On the Road . . . Salisbury and Plymouth

New York was our last convention in 2010, and we're starting to pack for a 4-month stay on the Alabama Gulf Coast so we thought we'd end this year's blog entries with highlights of our 18-day trip to England and Scotland.

Enjoy - passports are not required!

After visiting Stonehenge, we toured Salisbury Cathedral, considered Britain's finest 13th Century cathedral.

Besides having the tallest spire in Britain (404 feet) and the world's oldest mechanical working clock, Salisbury Cathedral has the finest of only four surviving original (1215) Magna Carta.

Although Plymouth harbor is a busy marina today, it's a destination for tourists because of the history of the Mayflower steps, where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America.

We really enjoyed our boat trip around Plymouth harbor, one of England's most famous and historic seaports. The Royal Naval Dockyard maintains vessels of the Royal Navy fleet.

England's Prince Charles has frequently criticized the mix of "new" and "old" architecture in England, and what we saw in Plymouth may be a good example for his concern. The Drake Circus Shopping Center, which opened in 2006, frames the historic Charles' Church, which was heavily bombed during WW II. It's preserved in the center of Plymouth as a memorial to civilians who died in Plymouth during WW II.

After leaving Plymouth, we stopped at St. Michael's Mount near Penzance. It's a tidal island located 400 yards off the Mount's Bay coast of Cornwall. After the English Civil War, Colonel St. Aubyn purchased the Mount (1659); his descendants still live there today even though the Mount was given to the National Trust in 1954. The family has a 999-year lease to live in the castle.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)