We were here 4 years ago. I was looking up the history of Lithuania this morning and looked back to 31 May 2019 on the blog, only to find it was all set out there. If you enter May 2019 in the search box it will take you to it.
I realised this morning that my knowledge of the Baltic states is almost nil. There were traumatic times for Lithuania in the 1940’s and it was not until March 1990 that Lithuania was able to declare independence.
But on to today. It was a bright, sunny day. We couldn’t remember the berth, but we were in a commercial dock.
This time we went to the Old Town in a shuttle. The cobbles were a pain. Crossing any road was a nightmare, so we crossed the river (by a bridge!) to a more modern area. As it was a sunny day, some school teachers had clearly decided to bring their classes out. There were groups of happy children drawing, dancing and others eating from their matching lunchboxes
We remembered the sculpture park, but the lady shuttle organiser advised against a visit for reasons we didn’t really understand. We found a lovely coffee shop instead in the middle of the park and away from the crowds.
On our return to the ship I took this photo of the shuttle we had been in. This is the sort of vehicle that should be used in every port. Today all the shuttles were like this. The great thing about them is that they all have fold down ramps in the middle so every shuttle can take 2 or 3 wheelchair users and a large number of able bodied people.
In addition, as we walked to the ship we came across some police cars and this armoured police vehicle. I hid in case they were looking for me. It transpires they were not but if someone knows what had happened could they please let me know?
Saturday in Poland. It looked promising. As I looked down on the dockside where we were berthed, 3 white vehicles were parked. All had stickers marked
CUNARD – SHUTTLE BUS
Fantastic. The message must be getting through. They were adapted vehicles designed to take 2 wheelchairs and seats for 6 others.
By the time we were off the ship, 2 of the adapted vehicles had left for town. We were loaded into the 3rd and off we went on a 20 minute ride. We were told that the drop off point was the Riviera Shopping Mall which meant nothing to us, but when we arrived we found that we were in the middle of a large carpark, miles from any of Gdynia’s highlights. There was this massive shopping Mall and nothing else. All the shuttles were going there dropping off hundreds of Queen Victoria’s passengers.
You know me by now. I hardly ever complain (!) but this smacked of something underhand. Why would Cunard want to deposit hundreds of their guests at a vast shopping mall, miles from the centre of the town in a country the guests had probably never been to before? I wonder who funded or contributed to the cost of the transport to the mall?
I will be preparing a paper for Cunard. I apologise for boring you with this but I fear that Cunard hand over the transport issues and the organisation of tours to local operators and retain little or no control themselves over what happens.
What was also of interest was that at the drop off point in the vast carpark were a number of taxis, waiting for passengers who would soon realise that they had been dropped in the middle of nowhere. The taxi drivers would then take away those who wanted to see the highlights of Gdynia and/or Gdańsk. Of course none of those taxis could take a wheelchair so we were lumbered!
A vast supermarket – the biggest I have ever seen on the ground floor and then floor after floor populated by every worldwide retail outlet known to man.
The most exciting part of the day was when Jane and Kim decided to leave me as I was trying to buy a piece kit to enable me to transfer photos from my camera to my new iPad. The lead I had, worked on my old iPad but not the new one. You all know what Apple are like. Perpetually changing the fittings. I thought Kim said they were off to Matalan on the first floor, but I apparently misheard her.
The chap in the electrical shop eventually decided that he didn’t have the bit if kit I needed but said there was an Apple Store in the complex and pointed me in what he said was the right direction. I never found the Apple Store. Having walked for what seemed like hours, I thought I ought to find Kim and Jane. An information kiosk told me they had never heard of Matalan. I looked at my phone for Kim’s number. I didn’t have it.
Houston – Mission Control – we have a problem.
Where in this massive complex could they possibly be? Do I go back to the electrical store and hope that they back track there or do I go to the shuttle drop off point and hope they go there?
Then I see a sign for TK Maxx. Could that be the place that they were going to on the 1st floor? Jane likes the one at Hedge End. This one is vast and I scour it with no success. I contemplate a coffee and then Kim spots me. Drama over. And what sort of coffee are we forced to endure? Costa Coffee. The one I avoid at home.
