Last entry....

Hello everyone, well im leaving new york today so this will be my final entry for this blog,

The last few days ive been doing touristy stuff,
I went out to Ellis island and that was great,. Great views of Manhattan while on the boat,
I checked out Wall street and all the old architecture around there,
I was meeting up with my friend Anthony in the evenings after he finished work.
Yesterday then i started off at the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot, Yoko still lives there and then across to central park to the Strawberry fields area.
Walked around the Jackie Onnassis reservoir then, Full of joggers usually, like a lot of Central park.

I visited the Frick museum which is great, like someones house almost (well a very wealthy someones house)
I went to the Guggenheim museum, spent a good few hours in there.
After that i went down to Brooklyn bridge and walked across, (its really long!)
I think i clocked up a good few miles walking yesterday.
I did see a police car with the lights flashing on at Brooklyn bridge but when i looked in, the 2 cops inside were eating burgers!
I guess that can be classed as an emergency!
Then last night i met up with Anthony again and his friend Kerry and her boyfriend Mark (whos in that great band JJ72 if anyone knows them)
We had right laugh to round off the night till the early hours.
This morning then i made a quick trip into Grand central station which is Massive! I was standing in awe!
Its a rainy day here in NY so i went outside and had a quick look at the chrysler building.
Back on the subway again, there were a lot of musicians on the subway today so i gave them all of the change i had.
Im about to pack up now and grab a cab to the airport, to JFK
Tomorrow morning all going well I'll be back in London and then to Bristol.
so if your in Bristol, ..ill see you soon and if your not,...well ill see you soon anyway!!

Bye everyone, apologies for any fuzzy pictures and late night spelling mistakes, I've only put up about half of what I've seen really! its been a great trip with you all.

Shea x

day 13-14....


Hello there everyone,

Well its kinda nice to be staying in the one place for more than one day! Wow, New York is amazing!

I went out with my friend Anthony and a few of his friends on Saturday night.
Sunday I kinda chilled out a bit which was good after all the driving,
Walked around a bit in the local area.

Yesterday it was the 5th anniversary of 9/11 so i went down to 'ground zero'
All of the victims' names were being read out and all of the police and fire department were out on the streets.
There was definitely an emotional feel all over, and every conversation i could hear was about people on that day.

Then i saw a little trailerload of chihuahuas with i love NY t-shirts on!!

I went on a bit of a boat trip around Manhattan then to see a few sights,
Time square, St. patricks cathedral, i was looking/drooling into a guitar shop window when this old black guy came up to me and started talking about guitars and guitarists, then he proceeded to 'sing' a guitar solo from Jimi Hendrix! we chatted (with a few more vocal guitar solos) for about 20 minutes! Maybe he knows people in Oklahoma,

Anyway today im going to do a bit more touristy stuff as the weather is clear
and will let you know how it goes!

Day 12........


I've made it!
I am here!
Its my birthday today and ive made it to NY !
Ive completed this coast to coast journey! Hurray!

I left Philadelphia this morning and it didnt take me too long to get to New York,
Met loads of toll bridges today too! I was heading for JFK airport following the signs when i saw a sign for 'Shea' stadium so i had to stop to get a snap there!

I pulled the jeep into the car rental place, apart from it being a bit dusty at the back, theres no marks on it at all! the clock read 3678 miles driven from LA to NY.

Todays blog entry will be short as ive hooked up with my friend Anthony who i havent seen in 6 years and we are heading out right now! I got a big old yellow cab to Manhattan which was quite a ride and then walked around central park a bit to get some air.

Im in NY for the next 5-6 days so ill probably put in a final NY entry as so far i havent stayed in one place for more than a day!
I'd like to say thanks to everyone who checked in and had a look and said hello along the way!

Thanks for taking this trip with me!

Talk to you all soon!

Shimmy Shea x

Day 11....


Hows it going everyone out there,

Well i was in Washington DC this morning and went down town to have a look around,
It almost feels like this Capital is full of alarms and sirens and police and guards! at the same time its a very beautiful city and well laid out (even if they are doing roadworks here too!)

