A Week in England Part II

Poor Dad suffered the next morning from his wild day out and we waited apprehensively for the nurse to arrive, all of us feeling like kids sitting outside the headmaster's office awaiting our reprimands. Mum started by telling her he'd only had two beers until Dad interjected with a loud, "six!" Our heads swivelled around to hear her response and we were mightily relieved when she merely suggested without a hint of disapproval that next time he stick to two beers only.
So after lunch, I sat with him while Mum & Greg went shopping. He let me look at some of his old photo albums while he sat dozing and I spent a delightful couple of hours flicking through pages of our childhood photos, some of which I had never seen before. When Mum and Greg returned, we spent the rest of the day together at home partly feeling guilty, and partly feeling sad at the party animal in our father that had been lost forever.

Wednesday morning, Greg and I left our hotel early to quickly see Bournemouth before we headed to our parents' house. The beach was empty except for a few surfers heading out to the waves, and flocks of seagulls screeching and soaring above us.The wind was cold but I was determined to trudge through the sand in my cowboy boots and snap a few photos. 

Afterwards we headed towards the town center searching in vain for tourist souvenirs that we could take home for friends.

I loved the beautiful architecture of the jewelers shop and wished we had time to go inside the cathedral.

I couldn't believe it when we saw this monstrosity parked in the car park. I was not impressed that this giant truck had made its way over from the States and knew the owner would have a hard time negotiating many of England's roads. It didn't even fit in the parking space!

We got to Mum and Dad's by 11:00am and were disappointed to find that Dad wasn't feeling up to a day out. Greg had purchased tickets for the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth before he came over to England, and Dad insisted we go without him.We all refused until he said he would actually like some peace and quiet with nobody fussing over him. Once we had rigged up the phones for speed dialing, we left with Mum, but determined to return home early.

On the way down to Portsmouth, we saw this beautiful double rainbow.

  The Spinnaker Tower opened in 2005 and, reflecting Portsmouth's maritime history, is named and shaped after a spinnaker sail. The glass floor which we all sat on above is the largest in Europe.

The views were impressive and we could see across to the Isle of Wight while watching ferries, hovercrafts, fishing boats and warships sail past.

HMS Victory is docked here, Lord Nelson's ship that won the Battle of Trafalgar. There is even one of the large sails preserved in a warehouse showing the scars of battle.

Another amazing ship berthed here is a T45, HMS Daring, the world's most advanced destroyer and the Royal Navy's newest ship. The ship features the latest propulsion, anti-aircraft weapon and stealth technology. 

Below the Spinnaker, a familiar shape caught my eye and I made a beeline for this spritsail barge. The village I lived in before I came to America used to build these boats which were used for carrying cargo mainly to London from nearby ports. I spent a lot of time researching and tracking down local spritsails, and also sat in a local author's house, Don Sattin, who wrote two books on these spectacular barges. It made my day to see this well preserved boat here.

We managed to get home quite early and were relieved to see Dad looking a lot better and evidently pleased to have had an afternoon without anyone fussing over him. Greg and I were heading to our home town in Kent on Thursday since Dad had nurses coming over that day, so we told Dad he had to be fit to go out for fish & chips at lunchtime on Friday. I was acutely aware that I would only see Dad two more times before I headed back to America.