The outing to Gdynia is not what we had hoped.
As we were sorting out adapted buses 2 days later for the trip into Copenhagen, I raised the issue of the shuttles into Gdynia very gently with a very nice member of the tour staff. Clearly I wasn’t the first to raise the issue as she had an immediate answer. She said the local council would not provide a place for the shuttle buses to drop off and pick up passengers! Does anyone think that likely? The local council would surely be desperately keen to have hundreds of tourists visiting their town and spending money there.
Parties are back. Last year, when cruising resumed following Covid, the Captain and officers were rarely seen around the ship. Now they are not only seen around the ship but joining the guests at parties in the Queens Room.
Last night the drinks were flowing freely at the World Club party. That’s for Cunarders who have cruised frequently with Cunard. The Deputy Captain spoke and introduced the Senior Officers.
Today at lunchtime at the Senior Officers party again there was a great atmosphere as staunch supporters of Cunard began to feel that the old traditions were returning. Laurence and Linda Coleman were there and introduced me to the Customer Services Manager, Callum. They also pointed out to me an elderly man who apparently lives on the ship.
Some of you may recall that an American lady, Beatrice Muller lived on QE2 for many years. Her last voyage on QE2 was just before she was sold (QE2 not Mrs Muller). She was 89 years old. She was paying between £3,500 and £5,000 a month, which was far less than she would have paid for a place in a retirement home. And she became such a personality that she she rarely had to buy a drink for herself!
Mrs Beatrice Muller
For the last 2 weeks the sea has been calm but today it was less so. We are out of the Baltic and back in the North Sea and from lunchtime onwards it’s been lumpy.
It was noticeable that many tables were empty at dinner tonight. I guess people were caught out by the sudden change from a flat calm for nearly 2 weeks to a fairly rough sea. Frankly, with the stabilisers out the ship is not moving much, but there are a large number of elderly people with walking difficulties and they are the people affected in the main.
The singers and dancers were due to give their final performance tonight (Tuesday) but it has been cancelled because of the ships movement. It’s a shame because they are very good and their 7 month contract comes to an end in Southampton. It would have been a great finale.
I found this on line, drawn by one of our fellow passengers – Queen Victoria and the Little Mermaid.
Sadly we didn’t see the mermaid this time. In the past, ships moored close to her and it was a short walk to see her. We were tied up this time further out of town in what appeared to be a newly developing dock area. Two large MSC ships were moored ahead of us
There would be large numbers of tourists in town today.
The very helpful lady from the tour office was in charge of shuttles today and was keen to keep me updated. I think she had been warned about me. There were to be 3 or 4 separate adapted vehicles each taking 2 wheelchair users and 6 carers/supporters.
When we were ashore an adapted vehicle arrived within 10 minutes and we were off. The sun was out and it was warming up. It was a 20 minute journey to get into the centre of Copenhagen.
We aimed for Nyhavn. The well known area was packed.
Thousands were lunching, more were queuing for tickets for boat trips up the canal and cobblestones were prolific. We decided that we would turn and travel in the direction of the Tivoli Gardens. Walking in the traffic free areas was easy and it was flat. There were plenty of cheerful people of all nationalities enjoying an early summer day.
We walked a long way and eventually turned left and left again, taking in the amazing architecture .
It was an excellent day. When we returned to the shuttle meeting place, an adapted vehicle was ready to leave and we were soon back at the ship, tired but happy.
This was the view from the cabin. The Baltic has thousands of these wherever you travel
At dinner tonight the iPads and mobiles were produced and Peter and Frank had photos of the group taken by the waiters. When the photos arrive I will include them in the blog. Frank and Jean are from Droitwich and Peter and Sylvia are from Matlock.
They have been great table companions and we have learned an enormous amount about the middle of England from them. They have learned very little from us, but I must congratulate them on listening to the same old stories that I churn out to anyone who feels obliged to listen.
New photos have arrived from Frank Davies and Peter Freeman. The last formal night.
