Category: united states of america

B203 – I LOVE THIS CITY

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today has been just a day of travel, I woke up this morning in 23 degrees weather at 6am and quickly packed up before leaving florida and catching a plane back to the crazy city that is New York. We are back at the hotel from last time, the Vue something its called near Queens Boro bridge, this hotel literally gives us such a good view of Manhattan, I think ive shown it before when I first got to New York, well anyway Im like two floors above my last room and dead on facing the city, so this time Ive got such a better view. Ill show you it tomorrow maybe.

Its now like mid night and Ive just edited my photos from today and now just thinking of anything to write and all I can think really is how nice Florida was and how happy I am to be back in New York, tomorrow is a pretty chilled out day I think, so my plan is to explore hunters point a bit more, thats basically opposite Manhatten on the queens side of the river. Normally when you head to a city you get drawn to the main tourist spots, but im just going to walk around Hunter point and then Maybe head into town, but the main mission for tomorrow is to take some cool photos of the city and the people that live here.

I would love to write about how I plan on getting up at 5 in the morning to go and take photos of the sun set over the river or people on their rush hour commute, but that would just be a big fat lie, I dont plan on doing anything like that. part of the whole three photos a day thing, is that sometimes its just a down day with no plans and those are the days were I have to get creative with my photos and tomorrow might be one of those days. Im trying not to think about it too much other wise, Ill end up doing something adventurous and not chilled out at all and thats not the point of tomorrow.

heres my photos from today. enjoy.

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– packing up the car at silly O’clock this morning, I already miss this SUV –

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– the last palm tree I saw in florida and look at that sun rise! –

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– back in New York where everyone is constantly moving at 1 million miles an hour –

B202 – 17 HOURS LATER…

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Tomorrow we leave Florida and head back to New York, its fair to say that we are now in the middle of filming and if we can get through the next 11 days of pure craziness and long hours we will be sitting on that flight home with a beer in hand. But first back to reality, before we leave florida tomorrow morning, this place has left us with one last gift a heard of blood thirsty mosquitos, which have really just aimed for my legs and attacked both my pale white bread sticks with all they have. my legs have lost the battle and the war to these mosquitos and now I can stop itching them.

My post today is about the other famous restaurant in town, it wouldnt be fair to write about one and not the other, this time im talking about the BBQ joint called Sonnys. this place is everything I hope for an more, they know what they are doing when it comes to baked beans and BBQ meat, both times Ive gone for the two meat, two sides option and it hasnt let me down. today I had some kind of sausage and pulled pork with Mac “n” Cheese and BBQ Baked beans and it was just what I needed. its totally different to Catfish country which was more of a family run place, this is a small food chain in Florida, but it packs a punch, they even make their own range of sauces, from what I can remember I had only had the Spicy sauce and that had just the right amount of spice, not too hot not too mild. no one wants a really spicey BBQ, its just not right.

if you’re ever in Bartow, please go and try both Sonnys and Catfish Country and let me know which on you think is better! for the experiacne I would say Catfish Country but if you really want to reach food coma levels go to Sonny’s.

Anyway I think ill keep todays nice a short, I cant really keep my eyes open much longer, its been a proper long day.  the next few weeks are jammed packed, so ill do my best to keep these post top notch, but sorry in advance for any rubbish days that might pop up (like this one). I haven’t done Sonny’s justice.

Also you know the rules, any spelling or grammer just ignore them, we all know it’s one of my downfalls.

Enjoy these snaps.

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– it may look simple on the outside but this place serves some proper food –
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– It just looks like a southern BBQ joint, happy days –
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– did what to show a picture of my food, but it arrived I ate it and forgot to take a picture, so heres a photo of a beer and some of their own sauce –

B201 – CATFISH, SOUTHERN STYLE

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If anyone has driven from Tampa to Bartow, or even been to this little town somewhere in florida called Bartow, you will hear the local talk about Catfish Country as a place you need to go an eat it. you will hear them talk about how great the cat fish is and how its such a famous place to go and eat at. Ive never had Catfish before and today was really my first time, ( I had a cat fish Sandwhich the other day but I spilt most of it down my top and covered the whole thing in ketchup. So Im counting this as my first time, this is kind of my review of cat fish and the restaurant Cat fish country.

