South Carolina: Edmonston Alston House Charleston

Twenty-One East Battery is a very historic site. One of the earliest forts in Charleston, Fort Mechanic once stood here. The mansion was constructed in 1825 for Scottish merchant Charles Edmondston. It is designed in the Federal style. He was able to enjoy it for less than 10 years before reverses on fortune forced him to sell it. 

The second owner was Charles Alston, the son of one of the wealthiest planters in South Carolina. He updated the house by adding the porches; the parapet, with his coat of arms along the roof; and the cast-iron balcony that graces the front of the house. Federal goes Greek Revival.

You purchase your ticket inside and then are moved out on to the porch to wait for your tour guide. While you are there, you will be irresistibly drawn to the jogging board. I have been trying to figure out where I could put one at my house. They are a ball. You sit on this longboard and bounce. It was the only exercise most Southern ladies ever got.

Carol was our guide. We begin our tour in the front parlor, where we got to look at some paintings of the house before the Alston’s altered it. Ninety percent of the contents of the house are from the Alston period, including the library. In the hall, we saw some excellent examples of pendant and ball molding, and in this case, in the form of acorns. One interesting fact we learned was that the Charlestonians have been compared to the Chinese. Both love rice and honor their ancestors.

This house has seen some very important visitors. General P.T. Beauregard watched the attack on Fort Sumpter from the piazza on April 12, 1861, and Robert E. Lee sought refuge here when a fire made his hotel unsafe in December 1861. There is an original copy of the Ordinance of Succession in the house, as well as Race Week memorabilia in the dining room. Every year in February, Charlestonians have race week. 

The tour takes about a half-hour. You are not allowed to linger, because there will be another tour coming right behind you.

Photos courtesy of Charleston CVB

South Carolina: A visit to Magnolia Plantation Charleston

Magnolia Plantation is one of the most historic sites in the area around Charleston. The same family, the Draytons, has owned it since 1679. The original owners were Thomas Drayton and his wife Ann who came from Barbados to grow rice in the fertile land along the Ashley River. A visit to historic Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC is recommended when visiting the area.

During the Revolutionary War, the land was occupied by both the British and the American soldiers. The Draytons were staunch supporters of the American Revolution and were active in both the army and in the government of the new nation.

The plantation house on this property has a history of destruction. The original was lost to a devastating fire in 1812 and the second was lost to General Sherman in 1865. The Rev. John Drayton, who was the owner of the property at that time, decided to move a hunting lodge that he owned near Summerville on a barge down the Ashley River to create the base for the house that you see today on the site. It was quite an accomplishment in that day and age. 

Today this is an outstanding destination. Beyond the house, there are over 500 acres of amazing gardens. The gardens have been a pet project of the family for over 100 years. The parking lot is away from the house. You will pass by the slave cabins on your way. You can watch an orientation film before you decide what you want to spend your time visiting.

The house can be visited on a guided tour. You will hear about the history of the family, the plantation and about the objects that have survived and also have been collected. It is an interesting tour and the guides are knowledgeable. It lasts about a half hour depending on whether there are questions asked. The gift shop is also in the house so you may want to save this for last.

The Gardens are a good place to start touring. They can take as long as your interest last. They are so spectacular that people have been visiting them here since they opened in the 1870s. Everyone has their favorite. It might be the Formal English Garden, the Biblical Garden or the Tropical Garden.

The Black Swamp is an amazing adventure for the whole family. You will be able to see a wide variety of bird species, as well as the walk among the gum trees on boardwalks and bridges. The ticket for the Audubon Garden is separate from the rest of the plantation and may be purchased separately.

When you think you are too tired to go on and do anything else, take the boat tour or the nature train. You can sit back, relax, enjoy and learn a lot more about the eco-system.

A visit to historic Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC  is a visit back to a time when life moved a little slower. It is also a very good look at what life was like both for the planter class and the people that made that way of life possible, the slaves. It can be very eye-opening.

If you get hungry during your visit, the Peacock Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

The Manchester View Manchester VT

We decided to visit Manchester Vermont for Black Friday. Finding three rooms for a reasonable price proved to be problematic. I used Booking.com and chose The Manchester View. I knew we would be comfortable there since my friend Joe always stays here when he visits Manchester.

