charlotte and us flight 1549

Wednesday 22nd October 2014

After a beautiful day in Charleston SC we wanted to make our was to Charlotte NC to see the Airbus A320, United Airlines airplane N106US that ditched into the Hudson River at  New York back on 15th January 2009, after hitting Canada Geese.  The plane is on display in the Carolina's Aviation Museum and this was on our list to visit.  It was about 350km to get there but worth it really.

The plane was amazing to see, there is a lot of damage to the plane due to the fact that it sank in the Hudson River and was there 2 days before they craned it out.  The majority of the damage comes from the ferry's that helped the passengers to safety and when it was strapped up to be lifted from the water.  Only the underside near the tail got damaged in the water landing.  The rest of the museum was good but the highlight was certainly the plane.

From here we are going to make our way south, we fly out of Orlando Florida on Saturday and head to Seattle for a week.

 



carolina's aviation museum

 

as it sat in the hudson

 

n106us airbus a320

 

 

this is one of the life rafts

 

 

other planes inside

 

dc3

 

planes outside

 

lifting the plane from the hudson river

 

trucking the plane 600 miles to the museum

 

charleston charm

Tuesday 21st October 2014

A full day today in Charleston to check it all out, but first to check out our new wheels.  Wasn't able to see it so well in the dark last night.  It's a new Ford Flex with less than 10k miles on the clock.  It's such a nice car even though its a bit big.

 



bronte's ford flex



We drove into the city to go to the tourist info centre.  Parked the car and checked out the centre.  We ended up catching a trolley bus thing that was free which took you to all the sites.  We caught the trolley down near the sea so we could walk along rainbow road (named after the colourful houses), and then along the coastal walk to battery park.  The houses are so nice old and quaint.  Some of the houses date back to the 1600's.

We then walked back towards town along the small roads and alleyways coming out where the cruise ships dock.  Spent a little time walking the streets and then went back to the car.

Once in the car we drove along the coast to Isle of Palms and Mount Pleasant.  We visited the Isle of Palms Marina which was beautiful.  We also walked onto the beach there as well, it was a bit cold to swim but still looked beautiful.

Took our time driving back to the motel just checking out the sites.

Went to Chili's for dinner tonight which was really nice.  I has ribs which was the first lot for this trip.

Tomorrow we head to Charlotte before we turn and go south to Orlando.

 

old buildings in main street

 

fire station

 

free trolley

 

rainbow road

 

coastal walk

 

coastal walk

 

huge old mansions

 

more old houses

 

quaint streets

 

ship in port

 

fountain in park along foreshore

 

old brewery

 

the markets

 

main street

 

bridge to isle of palms

 

marina

 

marina

 

flyboarding

 

houses along beach

 

last day in NY, roosevelt island and tramway

Monday 20th October 2014

This morning we packed our bags and checked out of our room ready for our flight at 5.00 p.m.  We wanted to have a last look at a couple of things.  We walked to the United Nations building just down from the motel for a look.  From there we walked down to the Roosevelt Tramway down at the Queensboro bridge.  We caught the tramway over to Roosevelt Island and had a nice walk around.  It gave us a great view back across to Manhattan basically opposite the UN building from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park.  By the time we made our way back to the motel to pick up the bags it had gone 2.00 p.m.  An hour and a half later we were at JFK sitting in the Delta Lounge ready to get our flight to Charleston South Carolina.

 

 

united nations building

 

roosevelt tramway

 

queensboro bridge

 

on the tramway

 

un building from roosevelt island

 


franklin d. roosevelt four freedoms park

 

 

 

 

battery park, staten island and the brooklyn bridge

Sunday 19th October 2014

Little bit of  a slow start today after such a late night.  Today we walked to Grand Central Station where we caught a subway to Battery Park.  Had a nice walk around the park taking in the city views.  From there we walked to the Staten Island Ferry terminal where we caught the ferry to Staten Island.  The ferry is a free ride which passes right past the Statue of Liberty.  The ride was good but boy was it cold.  Today's maximum was about 11 degrees celsius.

After the ride back back on the ferry we walked back into Manhattan and to Wall Street and the bull statue.  We then walked to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked half way across and took in the views back across Manhattan.  It was a beautiful night as the sun was setting across the city.  Walked back to Manhattan and found a Denny's for dinner.  A quick subway trip back to the motel as we had to organise our stuff as we are flying out of New York tomorrow afternoon.  New York has been fun and the last 4 days went really quickly.  On to South Carolina now.

 

grand central station

 

battery park and
the sphere taken from the
world trade centre site after 9/11

 

freedom tower

 

statue of liberty

 

staten island ferry

 

manhattan from staten island

 

brooklyn bridge

 

 

 

view from brooklyn bridge

 

 

statue of liberty from bb

chrysler building at night