Life with the Lamias

The next day, we woke up early, ready to make the most of our last day together. First stop, a tour of the YMCA that Taylor's family run. Her Dad is the big boss, her mum is an instructor and her sister Kaitlyn's works in marketing. A couple of years ago, Taylor sent me this book, Bill- the legend, has written a book all about the people he meets at the Y, and I read it straight away. But I had never been to it before so it was super cool to see in real life, and it was exactly how he painted it in the book. Such a strong community feel, something the UK is missing out on I feel.

Next, we were off to Kaitlyn's house for breakfast, she bought us bagels my fave and after following her house progression since they moved in on Instagram, I was so excited to see it while I was here. They have done an amazing job transforming it into the perfect home, and I have major house jealousy!

While we were at Kaitlyn's, we spontaneously decided to go to Alstede Farms, a local farm in Chester, NJ to have a look around. They had lots of animals, I even learnt a cool fact: did you know that goats have rectangular pupils in their eyes? You could also pick your own for a variety of fruits and veg like peaches, blueberries, sweetcorn, sunflowers and apples in the fall. We took a tractor and trailer ride around the perimeter which stopped at each fruit field for people to get off and get picking!

And then, we tried not to get lost in the sunflower maze which was super cute!

Afterwards, we headed back home, it was BBQ time! We got everybody round, Bill cooked some gigantic steaks, Kaitlyn made pasta salad and grilled some veggies for us, and me and Taylor had Beyond Burgers- meat free!

We sat outside all afternoon chatting and we saw loads of butterflies, hummingbirds and even heard a hawk! Slowly it was time for everyone to take off, inc me to the airport. I said some very emotional goodbyes the people who had made me have one of the most amazing weeks ever, and invited them all over the UK anytime! 

Taylor drove me to Newark airport with plenty of time before my flight, we had some final deep chats about how lucky we are to have eachother and to make these amazing memories together. I truly felt like one of the family and that is such a special experience to have and I truly treasure it. I cried a lot as I got my stuff out of the car and cried during quite a lot of the line for security too. 

It was tears of sadness that I don't know when the next time will be, but I hope it will be soon! It was tears of joy, that this trip had happened! It was sheer exhaustion, it was dealing with the end of term lurgy that I had been trying to put off all week, it was total and utter disbelief at the amount of genuinely amazing experiences that I had in just 6 days. I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else. 

I love you guys so much and I can't wait until next time for more adventures!

That's all for now, hopefully I won't leave it as long...

Speak soon, 

Em x

Waving Goodbye to Cruise Life

Pinkies up!

The cruise docked into West Palm Beach early on Saturday, we got up and packed up and then went to eat breakfast out on the deck for the last time. The weather was amazing as always and we soaked up the last few holiday rays before we disembarked.
We gathered our things and went down to deck 5 to get off the ship and go through the terminal. Little did we know, we were to join the back of the longest, snaking queue I've seen in a long time. We waited about half an hour and had barely moved an inch, then Carlos directed us to the back of another very long line. I couldn't even see the end, so I asked him what we were queuing for to which he replied, US customs. I asked how long we would be waiting, he said 1-2 hours !!!!! So I queried what if we had a flight to catch (I mean it wasn't until 3pm but worth a try), he said show me your booking and he'll let us through. So we did, and he let us join a slightly shorter line. Nice one.
Eventually, we got through to the desk, passports checked, even got another stamp!

Finally, we're out in the big wide world of FL, time to uber to the outlets for Starbucks, shopping and lunch before heading to the airport. A few bargains and some Asian food from Pei Wei later, it was time to head to the airport. We were ready to get back to New Jersey now, just a short 3hr flight to go. Or so we thought.. I had been catching up on Love Island, minding my own business when the pilot comes on the tannoy to tell us he tried to land the plane, but was still a bit high and fast to ground it so had broken the flaps on the wings, he was gonna fly out a little bit to try and get lower and slower to come in again, and that the emergency services had been called to the runway- just in case. Great. Let's just see what happens.

We did manage to land safely, the baby on my row finally stopped crying after 2 hours and the whole plane erupted into a round of applause! I've been on a lot of flights and this is the first time I've seen this so I was cracking up! Big up to Will (Taylor's bf) for picking us up from the airport in his swish brand new exec car.

We got back to the house, Taylor's parents had made us dinner and her sister had come round so that was a nice surprise! Then she took us all to Cliff's for ice cream. Only in America can you get 100s of flavours of homemade ice cream on the side of the main road!

Afterwards, we went back and upacked, and for me- repacked cus tomorrow I fly back to the UK!

