Roadtrip USA

03/12/2012
 

In the early morning we were on our way to Berlin Tegel Airport. 

From there we flew first to Munich and then to New York. In the afternoon we landed, after a quiet flight, at the John F. Kennedy Airport. Upon entry there were long queues. Since I am a wheelchair user I enjoy a few advantages so we didn´t have to wait that long at the passport 

checkpoint. Now we were faced with the question taxi or bus? We opted for the bus.

I doubt it that this bus has been serviced lately but after all the trip was not too expensive and entertainment was also provided. 

It squeaked at every nook and the bus driver had no idea how to operate the elevator that puts the wheelchairs in the bus. 

But he was very nice and helpful and after about 10 minutes I was on the bus. 

This is, incidentally, a lot cheaper than a taxi. I think we paid only $ 20. 

The trip takes a little longer, because the bus stops here and there to pick up passengers to drop them off at their hotels. It´s nice though because you get to see much of the landscape.  

The trip to Manhattan was impressive. From a distance you could see the skyscrapers.

We arrived at " The Westin New York Grand Central " (previously The New York Helmsley) and had to wait a little longer because our room wasn´t ready yet. Because the other accessible rooms were not available , we were given a better room on the 22nd floor. Pretty cool isn´t it? To shorten the waiting time we went to eat Pizza . Our first New York food was delicious . I can not remember what time it was but I think it was shortly after 8 clock in the evening when we moved into our room . The beds were a dream. Alex was out like a light. I had some trouble getting into my bed because it was so high but when I finally made it I fell asleep immediately.

03/13/2012

After a restful night and a pretty good breakfast we were on our way into town. 

At first we were at Times Square. It is truly breathtaking when you are at a place that you only knew from TV. You do not know where to look first. We were there 

in the Visitor Center to inform us about 

cultural events. Located in Times Square, there is a vending machine where you can buy tickets for concerts, musicals, etc. for the same day. But only within a certain period. The tickets are usually cheaper. But you should hurrybecause there is always a long queue. 

In the visitor center there are also small cards for shops that give you a discount or a small gift when you go shopping at a certain value of goods. 

After that we went to Rockefeller Center and were at 

Top of the Rock. This is an observation deck, from where you have a great view of New York. 

It was incredibly awesome. It does not really matter whether you are on the 

Rockefeller Center or the Empire State Building. 

The view is almost the same. If you opt for one you save money again. We had to wait only a few minutes. There has never been a visitors queue. 

We were walking around Central Park and went to see Strawberry Fields. 

This is a garden that Yoko Ono hascreated for John Lennon. Not far away there is 

the Dakota Building. Here John Lennon was shot dead in the street. 

His wife still has an apartment here. It's a strange feeling when you know that a man died there.  

We went back to Lower Manhattan by cab and went to eat in some kind of pub. 

There was a big Tv and people were watching soocer. It was Basel vs. Bavaria. 

I found it very nice that the waitress prepared us a wheelchair accessible table just for us. That was really sweet of her. The food was excellent aswell. The weather was awesome that day. It was warm and the sun was shining. 

I was happy though when we arrived at our hotel. 

It was a long day and we were so tired.

03/14/2012 

All morning we tried to get basketball tickets for a game of the Yankees. 

What's really naive in retrospect, because for such a game, the cards have long been sold out in advance. Well, we still wanted to take our chance and drove to 

Madison Square Garden. Of course there were no more basketball tickets. 

But the friendly man at the desk offered us tickets to a hockey game for the next day, 

at a cost of about 70 $ a piece. We didn´t buy the cards because we wanted to get those basketball tickets really bad. Unfortunately we didn´t get any.  

In the early afternoon we had a trip to Staten Island and then had a Ground Zero Tour. 

Normally, it costs 10 dollars I think, but we were allowed to enter for free. 

The security measures are very strict here. The checked us several times. 

I think that´s good because it made me feel more secure. I'll never forget the moment when I saw these huge pools of water with thousands of names 

on them. You can feel that at this location a disaster took place. Everything and everyone was calm. You could only 

hear the sound of the water in the basin. I also saw people cry. Actually, you can not believe that all you have seen on television, really happened. 

 

After the tour we went to the promenade. There we were able to enjoy the beautiful sunset. 

There was no noise from the streets and no sirens. It was so relaxing. Many people go jogging with their dogs or roller skate. For dinner we went to McDonalds. Because we were already pretty tired, we took a taxi. Alex helped me to get in the car and briefly put our guide on the roof of the car. 