I went down and saw Capitol hill and the Lincoln memorial and the reflecting lake, there was a good few people around too early in the morning, the  memorial statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting down is great to see in real life after seeing it in so many movies.
I wandered over to the Smithsonian Institute. I only got to see a fraction of it because there's about 10 museums spread over 10 blocks here so you would never get round to it all in a day!
I had to head back to the car.
Traffic was busy again, as i get closer to NYC the volume of cars and congestion seems to get heavier,
I did cross into the state of Delaware today, i didnt get a snap of the sign 'cos i was in heavy traffic (sorry Delaware!) but i think it's a small State, maybe the smallest because not long after i crossed into Pennsylvania.
I arrived in Philadelphia then, booked into a motel (not the greatest but I'm quite used to that now!)

After i checked in i went to check out downtown Phily, I even crossed the Ben Franklin bridge into New Jersey (it was by accident, i was just following the car in front and before i knew it i had to turn around and pay 3 bucks toll to come back over the bridge!
In fact i came across about 3 toll booths today on the roads, The most expensive day yet!
theres loads of one-way streets in Phily i discovered!!!
I parked up and like Bruce Springsteen, walked the streets of philadelphia for an hour or so looking around,
Theres a street called jewellers row thats just diamond shops one after the other, all the diamonds had been taken out of the display windows cos they had all closed down for the day, but there was a few rough diamonds hanging around the streets here and there!
It feels like some shady deals go down here.

Anyway i got some food in the Phily Diner near where im staying and i have to do some creative packing tonight as hopefully tomorrow i will reach New york and drop off the car and take my bags and go meet my old friend Anthony,
Its not too far away now!

So my next entry might be tomorrow, or the day after, depending on what happens, but its day 12 tomorrow, the final day of travelling coast to coast!!!

Will i make it???
Tune in again to find out!!

G'nite from Philadelphia Y'all.

Shea

Day 10.....


Hello everyone, welcome aboard again!

Well i left Bristol (again) this morning, A small little place really,
I was wondering how far ive actually driven (some days blend into one another!) because i did see Signposts for Dublin and Glasgow today.

But no, I think im still in the U.S.
I wanted to get to Maryland today so after breakfast in Shoneys in Bristol i hit the road.
My first random stop for a breather was at a place called Natural bridge in Virginia.
It's called this because theres a big natural bridge there thats taken 100million years to end up looking like it is.
Its breathtaking.
Its 215 feet high and even the Interstate66 still runs over the top of it to this day.
I dont think the pictures can convey the real thing but look for the guy in the white shirt in the corner of picture for scale.
He was the guide who dresses up in the old gear.
Even George Washingtons initials are carved in the stone as local legend says he was the first person to survey it properly.
Seems he was a surveyor before getting into politics.
Down the path in the woods a bit was an old Indian village recreation and there was this little round hut
with a fire inside that would have been used for smoking food.
There was no-one there but when i went in, it must have been at the right time of day because this amazing sunbeam came in through the hole in the roof and caught the smoke, i must have taken 10 pictures of it because it looked so good inside this little hut!

There was loads of dinosaur parks around here too but had to press on,
Later then i stopped at a small place, i think it was called Front Royal cos i was low on gas,
Lots of big battles were fought here years ago.
I went to the visitors centre to get a Washington map and the folks in there were all chat and asked me to sign the visitors book so i did and under 'reasons for stopping by'
-Others had put down all these great historical interest comments, but i had to put down "Honestly, I was just low on Gas!!"
I got to Washington DC then and there was a lot of traffic coming in, took ages, i eventually crossed the state line into Maryland and got a motel at the north part of the city.
After checking in i went back into DC but it was dark at this stage and working out the streets was a bit hairy!!
I did get a quick photo of the white house and the Washington monument,
There was police and guards everywhere!! Keeping a watchful eye on everyone, even though it was dark, I walked around here a bit and the buildings are massive and the architecture is huge,
but i might get to see it better tomorrow.
I think i might try and get to see a little bit of the Smithsonian if i can.

Anyway eventually got back way out where im staying and thats where im leaving it for tonight.
Tommorrow,
Philadelphia, here i come!

Shea. Zzzzzzzzzz