Trip Report: Day 3 (Paris, Caesar's Palace, Fremont St & The Venetian)

Today we decide to have yet another lie in. We’ve planned to split off from Linda & Graham as they’re rushing about too much for us. By the time we get up it’s a bit late for breakfast so we decide to get brunch instead. I’d spotted a Denny’s near our hotel so we head down there. I get a starter of mozzarella sticks and a side of fries which stills ends up being more than I can eat, Scott gets a chicken sandwich and fries. It’s quite harrowing seeing the obviously struggling wait staff so close to these billion dollar casinos and we end up tipping more than normal as a result.

We walk to the Sahara and catch the monorail to Paris where we spend some time looking around the shops and patisseries which are full of stunning desserts which are works of art in themselves.

We head outside to have a look around the Arc de Triomphe (1 third scale) and the Eiffel Tower (half scale) before walking down the Strip to the Flamingo.

This casino has an outdoor flamingo habitat and also has areas with parrots, peacocks and other exotic birds.

Next up is Caesar’s Palace, one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas.

We spend a bit of time on the slots and I put another whole dollar in, but get it back after having a few good runs of luck. We sit at the bar and get some drinks before walking into the Forum shops for a few hours. This is an entire full sized mall containing all kinds of shops from Gucci to F.A.O Schwarz and many restaurants too.

We stop by an ice cream stall and end up buying a large tub which costs us $16, and that wasn’t even the biggest – oops!

We also manage to watch one of the audio animatronic fountains perform its show, slightly ruined by the neon Cheesecake Factory sign behind it. We used a different exit onto the Strip and came across one of Caesars most unique features, curving escalators! We spent time watching them whilst sitting down for a short break.

Outside was a beautiful fountain which we grabbed some pictures of before trekking back to the monorail.

We had agreed to meet up with Linda & Graham for dinner before going out but when we got back to the room they had left a message saying they’d overeaten at lunch and weren’t up for food now. We called them and arranged to meet up after we’d eaten at the buffet downstairs so we headed back down for dinner.

After eating we met up and got a taxi to Fremont St, a street entirely roofed by one enormous video screen.

During our visit there’s a turkey eating contest going on that’s drawn an enormous crowd and is being broadcast on the local radio. It sounds disgusting over the tannoy as people race to eat entire turkeys in a couple of minutes. We do our best to ignore that area and walk down the street checking out the casinos and other attractions. At one end of the street are two casinos that none of us have ever been in, the Plaza and Main St Station (hang on, I thought I was in Las Vegas, not the Magic Kingdom?!?!) so we check those out before heading back to Fremont St.

We get an exceptional view from the other side of the road and get some pics before crossing back over.

We’ve just missed a show so we head to a small casino for a drink. These casinos are more of the old style from Elvis’s time and as such are much smaller and gambling driven as opposed to the big Strip resorts which include theme parks, shops and hotels as well as the machines. We step back outside to see the show. Every half hour the video screens overhead show a short but spectacular film, the one we caught was about flight and had planes soaring along the street and the space shuttle taking off. The casinos all turn their lights off during the show so it’s very impressive.

Once the show was over we split up as I wanted to nip to the Walgreen’s nearby as the desert heat and dryness was cracking lips terribly by now. On our way back we saw the end of a second light show, this one seemed to be about music judging by the guitars.

Once we met back up with Linda & Graham we decided we’d seen what we wanted to at Fremont St. It was still early so we got a taxi to the Venetian.

We looked around the shops again and watched the gondolas sailing past.

I grabbed a bite to eat in the food court and followed it with some raspberry sorbet from St Mark’s Square.

We go outside and watch the outdoor gondoliers and all the activity on the Strip before heading back to the taxis and heading back to the Stratosphere.