Unfortunately, he did not take it back so our guide (Lonely Planet) had a joyride through Manhattan. Luckily, it fell off shortly after we left and we were able to pick it up after a victory lap around the block. Another highlight was our walk at night on the Brooklyn Bridge. From there, the view of New York is simply stunning. We did not make it to Brooklyn. Shortly after midnight, we arrived at our hotel and got our well-deserved sleep.

03/15/2012

We went to Madison Square Garden again because we wanted to get the hockey tickets that we were offered yesterday. We could only get them at Times Square for a price that 

sweeps you off your shoes (hahaha that´s a german phrase and here it means that

the cars were really expensive, it makes you fall over). Whatever! 

You don´t go to NYC every day and you need to enjoy life. We got the cards and they were only 250 $. I´m being ironic by the way lol.After that it was time for a nice breakfast. I decided to get a bagel with strawberry jam. 

Unfortunately I didn´t understand the seller properly and so I accidentally ordered a bagelwith onion stuffing and jam. Not really delicious in my opinion. After our wonderful breakfast we went to The High Line.  

 

This is a planted, former elevated railway. From there you can see the Hudson River. 

We took a little walk and enjoyed the sun. To me it was not that spectacular. Because I'm a big basketball fan, we drove to NBA Store on 5th Avenue. 

There was everything your heart desires when you love Basketball. We were lucky because there was a sale at that time. Both of us got a shirt. In a large gift shop we bought souvenirs for our loved ones at home and for ourselves. 

Then we had to hurry up already. We drove back to the hotel to rest and to get 

something to eat. Then we went to Madison Square Garden to enjoy ice hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The atmosphere was fantastic. Unfortunately, the Rangers lost. 

The evening was still great. Who can claim to have witnessed the first sporting event at Madison Square Garden? After the game we went back to the hotel. Our last night in NYC.

03/16/2012

In the morning it was raining continuously. After breakfast, we picked up our luggage from the hotel and took a taxi to Newark. The journey took about an hour and cost between 60 and 70 dollars. We picked up our rental car from the National Car Rental. Our Adventure was about to start. Because Alex exemplary informed about everything in advance, he knew that there was a Outletmall close to Newark. Although it took a lil while until we got there it was so worth it. The prices were really unbeatable. Many well-known brands have their shops there. For fear of not having enough money for the rest of the trip, I held back while shopping. What I totally regret of course. In the early evening we drove towards the coast. It was dangerous at the beginning, because Alex has never driven a car in America before and we were not familiar wth the traffic regulations. After an eternity, we found a room at the Holiday Inn in Red Bank. The rooms were great and the service was good. The price, however, was quite high for our budget.That evening we went to bed very late. I longed for my family and I missed New York. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to our roadtrip.
 

03/17/2012

Red Bank is a really nice place.The atmosphere was completely omitted because it was St. Patrick's Day. Everything was decorated and 2 women were playing bagpipes. Even stars like Bon Jovie ate here. 
Later we went to Seaside Heights. This is a city that is almost deserted in winter. Almost like a ghost town. We were trying to find a hotel that was accessible for my wheelchair but mostly the bathroom was too small. Luckily we found the place called Windjammer. After a stroll on the promenade we got something to eat.
I think that was the only shop that was still open there. Somehow the whole environment made me scared. Then Alex wanted to take a walk at the beach by himself which made me scared even more. I was sooo happy when he came back. 

03/18/2012

We had breakfast in a small restaurant. It was quite early but there already 3a lot of people. They were really nice and the food was good. When the song "Country Roads" was played on the radio everybody started to sing. We did too.
Before we set off to Washington DC. we drove through the Island Beach State Park. This is a beautiful National Park. You can also go swimming here. There is a beach section especially for wheelchair users. There is a large handicapped accessible house where you can stay over night.
At a large parking lot we got out of the car. Alex carried me up the sandy hill at the beach. From there I had a really great view of the Atlantic Ocean. Alex did a short walk on the beach and I enjoyed the sun. When he returned, he had brought me a lot of beautiful sea shells.

 

In the early afternoon we drove to Washington. On the way there we drove past Baltimore. There is the "John Hopkins University." There are working some of the best doctors in the world.

In the evening we finally arrived in Washington. We were constantly looking for a hotel. That's why we had to refuel there for the very first time. That was not that easy. You have to pay the fuel before you actually refuel. Quite unlike here in Germany and somehow complicated. Later that evening we had managed to drive into downtown Washington. We got to see the Congress. It looked great, because it was already dark and the building was illuminated with spotlights.

