Another US trip report - but this one's about the home of disco balls and hand transplants

[NSun]

With quite a few other trip reports about US trips right now, I was tempted to wait a while to post this one. But I'm biting the bullet, because this one will be unique given a lot of it will be about Kentucky. Yes, Kentucky is the state of KFC and bourbon, but also the one that (according to our city tour guide) has the only disco ball factory in the world, gave us Hi-5's, Happy birthday song and hand transplants. To be fair, our guide admitted it was the 3rd worst city for driving and the first KFC outlet was actually in Utah. But it is a great place to visit and one I never would've but to visit a family friend there.

There'll also be a bit of Dallas, Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, Atlanta and New York. Beyond my sightseeing and catchups with loved ones, I'll also tell a bit about my adventures on Greyhound buses (I saw some interesting stuff) and my struggles to try and eat healthy, which isn't easy to do here, but also to find decent coffee. On the latter point, it has been 2 years since I last went there and I've finally fallen for the trap and begun drinking coffee - albeit mochas. So it is my first trip facing the dilemma many Australians have in the States. Or do they face it?

Let's go!

 

[NSun]

I went out on QF7. Only had a smoothie for breakfast. So I'll also share the dinner I had just a couple of weeks ago prior to a trip to New Zealand. Buffalo mozzarella, Lamb and vanilla ice cream profiterole. They all tasted great, but was disappointed with the portions.










Our aircraft was VH-ZNL which is actually in the first photo. I'd never been on that one before, so now I've only got ZNB, ZNG and ZNN to fly on before I've 'completed' the set of Dreamliners. It is hard to get a close-up shot of aircraft from Gates 8 and 9 - we used the latter.

I was in Premium Economy and in 21K, next to a fellow WP who seemed to be travelling in a group as he spent about half the flight in the business cabin talking to acquaintances. Was a beautiful morning to fly out of Sydney.



Gin & tonic with nuts to start. Then pumpkin ravioli - delicious.





Was a rough night's sleep - don't know how much I got, probably 4-5 hours and broken up a lot. It is always harder going east than west and also in northern summer when the US time difference is even greater. Our flight time was 14 hours and 59 minutes, longer than usual. We actually returned to the gate to offload a passenger then had to wait for a tug again. We didn't have to see the safety video twice but the cabin crew had to walk through the cabin to perform an extra round of safety checks. Took off 1.5 hours late and landed 50 minutes later, which would've led to many tight connections.

 

[NSun]

Arrived.





It is great that QF7 is timed back to the morning so there was no queue at immigration. Many of my friends were warning me about US customs since Trump returned. I had an interesting encounter, I got some guy who seemed bored but perhaps thought maybe he get a little kick out of particular encounters. Asked for me ESTA and told me,' You have to have a return flight to enter on an ESTA', and turned around the screen to show me it. I just showed him my return flights, looked at them for a moment then just waved me through. My attitude towards any immgiration officials is to be calm, honest and answer all their questions even if they're acting arrogant or trying to get you pissed off so they can not let you in, and it worked this time.

I was going to spent a night in Dallas so exited the airport and caught the DART into town. To get there, you need to catch an landside shuttle to Terminal A then walk. If you arrived on a domestic flight, you can catch the Skytrain to Terminal A then exit, but that is not an option when you're arriving internationally.





It is about an hour ride to get downtown. On the way there, we passed Las Colinas which seems to be to Dallas what Robina is to the Gold Coast - a planned community, only Texas' one had a convention centre of its own to boast of.



Made it to Downtown Dallas. First thing I did was see the place where JFK shot. Obvious stop, yes, but it was close to the 'DART station' where I got off.







Then went on a walk for a few blocks, stopping at a foot court to get some Indian to eat. Cost me US$20 including sales tax, drink and tip.

 

[NSun]

More of Downtown Dallas, and the Ellum district to the immediate east.













