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On the way back to Garner from NYC/NJ, I decided to stop for a bit of a break at the newest branch of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum that is located next to Washington's Dulles International Airport (IAD). For me, there were a few stars of the show like the Enola Gay (Boeing B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima), Lockhee'ds famous SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft 17972 produced at the Skunk Works…

The weather has taken a turn for the dreadful compared to the past few days which have been glorious VFR (visual flight rules). Mind you, it wasn't quite as depressing as Batman's Gotham but you can certainly see how Bob Kane was inspired to make his fictional Gotham a dreary place. As a result, most of today was spent being a bit more subterranean and wandering about on the subway with occasional forays to the…

After doing the lap around Manhattan, the next point of interest was Rockefeller Centre, particularly the observation deck dubbed the "Top of the Rock". The observation deck on the 70th floor allows a full 360-degree view round the building that is just plain stunning. If you look carefully, you'll be able to catch planes landing and departing from LaGuardia (LGA) and John F Kennedy (JFK) airports. My favourite views are of Central Park and the…

After a nice night's sleep thanks to utter exhaustion, today's adventure would start by hopping a train back to Penn Station and work my way over to the Circle Line Tour pier on the Hudson River right at the end of W 42nd Street. This involved a subway and transfer to the bus but thanks to my trial run the night before and a much better subway map, this mass transit journey went much smoother!…

I rolled into New Brunswick NJ round 1900 and got checked into the hotel after the long drive of lighthouse hopping. But I had a mission to complete to get my attractions pass from the Planet Hollywood in Times Square and that meant taking a train from New Brunswick to Penn Station right in the heart of Manhattan. The first leg of the journey was relatively painless...depending on which train you take with NJ Transit,…

Having completed the set of lighthouses that adorn the North Carolina Coast from Oak Island and Old Baldy all the way north to Currituck in the Outer Banks, it was time to go walkabout to collect some more lighthouses on the way to the hotel in New Brunswick NJ where I'd be staying for a few days of wandering about in NYC. Our journey starts in Norfolk VA where I stayed overnight to ensure that…

The quest to visit all of North Carolina's lighthouses is finally complete with this trip to Cape Lookout and then south to see Old Baldy and the Oak Island Lighthouse on the way to Ocean Isle Beach. Interestingly enough, North Carolina's oldest and newest lighthouses are not that far apart. You have to take a ferry to Bald Head Island to see Old Baldy (built in 1817) but it's well worth it. As you head…

Whilst everyone was off visiting in Columbus OH, I had the chance to finally complete the ill-fated attempt at doing the full loop of the Outer Banks from Ocracoke Island all the way to Currituck Lighthouse near the Virginia border and back to Garner. Unlike the previous journey...this time the weather was VFR all the way through. And though I was exhausted by the time I got home, it was well worth bagging all of…

Whilst everyone else was off to Minnesota, this spontaneous trip was meant to do the full loop of North Carolina's lighthouses on the Outer Banks starting at Ocracoke and going all the way to the Currituck Lighthouse before returning home to Garner. The best laid plans...this trip sure as hell wasn't that! I didn't check the weather forecast before leaving Garner very early that morning. That probably would have been very helpful.By the time I…