It is very sad to be packing up and leaving Lavenham. It was a quirky little hotel in a quirky little town but I will miss it. I will miss the crooked path to my room, I’ve included a video so everyone can see how much fun it was. I can boast that I never hit my head, Val not so lucky. She knocked herself pretty good at least a couple of times.

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The bus ride on moving day is always a little longer than other mornings. So there was time for a short nap. They set up talks by the historians but also give us a little time to sleep. This morning Nicola finally got to give her talk on Queen Jane. Nicola fully believes that Lady Jane should be recognized as the first queen of England. Her debut work is on Queen Jane and she is quite passionate on the topic. I can’t decide if I agree or not. I agree that she is a tragic figure and more than likely would have made a good queen but just claiming your queen or in her case your father in law claiming you queen might not be enough. Of course the previous king did select her as his heir but again that was more her father in law than King Edward. The discussion was lively and led to great conversations throughout the day.

Our tour stop for the day was Eltham Palace. It was kind of hodgepodge of medieval castle, Tudor ruins and 1930’s party house. The Palace is not far from London. In fact you can see some of the London. Skyline from the house. Henry VII added on to a prior castle built by Edward to be a nursery castle. All but Arthur, Henry’s heir were raised at Eltham. We met up with a guest historian, Elizabeth Norton, to take us through the grounds. She explained the use of a nursery castle which was basically to keep the children out of the city and away from all the courtiers in hopes of preventing illnesses. Arthur had his own estate up in another castle and was always separated from his siblings.

There were great stories of the future Henry VIII ruling the roost at the nursery. It seems he was destined to rule from an early age.

There wasn’t much left from the castle other than the great hall and the footings showing the outline of the King and Queen apartments. The only other structure to survive was the sewer system. It seems that they had dug tunnels to take the sewage out to the moat. The tunnels are still there and we were able to walk through them. Good thing the moat is long gone or that little adventure could have gone horribly wrong. Anyway the thought of it is still kind of foul.

In the 1930s a socialite couple bought the Palace and added on a modern mansion. It was quite crazy. It had a big circular room when you first walked in with a sitting and dining room off of it. There was a hallway with two large bedrooms with quite bizarre bathrooms. It was a his and her set up where it was clear she was the more eccentric. Her bathroom had a gold dome with an Italian goddess statute in the niche. His was just blue tile.

However, it was the rest of the house that was really odd. If you went behind the fancy main floor rooms you were in halls that reminded you of a hospital. They were painted a cheerful yellow but very institutional looking. The extra bedrooms upstairs were the size of postage stamps. It was clear that guests were invited to lavish parties then they needed to leave I can’t imagine they ever saw the back of the house.

We walked through the gardens and I was excited to see this tree with red berries. I had seen one at Layer Marney but my pictures were all blurry. So I was happy to get another chance. I have no idea what type of berries but they were the prettiest raspberry color with a shiny gleam. The tree was just covered in them at looked beautiful with the sunlight streaming through the leaves.

From the Palace we went into town for lunch at a restaurant inside an old Tudor barn. It was a buffet nothing special but definitely suitable.

The drive to the hotel was still quite a ways and I tried to listen to the talks but I think I napped quite a bit instead.
I did hear a little about the Tudor year and what holidays they celebrated.

The new hotel is the most modern that we have stayed in. It is a Georgian mansion that has been turned into a hotel. The main entrance still has the look of the original mansion but the rest of it appears to have been gutted and added to turn it into a hotel. It is a nice place with beautiful grounds but it is not as unique as the prior two hotels.

We got in early enough for a walk around the grounds. Val and I wandered through the kitchen garden and along the wooded paths. The garden had several apple trees with a lot of varieties that I have never heard of. However, basically the apples were just rotting in the ground. It didn’t really look like they were trying to use the garden.

Dinner was at the hotel and it was quite nice. We had Julien at our table and this time they didn’t switch. It was a fun less historical conversation.

After dinner Robert Hutchinson talked about the last few days of Henry VIII’s life and his medical issues. Kind of a gruesome talk for right after lunch but not too bad. The guest was very fun and the talk went quickly. He believed that Henry suffered from Cushing’s disease. He is going to be with is all day tomorrow so I will have an opportunity to talk to him more if I want to hear the more gruesome parts about Tudor diseases. They didn’t seem to be a healthy lot. Really only Elizabeth lived very long at all.

