Trek America: Washington, Nashville and Memphis

In an earlier post I mentioned my travel plans to join onto a Trek America tour called the Southern BLT.

It's no secret that my favourite country in the world is the USA. I have fond memories of holidays in Florida and New York. I have even worked in South Carolina in 2015 for 3 months, however I still yearned to see the rest of this diverse country.

Southern BLT (NYC to LA)

One of my ultimate places that I have always wanted to visit in the world is LA, so it made sense that this tour ended in this city. Starting in New York and making my way across the country through the southern states, I would end up in LA after three weeks of exploring the USA.

So, on an early morning in September, I hopped on a plane (to LAX... not quite, but to Newark) and began my tour with Trek America.

An early start on our first day involved meeting my new tour group and leader, and loading our luggage onto what would become a place we would spend a lot of our time: the trek van.

Before going on a Trek America tour, it is important to realise that there will be very long drives, sometimes up to 8 hours long, so if you get bored easily or travel sick then this might not be the best tour choice for you.

Our first stop of the tour was in Philadelphia, where we ran up those famous Rocky steps, and tasted the famous Philly cheese steak. After a quick stop to see the Liberty bell, it was time to move on to our destination for the next two nights, Washington DC.

Rocky Steps

World famous Philly cheese steak

Washington DC is a city that I can only describe as serious , very clean and oozing history. Home to the Whitehouse and a lot of monuments, it is the heart of US politics and a great city to visit. A recommendation to do is go to the Smithsonian museums (which are free) such as the Natural History museum and the Space and Air museum. There are so many that you could spend days wandering around the exhibits.

Hello Obama!

Our first night was spent doing an illumination tour of the main sights, which are great to visit in the day and the night. Washington is the scene of so many movies, so it was great to be able to witness these iconic monuments in person. After spending our free day wandering around the museums, we checked out the local nightlife by going to Rocket bar to have some group bonding time.

After a whistle stop tour of Washington and a night stop over in Virginia, it was time to move onto our next big destination: Nashville!

Nashville in one word is crazy! It is bursting with live country music and line dancing. Although we were only in Nashville for less than 24 hours, it didn't stop us from partying the night away in the Honky Tonk bar, which has 3 floors with different live music on each one.

We stayed at the Nashville Downtown hostel which is amazing and around the corner from all the madness.

The atmosphere in Nashville is incredible, especially as we were visiting on the 9/11 memorial weekend. There was so much patriotism in the air which made everyone extra friendly and upbeat!

After a crazy 24 hours spent in Nashville, it was time to move on to our next destination: Memphis!

Compared to Nashville, Memphis is a little on the quieter side but still bursting with soul music. Our first stop was at Sun Studios, where the likes of Elvis and Johnny Cash have recorded songs there. To experience even more of the rock n roll music and southern food, we headed to Beale Street to get a taste of southern style ribs in BB Kings. As we were there on a Sunday night, it was a little quiet but was much needed after a crazy night in Nashville.

Graceland

Beale Street

Our full day in Memphis was spent exploring the home of the king of rock n roll: Graceland! This is Elvis' home and is fascinating for anyone who loves his music. I had obviously heard Elvis' songs but didn't know much about him as a person, so this was great for me to broaden my knowledge and really appreciate him as an artist.

Later on that day, we headed to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous march of the ducks. This is a daily tradition that is famous and well worth watching. Rather than explain it, I've included a video of what happens, but you really have to witness it yourself.

Our time in Memphis sadly came to an end, but our next stop was the crazy city of New Orleans, which will be featured in the following post!

Review: One Direction at the O2 Arena

Hello Readers!

Today's post is to do with one of my favourite things to talk about in the world: One Direction!

Having supported them since they were on X Factor, and I'm not lying when I say this! I really did go to one of their very first gigs at the forum in Hertfordshire after the X Factor had ended. And I may have been to every tour they've ever had...

Anyway, I am not a crazy directioner, I promise! So on Monday I headed off to London to meet my little cousin and take her to see One Direction at the O2.

Since being at university, I haven't seen them or anyone live in a while, so it was nice to go back to that familiar feeling of excitement before seeing your favourite band live. Unfortunately we missed the support act so I have no idea how good they were.

Onto the review of their live show.

The tour was called 'On The Road Again' and was a collection of their greatest hits, plus tracks from their albums Midnight Memories and Four. These included Kiss You, What Makes You Beautiful, Drag Me Down, Story Of My Life, Little Things etc.

Usually pop concerts consist of 90 minutes of cheesy, danceable songs. I was pleasantly surprised that 1D were onstage for a full 2 hours, which is pretty good seeing as most of their audience members are of school age!

 It was a Monday and their fourth night at the O2 arena, so I wasn't expecting the same energy that they would have had from their weekend shows.

I was wrong, they performed with every ounce of energy to make sure everyone in that room got the same and best experience. This is a thing to be proud of, as it's so easy to give a poor performance because you are bored from the repetitive routine and completely knackered from performing 4 nights in a row. These tickets were certainly not cheap, so to come out of their getting my money's worth, and having had an incredible experience is a really nice feeling.

The atmosphere was amazing. It was hard not to sing and dance along to all the songs, even though I didn't know some of them.

I also felt that even though there were only four of them this time, you couldn't notice the difference from their previous tours. They united as a foursome extremely well.

After the concert had finished, I walked out feeling a little sad that this could be their last one for a while. It made me want to see them again straight away, and I guess all artists want their fans to feel this.

I feel like 1D should feel proud to have transformed into a very professional and talented band. There music hiatus will come gladly to them, as I do feel they need some time to recharge and regain their passion and excitement for their careers. All I can say to them if by chance they happen to read this, is good luck for whatever you choose to pursue in the future, and enjoy the moment while it lasts.

To my readers, if you want a fun and enjoyable night out where you can sing and dance your heart out, take someone to see One Direction!