The Trip of a LIFETIME!
That all was true til late last winter when our oldest son, Derek, told us he was going to buy us airline tickets to England in the spring. He knew how much it would mean to both his father and I ... and so on March 23, 2005 we headed off for our visit to the past, the present and the future!
What follows below are some photos that have a lot of meaning for us .... and the thoughts that go with them. Please enjoy and know that this trip was the dream of a lifetime for at least two people.
Here I am, near Dover, on a chilly day late in March 2005. Believe it or not there was a surfer just to my left ... in a wet suit ... not being very successful. Having somewheat more luck was a young couple to my right that were flying a kite!
It started out gray and rainy and foggy but by the time we got here on this particular day, it was sunny, breezy and not quite as chilly.
This is the house where my husband spent his first year of life in Stockton Heath, Chester.
Pubs are a wondrous thing in England ... you really need to vistit MANY as we did.
This particular one happens to be "The Mulberry Tree" and it is in Stockton Heath.
This is Knole House near Seven Oaks which is southeast of London. During World War II my husband's parents and his mother's family used to come here to picnic.
There is a large, grassy area to his left, up on a hill, and that is where they would have their picnics. He says he's not sure they ever went into the house. But because this was so important to him this was one of our first MUST SEE stops.
We did have 'tea' in the 'Tea Room'.
The day started out chilly and rainy and didn't improve. However we HAD to go to Sherwood Forest now didn't we? After all we were raised on tales of Robin Hood and his Merry Men as well as Maid Marian.
This is "Marriage Oak" ... and by stories handed down from days of yore, it is under THIS tree that Maid Marian and Robin Hood were married.
It is hard to see in this picture, but there are wooden beams being used to support the branches so that they don't break because they are so large and heavy.
Oh MY!!! Is that Alan a-Dale I hear???
Yes we DID get to London! On a bright and sunny day. It was gorgeous. I can't do much walking so all the pictures we took (which were many) were taken from the tour bus on the fly!
This is of COURSE .... Big Ben!
This was my MUST SEE ....
Stonehenge!
It was cold and I couldn't walk the path around it ... so my husband had to go and take pictures for me. But I DID sit on stone wall at the start of the path and look at it from a distance. It was all I had hoped and dreamed for ... and oh do I wish I could have been there alone and up close and personal.
But at least I was there ... and that is better than nothing.
