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[jww]

Booked our flights for later this year. First time we'll be going without children in tow .... it's great to be empty nesters .......

I can hardly wait to get a reasonably priced packet of proper Cheese and Onion crisps ........ We pay a small fortune for brit snacks at the local British stores here in Ottawa.

[ShadowsDad]

Have a great time Wendell!

How long will you be there? Where? (or traveling around?)

[Rufus]

Have a great time Wendell. We're making our annual pilgrimage to the family seats in Winchester and Southampton in mid-June. We'll also be visiting friends in Guernsey and Sark. Whilst in St Peter Port, Guernsey, I'll be restocking my shaving supplies (most notably TOBS shaving creams and aftershaves) at Stonelake, and whilst in England I'll restock with Cussons Imperial Leather at the nearest Pound Store.

[jww]

We are set for a fall trip and yes, I plan to get some IL as well. Might even come home with that coveted BK4, who knows.

We will spend all our time in The North - Manchester, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire. We want to try to keep our running around to a minimum so we don't arrive back home needing a vacation after the vacation.

[Squire]

Sounds great Wendell, traveling without kids can be a real treat.

[bernards66]

Have a great trip Wendell. My wife and I will be going to London and then Dublin in early October. I've wanted to make this trip for 20 years and now it's finally happening. But, I must say, that although I'm very much looking forward to BEING there, I'm dreading the GOING there part. I detest air travel and the way the whole airport thing is today, hell, a flight from here to NYC felt like about as much as I could handle. I'm hoping to sleep most of the way over but the return flight is during the day. My discomfort over this aspect of the vacation is actually putting a damper on my enthusiasm about the whole affair.
Regards,
Gordon

[ShadowsDad]

Have a great trip Wendell. My wife and I will be going to London and then Dublin in early October. I've wanted to make this trip for 20 years and now it's finally happening. But, I must say, that although I'm very much looking forward to BEING there, I'm dreading the GOING there part. I detest air travel and the way the whole airport thing is today, hell, a flight from here to NYC felt like about as much as I could handle. I'm hoping to sleep most of the way over but the return flight is during the day. My discomfort over this aspect of the vacation is actually putting a damper on my enthusiasm about the whole affair.
Regards,
Gordon

Just curious... are there still ships that make the trip? Maybe that would help if so?

[Rufus]

Have a great trip Wendell. My wife and I will be going to London and then Dublin in early October. I've wanted to make this trip for 20 years and now it's finally happening. But, I must say, that although I'm very much looking forward to BEING there, I'm dreading the GOING there part. I detest air travel and the way the whole airport thing is today, hell, a flight from here to NYC felt like about as much as I could handle. I'm hoping to sleep most of the way over but the return flight is during the day. My discomfort over this aspect of the vacation is actually putting a damper on my enthusiasm about the whole affair.
Regards,
Gordon

Just curious... are there still ships that make the trip? Maybe that would help if so?

Yes, there is the Queen Mary II, which sails New York City to Southampton. The crossing takes a week. We did it from Southampton to NYC a few years ago and enjoyed it so much that we're seriously thinking of doing the NYC to Southampton crossing sometime soon. Many people feel uncomfortable about being out of sight of land for nearly a week, but I enjoyed it. It really brings home to you how immense the North Atlantic is and how insignificant we are.

As concerns flying, last month SWMBO and I flew non-stop Toronto to Shanghai and the flying time was 15 hours; our total elapsed time from leaving the house to arriving at the hotel was 20 hours. This brought a whole new dimension to flying for me. Fortunately, the return trip was not as long as we flew non-stop Beijing to Toronto, for which the flying time was just 13 hours. Since we travel internationally frequently we've adopted the attitude of "grin and bear it" and "this too will pass".

Gordon, I too will be in London in October, but I doubt our paths will cross as I'll be in the NW of the city for a black tie dinner at Harrow School. This location is unfortunate as I'll be well away from my favourite shops on Jermyn St., etc.

[Rufus]

We are set for a fall trip and yes, I plan to get some IL as well. Might even come home with that coveted BK4, who knows.

We will spend all our time in The North - Manchester, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire. We want to try to keep our running around to a minimum so we don't arrive back home needing a vacation after the vacation.

For all the time I spend in England I've never visited the north. I really should go there as my maternal grandmother is from Bridlington Quay in East Riding, Yorkshire and there is family there. We spend all our time in southern England, which is where SWMBO and the paternal side of my mother's family are from, or Scotland where my father is from.

[jww]

It's funny -- my wife was talking last night to a friend of hers who lives in Yorkshire and saying how we always say we'll get to Cornwall or Devon, but that never happens ---- we always end up staying in The North and rarely coming further south than the Cotswolds or London for a couple of days. I have such a love for The North -- it's such a different pace to London and environs --- I understand parts of the West Country are like that. But I have to admit, every time I wander around a Derbyshire town, or meander along Yorkshire moors, or stare at the vastness of The Lake District, I think to myself --- "Why would you want to go anywhere else?"

Like Bryan, I find the flying to be worth it for the end result -- but to be fair, air travel has never really bothered me much, other than the hurry-up-and-wait sequence one goes through to get on a plane. For long flights and busy commuter jaunts, I like to book my seat ahead of time towards the rear of the plane ...... because you can settle into your seat, get your baggage stowed well in advance of those people who are bringing way too much gear on-board with them and won't put a carry-on under the seat in front of them...... <<sigh>>

We will be a long time travelling as we first bus from Ottawa to PET in Montreal, then fly to Paris and the on to Manchester. Coming home, it's via Skippol in Amersterdam, which I quite like as an airport, although prices for food are phenomenally high. It's virtually impossible to get a direct flight from Ottawa to Manchester -- but if we fly into London, then we have to drive all the way North at some point .... and, well you get the picture.