I can’t believe we are now at our last hotel and on our last three nights. All the sudden time is flying.

Cambridge is a great college town much like Austin. College kids running around, bars and cafes everywhere. You just have to remember that it is a few hundred years older. Some of the college date back to the 1500s.

We started our tour at Emmanuel College. Julian, our resident historian and comedian was a student at Emmanuel and he wanted to show off his old stomping ground. He was able to get us tours of rooms he never entered as a student. Cambridge is still very formal and the students are still required to wear their robes to dinner. Behind the dining hall is the fancy parlor for all the “fellows” or professors in American English to take their tea or port with dessert. Hidden in this room were several Holbein portraits and the fine china. There was also a room with one long table with one much smaller table on one end to seat all 60 of the fellows at one time.

We had tea and cookies in one of the gathering rooms then we were off to see the library. In the library the college displays their treasures. We saw the school charter signed and sealed by Queen Elizabeth with her likeness added for decoration. We also saw and old illustrated bible and a book given to Katherine of Aragon from Erasmus. It is crazy to think you are looking at something so incredibly old that was one time held by the kings and queens.

From Emmanuel we headed off for a few hours on our own. We grabbed a nice sandwich for lunch and walked around the town center. Being Sunday some of the shops were not opened but there was plenty to ramble through.

After lunch we met back up with the group to go in the chapel at King’s College. Chapel does not adequately describe the church. It is more cathedral than chapel. The ceiling is amazing. It all stone with carved buttresses. As for our Tudor group most went through looking for the references to Anne Boleyn. Most had been removed but their were a few that were overlooked. There was also great heraldry for the Tudor and Beaufort families. We had seen a lot of the articulus symbols and the Tudor rose but the church also showed off the greyhound which I had not seen before. The rest of the time was spent admiring the ceiling. We all left with cricks in our necks.

From the church we took a nice walk around the town. We saw some of the other colleges from the outside. We saw where Newton attending and my favorite A A Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame. Julien pointed out where all of his college escapades took place. I know where he met his wife, the bar he frequented and the room in which he served some rather disgusting cake. If he ever becomes hugely famous I will be able to give tours of his college days.

After our tour we were on our own for a while and Val and I decided to climb the tower. The view was really nice and we got some great pictures. Two gentlemen were holding court in one corner that gave the best view of Kings Chapel and would not move on. I kept trying to get them to move but regardless of how close I stood they wouldn’t budge. We waited them out took our photos and headed back down.

We didn’t do much shopping and soon headed back to the bus. Dinner was independent tonight. We had reservations at one of the pubs we a few of the other ladies we have met on the trip. They share the back of the bus with us as well as our love of gift shops. Anyway I again had the fish and chips with a side of macaroni and cheese. Other than the ketchup which was horrible (think the worst sweet cheap ketchup you have ever tasted then make it even worse) the meal was delicious. It was some of the best macaroni and cheese I have eaten. I tried a England beer none which was not my favorite I prefer my beer cold but when it Rome and all that.

This will be our last night in our quaint quirky hotel so I stopped off at the airmen’s bar for a few photos. We had a few drinks in the bar the first night. It is a great bar where US airmen hung out in WWII. Many of them signed the walls at the time and then some have come back to update their signatures. They also pounded some badges into the wood posts over head. It was a nice place to have a drink.

Today we are off to see Queen Mary’s (Harry VIII’s sister) grave in Bury St Edmund. When her husband the King Louis, king of France died she quickly married the love of her life without permission of her brother the king. They then lived outside the court for a while until Harry got over being mad. Finally forgiven her husband went to London to support Harry and Mary died alone at their country estate in East Anglia. She was originally buried in the Abby but after England left the Catholic Church the Abby was closed and they had to move her to the local church. It was not the grand memorial that I expected. In fact it was only a plaque with her first husband’s name misspelled. But since the Abby was pretty much in ruins it was a good thing she was moved. At some point much later they lowered her grave marker more flush with the ground and we’re surprised to find her body actually in the memorial box. The locals doing the work then cut off snippets of her hair and sold them on the side. There was a small bit of her hair in the museum done the street. Whether it is really Queen Mary’s hair is anybodies guess but the locals seem sure.

