Newark to London via Chicago

My alarm was set for 4am but I woke up at 3.30am so I decided to get up then. I had a shower and checked out and there was nobody on the gate so I could have got away with not paying to park my car after all!

I drove to Newark Airport, left my car (I only drove 287 miles this weekend) and caught the AirTrain to my terminal. I quickly checked in and went through security. As I knew I'd be sitting a lot today, I had a wander around the airport.

I caught the 6.35am American Airlines flight to Chicago and there weren't many people on board. There was a lovely blue sky with no clouds in Newark and exactly the same in Chicago but it was heavy cloud all the way in between so I couldn't see much out of the window. We arrived about 20 minutes early and my gate was only a few away. Again I chose to have a wander around the airport and it was interesting as there were little biographies of famous aviators who came from or were associated with Chicago such as Lindberg.

I caught the 9.10am (Chicago-time) American Airlines flight to Heathrow. The plane was quite empty so I had a double seat to myself. In fact there were only 10 people in my cabin! It was an older plane so there was no choice of films to watch so I just read all the way.

We landed half an hour early at 10.15pm UK time. Thankfully Immigration was fast and so was my suitcase and the mini-bus to collect my car so I was on the road by 11.30pm. I got home by about 12.45am and started unpacking before I went to bed after a brilliant weekend!

Philadelphia - toll troubles, Chinese and Princess Diana

Although my alarm was set for 8am, I woke up at 6am so I got up and started writing my review of last night's gig. I checked out and left at 9.45am to drive into Philadelphia. My Sat Nav directed me onto the New Jersey Turnpike but when I got to the entrance, there was nowhere to collect a ticket. As there was a car behind me I had to drive onto the turnpike. When I got to my exit, I thought I'd try the dumb English-woman card but I had the rudest turnpike person I've ever met. At one point she told me that I must have been blind because I didn't see the entrance with the ticket machine! I then asked to see her supervisor so I was directed into the office. He immediately knew where I'd entered the tollroad and confirmed that there was no ticket machine there. I ended up having to pay all the way from Ohio (over $20) but he gave me a claim form and said that I should be able to get a refund as I can prove that I entered it at Horsham. He also suggested that I made a complaint against the other toll person's attitude.

I then drove into Philadelphia. We were supposed to be meeting outside the Ritz Cinema at 11am. I was on time but my friend wasn't there so I asked inside and was told that there was another Ritz Cinema nearby. I went there and was told that there was a third Ritz Cinema a few blocks away and we finally managed to meet up! We had a gorgeous Chinese lunch at a place that we've been at before but it's a lovely restaurant. Unfortunately they didn't have my favourite Orange Chicken but I had General Tso's Chicken instead which was nice and spicy.

We then went into the Princess Diana Exhibition which was basically the same as the one that I saw at Althorp House during the Summer but it was laid out better as, for example, you could see all of her wedding dress and walk around it, whereas at Althorp I could only see the front and none of the train. There was also a part where a dancer was there and spoke about meeting her. The astonishing thing was that there were a few people crying in the final room that dealt with her death!

Afterwards we had a wander around the centre of Philly. One of the main department stores unveiled their Christmas windows today so we walked up to that but it was a bit of a let-down!

We left at about 3pm and I drove back to New Jersey but along the NJT there was a bad hold-up so I took a detour off which extended my journey. I booked into the Howard Johnson at Newark Airport and I was annoyed that they didn't mention that there's a compulsory $15 fee to park there when you have no other option! The room was nice enough and I had a relaxing evening in just watching stuff on my iPlayer. I was still full from lunchtime so I just had a bag of crisps for dinner and, as I was so tired, I got to sleep by 10pm!

Living it up in the US, eh?!!!

NYC to Philly to see The Kasim Sulton Band

Even though I didn't get to bed until about midnight NYC time, I still woke at 4am and just couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and did some things online.

I left at 7.45am and, for the first time in the 50 or so times that I've been to the US, I had to negotiate my way from JFK Airport to Newark Airport on public transport! A website that I looked at said that it was possible to do it within an hour and yet it took me about 2.5 hours! I caught the hotel shuttle bus to JFK and got the AirTrain from there to Jamaica Station. When I was there I bought a Metro card for $8 which was supposed to take me all over New York City for the whole day. It got me out of the AirTain area okay but as soon as I tried to get on the subway (underground), it wouldn't let me in! I had to queue at the ticket booth and he let me in through a gate.