We were given three rooms side by side 116,117 and 118. They each have a queen bed wing back chair desk and chair and armoire. The room was comfortable and clean. A Keurig was located on the desk and a small fridge in the bathroom. My daughter found that off-putting but I was delighted that they managed to squeeze it in.

The tv had limited channels. About 25 but enough for what we needed. The bed is comfortable and the bamboo pillows were not what I prefer but I am a pillow snob so that is understandable. Rooms have individual heat control. 

A continental breakfast is included from 8 to 9:30. It was excellent, offering oatmeal, yogurt, muffins, bagels, fresh fruit, cereal, juice coffee, tea and hot chocolate. The woman who serves the toasted bagels is delightful and got our morning off to a great start both days. 

We had the basic rooms but Manchester View does offer much larger rooms with fireplaces. 

Parking is right in front of the rooms which made it easy to get our stuff in. The room had a large slider onto a back deck which would be lovely in the warmer weather. 

I was very pleased with our stay at The Manchester View and I would stay here again without hesitation. An outdoor pool is located in the center area which I am sure is fun in the summer. The name is very appropriate since the views from just about everywhere on the grounds are stunning. 

South Carolina: Charleston Museum

As you enter the Charleston Museum, you are introduced to an example of the natural history portion of their collection in the form of a large whale skeleton, which hangs from the ceiling.

This is just the beginning of your adventure. Take time to examine the funeral carriage and then visit the special exhibit.  As you move along, you will receive an education in the art of ironwork in Charleston, as well as historic preservation.

Whatever you are expecting from the Charleston Museum, the scope and variety of their collection will astonish you. It is a combination of natural history, decorative arts, and history museums. Billed as America’s first museum, it was founded by the Charleston Library Foundation in 1773. 

A fire destroyed the initial collection in 1778. Originally, items were collected from around the world, but today are collected only from Charleston. Certainly, the museum has enough to keep the whole family entertained for many hours.

I began my tour by going through the silver collection. They have an amazing, deep collection, including George Washington’s christening cup.

I am a lover of snuffboxes, and they have a fine collection. If tea is your interest, there are cases filled with all the accouterments of a good English tea. Another interesting display introduces those delightfully Victorian utensils: the melon fork, mustard spoon, marrow scoop toddy ladle, asparagus server, and the like.

Bountiful Coast is an exhibit on the forest and the animals that thrive there. It includes a formal Low Country table setting, a colonial kitchen, and a very interesting display of what a typical meal would have consisted of for the different classes of Southern Society, especially the privileged.

One room holds the original Charleston Museum exhibits from 1790. It is intriguing to see what our ancestors would have thought worthy of a museum. Some of it seems quite simple in this day and age, but much of it is extraordinary enough to have stood the test of time. A two-headed brown water snake grabbed my attention.

As you continue through the museum, you will come upon the item preferred by most children - the Charleston Polar Bear. He was taken from a frozen section of the Arctic Ocean in 1961 and is a beauty.

The history section at the Charleston Museum has an outstanding costume collection. There are all the usual items, covering about 150 years: Civil War uniforms, skirts, dresses, and the like. I walked through in reverse order, so I was on a trip back in time. I think it might be wiser to do it chronologically. Watch Charleston evolve through the Revolutionary War, the rise of the rice culture, the Civil War, and beyond.

South Carolina: Charleston Grey Line Tour

In the rear of the Visitor Center, you will find all the tour buses lined up. We chose Grayline because they offer a 10% AAA discount. Pick up is available from your hotel, just check with your concierge. You will probably need to sign up a day in advance.

Our driver’s name was Charlie. The tour lasts 90 minutes and introduces all the major areas of interest. What it did do was give us a general sense of where everything was what might be of interest to us.

Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, led the settlement of  South Carolina in 1663. At that time, the Carolina Colony’s northern boundary was the North Carolina/Virginia border, with the Pacific Ocean to the west and St. Augustine, Florida, to the south. The first settlement was made in an area that was swampy, and by 1680, the settlement had moved to Charlestown.