After the museum we had a little time to shop around. Bury St Edmunds was a surprisingly cute town with planting of shopping options. We only had an hour so we needed to be judicious in our selection. A couple of stores caught my eye and I headed off. Val spies a Laura Ashley who would have thought those were still around. And yes the clothes look very similar to the hey day of the brand. To be fair they did have some cute things but I quickly moved on. The other store was my downfall. I didn’t expect to do much shopping on this trip. A few gift shop purchases but nothing more. Definitely 2 new dresses and a tunic. But they were very cute and not something I have seen in the states. Val found a few things. Sadly but probably for the best our time was about up so we headed down to meet up with everyone. We ended up being the first ones to arrive so we went back to an antique jewelry store we passed. They had some great rings in the window. We ended up going in and Val tried on a few and made a selection. I had to prod her along a bit because I didn’t want to be late but of course we were. Everyone was on the bus as we did the “walk of shame” back to our seats. I won’t be late again.

Our next stop was for a light lunch close to OxBurgh Hall. The Hall had a lot of “conservation” going on and scaffolding was up all throughout the court-yard but the inside was all good.

The main draw was the needlework done by Mary Queen of Scott’s and Bess of Hardwick. Mary worked on them when she was imprisoned at the hall. There were quite a few and they are very elaborate. They even had a pair of Mary’s embroidery scissors on display.

The house also boasted of a priest hole. It was right off the main bedchamber hidden in a tiny corner closet. I waited behind a just a few people to go down but then watched the man in front of me lay down on the ground and try to squeeze I. And decided that wasn’t for me. Instead I went up to the tower and enjoyed the view. Again the tower was just like 4 maybe 5 flights up so not real high.

The family chapel had a beautiful Antwerp Triptych from the Middle Ages. It was surprising to see it hidden in this relatively tiny chapel. It was kind of a distance from the house so not everyone was even venturing up to see it.

The property also bordered a nice community church that has two more of the terra-cotta tombs. Sadly the lead roof of the church was stolen in November and the rain was getting in and damaging one of the tombs. Not sure how anyone steals a lead roof off a church that sat right on the road in front of the main tourist attraction in the area and even more so across the street from the local bar. Regardless it is very sad that they did. The local community doesn’t have the money to replace it and at a pound per postcard I don’t think they will get there fast enough to save the tombs. Removing the roofs back when Henry VIII broke from Rome led to a lot of the ruins we have today. So it they cannot fix this roof soon only the walls will be left.

This was the first day we had any significant rain on the trip. Even then it didn’t last too long so we made it through alright. It was actually fun to walk through a small English town in the rain. Just wish I had worn the rain boots I carried over. So far they are the one thing I haven’t worn.

The big rush at all our stops was to get back in time to get ready for David Starkey to talk on Henry VII. He is one of the premier historians in England and the first one to really stress that you need to look at the person and their relationships and not just the position and government establishments. However, everyone set him up to be a fussy curmudgeon but he wasn’t so bad. His talk was very interesting claiming we didn’t put as much emphasis on the foreign takeover under Henry VII. All the people surrounding him were generally French and he used French soldiers to win the battle that made him king. He was a little “my way is right” but I guess I can forgive him for that.

He was at our table for the first course and he was pleasant during dinner. Feeling the need to participate in the discussion I spent a bit of time trying to come up with a good question. One of his students did a talk on the bus about Mary and how she was the forgotten queen. Here she was the first women to really govern England and she is so overshadowed by her sister that she gets no credit. Anyway at one point he noted on the vast number of records on Elizabeth and I asked if he thought whether today’s popularity had anything to do with the easier access to Elizabeth. He agreed he believed if they had more records on Mary it might balance her out a bit more. Right now everyone just focuses on the phantom pregnancies and the burning of the heretics. I felt good about my question and was glad the conversation moved on to another topic.

It was nice to have our regular historians Sarah and Nicola back for the next two courses.

I would have loved to had another beer in the airmen’s bar but I had enough wine with dinner and decided to go on up. The bar was pretty cool. It had signatures from the American WWII pilots that were stationed nearby. There was also a wall where they signed if they came back later in life. Their were several on there and they gave more a of a brief history on that wall. We had drinks in here the night before so that was going g to have to do.

Another great day in England.

Leeds Castle once referred to as the most beautiful castle in the world and something they still use on all their promotional items is quite breath taking. It sets on what appears to be a small island in a very small lake or has a very large moat surrounding it. Regardless it makes for great pictures.

