Karen McCullough

The highly adorable Miss Freya McCullough

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I took a plane to England to visit my son, daughter-in-law, and their new baby daughter, in Oxford.

It sounds so simple when I say it that way, but actually getting on that plane was the culmination of a lot of work and preparation.  Researching flights and prices took up a fair amount of time some months ago, when we first planned the trip.  Fortunately I found there’s a direct flight from Raleigh, NC, an hour’s drive from our home in Greensboro, to London Heathrow.  Direct flights cut down on worry and hassle so much, it’s worth an hour’s drive each way to get one.

I’m so compulsive and such a worrier that I’ve developed a pre-trip checklist that I do faithfully before any trip.  I’ve learned that if I follow the list and check off each item, I don’t have to spend any time away asking myself, “Did I turn off all the burners on the stove?” and “Am I sure I locked all the doors?”  I also have a packing list that ensures I have all the basic things I need (though I once managed to forget the toothpaste anyway).

All that behind, we got on the overnight flight in Raleigh at six p.m. and landed in London seven hours later at seven a.m.  The “night” had lasted all of about four hours. I’ve never been able to sleep on planes, despite trying various combinations of pillows, blankets, etc., making the next day feel really long.

Nonetheless, we dragged our heavily laden suitcases through Heathrow terminal three to the central bus station, where we got the Airline Bus to Oxford.  The bus (the English call it a ‘coach’) was great – comfortable and smooth-riding and we actually dozed for a bit.

We arrived in Oxford and were met by son, daughter-in-law, and new grandbaby. After a stop at Tesco’s, first in the coffee shop for a much-needed blast of caffeine, then picking up some groceries, we headed for their house.

A few observations about the flight. I’ve flown British Air a couple of times and it’s a much nicer experience than American. The only advantage this flight has is that it’s direct, and that one’s big enough to make the difference. The seats (in the regular section) were narrow, cramped and not comfortable. They recline about three inches, which is pretty much useless. There are no personal entertainment units, just drop down screens along the center ceiling.  They showed two movies, both moderately family friendly. The first one, Captain America 2, I’d already seen, but watched again anyway because it’s just fun. The second one The Tourist, is a lackluster movie with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Angelina’s only job is to look beautiful and Johnny’s only job is to look befuddled, roles they can–and mostly did–perform in their sleep. The plot has a clever idea but most of its twists are telegraphed early on.

Fortunately I’d loaded my Kindle with a number of books I’d been waiting for a while to read and those didn’t disappoint. (The Kate Andrews series of “Magic..” books.  More on those later, I hope.) Surprising to me, the food was pretty good as well, though the free wine they offered probably helped make it more palatable.

In the next few posts I’ll talk about what we did during our stay and muse about on cultural and linguistic differences.

In 2005 I made a memorable trip to England, my first visit to that country. But the reason for the trip was what made it most memorable. In September of that year, my only son married an English woman named Steph, whom he’d met while they were both students at the University of Bangor in Wales.

We made the family trip an adventure. A week before the wedding my husband and I and two daughters left the US, flying to Edinburgh, Scotland. We were only there a few days, but we managed to pack a lot into it, visiting Edinburgh Castle, the Scottish National Arm Museum, the Royal Mile and Calton Hill.

Edinburgh Castle

From there we caught a train to London and spent a few days there, taking in the Tower of London (of course!), the Thames tour, Greenwich, Westminster and the Parliament building, the British Museum and some lovely shopping.

Another journey by train deposited us in the town of Hastings, where we stayed at The White Rock Hotel a lovely venue right on the waterfront (run by my son’s bride’s uncle). The wedding itself was in the town of Saltwood in Kent at a picturesque 12th century Norman church.

Saltwood Church

Finally after the wedding, our daughters had to return home, but we stayed on for a few more days and returned to London with friends. We walked over much of the city, saw Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the British Museum of Art, and even got to tour Buckingham Palace. We lucked out there since the only time it’s open to the public is when the Queen is taking her annual vacation in Scotland.

We’ve been a couple more times since, but the circumstances of that trip made it one of the most memorable vacations of my life.

Sponsor’s message: This blog post is brought to you by the ebook version of my Romantic Suspense novel, A QUESTION OF FIRE, which is still on sale at Amazon for $1.99.  (A Huge Bargain for a book that’s almost 90,000 words long!)

Blurb:  When Cathy Bennett agrees to attend an important party as a favor for her boss, she knows she won’t enjoy it. But she doesn’t expect to end up holding a dying man in her arms and becoming the recipient of his last message. Bobby Stark has evidence that will prove his younger brother has been framed for arson and murder. He wants that evidence to get to his brother’s lawyer, and he tries to tell Cathy where he’s hidden it. But he dies before he can give her more than a cryptic piece of the location.

The man who killed Bobby saw him talking to her and assumes she knows where the evidence is hidden. He wants it back and he’ll do whatever it takes to get it, including following her and trying to kidnap her.

Cathy enlists the aid of attorney Peter Lowell and Danny Stark, Bobby’s prickly, difficult younger brother, as well as a handsome private detective to help her find the evidence before the killers do.

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Contest: To win an ebook copy of your choice of my books, please leave a comment below and I’ll choose a lucky winner at random.

I’m thrilled to report that this past week I became a grandmother for the fifth time.  This is the first child for my only son and his wife, and my first grandchild born in the United Kingdom.

Freya Belle McCullough was born on June 9th in Oxford, UK.

I don’t have a cover or pub date yet, but I do have an official blurb for my next book, a romantic suspense titled, The Detective’s Dilemma:

Her fingerprints are on the gun, but Sarah swears she’s innocent.

Although Sarah Anne Martin admits to pulling the trigger, she swears someone forced her to kill her lover. Homicide detective Jay Christianson is skeptical, but enough ambiguous evidence exists to make her story plausible. If he gives her enough freedom, she’ll either incriminate herself or draw out the real killers. But, having been burned before, Jay doesn’t trust his own protective instincts…and his growing attraction to Sarah only complicates matters.

With desire burning between them, their relationship could ultimately be doomed since Sarah will be arrested for murder if Jay can’t find the real killer.

(Coming soon from Kensington/Lyrical Press)