We thought that Patrick would enjoy the D-Day museum since many of the online/pc games he plays take place during WWII. We were lucky enough that they had 3 veterans of the Normandy Invasion (D-Day) there and you could ask them questions. To me, talking to these gentleman was more than worth the price of admission. Reading plaques or listening to looped broadcasts isn't the same as actually hearing about first hand accounts. The one gentleman was a pilot that took the Americans to their death on Omaha Beach. The other two actually landed at Gold Beach (where the British forces landed).
The two that landed at Gold Beach explained how the Omaha Beach was different and why so many Americans lost their lives that day. I think that is why the pilot who drove the boats full of Americans said he died that day too. I can't imagine taking mere boys to that beach and watching them get slaughtered one after another. War has a profound effect on the soldiers and one that I don't think we fully understand even in this day and age. The two I spoke with showed us pictures and explained so much (as my history is pretty shabby at best). Unfortunately, we had to cut them short since we were on a bit of a time schedule. We quickly walked through the rest of the museum.
Jon went to get a cup of coffee from the cafe while Patrick and I went outside to explore the fort behind the D-Day museum. It was another beautiful day and we got some nice pictures of the seafront in Portsmouth.
The round structure out in the water is actually a fort as well. There are several in the harbor. They were built during WWII to keep the Germans from invading England. Jon told me that one of the forts was built and turned into a night club. Guess you can't get too drunk out there because one wrong step and you'll be in the drink (literally!).
Next to Liss where Jon's Dad (Len) and Stepmum (Toko) now live. They had lived in Sidmouth (in the Devon region of England) until recently. Due to the nursing home where Toko was being closed they were forced to move. The one they are in in Liss, however is quite nice as nursing homes go. The staff were quite friendly and the grounds were lovely with beautiful flowers everywhere, tall deciduous and evergreen trees to give shade. We had hoped to take them out to lunch at the local pub but turns out Toko had a physiotherapist session. So we went to lunch and came back to spend some time in the garden with them. We even got to show them both the whirlpool swimming pool they use for therapy - I think Len was expecting a full length pool that you could do laps in but still seemed interested in giving it a go.
This was the first time Patrick had met Len and Toko. He did amazingly well considering that Len has senile dementia and Toko's memory isn't great either after her accident. It wasn't fun but he didn't complain about it and I was very proud of him. He was certainly exposed to a lot of things this trip and that all in all is a good thing. Perhaps he'll have some sympathy for his parents when they get old now that he has seen the downside of old age. He is very fortunate that both set of his grandparents are quite healthy (aside from back, knee problems). After our visit we went back to Becky and James place in Bishop's Waltham. I was feeling poorly again (cough and chest congestion) so I rested. James kindly made a pasta dinner for Patrick, myself and kids. They had a friend coming over and since I wasn't up to it and Patrick was able to have internet access again - we stayed home while they all went out for a bit. Becky came home to put the kids to bed and James, Jon and the friend went to the local pub for a bit of a boys night out. Thanks to my little nap early and the cough that wouldn't end...I wound up getting very little sleep that night.
Tomorrow we head northward!
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