Trip Report: Day 2 (My 21st Birthday, Star Trek, The Rio)

How is it that every year when we fly out on holiday, I’m sick the first night? Yeah well it’s happened again so this morning I’m feeling pretty darned rough, so we have a bit of a lie in to help me and help the others combat the jetlag. No real time for that though as it’s my birthday today and there’s lots to do. I’ve brought all my cards over from the UK as they’re easy to carry so I start opening them and, as I’m nearing the end, Linda & Graham knock on the door with theirs. All together I get $120 in cash to spend on whatever so I’m now on the lookout for some birthday gifts. We haven’t made any firm plans for the Vegas days so we have a quick discussion and opt to head for the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton first as it’s one of the only things I know about in Vegas.

Travelling around Vegas requires more time and effort than you realise at first. The best way to the Hilton is to take the monorail so we head out of the Stratosphere to walk the half mile to the Sahara where there’s a station. Looking back down the road we get our first real look at the Stratosphere.

The Sahara is one of several casinos in Vegas that have a rollercoaster. This one is a relatively short one that does a loop, gets to the end and then comes back the other way so you get a backwards and forwards loop. We watched the coaster as we walked past the Sahara and got a few pictures before heading inside and up to the monorail station.

The monorail runs most of the length of the strip along the backs of the casinos. As we know we are planning on going all the way to the other end after we’re done at the Hilton, we buy day passes and jump on board. The Hilton is the next stop so we’re only on board for a few minutes.

On arrival at the Hilton we are a little early so we stroll around the gaming floor, being amused to see a Star Wars slots game right by the entrance to the Star Trek experience, bet that attracts some negativity! Soon the doors are opened and we buy our passes.

The queue is an attraction in itself, all along there is props and boards forming a timeline of the Star Trek universe; it has been updated recently to include the latest Enterprise TV show. We spend a good half hour slowly making our way along until we get to the main area where we have to pick which ride we will do first. We opt to do the original Klingon Encounter first. On this you find yourselves on board Jean Luc Picard’s Enterprise for a quick show and then are taken into a shuttle where you experience a motion control ride. It’s very impressive, especially the way you get to the Enterprise which I won’t ruin for anyone who hasn’t done it yet.

We’re not hungry yet so we loop back around to do the 2nd ride, Borg Invasion 4D. This is much more recent and so the technology involved is far more advanced. Sadly some bits are hard to follow as to start with you are in a group being led down corridors and it can be hard to spot things happening behind you or off down the side corridors. The main attraction happens in a larger shuttle which is a cinema type room similar to many in Orlando. As this is a 4D attraction, there are many things going on in the theatre and so the attraction was pretty intense and scary to say the least.

By the time we are done we’re all feeling a bit hungry. We had originally planned to get a drink at Quark’s Bar but I suggest we sit down and have lunch there which the others are keen on doing. We have an excellent waiter who advises us on the menu and drinks. It’s time for my first ever alcoholic drink in the USA. Linda & I share an odd concoction called a Borg Sphere.

We actually share the small one but that’s enough as it alone contains 5oz of liquor – more than enough at lunchtime! It contains gin, rum, vodka, melon liquor, sour mix and sprite. Needless to say we were a little Bambi-ish when we tried to walk out later on! Graham gets a Romulan Ale but Scott sticks to the coke so we push him to try some of our sphere which he practically chokes after!

The food in Quark’s all has unusual names as well as the drinks. Scott gets a Grilled chicken Kahn, I get a bacon & cheese hamborger, Linda gets a Kahless (salad) and Graham orders Trip Tucker’s Warp 5 Prime Rib Chilli & Chips (chilli with tortilla chips.) It’s worth noting that the chilli dish was actually a starter!

Whilst we are eating, a local Klingon is prowling the bar with a TV crew following him. Eventually he joins us at our table and asks if we want to hear a joke which we accept.