Got to make the most of this time here!

Speak soon, 

Em x

Going the Whole Hog

I had been feeling pretty rough all week, end of term vibes making me run down, not to mention the rushing around and traveling before this trip but finally, a good nights rest, I felt ready to enjoy our first stop of our cruise trip.

The Bahamas

We got up, packed our beach bags and went to get breakfast in the buffet. We sat out on the deck for a little while as the boat was coming in to dock. Soon after, we had disembarked and were being directed to our tour bus. It worked like clockwork! We were driven away from the industrial port and taken on what felt like a personal tour of the drivers life here on Grand Bahama Island. 

We reached our destination, Crystal Beach. The closest thing to paradise you could get. Private beach, with loungers, picnic tables, an exclusive bar serving food and drink, hammocks, and the most crystal clear water you could ever imagine. 

We couldn’t decide what to do first: swim, sunbathe, or what but we went with a photo shoot of course.

After we got into the water, it was so shallow and warm we paddled for quite a distance without it getting deeper and we could see the fish swimming beneath us. 

Not long after it was time for the main event. Swimming with the pigs! We were taken out into the water, given some snacks to feed the pigs and they were released into the ocean. They swam right up to us, eating the treats and weaving between everyone. We just fed them, stroked them and played with them, domesticated pigs, in the Atlantic Ocean. Like where else can you do that? Surreal!

For the rest of the day, we chilled out, rested in the shade, swam some more, took more photos and just made the most of being on this paradise beach. We also got talking to a guy with his 2 kids which was nice. 

Before too long, it was time to head back to the ship. We were ready to hit the buffet, get ready for the night and make the most of what the ship has to offer before we leave tomorrow. 

After we ate dinner, a solid 4 course meal, we headed up to the deck for a little while to play cards and chat while we waited for the evening show to start. After the show, we were pretty tired from our day of adventures so it was time to rest up.

Speak soon,

Em x

Cruise Control: On

Getting up on a few hours sleep was no problem this morning, cus we’re heading to the airport! Back to Newark, better weather so no delays and a domestic flight to catch.

Easy right? 

We arrived at the airport with 55 mins until take off. Time to check in. ☑️Next join the snaking line to get through security. We weaved around and around, each time we thought we were getting close to the security scanners we were diverted to another line! This would have been fine if we had time to spare. Eventually we got to the scanners, put our stuff through and walked through the person scanner. After what felt like an eternity, our stuff came out, separated by what seemed to be an entire airport’s worth of cabin bags! 

Grab the stuff, RUN.

Gate 127 was further away than necessary but we made it just in time for the final boarding call. We got on the plane, take off and landing within 2.5hrs. And where did we find ourselves..?

West Palm Beach, FL.

That’s right, time for vacation within a vacation. Em + T travelling the states together for the first time! First stop, breakfast at Smoothie Whirld. Next, we were on the hunt for some aloe gel and some extra spf since the flight limited our liquid allowance.  Shopping done, time for our next adventure.

Grand Celebration

Now if you know me, you’ll know I love to cruise. I’m a total preacher about it, I just think you can’t get much better than staying in a luxury all inclusive 5* hotel that sails overnight meaning you wake up in a different location every day. Taylor knows this so we had to plan this in to my visit. She’s never cruised before but found a great deal and so here we are! 

I’ll throw in a couple of anecdotes about the staff we’ve met so far. First, check in at the port terminal, a guy directing the line to which check in desks to go to, Taylor spots one so asks if we can go over, the guy says no, then is like wait which one? So we’re like number 7, and he sends another group to that desk!

Next, we get to the check in desk, ask a load of questions and the lady says nothing is included in the price we paid, despite us booking an all inclusive deal, we later discovered this is a lie! Then she gets her ipad out and holds it up, Taylor looks at something the other way and the lady is like what you doing I’m trying to get your picture, so I was like but you didn’t tell her that!! Pics done, we’re finally on board.

We explored the boat, found the buffet of course and booked ourselves onto a trip for tomorrow- no spoilers. Later on it was dinner time, there was a party going on in one the lounges that we watched for a bit and then tried to get a glimpse of the spacex rocket launch about 100 miles away from us but no luck. We headed in to the restaurant (which was included..) and were seated at a table with 2 sisters from Wyoming so had lots of fun conversation with them! Then a lady came round to take our photo right in the middle of the entrees!

Then it was show time, my favourite time! We went into the biggest theatre  found our seats and settled in for a classic cruise ship show of singing dancing and acrobatics. 

Afterwards I was so wiped we went straight to bed, ready for tomorrow!

