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With the late winter finally arriving in the US, (though compared to most places, 7 degrees in Atlanta is considered mild)I couldn’t wait to get to the clear blue skies and the sunny beaches of Florida. As the temperature increased, so did my speed and all it took me was two hours to see the dreaded blue and white lights flashing in my rearview mirror. But even my very first traffic ticket couldn’t dampen our spirits as we headed to Florida. Four days of the working week followed by three days of fun!

Album 1:Daytona

For the first taste of Florida, we drove to the town of Daytona and straight onto the beach (literally). We rolled down the windows, opened the moon roof and dodged the people walking on the beach, as we cruised on the beach sitting in our car. So all we needed to do in Daytona was to buckle up our seat belt; be it the drive-through beach, the tour of Daytona International Speedway host to NASCAR or even the drive-in church (no kidding!)

Album 2:Canaveral Nat’l seashore

When “Canaveral National seashore” came up as one of the ‘places to go’ near Jacksonville, the name itself was enough to generate a sense of curiosity…I’ve heard of national monuments and national parks but national seashore…that was new to me. So the next day we headed to the Canaveral national seashore. And just as the name suggested, where the line of the waterfront homes and the surrounding human imprints disappear, is where the Canaveral national seashore began. A strictly protected and designated as no-development stretch of the eastern shore of Florida which is also perhaps the reason why this was rated as one of the most beautiful beaches in the US.

The Canaveral seashore shares its southern border with the Kennedy Space Center, where the space launches are carried out. But standing on the unspoiled sandy beach, watching the Atlantic Ocean, walking through the well-preserved nature trails, people carrying canoes, kayaks, fishing rods and towing motorboats one thing was for sure… space shuttles could wait!

Album 3: Dolphin watch

The guy on the information desk had said something about a dolphin watch and ofcourse both me and Kaumudi couldn’t resist that…so the next day we decided to got out in search of the dolphins! As we drove down south past the Canaveral seashore, in hope of spotting the boat rentals, by the time we found one, we had already reached Port Canaveral and Cocoa beach. Just across the Port, we hopped onto a boat with an guide who took us out into the Banana river lagoon in search of the not just the dolphins. By the end of the evening, we finally had our fill of the dolphin watching….waiting for the dolphins to suddenly surface out of the water and then disappear just as fast (I’m sure you can make it out from the photos)

So all in all if this first trip into Florida was anything to go by, loaded with sunny skies, unspoiled beaches and well-preserved nature and wildlife, there are going to be many more in the future!

After a month n half of literally zero pedestrians, picture postcard landscapes and calm orderly traffic, New York was certainly a blast from the past! “Its just like Mumbai…you’d love it” Rajeev had said before I arrived…and I absolutely did. Same old traffic chaos, same old cabs cutting you off, same old crowd hustling to catch the train…reminded me of my good old Mumbai. The ‘cutting chai’ and ‘bhelpuri’ replaced by hotdogs and Starbucks…but I was completely at home!Wandering through the streets of Manhattan at night, standing atop the Empire state building, enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas at the Rockefeller centre, sailing past the Statue of Liberty, walking through the Times square and ofcourse the World Trade centre memorial…and it wasn’t just the sights, but the sparkle and the energy of New York that utterly captivated me. Now I know why its called ‘the capital of the world’…Americans,‘desi’, Hispanics, Africans, Middle-easterns, Chinese, Japanese…I can go on and on…a blur of faces and ethnicities as they rush past you…

Going to New York in December, I was hoping to catch the first snow in New York (I know I cant take cold but if its going to be below freeing, I can atleast enjoy some snow right?), But the delayed winter in United States this time around and the fact that it would be crazy to drive in the chaos called traffic meant that we managed to get a healthy doze of freezing wind as we explored New York by foot. But believe it or not it was all absolutely worth it plus I did get to wear my new coat and gloves!

Every weekend me n Rajeev would look at ‘local attractions in Atlanta’ and say “oh yeah we need to go there”. But you know how we always tend to overlook what’s in our backyard…so it took the arrival of Rajeev’s cousin Sharath (our very first visitor, yippee!) to push us beyond the doors of the innumerable (and I’m not joking) shopping malls, into the downtown Atlanta.

Maybe it was devotion or just the thought of familiarity that made us drive to this “Indian temple of Atlanta” despite of the chill…just for the sight of Shivji, Ganapati bappa and Venkateshwara..symbols in stone of our faith in Him and our destiny.

Next stop was the Georgia aquarium..its actually the world’s largest aquarium. Roaming through the huge underwater tunnel with the 20 feet or so shark whales moving by, actually touching the underwater sea life and the fish as they swim past you, going within inches of the penguins or just watching the color come to life in the innumerable beautiful fishes, it was …wow!

Atlanta being the headquarters for CNN and Coca Cola…a day out in Atlanta would have been incomplete without a visit there. I thought maybe we would just pose in front of the CNN building, maybe pick up a souvenir or two and then head off…but boy I couldn’t have been more wrong! Not only did we get a guided walking tour into the ‘live news studio’ of CNN, but also got to know the behind-the-scene process of the news broadcasting- from news production and weather forecasting to the million dollar equipments! (with a fee of 12$ per person.. it was certainly a fabulous marketing gimmick!)

Next day our “picnic” continued onwards to the High Museum of Art and the World of Coca Cola, onto the Centennial Olympic Park- built to mark the 1996 Olympic Games, and finally to the Botanical Gardens into the heart of a Tropical Rainforest (and believe me it was not just the freezing temperatures outside that kept us inside!)

And though I already miss the Bombay ‘Chowpati’ and the Necklace Road in Hyderabad, atleast now I know there are quite a few places worth exploring in this new “hometown” of ours!