 It wasn’t renamed Charleston until 1734. The original town was 4 blocks by 7 blocks and surrounded by a seawall, making it only the third walled city in North America behind St. Augustine and Quebec. A small section of the seawall is visible today in the Exchange Building.

Charleston grew too fast to stay within the walls, and by 1735, 75% of it had been removed to allow for expansion. Charleston has the fourth largest port in the United States and the second largest on the East Coast. That certainly surprised me.

Some of the people you will learn about on the tour are John C. Calhoun, Frances Marion, and Wade Hampton; I won’t ruin your fun by elaborating.

Charleston is called the holy city because of its churches; there are 400 in the county and 71 in the city itself. Of the 400, 85 are listed as historic buildings. These played into quite a large part of our tour. We learned about St. Michael and St. Philip, The French Huguenot Church, and St. Matthew German Lutheran Church. The steeple of St. Matthew Church is 268 feet tall, the tallest church building in the state. No building in Charleston is allowed to be taller than that steeple.

As we traveled through Charleston, examples of their beautiful wrought-iron work were pointed out. Skilled African-American slaves created much of this. They have left a beautiful legacy.

Among the many interesting facts we learned was that the College of Charleston has been used as the backdrop for some famous movies, like "The Patriot," which is loosely based on the life of Frances Marion. Another interesting fact is that Charleston has been hit by many major hurricanes. When you see how beautiful it is, it is even more amazing, especially since it has also suffered earthquake damage. You will learn how to identify earthquake bolts. This is an interesting tour, and I highly recommend it.

Hotel review: Publick House Historic Inn and Country Lodge Sturbridge MA

The Publick House Historic Inn and Country Lodge is located in Sturbridge, MA which is best known for the historic village that is located there. It has been a favorite get-away destination for us for many years. When I was thinking about where to go this year for our wedding anniversary, I decided it was time for us to visit again. Just for your information, the village is open on Sunday but is not open on Monday or Tuesday which was news to me. I had originally planned to spend two nights, Sunday and Monday but with the historic village closed I decided one night would be enough.

You have lots of options when it comes to staying at the Publick. you can stay in the historic part of the inn, you can stay in the least expensive option, the motel type rooms at the Country Lodge, 

you can stay in one of the two buildings off-site, Chamberlain and Tillyer House. We have stayed in the historic inn and at the Country Lodge, this time we opted to stay at the Tillyer House since it is brand spanking new and the spa is also located in the lower level of the building. 

It was a very good choice, the room was spacious and modern though the desk in the Tillyer House was unmanned and required that we go to the front of the historic inn to check in which was inconvenient, to say the least. 

What was really nice was that you get a free cup of coffee or pastry for breakfast at the bakery if you want or you get 10% off meals at the inn. We had dinner and breakfast at the inn and both were excellent. 

The bed was large and very comfortable and we could look out our window and see the bakery and if I had opened the window I am sure I could have smelled it as well. I was very pleased, it was quiet and very comfortable and the WiFi and the TV both worked very well. 

I was very pleased with our stay here and I have to give high ratings to the spa, it is lovely and the price was surprisingly affordable. 

In the Tillyer House, there is a lounge where you can relax and read and enjoy a cup of coffee, tea, or specialty coffee 24/7. This is a very nice touch.

Hotel Review: French Quarter Inn Charleston SC

"Timeless elegance at the Market" is how they describe themselves, and I am hard-pressed to improve on that description. As soon as you enter the lower level, you know this is not going to be your average hotel visit.

The curving staircase with the elaborate ironwork soars up to the lobby, which is on the first floor. You are greeted with champagne and lady ladyfingers in our case, with the news that due to booking difficulties, we have been upgraded to a junior suite - I hate when that happens!

THE ROOM

Tastefully decorated the room took our breath away. Our two queen-size beds came with double-sheeted featherbeds. If you don’t like the pillows on the bed, order another type from the pillow menu. We relaxed on our queen-size sofa bed with a matching easy chair and lots of throw pillows. The room had three other chairs and three tables. A desk separated the two beds, and the TV was located in an armoire. A particularly nice touch was the two luggage racks, one on each side of the armoire. Our room overlooked City Market.

A favorite with us was the large Jacuzzi tub. It was perfect for soaking after a long day of walking. The shower was a separate unit.

