The Willimers in America

Niagara - Day 1

According to Mapquest, Niagara is '406 miles, 6 hours 56 minutes' from Pennington, NJ. And according to Weather.com, the Thanksgiving weekend promised snow showers around the Great Lakes. So we probably had a long, hazardous drive in front of us. We'd decided to drive on Thanksgiving Day itself, for much the same reason as driving on Christmas Day is usually a good idea - most people would be eating turkey, not sharing the road with us.

We set off pleasantly early, out of the house by 9am, with no last minute panics, and unusually having completed our packing in good time the previous night. Linda drove the first leg, as we attempted to get the first half of the trip done in one go, stopping somewhere near Syracuse for lunch. Everything was going according to plan - we crossed into Pennsylvania and turned north - until we started climbing into the Poconos. The Poconos is a ski resort in NW Pennsyslvania, less than 2 hours drive from us. As we climbed, freezing rain started to fall, and murky fog closed in around us. Linda did a sterling job of keeping up the pace, despite my appaling map-reading, as we started to see the occasional car having trouble with the conditions.

By the time we cleared Scranton (the setting for the US version of The Office), we needed to refuel - both petrol and lunch. Thanksgiving is not so sacred in the USA as Christmas Day is in England, and we fully expected to find gas stations and restaurants open. Gas was indeed no problem, but every fast food restaurant we tried was closed. Perhaps this was an unusual sign of respect from McDonalds and Pizza Hut, or maybe they knew they just wouldn't get any staff to work...

We finally found a Denny's serving lunch, and got inside just before they stopped serving at 2pm. Refreshed and refuelled and ready to go, we set off again, now driving into the worst of the conditions. We were driving at the worst time - what little snow and freezing rain that would actually fall was in the air, but the snow ploughs and gritters hadn't yet had any impact - and we saw car after car off the road, and more than a few rear end accidents. Although we weren't actually counting, we reckon that we saw between 20-25 cars off the road.

Once we got onto the I-80, the interstate highway that goes right across the top of northern New York state, conditions were much better. We drove the last 160 miles with few problems, arriving at our hotel in Niagara Falls 8 hours 5 minutes after we set off. If you take off the hour we spent for lunch, then Mapquest wasn't too far off.

From our hotel room, we could see some of the bright lights on the Canadian side of the Falls, but the American side seemed much quieter. However it had been a long day, so we stayed in the hotel and ate from the lacklustre Thanksgiving buffet (which Thomas hated) and had an early night, the idea being to get up early next morning and squeeze as much as possible into our one full day in Niagara.

Disney 2003

Day 1 - Friday 15th August

We promised ourselves that this time, for once, we wouldn't stay up till 1am finishing our packing. As always, there was always one more thing to do, and at about 1.20am….

Next morning we were up early, washed dressed and ready to go, and wondering if our lift would turn up on time. Lisa knocked on our back door at 8.15 precisely, right on time - which belied the fact that she had spent most of the previous evening driving round north New Jersey looking for husband Rob who was trying to make his way back from blacked-out Manhattan. A very late night, followed by her natural alarm clock (baby Chad) failing to go off, meant that she had risen, dressed, and raced to ours in only 10 minutes.

This was the first time we'd ever flown from Philadelphia, which has the status of a holiday airport. It has international flights, but it has an awful lot of flights to the Caribbean, as well as our holiday destination, Florida. We grabbed some breakfast, and settled down for our two hour holiday flight. It seemed strange to be planning a big two week holiday flight and not need our passports. Indeed, we passed through Orlando airport very simply, without even seeing an Immigration official.

Our experience with the hire car was uncharacteristically disappointing, especially for Hertz. Linda got all angsty about being in the 'slow' queue, we ended up pressured into buying an extra $150-worth of insurance, the 'complimentary' upgrade left us with a Chevrolet Cavalier (I'd be surprised if there was anything smaller) and then when we got to the car it was covered in scratches. Our efforts to get another upgrade (perhaps to the 'advanced micro compact') were to no avail.

We left the airport, scouting for a nearby filling station to help us avoid the $5 a gallon refill charge on our return, and set off for the villa. The directions were fairly straightforward, but involved a lot of left and right turns through residential streets named Prairie Point Rd, Cherokee Drive and the like - after all, we were staying at Indian Point. We later found out that right out of our drive and then first left took us to Route 192, one of the main resort arteries, and to become a major source of nutrition and amusement.

The house itself was a revelation.At first glance beautifully appointed, clean, modern and very comfortable, our original feelings of relief and satisfaction gave way to an amusing wonderment - we had apparently wandered on to the set of Dynasty without noticing. Huge gilt frame pictures, plastic ivy draped from the rafters, an entire wall of mirrors in the dining area, and the most amazing 'palm tree' reading lamp, where each person sitting on the corner unit corduroy settee (with multiple integral recliners and drink cooler) could have their own 'frond lamp'. We realized we had packed the wrong clothes, leaving the shoulder pad dresses and safari suits back in New Jersey.

We set out to investigate the local Walmart, stocking the fridge and awaiting the arrival of the Keytes (Andy, Suzanne, Jonathon (8) and Stephanie (6)) . We promised ourselves that unlike previous holidays, we would try to avoid spending every day shopping for food (By Tuesday - Day 5, we'd combined for 3 Walmarts and a Target - not good). Once the Keytes arrived and settled in - inevitably jetlagged and body clocks five hours behind, we headed out for a first American meal at Denny's before retiring to recharge our batteries for the challenges ahead.

Saturday 16th August

We promised ourselves we would ease into our Orlando experience, and looked forward to a simple day on Saturday. We breakfasted, and went to play Crazy Golf at the Congo Falls, which also had real live alligators (desperately in need of a rest from all these annoying tourists who insisted on feeding them) as well as, rather alarmingly, a snake which Tom found slithering through the undergrowth.

After first stopping in at Walmart (!) and then a brief snack, we headed for Downtown Disney, arriving in the midst of a torrential thunderstorm (again, the first of a recurring pattern). Downtown Disney is the most naked attempt by the Disney organization to extract as much money from tourists as possible, this time through a variety of merchandising outlets. The range of stuff on offer is very impressive, and high quality, so you feel less resentful about the naked marketing of the Disney Magic.

