Day Out: Beaulieu

 After a low-key Sunday, Stace and I had an adventure on Monday, when we drove two hours to the Beaulieu estate in the New Forest. 

The estate's National Motor Museum was the biggest draw, as Stace has been wanting to go for many years. It was truly an outstanding museum, covering the whole history of the automobile and motorbike. 

This particular motorbike is a BSA Bantam. Gord had one of these when he was a young man (not in this condition though).

The museum included this recreation of a garage in Wedmore, Somerset.

We weren't supposed to touch most of the displays - naturally! - but we were invited to sit in this car for a photo, using clothing from a nearby box.

A separate building housed some cars featured in film and television, including this Ford Anglia used as the Weasley's car in Harry Potter.

This was a Greek police motorcycle ridden by Jason Bourne in the 2016 film of the same name.

Another building was dedicated to Top Gear, with many vehicles used in the series on display, like this off-road mobility scooter. Goodness, those guys are nuts.

We also toured the manor house, home of the Montagu family since 1538 (when the adjacent monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII and went into private ownership).

This was the dining hall of the Palace House, originally part of the gatehouse in the 14th century. 

Gotta love a secret staircase!

We toured what was left from the abbey, and saw the parish church.

Another interesting attraction was a walk-through exhibit on Beaulieu's role during WWII as an SOE training facility. Special operatives came here as a kind of "finishing school" before going to the continent as spies or undercover operatives for the French Resistance. It was fascinating, as it focused on two particular agents, a man and woman, who both, sadly perished during the war.

The New Forest, once the hunting grounds of William the Conqueror, is open to livestock, and you must drive carefully as horses are wandering around with their foals. So cute!

We had dinner at a pub, capping off a great "date day," before taking a quick look at nearby Buckler's Hard, a 17th century shipbuilding hamlet. Here, over 40 Royal Navy ships were built, including three that fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

A Big Saturday

 Our big Saturday started with an event Stace has been anticipating for a year now. He got to drive two supercars around a track, as a 50th birthday gift from Dean and Jenny.

First up was this red Ferrari 430.

Stace is in the driver's seat here, getting the low-down from his instructor.

Sue and Gord purchased this photo from the professional photographers on site, for Stace's upcoming 51st birthday.

His second drive was in a Aston Martin DB9.

A final thrill was a trip in a BMW with a professional driver, who could really zoom around the course's hairpins.

Stace loved the whole day out!

We paid a few more quid to have an extra passenger - Dean was thrilled.

Awww, brothers!

The driving experience used an old air base that was very near to Dunkeswell airfield, which housed a U.S. Navy airbase during WWII. Navy, you say? Yes, Navy, as the pilots here were tasked with monitoring the English Channel for German U-boats.

This building was a museum that described the base's history and role, and was quite interesting. President John F. Kennedy's older brother was stationed here and died in a training exercise.

We then went to nearby Honiton for lunch and a wander around the high street. 

Later that evening, Stace and I went to see Livy perform in a children's choir in Yeovil. We were so pleased to be in town for this! While we waited for the show to start, we enjoyed a drink.

It was a very entertaining show, with different musical, theatre and dance groups performing. Livy did great!

Day Out: Glastonbury

 After a couple of low-key days in Kingsbury, Stace borrowed Dean's car, and we had an adventure day in Glastonbury.

I've been to Glastonbury several times, but I believe this is the first time we've paid to enter the Abbey grounds. It was so worth it! We explored for a while, and then met up with a tour guide for a narrated look around.

We posed with the Auto Club's magazine; they have a featured spot each issue with readers on vacation. We'll see if they run our photo.

The architecture was amazing. This doorframe had carvings showing the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

A Christian community has been here since the 700s, and the abbey was first built in the 1200s after an 1184 fire destroyed the earlier structure. Henry VIII tore them down after breaking from the Catholic church, and actually murdered the abbot. So disgusting!

The Abbott's kitchen still stands intact on the left. 

The tour guide was very informative and entertaining.

This is the supposed grave of legendary King Arthur and Guinevere, who make up a huge part of the Glastonbury aura. The finding of the graves in the 1200s brought tourists, and funds, for the rebuilding after the fire.

It was a chilly day, but not too cold for cider and apple juice, from apples grown in the abbey's orchard!

We also enjoyed the abbey's museum, pond and gardens

We then rested for a bit, and then left the abbey and walked to the foot of the Glastonbury Tor. We finished the long walk up, to the tower at the top, and admired the views.

St. Michael's Tower dates from the 15th Century.

On our walk back to the car, Stace and I peeked in at the Glastonbury Tribunal, a 15th Century merchant's house. History is everywhere!

We stopped on our way back home at Wells. Here is the moat, with swans and cygnets, at Bishop's Palace, next to the cathedral.

We showed the girls 14th Century Vicars Close, the oldest purely residential street in Europe.

This wasn't Violet's first time here - JT and I had a day out in Wells in 2010, with a tiny Violet.

It was getting dark, but we walked around the beautiful cathedral. 

It was a great day out together.

Back Home in Somerset

We made our return to Somerset this week, flying in Monday/Tuesday on a newer carrier, Norse Atlantic Airways. It was an overall good experience, and we saved a lo of money. We had to pack light and bring our own food, and we flew into Gatwick instead of Heathrow.

For the first time, the girls took the train with us back to Somerset. First, we took the Tube from Gatwick to Paddington, and on that ride, we caught this cool view of Tower Bridge.

Then, we got on the train to Castle Cary, where Dean and Nan and Pop picked us all up.

We had a much earlier flight in, and somehow, we all adjusted a bit easier to the time change.

On our first day, Stace, Vi and I took a bike ride to East Lambrook to see a watercolor art show I'd seen advertised in the local paper. It was well worth seeing. We enjoyed a drink and a cake in the shop after.

The River Parrett

Country views are the best.

We also went to the village shop and playground on our first full day,

Later in the trip, we took a walk to Thorney Mill, and walked home through the fields. We're up on the little bridge here.

It's so good to be together again.

Summer is Here

Violet had a VERY easy final few days of school, since her work for her independent study program was completed the week before. She got to help pass out yearbooks at school, and science was fun, with experiments.

In between classes, we went to Quigley Canyon for some nature time, and one last go at the archery range. (We figure it'll get too hot for archery soon!)

I dragged the girls with me as we ran errands one of the afternoons, after picking Cora up from her finals. I got a prescription at CVS, and spotted them at the Beanie Boo stand. Oh, my heart! They used to love looking at these, when they both were collecting them as little girls.

On Friday, school was all over with for the year, and Vi and I celebrated with a trip to an art gallery in a private mansion in a very exclusive part of L.A. Frederick Weisman was an art collector and philanthropist, and his home is now open to private guided tours through the foundation he started before he died.

No photos were allowed inside, but we were allowed to take pictures outside. Hundreds of pieces of art, mainly modern, filled the huge house. It was a great tour, even if the art was a bit more modern than our taste.

And it was free - amazing! 

I realized after the fact that I should have recognized Weisman's name, as he was the benefactor of Pepperdine's on-campus art museum.

After the tour, we found dim sum for lunch in Westwood, driving through UCLA. It was a great day with Violet.

Cora, meanwhile, was picked up by a friend and went to D&D, and later I took her to her new pool job.

More homegrown (organic of course) blueberries! They are so sweet. I feel very blessed to have these in my own backyard.

OH MY GOODNESS. He is so cute!

He jumped in on his own, naturally.

Eloise has been taking dance classes, and on Sunday she had her first recital. It was adorable, of course! The other little one is her bestie, Ezra.