Once upon a time there was a pastor by the name of Harold McConnell, fondly known as Dr. Mac. As part of a pulpit exchange he was sent to Bournemouth, England. It was there that he and his wife befriended another fine couple, Betty and Ramsey Hall. Their young daughter, Pip, traveled with her parents to America to visit their good friend Dr. Mac after he had returned to his home in America. Later, Pip returned to America for her gap year and thanks to Dr. Mac she was introduced to the Jones family in Washington, PA where she served as their nanny.
Many years later, Pip returned to Washington, PA with her husband, James, and baby daughter, Georgia. Dr. Mac, having been widowed, was now married to Sally. Sally's oldest son, Abe, and his wife (that's me) had a baby daughter, Casey, the exact same age as Georgia. As the story goes, Abe and James are equally wild, crazy sports fanatics… and they become good mates and their two families become dear friends.
Now fast forward to my sabbatical and know that I would not travel to Europe without planning a visit to see Pip and James. Abe, Casey and I landed at London Gatwick and were met by Pip and Georgia. We piled into the Range Rover with our luggage and started driving toward our destination. Soon it became evident that we were NOT going to the Crowley home in the village of Ropley, we would not see Pip's parents nor the other three Crowley children, and we had been kidnapped in Europe! (Almost like the movie Taken except I didn't have Liam Neeson trying to rescue me.)
Imagine our surprise when we stopped at a dock and met our narrowboat, Kate!
The Crowleys had hired a boat for three days and nights to motor the Kenneth & Avon canal from Bradford-on-Avon to Bath. Kate is a 70' boat that sleeps six and has all the comforts of home, yet the interior is only six feet wide!
The waterway has 200 years of history when merchants carried their goods from Bristol to reach the Thames at Reading. As we headed west to Bath we passed through several locks, aqueducts, and swing bridges which are engineering marvels. Casey and Georgia became quite skilled at operating the locks and swing bridges with James at the helm and Abe at the bow. The first night we motored for about 2 hours and then moored for the night. We ate a fabulous dinner prepared by Pip and watched a lightning display then fell asleep as the rain fell softly all around us.
The next morning was beautiful and we pulled open our rooftop which made the dining area alfresco for breakfast. All of the boats that passed by were envious that they didn't have a skylight like ours. We spent several hours motoring the canal to the ancient town of Bath, which, by the way, has the second deepest lock in England. Before reaching the river (which was reportedly wicked that day), we moored up and walked into town. Having such an excellent spot, we stayed there for the night.
We learned that Bath was hosting a rugby match against Leicester Tigers the next day and the guys were able to purchase tickets. Since we needed to head back to our point of origination, we motored back for a few hours, moored, and took a train back to Bath for the match. I used the time to go with the girls to the Bath Thermae Spa for the afternoon. (Oh yes, another spa and this one has an open-air rooftop pool with views of the city and surrounding countryside.) www.thermaebathspa.com
We were all in good spirits since Bath won the match 45-0 and the girls and I were refreshed at the spa. The six of us stopped at a pub near the canal where we had authentic British pub food, then hiked back to where Kate was moored for the night.
I never slept as well as I did those three nights on the boat. We all had an amazing time experiencing life on a narrowboat and the scenery of the English countryside. The Crowleys outdid themselves this time! But, most of all, we enjoyed spending a few days with our good friends and seeing what good friends our daughters have become. If only the world had more men like Dr. Mac spreading his good humor and love for humanity… there would certainly be more peace and understanding in the world. This is not the end of this story. To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment