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Friday, June 14: Canal Day 7:
Another easy day. We had to moor up an hour or two from Alvechurch, and pretty much the only option was to motor for a few hours and stop. We didn’t want to get too close. And there was only one pub option on this portion of the route, so we were headed to the Hopwood House.
So, we woke up, had coffee and breakfast and did some crosswords. Since we had time to spare, we figured we might as well go up to the surface level streets and see what the rest of Birmingham looked like. The answer was: pretty much like any other big city. For the most part, you would never know the canal wound its way through the city. And yes, the drizzle continued.
We passed by the BBC studio, gassed up on coffee at Starbucks and went back to the boat to get going. Since it was right there, we turned the corner and filled up the water tank. We looked like total noobs getting tied up for the water, because a strong wind kept blowing as back to the other side of the canal before anyone managed to jump out with a rope. Sigh.
Then past Birmingham University (very pretty). More graffiti. Past Cadbury’s, which we would be visiting the next day. Sandy and Alison failed to notice when the tow path disappeared, and the canal entered the 2.5 km Wast Hill Tunnel. Sandy and Alison immediately got lost above. The boat came out of the tunnel a half hour later, and with the help of cell phones and GPS, Sandy and Alison reappeared after a grand adventure.
Hopwood House was excellent and we finally got our meat pies. But it looks like we all came down with food poisoning late that night. 🙁
Saturday, June 15: Canal Day 8: Alvechurch, Cadbury’s, Bubwith
Our last day on the canal. A very short one, as we wanted to get to the Alvechurch Marina by 8:30 and we only had a couple of miles to go. Warren mostly lay on the bed, being sick and trying to prepare for a long day of driving. We had only registered one driver for the rental car, and Warren was it.
Cadbury’s was next, and was only a 10 minute drive. We had booked these tickets a long time ago. Sandy, Alison and Joyce started out with the Chocolatier Experience. This was probably the best part of Cadbury World. The factory tour we all went on next was oriented towards kids, and we really didn’t get a chance to see into the factory itself. The story and information was good thought. I never knew how much work and experimentation went into the manufacture of chocolate. Most of us still being sick didn’t help with the situation. Usually chocolate smells good…
Three hours on the road got us to the Owl Hotel, where we checked in, and then headed over to visit Don Graham and family in Bubwith. Fun to see everyone again. And then dinner at the White Swan, which was probably excellent, but 3 of us were still too sick to eat. Oh yes, it was still raining.
Sunday, June 16: York Shambles and Long Drive to Gatwick
We had some time in the morning and the York Shambles looked to be fascinating and reasonably close. We left the Owl with the car packed to the gills once again.
The GPS and Google Maps found us a nice parking spot, and we wandered the streets looking for the “Shambles”. Enroute we stopped in at the York St. Marys church and perused possible coffee shops. The Shambles themselves were really neat, inspite of having been taken over by Harry Potter. The Patisserie Valerie provided some excellent breakfast desert and coffees. Not cheap.
This was followed by the long drive to Gatwick, and Maple Manor in Crawley. Several roadside stops fed us. We made it to Maple Manor, which still just is as good as we remembered. At this point, only 3 of us were ready to eat anything. Sandy and Joyce stayed at Maple Manor and watched BBC nature documentaries. Warren, Peter and Sandy had an excellent Thai meal at Lemon Grass in Crawley.
Monday, June 17: Airport Drop Offs and Flying Home
The breakfast at Maple Manor is everything we ever wanted and more. Probably too much. We had 3 different departure times, so I drove to the airport 3 times. Since it is so close, this just isn’t a problem. As Alison pointed out, they do trap you in the Duty Free shop for a LONG time.
It turns out the return West Jet flight was nowhere near as nice as the one we flew on getting here. No meals, no TVs, and our seats were against a bulkhead, so they didn’t recline. I tried strapping my head to the back of my seat with my belt. Worked okay, but I was strangely alarmed when no-one told me to not do it.
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