The bathroom was well equipped with a blow dryer, makeup mirror, full-length mirror, and a wrought-iron cart holding four sets of plush towels. Amenities are provided by Gilcrest and Soames.

You will find two robes in your armoire.

FOOD

Breakfast is provided, and you can choose to have it delivered or can pick it up yourself in the lobby. An outdoor patio is provided for your dining enjoyment, as well as several couches and plenty of chairs. Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 10  a.m. You can choose from French pastries, toasted bagels, blueberry muffins, fruit, juice, and beverages.

From 5 to 6 p.m., there is a wine-and-cheese reception, and from 9 to 10 p.m., there is milk and cookies. Coffee and tea are available 24/7, and ice tea and lemonade are offered from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. There are even M&M's and Jelly Bellies
available to snack on. In the morning, you will find USA Today at your door.

In the evening, turndown service is provided. You receive a praline and tomorrow’s weather forecast, with a copy of the breakfast menu tucked into your robe.

PARKING

Valet parking was $32 a day.

Beyond service, the staff at the French Quarter Inn here can handle anything. Joe had some packages he needed shipped home, and it was arranged for him. We needed dinner suggestions, and we had a fabulous meal and a flawless reservation. Need a map? They have it. Forget something and they will provide it. Everyone goes out of their way to be friendly and helpful. I love this hotel and can’t wait to come back.

Our Visit to Ickworth House

A country house tour: Ickworth House

In a country of countless country houses, Ickworth House stands out for its unique architecture. It is built in the Italianate style with a central rotunda and 2 curved wings going off it. As you visit the rooms on the Rotunda the uniqueness of the curved exterior walls is a delight to the eye and yet still surprises as you move room to room.

Ickworth was constructed by the Earl Bishop, Frederick, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry. The family name of the Earls of Bristol was Hervey. The house is not currently in the possession of the family, it belongs to the National Trust and the east wing has been turned into a four-star luxury hotel.

Construction on Ickworth House began in 1795, and the Earl Bishop viewed it as more of a museum than a comfortable home. His extensive art, silver and furniture collections are now on display in the house.
The rooms

The first room you visit is the Dining Room - it has 6 large silver candelabra, on the right-hand wall is a lovely picture of the Hervey Sisters in identical white dresses with blue sashes. The library has 4 pillars. They are ground marble over a wood frame and hollow. The silk on the curtains and couches is made in Sudbury. There is a very nice painting by Benjamin West of the death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham.

The Drawing Room has a beautiful portrait of Lady Elizabeth Foster by Angelika Kaufman and a portrait of the Earl Bishop by Viger Lebrun. The chandeliers in this room were made in Birmingham. A man came with scroll designs and stood on a stool so they could pick which one looked best in each room.

The Pompeian Room has several gorgeous tables made of mosaic and marble from tombs along the Appian Way in Rome. The ceiling of the room is a dome, amazing. When you first go upstairs, there is a beautiful display of the fan collection of the 3rd Marchioness of Bristol. Some of the fans are from as early as the 18th century.

One of the bedrooms has a beautiful and unusual Venetian Murano Glass chandelier. It is very colorful and the guide in that room said that people seem to either love or hate it, with most women loving it. I have to admit that yes, I did love it.

The Museum Room housed some of the massive silver collection. A silver baby rattle and a huge wine cistern were among my favorites, as well as cases of miniatures. Included is a beautiful portrait of Georgiana Devonshire and Elizabeth Foster who shared the love of the Duke of Devonshire and yet remained close friends, as well as snuffboxes and perfume bottles.


We ended our tour with a visit to the gift shop and a bit of play acting. Some really interesting hats are offered for you to try on and model and of course, we did.


Be sure to check their website or the National Trust for opening times and fees.

Franklin Pierce Homestead Hillborough NH

Let me begin by saying this was an amazing tour. I love visiting presidential sites but let's be honest, Franklin Pierce is not exactly a household name and when it comes to boring presidents of very little account, he may be very close to the top of the list. And yet, this was such an interesting tour. It just goes to show if you have an enthusiastic docent giving the tour, it makes for a very good time.  

