Visiting Family in England – Part 5

Karen McCullough Posted on by

The fifth and final part of the vacation report.

Day 9 (Tuesday): This would be our last full day in Hythe, but after the major outing the previous day, we all needed a lower key day. The children badly wanted to go swimming, so we met the family on the beach in the morning. They brought a blanket and swim gear.

I planned to dip my toes in the English Channel but wasn’t ready to do it right away. The children were eager to go, despite the facts that, a. it was a breezy, cool day, b. the water was cold, and c. the waves were higher and rougher than usual. The first two factors didn’t really bother them. They’re used to cooler air and water temperatures. However, the unusually high surf meant they couldn’t really swim very much. And being bounced on the shore by a wave is much less comfortable on their shingle beach than on sand.

Still, the children spent some time playing in the waves, while we watched and drank hot coffee. Joe did go in the water with them for a while and I admired his bravery. I admired it even more after I ventured a couple of steps into the water. It was cold! Not the kind of cold that feels good after the initial shock wears off. The kind of cold that freezes your toes in short order. I also learned that flip-flops are not the most stable footwear for a rock beach. I kept my balance, but it was a near thing.

Later we returned to their house for a quiet afternoon of visiting and playing games. I learned a couple of fun new games: Tinderblox and Dobble.

We gave James a new, metal baseball bat for his birthday and he immediately christened it by taking it out in the front garden and batting small balls which he’d improvised from tinfoil. The tinfoil was a good choice given that their front yard is small and his batted balls are landing close to neighbors’ cars and windows. He has a nice looking swing already, though.

He watches a lot of baseball with his Dad, who is a long-time Atlanta Braves fan, so he knows the game pretty well though he doesn’t get it to see it live very often over there. But apparently there are some small-scale American Baseball leagues. Throwing a ball with his Dad is also a favorite leisure-time activity.

To celebrate the end of a wonderful visit, Jim and I took everyone out to dinner at Azzur (https://azzuritalian.co.uk/) a fabulous Italian restaurant in Hythe. The family-run place is small but elegant with superb food. From cocktails right through dessert, we all enjoyed every bit of the meal. I was fortunate to have James sitting right next to me. When I couldn’t quite finish the enormous dish of pasta that accompanied my spaghetti frutti di mare, he took care of it for me.

The Hythe Imperial Hotel – our home away from home

Day 10: Our last day in England. I feel melancholy even as I write this. Although we’d talked about the train to Heathrow, Joe ended up driving us to the hotel where we’d spend the night before our flight back to the US. We spend the morning with them after we’d packed up and checked out of the Hythe Imperial Hotel.

The hotel was a great place to stay, by the way. Nice rooms and a comfortable bed. We slept well. They had a breakfast buffet that featured the standard full English breakfast items – fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms, and broiled tomatoes. They also had cereals, pastries, yogurt, fruits, toast, various juices, coffee, and tea. Pretty much whatever you wanted for breakfast was available. We ate their most mornings, and Jim discovered he was very fond of that full English breakfast.

Anyway, we spent the morning playing with the children and talking before we had to leave with enough time for Joe to get back out of London before the rush-hour traffic turned the M25 into a sluggishly moving car park.

The Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow was nice enough and we had a decent dinner there, but its only interesting feature was that our room window looked out over one of the runways, so we watched large planes fly by every minute or two as they landed at the airport. Fortunately the sound-proofing was adequate and we didn’t really hear them roaring past so the noise wasn’t a problem.

Freya’s got her pre-teen vibe on.

The fifth and final part of the vacation report. Knowing we’d have to get up early to catch the 5:40 a.m. shuttle bus, we went to bed quite early. I was surprised to fall asleep at nine. I was less surprised but more dismayed to wake up at 2:30 and know that I wouldn’t be getting back to sleep. I tried to stay quiet for a while and drop back off, but about 3:30 I realized Jim was awake, too, so we got up and got ready to go.

The rest was pretty much smooth sailing. We got the shuttle bus to Heathrow Terminal 3, checked in, got coffee and nibbles in the terminal while we waited for a gate assignment, and did some souvenir shopping. Not sure who needs to hear this, but there’s a lovely Harrod’s branch in the terminal with a lot of nice things available, including some of the best chocolate you’re ever likely to taste.