We bought a few souvenirs and gifts, and dropped in to the most impressive Lego store we'd ever seen, including the two stores at the parks in California and Windsor. What an original idea - actually having staff building Lego models in the store, and getting the kids to join in !

Disney Downtown also contains DisneyQuest, and the first time we got to use our park tickets. DisneyQuest is like an interactive video park, with rides and games based on computer technology. We ate burgers, etc in the café, and visited Alien Invasion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Animation School. For the first time, (but not the last) we were heard to say "we'll have to come back to this one".

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Alien Invasion
• Tom - Pirates of the Caribbean
• Suzanne - Cartoon Drawing
• Stephanie - Cartoon Drawing
• Andy - Alien Invasion
• Chris - Pirates of the Caribbean
• Linda - Cartoon Drawing

Sunday 17th August

For our first full park adventure we rose early, breakfasted, and headed for Disney's Animal Kingdom. We were working on some advice which told us which days were the best to visit each park, based on visitor numbers. Apparently at the weekends, the water parks were full of locals, whilst most out-of-state visitors head for the Magic Kingdom as soon as possible. Encouragingly, this advice proved well-founded, and we managed to get to most of the attractions without too much waiting.

Top draw at Animal Kingdom is the Kilimanjaro Safari, which we headed for first. We climbed onto large buses, and were driven round a realistic African trail, sighting many animals roaming wild, and buying into the story of 'Big Red' and 'Little Red', two elephants being tracked by poachers. We chased the poachers into the ranger's trap, and Big Red was saved by the local vet. After walking through the Pangani Jungle Trail, some of us went on the Kali River Falls, which gave us our first brush with FastPass.

The line for the ride said 70 minutes wait, while the FastPass distribution (move to the head of line without waiting, using your special pass) told us to return in two hours. Decision - take a FastPass for this, and deny yourself another one until this expires, or risk the line. As it happened, the line was actually less than ten minutes, time enough for two circuits, but we realized there is obviously some thought and tactics required to get the most out of the FastPass concept.

While the Keytes did a second circuit of Kali Falls (and Chris and Thomas tried to dry out from their first), we headed for Dino-Land, which has less of the natural wildlife-type attractions, and more of the traditional theme park rides.

It's actually in the style of a fifties-funfair, with a dinosaur theme, and one big ride called the Primeval Whirl, for which Chris and Tom queued for about 1 hour 40 minutes, for the two minute ride. After that we headed for Dinosaur, a semi-simulator ride (featuring Phylidda Rachid and the guy from Veronica's Closet) which we hoaxed Linda into joining us. 90 seconds of twists and turns in the dark, and some scary dinosaur animatronics - the best ride so far ! We had just enough time to complete the ride and race over to the other side of the park for the much-recommended Lion King show.

This was our first exposure to the grandiose production values of Disney, and was a wonderful, colourful, musical show with large animatronic models of Simba, Timon and other animals, and a cast of Africans, birds, acrobatic monkeys and others. We persuaded the Keytes to try out Dinosaur, then headed home for a swim and a quiet evening meal at home.

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Dinosaur
• Tom - Dinosaur
• Suzanne - It's Tough to be a Bug
• Stephie - Kali River Falls
• Andy - Kali River Falls
• Chris - Dinosaur
• Linda - Lion King Show

Monday 18th Aug

Monday was Disney/MGM Studios, so we tried to rise early and arrive early. We've also started to develop those tricks and techniques for getting the best out of the rides with large queues. One which didn't work was to go off early and get breakfast at the park.

Unfortunately enthusiasm overcame us, and on arriving, we headed straight for the Rock n' RollerCoaster to get Fast Path tickets, the Keytes went on the Star tours ride because there was no queue, Chris and Tom queued for 45 minutes to get on The Tower of Terror, The Commissary stopped serving breakfast at 10am so when we met up no-one had eaten breakfast.

Disney/MGM has a few great rides, but is very focused on the history of Disney films. There are some spectacular rides like Twister (which Chris missed out on) and Tower of Terror but there are also a lot of semi-educational rides like a Drew Carey exhibit on sound in movies, a special effects backlot tour, and things on Walt Disney in particular and Animation in general.

Linda tried relentlessly to get her photo taken with any stray Disney character we encountered, but inevitably there was a long queue, and before long Tigger would disappear into the distance, led by the arm by his minder - after all, there is a schedule to keep. We got through lots of rides at Disney/MGM - Linda went on the Star Tours ride based on Star Wars, and we all enjoyed the Indiana Jones Stunt show.

Dinner promised more than it offered, as we sat in the Sci-Fi Dine-In, an indoor drive in movie. The booths were in the shape of cars, the scenery looked like a genuine drive-in and the giant screen showed old classic sci-fi movies, Tom and Jerry cartoons and the American equivalent of those old 'Interlude' films - shame the food was so ordinary, and the torrential downpour as we left the restaurant meant we were all soaked through by the time we reached the cars.

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Rock & RollerCoaster
• Tom - Rock & RollerCoaster
• Suzanne - Muppets 3D Show
• Stephanie - Star Tours
• Andy - Rock & RollerCoaster
• Chris - Rock & RollerCoaster
• Linda - Little Mermaid show/Disney characters
• (least favourite ? - Feeling sick after Star Tours!)

Tuesday 19th August

By Tuesday, we had discovered two more eternal truths about Theme Park life.

1. The first rest day cannot come too soon. The kids pleaded for a quiet day by the pool, and we all readily agreed.

2. It rains in August in Florida. Between Saturday and Tuesday, 8in of rain fell in Central Florida, and we soaked most of it up with our shoes.

To be truthful, spending a day by the pool was a blessed relief, and suited the adults as much as the children. In fact it was almost a wrench to drag ourselves away to Downtown Disney and dinner. As we set out, we saw the familiar 'thunderstorm three-step' begin. First, impossibly dark black clouds roll in from almost nowhere, secondly the trees and bushes start to stir as the storm winds start breezing through - shortly afterwards the heavens open, and rain falls in long, heavy threads.

Not for the first time, the sheets of rain fell across our windscreen as we tried to navigate our way to our next destination. Even with an almost new rental car (admittedly with a broken rear indicator) the windscreen wipers could not clear the screen quick enough to travel at more than 10 miles per hour, desperately looking for the correct turning and trying not to drive into the car in front.