Speak soon,

Em x

Down at the Jersey Shore

This morning we woke up kind of early cus it’s beach day! We packed up the car and headed towards the shore to Island Beach State Park. 

It was still early by the time we got there so we had pick of the spots to set up. We sat in our swimsuits on the sand all morning, reading, dozing and roasting (just me that was slowly roasting, despite topping up the spf50 regularly, no worries, I’ve got that holiday glow (🦞)

We paddled in the sea which was cooler than usual thanks to the storm that hit NJ this week, thankfully the rain stopped finally in the early hours of this morning! We ate a classic beach picnic lunch packed by Taylor’s mum and chilled out for another hour or so. Taylor made me the American classic: PB&J sandwich for the #experience !!

I decided I had to go right into the ocean before we had to leave and funnily enough the water had already started warming up in that short time.

The time came to pack up, head back to the house and get our stuff to go back to Randolph. The plan was to repack for our ~secret trip~ which leaves in the early hours of the morning, eat some food and watch some TV (treating me to the real American experience over here!)

I’m so excited for the next part of the trip, remember to keep those eyes peeled! 👀

Speak soon,

Em x

Day One on the Bay with my number one BAE

I finally made it to Taylor’s house at 03.00am after her Dad very kindly got up in the middle of the night, came to find me and my v limited wifi signal and then stayed up to start his day (😱)!

T showed me around the house, I showered and could not wait to climb into bed. 

Around 5hrs later, I woke up and was greeted by Taylor’s mum and their pets. T had been to get us bagels from the place I remembered from the last time I visited. 

After a quick repack we were on the road to their family’s lakehouse for a couple of days. We pulled up, dropped our stuff off, made some snacks and headed out to the bay to do some shopping.

A couple of hours later, Taylor’s mum drove us to the other side of Long Beach Island to see where the bay meets the ocean, conveniently marked with a Barnegat Lighthouse. On the way we passed some pretty crazy holiday homes, most of them bigger than schools I’ve taught in! 

Then it was food time so we stopped for pizza and salad, then headed back to the house. On the way we decided to rent a movie to watch in the evening. We got back and showered in probably the coolest shower I have ever seen! When I get in it tomorrow, I’m taking a pic first. Have you ever showered outdoors, stark, in the rain, with the birds singing in the evening? It’s an experience I would definitely recommend!

Girls night in at the house consists of 3 Jersey girls, ice cream and a rented rom com- sounds pretty good to me! Looking forward to catching up on some rest before the rest of the trip too.

Speak soon,

Em x

The Transatlantic Trip

Almost 3 years ago to the day, I was heading the airport ready to start my American adventure of 2016 (see here). I had just graduated, with no idea what the future would hold for me, my only goal was to get back to the U.S., experience more, visit more states and return to Mississippi where I left my heart in 2014. That trip could not have gone any better, I was lucky then to have the funds and the time to spend 7 weeks state-hopping: 7 to be exact FL, MS, CA, AZ, NV, NJ & NY!! 

Well here I am again, this time beginning my descent into New Jersey. 3 years later, freshly graduated once more. This time with slightly more future prospects as I'm set to begin my career as a teacher of my very own class of tinies in September. In the meantime, I am about to touchdown in New Jersey  to be reunited after sooooo long with this beauty.

You may remember Taylor from such posts as cross-country check in and the New Jersey local back in 2016. I first met Taylor when she arrived on campus for her study abroad semester at Reading, bright eyed and wide smiled (and not showing any signs of jet lag cus she's such a boss!!). Since then we have shared numerous adventures over the years despite living 4000 miles apart, and this week is time to make more memories!

I won't divulge any details of what we have planned just yet, but let me tell you we've scheduled in a long overdue catch up!

I count myself lucky to have met such a great friend in Taylor when our paths crossed back in 2015, since then we've never missed a Christmas or birthday sending transatlantic packages each year. She's one in a million and I am so excited for our adventures together.

Thanks T for making this happen, just 398km to go now! 

Look out for more posts coming your way soon! 

Speak soon,

Em x

Update: we never landed in NJ. Terrible storms meant that our flight was redirected to Boston. We landed here over 2 hours ago and have been waiting on board for the plane to be refuelled. As far as I'm aware, there is no plan after this so I'm just sitting tight. I swear these "adventures" only happen when I fly solo! Hopefully we make it to Newark soon...

Update: I eventually made it to Newark at 01.00amlocal time, that's 06.00ammy time, after travelling for 21 hours, 13 of those were inside the plane! Even though it's late, Taylor is on her way now to pick me up, what a rollercoaster!!