By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).
So before I head home after six of the best months I could have asked for, I’ll give a little update on my travels.
The first port of call after leaving Philadelphia was Washington D.C., the capital of the USA. I spent my two days in D.C. mainly on and around the National Mall visiting pretty much everything, starting with the Lincoln Memorial on the west side and ending with the Supreme Court building to the east. I also spent some time in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, which was huge, but somehow made to feel small by the sheer number of people inside it.
After D.C. I kept heading south, through Virginia, where I visited Monticello, the former home of Thomas Jefferson. Next stop was Savannah (Georgia), where I spent most of my time in the historical district – which was beautiful – being told by tour guides and street signs about the various films that had been filmed in Savannah, especially Forrest Gump.
Charleston in South Carolina had some streets possibly even more picturesque than those of Savannah, especially an area of houses known as ‘Rainbow Row’. In Savannah a great way to see the city was to take a trolley tour, but in Charleston the case was similar for the harbour tours that show off the city.
Following Charleston, I headed to my cousin’s holiday house in North Carolina for some downtime that included some serious messing around on jet-skis and generally making the most of the glorious weather before heading back to Philadelphia.
I guess all that’s left to do is come home. Which is a weird thing to write. I might have to try and fit some more little adventures in, but I’ll just have to see how everything pans out – either way, I think this is it for my blogging. It really has been a brilliant six months.