We fumbled our way to Downtown Disney, and after waiting in our cars for a couple of minutes for the rain to ease (pah!), we set out for Planet Hollywood. 4 minutes and 300 yards later, we arrived completely sodden, kagoules having failed their jobs miserably. Once in the restaurant, we tried to dry off in the bathroom, stuffing our shoes with paper towels, before eating a very nice but tourist-priced meal. We rounded off the evening with another slightly damp visit to DisneyQuest. This time Jonathon and Andy tried out Pirates of the Caribbean.

Wednesday 20th August

Stephie's 7th Birthday ! And she chose Epcot for the big day out.

This was one for which we really set out with a battle campaign. We arrived as early as possible (well, at least it was before 10am) and struck out for Mission:Space and Test Track. We all queued for Mission:Space (except Linda) and did the ride first, while Linda went off to obtain FastPass tickets for Test Track, another ride we were targetting.

Mission:Space had only opened a few weeks before, in fact the week that David was here in early August - he had recommended it very highly, with a vague warning about centrifugal forces. The ride was fantastic, with a very realistic feeling of blasting off for outer space, and landing on Mars - obviously too realistic for Suzanne, who was…well, rather indisposed.

Before returning to Test Track in the afternoon, we had a leisurely walk around the World Showcase. We stopped in at the American Adventure show, a whirlwind tour around the highlights of American history, and Linda and I both had a very strange sense of pride and belonging. It felt almost a watershed moment about our life in America - until of course we carried on to Great Britain.

Ignoring the signpost for 'Welsh Gifts', we headed straight for the 'Rose and Crown', and the promise of Harry Ramsden's fish and chips. Scornfully looking on at the sad English tourists who couldn't resist a pint of bitter and home cooking, Chris was served by a cheerful (and genuine) Cockney girl called Tara, and felt like excusing himself from the other tourists - "We haven't had genuine fish and chips for two years - honestly !!"

We finished Epcot with a trip round Spaceship Earth, a noble and worthy journey through history expressing the value of communication down the ages, through Greek plays, the invention of printing, satellite communication and the power of the internet to bring people together.

The ride is now sponsored by AT&T, unsurprisingly, and equally unsurprisingly was unanimously voted as 'the most boring 20 minutes of my life' by the under 12's in our party.

Dinner was once again at Denny's, by choice of Stephanie as her birthday treat. However we found a slightly nicer one than the first night, and watched the 7 year old birthday girl choose and tuck into a t-bone steak !

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Mission: Space
• Tom - Test Track
• Suzanne - Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Shopping in China
• Stephanie - Mission: Space
• Andy - Mission: Space
• Chris - Mission: Space
• Linda - Seeing characters (Again !)

Thursday 21st August

Today we tried to fit in a wind-down day, and headed for Disney's Typhoon Lagoon waterpark. Although the park was very busy, there was plenty of room to spread out and feel like you were on a real beach. The wave lagoon was fantastic, with 6 foot waves rolling at you across a huge bowl of water.

There were also a range of tube and body slides, from the ubiquitous and gentle Lazy River, to the kind of mad suicidal ride that is so popular with Thomas. Humunga Kowabunge involves climbing to the top of a 50' mountain, and sliding vertically down a chute. Chris accompanied Thomas two or three times, but by the end of the visit Chris was black and blue from the braking effect of the water and let Thomas climb the mountain and descend alone. Never again, Chris said (sad, misguided fool…).

Fun was interrupted early by the ever-present thunderstorm which inevitably emptied the lagoon and slides. Whilst the Keyte's headed off to save something of the day, the Willimer's stuck around to try and ride out the storm. Within about 25 minutes, the storm had moved on, along with about 90% of the visitors. The result ? No lines anywhere, uninterrupted access to every slide, chute and food stall, and another hour of good entertainment. Restaurant fatigue guided us towards eating in, and on arriving home we found a take-out pizza menu stuck in the door, which we took to be an omen. When our order arrived, it was delivered by a kindly grey-haired man from the north of England. We asked him how he'd managed to keep the pizza warm after coming all that way !

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Wave Lagoon
• Tom - Humunga Kowabunga
• Suzanne - Lazy River
• Stephanie - Lazy River
• Andy - None! (Bah Humbug !)
• Chris - Wave Lagoon
• Linda - Family Raft

Friday 22nd August <p>Friday was Universal Day, and our recent casual approach to vacationing came back to haunt us. We arrived late, without a plan, and got caught up in the queues and activities near the park entrance. The Keyte's queued unsuccessfully for Shrek 4-D, which had a 75 minute line. We waited in line for almost an hour for the mediocre Jimmy Neutron ride (Andy Keyte's Park Life; Rule No.3 - Always head for the back of the park, and work your way forward. Most people start queueing near the park entrance, so the queues are that much longer).

However we did manage to get through the main attractions, including Men in Black and Back to the Future, whilst everyone enjoyed Jaws. Thomas was now determined to see the movie. We also decided that the Wild West Stunt Show was slightly better than the Indiana Jones show at Disney/MGM, mainly because of the personal violence involved. The day at Universal ended as the sky turned black, and we followed some other Orlando advice, and drove towards the next attraction while the rain fell, the theory being that as the rain stops, you arrive at your destination to find no queues. This rather depends on the rain actually stopping. After sitting in the cars for about 10 minutes, we set off on foot in the torrential rain to head for Planet Hollywood. Despite the fact it was a three minute walk, we all arrived soaked from top to toe, and squirmed damply and uncomfortably in our seats while we ate. The washroom paper towels in our shoes distracted only slightly from the best meal of the holiday so far.

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Wild West Show/Shrek
• Tom - Terminator
• Suzanne - ET/Shrek
• Stephanie - Wild West Show/Shrek
• Andy - Men in Black/Back to the Future/Shrek
• Chris - Terminator
• Linda - ET/Wild West Show (She didn't do much else!)

Saturday 23rd August

Since we had no park visit planned today, we were able to rise in a leisurely fashion, and head out for breakfast at Shoney's on Rte 192. A breakfast buffet is a truly wonderful thing, since for a fixed (and usually moderate) price you can fill your plate as many times as you want with all that patently unhealthy breakfast food which you would normally feel so guilty about eating (if you had the time and inclination to actually prepare in the first place). Bacon, three types of egg, sausage, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit steeped in sugary syrup, toast, muffins and pastries…if only we could drag ourselves away.