One thing I wont talk about is the service, America waiters and waitress are the best in the world, where ever you go you’ll get a good service and thats because they work for tips. so its unfair for me to talk about their service.  As someone whos a huge fan of the traditional cod and chips, this is a biased opinion. but when cod and chips isnt on the menu, would I go for Cat fish, probably not. but if I was in florida again, would I go for Cat fish and chips, probably. its got an OK taste and is a bit like cod in the texture, but no where near the same amount of favour.

but what you get at this place Catfish Country is the whole experience, if feels like a food restaurant in the south should feel, and has all the right things, a massive TV showing the sports highlights, unlimited ice tea and the perfect atmosphere, these places always feel like they’ve spent 50 years collecting things from passers by, including their number plates and other weird items and this place is no exception, its full of just about everything you can image from over the size bud light neon signs, to taxidermy, to things that look like they belong to on a boat. but all done in a real aesthetically pleasing way. its just all looks like it genuinely belongs there.

If you are ever driving down highway 98 towards Bartow definitely stop off and give this place a try, you cant miss it theres a massive sign that says “Catfish Country”.

Heres my photos from the meal, I’m sorry to the locals but nothing you cook will be able to beat fish and chips from Brighton Pier.

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– this place definatly looks 10 x better than any fish and chip shop in the UK –
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– I wasnt even aware there was a catfish festival –
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– It looks almost the same to standard fish and chips but they do give you this little corn do ball thing –
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– I really like the fact every table had a paper hand towel roll, that always means you going to be in for some good food –
 

 

 

B200 – THIS HAS BEEN A MASSIVE DAY!!! 200 DAYS CONTINUOUSLY!!!!!!

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this is my 200th blog post, 200. thats how many days Ive done this in a row without a day off, thats at least 600 edited photos (some days I post more if its been a good day) and that with an average of 350 words per day thats a total of 70,000 words!! how many words is a distinction again, I cant remember? but I think its fair to say even though Ive written roughly 70,000 words, those people with a degree are still probably smarter than me.

When I first started this blog post challenge I was always thinking what I would do when I got to the 200 post mark, and for ages I thought I would have a cake and launch some fire works out of it or something, I definitely didn’t think I would be working in America and writing this post in Florida, I only really remembered that it was the 200 mark, yesterday when I saw it was B199.

Now this is a bit of a double celebration, because since I injured my leg 164 days ago, running a half marathon where completely screwed the tendon that connects my quad to my hip and basically had to learn how to use that leg again, I’ve been on a diet of burgers, pizza and beer. Well today was the end to that era and because I got up early and ran 5 miles before work. My time 45:13, which is an OK time but as Amy says its not about the timings at the moment, its just about getting back to how I was but Im pretty happy with the time and comparing it to my fastest 5 miles, Ive only got to shave like 2 minutes per mile off my time, which is completely do able.

The way I celebrated my success at reaching 200 post and running 5 miles was by doing the best thing anyone can ever do after running in 23 degree heat and thats by jumping in a cold pool straight after, our hotel has a pool and well, theres nothing like that feeling, made better by the fact I ran in some old trainers where my toe pokes out the end. so taking them off by the pool was probably the highlight, my feet where dead, but in a good way, they deserved every second of pool time.

Im now eager to get back out running but know that I need to take it slow, but I think if I set myself a goal of running 10 miles a week for the next month or so and then see how I feel after that, plus a few physo sessions in between, I should be OK.

Anyway heres some photos from my run today! todays been a good day, because it feels like I have completed two massive personal goals Ive had for a long time! and in a pretty cool part of the world!

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– Left: my person best – right: my time today, ok for a first proper distance run since my injury –
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– this photo was taken from inside the pool because I can and it felt right, those £45 trainers have done me well and still have a few miles left in them –
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– nothing beats the early morning sun –
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– run past this, seeing old classic american cars in this state always makes me want to buy one and restore it – 

B199 – CROC HUNTING DIDN’T GO SO WELL

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This morning I woke up with one plan and one plan only, to see a wild Alligator. that was my only mission, after speaking with the girl on at hotel reception she told me that I was definitely going to see one and that they are everywhere round here. even in the lake opposite our car park.  So that became my first place I looked, I wasn’t really too sure how close I could get to the water, but that didn’t stop me, Ive always wanted to see one and now Ive got that chance. turns out I didn’t see one in that lake, so back to google.

After spending some time on the internet googling “croc places near me”. literally thats what I googled. turns out that theres a a fair few lakes / swamps around but what I was expecting was some kind of beach on a lake, where you could walk around and take photos of alligators and everyone happy, that wasn’t what happened, its actually a lot hard than that.  We literally drove 10 miles out into the swamp land place, where they have these crazy birds which look like eagles mixed with Vultures mixed with black birds, that eat road kill and anything else they can find. these birds are literally like the size of a small dog and scare the hell out of me. I have no idea what they are called, but if anyone reading this does, please please let me know.

We now had to come up with a plan C, which involved parking the car and walking across a trail to see what we could find. about a mile down the the road from the scary birds we found this car park which was kind of close to a lake and thought that was our chance. but after walking around for like an hour, we didn’t see anything. literally nothing apart from this small blue lizard thing. So it was back to the hotel, for an afternoon sleep, not every day is like this, normally we are working and don’t have a chance to head back to the hotel when we want, so this was actually pretty nice.

