Manchester

This morning we checked out of our hotel by the Excel and took the Underground to Euston Station, where we boarded a train to Manchester. About two and a half hours later, we arrived at Manchester Piccadilly. 

From the train station it was a short walk to our hotel, the Marriott Piccadilly. The hotel was a little dated and we didn’t get upgraded to a nice room or have a good view of anything, but we did have access to the lounge for breakfast and evening drinks and snacks. 

We checked in and rested a bit, then set off on a walk through Manchester. We walked by Piccadilly Gardens and then through a shopping mall, stopping at a couple of stores. Finally we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe, where we had dinner.

The HRC was located in the Printworks, a building formerly housing a printing factory that had been converted to restaurants and entertainment. This was my 48th Hard Rock. After dinner we took an Uber back to our hotel.

Churchill’s War Rooms

This morning after breakfast I helped Jenn and Susan get ready to sign and sell books at the convention, then took the Tube to Westminster, and walked to Churchill’s War Rooms.

The War Rooms were set up in a basement beneath a government office building in the early months of World War II to provide those running the war effort some protection from German bombs. Over the years of the war the rooms were expanded and fortified, although largely kept secret.

After the war the rooms were largely abandoned, but 40 years later it was decided to open them to the public. I spent about three hours looking through the main rooms and the Churchill museum, which was set up in a large block of office that were the last constructed. Although it was fairly pricey at £33, it’s definitely worth the cost for those interested in the history of WWII.

Afterwards I wandered by some of the government buildings, including Downing Street. It was pretty crowded due to a “Pride” parade happening nearby, but I managed to avoid the worst of it, and had a late lunch in a nearby pub. 

I made my way back to the Excel on crowded Underground trains and waited a hour or so for Susan and Jenn to finish, then helped them pack up. They were both too tired to go anywhere for dinner and all the food places at the Excel closed with the convention, so we just went back to our hotel and had snacks for dinner, then hung out til bedtime.

Return to London

 

Wednesday night Susan, Jennifer, and I took a red-eye to London, so Jenn could attend a big book convention. The flight wasn’t the greatest - the boarding for the first leg, to Atlanta, was delayed almost an hour, then once boarded we waited around an hour until takeoff due to a storm. Luckily we had still had time to make our connector. On the second leg we were supposed to be upgraded to Delta Comfort, but then less than 24 hours before the flight we were downgraded back to main cabin, so we didn’t get much sleep.

Eventually though we made it to Heathrow, which is west of London, picked up all our bags, filled with many books, and took the Elizabeth line of the Underground to our hotel on the east side of London. We stayed in the Aloft next to the Excel, a huge exhibition hall. By then it was late afternoon, and we were exhausted from our flight and dragging multiple heavy suitcases through multiple stations, so we unpacked, cleaned up and went to sleep. 

Friday morning we headed to Oxford Street to do a little shopping, then walked through the Mayfair area so that Jennifer could attend an event with her publicist that afternoon, an English Tea.

While Jennifer attended the tea, Susan and I walked down Piccadilly and had lunch at the original Hard Rock Cafe. We had eaten here during our first trip to London back in December of 2014, but I went ahead and bought another shot glass because they had changed designs. 

After that we headed back to the Excel and checked in for the book convention Jenn and Susan will be attending tomorrow, attended an author meet and greet, then set up her table.

Animal Kingdom

This week some friends from Washington are visiting the area, so Tuesday night while Susan worked Jenn and I hung out in Epcot's World Showcase with them, and watched the fireworks show. 

We were too busy with chores and appointments to join them in the parks Wednesday or Thursday, but Susan and Jenn were able to meet some of them Thursday night at Disney Springs for dinner at Ragland Road. Yesterday we joined them at Animal Kingdom.

We wandered through Africa and Asia with them, then had a late lunch at Yak n Yeti. 

In Dinoland Disney has completely removed the old Dino-Rama area, but the new Encanto ride building hasn’t gone vertical. From the concept art posted on the wall, it looks like the Chester & Hester and Restaurantosarus buildings will stay and be rethemed to tropical America. 

Frontierland

Earlier this month, Disney announced that Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Belle Riverboat would closing in early July to make way for a Cars themed area. Today Jenn, Susan, and I went into Magic Kingdom to experience them one last time. 

We took the train from Main Street to Frontierland, then I went to the new DVC lounge to get on the wait list while Susan and Jenn looked in the shops. After a brief wait we went in to enjoy the AC and free soda and snacks.

While Susan waited in the lounge, Jenn and I went over to Tom Sawyer Island and walked around. I was disappointed that Injun Joe's cave was closed.

From the island we could see Big Thunder Mountain, which closed at the beginning of January for a year long refurbishment. After that we rejoined Susan for a ride on the riverboat. I then took the train around the rest of the park while Susan and Jenn walked out through the Emporium.

Portland

After the book convention, Jennifer stayed with a friend in the Portland area for a week. They visited bookstores and went by University of Portland so Jenn could say hi to some of her professors. 

On Saturday Bryan drove over from Bend to join her for the friend's birthday. On Sunday they hung out in Portland. They visited the Voodoo Doughnut in Milwaukie and Powell's Books.

They had lunch at the Pietro's Pizza in Milwaukie, which had recently moved to a new location. Then he dropped her off at PDX for her flight home and drove back to Bend.

Meanwhile over near Fort Wilderness, the Lakeside Lodge continues to get taller. It looks like it will top out a nine floors at its tallest.

They’ve also started erecting frames for cabins on the shore on either side of the Lodge.

Ferryboats

At the end of May I started training to drive the ferryboats at Magic Kingdom, and today, after two weeks, I completed it. 

Last weekend, Jennifer did an event with another author at her Barnes & Noble. Thursday night she flew out to Portland for a book convention. 

Bryan, meanwhile, spent last week on the Big Island of Hawaii, attending a friend’s wedding. He enjoyed the Kona coast and seeing Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Last week, Disney released more details about the Cars themed attraction replacing Tom Sawyer Island. They've also started preparing for the expansion of Magic Kingdom backstage. Recently they cleared the land between Frontierland and the road that runs along the west side of the park. It looks like this will be a staging area for the Cars ride as well as the Villain Land expansion. 

For about a year now, Disney has been working on realigning and widening Floridian Way, the road that runs west of Magic Kingdom. They’ve done a lot of utility work, and built retaining walls and bridge abutments, but recently the roadway has started taking shape.