Klingon: How do you stop a Ferengi from drowning?
Graham: Take your foot off his head?
Klingon: (Standing up quickly) What are you some kind of telepath? GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

As the Klingon storms off in a mock paddy, most of the bar is staring our way and grinning. Thank goodness Graham resisted asking the question his friend did a few years ago: “Are there any gay Klingons?” “Not alive”. As we finish up our meals the Klingon is back filming a TV spot for the restaurant at another table with all sorts of highly odd looking food in front of him. Then he joins a whole host of other aliens and Starfleet officers over at the bar to be served by the Ferengi bartender, we must have timed our meal great to see all this.

Eventually we leave Quark’s and board the monorail again, this time to go all the way to the far end of the Strip as Linda & Graham need to visit the Luxor to arrange a bottle of champagne to be delivered for a friend a few weeks later. We walk through the MGM Grand and Excalibur on our way to the Luxor but don’t stop to look around. Once we arrive, Scott & I split off to look around the shops while his parents go to concierge. Luxor is themed to Ancient Egypt so I grab a souvenir for my best friend as she is training to be an Egyptologist. Soon we are back on the monorail heading all the way back to our hotel. We have dinner scheduled at the Rio at 7.30pm.

When we arrive back none of us are feeling too well so we opt to take naps. Time rolls on and we realise we’ll never make it to the Rio as we’re all tired and I’m feeling ill again. Scott calls to cancel the reservation I made a few weeks ago but checks with the manager and gets us a rescheduled dinner at 9.30pm. That gives us enough time to recuperate before changing into our best and meeting up again. I bought a special dress for this night which I almost chicken out of wearing due to the plunging neckline but this is Vegas after all! We hop in a taxi and enjoy the 20minute ride to the Rio.

The restaurant is on the 50th floor and you need permission to board a special lift to reach it. Our names are crossed off and we board, as it shoots up we realise that a) it’s made of glass and b) it’s on the outside of the building. Scott & I both spin around to face the door and keep our eyes firmly shut until we’re at the top. We’re a bit early so we have a drink at the bar, with me for now sticking with water. We’re seated within half an hour, much to Scott’s relief away from the windows which offer a view of the entire Strip due to the Rio being slightly off and to the side.

The Voodoo Steakhouse is one of the best in Vegas and boy could you taste it! The steaks were amazing, the only disappointment being that they mixed up mine and Scott’s orders so his steak was undercooked and mine overcooked, never mind. The wine list was also a sight to behold. I really fancied a good drink and ended up ordering an $18 glass of champagne along with Graham, well how many times in life do you turn 21 in Vegas? It was worth the money and then some. I was the only one to order dessert and got the molten chocolate cake which was also delicious.

After finishing up we decided to check out the nightclub on the roof (except Scott who was quite high enough already thank you.) This is literally on the roof with just little metal railings between you and a 51 storey plunge to the street below.

The view was spectacular but we didn’t hang about too long, rejoining Scott below and catching a thankfully different lift back down to the ground. It was past midnight by now so we caught a taxi back to the Stratosphere. We got changed and came down to play on the 1 cent poker machines for a bit. I got bored pretty quickly and after I had lost my dollar, Scott and I went up to bed.

Trip Report: Day One (Flying to Las Vegas)

We’re up early to get checked out and catch our shuttle bus to the South Terminal. There’s a long line at security but the staff are being very efficient and we’re through surprisingly fast with no problems. We head straight to Garfunkle’s for breakfast. I get croissants; Scott gets toast while Linda & Graham both get large breakfasts with eggs, toast and much more.

The boarding announcement goes out on time so I make a hasty trip to Boots for a chicken & stuffing sandwich to take on board before heading for Gate 13. We arrive with plenty of time before anyone is let on board and hold off boarding as long as possible.

We are sitting in one of those fantastic 2 seater window rows at the back of the plane with us on the right and Scott’s parents on the left hand side of the plane. After being on board for a while we get an announcement that there’s a technical fault, a light bulb isn’t working upstairs and we can’t legally take off until it’s fixed. There’s a good humoured groan but the co-pilot tells us we can use our electronics until further notice so everyone seems quite happy and either call people or wander around the plane for a bit. Soon enough we get the call to take our seats and we take off about an hour late.