Ive been on the internet trying to figure out my best chances of seeing a croc round here, Im pretty sure my best chance is going to be at a lake 18 miles away, where an alligator has just tried to grab a dog,  but i’m really not sure if I can make it over there before we leave on Monday. Might have to be either a really early morning thing or late at night, both really scare me because when its dark and they like to hunt then. if I can free up some time I will, but who knows. for now the mission is on hold, to be resumed.

here’s my pictures from today, if your ever in Bartow check out the antique stores they’re pretty cool and have given me loads of idea for my flat.

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– what are these birds, they look like something from a horror movie –
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– on our hunt to see an alligator earlier –
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– Im not a massive antique buff but just looking round these places it pretty fun –

 

 

B198 – I FEEL LIKE A TRUE AMERICAN

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So just got to our hotel in Tampa, Florida and the journey feels like its gone on forever, first we didnt have a pilot of the plane, no idea how that happens but it did. Im not going to moan about it thought, because now we are in Tampa and the car hire company have given us the one things I’ve always wanted. a proper american SUV, this thing is a beast. they have given us a GMC Yukon SLT, this thing is like a $60k monster. No idea why they looked at me and thought it would fine, but they did and Im happy about it.

Overall it feels quite good to be back in the south, I know Flordia is quite touristy but it doesn’t feel like that where we are, it feels like a cool part of the world, even though Ive only seen it in the dark. Tomorrow we have a day off, so im looking forward to explore this place, at the moment my main goal is to see a crocodile, like a proper wild one on the side of a river bank, but not sure if that will happen. the chances are ill just chill all day and try to burn of that ridiculous amount BBQ food I just eaten.

This is now like my sixth america state in the past 5 weeks and I really feel like I’m starting to understand a bit more about this place, it almost feels like I’ve completed america if that makes sense. every time I go to a new country I always want to feel some kind of connection to that place, and get the lingo along with the way of life. Im not sure if 5 or 6 weeks is enough time to feel like that, but with america I kind of feel like I’m starting to get the hang of the crazy country.

As today was just really like a travel day not many photos were taken but I did try and get out after dinner and do like a mini photo shoot with the SUV. and to be honest I think thee photo look pretty cool.

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– Would this SUV even fit on UK roads? –
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– I would love to drive round London in this –
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– flying to Newark airport to Tampa, literally spent the whole time just looking out the window, apart from when I was sleeping-  (only good thing about sitting at the back of the plane is that you can take good pictures) –

B197 – AFTER TWO MONTHS ITS FINALLY HAPPENED!

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Today is a bit of a special day, today was the day that i actually had a home cooked meal, not just something from a restaurant but some home cooked vegetables, home made pasta and some other ingredients that I’m not too sure what they were called.  Its a massive difference from the normal late night Italian or Chinese that I’m used too and I genuinely cant complain. I did end up have this really large cookie for desert but to be honest it was home made so doesn’t really matter. When im firmly back at home thats one thing im going todo more, I want to cook good proper food without the added salt or other things.

other than my rant about food, today I was back in this sleepy part of New Jersey, and to be honest its one of my favourite places Ive been. growing up in some sleepy part of London in a town called Biggin Hill, I know people think its this tough place just outside bromley but its really not. sorry, but its just not. anyway I think that part of me loves the idea of living in some quite town somewhere just enjoying life and moving at a slower pace. its weird because at the moment I love living in the city, sounded by constant noise and always something todo, but I can definitely see myself moving to the countryside when Im older in a place a bit like Bedmister, New Jersey and just having fun. Places like this would make me get up early and go take photos or ride my bike constantly.

Its just one of those things, if you love the country side then I think you will alway want to call that home. anyway heres my photos from today, I really wanted to show the sleepy side to living in the “sticks” but I couldn’t resist showing off what I had for dinner.

enjoy.

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– this lady is just sat enjoying her tuesday –
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– so is this man –
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– nothing beats a home cooked dinner –

B196 – I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD END UP HERE!

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Firstly I have something I need to admit, for the past month or so my camera has only really been on auto everything, auto focus, auto exposure, auto shutter. this started off as a way for me not to miss a shot, always guarantee I get the photo I want. but its kind of doing the opposite, its nice knowing that everything will also be ok but I don’t think about the lighting or movement anymore I just snap away. When I first started this project my camera was always manual so it would always mean I would constantly be adjusting everything quickly to get the photo. Ive just got lazy I suppose, well from today onward every photo I take with my Canon 5d will be manual. Im not going to use auto for the rest of this challenge unless Ive been drinking, then I cant make any promises, it will probably be auto.