Since we could not find a hotel, we had to drive to Virginia. Luckily we were able to find a place to sleep pretty quick. We got a great room at the Inn of Rosslyn for a really good price. If you want to save money, it's a good alternative to stay in Virginia and to ride by taxi to Washington. It cost about 20 $ to go there but you don´t have to worry about finding a parking spot and all that. We had something to eat, watched the movie "The Break-Up" and then went to sleep.

03/19/2012

Because we liked the hotel so much we extended our stay there one more night. Then we went by taxi to Washington. The driver dropped us off near the National Mall. This is a huge park. There are many museums and monuments. It was incredibly warm and it was still March.
After an outdoor breakfast we started our tour at the Lincoln Memorial.

 

From there, you could also see the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool. For structural reasons there was no water in the reflecting pool. 

In the park there were many bloomed cherry trees That's always a very special time where many tourists are in town. We went to the memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. It is pretty big. Among other things, there are small waterfalls and a statue of his wife. Then we were at the memorial to Martin Luther King. He was cast in a huge white stone. There was some kind of basin you could walk around. At the edge there were cherry trees everywhere. The white blossoms looked great and they smelled so good.

Then we got to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. A memorial for the 3rd President of the United States.

On the way to the White House, we visited the Holocaust Museum. There we were searched first by security guards for dangerous objects. I even had to drink a sip of my water, as evidence that it was harmless. We really liked the museum. Everything was clearly illustrated and accessible to wheelchair users. There was even a replica of a house of a little boy and his family who lived at the time of WW2. You could go through each room and experience the history of the family. This boy really existed. That made me sad. As a German, you somehow always feel uncomfortable in such a museum. I hardly dared to talk in German because Germans are always associated with the 2nd World War.

After our visit to the museum we wanted to go to the White Haus. Because I suck at reading maps we din´t make it to the White House. We were stoped by a roadblock. Thee was police everywhere and the Secret Service. I asked an elderly lady if she knew what was going on. She said that it really only comes to such situations, whenever the President is in the vicinity. I was like woohoo. What a perfect day. After a short time we had to cross the street. The police made sure that no one was too close to the road. I was lucky. As a wheelchair user you can always be in front of everybody and you get a perfect view. Alex also had a good view of the road and kept the camera ready. After a long wait suddenly the police and the president and his staff drove by. I think there were more than 10 cars. Alex was able to make a good video, and we think that we captured the image of the President for an instant. When the roadblock had dissolved, we were allowed to go further. At the White House we had to re-cross the street because Mister President wanted to go home. Everyone listened to the police but a squirrel. It sat in the middle of the road and remained unimpressed by the whole situation.

We spent the evening at a great restaurant. There we had hummus, chicken and other stuff. It was sooo delicious. Then we took a taxi back to the hotel.

I forgot to mention that we also were at the National Archives. There you can see the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, you can not take pictures there but it´s still impressive. 

03/20/2012

Actually we wanted to extend our stay for another night but we had to check out unfortunately. We went to breakfast in Georgetown. After a little shopping and a museum tour we drove through Northern Virginia and stopped in Front Royal. There we got a hotel room, ate dinner and went to sleep.

03/21/2012

After breakfast (there was a chicken burger in the morning at 10 clock) we drove through the Shenandoah National Park to Waynesboro.

Constantly drove up and down and there was one curve after another. My poor stomach couldn´t handle that. Thank god the worst didn´t happen. After a short stop and fresh air I felt better. We drove to Target and then looked for a hotel for the night. In the evening we checked in at a hotel called Days Inn. I still had not fully recovered from the trip. On television there was an Ice Hockey game. The Rangers played the Giants. After that we watched a movie and then fell asleep.

03/22/2012

For the first time we had breakfast at the hotel. On the Blue Ridge Parkway, a so-called Scenic Byway, we drove to Roanoke. On the way there we saw a lot of animals and mountains. We were able to enjoy many beautiful views. In the evening we were looking for a hotel. We had our dinner at McDonalds and then went to sleep.

03/23/2012

We´ve bought our breakfast at Walmart and then took the Blue Ridge Parkway to go down south. At noon we crossed the border of North Carolina.

We actually wanted to go to Lenoir but because of my magnificent skills when it comes to reading a map we never got there. We decided to go to Boone instead. That was a huge detour but at least we had a nice hotel. That evening we went to a really nice Steakhouse called "The Peddler". The food was amazing. Later we drove back to the hotel. 