We came here the last weekend in September and our tour had 11 people on it. Seriously, 11 people I was shocked, was it "Let's visit the home of a boring president weekend"? It seems as though it was and people were from as far away as Wisconsin. 

Hillsborough is not close to anything really. It is out of the way but I am going to encourage you to actually make the trip, you won't be disappointed. While Franklin may be a lackluster president once you visit here, it will all become a lot more clear and many very interesting stores will be told about his father and brother and Franklin himself before he became president. 

The homestead was purchased by Franklin's father the same year he was born so though he wasn't born here he did spend all of his formative years in this house. I was disappointed that no photography was allowed in the house because there were lots of interesting things in it. 

Adam was our tour guide and his love and enthusiasm for this property were evident throughout the tour. They offer a video while you are waiting for the tour to start but we arrived too late to see more than a minute or two. 

While the Pierces weren't wealthy they were comfortable. The farm was originally 200 acres and they had local girls who helped around the house who also stayed with the family. It was a good job and they could be assured of not too hard work and plenty to eat. 

The house has an addition that is older than the original house, it is an older house that was brought here and added to the home. We began the tour in the kitchen and learned a lot about life in the house in the time when Franklin was growing up. 

Benjamin Pierce was from Chelmsford, Mass and he ran a pub. The front of the house was built to be a pub and it was run as one in the early days. He was quite successful and served two terms as the governor of New Hampshire. 

Franklin married Jane Means Appleton when he was not quite 30 and she was 28. Her father according to our guide Adam was the most repressive minister in the history of America. Knowing about Cotton Mather, this made me want to learn a bit more about the Rev. Appleton. 

Jane hated Hillsborough and she and Franklin moved to Concord after 4 years. She appears to always have been a rather depressed woman but losing her children at young ages didn't help and the loss of their last child Benjamin at the age of 12 in a tragic train accident on the way to Washington sent her into an extreme depression from which she never recovered. Luckily, her husband adored her and was very patient with her. 

Franklin was very anti-war after he was fought in the Mexican War. He was great friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne and Jefferson Davis. 

The tour of this homestead is filled with great information and I can't believe I am saying this but I think we will go back and do it again, it was that good and there is also the house in Concord, NH that can be visited. 

I highly recommend a getaway weekend and a visit to the Franklin Piecere Homestead, you won't be disappointed. 

Boating Holidays in England

When it comes to boating holidays in England, there are several different options to choose from. Canal boating is a popular pastime on the rivers of England and there is the Lake District which has lots of boating opportunities. Here are a few suggestions about where you might want to spend your boating holiday in England.

What could be more fun than a canal boat company called "The Black Prince"? It offers a variety of launch points and the launch points offer a variety of different boating experiences. One of the launch points is in the Peak District. The base is at the Festival Park Marina in Etruria, Stoke on Trent. There are four route options to choose from and all of them offer a different boating experience.

For those who prefer to take a longer trip, there are two routes that are over 100 miles. Both of them are active routes with lots of locks and require traveling for up to nine hours a day. For those who prefer a more leisurely trip, there is one route that is only 42 miles. It requires only three hours per day of floating and then there is one that is middle of the road and requires about six hours of travel per day and goes 82 miles through 26 locks. Their boats can accommodate from two to ten people.

The boats have all the modern conveniences. Kitchens with cookers and fridges, color TV with DVD, showers and toilets. It will be a home away from home for your boating holiday. Cost depends on the number of travelers, time of year and length of the holiday. This is just one of many canal boat options that are available in England.

The Lake District is in the county of Cumbria, in the northwest of England. Only one of the bodies of water in the Lake District is actually called a lake, Bassenthwaite Lake, the rest are called meres or waters. Windermere is one of the larger bodies of water and it has the option to rent a houseboat. The houseboats are offered by
Windermere Lake Holidays in Bowness on Windermere. The houseboats are moored, so you don’t actually move on them, however, if you want to boat there are sailboats and dinghies for rent at the same marina where the boats are moored, the best of both worlds. 

If you want to learn to be a skipper there are boating holidays that can provide that opportunity or you can just lay back and let someone else to the piloting for you. You can choose to cruise the canals, lakes and the coastline, whatever suits your fancy.