Anyway, we finally did get loaded on the plane and made the long trip back to Atlanta. More about the good, the bad, and the ugly of flying internationally in a future post. The good news is we arrived back in Greensboro before dark. And the rest was sleep…

Visiting Family in England – Part 4

Karen McCullough Posted on by

Day 8 (Monday): Our next major excursion was a trip to Leeds Castle. Steph’s parents joined us for the adventure, which helped sort out the problem of getting everyone there by car. It’s only about a 20 minute drive from Hythe via the M20.

Known as “England’s Prettiest Castle,” and also “The Ladies’ Castle”, Leeds has a storied history that dates back to the 11th century. You can find a detailed history here: https://leeds-castle.com/her-castle/history-of-the-castle/  The castle itself has been rebuilt and reworked several times over the course of the centuries and became a retreat for

Part of the original castle gate stands outside the current structure

several queens, including Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I, Catherine of Valois, widow of Henry V, and Catherine of Aragon.

Most recently though, it was extensively revamped by its last individual owner, Lady Baillie, in the 1930s. The interior is decorated to match the way it looked in Lady Baillie’s time. In that sense, it reminded me more of Biltmore House, which reflects a similar period, than any Medieval castle or fortress.

We took the audio tour inside, which was interesting, but covered only a part of the castle, as some of it is now used as a hotel. The castle and grounds are part of a trust, which has developed the land and building as a combination resort and local attraction.

After the castle tour, we walked farther on the grounds past some beautiful gardens, to an extensive children’s play area, which also had picnic areas. We visited on a Monday on a bank holiday weekend, a beautifully warm, clear day, which meant significant crowds. The benches under the tent were full, so we found a shady area under a tree to sit and have a leisurely lunch.

 

Afterward we let the children play in the various attractions, which included an elaborate maze leading to a fantastic (literally) grotto, a moving bridge, slides, and various wooden climbing structures and buildings. The older among us got some needed rest in the shade while the younger pursued more energetic activities.

After a while we turned back to the castle but stopped to sniff some flowers in the gardens and then get ice cream in one of the courtyards. From there we made our way to a small used bookstore where most of us found a few interesting things.

We covered several miles during the day, though we only walked a portion of the available interesting sights and activities. There were more extensive trails, a boat ride, falconry exhibits and quite a few more things, but by the time we finished with the bookstore, it was late afternoon and we were pretty cooked. Nonetheless, we managed to fit in some shopping time in the gift store before we left.

Visiting Family in England – Part 3

Karen McCullough Posted on by

Day 6 (Saturday): Got off to a lazy start. About mid-morning we walked into Hythe from the hotel, where we met Joe, Steph, and the children. We spent some time shopping, poking around in the many charity shops, bookshops, and other stores. I bought some school supplies for the children, and a few small things to bring home. We stopped at Sainsbury’s (their local grocery store) to pick up supplies for lunch and dinner.

Freya made scones and we had a mid-afternoon tea party with the delicious scones plus jam and clotted cream. The tea was so filling, we had a light dinner of fish and broccoli, which was perfect.

Most of the afternoon and evening were spent sitting around, talking, watching baseball, (Joe subscribes to MLB.tv so he can watch the previous day’s games whenever he wants), and helping James do puzzles.

Day 7: On Sunday morning, James had Cricket practice in the morning, and we walked to the Catholic church in Hythe for Mass. Pretty much everything you want or need to do in Hythe is in walking distance, and the town makes an extra effort to accommodate pedestrians. There are a number of dedicated walkways and paths, plus light-controlled pedestrian crossing zones for busier roads. The lights respond quickly and drivers respect those stop signals.

In the early afternoon, Joe, James, Jim, and I (Steph was taking Freya to a pool party) got a cab to Sandgate, the next small town up the beach between Hythe and Folkstone, where a food festival was taking place on the beach and the access areas next to it. The weather was beautiful, warm and clear, which brought out the crowds. Families spread blankets and tents on the shingle beach and some played in the water.

Small booths featuring foods from all over the world, drinks, crafts, and even plants, lined the pedestrian walkway and filled parking and delivery areas behind the sea front. Several stages were set up around the area for musical acts. We’d come to see one particular musician Joe especially likes. We arrived as he was beginning his set and had to stand for a few minutes, until someone brought additional chairs to set up in the shade of a tent. The musician was good and highly entertaining, leaving us all wanting more as he finished up.

Afterward, we wandered around, viewing the items on offer. James got a chocolate-covered banana, although ‘smothered’ would probably be more accurate than just ‘covered.’ I had a refreshing glass of Prosecco. After a while we made our way to a bus stop and took the bus back to Hythe. We went back to the hotel to freshen up.