Anyway yesterday I was talking about how big the houses were and today I actually managed to take a snap of one, this is my no means the biggest house around here but for some reason its probably my favourite. Big houses just mean longer walks to the fridge for the sofa and thats not what I want in a house. I feel like this one has space but at the same time could fit me just right. I quite like this whole area to be honest, today on the drive to the local supermarket for some lunch and even that was a pretty cool experience. In the UK going to pick up food normally means finding the closest Sainsburys or Tescos, where as here you go to this massive farmers supermarket and get a whole bunch of cool treats. it even has an old clock on the top.

One thing that has surprised me about this part of the world is how much they love Halloween, everyone goes mad for it and buys all these cool skeletons for the houses and loads of pumkins, every wall seems to have some sort of pumpkin on it. I didnt take any photos of houses with pumpkins on them but I did get some shots from out side the front of the Supermarket with pumpkins. thats my goal for tomorrow, find a house with Pumpkins out the front. Ill see what over the top Halloween houses I can find.

Heres my photos from today below. and remember from now on NO auto settings, I promise!

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– just your average house round here –
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– going halloween crazy at the local supermarket –
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– this is the local supermarket, not a tescos cubcard poster in sight –

 

 

B194 – THIS PLACE IS SO CREAPY!

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Today we left New York and headed up state to New Jersey. We are here until Wednesday and its looking like its going to be a solid few days of filming, so when we arrived at our hotel it seemed only right to go out and explore, New Jersey is just like proper american forest’s, and as they are just approaching fall, its got that cool look in the trees. Well anyway on arrival into Murray Hill, New Providence, we hear of this place called the deserted village and who can turn down the opportunity of exploring some victorian era deserted village in the middle of a forest?

When we arrived at the entrance, which is in a place called Feltville, we could only find these weird creepy head stones, which seemed to date back to the revolutionary war in the 1700’s, the one closest to the front had the name Joseph Badgley and the other read William Willcooks. From what I can find online they were just foot soliders during this period and must of died in battle. After that little de-tour we decided to head deeper into the forest and see what else was hidden, about an hour into the walk, which ran through some proper forest and after getting back to my childhood of climbing trees and just exploring, we came across this white hut that sat on top of this ridge and realised we must of discovered one of the old houses.

We then found a whole bunch of this old white buildings which were once home to the 19 century newly found rich upper class, who would have owned these properties in a time known historically as the Gilded Age. One of the main things that attracted the utlra rich and quickly rising entrepreneurs of the middle class was the clean air which “didn’t have a hint of milaria”  something which was found throughout america cities.

I suppose its just one of the cool old places which has slowly become relevant to the moving times. but lucky the local government has decided to try and keep this story alive by giving it some protection for local property developers and inquisitive kids, or maybe the place is just properly haunted and everyone knows not to go near it.

Anyway heres my photos from today, enjoy.

And Happy Birthday Amy! sorry Im not there today! love ya mush!

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– two tombstones from the revolutionary war in the 1700’s –
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– this is something from a horror film –
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– Good bye New York. you are something else –

B193 – 24/7 THIS PLACE DOESN’T STOP

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The city of New York is like nothing I have ever experienced before, its never been somewhere thats top of my list and Ive always been pretty chilled out about coming here. but oh my god, this place is like a big fun fair for people who love cities. One of my major things about a city is for those societies that will happily bend the rules sightly to get what they need done, im not talking about shooting some one or robbing a bank, im talking about those little inconveniences that some cities are just scared to break. Like J walking, in places like Sydney if you J walk your a law breaker and should be dealt with appropriately, its really frowned apon, but in New York people love it, it makes crossing the road so much easier, cars dont even beep you, they just try not to run you over.

One of the first questions everyone asks themselve’s when they get to a new country or city is “Can I live here?” and most of the time its yes, you get caught up in the moment and just think you can, Ive done it but rarley have I thought about it deeply enough to think it could actually work. Like LA for instance, I love LA and would happily go there for long periods of time, but could I actually live there? probably not, its way too big and my body is in no shape to be flexing my guns on venice beach.

Where as New york is the extreme version of London and seem to have all the same idea’s, people like to create stuff and have a good time. I feel that new York is some where I could call home and would love to explore and get to now more about it. One thing is for sure though, I would need some ear plugs because this place is 24/7 and people seem to always be making noise.

I would love to go on about my pro’s and con’s for living in a different city or country but I have a 6:30am call time tomorrow and would love to get some sleep.

Heres my photos from today. Bon appetit.

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– Its true what people say, new York traffic is like nothing anywhere else, it just seems to go on and go and on –
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– one of the photos I took on my way to get some food –
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– something is always happening on every block –