The subway to Penn Station took over half an hour as I'd obviously got on a stopping train. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded although I did have to stand all the way. I then obviously got out at the wrong part of Penn Station but thankfully someone showed me the correct part overground. I then had to wait 20 minutes for the next train (cost $15) which took me to Newark Airport. Next was another AirTrain to the hire car part of the airport.

I was lucky again with my hire car as I paid for the cheapest model but I have one with cruise control again! As I had plenty of time, I took the 1 South down to Philadelphia rather than the New Jersey Turnpike which was a more interesting journey.

I reached Horsham (where I'm staying that is just outside Philadelphia) by about 1pm so as it was probably too early to check in, I found a TGI Fridays and had some lunch. I had a slight problem with the first order as it arrived with spinach but thankfully they replaced it.

I got to my hotel by 3pm. It's a Candlewood Suite so I have a nice big room with a kitchenette in it. It's a shame I'm not staying longer than one night! I spent the afternoon doing a few things online including promoting my book some more.




I left again at about 6.45pm as I'd arranged to meet a friend for dinner before Kasim's gig at the Hard Rock Cafe. I opted to drive the route avoiding the New Jersey Turnpike so there were loads of traffic lights and quite a bit of traffic going into the city but I found the HRC okay. I couldn't easily find anywhere to park so I opted for the Hilton car park which was very near but I dread to think how much it'll cost!

We met at the Hard Rock Cafe okay and there was a half hour wait for a table. The first table that became available for us was right in front of the stage so, as we were both uncomfortable with that, we opted to wait for another one which eventually turned out to be a good decision as the opening act were very loud and the people who did sit that table soon evacuated their position once they started playing!

This gig was in aid of Philabundance although that wasn’t very evident at the venue. There was a box for food donations and I was told that it was filled by the end of the gig but there wasn’t an organised collection of any description.

The opening act, Parachuting Apostles, started at about 10pm and I thought were Kasim’s worst opening act to date as they substituted volume for talent. It was far too loud for the size of the venue and, even when they played a Beatles song that I knew, I couldn’t make out a word that the lead singer sung as he was so drowned out by the music.

The Kasim Sulton Band’s set started at about 11.25pm and they played until 1am which made me grateful that I’d decided to fly in the previous day. Unfortunately this was my least favourite of the five gigs that I've seen The Kasim Sulton Band play so far as Kasim waffled a lot during it. The sound wasn't great either - afterwards someone told me that Kasim was asking me during the gig if I was enjoying it but I didn't hear him! (Plus the woman in front of me was answering him anyway so I thought he was asking her.) My review of the gig (and photos) is at http://www.kasiminfo.co.uk/2009/11/20.html

The gig finished just before 1am and we left quite soon afterwards. I'd said hello to Kasim before the gig so I didn't bother staying to talk to him afterwards although I was amazed that there were some children still there at that time.

The parking cost me $25 which was a bit of a shock! As there was hardly any traffic and I court the NJT ($1.25) I got back to my hotel by 2am and was asleep by 2.30am.

Back out to NYC

For the first time in about 10 years I didn't have a flight to the US at the crack of dawn! As Kasim's gig doesn't start tomorrow until 10pm US time (3am UK time) I decided not to fly in tomorrow or I really wouldn't be able to enjoy the gig properly.

Instead I caught the 6.35pm American Airlines flight today which meant that I didn't have to leave my house until early afternoon. I'm using up some of my Air Miles so it was a "free" flight (except for taxes) but it does mean that I'm having to fly home from NYC to London via Chicago on Sunday! So much for being environmentally friendly.

There was little traffic on the roads to the airport and they've just introduced self-service check-in at Heathrow so that was a breeze. As I was early I had about two hours spare at the airport.

The plane took off about 30 minutes late but we landed 45 minutes early at 8.45pm which was good. On the way over I saw the latest Harry Potter film (the Half Blood Prince) and the film The Time Travellers Wife which was okay.

Immigration took about half an hour as another plane had landed just before ours but thankfully the guy didn't give me the third degree. In fact he didn't even ask me how long I was staying. The hotel shuttle-bus arrived quite promptly so I got to my room by 10.20pm NYC time. There's a strong wireless Internet signal and the heater works well so I'm happy!

Considering my body thinks it's almost 4.30am, I actually don't feel too tired but I will be going to bed soon!