As we normally fly with Travel City Direct our seatback TVs are a huge novelty and we spend time playing about with them. I watch Harry Potter 5, Shrek 3, episodes of Shrink Rap and Who Do You Think You Are and listen to radio shows. I try to play tetris but the handset is a little bit dodge so I give up. Scott also loves the TV and spends most of the flight playing blackjack. Later in the flight I get the camera out and start snapping off some shots through the window at the magnificent scenery below, according to the SkyMap we pass over the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona. I also get my first ever glimpses of the Colorado River & the Rocky Mountains.

Annoyingly only those on the other side of the plane really see the Grand Canyon but we can see part of one end and even that it is impressive. As we are expecting anther hour on board, the co-pilot comes over the speakers to announce that we’ve just been given permission to use another flight path and please could we all use the bathrooms as we’re about to begin descent! Soon we’re on the tarmac at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

We’re some of the last people off the plane being so near the back and join an enormous queue at immigration, however it moves quickly and we’re soon with our official. She is very friendly and, on noticing my birth date in my passport, wishes me a very happy birthday for the following day and a great stay in the USA. We find our entire luggage quickly except mine which has found itself off the carousel in a separate area for some reason we never quite understood. We make our way out of the terminal and soon spot our driver holding up a “G. Brown” sign. He leads us out of the terminal and over to the most enormous limousine any of us have ever seen. Scott’s dad – Graham - had booked the limo weeks ago (a surprise for his mum - Linda) but had no idea we’d get anything like this. The driver loads our luggage and we set off for the Stratosphere Casino.

We arrive half an hour later and grab a shot of the group with the limo courtesy of our driver.

Entering the casino for the first time is an experience I’ll never forget, the sheer volume of the machines is incredible and you’ve never seen so much activity in your life as millions of L.E.D lights flash simultaneously. The guys check us in as me and Linda wait with the luggage out of the way as the queue is huge (remember I’m still not old enough to be in the gaming areas until midnight!) We head to the lifts for our rooms; we are on floor 14, the others on 18. In the lift we agree to call them later and it’s only when the doors close that we realise we don’t know their room number! Never fear, Scott’s dad calls the desk and they ring our room within a few minutes as they realised the same thing as the doors had closed. We have a pretty amazing view of the mountains and smaller non-Strip casinos.


Scott & I are hungry so we make our way back downstairs to the Courtyard Buffet and I enjoy turkey from the carvery, shrimp, fries and coke while Scott sticks to the carvery meats. Later on we meet back up with Linda & Graham and get a taxi to the Venetian – no time to waste in the hotel rooms apparently! The taxi ride is one of those times you comprehend your own mortality all too clearly as we dive perilously through lanes of busy traffic but we eventually make it in one piece.

We stroll leisurely through the Venetians shops stopping to admire some of the amazing architecture. Me and Linda are both drawn to a beautiful necklace in one window but almost faint on seeing the price tag, a mind boggling $1.3 million! We spot another more reasonable necklace later on, just $10 but end up leaving the resort without spending anything. We cross the road (a feat by itself) to the Mirage.

After watching the volcano erupt, stop for a drink in the Revolution bar, themed to the British bands of the 1960’s and 70’s, with a little bit of Supergrass for good measure. It’s not midnight yet so I’m on the lemonade but doubt I could have handled alcohol anyway. Next up is Treasure Island which is honestly a bit rubbish inside so we leave quickly.


Outside is the pirate ship where a show is happening, we can’t see what’s going on but it sounds like irritating pop/dance stuff so we don’t hang about much and continue our trek down the Strip towards the most recent development, a stunningly swanky casino called the Wynn. This one is more my style as it’s elegant and subtle, unlike many others which are a bit OTT. We walk through the shopping district but we’re all dead on our feet by now so we grab another taxi and head back to the Stratosphere.

