Week 14: England

It's Oliver's birthday this week. Happy 8th birthday! 🎂

Sunday

We loaded up and left Belle Grove around noon. Driving took a couple hours. We drove across the Dartford Crossing on the way. It's a high bridge over the inlet from the sea. I think we paid around £3.50 for the pleasure.

We arrived a little earlier than expected in Brighton so our Airbnb wasn't quite ready. To kill some time we drove down to The Lanes and walked along the beach.

Brighton reminds me of San Francisco. It's hilly and progressive. Our place was about a mile from the coast up a steep hill. We had a three story building and our bedroom had a west facing skylight. England has no shortage of great sunsets.

Monday & Tuesday

It was pretty cold and rainy so we had a couple "chill days" as the kids are calling them.

Wednesday

It's Oliver's eighth birthday today! He asked to go to the Pier. We arrived just as it was opening. Some of the rides were having issues but we still had a great time.

Thursday

Rainy and cold again! We're getting some proper English weather now.

Friday

We're outta here. We're checking out of our place and moving a bit further west. Since we had six hours to kill we decided to drive up to Stonehenge. Last time I had the chance to visit the clouds broke and the sun came out just as I parked the car. That wouldn't be the case today.

We had a late lunch and dried out at Toby Carvery. It turns out you can get a Sunday roast on any day.

Our last Airbnb in England was in a little town called Rustington on the Channel. Our house was built by American soldiers during World War I. It was a guard house for the airfields that were here.

Saturday

I had to return our car to Heathrow this morning. I think I took every possible mode of transport. I drove there, took a bus to the tube station, and took the Picadilly line in to the city. I met some friends from Cincinnati for a late breakfast in Shoreditch.

From there, it was the tube to Victoria Station. One last train to Angmering and I was back home. Long day!

I kept a log of miles driven and fuel purchased for this rental car. We had a 95 mile per day limit that I didn't want to exceed. We drove just over 2,000 miles in the UK on this trip and spent £320 ($400 USD) in fuel.

We're in England for one more full week and then we're hopping on the Explorer of the Seas heading for Miami, Florida.