English Road Trippin': Stratford

 We loved our day in Stratford upon Avon, the ancient town full of Shakespeare and gorgeous buildings and a river to boot.

We toured Shakespeare's childhood home, making our way through with a busload of schoolchildren on a field trip.

Here's the back of the museum, in the gorgeous garden.

Cora was eager to check out the Royal Shakespeare Company, since she was in a Shakespeare-adjacent show in the spring.

Stratford is just so photogenic! It was great, all over England seeing the bunting and Union Jacks still flying high, in honor of the Queen's Jubilee.

We also enjoyed the Tudor World museum, where Cora was able to lie in an old bed with a straw mattress. This *might* have been influenced by my story of grabbing a quick pic of me lying on Shakespeare's mother's bed, on our first trip to Stratford, in 2001, on a tour of her cottage.

The girls were able to try writing with a quill and ink, one of the numerous interactive features of this jam-packed museum. 

Here's a good example of one of the exhibits, this one focusing on maritime life for sailors in Tudor times.

Later, we had a memorable encounter: we were walking down a quiet side street when a small tour group came toward us. 

Stace said, "John?!?"

John said, "Stace?!?"

Five-thousand-something miles from home, these two co-workers, who live two miles apart, ran into each other on a tiny back street! Unbelievable. 

Stace knew that John was on a British Isles cruise, but had no idea where he'd be going. 

The tour guide invited us to join, but we politely declined. But he gave us a great tip when  he noticed Stace's motoring enthusiast's t-shirt: not far away was Caffeine and Machine, a car-focused restaurant/hotel, with frequent events. Kind of a permanent Cars and Coffee location. 

So after leaving Stratford, we stopped in for a drink!

Later, on our way home, we drove through Castle Coombe, one of England's prettiest villages. It lived up to its hype!

We were grateful our rental car had GPS! Even though some of the suggested routes were...questionable.

And, for posterity, a photo of our lovely Seat. It was roomy and easy to drive, and the mileage! Incredibly, on our long drive we averaged 60 mpg! Even around town, we got over 50 mpg. 

English Road Trippin': Part 3

One of Cora's goals for our trip was getting a nice set of D&D dice, so she had looked up various stores that might sell them. None really worked out, though. Still, we found a cafe that focuses on board games and nerdy things in Leaminster Spa, not far from Warwick. We had some cake and drinks, and played a game together.

Then we drove on to our pub inn for the night, The College Arms in Lower Quinton, not to far from Statford upon Avon. This was a classic old pub, full of locals who packed the little bar area; our room was the window on the bottom left.

Violet was really tired, so she stayed in, while Stace, Cora and I had a meal at the Indian restaurant attached to the pub, and then Stace and Cora played pool.

Here was the part of the pub where we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast Wednesday before taking off for Stratford.

English Road Trippin': Warwick Castle

Here we are in front of our home away from home, for a night.

Then, it was on to the castle itself.

Cora went with Dean and Euan to a special dungeons tour, while Violet went off on her own. She took this photo on her solo exploration. Stace, Jenny, Olivia and I did a different tour, showing the castle set up during the 15th century period of the Kingmaker, the Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville.

Oh, teenagers.

Live shows took place throughout the day, with actors portraying Queen Elizabeth and members of her court.

This was in the "Kingmaker" tour, set in the medieval period.

Another section of the castle is set up as it was in the Victorian age.

Outside the castle, a river runs near.

I love this artsy photo Violet took.
 

We enjoyed the falconry show, which featured large birds of prey from all over the world.

I'm so pleased with this photo! I was using Violet's new phone, which has the best camera in our family (among phones). This was an eagle owl, which has a 6-foot wingspan.

After bird show, we spent a bit of time in the Horrible History maze, before heading to our cars. A long, full, and thoroughly enjoyable day! 

Dean and Jenny returned to Somerset, while Stace and the girls and I continued our trip.

English Road Trippin'

On Monday, we headed north, caravanning with Dean and Jenny and the kids, towards Warwick for a little adventure. 

Along the way, we stopped at the Diddly Squat Farm Shop in Chipping Norton, the store made famous by Jeremy Clarkson in his recent show, Clarkson's Farm.
 

We all enjoyed the show, especially Euan, who wants to go into farming. So, even though the shop was closed on Mondays, we still had a good time nosing around.

We then made it to Warwick Castle, and got checked into our lovely lodge. Stace and I had booked a larger unit with a loft, that said it could sleep seven, in hopes that family would join us. 

With English school still in session, the off-season price was fantastic. So we had lots of room for Dean and the family, too. Even though Cora chose to sleep in the under-stair cupboard, a la Harry Potter.

Here, she's spending some time in a nearby tree.

After having a snack and a drink, we watched the knights' show, which was included in the cost for guests staying the night. When we went five years ago, they also had other opportunities, like archery and holding a baby owl! This year, just the knights, but still fun.

These two also put on fighting display for us, which we remembered from our 2017 trip. 

The man on the left, seen in 2017, was in the photo above, as well. Stace wanted Cora and Violet to get a picture with him again after our show, but they refused.

We then strolled through Warwick to find a pub for dinner, passing this ancient hospital!

We settled in at the local Wetherspoon's pub and ordered our meals at the bar. 

Not too long after this photo was taken, we were informed by the manager that because it was soon to be 9 p.m., we would have to leave, because of the children. Big error on their part, allowing us to order food so close to 9! They packed up our meals in to-go boxes. It was quite a strange experience! 

Please notice Stace's super cool Howards Home Improvement hoodie. 

Sunday Fun Day

On Sunday, we all went to a historic military vehicle gathering at Haselbury Mill, where we then enjoyed a carvery meal together.

Lots of WWII vehicles like Willy's jeeps and tanks, along with booths displaying memorabilia and artifacts.

I loved this American jeep, with its baseball bat and glove.

Stace and Gord loved looking at everything; we enjoyed the same show three years ago, on our last trip to England.
 

After our meal, the girls were able to climb on this old tank.

After our time at Haselbury, we went to Lyme Regis and met up with Jenny, Marisa, Jason and Lola. It was great catching up, and we all played on the beautiful beach.

Barrington Court and Ham Hill

 

On Saturday, with Dean and Jenny off, we all went together to Barrington Court, a nearby stately home that Stace was interested in checking out.

The house itself was closed for refurbishment, but the grounds and gardens were worth the trip. And there were also small artisan shops that were great to see.

Cora wanted to see this stick structure up close - she could live here.

The old barn was cool and slightly creepy - especially when we spotted a dead bunny.

Workers are redoing the roof on the main house.

In the evening, we took a picnic dinner up to Ham Hill and played hide and seek among the big standing rocks. Playing at Ham Hill is always a highlight for our family! 

Then, we walked up to the War Memorial...

...and enjoyed the stunning view.

And then a drink at the Prince of Wales pub.

On our drive back, I had to get a pic of the wildflowers. So pretty!