The day was actually designed around a trip to Tampa. We headed off to see Linda's Auntie June, who we'd last seen when Thomas was less than a year old. While we were always impressed with her energy and the active life she led, she was now a lot frailer, and moved round her apartment using a wheelchair for support. She still had her wonderfully optimistic outlook on life, and enjoyed the marvelous views from her balcony across the waterfront.

We met up with the Keyte's at the Tropicana Dome Stadium to watch the Tampa Bay Devil Rays play the Cleveland Indians. In an exciting baseball match (the first both Andy and I had seen indoors) Tampa won by 7-5. Everyone seemed to enjoy the whole baseball experience - colour, noise, music, excitement and, probably most importantly, food. A good sign for Daddy as Thomas grows up. Did I mention rain? The Keyte's left Kissimmee in a torrential downpour that reduced visibility to 10 yards, which was also waiting for us as we returned later that night.

Sunday 24th August

After enjoying a fair degree of good-natured ribbing (really, that's all it was, honest !!) Sunday was Linda's favourite day of the holiday as we set off for THE MAGIC KINGDOM ! Of course, we had to apply our park expertise and get ourselves tickets and spaces on line for the best rides, which today was probably Space Mountain (a roller coaster inside a building which winds in and out of the adjoining tracks, with multiple near misses with other trucks).

Linda was in heaven to catch a glimpse of a Disney character and maybe snatch a photo or two.

Thomas and Chris made very noble attempts to make sure this was 'Mummy's Day' and traipsed around behind as Linda led us from photo opportunity to photo opportunity. There was a growing suspicion that Linda had planned the entire vacation to provide material for her new hobby of scrapbooking.

And then, disaster ! Snatching a quick moment of light relief, Thomas and Chris jumped on the Goofy Barnstormer coaster, only for Thomas to lose his Gap baseball cap as we raced down the first slope. Surprisingly, Thomas was devastated by this, and huge tears fell. We were told there was no way to try and retrieve it until the ride closed that evening, but Thomas was so upset we resolved to do just that. We met up with Andy and Suzanne near Thunder Mountain, and after they did the ride and headed home, Thomas and Chris stayed to ride Thunder Mountain and - you guessed it - get soaked as the rain started to fall as we were on the ride.

In several minds as to what to do for the rest of the day, we decided to see whether we could eat at the park, and went into the Crystal Palace, which was close to closing. Almost accidentally, we had walked into Linda's Nirvana, as we helped ourselves to the fantastic buffet food, surrounded by a multitude of Disney characters. The food was great, the service was excellent, our waiter was a scream and earned a huge tip, and best of all, Linda filled two rolls of film with pictures of Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. To cap a perfect day, Chris retrieved the beloved baseball cap, and we headed home knowing that the vacation was complete for Linda.

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Thunder Mountain
• Tom - Thunder Mountain/Space Mountain
• Suzanne - Buzz Lightyear
• Stephanie - Thunder Mountain
• Andy - Space Mountain
• Chris - Space Mountain
• Linda - Character Dinner

Monday 25th August

We decided to split up today, as we wanted to visit the other water park, and the Keyte's had other plans. So we headed off to Blizzard Beach, which we knew would be a bit more grown up than Typhoon Lagoon with more emphasis on the rides. It was almost a bit more crowded, and less relaxing. Linda waited patiently in the sun while Thomas and Daddy queued endlessly for a couple of rides. We first did the straight rollercoaster slide, a 40 minute line for 15 seconds of fun, then we headed up again to something called Summit Plummet.

If Humunga Kowabunga had been intimidating, then this was simply scary. Blizzard Beach is based on the theme of a resort that was hit by a freak snowstorm, and became a ski resort. Once the snow left, the toboggan runs and ski slopes built on Mount Gushmore were turned into water slides to rescue the resort business. Mount Gushmore is a 90 foot high mountain with a 30 foot high ski jump tower at its peak. After queueing for about an hour and forty minutes, we arrived at the top of the ski jump, and looked over. While Chris' stomach was turning repeated flips at the thought of launching himself vertically down this chute at 60 miles an hour, Thomas could hardly be kept back.

The ascent had included some of the best views across the greater Orlando area - we could see all the Disney Parks from the summit - surprisingly successful attempts to spot Linda in the people-ants far below, and the quiz as to what the rather stately grey-haired woman in front of us was going to do when she reached the top. Contrary to my belief that she would escort her daughter up and then carefully descend the stairs, she took off her shoes and socks, stuffed them in her shorts pocket, rolled up the sleeves on her white shirt, carefully folded her straw hat and stuffed it inside her shirt and launched herself from the top.

Thomas was next, and had to be almost held back, unaware that there was actually a 120' vertical drop next to him. He excitedly flew down the chute, following instructions to get out of the path as soon as he got down. Then it was Chris' turn. The drop was much higher than Humunga Kowabunga, the speed much faster, the tension greater, and the pain ten-fold ! Never again, and this time I meant it !

Much like every other day, festivities came to an end as the heavens opened - at least this time we anticipated it, and got back to the car before we got wet, heading back to Downtown Disney once again. Dinner was at the Rainforest Café, and Linda had the run of the Christmas Shop, the Scrapbook Shop, and we chased down some special pins for Mrs. Smith and Ryan.

To round off the day, we met the Keytes at MGM-Disney to catch the Fantasmic show. This was highly recommended by all the guide books, along with the entreaty to get their early. We were in the stadium and seated more than an hour before it began, and watched as the stadium filled and every seat was taken. The show was indeed spectacular, with scenes from Disney movies projected onto giant fountains, a lake alternatively covered with flame and carrying character-filled boats, as Mickey bravely fought the giant green dragon. Fantastic !

Tuesday 26th August

Islands of Adventure at Universal Studio promised to be one of the best parks, but Thomas was very tired, it was perhaps the hottest day of the week, and the day dragged somewhat.

Taking our lesson to heart, Chris and Tom headed straight for the uninhabited back of the park, to re-live the Jurassic Park adventure they had in California. After taking the ride twice and getting just as soaked, the consensus was that the California ride just shaded it. The T-Rex was hardly scary at all !

After a 80 minute wait for a 60-second Pterodactyl ride, we walked back through a marvelously realized Seussland, and ate Green Eggs and Ham.

