Day Two - The Royal Marines

Still blowing my nose made for an uncomfortable night for Jon as well as myself. However, we started the day with a proper English breakfast. Cereal, juice, tea or coffee, sausage and bacon (very different from the American bacon we are used to - more almost like ham but sliced like bacon), mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs (fried, scrambled or poached) and toast with butter and jam. Needless to say you don't need to eat again until much later in the day after all of that.

Mrs. Stevens had given us several brochures all with exciting things to see and do. We let Patrick pick first and he decided on the Royal Marine Museum. So we drove down to Portsmouth.



















Patrick seemed to enjoy himself (took some pictures for his Dad while he was there) and even humored his Mother by putting on a pith helmet. I swore he was going to tell me that it was for "little kids" which I think it was but he actually added the ammunition around his chest and Jon handed him the gun. Not to look foolish by himself - he conned Jon into joining into the fun. Glad I was the one with the camera!
































We headed over to Gunwarf Quays much to Patrick's horror - shopping?!! on holiday??!!! Calm down it was only for an English SIM card for one of our cell phones so if separated, Jon and I would be in touch. I still wasn't feeling well thanks to the cold so we found a pub at the harbor for lunch. We had hoped to visit the Mary Rose and the HMS Victory in the Portsmouth dockyard but alas time and my cold did not allow. I had seen both but thought Patrick might enjoy them especially since his Dad had expressed a desire in seeing any pics if he went. By then it was late enough and jet lag was kicking in so we all decided heading back to the B&B was best.

The roads around our B&B were tiny to say the least. That is one thing that is very evident to me when I come over - the roads leave very little room for error. They have no shoulders (except for the major motorways). Although I clutched the handle on the side of the door, I have to admit that even though the speed limits are higher there the drivers as a whole are better than the US. People seem to know they have to be polite and take turns (especially when some roads are barely big enough for one car to come down let alone two). Several towns/villages have roads where your lane is blocked by cars parked. I'm utterly surprised that more car doors and wing mirrors are destroyed.

Jon and Patrick napped while took my book out into the lovely garden to hopefully dry out my sinuses (sitting in the sunshine) and soaking up the English country air. We couldn't get Patrick up so Jon and I ventured out to a local pub for dinner. Home again and after a cup of tea, some biscuits (what the English call cookies) and a nice hot bath I was ready to hit the sack. Hopefully tomorrow would go better.

Day One - planes, no trains yet and automobiles

Although it was stressful getting ready to leave (partially due to tile issue [bathroom renovation], illness and not enough time) we managed to get to the airport in plenty of time. Online checkin allowed us to pick our seats so all we had to do was check our luggage.

Once luggage was checked in we has a few minutes to grab a bite to eat. When is BWI going to get something other than Bill Bateman's? We refuse to go to the one near our home in Reisterstown after a disastrous meal where we walked out without paying after speaking to the manager. However, our charming waitress made the meal at the airport a bit better. She claimed to a be an aspiring singer/actress. She kept mimicking Jon's accent and I think found him rather charming (seems to a be something a lot of Americans do).

This was Patrick's first flight and although he admitted he was nervous I think it went smoothly. Unfortunately, neither he or I slept much. He was kind enough to share with his mother a virus he had managed to get before we left. He was okay but I had a sore throat for 3 days that even Advil could not abate. Getting on the plane seemed to trigger the nose running portion of this bug and I'm sure my fellow passengers where "thrilled" to have someone blowing and sneezing the whole flight. Jon as usual, slept through the whole thing. Wish I could figure out how he does it.

Immigration and customs were a breeze (I love how it is on the honor system - you have nothing to declare....walk right through here and you don't have to talk to anyone). However, getting our luggage took quite a long time. Heathrow is busy I know but nothing like a bunch of grumpy people just wanting to get their bags and go to start your morning. Finally off to get the rental car - a manual much to my husband's disdain.

I let Patrick sit up front so he could take England in better (hard to see things from the back seat and since I was exhausted I didn't mind just lying back and trying to rest in between nose blowing). We stopped for lunch at the Rising Sun pub (Patrick's first pub!) and decided to take advantage of the English summer to enjoy the outside seating. Jon had managed to get UK maps for his GPS before we left. However, it did take us on a few "side journeys" that resulted in seeing a bit more of the countryside than planned. We even wound up in what looked like a polo ground. Finally we arrive at our B&B.

How lovely! The couple who run the Three Quebec B&B originally lived in the US for awhile. Her husband was with the Royal Navy and they were stationed in Arlington, VA. In fact, their 2nd daughter was born in Bethesda, MD. We each had a bedroom, 1 bath and a sitting room all with it's own entrance and garden area to enjoy.
























Speaking of gardens, they have one of the most lovely terraced gardens I've seen. Mrs. Stevens was kind enough to give me a tour of her garden and didn't seemed to mind all my questions about the beautiful flowers, shrubs and plants.






















Dinner at a local pub and back to catch some much needed shut eye.