03/24/2012

After we had breakfast at the hotel we drove to Walmart to get us new memory cards for the cameras. We got 2 cards with 2GB for 11 $. I think that is a pretty good deal. Later we drove to Mount Mitchell. It is 2037 meters high and is the highest mountain of the Appalachians. Up there we even met someone from Germany.

 

  

The weather was quite chaotic. First, it has only rained, then hailed and snowed. Another, fairly high mountain of the Appalachians is Grandfather Mountain. Unfortunately, we had not the opportunity to get a closer look. But I believe that the view that you have from there, is not much different than from Mount Mitchell.

In the early evening we arrived in Asheville. After a long search we found a room at the Econolodge. After dinner we watched tv and then went to sleep. I could hardly sleep because it was so cold in the room.

03/25/2012

The next day we had breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove to the center of Asheville. The city is great. There are many hippies, colorful houses and many shops. By coincidence we found the Cafe "Battlecat". There we ate very tasty bagels and drank hot chocolate. I liked the decor of the house very much. It was cozy and you could have a good time with other people.

Because we liked the houses so much we had a tour through the city. In someones backyard there were trees decorated with colorful bottles and other crazy things. You could even go inside and take a look at everything. After the tour we went to a mall to shop. Then we took a room at the Days Inn for 54 $ per night with breakfast. For dinner we had McDonalds agaaaain.

 

 

03/26/2012

This morning we wanted to continue driving the Blue Ridge Parkway but it was closed. We chose a different way and came past two great waterfalls. First we stopped at the Looking Glass waterfall and then at the Whitewater waterfall. They were both very impressive. I've never seen such a big waterfall. Again we met some people from Germany. 

 

Then we went to Sliding Rock. That's something like a water slide made of stone. It was so hot there. The water would have been a nice cooling.

In the afternoon we drove towards Atlanta. At some point we crossed the border of Georgia. We saw many beautiful houses. They had this typical Southern-style. We stopped at a city which name I forgot unfortunately. Alex has made a couple of pictures of beautiful houses. I was afraid the whole time that one of the residents would feel threatened by it and defends himself. Luckily nothing happened.

When we drove by Atlanta we expected only to see the skyline of the city. What we had not expected was that we went almost through the center. We absolutely loved it. It was almost like New York. Because it was getting late, we stopped in Columbus.The night was good, but when I woke up in the morning, I found a cockroach on my blanket. I never got out of bed that quick before. 

03/27/2012

We got up pretty early and had breakfast. We finally wanted to go back to the coast. It took forever until we found the right road to Panama City. The closer we got to the coast the hotter it got. We needed a break and something to eat. In a restaurant we had something to eat and got to talk to locals. We wanted to know where you could go if you do not want to be where there are many tourists. They advised us to go to Mexico Beach. In the afternoon we crossed the border of Florida and arrived in Mexico Beach in the evening. 

 

Our hotel (El Governor Motel) was great. We had a room with two full size beds, a small kitchen, a bathroom and a balcony overlooking the sea. It was onl 100 $ a night. After we put our things into the room, we went for a walk.

We visited the famous restaurant Toucans and sat on the balcony.
 

At night we could sleep with the balcony door open and heared the sound of the waves.

03/28/2012

In the morning Alex went to get breakfast for us. Then we got ready to go to the beach.
Before we went there we´ve bought diving goggles and sunscreen.
We went to the St. Joseph Peninsula State Park to go swimming. This is a great national park. You have to pay an entrance fee but you get clean and well-kept beaches.
The sand was so white and soft. The water was warm and salty. Alex carried me into the water and held me. We lay in the sun and enjoyed the quiet.

Because the National Park is located on a sort of promontory, there is the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the St. Joseph Bay on the other. The water is warmer here. You can go snorkeling or watch pelicans.

 

In the evening we watched birds and brought us some food from McDonalds. We went shopping again and drove to the hotel. I was so tired and couldn´t wait to go to bed.

03/29/2012

For breakfast we had some toast and eggs. Then we went to the beach that was right in front of our hotel. It was so hot outside. The water could not cool us down. When we had enough, we went back to the hotel and spent the afternoon on the balcony.

In the evening we bought small souvenirs and then Alex made us dinner. Before we went to bed, we were talking and watched tv. Our last night in Florida.

Due to the high humidity I always had the feeling that my hair and clothes were constantly wet. A rather unangnehmes feeling. It also annoyed me that there was always sand in my bed. I can´t imagine to live there. 