We are really excited -- can barely wait. But then I remember we have a couple of weeks in the summer in Maine, and I remember how much I love that place as well.

[Squire]

I envy you guy's destinations but not the trip. I like air travel but detest airports.

[jww]

Indeed - airports can be a pain --- I am finally well on my way this year to frequent flyer status with Air Canada -- my main carrier --- luckily once I reach that I get access to their Maple Leaf lounges throughout many major airports -- it will improved the airport experience for me. And since I also am a Nexus traveler, it's much quicker for me to get through that awful experience that can be had at security.

[Rufus]

And since I also am a Nexus traveler, it's much quicker for me to get through that awful experience that can be had at security.

My wife recently received her Nexus card and used it for the first time yesterday when she flew to Florida (without me). As soon as she was in the lounge in TO airport she was on the phone to me singing the praises of Nexus. I don't have a Nexus card so the heat is on me to get one.

[ShadowsDad]

I envy you guy's destinations but not the trip. I like air travel but detest airports.

Airports...

Just recently I had to pick the wife up at the Portland (Maine) jetport. In the past one was able to see out onto the landing field to watch the comings and goings. Now the first floor has no glass. It' just a tunnel with absolutely no interest. One goes to the 2nd floor and beyond the escalator is a sign to not pass further or TSA will do a body cavity search or some such. Wanting to keep my virginity I went back down the escalator. The 2nd floor has the only windows with a view in the entire place. They've turned the jetport into something akin to a post office. Just show up with your self ambulatory packages to ship them out. The place is absolutely no fun whatsoever. I can't imagine being stuck there waiting for a late flight to arrive for hours. To make it worse I saw no place to buy a paper or anything else to pass the time. There is a small restaurant/bar there so I suppose one could get schnockered while waiting.

Next time I'll try to make sure she flies out of Bangor. At least there's a view of the airfield there and one can get to the 2nd floor to get a view of ground operations without having ones prostate checked by TSAs Chester the molester. Of course maybe they screwed that terminal up also. I haven't been there in quite some time.

At least I gave one gent at PIA a chuckle. I called jetport information a few days in advance to ask a question. I'm permitted to carry concealed and do so 24/7. Obviously I wanted to know what the reg's were for CCW at the jetport. I did call my local police dep't and they had no clue. TSA has no phone number at the jetport, but the jetport information desk does. I explained the situation to the gent and his comment was, as he was laughing, "How would we know !? " (good point!) . I suspect he'd gotten similar calls previous to mine. He did suggest I not try to go through security though, obviously. I still thought it prudent to ask before showing up walking heavy. Don't assume that because Maine allows CCW in airports that your state does.

[GA Russell]

Have a great time Wendell!

[JayTrek]

Enjoy your trip, Wendell. I will have to make that trip sometime myself.I have always wanted to so to England.

[bernards66]

Bryan, Harrow you say?....Lord Byron, Churchill, et. al.....THAT place? ( chuckle ). Yes, we'll be lurking around the St. James's and Mayfair areas mainly. However, sigh...for her birthday my wife INSISTS upon visiting that Harry Potter thing which is in, I think, Surrey somewhere. The Queen Elizabeth II, indeed...I'm well aware of it. The old Concorde flights would have been really my preference but I couldn't afford either one unfortunately and I don't know if we'll even have the luxury of those 'lounges' although we might as we're flying on her sister's airline points and she does. This Nexus thing I must look into. Anything that will in any way speed up that airport nightmare would be very welcome.
Regards,
Gordon

[Rufus]

Bryan, Harrow you say?....Lord Byron, Churchill, et. al.....THAT place? ( chuckle ).
Gordon

That's the place. Perhaps it's a good thing that it's away from St James, Mayfair, etc. as my wallet will have a well earned rest. All is not lost, however, as next month will be in Guernsey and there's a small shop in St Peter Port behind Moore's Hotel next to M&S that sells TOBS, GFT and other shaving delectables sans VAT.

[jww]

Gordon -- Nexus is a border crossing initative between the US and Canada. It can take up to 6 months to secure your own card depending on where you choose to have your interview done. It allows you to use a dedicated lane in US and Canada airports when traveling through security. It is not attached to any other country schemes outside of the US and Canada. Only travelers with the card are allowed to use the fast track lanes at airports --- so you and whomever is traveling with you have to both have a card. The card also can be used on dedicated lanes in some high traffic land border crossings.

I got mine because I travel so much through airports, it made sense to spend the $50 to shortcut the security lines which can be a real pain if you get to security at the wrong time. It doesn't make sense to me to pay for it if you travel infrequently. My brother who lives in the Niagara Peninsula has one as he is back and forth across the borders along the Niagara River constantly so it makes good sense for him.

We are starting to think a bit through our itinerary now. I was hoping we would get in Haddon Hall and Hardwick Hall (more glass than wall), but alas, we may be challenged to fit them both in. We are going to spend a half day at Chatsworth -- we love it there. We are thinking of Castle Howard as well during our week in Yorkshire. I am after a couple of abbeys again, but haven't fully decided on that yet. It will partly depend on what is open and when as we are going to be there just as they are switching "seasons" from a touring times perspective. We are also wanting to spend a day roaming on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway which is something we have always wanted to do. And of course, I am anxiously waiting for the EPL schedule to come out in the late summer as I am hoping to get to at least one game at Old Trafford, and possibly one at Broadhurst Park - the new home of FC United of Manchester which is scheduled to open at the beginning of the upcoming season. Oh such a small island with so much to do.

[brothers]

Wendell, this is a great post. Thanks for sharing all of this for those of us for whom such a wonderful vacation seems almost impossible.