Kim, Jane, Richard, Peter, Sylvia, Frank and Jean
And I’ve found some more from our day in Copenhagen
In most of the Cities we visited on this cruise, electric rental scooters and electric rental bicycles were everywhere, sometimes in racks but often just discarded in the streets. But here in Copenhagen it was clear that most of the population were propelling themselves about on standard bicycles. This was a batch in a semi organised bike park!
Back in the blog on 20 November 2020 during Covid I wrote about my introduction to dinghy sailing.
During our 8 week school summer holidays at Mudeford our main activity was sailing. After the clinker built rowing boat that I adapted to sail and the dinghy that father capsized, we moved to a Cadet. Sister Liz and I loved it.
But at Mudeford our friends had a variety of sailing dinghies. Some had Cadets, some had Fireflies, Enterprises, GP14’s, Solos and other assorted classes. Most of us enjoyed racing, and many of us joined Christchurch Sailing Club. When races were organised by them we would sail up the harbour from Mudeford to Christchurch for the handicap races that they ran.
But many of us wanted to race more frequently. The problem was that as we had different varieties of dinghies – different sized boats, different sail areas and different speeds, inevitably racing was biased in favour of the larger faster boats.
One winter I heard about the Portsmouth Yardstick. It was a classification of various classes of yachts and dinghies. I bought a copy. It enabled us to organise pursuit races where the slower boats started first. The starts were staggered and if we carried out the mathematics accurately, in a perfect world, all the boats would have crossed the finishing line together!
When we weren’t sailing we often used our boats at the “creek”. We found that people would walk towards Mudeford Sandbank along the southern side of the harbour. What they didn’t know was that as they neared the end of their walk they would come across a wide stream. It was wide and fairly deep. Their choice was to turn round and go back the way they had come or pay us 6 old pence a head to transport them across in our boats!
I was reminded about these my teenage years when my old school Canford announced the celebrations for its 100 year anniversary in May and June 2023. I wrote a piece for the online Old Canfordian website about the schools sailing successes while I was there in the 1960’s
I will find and publish that Old Canfordian piece here shortly.
In the Fifties I was at a local prep school in Southampton – Oakmount School and I presume my parents plan was to send me away to a boarding school at 13. When I was 10 or 11, the Cunard Line was struggling. Airlines could fly people to the US in hours and the dominance of the Queens, taking 5 days to get people across the Atlantic, was waning. Cunard was losing money and selling ships. I guess that father worried about the future and when I passed the 11+ the decision was made to send me to King Edward VI School in Southampton – a boys only grammar school.
I must have started there in September 1956, aged 11. I enjoyed it very much. In particular I loved the sport. I’d played regular rugby and cricket before at Oakmount which gave me an advantage.
My father was away at sea when the summer term at the end of my 3rd year finished. On the last day of that term a boy from the year above (also called Smith) hit the Headmaster over the head with a broken bottle. My mother didn’t dare write to father to tell him about it, but when he eventually came home on leave, mother told him and his reaction, apparently, was “Richard’s not going back there”. They contacted Canford and although I had not taken the Common Entrance exam, they agreed to take me.
I loved it and the prospect of sailing in Poole Harbour during the summer terms was a bonus.
I gather that my father went to his bank, National Provincial (later NatWest) Bank and borrowed the money to pay the fees for Canford and that it took many years after I had left school before he was able to clear the debt.
This seems to be developing into an autobiography!
OC Richard Smith B64 has recently been in touch to share his memories of sailing at Canford during the Sixties
The first 100 years – Sailing at Canford in the Sixties.
I started at Canford in September 1959 in Beaufort House. In those days we had to cycle from Canford to Poole Harbour to sail. It was 7.5 miles each way. It was not too bad on the way there because it was down Gravel Hill, but coming back, after a challenging day racing, was hard.
Lt Pantlin, who ran the Naval Section of the CCF, was in charge of sailing, and when we were more senior, we qualified for a ride there and back in his van.
We sailed against other schools. In those days it was always in Firefly dinghies. Three boats in each team – the racing was tactical – not charging away on a mission of your own, but making sure that you and your team mates were covering and ahead of the three opposition boats.