Later we did perhaps what was unanimously the best ride of the week, Spiderman. Thomas was annoyed that he wasn't tall enough to ride the Hulk, and was insistent that Chris not ride without him. All the kids were beginning to show signs of fatigue, and if truth be told, so were the adults. We had to keep reminding ourselves that while we were tired after walking 3 or 4 miles round a theme park, it was immeasurably harder for those little 6 year old legs. Later we had a terrific meal at Tony Roma's.

Best Rides of the Day

• Jon - Spiderman/Sinbad
• Tom - Spiderman
• Suzanne - Spiderman
• Stephanie - Spiderman/Sinbad
• Andy - Spiderman
• Chris - Spiderman

Wednesday 27th August

Holiday fatigue was setting in with a vengeance. Having visited all the parks we wanted to at least once, no-one could face the thought of getting up earlier and getting out to a park to beat the lines. So we didn't. Besides, we had a lovely pool - who needed to go anywhere ? We spent the morning at home, and then in the afternoon, Andy and Chris took the kids to play miniature golf, while Linda and Suzanne got some shopping in. The boys swung by the mall to pick up the girls in the middle of another torrential thunderstorm.

We had dinner at the Olive Garden, but by now Thomas was really fading, and Chris had to take him home from the restaurant while the others finished their meal and went back to Epcot for the firework display.

Thursday 28th August

The last full day arrived, and with it - apathy. A day in the pool, a fruitless visit to an outlet mall, shopping at Downtown Disney once again, and a very pleasant final meal altogether at the Rainforest Café, before one final visit to Disney Quest.

As a really decadent treat (and probably because we grown-ups felt a bit guilty about not trying harder on the last day) we let the kids swim in the pool AFTER we got home, splashing around in the floodlit pool until after 9.30pm.

Tomorrow held the promise of a short hop back to New Jersey (compared to the Keyte's prospect of 7 hours in economy on the red-eye back to Heathrow) to be picked up at Philly airport by a limo (our friend Lisa who'd promised to pick us up couldn't make it, so arranged this instead).

Today we proved the theory held by most people that far from being relaxing, a trip to Disney often takes a lot of stamina - and to quote Walt Disney (probably) - We were pooped !!

California 2002

Our trip to California was compiled entirely through the Internet, which is perhaps a sign of the times. Supposedly some people do still walk into a Travel Agent and choose an entire holiday out of a brochure, but that's not for us - partly because we no longer live where 2 weeks in the Majorcan sun can be bought for £150, but also because we very definitely prefer a holiday where we see as much as we can. So a touring holiday of California (somewhere neither of us has ever been) is perfect for us. We wonder whether Thomas will grow up with a love of touring, or a desperate craving to have a quiet week on a beach somewhere.

Chris had been in California on business the previous week, and had packed in visits to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle before ending up back in SF a day before Linda and Thomas flew into Oakland Airport.

San Francisco

All the while Chris had been in San Francisco the weather had been cloudy, foggy, just like Blackpool in the winter. Getting a room on the 25th floor of a rather nice Holiday Inn seemed a folly, since Chris had not seen further than 2 blocks since he'd checked in. However returning back from the day's business in Palo Alto through scrubby, almost desert-like, sun drenched hills bisected with ribbons of grey freeway, the sun finally came out

Unshrouded by summer sea fogs, the room gave vent to spectacular views. Chris had struggled to confirm the orientation of the room, since he couldn't see the streets, but now he could see that the view was due east, back down California Street towards the Bay Bridge. However water was visible in three directions, and we could pick out Giants Stadium, across the East Bay to Oakland in the distance, where Linda and Thomas landed.

The journey to meet them was a challenge. San Francisco has invested considerable sums in their BART and MUNI systems, had totally failed to integrate the airports with the transport system - so much so that both airports require a shuttle bus from the nearest station, being the only alternative to a cab It took 75 minutes to travel the 10 miles or so by cable car, foot, BART,and shuttle bus, and after 10 hours of travelling (including violent travel sickness on the bus to JFK which required two changes of clothes) it wasn't fair for Linda and Thomas to make the journey in reverse. So instead we bit the bullet and coughed up a $60 cab fare. Despite the fact that it was 11pm New Jersey time, Thomas was still buzzing and full of travel stories.

By the time we'd got back to the hotel, and Linda had seen the wonderful view by night, and we'd ordered pizza to keep us going, it was 11pm Pacific Time before Thomas finally conked out The next day, Saturday, we set out with the intention of cramming as much in to the day as we could - after all, it would be our only full day in San Francisco. There was, of course, still an absolute need for Thomas to swim in the hotel pool, which he did shortly after breakfast, rendering the bill for pancakes more of a short-term rental deal !. Anyway, cleaned up and ready to go, we bought tickets from the hotel shop (Thomas making a friend of the strange shoplady who gave him a free Milky Way in return for a hug) and then jumped on a cable car.

We climbed to the top of Nob Hill, near the Fairmont Hotel, and changed onto the Powell Line, to take us down to Fisherman's Wharf - well, at least we managed to change cable cars at the third or fourth attempt with Thomas getting angrier and angrier with the drivers of full cable cars who wouldn't stop. The car we eventually climbed on had one of the funniest conductors (they all have to pass a Comedy Club audition as well as a driving test) then took us past Lombard Street ("the 2nd most crooked street in America - after Pennsylvania Avenue !") and past numerous TV-familiar sites of white painted Victorians climbing into blue skies up hills of tarmac. So much of big city America is amazingly familiar from TV and films.

At Fisherman's Wharf we ate fish and chips (preferable to McDonalds, but only just) and visited a WWII submarine before taking a cruise round San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and round Alcatraz. If a bus tour was not going to be possible with a 5 year-old in tow, then a boat trip was the next best thing. We walked further along the waterfront, and bought a print of San Francisco for our collection before heading to Union Square on a streetcar, for Thomas to round off the day at FAO Schwarz.

Evening-wise we used our cable tickets to visit an almost genuine American Diner, but Tom was singularly unimpressed with everything except the pinball machine. It was a long day, but with more long ones to come, we were in danger of getting less relaxed rather than more.

Santa Cruz

We woke Tom out of his sleep early to try and get as good a jump start on our day as we could, especially as we wanted to go swimming and we thought it best to do this before breakfast to avoid yesterday's...too late ! After breakfast we packed and got ourselves ready for a day or two of less than effortless travelling. First, the airporter van we had booked turned out to be a limo (read big saloon car) that we had to share with another couple and all their luggage (lucky us) - second the driver dropped us off at the terminal, not the car rental where we were picking up our transport - third, we had to cart our stuff down the other end of the terminal building, then onto another shuttle bus.

