We made three stops today. In between we napped on the bus. Larry and I couldn't do anything else! We weren't the only ones though.
First we stopped for coffee at Gretna Green. Then we visited Grasmere where Beatrix Potter and her brother summered and where the English poet William Wordsworth settled and is buried. In Viking language, Mere means lake.
The lake district is truly idyllic with dry stone walls dividing the little mountains (about 2,000 ft high) into "fells" for containing the sheep that roam everywhere. Sheep farming is the primary industry. It is all so green.
Larry and I had a really good local beer, Hawkshead Red Beer. It was delicious. I also had a sandwich of poached salmon, pickled cucumber and Wasabi mayo on crusty bread. Yum. With a light green salad and chicken lentil soup. Larry had a lamb burger. He liked it very much. While the libations were fabulous, we waited way too long for it. We only had an hour and a half there and lunch took most of it.
The village was very quaint with most of the houses built out of slate. We visited a 13th century church dedicated to Oswald of Northumbria, a king who preached on the spot in 642 A.D. A plaque inside was dedicated to William Wordsworth and much of his family is buried there with him. It was a lovely spot on a picturesque little river.
We bought some delicious (and purportedly world famous) gingerbread before running out of time. We made it back in time to pay 20 pence to pee before boarding the bus and continuing our journey south.
It was raining when we arrived in Liverpool. We were immediately taken to an exhibit called, The Beatles Story. We descended into caverns in a renovated factory district at the Mersey River docks. Gerry and The Pacemakers' song was the last song played on the bus before we got off. I loved it.
There we were handed headsets with an audio tour to guide us through a very extensive collection of Beatles memorabilia and elaborate sets of the rise and break - up of The Fab Four. It was extremely well done.
After buying a little teddy bear in a yellow submarine tshirt, we were taken to our hotel, Novotel Liverpool. It is very contemporary and nice. We had a delicious dinner with the group.
Larry and I were the only ones to venture out in search of the real Cavern Club reconstructed in the exhibit. We found the club only a few blocks away and it was very much like the exhibit. I was impressed.
We got a gin and tonic and found seats right in front of the stage. The young man singing and playing guitar was really good. Soon he engaged us in singing a couple of Beatles' songs. Then he played some good rocking tunes.
I cannot stay still and was dying to dance. I just danced in my seat until a very 60s- looking mod young woman began to dance alone right in front of me. Of course I had to jump up and join her and my night was made! She wouldn't let me leave until we danced again and her friend joined us. It was great!
Oh, I also wrote our names on the brick walls along with thousands of others.
They kissed and hugged Larry and I both and we all shared a great laugh. I felt like a kid again and reliving my Beatles fan fantasy of actually being in the club where they played totally made my year. What a great day.
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