We also had an Annual match against the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. The Dartmouth team were great hosts and evenings were spent in local pubs. A much better alternative than a Saturday night locked up at Canford. In the 5 years that I was at Canford we won every match against Dartmouth including the year when their team included Rodney Pattisson (Olympic Sailing Gold medalist in Mexico in 1968 and Munich in 1972).
Every year Canford competed in the National Schools Sailing Championships which take place in Chichester Harbour. The Itchenor Sailing Club has always hosted the event, which has now been running for almost 70 years. Ninety different schools have competed over the years and in the Sixties, 55/60 schools took part each year.
Each school was allowed one boat in the event. In my day we would bring one of the school’s Fireflies back from Poole to Canford towards the end of the summer term and we would work on the hull to make sure it was smooth and sleek. Lt Pantlin would tow it behind his van to Itchenor in readiness for the event.
In 1963 I sailed with Nick Bailhache and we came 13th.
In 1963, sadly Lt Pantlin passed away. He had organised sailing at Canford for many years and it transpired that he was to miss Canford’s greatest sailing success which happened in the summer of 1964.
John Elliott joined me for the 1964 Championships. It was anticipated that David Scott, the Vice Captain would sail with me, but at the last minute he could not come. John had sailed and raced in Poole before coming to Canford and was an experienced sailor.
The three days of racing took place in beautiful weather, with strong winds and sunshine. There were 60 schools taking part. The racing was highly competitive and close. We knew that we were in the frame and thought we had done enough to win.
Eventually it was announced that Canford School were the winners of the 1964 National Schools Sailing Championship. It was a very exciting time as it was the first win for Canford in this event and the big bonus was that the prize for the winning school was a brand new Firefly dinghy.
We arrived in Washington just after noon on 13 September 1965. Initially I went to the Cunard office to make myself known to my fathers contact there, Gouveneur E Smith (no relation). He invited us to dinner and offered us a bed for the night which we gladly accepted. We then went to meet the Pooles who Nigel knew. Mr Poole had been the US Consul in Southampton and would have been known to Nigel’s parents, both of whom had been prominent local politicians in Southampton and had both been Mayor of the City.
Nigel remembered that the Pooles had a daughter, Amanda. She was also there. She was lovely and acted as our guide while we were in Washington. The Pooles were very interested in our trip and made us very welcome.
The plan was that Nigel and Julian would stay with them and that Peter and I would go to the Smiths home. We set off to Alexandria and spent the evening with the Smith family. The Americans were incredibly hospitable to four young Englishmen who they hardly knew and who had arrived in Washington unannounced.
It had been agreed that next morning we would all meet outside the White House at 10.30am. Tickets had magically appeared. Mrs Poole worked in the State Department (their Foreign Office). I imagine that she had organised the tickets.
The White House
After the tour we walked to the Washington Monument and went to the top. There were fantastic views in all directions.
The Washington MonumentOne view from the topAnd another
Mrs Poole (I’m sorry but I don’t know her first name) entertained us to lunch in the State Department. And as we left the building we found a crowd gathering outside. Astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad had heard that we were in Washington and brought the Vice President Hubert Humphrey to meet us.
The astronauts had been on the 3rd Gemini flight between 21 and 29 August 1965 – just a couple of weeks earlier. They were about to embark on a world wide goodwill tour, but it didn’t start out well because they forgot to find us to shake our hands. A breakdown in Anglo – US relationships!
Cooper and Conrad
I’m not sure who organised the meeting but there was plenty of security about.
This was the car in which they were driven away
We then walked to the Lincoln Memorial with Amanda Poole
Abraham Lincoln
Next it was the Capitol building but it was in session which meant that we couldn’t enter.
That night we had all been invited to dinner at the Pooles. It was a great evening and at about 10pm Peter and I drove back to the Smiths. After some difficulty, we eventually found their house! No satnavs or mobiles in those days!