At time like these, when the whole world seems to be making things difficult for you, we take the view that there is no point in worrying about things you can't change - you'll get your reward sooner or later - in this case sooner. Reward came in the form of an almost brand-new Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer signature model, with leather seats, every electronic gizmo you could imagine, at $266 for the week, with a booster seat for Tom that wasn't charged and another 10% off for our AAA membership. As we pulled out of the airport and onto Freeway 208, we had the distinct feeling that the most important factor of this long touring holiday had just dropped nicely into place. We struck out for the Pacific coast, and after one initial map-reading hiccup, we found our path and our bearings with relative ease - only to run into a massive tailback on Route 92 which was at least 2 miles long, behind some unseen Winnebago also trying to hit the coast via the winding mountain gorge-like roads. We (eventually) got to Half Moon Bay, and turned south on Route 1, the fabled Pacific Coastal Highway - only to find it was inland, too far away from the coast for any views - disappointing.

Needing lunch, we stopped after a few miles at Cameron's Inn, an unashamedly mockney copy of an English pub, which admittedly did have most of the credentials (and Maltesers !). We stocked up with teabags and McVities Digestives for the journey, and headed for Santa Cruz, where we (eventually) found our hotel, checked in and barely had enough time for Thomas to throw up at the poolside (again) before we headed into town and the boardwalk for another late night of mini-golf, arcade games and pizza. We really needed to raise our standards, you know.

Monterey

We decided NOT to let Thomas go swimming this morning - we did need to be on the road, as today was designed to be the day of Monterey Aquarium, the biggest and most spectacular aquarium in North America...and we weren't actually in Monterey yet. So, we set off, again navigating effortlesly onto Route 1 South, and travelling the 40 miles or so to get us to our next port-of-call in next to no time.

We found the Aquarium and parking with ease (Monterey signage in the streets is staggeringly good !) and went on in. Inside there were sea otters, mobiles hanging from the ceiling of full-size killer whales, splash pools, a two-storey kelp forest, - and a reasonably priced cafe with excellent food. All in all, it lived up to its billing. Once we had exhausted the Aquarium, we thought it might be a good idea to do some driving in the car - you never know, maybe Thomas might take a nap ?

So we headed for the very famous (if you've read the California Guide Book) 17 Mile Drive, which takes you past the splendid, competition level golf course and very upmarket houses of Pebble Beach. As well as spotting Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods at every turn, Pebble Beach is a nature reserve, and there are numerous examples of accessible wildlife, not the least obvious of which was the almost tame squirrel Thomas fed from his hand. Weather-wise, we were dumbfounded at the change between Monterey and Carmel (on the south edge of 17 Mile Drive).

We visited the beach at Carmel, only to be almost knocked over in the rush of people leaving the fog and cloud-covered beach. Yet Monterey, five minutes away, remained cool and clear. Thomas frolicked in the freezing Pacific Ocean - and Linda and Chris added the Pacific to the widening list of sea and oceans of the world in which we have wet our ankles. Once Thomas had completely soaked his clothes and started shivering , we enforced on him that it was leaving time, and we set off. The hotel at Monterey was fairly functional, full of middle-aged hispanics hogging the lift, and not classy enough for us to eat in. So we drove back into Monterey and Cannery Row, to find a decent fish restaurant with a view of the ocean. The first 'decent' meal of the week, and the first alcohol to pass our lips, all for the knock-down, bargain price of $120 ! Mind you Chris' lobster tails and filet mignon was excellent, and Linda thoroughly enjoyed the local Chardonnay.

Universal, Hollywood

Today was supposed to be the uneventful, dull driving day, with nothing much to write about except the 300 miles we put beneath our wheels - wrong ! Today was actually one of the days Chris had most been looking forward to, as we left Monterey and took Route 1 down the full majesty of the Pacific Coast Highway, hugging the cliff faces over blue waters crashing onto the rocks - and for about the first 40 minutes after we left Monterey, it was like that. But as we climbed up the cliff faces, we climbed back into that ever-present cloud, and at points visibility was reduced to maybe 20 yards, which not only rendered the views somewhat irrelevant, but also made driving treacherous and difficult.

There were periods when we emerged (normally descended) into bright daylight, and we could see sapphire blue seas foaming into white spray far below, while we traversed some cantilevered concrete arch impossibly squeezed into the gap between two cliffs - then all too quickly another gruelling climb, more descending mists and only the sense of some awe-inspiring drop on the right of the car. Thomas had a difficult day, with his tummy upsetting him as much as his temperament, which led to frequent mollifying stops. We drove on through Big Sur, vaguely impressed by the... well, outdoorsy-ness of it, but our trip was reduced in effectiveness by the weather. One thing that did resonate with us again is the ability in California to easily see animals in the wild that you would only normally see in a zoo, and while we didn't stop, we saw seals at play on a sandy beach, and flocks of pelicans in flight, in precise military formation.

Once the road dropped down and levelled, and the scenery fell away behind us, the road also improved, and thanks to our good planning and early start, we reached San Luis Obispa before 1pm, to break our journey, stretch our legs and take lunch before the major second leg. The town was impossibly pretty with an incredible array of elegant, friendly, interesting shops and bars. It is an absolute undiscovered gem that would be thronging with tourists in any other part of the world. Here, it's got a Spanish name, it's at least an hour from any other major city, so it's a mystery why the shops are there at all, not so much why it was so quiet and peaceful. We had lunch in a western-type bar, Thomas continuing in his attempt on the Guinness Book of Records feat for the most breaded chicken products consumed on one week, and we set off again shortly before 3pm to try and finish the trip before midnight.

Remarkably, from San Luis Obispa into greater Los Angeles is almost all freeway, almost completely drivable at 70mph and very easy to navigate. We hit some traffic at Santa Barbara which also looked impossibly beautiful in a, well, Californian way - sun, sand, palm trees etc. - and then we slowed down on the edge of LA. This gave us time to pinch ourselves some more, for Linda to mess up photos of landmark roadsigns, and for us to try and navigate our way to the small street containing our hotel form a variety of maps, the best of which covered one side of greater Los Angeles to the other in four inches, and none of which professed to show the street with our hotel on. So we continued on Route 101, came off the ramp when our road was signposted, turned left at the end of the ramp and first right into the hotel car park !