The initial plan had been to stay up until midnight and celebrate with a round of drinks at the bar. It’s just past 11pm now but we are all barely conscious and know we’ll never last another hour so we say our goodnights and head to bed, ready for a good night’s sleep and another full day tomorrow.

Trip Reports 2007: Pre-Trip

Trip reports from our October 2007 trip to the States. these are the same ones posted on the DIS so if you've read them there you don't need to bother here, unless you want to of course!

Pre-Trip:

Our last morning waking up at home is reasonably chilled as we won’t be leaving until after Scott has finished watching the Formula 1 on the Sky + from last night. I can’t bear to watch so I sneak a look at the result online and finish up checking some last minute details online. Once the race is over, we get checked in online with Virgin, do the final packing, get the cats into their boxes and set off about 1.30pm. We drive the 5 minutes to the cattery; say our rather painful goodbyes then head to the motorway on the long road to Gatwick.

The plan is to meet Scott’s parents at Birchanger Services on the M11, we have to make a quick pit stop at Peterborough to fix a minor recurring problem on the car but we are at Birchanger about the specified time and quickly locate Linda & Graham having a large coffee in the seating area. I grab some fries as I have a gut feeling we won’t be eating for a long time and we set off for the final leg to Gatwick in convoy. There’s surprisingly little traffic on the M25 and we only get stuck once, eventually making our way to the short stay car park for Twilight Check In. It seems we join the queue in time as it more than doubles in the 20 mins or so we wait to get rid of our cases. Soon we are free from luggage and head back to the cars where the TomTom leads us to our hotel with no fuss.

We get the cars parked and check in to the lovely Aurora International Hotel, paying for our trip on the airport shuttles in advance. The guys go and move the cars to the underground car park as it will be safer for them over the next two weeks. In the rooms the TV screens are on giving us a personal greeting which is a nice touch.

We head to Morgan’s Pub inside the hotel as it’s getting late (about 9pm) and we’re starving – boy am I glad I grabbed those fries earlier! The pub isn’t quite as chilled as we’d have hoped due to the large crowd of Scots watching the Rugby World Cup, still the food is good. I order fish and chips for a last bite of Englishness and it’s a good choice.

After we’ve finished eating I nip outside to get a shot of the hotel before we head to the bar in the lobby for a drink or two.



We know we have an obscenely long day ahead of us so it’s not long before we call it a night.

Stockport - Where it's at!

Video of my hometown, not doing it any favours really!

I have seen 75 out of these 239 films:

*Rocky Horror Picture Show
*Grease
*Pirates of the Caribbean
*Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
Boondock Saints
*Fight Club
Starsky and Hutch
Neverending Story
Blazing Saddles
Airplane

Total: 5


The Princess Bride
*AnchorMan
Napoleon Dynamite
Labyrinth
Saw
Saw II
White Noise
White Oleander
Anger Management
50 First Dates
The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 6


*Scream
*Scream 2
*Scream 3
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 4
*American Pie
*American Pie 2
*American Wedding
American Pie Band Camp

Total so far: 12


*Harry Potter 1
*Harry Potter 2
*Harry Potter 3
*Harry Potter 4
Resident Evil 1
Resident Evil 2
The Wedding Singer
Little Black Book
The Village
*Lilo & Stitch

Total so far:17

*Finding Nemo
Finding Neverland
*Signs
*The Grinch
*Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
White Chicks
Butterfly Effect
13 Going on 30
*I, Robot
*Robots

Total so far: 23


Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Universal Soldier
Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
Along Came Polly
*Deep Impact
KingPin
Never Been Kissed
Meet The Parents
Meet the Fockers
Eight Crazy Nights
Joe Dirt
KING KONG

Total so far: 24


A Cinderella Story
The Terminal
The Lizzie McGuire Movie
Passport to Paris
Dumb & Dumber
Dumber & Dumberer
*Final Destination
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 3
Halloween
The Ring
The Ring 2
Surviving X-MAS
Flubber