Leeds was also purchased by an American in the mid 20th century. (After WWII Britain had an outrageous inheritance tax and not many could continue to afford the upkeep of these grand estates.) So most of the inside of the estate was decorated in high end mid century. More Newport Rhode Island than my house in fact the tour guide pointed out that a crocodile skinned desk in her bedroom was the most valuable piece in the castle.

There were enough Tudor reference in the castle to make it worth while to the tour fanatics. Henry and Katherine stayed at Leeds on their way to the “Field of Cloth of Gold” which was Henry’s negotiations for a treaty with France. There was a period painting depicting the travel to s
France and the crossing at Dover. To me it was just a lovely castle in a lovely setting.

The highlight of the visit was punting on the moat. I was a little nervous getting in but once everyone got settled and it quit rocking so much I enjoyed the ride. We glided around the base of the castle and into what was once and old bathhouse which was used by the visiting kings.

The castle also boasted of a black swan family and we got pretty close to two of them while punting around the castle. Both our tour and the punt ride took longer than scheduled so we didn’t have much time to spend looking at the grounds. So sadly we did not get to walk through the gardens.

On the bus they often explain where we are going or if that is not necessary some random topic. Today’s was on the wills of women in the Tudor time period. There were very few unless the women was a widow and generally only for personal items of jewelry. Anne of Vleves left her best price of jewelry to Mary and her second best to Elizabeth. They are not quite sure what those were or why she described them like that because she went on to be much more specific in detailing what went to other women. Anyway I found it to be one of the more interesting talks so far. However most of my back of the bus friends slept through it.

From Leeds we headed out to Knole another castle home in Suffolk. It was in a state or restoration which the now call conservation in England. They no longer try to restore things but find ways to prohibit additional deterioration. This castle had some great pieces. They had period copies of Raphael’s cartoons that were painted to make patterns for the tapestries that hang in the Sistine chapel. They had 5 and they took up all the room of the huge great hall. There was also several prices of pure silver in the Lady’s bedchamber. Their was a desk, two bedside tables and several large size mirrors made fully of silver. They pointed out that moat similar pieces were melted down at some point to pay taxes or debts so very few silver furniture peices survive. Very gaudy but beautiful. I think they would have looked better spread throughout the rooms rather all in one room.

We also got to see some conservation in process they had a gallery set up in the old barn, modernized to provide perfect conditions for storage and work on all the pieces from the house. We saw and talked to 2 college students working on two Venician style plant or lamp stands. They were painted wood and had suffered from some type of worm rot. They discussed the different techniques whether you should use the same materials used in the original or use modern advanced materials that would have longer lasting effect. Each was from a different school with different views so each stand was being treated differently. Maybe in the next 50 years they will know what worked best.

Tonight’s dinner was in a barn at an pub in a small village close to Hever. Again proseco as we walked in but this time beer was also an option for dinner. The food was delicious. I had sausage and mashed potatoes and my first bake well tart. Not a big fan of cherries but the cake potion was great. Much better than the sponge cake I fixed for book club.

It was not a late evening but we were super tired and went straight to bed after returning to the hotel. We have to pack up to leaveHeverin the morning and I don’t want to go. I think I could stay here forever.

Second day of the tour and I think I have finally acclimated to England time. It was much easier to get up this morning. I am not sure if it was more excitement for the tour or just getting back to my normal sleeping pattern. Either way the day got off to a great start.

The morning was spent visiting Ightham Mote. Although I heard it pronounced a hundred times I still cannot say it. Anyway it was a rambling medievalhouse that was updated during the Tudor time and then several times through their years up to the 20th century. Various rooms along the tour were set up in the different time periods. So we saw a great hall from medevial period, a solar from Tudor and then a couple of small bedrooms crammed in sometime in the late 20th century. An American bought it and kept it from being destroyed and he came for his allowed 14 weeks a year occasionally bringing some grandchildren along. He also had the largest pool table I have every seen. It was at least 50% bigger than what we see today. It basically took up a whole room that was the length of one of wings of the house. There was also a gabled dog house in the courtyard. They claim it is the only surviving early dog house in England (they said when but can’t remember if medevial, Tudor or Elizabethan. It was for a Saint Bernard so it was quite large. They encouraged climbing on for a photo op but I decided I would pass on the opportunity to play a dog.

