Day Two - June 27, 2005
HOTEL - Clarion Hotel
Madeley Court
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Pictures in front of the hotel. This is in the courtyard garden by our rooms.
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Jamee in front of the South Wing. Our rooms are just behind the archway, one on either side.
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The Clarion Hotel Madeley Court
continues to impress us although we didn't sleep well due to jet lag with all of
us waking around 4 a.m. Beth and I share a twin room and my mom, Shirley,
and Jamee share another directly across from us. Shirley and Jamee get up
and have tea and cocoa. Beth and I stick to staying in bed in hopes of
falling back to sleep. We are located in the "new" portion of the hotel.
The old part was built in the 1600's with a portion of the foundation being
built in the 1400's.
Up at 7:30 a.m. and get ready for
the day and wake up Beth. Breakfast ends at 9:30 a.m. so I head across the
corridor to see how mom my and Jamee are doing. They are still in bed and
I have woke them up. Soon we are all ready for a bite and head to the dining
room.
The dining room is very old with
a large mantle. We are shown to a small dining area off this. There
is a buffet available of sausages, bacon, eggs, hash browns, mushrooms,
pastries, cereal, prunes, tea, coffee and toast. We all fill our plates
and head back to our table. Once we get there Jamee is looking a bit
forlorn. She explains that she tripped in one of the "whoop-dee-doos"
(uneven/soft floor) and lost a portion of her food on the floor. Beth
and I can't control our laughing. I tell Jamee about the cap of my water bottle that I popped off yesterday in the airplane and it went flying over
the seat. We all laugh some more.
SHREWSBURY
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Crossing the footbridge with a skyline of the village behind.
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Walking down a street with a glimpse of a building
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We have time to relax, sight see
and then shop for our groceries as we don't pick up our boat until 3:30 - 4:30
p.m. We head to the medieval town of
Shrewsbury find a car park and then walk across the foot bridge to a shopping
center. There is a grocery in the lower section so we can come back and
get our grub for the boat. Off we go to check out the town, we have only
two hours then need to get our groceries and head up to the boat marina.
The grocery store is not large
but has most things we want. Prior to leaving the states we planned our
meals so we knew what we would prefer to have. We did expect that we may
need to alter our choices of ingredients. Our planned menu's for the
boat are: baked macaroni and cheese; chicken parmesan; enchiladas;
hamburgers; tuna noodle casserole (Shirley brought egg noodles); baked or
fried pork chops; plus one unplanned evening meal to try something out on town
or pick up. We were able to find macaroni, cheeses all the meats we
wanted. Decided to make an enchilada pie since we could not find corn
tortillas so picked up a taco kit. Also could not find bread crumbs but
Shirley brought along a chili and flour mix and decided to use a small portion
of that for the now expected spicy chicken parmesan.
Maestermyn Marina and Mid-Wales Boats
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The Montgomery a 55' canal boat
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Going through our first lock - we have help
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Beth at the tiller
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Our first meal on board
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With the directions given
by the boatyard we have no trouble finding the marina. Shortly after
arriving we unload our belongings and groceries from the car onto the boat.
One of their crew directs us in how to use our boat "Montgomery" and gives tips and pointers,
he even rides with us to the first bridge to make sure we have it under control.
Beth is at the tiller and does a great job.
Shortly after passing the bridge
there are some boats heading toward us, Beth moves our boat over to allow way
and we become grounded. With the use
of the engine Beth gets us underway again, this won't be the last time it
happens and Beth becomes pretty good at forward and reversing to get us unstuck.
We arrive at our first lock just
in time to see a boat ahead of us finish off. We tie up at the tow path to
get our bearings. We will be going "up" the lock but the lower gate is
closed with the lock full of water and we really have not a clue on what to do.
Luckily we see another boat, "Water Jester," coming behind us. I head back
to ask them if they would go first so we could watch. Better yet, they
offer to show us step by step how to operate the lock. Beth is invited
onboard and the rest of us walk up to the lock to watch the operation.
Jamee learns quick. We thank the folks that helped us and meet eight Dutch
ladies on vacation who help us finish off the
lock. The next lock we are able to work on our own.
Mooring can be done anywhere
along the tow path that has space for a boats to pass by. We pass many
boats that have tied up for the evening and decide we'd better find a place of
our own for the night. We find a place that looks good, it's fairly close
to a road though but living next to a highway and busy road the traffic noise
doesn't bother us. Have a great meal of home cooked macaroni and cheese,
green beans, and bread.
Next day we'll be coming to a
tunnel and aqueducts!
Day Three
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