The hotel was apparently owned by a star of movies and TV called Beverley Garland, and had a wonderful air of Californian, seventies, slightly 'seen-better-days' type - the signs were done in an old-fashioned typeface, like a seventies pop album, and there was a feeling that you were always likely to see someone you half-recognised. In fact we saw at least two people, one of whom Chris described as "that guy that sometimes used to be in Disney films".

Next day, we decided to take the car to Universal Studios - the high point of the week - and treat ourselves to 'preferred parking' which actually worked out very well, and gave us a 50 yard walk to the main gates. We already had tickets, so we were inside before 9am. But once inside, the main park didn't open until the stroke of 9am, even though we were in the main throng of 50 or so people who rushed to make the most of the newly opened park - except it wasn't - open, that is. The gates may have been, but most rides, including the ones we were seeking, didn't open until 10am. We took the opportunity to do 'Back to the Future' twice (well, Thomas and Chris did - Linda concentrated on retaining her breakfast while the boys had their second go) - then we had a big wait to get down to the lower lot and, of course, 'Jurassic Park - The Ride'. Thomas shows absolutely no fear in these situations, which was very useful. The ride started calmly as a river cruise through Jurassic Park, beautifully realised with animatronic Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus. BUT...something goes wrong, the boat is diverted through the wrecked Velociraptor compound and through the complex, with raptors and T.Rex poking out of broken pipes The climax is to traverse a waterfall through which a giant T.Rex pops out, just as the boat tips over an almost vertical 80 foot drop. It was SO frightening that Thomas had to do it three times in a row, and the second two trips, thanks to the sparse early crowds, were done in the front seat of the boat. We were, of course, totally soaked.

Other favourite attractions were the E.T. Adventure, Backdraft, and the Movie Special Effects (where Thomas dubbed the sound of Shrek's mud shower to a clip of film). Linda loved the backlot tour which included many famous sets like the Psycho House, Wholand from the Grinch film, the Town Square from Back to the Future, and multiple famous reserved parking spaces. We also saw the Waterworld show, and Thomas got soaked again in the Nickelodeon Blast Zone.

We felt really happy that we had got our money's worth from Universal , but felt a little dissatisfied that we hadn't yet seen much of Hollywood itself (except for the glorious panoramic views from the park, which is actually built halfway up the big hill with the Hollywood sign). So...we decided to cruise around a few streets before we headed south. We dropped down onto Sunset Boulevard, drove along there, then cut back and drove back along Hollywood Boulevard. We saw Grauman's Cinema, Mann's Chinese Theatre, and a few other places which, according to the guidebook, were famous landmarks. But we also saw rather a lot of rundown seedy shops, including a whole colony of shops where showgirls buy their lingerie, wigs and exotic shoes - it gave the impression that there is a very thin line between the glamour of the movies and the less attractive other world beneath the surface. In fact, as we had seen earlier in the day, Hollywood is the master at creating artificial worlds, and apparently this carries over into its real-life setting.

The journey down Route 405 to Carlsbad was, indeed, uneventful, and rather surprisingly we managed to drive at 75mph for 2 hours without being the fastest car on the road - until we reached the hotel described as 'Danish-themed' - did this mean lots of Scandinavian-looking blonde wood Ikea furniture ? No - apparently in California, Danish-themed means 'sporting a huge windmill over the restaurant' !!

Legoland, Carlsbad

After so much intense driving and travelling, and trying to keep to our quite demanding schedule, we decided not to hurry anywhere this morning, especially as we intended to stay at Legoland till after 8pm to see the fireworks. So we rose late, went to the pool before breakfast in the hope of stopping Thomas throwing up, then went through for breakfast - walking through what can only be described as a eucalyptus grove on the way back from the pool, we added to our 'creatures in the wild' inventory by spotting a humming bird flitting from tree to tree. Somehow, despite the manager writing the times on our check-in sheet the previous night, despite the information in the room giving accurate restaurant times, despite the vouchers we were given having the correct times printed on them, the hotel had somehow managed to conspire to make us believe that breakfast ended at 11.30, so we arrived 5 minutes after breakfast ended. After an ugly scene (well, Chris was the only one looking really ugly) the manager accommodated us quite well, and once we realised our mistake, we went from righteous indignation to acute embarrassment - in private of course.

We arrived at Legoland at lunchtime, and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds and the pleasantness of the day. Linda used the word 'civilised' a lot to describe the atmosphere, and that's really how it was. A pleasant, unhurried, exciting, fulfilling experience. Thomas got to ride his favourite rides as many times as he wanted, Chris took about 800 pictures of Miniland, which on balance was better than the one in Windsor, and we stayed until 8.40pm for a red, white and blue firework display. Even then there was still shopping to be done, including red, white and blue doughnuts for the journey, which was just as well as it took nearly an hour to get out of the car park and on our way to San Diego.

The journey was pretty brief and harmless - apart from getting caught up in the uni-directional San Diego streets, which was not to be the last time - and the interesting experience of checking in and being given the key to a room that was already occupied

San Diego

The next day was to be our last full day, and we fully intended to recharge our batteries after our hereto hectic schedule. We woke late, swam, breakfasted, did laundry, organised bags, and then headed out for the beach just before midday. We thought we'd try and see a bit of the town first, and then headed down Harbour Drive towards the Coronado Toll Bridge. We ended up seeing a lot more of San Diego than we really wanted to, and places that tourists don't normally see, as we drove through a desperately poor hispanic neighbourhood with a strange idea of what people might buy in a yard sale, and with those damned one-way streets thwarting our every effort to get back onto the freeway.

Eventually we escaped the roadsigns and sneaked onto the crowded Coronado Island - more traffic, overflowing car parks, so we drifted down the coast road, past the Naval Base, and ended up on a fairly run-of-the-mill public beach - which is to say it was fairly busy, had a capacious car park, changing and showering facilities, and storming Pacific breakers crashing just far enough out to make the waters safe. Thomas befriended a boy called Jared, who lent him a boogie board and they had a great afternoon playing together. The only cost was the painful scratches Thomas gained on his tummy - now we know why most surfers wear wet suits.