Total so far: 25

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
*Practical Magic
Chicago
Ghost Ship
From Hell
*Hellboy
Secret Window
I Am Sam
*The Whole Nine Yards
The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 28


*The Day After Tomorrow
Child's Play
Seed of Chucky
Bride of Chucky
Ten Things I Hate About You
Just Married
Gothika
Nightmare on Elm Street
Sixteen Candles
Remember the Titans
Coach Carter
The Grudge
The Grudge 2
The Mask
Son Of The Mask

Total so far: 29

Bad Boys
Bad Boys 2
Joy Ride
Lucky Number Sleven
*Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Twelve
Bourne Identity
Bourne Supremecy
Lone Star
Bedazzled
Predator I
Predator II
The Fog
*Ice Age
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Curious George

Total so far:31

*Independence Day
Cujo
A Bronx Tale
Darkness Falls
Christine
*ET
*Children of the Corn
My Bosses Daughter
Maid in Manhattan
*War of the Worlds
Rush Hour
Rush Hour 2

Total so far: 35


Best Bet
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
She's All That
Calendar Girls
Sideways
*Mars Attacks
Event Horizon
Ever After
*Wizard of Oz
*Forrest Gump
Big Trouble in Little China
*The Terminator
*The Terminator 2
*The Terminator 3

Total so far: 41


*X-Men
*X-2
*X-3
*Spider-Man
*Spider-Man 2
Sky High
Jeepers Creepers
Jeepers Creepers 2
Catch Me If You Can
*The Little Mermaid
Freaky Friday
*Reign of Fire
The Skulls*
Cruel Intentions*
Cruel Intentions 2
The Hot Chick
*Shrek
*Shrek 2

Total so far: 50


Swimfan
*Miracle on 34th street
Old School
The Notebook
K-Pax
Krippendorf's Tribe
A Walk to Remember
Ice Castles
Boogeyman
The 40-year-old Virgin

Total so far: 51


*Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
*Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
*Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
*Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
*Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
*Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 57


BaseketballHostel
Waiting for Guffman
House of 1000 Corpses
Devils Rejects
Elf
*Highlander
Mothman Prophecies
American History X
Three

Total so Far: 58


The Jacket
Kung Fu Hustle
Shaolin Soccer
Night Watch
*Monsters Inc.
*Titanic
*Monty Python and the Holy Grail
*Shaun Of the Dead
Willard

Total so far: 62


High Tension
Club Dread
Hulk
Dawn Of the Dead
*Hook
Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
28 days later
Orgazmo
Phantasm
Waterworld

Total so far: 63

Kill Bill vol 1
Kill Bill vol 2
Mortal Kombat
Wolf Creek
Kingdom of Heaven
the Hills Have Eyes
I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
The Last House on the Left
Re-AnimatorA
rmy of Darkness

Total so far: 63


*Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
*Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
*Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
*Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
*Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
*Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
Ewoks The Battle For Endor

Total so far: 69


*The Matrix
*The Matrix Reloaded
*The Matrix Revolutions
Animatrix
Evil Dead
Evil Dead 2
*Team America: World Police
Red Dragon
*Silence of the Lambs
*Hannibal

Total= 75

All I have to say today is:

PIRATES TONIGHT!!!

I love eBay.

More precisely I love the fact that I can buy this on it.

Isn't it just pure genius?

Hurray, I am blogging again! I thought I'd start off with a discussion of the Disney Halloween Party. I called up and booked our tickets this week which got me thinking about costumes. I'm loving Star Wars right now so that was my first port of call. Top ideas were Jedi and Princess, I've gone for the latter simply out of practicality, Jedi outfits need heavy materials for realism and heavy materials don't work well in thr Florida heat.