These are just a few of the boating holiday opportunities that England has to offer. If you enjoy boating, England has a holiday to fit your tastes and your budget. Boating holidays are also offered in Scot and Wales.

Tuckernuck Inn Meredith New Hampshire

I chose the Tuckernuck Inn in Meredith NH for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the three-course breakfast promised. We were going to Meredith to take a ride on the foliage train and once I had looked at their website and seen the beautiful rooms and the friendly owners, I knew that this was the place I wanted to stay. A call to Tom to make the reservation only cemented the good impression that I had felt on viewing the inn website.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and received a warm greeting from Anne Marie. She showed us around and told us where everything was including the small fridge with water and drinks, the Keurig coffee makers and the afternoon snack. 

Our room was very clean and the bed was very comfortable. The TV was excessively petit, think laptop screen size but let's face it, we don't come to a B&B to watch TV. 

What was more troubling was I had no light on my side of the bed and no plug so I had to charge my phone on the clock on Al's side. The closet also had no light so I decided to keep my suitcase in the room itself. 

These are small things that could be very easily remedied. 

We enjoyed sitting out front in the four chairs. It was very peaceful. We sipped our drinks and just chatted. The cookies both days were exceptional. 

The bathroom had a small shower with not the best pressure but it served the purpose and was very clean with plush towels. 

Breakfast is served from 8 am to 9:30. It beings with fruit, the first morning it was lovely honeydew melon with lime zest and the second morning it was yogurt with blueberries. The second course was a cinnamon muffin the first day and banana bread the second day. The entree was savory on day one, a sausage and egg casserole and sweet on Sunday, creme brulee French toast. Orange juice is offered and you help yourself to coffee, tea or hot chocolate. We never left hungry.

The breakfast tables are for two but they put two of them together both days for us so we could sit together. 

The parlor has lots of books if you want to relax and read and a table with a big checkerboard. We opted to play our game out on the back deck. 

The house was very much into the season with Halloween decoration everywhere. 

We had a very comfortable stay here and the location is perfect, within easy walking distance of downtown and Lake Winnipesaukee.  The parking is in the rear of the house. 

Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad Foliage Train

Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad is a family-owned railroad that offers a charming way to view the fall scenery between Meredith, New Hampshire and Plymouth,  New Hampshire. The train runs on the weekends only after labor day and this particular version "the foliage train" runs in September and October. It is a four-hour tour. 

You have three ticket options, coach, first-class and presidential. We opted for Presidential. It was $115.95 per person. It was a luxury Pullman car with very comfortable seating. While we were traveling between Meredith and Plymouth on the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad we were served drinks and snacks and entertained with live entertainment. 

The train leaves Meredith at 11 a.m. and arrives shortly after noon in Plymouth+. .A buffet lunch is served at the Common Man Inn. It included three entrees, turkey, lasagna and vegetarian stir fry. The soup was on the table when we arrived along with rolls and butter and some brownies and cookies. All of it was good, not great but good. You will have time to wander around a little before getting back on the train. 

On the return trip, we got an apple to eat and a choice of drinks. We also stopped and got off the train in Ashland. While this sounds like a good idea with costumed interpreters in the tiny station, when an entire trainload of people disembarks at the same time, it is not possible to see anything or really enjoy the stop. 

The views from the train are lovely, the staff is friendly and caring and the entertainment was wonderful. This is a very enjoyable way to spend four hours. Several shorter less expensive options are available. To check tickets and availability click here. 

Things you will see include Lake Winona, a deer farm and some very high tressels. If you are looking for a great way to spend a fall weekend, I highly recommend this trip. 

A Day Out at Hampton Court Palace

#hamptoncourt

Hampton Court Palace is one of the most popular day trips from London. It is easy to reach from central London. The train from Waterloo Station takes about 45 minutes. It is a pleasant if not very scenic journey. As an alternative, you can take a boat up the Thames in the warmer months which is much more scenic. It is also possible to drive there. It is actually quite well signed and easy to find. Parking is available.

When you arrive at the Hampton Court Station, you will need to cross the bridge to get to the palace. After entering the gate, you are directed to the building on your left, which holds a gift shop and the ticket office. Entrance is a bit steep but if you are going to visit the Tower of London, you can buy a combination ticket and save a little that way.