Steph’s mother had invited all of us to dinner that evening, for a traditional English Sunday roast. She put a lot of work into the meal, serving both roast lamb and chicken and a number of side dishes, some of which included vegetables fresh from her garden allotment. I think someone must’ve told her how much I like lamb, since she went to some trouble to save some specifically for me. A choice of three desserts topped off the meal, which left us all pleasantly full and satisfied. It was a lovely time, and their hospitality was much appreciated.

The picture below was taken at Leeds Castel but includes the whole family, including Steph’s parents, Cliff and Julie Bell.

Visiting Family in England – Part 2

Karen McCullough Posted on by

The old city gate into Canterbury.

Warning: Part 2 of our vacation saga is a bit long and contains a few side excursions on my part into theatrical review and international commerce.

Day 4: Our first major adventure. We all took the train into Canterbury for shopping and theater. Canterbury is the largest city in this part of Kent, so it’s a major commercial center, but it’s also a very old city with a long and storied history. The ancient and modern exist side by side here. We’ve visited in the past and toured the Cathedral (well worth it!) and other historic sites in the city.

But history was not on the agenda for this visit. The first order of business was looking for school shoes for the children. Unfortunately, we came up pretty much empty-handed in that effort, despite checking a number of different shops. We consoled ourselves with a great lunch at one of the family’s favorite restaurants and then headed onto our main focus of the day, the theater, or theatre as the Brits would spell it. The Marlowe Theatre (https://marlowetheatre.com/) in Canterbury is a wonderful (and very modern) venue that attracts major shows and traveling companies of West End productions.

We were there to see The Addams Family Musical, with most of the original West End cast, including a well-known British pop star in the role of Morticia, and live orchestra. We chose it for the potential to be a show adults and children would all enjoy. It proved an excellent choice. We had a great time and were very much engaged with it, though I doubt any of us had the same experience.

I go back a long way with The Addams Family. The original television show was one of my favorites when I was a teenager back in the 1960s. I’ve seen most of the subsequent movies and shows, most recently Wednesday on Netflix. It remains a wonderful concept: a family of bizarre, even monstrous creatures, who nonetheless regard their strange family and living circumstances as completely normal. They’re a strong, loving group, too, who accept each other as they are and support each other unconditionally. The humor generally comes from their often blithely naive interactions with the rest of the world.

The underpinning story of the musical settles into that concept and is saturated with exactly the kind of gently absurd clash of cultures that makes the Addams family so wonderful.

The play also includes excellent acting, wonderful production numbers, some unthreateningly spooky action, and great humor. The children enjoyed all of it, including the ice cream at intermission! The adults did, too. From the first moments of the overture, which included echoes of that uber-catchy original television show theme, to the very end, we were entertained and diverted. We all voted it a huge success.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of it was their treatment of Gomez. Too often, the casting of Gomez seems like an afterthought, not surprisingly since the character is also generally underwritten, if not outright ignored. I loved John Astin in the role, but the less said of the many that followed, the better. (I might give Raul Julia a pass. He tried, though the writers gave him little to work with.) But this play gives Gomez center stage with the moral dilemma that drives half the plot. He’s suave and compelling, but he’s also the strong, beating heart of the family, a worthy partner for the deliciously sexy, slinky Morticia. The pop star playing Morticia was a decent actress with stunning vocal chops, and Uncle Fester chewed the scenery in a role designed to do just that. But Gomez was at the center of the action and he carried it well.

Despite the failure to find shoes, we all voted the day a triumph due to the play.

James with Cricket bat, guarding the wicket.

Day 5: We’re off on another adventure, though lower key and completely different from the trip to Canterbury. James, 9, is the family athlete. If there’s a sport going on anywhere in the vicinity, he’s likely to be involved. And he’s also likely to be good at it. That Friday his local Hythe youth Cricket team played in a regional tournament. We didn’t get there until late morning, but still in time to catch the end of one game and see the entirety of his last match of the day.

I even acquired some hazy notion of the rules of Cricket, which bears a slight resemblance to American baseball. They were playing a modified version of the game, adjusted for younger players. James was again clearly better at it than most of the others on the team. He was the only pitcher (excuse me, bowler) on either team we saw actually hit the wicket with a ball (one of the objects of the game). On

Awards Ceremony

the defensive side, when he was fielding, he was also the only player watching the batter and positioning himself based on which way the batter was turned, to be ready to stop a ball coming his way. His team took third place out of eight, a pretty good result!