Out of Leia and Padme, for some reason I prefer Padme as a character so again that dictated my choice, not to mention Leia has a rather limited wardrobe! Luckily there's an amazing site out there called The Padawan's Guide (http://padawansguide.com/index.shtml) which goes ino great detail on Padme's wide and varied choice of dress. Of course most of her costumes are way too complicated and heavy to even contemplate making copies of for MNSSHP so I looked at the more simple ones and finally settled for this one.

Merran has offered the services of her mother (and associated sewing machine) in making this so I hope to report back later in the year with an update on the dress.

Now to work out the hair!

Hey look, I've posted for the 1st time in almost 4 months. Go me!

Virtual human development game

www.human-age.com

Hey guys,



Thought I'd sign off for Christmas with a couple of pics from our recent trip. First up is the pier at Eadtbourne, I love this one, the colours are great.

And here we are sat on the beach.

Merry Christmas!

When you have exceedingly poor friends, you realise just how much money you spend that you didn't really have to.

My friend just managed a week of shopping for £2.17 and is still facing eviction and a court summons to pay uni fees.

We just spent over £400 in a shop on one night to buy each other something.

I feel sick with guilt.

Evening all!

Once again it's been a long time since I last updated, haven't been able to get on here for love nor money - odd.

Our annual trip to The South happened this week although it began a day early with a trip to Lincoln to meet Scott's first nephew Will who arrived on Dec 11th. Such a little cutie and he has such thick black hair!

Monday morning we headed out from Scott's parents' house down to Hellingly nr Eastbourne, we trusted ourselves to the SatNav and it decided we needed a tour of Kent en route - well at least I can now say I've seen Tumbridge Wells?!!? Got to the hotel about 4pm so we just drove around the villages for a few hours. We visited Hirstmonceux (sp?) as that's where Scott's aunt and uncle lived when he was a child, he found their old house and some local pubs that he remembered. Then we carried onto Battle to see the field (it looked field-y) and ended up heading back to Eastbourne via St Leonards on Sea. Had lunch at The Mill then went up to Lewes for DMC VI which was excellent as usual - hoping to have some video soon.

Tuesday we woke up late and went to Eastbourne about lunchtime, had lunch at Qualisea then had a wander down to the beach to take some pics and buy some postcards (1 to send, 2 to keep.) Headed back to town and looked around the shops before going to an ice cream parlour opposite the Winter Gardens for a brownie sundae - yum!!!!! Headed out to Lewes again to have a look around - walked the length of Cliffe High St and went to see Gideon Mantell's house as he's a hero of mine. Not even a plaque to see :(

Couldn't find anything we liked to eat so we decided to test out our SatNav's capabilities. We turned it on and asked it to find nearby restaurants. It told us there was a Pizza Hut 7 miles away so we followed it (to Hove in the end) and lo and behold, there was a Pizza Hut!! Got a lovely Cheesey Bites pizza then went back to Lewes for DMC VI night 2 which was even better than the previous night. Spoke to Ford briefly afterwards and I got a hug off him which is always lovely!

Next morning we headed home after toast at the nearby Little Chef, I'd never actually been in a Little Chef before I don't think.


So that was a long and probably boring account of our trip away. I'll sign off now before you fall asleep. xxx

Suprisingly busy week this week. Lots going on between now and roughly the middle of January so lots to do. I have a DIS scrapbooking swap going on, which I'm also hosting, which is due Jan 15th so there's a ton of work needing to be done on that. This week I did all the lyrics boxes - just about 70 more things to go!

I also have an exam due in next Friday on the history of the family and the use of some documents as research material. Quite boring but I'm not too worried, just need to sit down and actually write the answers next week! We submit online so no worries about postal dates, only worry is having to write 900 - 1200 words on that topic!

All the Christmas shopping is done now, just have the enormous job of wrapping the lot! That's gonna take a whole day. Today I've put the tree up and decorated the rest of the room. It took about 5 hours to do as it involved pinning 10 shiny streamer type things to the ceiling, each of which had to be pinned in 3 places. There were also two dangly ceiling things, one of which bonks Scott on the head as he walks downstairs - oops!