03/30/2012

We got up early, ad breakfast and packed our suitcases. We checked out of the hotel and hit the road to New Orleans.
We stopped to go to Dauphin Island. It was nice there but it was not that impressive. The food was pretty good though.
In the evening we arrived in New Orleans. It was dark and it was raining. The city was full of basketball fans, because the finals of the College Basketball Championship were held at the Superdome. Finally after midnight we found a hotel. It cost $ 60 a night and was actually the worst room ever. The bathroom was dirty and there were no windows. Luckily we had air conditioning. The area was ok but pretty far away from downtown New Orleans.

03/31/2012

We got up and took our car to the airport. For breakfast we went to Popeyes. I´ve had chicken nuggets as always.
By taxi we went to the aquarium. It was so crowded and hot in the city.

I have never been to such a large aquarium. There even were sharks and an anaconda. That's a huge boa constrictor. The whole aquarium was wheelchair accessible. After that we went to French Quarter. We have seen many artists and musicians. There were also plenty of shops, restaurants and bars. In the late afternoon we went to eat. Because it was so hot, I could only eat a salad.
Later that day we visited the French Market and Jackson Square. Many painters presented their art there and were working on new paintings.
Before we drove back to the hotel, we went to the Louis Armstrong Park to take a walk. 

The day was so awesome but also very exhausting. I was glad when we got back to the hotel.

04/01/2012

On our last day in America we went to the city early. Actually we wanted to see the KK Project, but unfortunately it was located in a dangerous area. The taxi driver told us not to go there. Instead we went to eat Breakfast. It was the best breakfast ever. 

Then we went to the French Quarter and to the French Market to buy souvenirs. At Jackson Square I found a picture of a guy playing a trumpet. It was painted on an old slate. I liked it so much that I just had to have it. Even Alex bought a pair of paintings.

By ferry we drove to Algier. We loved the beautiful houses there. Unfortunately there were a lot of mosquitoes.

In the afternoon we wanted to see a graveyard but unfortunately it was closed. Because New Orleans is below sea level there are floods every now and then. People are afraid that the dead could get out of their graves then. That´s why graveards were built like that. 

On the way there we walked through the oldest African American neighborhood. After that we went to Harrah's Casino. It was huge and full of people. We didn´t gamble because both of us didn´t have that much money left.

In the early evening we were searching for a restaurant. That was not easy because so many people were on the streets. We were lucky and got a small table for 2 people in a very cozy restaurant. The owner was so nice. She was almost out of food but she fixed us something to eat and it was delicious.

To end our last day, we had planned to go to a bar with live music to get a drink. There was music playing on every corner but somehow there was nothing that we really liked. We were walking around and then took a taxi back to the hotel.
There we packed our suitcases. That was pretty funny. We have talked about our experiences and tried to squeeze our belongings into the suitcase. Fortunately, I have restrained myself while shopping. After that, we enjoyed our last night in the US. 

04/02/2012 

We had to get up early and check out. By taxi we drove to the airport. There we had breakfast. After that we dropped our suitcases off and picked up our boarding passes. Then we had to go through the security. My wheelchair is always searched. Mostly a drug test is made. But everything went well. After a turbulent flight we arrived in Washington. This airport is incredibly big and really complicated. We had to find our gate by ourselfs. Because several Germans had the same flight as we did, we could help each other. I was so glad when we finally found our gate and were still in time.
We used the time until departure to get some souvenirs. Then we had to get on the plane. Before the flight I wanted to go to the bathroom but it was not possible. It was not posible to close the door. That sucked because the flight took 10 hours. When we got on the plane we informed the flight crew about my problem and they immediately agreed to help me in case of an emergency. During the flight they repeatedly asked whether I feel good or not and if I was drinking enough water. I thought that was very nice and it gave me a feeling of security. Fortunately, I have made it to Frankfurt airport without an emergency. 

04/03/2012

Shortly after 8 clock in the morning we landed in Frankfurt. Because the flight took longer than expect our flight to Berlin was delayed by 2 hours. This has fitted me very well because I was able to briefly relax in one of the rest rooms. At about 12 clock we landed in Berlin Tegel. When picking up our luggage we met Franziska von Almsick. It was cool to get to see her. But I didn´t ask her for an autograph.
To get home we had to pick up Alex´s car at a friends house.
When we arrived at home at about 7 o´clock in the evening my Mom was already waiting for us. Together we ate supper and told her about our trip.

We had 3 wonderful weeks together and it was a great adventure but I was glad to be back home with my family.