Next day we said our goodbyes to the Smiths and the Pooles who had all looked after us so well. Our next invitation was to lunch with the Grady’s at a new development to the west of Washington. They too had been US Consuls in Southampton. This was the development
I knew my father was in New York that day on Cunard’s RMS Mauretania and leaving for a month long Caribbean cruise. I managed to reach him on the Grady’s telephone. He was very surprised and pleased to hear from me and was amazed that I still spoke without an American accent.
After a lovely lunch we left the Grady’s and set off for New York and Peter’s parents home in Yonkers. After eating and drinking beer legitimately for the first time in months, we told them the story of our travels. We were late to bed.
We then had 2 days to get our clothes washed, the car sorted out and Pete ready for his second year at Cornell. He and I met up with a Canfordian friend, Richard Dalgleish, who was on a world hockey tour with GB Schoolboys. After leaving him we picked up the car after it’s service and a new tyre.
Next morning we set off for Cornell.
The University is in Ithaca which is in northern New York State at the southern end of one of the Finger Lakes.
Peter showed us round the campus. There were large numbers of freshmen finding their way. Peter had been invited to join the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.
That was a great honour for him. His ‘brothers’ were very pleased to see him. There was no doubt that he had made a big impression on them the previous year. That evening we toured the local hostelries. Rooms in the fraternity house had been made available for us.
The next day Peter had sorted out some ‘dates’ for us at a girls college 20 miles away. A beautiful college slightly further north. It was a fun evening. Lovely girls and plenty of eating, drinking and dancing. They lived in a sorority house off campus but curfew was at midnight and we had to bow out at that time and drive back to Cornell.
Next day we left Peter to get himself sorted out for the new academic year. He had to register and then find himself a job to keep him fed for the year. He had been a great companion on our grand tour of the US and it was sad to leave him.
We headed north from Cornell towards Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
Initially we looked over the Falls from the US side but after checking with immigration that we would be able to get back into the US if we needed to do so we crossed into Canada. The Falls were much more impressive from that side.
This from the US side
And from the other side
We then drove off to find a park said to have camping facilities. The Queen Elizabeth Way took us along the south side of Lake Ontario. The Provincial Park was closed, so we carried on until we saw a sign advertising Cabins. A doddery old man said that his sister ran the place and wouldn’t be back until 10.00pm. He couldn’t say whether or not we would be able to camp there. We said that we would be back and went off to find somewhere to eat. We found a large smart eating place – restaurant, coffee shop, golf and bowling alley. We looked very scruffy, but they eventually served us.
It was then back to the Cabin place. The lady said we could camp there and use the washing facilities for the total sum of $2 for all 3 of us. A bargain!
Next day the target was Toronto where the Pratts lived. They were Cunard passenger friends of my father, but when we rang them we found that they were at their summer place further north at Midland, located on Georgian Bay.
We spent the day at Oshawa beach
We sunbathed and relaxed there and ate in a restaurant by the lake. The waitress was from Tottenham!
The target next day was Canada’s capital, Ottawa. It was an easy drive and we enjoyed the city. We found the Supreme Court, which was not in session, and we were allowed to sit on the bench in the Judges seats. We climbed the clock tower in the centre of the two Houses of Parliament and that gave us views of the City and the river.
It was a hot and humid day and we walked for miles.
We then drove 30 miles to another Provincial Park. It nwas alongside a dirty looking South Nation River. We bathed briefly but the water smelt of sulphur!
We found a place to eat and a campsite near Wendover.
Next day we were aiming for Montreal. We found Mount Royal, but unfortunately drove up a road in which cars were apparently banned. A policeman stopped us and said that we had to go back. He said something about going to a police station. We didn’t. He spoke to us in French. Although we all had French ‘O’ level on our CV’s, if we had later been arrested, we would have pleaded a language difficulty!
Mount RoyalMount Royal Park
We decided to find the site of the 1967 Worlds Fair which was being constructed on an island in the St Lawrence river, but access was impossible and we had to give up.
We chose Highway 3 to Quebec. It ran alongside the St Lawrence River.
When we arrived we parked at the Citadelle and walked around it.