Cardinal Wolsey built Hampton Court, and one might say it led to his downfall. It was larger and more elaborate than any palace that Henry VIII owned. It is not a good idea to show up a volatile king, but the fact that he made Anne Boleyn his enemy that really was his worst move. When he was unable to obtain a divorce for the king, he signed his own death warrant. He then had the good sense to die before the king could execute him. Problem solved. Henry broke with the Catholic Church, granted himself a divorce, married Anne, and the rest is history as they say.

Anne enjoyed her time at Hampton Court; it was a sweet but all too short victory. Anne wasn’t the only one of Henry’s wives whose history is entwined with Hampton Court; her cousin Catherine Howard went from here to the Tower of London and her death (some say she has never really left Hampton Court). The last of the six wives, Catherine Parr, was married to Henry in the small Queen’s Chapel. Henry’s only son, Edward, was baptized in the Chapel Royal, and his mother, Jane Seymour, died here.

Many different options for touring are offered at Hampton Court:

Audioguide
Tudor Kitchens
Henry VIII State Apartments
The King’s Apartments
The Georgian Rooms

You pick up your guide at the information center in the Clock Court. The kitchens, in particular, are not to be missed.

Costumed Guided Tours:

Henry VIII State Apartments
The King’s Apartments (William III)
Self-Guided

It really isn’t that hard to find your way around but you do miss some of the drama without the audio guide or even better the live guides to fill you in on all the little tidbits that make these historic visits so fascinating.

You can visit things outdoors as well, the Privy Garden, the Maze and the Orangery

If you visit on the weekend, there are other tours and presentations offered. A visit to Hampton Court Palace is a whole day affair, plan accordingly. There are a couple of dining options and several great stores.

If you want to go a step farther you can rent an apartment at Hampton Court and actually stay here. The apartments can be rented through the Landmark Trust. This has always been on my bucket list but we have not done it yet. However, when I visit London, I often spend a day tour Hampton Court and I am never disappointed. Planning a visit to Hampton Court Palace should be a part of your London experience.

Staying at the Charming Aspley House Hotel Bath England

In 1830 the Duke of Wellington built a Georgian country house in Bath. It is rumored that it was so that he had a place to meet with his mistress. We decided that this would be the perfect place for us to stay while we were visiting Bath. With only twelve rooms, Apsley House Hotel could provide the personal service that we were hoping to get used to.

Joe saw the pictures of the rooms and fell in love with one with a four-poster bed and red bed hangings. Our other friend decided that she wanted the Duke of Wellingtons former room. Al and I decided that we didn’t want to spend as much as they were spending and opted for a more simple room (it turned out to be the Champagne room where the Duke and his Mistress met).

We were lucky enough to get the Web winter break which meant we had a superior room for two nights (midweek) for £160. Joe and our other friend spent £220 on their rooms. We decided that we would use the £60 we saved to pay for our dinner in Bath.



Thought it is a historic house it has all the modern amenities, ensuite bathroom, wireless internet, flat-screen TV and Molton Brown bath amenities. What more could some hedonistic vacationers ask for? Well, certainly the trouser press was a nice addition as were the two bottles of spring water on our night-stand, which were replaced when we drank any.

Our room The Champagne Room #3 is on the second floor and has a king-size bed, iron and brass headboard and matalasse coverlet with a dark, richly floral sham and curtains. The ceiling was high, at least 12 feet and we had a very pretty chandelier hanging in the center of our ceiling. A dresser, ladies chair, desk, armoire and shaving mirror made it all very comfortable.


The tea tray was just a nice addition.



When we need to order food delivery Anel ordered for us and then had a tray with plates, napkins, and silverware ready for us when the food arrived. We took the tray into the lounge where a fire was burning and used the table as our dining table.

There an honor bar where we were able to have a coke with our dinner. Newspapers, magazines, and books are available if you want to relax and enjoy the cozy atmosphere.

The larger rooms were both magnificent. Five of the rooms are really outstanding four-poster rooms, each a little different. Joe had access from his room to the rear garden and the other room had a California King sized bed and a chaise lounge. The Romance room was next door to us and it had gorgeous blue toile decoration and a four-poster canopy bed.

