Normal morning, having breakfast at the hotel and heading out around 8:30 a.m. Had much less car trouble leaving the city than entering. The car finally needed gas but finding the gas cap release became a real issue. No one could find it. We opted to try finding it again at the gas station. Arriving at the gas station Dick opened the car door and there it was in plain sight on the door. His leg had been obstructing the view of it on the earlier search.
Our first diversion of the day was to go to Alnwich Castle 3 miles off the highway. We agreed it would a very short visit and back on track after that. The castle entrance fee was pretty steep so we opted to take pictures from the street and not go on the grounds or through the castle. Took a bathroom break and got a snack. This short diversion took us over and hour. Already way off the plan.
The next diversion happened rather quickly with a short trip to see Hadrian's Wall. Dave wanted to go to the Newcastle University to see the museum that talked about the history of the wall. The driving spaces were tight and we could absolutely find no parking. We abandoned that and headed for the wall. Hadrian's wall, also called the Roman Wall, or Picts' Wall, was built by the Romans. It was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 AD in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire.
We drove to exactly where the GPS told us to go. There was nothing there. After walking around the area a little bit we saw two hikers, from Denver. They were following the wall path and gave us some directions on how to find the main part of the wall that is still standing. Drove as far as we could with the hikers directions and then turned into a nursery to ask for more directions. Found it, but because of the narrow lanes, we missed the turn off. Finding a parking place not too far away so we walked back to the wall.
Wade ran to the end of the wall to see what he could find. There was just another plaque
Then he had to walk back.
I liked the horses with the coats on in the field next to the wall.
At this point it was decided that we really needed to head to Nuneaton, England which was the original destination. It would take us about 4 hours to get there and it was 2:00 pm when we left the wall. Around 3:00 we were all getting a bit hungry and Dick wanted Fish & Chips. Dave found a place on Yelp that sounded good but we exited too early on a round a bout and took us on the highway. Dave found another restaurant that said it was only 10 minutes off the highway. Got off the highway and went to turn on the road the GPS said to, and.....the road was closed. Re-route said arrival only 11 minutes later. We drove through very narrow lanes and a tiny town following the GPS instructions ending up down an isolated dirt road with a van blocking the road and a gentleman burning something in the front of his yard. We could not go forward nor back up. The good man opened up his gate so we could turn around in his driveway. Asking him for help, he told us the restaurant we were looking for was in York miles away. Giving us directions to a town that had a nice restaurant we headed out. We ended up at "Drakes", and the best fish and chips I have ever eaten. It was haddock instead of cod and was delicious. Food was slow and we headed for the road again at 6:30 p.m.
We all, nicely, told Dave no more detours. We only missed one exit from that point and arrived at Millers Hotel in Sibson, England just after 8:00 p.m. We had planned to get there around 3:00 p.m. to spend the day looking for family historical sites so we could get an early start to London the next day. The extra stops and misguided GPS changed those plans, but little side trips is what we will remember, is what Dave said. He was right and also if we had been on a tour we would have missed all these little small things we saw.
Millers Hotel was a small and unique place to stay. When the guys checked in they were told there was one nicer room and Dick and Wade said to give it to Dave. I believe Wade and I got the worst room. The hotel had no air conditioning and our room only had one small window. Our room was extremely hot when we arrived and when I walked over to open the window the floor on that side of the room sunk when walked on. I informed Wade that he would be sleeping on that side of the bed. We did ask for a small fan at the front desk which helped with the heat. The breakfast was very nice and the people who worked there were extremely nice and helpful.
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