The streets of Quebec were quaint. We circled the Chateau Laurier. We ate and we drank here. And we walked for miles. At one point Julian found a drinking fountain. Before anyone could speak he drank from it. As we walked away, two girls burst into laughter and pointed behind us. There was a horse having a drink from that same fountain!
We then headed south. We found a campsite that was open. Most campsites seemed to have closed because summer vacations were coming to an end. The campsite was a good place because we were allowed to sleep in a shelter. It rained all night!
The tour was soon to come to an end. We went south to the border and had no difficulty in crossing back into the US. We then went south through Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut to New York. We had very little time left before Julian and Nigel’s BUNAC flight home and my departure on Queen Mary.
The plan was that we would try to sell the Buick and then pay our share of the loss to Peter. We were led to believe that longshoremen in New York regularly bought cars from people who were sailing to Europe and wished to dispose of the vehicles that had brought them to New York. When we talked to longshoreman it became clear they were only interested in smart newish vehicles where they could make a substantial profit by selling them on. The Buick didn’t fit into that category.
The Kendall’s, who had looked after us once again, took over responsibility for the Buick, and eventually it was sold. I think individually it cost each of us $25. Not bad considering it had taken us 10,000 miles.
That’s the story of the summer of 1965. Peter was into his second year at Cornell. Nigel and Julian flew home and I returned on Queen Mary. Within days we were back at University and launching into our second year of law.
I have been asked what happened to the 4 travellers after the summer of 1965. That will appear shortly as the final instalment. I am pleased to say that they are all still alive and kicking!
We were off again after our interesting week in California. I’m not sure if any of us kept in contact with the girls that we met there. I know I didn’t – we were off to new adventures.
After leaving Newport Beach we drove 300 miles through the outskirts of Los Angeles towards Las Vegas. We arrived there at 2.00am. We had breakfast and cleaned up and then drove down ‘The Strip’ – Downtown Las Vegas. Of course we had very little money so there was no question of any of us thinking of entering these massive casinos
And then we were off in search of a campsite! We found one at about 4.00am a few miles from the Hoover Dam.
Next morning it was very hot and we drove to Lake Mead for a swim and brunch.
Lake Mead
I’m not sure that we realised it at the time but Lake Mead is a massive reservoir. We then explored the Hoover Dam.
By now we were on Route 66.
Remember the song?
“Well if you ever plan to motor east
Travel my way, take the highway that’s the best
Get your kicks on Route 66
Well it goes to St Louis, down to Missouri
Oklahoma City looks so, so pretty”
(Spot the deliberate mistake – answers in ‘comments’ please!)
From the Hoover Dam it was about 200 miles to the Grand Canyon, South Rim. It was dark when we arrived and as it was Labour Day weekend we had problems finding a campsite, but we did eventually.
The next morning we explored the rim. The Canyon is magnificent and plenty of photos were taken.
The boys look a little tired – or possibly it was the fact that they wouldn’t serve us a beer and we had to drink something that tasted revolting!
Later in the day we set off again and joined Route 66 heading towards Albuquerque. We looked in at the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park.
They always seemed to be fighting – or was it a waltz? This was the Petrified Forest and they were “dancing” on rocks that had originally been trees.The Painted Desert
At this stage, after Arizona, we sped into New Mexico and through Albuquerque. Then it was Amarillo in the northern part of Texas and from there into the state of Oklahoma. During one afternoon after a hard days driving we saw a sign to the Foss State Park.
We thought it was a great find. A large lake with a very good campsite, picnic area and beach.
We decided to stay there for the rest of the day and the night. We swam and later 3 of us were in the very new and clean washroom when suddenly we spotted a large Black Widow spider climbing the wall. We managed to coax it out by throwing water at it. As it moved through the door frame we slammed the door shut and crushed it.
Our plan was to get to Springfield, Missouri the next day. We arrived in Oklahoma City just before noon and spent some time there and had a good lunch.
But we were only 24 hours from Tulsa. Do you remember that? “Dearest darling I write to say that I won’t be home anymore cause something happened to me as I was driving home”. He had met someone else. Gene Pitney sang it.