We left the beach after 5.30, not realising till later how strong the sun had been (an elementary mistake for which Chris paid, not for the first time) and we headed back to get ready for dinner. We really wanted to try and eat earlier, as Thomas' mood definitely declines as he gets tired, and he had had some very late nights this week. We tried to find a restaurant in Little Italy, but apart from a 40 minute wait at one, and a 30-strong out-of-the-door line at another (which we reckon must have been pretty damned good) we were out of luck. So we headed back into the centre of town and the fabled Gaslamp Quarter. This is described so glowingly in the tourist guides, but is really only a contrived tourist area of bars, restaurants and expensive parking lots. We found a halfway decent Italian, but the food was a little disappointing. Thomas was flagging, and the evening turned out to be less memorable than we hoped. We were back in the hotel at a reasonable hour for Thomas to catch up on some sleep - except we then let him stay up and watch Beetle juice till after 11 o'clock !! We are such BAD parents !

Next day, despite the fact that (of course) we have to swim, and we know we can stay in the room till 2pm, we are organised for our trip home, packed and out of the room at a decent enough hour for us to have breakfast at a diner called Hob Nob Hill - much recommended and with a certain character, created not least by the waiting staff made up exclusively of woman of a certain age with wiry hair and thick ankles. However the food was a little disappointing - dry muffins, and smallish portions (very un-american !) - so small in fact that Thomas ordered himself a second breakfast - and we let him.

After that, we cruised around San Diego a little longer to get postcards and soak up a bit more atmosphere before heading out. Despite its high recommendations, its excellent climate, and its place as the 7th largest city in the U.S., we found San Diego to be...well, quite non-descript and very ordinary. Of course, there's always the view that you can't get to know somewhere in a day and a bit - which we accept - but what we saw of it did not comment it as a place to come back to. It compared to Brighton - a town/city in its own right,with industry, commerce, etc which just happens to be next to the sea and so makes the most of it. And anyway, if Americans can take 10 day tours of Europe and think they've seen it all, we're happy with our summation of San Diego in a day and a bit.

We resisted the obvious temptation of doing San Diego Zoo and the accompanying Balboa Park, but instead headed out of the city towards the San Diego Wildlife Park, which had one advantage of being on the way to the airport, and comes highly recommended by one of Chris' work colleagues. The park did not get off to a good start, as we queued in the hot sun for a shuttle from the car park, queued for entry tickets, queued to get through the gates, then discovered the one-hour long queue for the monorail, which is pretty much the number one attraction.

After another ugly and needless rant, we set off to make the best of it, taking in an elephant show in a blistering auditorium, and feeding the ducks. Well, it seemed that Thomas' intention was to ensure that every aquatic bird in the entire park got at least some of his bird feed. We finally bit the bullet, got on the queue for the monorail, and exactly one hour later we climbed aboard, Chris' cynicism growing by the minute as the Tour Guide announced that his time at the park had been 'the best two months of my life'.

However cynicism was swept away as the train inched around the mile long track which surrounded a huge, incredibly natural looking compound that contained all manner of exotic African and Asian animals (thought not enough lions and tigers to satisfy Thomas) and Chris could bear (or at least tune-out) the irritating cliches and platitudes of our 14 year-old guide - even picking up on some of the interesting information half-hidden in the cliches. We finished the day in the park by looking at more ducks, snakes, spiders, feeding lorrikeets which climbed onto your hands, and with another disappointing meal, before we left to head off to the airport.

One panic-inducing journey later (delayed by driving the wrong way up highway 78 three times, and then hitting a freeway-wide jam for a Mexican border inspection) we reached Ontario Airport, handed back Daddy's beloved Ford Explorer and boarded our overnight flight back to JFK. Thomas bravely took up the challenge of watching Crocodile Hunter on the in-flight satellite TV, but before long he had succumbed to sleep - we all closed our eyes and ended our California vacation somewhere high over the Nevada desert.

In some ways, a road trip along the Southern Californian highways is a bit of a dream trip - but it usually involves lots of sun, a Ford Mustang convertible and a leisurely drive along picturesque coastal roads. Our road trip was a little different, in that it was mostly about driving from point to point, and the only times when we hoped to get something out of the drive itself were spoilt by the weather. And the driving was such a big part of the holiday that it almost overshadowed everything else - and it would have done, if the driving had not taken us from one high point to another.

From San Francisco to Monterey Aquarium to Universal Hollywood to Legoland to San Diego - a fantastic, exhilirating, exhausting, all-consuming itinerary of high points of colour, but perhaps missing some of the subtle shades and nuances of the quieter moments. Sometimes you have to have the quieter moments to appreciate the high points even more. But then again, with a 5 year old and only 8 days...

So what where the memorable moments ? So, what did we take away from California, apart from loads of T-shirts ?

• San Francisco is a very beautiful city, just like on TV and in the movies, but is mainly for grown-ups.
• Every major city in California has at least one English pub - Cameroon's Inn, the Coach and Horses in Hollywood, the Elephant and Castle in the Holiday Inn in San Diego, which also had the Britannia Arms, the small English pub in the middle of San Luis Obispa, the English microbrewery at the Cannery in Monterey....
• Hollywood is actually not very nice at all, and the glamourous Tinseltown we know so much about is half-American Themepark and half-Soho sleazepark.
• Californians may have a reputation as being laid back, but they're really not much different to other Americans - except for their inability to organise a kegger in a fake English pub.
• Oakland Airport is as much of a dump as Ontario Airport was stylish and welcoming - a definite case of swings and roundabouts - but it does suggest that you check before flying through a municipal airport.
• San Francisco has worse town planners than Milton Keynes, after spending probably billions on a public transport system which doesn't connect with any of the airports !
• Chris has seen more baseball parks (at least from the outside) than Andy has.
• If we didn't know before, Thomas is a real water baby, and has progressed from last summer without going near a pool - by the end of this summer he will be swimming effortlessly - so long as he can keep his breakfast down.
• In California, "Danish-themed" means Windmills (Holland), Eucalyptus Trees (Australia), Hummingbirds (Africa), Swiss Chalets, and TGI Fridays (very, very, very American).
• The next car we buy will be a 2004 White Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition with electric leather seats.
• Linda remains unparalleled in her experience and ability in packing three suitcase-worth of clothes into two holdalls.
• According to Andy Keyte, Monterey Aquarium still ranks highly on Suzanne's list of "best fish museums in the world" - and now we know why !