourite songs for being on the road. If you'll indulge me...
Disc 1 - The Thrills:
Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd); Pack up (Eliza Doolittle); Far from home (Levellers); On the road again (Canned heat); Time we left this world today (Hawkwind); The wanderer (Johnny Cash); Destination anywhere (The commitments); The wanderer (Status quo); Wandering star (Lee Marvin); Born to go (Hawkwind); Born to run (Bruce Springsteen); Wherever I may roam (Metallica); Get miles (Gomez); Me and Bobby Mcgee (Janis Joplin); Immigrant song (Led Zeppelin); Coming to America (Neil Diamond); Should I stay or should I go (The clash); Travelling riverside blues (Led Zeppelin); Road to nowhere (Talking heads); We are the road crew (Motorhead); Let's get lost (Ride); Stone free (Jimi Hendrix); American girl (Tom Petty); Robot tourist (Ten Benson); Highway star (Deep purple).
Disc 2 - The Chills:
Fast train (Solomon Burke); Drive (R.E.M.); 2000 light years from home (Rolling stones); Going to California (Led Zeppelin); Draw your brakes (Scotty).
Pretty eclectic, huh? And obviously there are more thrills than chills, because that's the kind of chap I like to think I am! Anyway, the point of all this is that if you know of any great road travelling songs to add to my playlist then please email me at the address at the top of the page.
Back to the journey - we trundled through New Jersey, me getting particularly excited to see the same toll from the start of the NJ turnpike that was shown at the beginning of every episode of The Sopranos. New Jersey is an industrial wasteland (at least in the north) and I've read that it's a state with an image problem. Whatever the cause, we weren't sticking around to find out and two hours later we'd arrived at "The city of brotherly love", which is kind of apt as Tim and I haven't fallen out...yet. The bus terminal at Philly was ghastly, but then they often are in the seedier parts of town. Fortunately we didn't have far to walk to our hotel at 301 Chestnut Street.
The Society Hill Hotel could be better, it could be worse. The room is basic, but clean, and at least we have more space than two convicts sharing a tiny cell as we did in the YMCA. Plus we have a private bathroom - woohoo! The only downer is that we're sharing a double bed, but we've got our sleep sheets to keep us apart. Outside it's a strange mix of well-kept ex-colonial tourism to the right and tacky bars and cafes to the left. We see sights like this at the crossing below our window...
The air conditioner at the bottom of the shot may look a little ropey, but it's about three decades newer than the one we had in NYC - this one has digital controls! And that's about it for Philadelphia so far. I'm off to the nearby K-mart to see if I can pick up another pair of shorts. Yes, you read that right. And if I get to see some of the Pennsylvania Dutch along the way, it'll be a bonus.
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