The chapel in the Mote had great ceiling paintings from the Tudor period when Henry was married to Katherine. They were quite faded but still had some color.

Val and I took the tower tour which was the perfect tower tour for me, it only went up about three floors. Not vast views but we got some nice photos.

After a quick lunch at the cafe we headed back to Hever for an afternoon of enjoying the grounds and gardens. The gardens at Hever are extensive. During the Victorian age someone added a Italian collanade with a maze right in the middle. There was also a rose garden,a wonderful hedge garden cut into chess pieces, grape vine arbors, a small orchard a hand dug pond ( much bigger than you would expect) and a secret path that led up to a chrysanthemum walkway. They were all beautiful. Not sure what was my favorite but I think it was probably the chrysanthemum path. The flowers were as big as my hand and bright bold colors that really stood out from the green leaves. Val and I wandered around enjoying the views and taking pictures.

We also walked through the small village church where Anne Bolyn’s father is buried and also saw a local house with a thatched roof.

Before dinner we had another guest who spoke of Tudor clothes. She had recently discovered an alter cloth at a small church and determined that it was Tudor period cloth of silver. I didn’t understand all the references to cloth of silver or cloth of gold but basically they work gold or silver into thin strips like thread that are then woven with wool or silk to make cloth. I myself think it would be scratchy but would not have mattered because only royals got to wear or own it. The fact that it can only be royal has led her to believe it might be one of Elizabeth’s gowns. For someone who had thousands of items surprisingly they have very few items of clothing from Elizabeth. Seems there was a fire at the palace that held all her household goods.
They also said things even cloths were passed down to new queens. So Harry’s wives probably had some hand me downs.

For dinner we went to Penshurst Place which is a large manor/castle home. It was dark so not great outside pictures but made for the perfect setting for a medevial keep. When we entered the long room with the fire pit in the middle lit by candles it felt like we stepped back in time. However they quickly handed me a glass of proseco and I was glad I lived in the 21 century. Dinner was wonderful. A little less spectacular than the first night in Hever but still very nice. It was in a more modern part of the castle set up for receptions. No historians at our table tonight. We have met a wonderful group of women who have become friends on previous trips.

All in all another great day.

The official tour begins today at noon when we meet everyone for lunch in our hotel. However that leaves us with a bit of time in the morning for some rushed sightseeing so I will start with that. (This way I have some pictures for the day.)

Someone from the group yesterday recommended the National Potrait Gallery as an option for the morning. The gallery was within walking distance, free and opened at 10. Not sure how long it would take to walk there we headed out at 9. Of course this morning we went the right way and arrived at about 9:15, which included a stop to grab breakfast on the go. We found a wonderful spot appropriately named Bread. We grabbed cheese and tomato and pesto filled rolls which were delicious.

Once we arrived we realized we were around the corner from Trafalgar Square with great lions guarding the Nelson monument. While taking photos we noticed Big Ben in the background and decided to go on a photo stop tour instead of waiting on gallery to open. It was a great decision as the walk took us past several iconic locations or should I say photo ops.

We walked down White Chapel past Downing Street and the Prime Minister’s Home which was not only blocked off by security but also behind scaffolding. We saw the Horse Guards, War memorials (the one for women of WWII is supringly moving), Westminster, the Parliment Building and Big Ben. So we saw quite a few sights. On a side note the line for the Abby was long but not horrible when we first walked by around 9:30 when we walked back by closer to 10 it was at least 5 times as long. So if that is ever on your travel plans go early.

We also walked out to see the gate that leads into or out of Trafagar Square. Sadly neither of us looked down to see that it actually lead to buckingham Palace. It was pointed out on the bus we brought back memories of walking from the palace to the gate with my mom back in 2002.

It was a nice and busy morning running around London but it was time to go meet Alison and start the tour. We got back right at 11 and picked up our tour information. Alison was handing out the information and took a few minutes with everyone. I was as excited to meet her as I have been anyone. She seemed as excited about the tour as I did she was much more vivacious and outgoing than I expected. I assumed wrongly she would be more bookish and serious.

We had a bit of time before lunch and I would remiss not to mention the worst glass of lemonade I have ever had. There is not enough sugar in the world to have made that glass enjoyable. I had sit to wait on what I soon discovered was the very edge of the bar. Instead of moving I decided to order a drink but of course not being a coffee drinker and it to hot for tea lemonade was I thought my best option. When she brought it out I was happy to see it was full of ice and until that first sip I was happy with the decision. But alas it was horrible. I felt like I was drinking lemons. So far the worst $4 ihqve spent.

