This was my first time driving in America and my first time driving on the right hand side of the road making for not the least stressful of journeys but we reached the park without incident and drove along the Skyline Drive stopping frequently at the various lay-bys to take photos. We noticed that we were the only people getting out of our cars to take pictures whereas other visitors (not that there were many) seemed content to drive in, park up, then take pictures from through their car windows.

There was one incident, though.

As we were driving along the winding road we came across an area of roadworks on our side of the road with temporary traffic lights. We duly waited until the light went green then filtered through and around the bend. We reached the end of the roadworks and carried on as before looking out at the views and making appropriate ooh and aah sounds. Several minutes and a couple of miles later I suddenly realised I’d not switched lane back to the right hand side and had been driving on the wrong side of the road up and down hills and around sharp bends for quite some time. A quick tug on the steering wheel and some innocent whistling ensued.

A processed image of one of the spectacular views of Shenandoah National Park from the Skyline Drive.

The USS Torsk is a diesel-electric submarine that saw service in World War II (receiving two battle stars) and was the American naval vessel to sink the last enemy ship – a Japanese coastal defence frigate – in the conflict.

The following photos are shot from my phone and are from around his house in Maryland, showing off the lovely autumnal browns of the fallen leaves and even a close encounter with some wildlife in that attractive area of the world.

Our trip included a visit to a spy museum (I’d show you the pictures but then I’d have to kill you) and a meal before a little bit of a wander around the streets on the way to the main area of galleries and Smithsonian museums.

We like art and I’m drawn to more of the cubist, modernist trends rather than classical as a general rule so we weren’t disappointed with what Washington had to offer.

The science and aeronautical museums, though, were a great draw for us and a good number of visitors too. We tried to hit as many museums as we could, getting a feel for them rather than exclusively fixing on one or two but we still didn’t have time to visit every museum we wanted. Still, plenty more chances to hit America again.

At the waterfront area not far from our hotel we’d spotted a man standing at the edge of a jetty gesticulating and talking loudly. We sidled up nearby carefully before realising he was a preacher of some kind practicing his sermon to the water. At least that’s what we hope. For all we know his congregation were local Boston fish.

After wandering the waterfront area and stopping for some breakfast (eventually, after the person behind the counter couldn’t understand my accent and had to call for a manager) we crossed over the water via an old and photogenic pedestrian bridge.

Not wanting to get too far from our hotel and conscious that our travelling companion would possibly be awake by this time we looped back to our Boston hotel with me taking as many opportunities to snap a few photos of the city under the glorious sunshine as I could.

It was interesting that one element of what I assumed was the main basis of the parade was quite subdued; that being pure, unadulterated fun. Instead, I found the Thanksgiving Parade quite formal, quite strict, regimented; despite all the smiles and waving. Some of that obviously comes from the military contingent in the parade and the marching bands who are clearly run in a martial manner too, but there was a little too much of the somewhat rote behaviour from many of the other participants too. This isn’t to say that we or other people watching didn’t have a lovely time but it did make me wonder what was really the point of the spectacle. Still very glad to have seen it, of course.

Photos of the USS Constellation were from a mix of my backup camera and my phone as 2012 was the year I went to America and left my main camera bag at home. Still makes me shudder to think of that memory.

In the main hangar the big attraction was the SR-71 Blackbird which is just a beautiful-looking plane with some fantastic lines and curves to it.

An attached section to the main hangar in the museum housed spacecraft, including the star attraction of the Space Shuttle Discovery. It’s a lot larger than I imagined it would be and it was a fantastic experience to be able to walk around and take photos of something that had spent just over a year in space across its dozens of flights.

The bus from Washington D.C. to New York was fine; the trip wasn’t too long or too dull and as we approached New York itself I became very glad I hadn’t considered borrowing or renting a car as the traffic was nightmarish. We arrived fairly late in the evening and had a terrifying fifteen minutes while the hotel we booked into hunted for our reservation that had somehow been misplaced. It was eventually sorted, we freshened up, then hit the streets of New York to see just how alive it was at night.

I don’t tend to take photos at night because I’ve always had a bit of an aversion to high ISO shots and noise but I forced myself past that for the vibrancy of the American city. The neon lights were everything we expected as was the amount of traffic but I don’t think we’d banked on quite so many people being out and about, locals or tourists. Stalls were everywhere: artists, touts for shows or city tours, and this was around midnight. I took photos here and there before we grabbed some food in a specialist burger place and called it a night.

Photos from the Taney’s exterior and on its deck taken on my phone:

Photos from inside the Taney: