Day 6 - Raising the Steaks

Following a late night of partying and catch-up blogs, we got relatively little sleep this morning, and so woke fairly late, at about 10.30. No bagels this morning (boo, hiss...), but a healthy dose of Special K did once again set us up for the energetic day ahead.

However, the start to the day wasn't particularly energetic, as we had a slow and relaxing morning (or what was left of it), and just 'hung out' with Josh in the condo, catching up with Olympic headlines and discussing the day's jamming prospects. Paul arrived shortly, and after receiving his expert advice on today's weather conditions, we all eventually joined Carl down on the beach.

Our freestyle sessions began with an enjoyable throw and catch warm-up right by the tide, with many catches being made in the water (and a couple of discs having to be rescued from it after wayward throws)! We then moved on to some full-on jamming, and had a great session with the five of us, despite more difficult winds that came from the land. We also took a couple of breaks to just relax on the beach, during which we tried a few alternative sports - involving three 'woggle' floats that had conveniently been brought along. A high-paced lightsaber duel was first on the menu, and was followed swiftly by a competitive javelin contest...taking beach sports to a whole new level.


After exercising our considerable skill in the above areas, we then took a short break before starting the much anticipated 'death jam' with Paul. His sister Janine and close friend Don came down to the beach at this point to meet up with us, and even to partake in a spot of freestyle! Don's head tips consistently brought the biggest applause, and he even got his first ever 'scarecrow' catch whilst with us.

We ended the jam with some big beach moves, and then strolled back into the condo for a much needed cold shower and a freshen up - or time for 'primping', as is the US term. Once fully primped, we left with Carl and Josh for Paul's house, where he and Cheryl were cooking up a big meal for everyone. The company was great, the food was delicious (the best steak we've ever tasted for sure), and we were treated to an array of freestyle videos from Paul's archives; all shown on his 67-inch plasma HD TV screen. On the whole, it was a very enjoyable evening, rounded off by the impressive sight of a full moon (and, of course, the werewolf that casually sauntered past our balcony just now).




Here endeth day 6,

All the best,

J&J

Day 5 - Cookout at Carl's

(Please note: The blog for Day 4 has been published slightly late, but can be found below this, apologies for the delay)

We enjoyed a much-needed lie in at the condo this morning, a welcomed luxury after our busy (but of course fantastic) days in NYC. After a breakfast of bagels and Special K (yes people, they do have it in the US... although it does taste different), we started off by watching a few of the DVD's from Paul's freestyle archive here at the condo - a facility we will be taking advantage of at plenty of times during our stay.

Just before midday, our new friend Josh who we'd met last night called round. Josh is actually only 16 years old and is a budding freestyler - it's great to know there is at least some young blood in the sport within the USA! After for relaxing for a while at the condo, the three of us begun the long, treacherous walk to the beach (a staggering distance of about 20 metres). The first jam was quite difficult with the wind coming from inland, however, we still managed to have a great time. And it has to be said... Florida is hot (with a capital H)... making it necessary for regular water breaks and copious applications of suncream. After sticking it out for a good hour or so we headed indoors for some lunch, and to cool off in the air-conditioned condo.



During our break, we were joined by Paul, who was fired up for a jam after his morning at work and brought with him a welcomed box of luxury doughnuts (Krispy Kremes in fact... for any connoisseurs out there). Luckily, the beach conditions were due to step up in the mid-afternoon so the chances of a high quality jam were looking good. We waited for the perfect sea breeze then made for the sand, and we were soon enjoying a high-energy beach jam, packed with big combo's and brought to life by Paul's boombox. Later on in the jam, we were joined by Carl (Josh's Dad, and a close friend of Paul's) and we 'shredded' (frisbee terminology for playing well and nailing the moves) into the early evening.




Once we'd showered and freshened up, it was time for the big social event of the day... a 'cookout' (translation for UK readers = barbeque) at Carl & Josh's place. We were joined by a great group of locals, who were all friends or family of Paul & Carl. We really enjoyed the evening and we're made to feel really welcome. It was nice to spend some time relaxing and socialising with people from the State, made even better by ideal weather an expertly produced barbeque from Carl... is there no end to this man's talents?! To our surprise, our British accents were greatly admired... see below for just how well...






As the night drew to its late end, we were given a lift back to the condo by Paul's wife Cheryl. And now it's time to get some sleep before a 'death jam' on the beach tomorrow afternoon.

We hope everyone is well back home!

J&J

Day 4 - Seafood Sunsets

(First of all, a quick note to apologise for the slight delay of the publishing of this blog entry - we won't always have internet access while in various locations in the states, so this could happen at a couple of points during our trip.)

We awoke for the last time in NYC, and it was another early start. We wanted to leave as early as possible for our flight to Jacksonville, Florida, and had plenty to do before setting off. Also, at 8am, an important phonecall was to be received - to reveal the results of Joe's recent A-Level examinations. The news was good (five A's), and so this meant we started the day on a high (which will probably continue into the rest of the trip for Joe)! Both of us would like to say congrats to everyone back home who got their results as well, and we wish you all the best for wherever you're heading next.

After this, and a bit of last minute packing, we said our farewell's to Roger and his family. They have been fantastic hosts, and made our time in New York a truly memorable one. We then headed for La Guardia - one of NY's three airports, in order to board our flight. We decided to take the budget option for transport over to the airport, and opted for a tube journey with a bus transfer, which was relatively smooth, and costed a mere $2 a piece (rather than a taxi's $50 trip). How's that for bargain travel!? Unfortunately, the flight did set off slightly later than planned, and we sat on the plane for quite a while whilst the delay (due to an imbalance of cargo/passenger weight) was announced and rectified.

However, we did of course reach Jacksonville in the end, and we were greeted as we touched down by our new host - Mr. Paul Kenny! Generously, Paul then chaperoned us from the airport to his 'Condo' at Jax beach, which will be our personal home until Monday. The condo, to explain the uninitiated, is essentially a beachside apartment complete with balcony, looking out directly onto the ocean. It's ideal for a relaxing break here in Flordia, especially for keen freestylers such as ourselves. Once settled in, we had a welcome drink on the balcony with Paul, and met two of his friends - local freestylers Carl and his son Josh.



After a relaxing hour-or-so on the balcony, ourselves and Paul departed for a particularly special seafood restaurant, which goes by the name of Singleton's Seafood Shack. This was no ordinary seafood shack, this was real thing. Located on a local pier in a small fishing harbour, the food that was tingling our tastebuds was completely fresh from the waters right beside us. The ambience, or 'vibe', was perfectly authentic, and this was completed with a spectacular sunset happening just across the water.





After munching our way through everything from stuffed crab to fried squid, we headed back. Paul dropped us off at the condo before heading back to his nearby house, and we're now ready for a good night's sleep before the huge freestlye sessions planned for tomorrow. We've had a great first day, a great introduction to Florida, and are extremely exicted about the weekend ahead.

Sorry Jake, no T-Rexes today.

Day 5 coming very soon!

J&J

Day 3 - Kerry and The King

Hello all, welcome to Day 3...

Our adventure today began with a rude awakening from a circular-saw slicing/grinding its way through the pavement outside our window. Ahh... the tranquility of NYC. However, it turned out to be a good thing that we awoke early as today has been jam packed once again.

We first headed down to Washington Square Park to meet up with our Californian friend Arthur Coddington - we're actually staying with Arthur later in our trip and he happens to be in NYC for a few days, so we took the opportunity to say hi. We enjoyed a pleasant walk around Greenwich Village (a small part of the city) and had a good catch up.

After saying our farewells to Arthur (for now), we made our way Uptown to Times Square. A truly fantastic experience indeed... the place was bustling with people, layered with tall buildings to every side and boasted a plethora of mind-boggling advertisement screens. Also situated around the square were many incredible stores. After taking our obligatory tourist photos we headed into a few of these - first stop being the intellectually stimulating 'Toys R Us', which was actually really cool. The highlights for ourselves were a Jurassic Park T-Rex and several huge Lego models - featuring King Kong atop the Empire State, the Statue Of Liberty and Captain Jack Sparrow. However, topping even the 'Toys R Us' store was the distinctly more sophisticated 'M&M's World'. Now this place was special - a dream come true for all M&M's fans - name a colour, they have it (yes, that does include Teal, Electric Green & Maroon). Each colour, was supplied in a 20ft high tube dispenser reaching right up to the ceiling - they even did special mix tubes (our personal favourites being the New York Taxi and Indiana Jones colour schemes).



With excitement pulsing through our veins after the delights of M&M's World, we headed back Uptown again to Roger's house. Before another Central Park jam, we took a quick detour into the Natural History Museum. Due to time constraints we had a whistle-stop tour, but managed to take in such attractions as a life size Blue Whale, a T-Rex (note - our second of the day) and a model of the solar system to name but a few.

When we got to the park, we first spent some time recording for a top secret series of DiscCast specials that can be expected in the coming months. Just as the jams were about to begin, NY jammer Ted Oberhaus made a very welcome visit. Ted's energy for the sport is fantastic and he's got to be one of the best players we've ever jammed with - a great guy.

However, the jams were cut short today as the most exciting event was still to come... we were off to see The Lion King on Broadway, showing at the Minskoff Theatre at Times Square. Luckily our new-found tube (or subway as we've been oft corrected here) experience, meant that we beat a tight time schedule with help from a Downtown C train. The Theatre was stunning, but this was nothing compared to the show itself! A superb musical and a feast for the senses... as one New York critic puts it "Awe Inspiring! A Gorgeous, Gasp-Inducing Spectacle!". We couldn't agree more.

We then made our way across to the other side of Times Square (definitely best seen by night) to the world famous 'Planet Hollywood' restaurant. Our waitress for the evening was a very pleasant girl named Kerry, who served up a great mix of personality, conversation and looks. Talk about a gorgeous, gasp-inducing spectacle! She even kept a lonely John company while Joe made a self-sacrificing tactical visit to the Restroom. Oh, and we had some food as well.

So, it's over and out from us for another day...

Tomorrow brings with it our journey to Jacksonville, Florida, which we're looking forward to immensely. Well, not particularly the journey, but certainly the destination.

As a final note, good luck to any UK readers receiving A-Level results in just a few hours time!

J&J

Day 2 - City Sights and Frisbee Flight

As the more observant among you will have perhaps noticed from the video above, we began our first full day in NY with a trip to the top (or nearly) of the Empire State Building; the city's most iconic symbol. As can also be seen, the views were truly awesome, made all the better by the fine, bright morning weather. Luckily, our host Roger had given us a crowd-beating tip off - go first thing in the morning -and so, although any potential lie-ins were sacrificed, we didn't have to wait too long to get up there. The hundreds of people lining up outside the door when we were leaving hadn't been as well advised.






































From there, we headed even further 'downtown', as all true New Yorkers seem to do. Our destination was the city's 'financial district', which is home to many an impressive skyscraper. It's also happens to be home to many a mexican food stand. As we found out to our peril, these stands don't tend to offer either still drinking water (according to one moustache-adorned mexican, only sparkling is available in the US), or bacon sandwiches (considered 'breakfast' items) after 12 noon. Alas, a hot dog and bagels had to do. However, all was not lost, as our lunch was completely recovered from its tragic status by simply being in the right place at the right time. This lunchtime, in the district, was the grand opening of 'Yorganic', a yoghurt and smoothie parlour where - you guessed it - the ingredients are 100% organic. As a friendly opening-day offer, they were giving away free frozen yogurts with fruit, and so this made a convenient (and completely delicious) dessert for us. Visit www.eatyorganic.com for more details. And they didn't pay us to say that. Finally on the lunch front - today's food trivia challenge (following on from yesterday's runaway success spinach question) is...what is Falafel? All the food stands had an ample supply (and demand) of this mysterious meaty treat.


































Whilst downtown, a highlight was looking across to the statue of liberty, based on it's eponymous island. This was another attraction to tick off the iconic symbol list, and it is interestingly much smaller than is commonly perceived. However, it's still a marvelous piece of work, and was essential viewing whilst here.

Before the tragic events of seven years ago, of course, the financial district was also home to the World Trade Center - the twin towers that dominated the skyline. We next headed over to ground zero to pay our respects to those who lost their lives, and took great interest in the memorials there. Work is now clearly underway for a new construction project - when finished in 2011, 'Freedom Tower' will be the world's tallest building, at a staggering 1,776 feet. It will also be a large statement to the world, on America's behalf.

Our next mission was to head back uptown to get changed back at the house for an evening jam (please note - jam is of course the slang term for a spontaneous game of frisbee freestyle) with the New York players. We showed our lack of subway experience by boarding the wrong train twice - this extended a journey that should have been simple by about 40 minutes, but we got there in the end.

We were in for an eventful evening. The turnout from the NY jammers was great, even though we were trying to tempt them out on a tuesday, when normal jamming day is strictly thursday! We were joined on Central Park by Rob, Roger, Joey, Tall Paul, Brad, Lou, Kevin and J. We had a fantastic time, one of the best jams we've ever had, and one that we'll never forget. We really appreciated all the guys showing up, even the ones who weren't jamming - it was great to meet them all. Midway through the jam, the conditions took an interesting twist. The rain began to fall, but the temperature stayed high; a true mix of British and US weather. This was, of course, no trouble to the freestylers though, and we continued to nail the moves in the downpour. The conditions continued to shift, and, as the sun shone through the rain, a stunning rainbow was formed. Astonishingly, it was a full rainbow that actually started and finished in the meadow (field, for UK readers) where we were playing, and seeing this was a lifetime first for all of us, and made the whole jam session even more memorable. You can see it partially on the photo below, although it had moved slightly by the time we got the cameras out.

Obviously, the day could only be finished off in one place - the bar (but don't worry parents, we're not old enough to drink over here). After our long jam, a grilled barbecue chicken sandwich was the order of the day, and went down nicely with a televised Yankees baseball game, and good conversation with our frisbee counterparts.

Best wishes to you all back home,
We'll update again you tomorrow...

J&J


P.S. Click on each photo to see a full size version!

Day 1 - The Adventure Begins...

After a smooth start to the morning, our flight departed on time from Manchester at 11:55am (UK time) this morning. Throughout the journey we were served up with endless choices of entertainment and a diverse selection of high altitude cuisine (for some reason.. Spinach was included with every single meal - anyone know why?).

The entertainment was particularly impressive, with a huge range of films (Joe opting for relaxing New York rom-com 'Definately Maybe', and John with far more sophisticated, downbeat world war character drama 'The Counterfeiters' - winner of Best Foreign Language Film at this years Oscars it must be said) and music.

We touched down in New York at 2:45pm local time (7:45pm UK time - from now on all times will be local). Our initial excitement at being in the States was somewhat reduced by a 2 hour wait to get through passport control as soon as we'd stepped off the plane. However, that was soon forgotten during our cab ride to Manhatten, where we are staying with our friend Roger Meier and his family. The house is fantastic, and our hosts are fabulous!

After we'd settled down and had a brief rest, we set off on a walk with Roger around the local area. The place is located right by Central Park so Roger's tour took us through the legendary park and out into the buzzing City. Then shortly afterwards, we visited an Italian restaurant with Roger and his wife Trish, and enjoyed an enormous (quite literally) pizza between us. We better get used to big portions!

All in all a great start to the trip.. It's really incredible to be here in NYC! We have a packed day planned tomorrow so its an early night for us now (allthough not really as for our body clocks, its 5 hours later than here)

(Loads of pics to follow tomorrow)

J&J

Introduction

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to.... the first post of our shiny new USA blog!

Tomorrow morning, we leave for New York, flying from Manchester airport at roughly midday. We're away for almost exactly a month, during which time we'll be holidaying and frisbeeing in New York, Florida, California and Nevada. Yeah, it's actually four states, not three - something I overlooked when thinking of the blog title!

We've basically set up this online diary to keep everyone updated and informed on where we are in the US, and what we're up to while we're there (or at least, the stuff we can tell you..). It's for friends, family, our fellow frisbee players, and it's also for ourselves; as a record of our travels, and a way to communicate with home in truly 21st Century style (although really, 'blogs' were fashionable online in about 2004)! We hope to not only write about our assorted activities and endeavours, but use our technoligcal capacities to, yes, post a few photos and videos too - we'll see how it goes and whether that'll be possible.

The layout of this page is very much still in the 'experimental' stage - so if you have any suggestions on how to make it more readable, then please leave us a comment (as far as I know, it's possible for anyone to write a comment on any entry or 'post' we make)!

Before we undergo embarkation, I'd like to say a few thankyou's on behalf of us both. Thanks to everyone from the freestyle community who will be shortly letting us stay a few nights in their homes, and thanks to my family in SF / Marin who will be doing the same. Thanks to our families at home for supporting us in various and numerous ways, to Kate for booking our flights, and, of course, to you for reading.

Joe
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