After a few hours, I got back on the DART to my hotel - the Holiday Inn in the Medical District. It hosts many hospitals, headed by Parkland that is the largest in the state and is also the hospital JFK got taken to after being shot. And there are memorials there too.

 

[NSun]

My hotel was about 10 minutes walk from the hospital and station. This is the view from my room, some pictures of my room and the hotel pool which I cooled off in.





Shubs.





I went to bed about 8.30pm then went on a walk around 6.30am the next morning. There I discovered a station that was closer to my hotel, but would've probably been to much to cross the road later on.

 

[NSun]

My main ticket was Sydney-DFW-Chicago one way, then Newark-Dallas-Sydney. It was time for the second leg that day. I promise no more flights for 6 more days after this - Greyhound instead.

Had a decent brunch in the AA flagship lounge in Terminal D - it is worth the trek from any other terminal via the SkyRail.













Couldn't help myself.



The Dallas Cowboys are the NFL's equivalent of Carlton. Haven't been much good since the mid 1990s, having only won 5 'finals' and not made it to the NFL equivalent of the preliminary final since 1995 - the 3rd longest drought amongst all teams and longest amongst teams in their conference. But their fans are known for always claiming it is 'their year' and acting as if the 1990s happened yesterday. I digress.

Flew a 787 up to Chicago, was a smooth 2 hour flight.







But we spent nearly a whole hour taxiing around the runway because there were a lot of planes and we landed on the runway at the opposite side to where the AA gates are.



Ready for the 4th of July.

 

[NSun]

I caught the train Downtown. The newest metro system, it certainly ain't. But trains go every 10 minutes and they don't put on any airport surcharge. These trains are called the 'L' trains after the 'elevated' loop downtown.











My hotel was the Travelodge and it had windows, but the only view was to the brick wall of the next door building. Not worth mentioning further. I dumped my bags and went on a walk. I had been to Chicago before, but never during summer.











Yes, the same one in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. But it is closed on Tuesdays only.

 

[NSun]

Continued...







The bottom half of this building is car parking - imagine that view. Then I suppose the top half is either flats or office space.








I closed out the night with some deep dish pizza from a chain called Rosati's.

 

[NSun]

I had a rough night's sleep that night. I got up in the morning to find it had become overcast.

 

[NSun]

Then it was on the bus to Louisville via Indianapolis. My top tips for catching Greyhound buses are to pay extra for an empty seat next to you...every time, and expect the unexpected when it comes to your fellow passengers. Those Noel Phillips Greyhound videos are all true - hence there's a glass shield blocking the passengers not just from the driver but the whole front area when the bus is in motion. I'll say no more.

I reserved myself the very front row.



Rate Field - the White Sox's field.



Brought back memories here to the days when you could still buy fireworks in Canberra. My uncle would do that, then bring them to Sydney and we'd let them off in the late evenings at Queens Park. Ah, those were the days.

 

[NSun]

We stopped for an hour in Indianapolis - enough time to go for a walk for a few blocks. It is the global home of coughmins and Eli Lilly as well as the regional HQ of Salesforce - which has a Salesforce tower like in Sydney. Saw the stadium, Soldier and Sailors' Monument and the State Capitol, among other attractions.



















Then it was back on the road again.

 

[NSun]

Back on the bus and another couple of hours to Louisville.









So why am I in Louisville? To see a family friend of mine. She and my grandmother were born and grew up in modern day Serbia. They ultimately emigrated separately but kept in touch, visiting each other a few times. I hadn't seen this person since before 2000 so was great to catch up. I was picked up from the Greyhound bus stop and taken to dinner here, but shown some sights along the way.







The Louisville Water Tower, built in 1860 and the oldest of its kind. I was told Louisville had the best tap water in the country. I can't say that for sure, but it was much better than my Chicago hotel in that it was actually drinkable.

 

[NSun]

We made it to White Fish. It sat right on the Ohio River that goes all the way to Pittsburgh.







Salad and chicken tacos for me.