July Andrews

The theatre theme continued during July as we went to London to see Paddington Bear. It was a very well presented show, following the storyline of the first film. The Savoy theatre was packed and we managed to get a table in Joe Allen's before the performance, so I am visiting many of my favourite haunts.

Joe Allen moved from its traditional site in Exeter Street about 8 years ago due to redevelopment and they now rent space from the Strand Palace hotel. Unfortunately that means it has to close by midnight. In the traditional spec it could remain open until 03:00am and would attract the post theatre crowd of both audience and performers, so not so much celebrity spotting these days.

We stayed at Lensbury once again and their refurbishment continues a pace. The first evidence of change however is the installation of transport style e-gates into the hotel so stopping non-resident access. Thats a pity as we have often met friends there by just walking in. while we know it will never be what it was in its former life, it is sad to see small changes make such a difference to the previously relaxed atmosphere. we were so lucky to enjoy it for so many years as the old Shell sports and conference complex.

 SWMBO and daughter no 2 and gran-daughter no 2 went off to Greece for a week to 'swim with pigs'. That never happened but they had a great time anyway and returned tanned ready for the English heatwave, corr! what a scorcher......

The aborted holiday to Alaska has been addressed elsewhere, so here's to some good news during August. 

High Line

Might have used that tag before but sums up the few hectic days in New York. Once we were diverted and knew this was our final run ashore we decided to make the most of it as we had been booked into a Time Square hotel for two nights....or so we thought. 

Off toone of my favorite restaurants in the \Big Apple, PJ Clarkes. Just a burger and ribs place but a livly joint and a New York institution. Good time had by both and if you ever visit be sure to check out the mens toilets which are preserved in the early 20th Century style.

Things got a bit tricky on the Saturday. We stumbled upon the 8th Avenue flea market and did a bit of people watching in Central Park and cruised back via St Patricks Cathedral,  the Rockafellar Centre and Radio City but on returning to the hotel we found we had been locked out of the room as the hotel had cancelled all the second night bookings. So two hours of stress failed to resolve the matter so a credit card had to be offered before we could get back into the room. We could then dress to impress as we went out to have our 25th Wedding anniversary a day early. It all went well, and was interrupted by a BA customer service operative who rang to see how we were doing. Luckily he then paid the hotel bill so no excess expense there. It was 01:00 in UK when he ran, so obviously got down to the W's!!

We high-jacked a professional photographer who was working the restaurant for another party so some memories there. 

Home the next day only in Premier Economy and although we had 4 seats to ourselves, the arm rests were static so no stretching out for a sleep.

Now the compo claims start, hopefully they will be resolved in our favour, but goodness knows how long it will take. 

Uncle Albert

 'Can anybody smell carrots?' No, actually it's burning and at 35000ft over the Arctic that's not what you want to smell..  Follow that with 'Captain to the flight deck and, apart from who's flying the thing, you know there is a problem. So do we land on an ice flow surrounded by Polar bears and Ocra's all looking for an early tea, or is there an airstrip which can take us, nearby?

So Baffin island to the rescue. Top most tip of Canada and just closer than backtracking to Greenland, we landed in Iqaluit, formally known as Frobisher Bay. He,of course, was a seafarer and supporter of the Green Army like Sir Francis Drake, although neither knew it at the time.

So 250 passangers offloaded. No hotel rooms as the pesky Eskimo's were holding a conference. So main conversation in the departures hall was whether First and Business class get first dibs over Economy if cannibalism rears its head

The locals did their best to avoid above as the flight crew liaised with HQ to put a rescue plan together. Eventually a flight was cancelled in Toronto and the flight rerouted to iqaluit. That confirmed, the crew buggered off on a convenient Canadian North flight to Ottawa which was a bit shoddy. Baffin Island has no road or rail. Links with mainland Canada so the airport was pretty busy with commuter style twin prop aircraft.

After about 12 hours on the island our rescue flight arrived. Deep joy it was the same configuration so we could all have our original seats back and after another hour we boarded and were on our way. But.......were to?

The original flight was heading to Seattle where SWMBO and I were picking up a cruise to Alaska. We had already found out that we had missed that and USA immigration would not allow us to join later through the itinerary. Our holiday of a lifetime was done so when the new Captain said we were going to Vancouver we had mixed emotions.

Do we holiday there or go to Seattle as planned but return early? In a short period of time the decision was made for us. Change of plan said the Captain, crew are out of hours so we are going to New York,

This is being written in the Executive lounge at JFK after a hecltic weekend in the Big Apple. More on that later but for now here is the ,Press coverage

GOAT

 

Jennifer Juniper

 Peter Kay was the primary event in June, the concert was good and he was in good form. We managed a pre-theatre meal and spend a bit of time in the Albert Dock which was very enjoyable.

Much golf again featured and we were able to see gran-daughter Emelie in her school play and Archie in his sports day in which he was very successful

We had a very pleasant Sunday lunch at Formby golf club with our fellow year group golf captains as the  rest of the month drifted into the next. 

May Be

....or maybe not, was it an interesting month?

Well it started off really well with a busy weekend involving the golf clan, The Visionaries, having Sunday lunch at The Red Fox in Thornton Hough. This village was built by Lord Leverholme for his management while he build the Port Sunlight village close to his soap factory for the blue collar and other ranks. I then played in a charity golf day organised by Rob Palmer of Sky TV fame. He raised over £20,000 for Stick'n Step a Cerebal Palsey charity. well done Rob.

House viewings were scattered throughout the month, but nothing is jumping out at us, and the stock level seems very poor at the moment with people sitting on their hands as they wait to see how the World energy crisis resolves itself.

SWMBO and I did attend A Question of Sport , the stage show, and while Matt Dawson and Phil Tuffnell were good value, the four local football players they had were a bit sub. 

I did manage to plan out another Cultural Tour of Liverpool for the golf gang but we will probably have to wait until September to explore the hostelries as the year gets busy from here on in.

Nothing much else to report except I got food poisoning which precluded me embracing our French golf colleagues who were over to play for the Roberts Cup. I will have to wait until next year but the England team did win for a change....maybe because...... 

April flowers

Ooops a bit behind here as it will soon be time for May Be. Still quite a lot to get through.

 With Easter week always comes the Port Sunlight beer festival, a four day extravaganza sponsored by oe of the big real ale pubs in Liverpool. I always plan to go on the first day, a Thursday, and meet up with fellow golfers and some of their mates.This year was particularly good for me as the selection of Amber bitter was extensive and most of them were very drinkable.

Sociability seemed the theme during the month as there was the first Red Jacket event of the year at the golf club followed by  another very enjoyable lunch with my ex-work colleagues in the Wreck Bistro. That was followed by another trip to the Institution Club which you will have read about during February. The Liverpool Society of Golf Club Captains then had their annual dinner at which 300 Red Jacket clad individuals dine out and listen to the Captain of the R & A, and England golf .

I am not really allowed to say this, but the Captains of the R & A can be fairly dull, although this year he was quite amusing.  In previous years we have had a sheep farmer from North Wales and a low land sheep farmer from Fife, neither entertained the audience with amusing and risqué stories of sheep and Wellington boots if you get my drift. Within the Society however we have several rectal oncologists who think of nothing better than to tell a few 'stories' of their own professions if you know what I mean. Everyone to their own.

 The month was rounded off with a day trip to London to see the oldest member of  The S Club, namely Stanley, who we had not seen for ages. Seamus travelled from Huddersfield and 'off the record' Dick from Nether Wallop. we visited Soho and ate in L' Escargot  which was an excellent choice.

So a very sociable month all round, however, two major events also occurred in April and they deserve their own entry so stay tuned.