The Cotswolds - Cheltenham Spa to Winchcombe

     

We had a wonderful breakfast before heading off to Winchcombe at 8:30 am.  Paul took our order for breakfast and knowing that the Brits don’t cook their bacon as we do, I asked for mine very well done.  Paul responded “ah, you want it buggered”.

We walked 10.4 miles today and made it to Winchcombe by 3 pm.   It was our warmest day on the trip (75 degrees).  The paths were magnificent with spectacular views, amazing flora, and sheep everywhere.  

 

Our first stop before checking in to the White Hart Hotel was the Old Bakery.  We were in search of a pub to celebrate success on day 1 of the walk.   Upon entering the Old Bakery, Hank thought it looked more like a Mountain Brook ladies tea room, but the back patio was perfect!     

Later that evening, we enjoyed a delicious celebratory dinner on the back patio at the Lion Inn.

London to Cheltenham Spa - The Cotswolds

Our train to Cheltenham Spa didn’t leave until 2:15 pm so we walked to Abbey Road.  Yep, as silly as it sounds we just had to do it.   We took our turn walking across the zebra walkway just as the Beatles did 50 years ago.  We saw the studio from the road, wrote on the wall, and picked up a few souvenirs.  

We made our way to Paddington station.  The 2 hour train trip and a short taxi ride landed us at Butlers in Cheltenham Spa; our first stop in the Cotswolds.  The quaint guest house was owned and operated by Paul and his partner.  We found Paul delightful and discussed US politics, the Monarchy, Brexit, the Cotswolds and several other interesting topics.   We walked around Cheltenham and had a late dinner.   A pretty laid back day resulted in 7.1 miles walked today.

London Day 2

Richard got up early this morning and went in search of coffee.  I got up and got ready and kept watching out the window for him.  After about an hour, I was getting concerned so I set off to find him.  When I went downstairs, the restaurant/pub was closed so the only exit available was the one we had been told about the night before….take the room key with you or you can’t get back in.   I walked around the side of the hotel and found my very content and very caffeinated husband sitting at an outside table calmly remarking that “I knew I was locked out and that somebody would eventually figure out what had happened”.

After a delicious breakfast we set off to see London.  We went to the top of St. Pauls Cathedral, saw Westminster Abbey, the Tower Bridge...but could not find Big Ben.   Where did he go?   He was actually camouflaged behind boarding and scaffolding, and only his clock was peeping out at us.  I guess the old guy needed a facelift.

We hadn’t started our official walk yet but managed to get 10.5 miles in.  We made one slightly wrong turn and ended up on a street full of Hookah lounges!

London

The day time flight was delightful and we landed totally ready to go, but it happened to be 8 pm there, so we opted to check into The Warrington Hotel and have dinner in the pub downstairs (which fortunately closed at 11 pm) and call it a night.   

The Browns had a wonderful surprise waiting for them in their room.  Their sweet daughters had arranged for a bottle of chilled prosecco to be waiting in their room when they arrived (love these girls).  
After settling in for the evening Richard and I turned our TV on and discovered a unique TV game show “Naked Attraction”.  Words can’t describe this “dating” game show so I’ll leave you to Google if you want to know more.  
The Warrington has 5 rooms and there were only 47 steps to get there.

The Journey Begins in Boston!

Meet Hank and Cindy Brown!   Cindy is my cousin and "person" and Hanko as we affectionately call him, is my "cuz-in-law".   We live two hours apart but manage a weekend together a few times a year.   We've always wanted to travel together so we started planning this trip in April after talking about it for a year and a half.  This was a 60^th birthday celebration for Cindy.  We managed to make the trip before her 61^st birthday, so all is well.

We took the long route to London via Boston because one of us really despises overnight flights across the pond.   I found an 8:30 am flight from Boston to London that’s only 5 hours long.  So an overnight stay in Boston and we got to have dinner at the Union Oyster House (the oldest restaurant in America) and had time to see a little of Boston on our first night.  We are so excited to begin this big adventure!

Summertime in the Keys

We are still in the experimentation stage with our travels to the Florida Keys….what time of year to go (or not to go), how best to get there, etc.  For this trip (booked months ago), we flew Boutique Air from Muscle Shoals to Atlanta, caught a cheap Frontier Air flight to Miami, and snagged a Greyhound bus that was headed to Key West.  The timing just fell into place (not to mention the cost).   Having flown Allegiant Air from Memphis to Fort Lauderdale on our last trip, we were just about over the no frills, low budget airlines.   But Frontier wasn’t bad….the plane was clean, the employees were nice, we didn’t check bags, no carry on, and didn’t get a seat assignment… so $58 one way to Miami wasn’t bad. 

We walked to the Intermodal car rental/train/bus station part of the airport.  While waiting for the bus, we visited with a very nice lady from New Zealand that was traveling alone.  She had been on the bus all day (from Orlando) and was headed to Key West….her first trip.   We managed to get a seat right behind the driver, so we were somewhat separated from the other passengers.  Air conditioning, wifi, and not having to drive the turnpike through Miami.....priceless!

Our stop was the Marathon Airport, which is about 4 miles from our house.  Richard asked the driver if he could just open the door for us if he stopped at the red light at MM 53 (in front of the Holiday Inn). He began quoting some DOT regulations…..but then said “Sure, why not”!   So we were able to get off at the entrance to Key Colony Beach and walk home, but not before stopping by Sparkings Landing for a cold beer!   Its good to be home!

Christmas in the Keys

With the majority of my family spending Christmas at Disney World, we decided to begin our winter trip a little early.  So the week before Christmas, with the other truck packed, we carried our bikes and kayaks down, for hopefully the last time.

Even with renovating the house, we did manage to get in some fun time with our friends in the 15 weeks we spent in paradise.  The kitchen is where the majority of the renovation took place

 Before

After