James’ sister Freya introduced me to the “Sweets cart,” which was selling mix and match candy from a plethora of jars. We made a selection of various sorts. I ate a couple and found them okay if mostly not to my taste, but than other chocolate and mints, I haven’t eaten much candy in a very long time. Freya handled the sweets I couldn’t finish.

We went back to their house and celebrated with pizza.

One of the more interesting features of the day was that we had to drive through Dover on the way to and from Deal, the town hosting the tournament. Dover is famous for its white cliffs and the fact that it has long served as the main ferry route from Brittain to the continent. It still does, but these days that service involves more commercial traffic than human. A lot more. On a Friday morning, trucks lined the left lane of the four-lane highway into Dover, backed up for at least ten miles from the port.

Dover Castle on the hill in the background.

Every day, huge ferries loaded with trucks (lorries in the local terminology) cross the English Channel, transporting goods to and from the continent. The trucks line up along the highway waiting their turn to make the crossing. Steph told us the government was working on building a holding area, but meanwhile, there’s no place else for the trucks to wait They queue up in the left lane, allowing traffic to pass on their right. (Keep in mind the English drive on the left side of the road, so the trucks are in the equivalent of the right lane in America. Also the British are good at queueing up. It’s well organized, with trucks pulling into the back of the line as they arrive. No jockeying for position or attempts to cut in ahead. At least none that we saw.)

And presiding over all the traffic, on top of one of those famous white cliffs are the stately remains of Dover castle.

Visiting Family in England – Part 1

Karen McCullough Posted on by

It’s been too long since my last post. Some of that is due to our travels in August to visit our son Joe, his wife Steph, and their two children, Freya, 11, and James, 9, in the town of Hythe, Kent, UK, where they live.

Hythe is a beautiful town on the Channel coast, just southeast of Dover and Folkestone. (Map here for anyone interested.) Due to Covid and its after-effects, it’s been several years since we last visited them there. They’ve done most of the traveling to visit us in these past years, but with a growing family, that becomes less and less convenient for them. This year, my husband and I made the journey visit them.

Day 1: The trip itself went very smoothly with all flights on time, no weather issues or missed connections, but nonetheless, it included a short flight from the Greensboro, NC airport to Atlanta, a hike through the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport to get to our international departure gate, then the longer flight complete with an abbreviated, mostly sleepless night, leading to jetlag and exhaustion on arrival the next day. I’ve tried all sorts of things, but I’m just not good at sleeping on planes. (Okay, I haven’t tried first class with lay-flat seats, but I’m afraid that’s a bit beyond my price range.)

Day 2: Joe, bless him, made the two-hour drive to London to meet us and take us back to Hythe. We checked into the hotel, dumped our suitcases, and went to visit the family, trying to ignore the fact that we’d had almost no sleep on the overnight flight from Atlanta to London. In an effort to adapt to the local schedule, we pushed ourselves to stay awake until ten. I slept until one, when I woke and had a hard time getting back to sleep. After an hour or so, though, I did and slept until 8:30 the next morning.

Day 3: The good sleep, plus a shower and breakfast, had us feeling almost human again. We met Joe and his wife and two children, 9 and 11, on the Hythe seafront. Our hotel, the Hythe Imperial is located on the shore, so it was a short walk. The promenade along the seashore is a wide, paved walkway between the beach and the road, with homes on the far side. From there we walked into the town of Hythe proper, along the High Street, the main shopping area. We scoped it out and poked into a few places, then returned to the seashore for lunch at The Lazy Shack, a favorite eating place right on the seashore, where the promenade ends. They serve the most scrumptious scallop and bacon on baguette sandwiches!

We ate them at one of the picnic tables set up out front, on the beach. Seagulls keep close watch on the proceedings and we were warned to be careful with our sandwiches. The gulls had been known to snatch food right out of careless hands. One did watch us steadily as we ate, but he was a gentleman and waited until we’d moved on to check for any crumbs left behind.

Later, we returned to their house, where I spent part of the afternoon and evening doing a puzzle with my grandson. Our further adventures in future posts!

Pictured to the left is the Hythe section of the Royal Military Canal, dug during the Napoleonic era of the 19th century to provide defense against invasion from across the Channel. Below, James and Freya with a statue memorializing the men who built the canal.

A Summer Like No Other

Karen McCullough Posted on by

It’s been one very odd summer here in central North Carolina. Normally June, July, and August are very hot and on the dry side. Rain comes from occasional thunderstorms, but for the most part, plants are drying up and the grass is turning brown by mid-July. I generally have to water my flowers and shrubs every few days to keep them alive, and it often feels like a losing battle. In a normal summer, I water the plants in pots every day when the high temperature goes over 90 and every other day when it’s below.

Not this year. Without trying to actually track it, I can say that it seemed like it rained 2 days out of 3 through July and the beginning of August. That was mostly in the form of thunderstorms, which tended to come in waves most afternoons or evenings. Prolonged downpours were common.

Checking with Weatherspark, I found Greensboro averages just under 3.5 inches of rain in June, July, and August. According to drought.gov stats we’ve had three times as much rain as normal. Raindrop.farm  shows we’ve had 7.8 inches of rain in June and 11.42 in July. Our yearly rainfall total is well above the average rainfall total for the year.

The hoses and sprinklers have been sitting idle this year. I haven’t had to water my gardens or shrubs at all. I think I’ve watered the pots once.

As a result, the grass is still green, the flowers are blooming prodigiously, and even the roses, which are usually looking  half-dead by this time of year, are green and still producing blooms. On the other hand, the weeds are also thriving and threatening to take over parts of the flower beds. I haven’t been able to keep up with them, given how few days I’ve been to get out and work in the garden.

And, as usual, it’s raining as I’m writing this.

Unleashed for Murder Status – July

Karen McCullough Posted on by

The first draft of Unleashed for Murder, the fourth book in the Market Center Mysteries series, is finished and an initial editing pass completed. Some of the feedback has come in from my beta readers, and it’s mostly positive, with some very good suggestions for improvements.

As soon as the rest comes in, I’ll do another editing pass based on their feedback. Copy edit follows, then formatting for ebook and print. The cover is in progress right now and I’m working on the blurb and some marketing graphics.

I’m aiming for a late September release. Stay tuned for more details!

A Week of Tech Disasters.

Karen McCullough Posted on by

Finally coming out the other side of a week of tech disasters. A Microsoft update trashed my husbands’ email, and it took me days to figure out how to repair it. I finally found the fix, but it was complicated and took a while.

Then my aging main desktop computer (the one I do most of my work on) started flashing black screens occasionally and refusing to wake up out of hibernation. A few days of that and came the day it took me four tries to get it to reboot. Uh oh. (Side note: the computer is 14 years old. It doesn’t owe me anything.)

New computer arrived late Friday night and I spent the weekend getting files transferred from the old computer to the new one, installing programs on the new one and linking them to the proper data files, relogging into everything and making the 101 little adjustments to get it working exactly the way I want. There’s still more to do, but all the important things are running! And this one is much faster, so that’s a win.

Writing “The End”

Karen McCullough Posted on by

Just wrote “The End” on the first draft of Unleashed for Murder, the fourth book in the Market Center Mysteries series. It’s been a long time coming. This book really beat me up! Now some editing, then it goes to beta readers for their reaction, then probably more edits and copy editing before it’s ready to go out the door. But this feels like a huge victory right now.

The Nicest Rejection I’ve Ever Received

Karen McCullough Posted on by

I try to keep as many of my short stories as I can out on submission. I have a fair backlog of unpublished tales now, so any time I hear of an interesting call for anthology submissions, I consider if any of my stories might fit the request. Sometimes the call itself will spark a story idea.

As anyone who has seriously pursued a writing career knows, lots of submissions means lots of rejections. I’d venture that in the short story world maybe one in ten of the stories I submit is accepted. So, yes, lots of rejections. You learn to deal with it, or you find another line of work. I’ve developed ways to deal.

Which doesn’t mean the rejections don’t sting sometimes. The curt “this isn’t for us” is pretty neutral and bites but doesn’t dig the knife in. Sometimes you’ll get an insulting or irritating reply of the “You suck and don’t ever darken our slush pile again” variety.

But I recently got one that said, among other things: “Your assured writing and intriguing concept pulled us in with this one, but in the end we felt that it didn’t quite fit the needs of the magazine, so we have decided to pass on it. We wish you the very best of luck in placing your story elsewhere.”

Wow! Still a rejection, but the nicest one I’ve ever received. Takes some of the bite out of it, for sure.