A car park is located in front of the house. The hotel allowed our English friends Barbara and GB to park there while we walked out to get lunch.



Breakfast is served in a beautiful room with large windows and a splendid view. There is a buffet where you begin your breakfast with juice, fresh fruit (both whole and cut up), cereal, yogurt, stewed prunes and grapefruit slices.

One of the women will ask you for your coffee, tea or hot chocolate order and then you can choose from several types of eggs with the addition of mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon, sausage and brown or white toast. They also offer kippers salmon and believe it or not American style pancakes and real maple syrup. It was all beautifully prepared and cheerfully served.

I can’t recommend this Aspley House Hotel highly enough, everything is first class. Both the owners and the managers are delightful to converse with and will go way beyond what you might expect to make sure that you have an exceptional stay. Pampering is what they do best and I felt very much like Lady Iz vacationing with Sir Al.

Newgrange Meath Ireland

I have wanted to go to Newgrange for a while and I have to say, it did not disappoint. It is one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited. We hired a driver to take us out of Dublin, if you have a car, it would be an easy drive out. 

They have a large parking lot and it is a bit of a walk to the visitor center where you learn a little about the site and buy your tickets for the tour. They have a great gift shop I have to say. 

It is another longish walk out to where the bus picks you up to take you out to the grave. You then get on the bus and are dropped at the bottom of the hill where the site sits.  Again, you need to be pretty mobile to do this tour. 

When you arrive outside the tomb, the group is divided into two, everyone can't fit inside at one time. We ended up in the second group so you are encouraged to walk around and entertain yourself while the others go inside. 

Getting inside the tomb requires walking in a bent-over position. How bent over you will be depends on how tall you are. It is rough on the back at any rate. Having said that, it is so worth it. 

It is dark inside the tomb and no photography is allowed but that is also okay since it will be seared into your brain, we were all awed and that is no exaggeration. It just boggles the mind that our ancestors created this amazing place. 

Even more amazing is the fact that twice a year the interior room is lit by the light of the sun!! Our ancestors knew quite a lot more than we can ever imagine. 

You only get a short time inside the tomb since there are groups waiting to get in so savor it. Then it is back outside for a last walk around and then back to the road for bus pickup. 

The visitor center has a museum that will give you all the information you need about the site and others like it. You can tour before you go out to the actual tomb or after, but do take the time to visit it, it is packed with information. 

I loved this visit, it was one of the highlights of a trip to Ireland which had many highlights. I highly recommend getting out to Newgrange if the opportunity presents itself.  

Deep in the heart of England

This is a diary post about one of our many trips to England. While it took place many years ago, the things that we did and enjoyed are timeless. This post is as relevant today as it was the week we took it. 

Our wanderings through the countryside took us from the Fens of Lincolnshire through Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and Buckinghamshire on the way to Oxfordshire. If you think the only thing to see in Oxfordshire is Oxford, think again!

From our rental cottage in Great Milton, 10 miles south of Oxford, we were able to drive not only to that most venerable of college towns, but the Cotswolds, Stratford on Avon, and by the train to Bath. ALL of central England was within our reach.

This is a diverse area that includes the quiet of the rolling countryside and the speed of the motorway which can take you from Great Milton to Stratford in under an hour. For a more leisurely pace, you can drive along the A-roads through villages and towns. A farm market can be found every day of the week, it's just a matter of finding out which day for which town. We enjoyed a morning in Thame, which I will discuss later and still had time for sightseeing in the afternoon.

A multitude of ways are available to entertain yourself in the Heart of England. The area has a rich heritage and many lovely "great houses" dot the countryside. Waddesdon Manor, Blenheim, and Woburn are an easy drive from Great Milton. Many lovely homes of a smaller scale give another glimpse into the English Life of Privilege. This is an area steeped in history and I hope to be able to share a bit of what we found. Again, you really need a car to get to most of the places we visited. 

Minster Lovell and Rollright Stones, in particular, are deep in the countryside, quite a way off the beaten track. That is not to say that you can't visit this area if you don't drive. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You can take the train from London to one of the cities and from there take the bus even into the villages. A local driver is also a possibility, check with the local tourism office or research online ahead of time.