Back to the tour, lunch was casual and we met a few more people and had one of the historians, Julian Humphreys at our table. His main focus our military or battle sites and by far the biggest character on the trip. He kept the conversation going and kept us laughing through the meal.

After lunch Alison gave a brief overview of the Tudor time period and characters and pointed out some of what we would see on the tour. She also introduced all the historians including Sarah Gristwood who wrote or last book club selecrion Game of Queens. Also on the tour is Nicola Tallywho is currently studying Tudor and royal jewelry. I can’t wait to talk to her about that.

From lunch we headed out on the bus for Hever. It is not to far from London so thankfully we were not on the bus long. Hever was the childhood home of Anne Bolyn. It was later much much later purchased by one of the Astors. He spent a great deal fixing it up in the Tudor style he even hired craftsmen that did all the work by hand with Tudor styled tools to maintain an authentic feel. He created what is now the hotel portion. It has the appearance of a rambling manor bit hides behind the house so not seen in the grand view.

We were treated by Henry VIII and Anne Bolyn upon arrival. Since we were from “Spain” and currently his enemy we were very graciously allowed to enter the castle. He was the perfect person for part which they continued when we came down for drinks.

From drinks we toured the main house. It was decorated with period pieces but none were actually from the Bolyn house hold. When she was beheades they fell out of favor and the house was given to another wife. It did have two of Anne’s Book of Hours. In one that they think she was carrying with her on the way to the scaffold and her death she wrote “Remember me when you do pray”.

There are alsome some great portraits in the house and other artwork but those two pieces are the highlight.

After the tour our “Queen Anne” demonstrated the Tudor dress. She had a replica of a Katherine Howard dress which she had made and showed how everything went together.

Our first “gala” was in the dining room of the main house. It was very elaborately decorated with a huge medieval fireplace and held two long tables. We picked our spots and I got surprisingly lucky. Val and I were down on the far end with only a few spots left. I guess instead of moving people two of the historians who had not placed their place cards down ended up down by us. One was Julian Humphrey that I mentioned before the other was Tracy Borman. If you ever watch any PBS specials on royal palaces you have probably seen Tracy. She is head of the historic palace national trust and works out of Hamptons Court she was a lot of fun. Probably in her late 30searly 40s she again was not what I expected as a historian. Her most recent book is about the private lives of the monarchs and we spent some time discussing whether Americans were more prudish and whether she should keep on the parts about personal hygiene and all that entails. She said her publisher wants her to take it out for the American release but she does not agree. We discussed the romantasism of the time because all those unpleasant issues are never addresses. June brides doesn’t come from the fact that June is a great month as far as weather to haves wedding but because people had just switched from their one winter outfit to their one summer outfit and had there annual bath. I can only imagine how bad everyone smelled.between her and Julien conversation flowed freely and I was very happy to get to talk to her and somewhat miffed at an older gentleman sitting on her other side that somewhat dominated the conversation.

The historians switched places during the main course and now I had Nicola Taly and Tracy. They had similar interest in clothes and jewelry and they talked a bit on it but there was more eating than conversation in this course. Dessert is when Alison took the seat beside me and Sarah Gristwood sat across. Finally the gentleman who must have been a bit intimidated by Alison did t dominate the conversation. Sarah talked primarily with the two people on her side so I have not been able to discuss our book club book with her yet but before the trip is over I should have plenty of time to do that. Alison will not be with the tour every day so I was very excited to getting talk with her through dessert. As I said earlier she was very easy to talk to and treated all my questions as serious questions howeverstupid I might have sounded. (Most of the people on the trip or much more knowledgable on the Tudor reign than I am so at times I feel a little inadequate.)

After dinner Tracy Borman gave her talk on private lives of the tudors and it was crazy how elaborately they lived. Even the kings know as frugal spen obscene amounts on their clothes.

After dinner we met for cocktails and got to meet some of the other guests. Surprisingly the other couple from Texas is from grannies about 30 miles from my mom.

I forgot to mention that several of the guests did dress in period clothes. I was very sad I didn’t do it. But there is always next time and right now I am pretty sure I am going to save up so here can be a next time.

Overall a great first day for the tour.