In the end we were so sad about that song that we bypassed Tulsa! Soon we were in Missouri and arrived in the Springfield area at about 11.00pm. We were on the north side of town and the campsite was to the south so we decided to press on to the Lake of the Ozarks. We arrived there at 3.00am, found a good state campsite and pitched down.
The reason for being in this area of Missouri was that I had met a girl on Queen Mary back in early July. She had been on a European tour with her parents and was returning on Queen Mary with them. I met her on the first day at sea and we spent a great deal of time together during the voyage.
While Julian and I were in Milwaukee, Susan and I corresponded a little and she told me that she would be returning from her home in North Carolina to her college in Columbia, Missouri on the evening of 9 September 1965. By chance we seemed to be in that area at that time!
We spent the day at Lake of the Ozarks. We found a beach and a jetty over the water. There was no one else there but there was a juke box to keep us entertained.
Lake of the Ozarks
We then smartened ourselves up, on the basis that the four us would be meeting up with Susan and three of her friends that evening. We drove to Columbia College and went to Reception and explained who we were and why we were there.
Sorry they said. Susan and her friends new accommodation block has not been finished and they have all been told not to come back for another week. Great. Another romance bites the dust!
We wandered round the campus and then decided to go into town. We parked near a cinema and 2 policeman approached us. They wanted ID. There was much scrabbling about in bags to find passports, but the police were fine once they realised we were Brits and not the crooks they were meant to be locating.
As a postscript, when we arrived in Washington DC some time later, there was a letter for me from Susan at the Cunard Office. It told me that she had been at Columbia College that evening as we had arranged. Despite being told not to come back for another 7 days she had come anyway, knowing that the 4 Englishmen would be there on the 9 September. She had left messages at Reception but they had been missed.
But back to the tour. We left the Lake of the Ozarks next morning and headed for St Louis
St Louis
After exploring the City and buying fresh food in the market, we set off in the direction of Louisville. We found a campsite in the Ferdinand State Forest and we amused the regular campers with our camping equipment – foam, blanket and pillow – they were still serving us well! But we all woke at about 1.00am. Thunder, lightning and rain meant that we all piled into the car for the rest of the night.
Ferdinand State Forest
It was Pete’s birthday that day, 11 September. We stopped for a coffee and a donut to celebrate and then had a long drive through Louisville and then back on our planned route through Lexington and Huntingdon. Kentucky seemed to us to be a clean and tidy state. Large farms all bordered by immaculate white fences.
We were then in West Virginia and drove through Charleston and in fact across the whole of the state before we arrived at the Greenbrier State Forest. We knew that there was a campsite there but we didn’t reach it until 11.30pm.
Greenbrier State Forest
It had been a very long and hard day. It had rained incessantly and we had had to negotiate the very slow and twisting roads over the Appalachians. And the last 100 miles were in the dark.
After a good nights sleep we set off for Richmond, Virginia and Williamsburg with the intention then of turning north to arrive at the end of the day at the state park on the shores of the Potomac.
Richmond was very quiet as we drove through past the Virginia State Capitol Building .
We drove on to Williamsburg which was packed with tourists. You will know the history. English settlers arrived in Jamestown and established the Colony of Virginia in 1607. Jamestown was the capital but was burned down in 1676. It was rebuilt, but in 1698 it was burned down again and thereafter Williamsburg became the capital.
All three are views of the rebuilt Williamsburg.
We then drove up the Colonial Parkway to Yorktown which was the site of the siege and surrender of General Cornwallis to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. The defeat at Yorktown effectively ended the war in North America.
It was 90 miles to the Westmoreland State Park which was a great campsite but it had started to pour with rain. Julian decided he would sleep in the laundry and the rest of us opted for the car, with Nigel curled up on the floor between the front and back seats!
Julian slept here in amongst the washing machines!
It was still raining when we awoke. As we were going to be in Washington DC by lunchtime and meeting civilised people we showered and shaved. We dug out jackets and smart shirts and ties and then set off on the 90 mile journey to Washington.
That seems to be an appropriate time to finish Part 4. I will be back!
