White Cliffs of Dover

Memorial day weekend we took a trip to Dover and walked the area around the beautiful white cliffs. It was a pretty day and a rare sunny day, in May. Dover is a large hub for travelers taking the ferry  to France.

We had a picnic lunch, and walked along the trails, took in all the views.

There is a trail that takes you all the way to the light house which is approximately 2 miles away but it felt a lot further.  We didn't climb down the cliff because the stairs were so steep and I wasn't sure Brody would be able to handle it.

Sitting on the edge of the world. This is a not a place I would have brought my son if he were a toddler, it's just too scary.

 

This is a photo of the ferry docks, these aren't the kind of ferries that I'm used to seeing, they are the biggest I've ever seen.

It's really hard to tell in this picture but just to the left of these kayaks, is a remnant of a ship.

Some parts of the path were really steep.

 

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, it was Memorial weekend and there were a lot of people visiting the Dover Castle and the cliffs. Had we gone down the cliffs towards the shore we would have found the tunnels that were used by the Brits in WWII. Next time we visit, there will not be as many people and we will try and find them.

Dover is a beautiful coastline that I'm sure we will see again. It was great way to spend the day and take advantage of the warm weather we are having.

Women's day out

Our base is always putting events together to bring up morale. I am so grateful for all the events that I am able to attend while we are stationed here. This past week was spouses day out, but the guys were invited too. My husband had to work but was able to stop for a little while and visit with me.

 

We were greeted at the door with a glass of wine, my favorite way to be greeted.. just kidding. This singing trio was very talented and their outfits were adorable. They entertained us for most of the night.

 

 

 

We had tea, cake, scones, cucumber and salmon sandwiches. And at the end of the night we were allowed to purchase tea cups and plates at a discounted price.

While we munched on food there was a few games of bingo, some door prizes were given out.

At one point I had tea, water, wine, and a whiskey sour.. what a combo. There was also a potato bar and sweets table.

 

A photo booth.  

 

The night ended with karaoke and drinks at the E-Club.

 

Crooked Houses of Lavenham

On Saturday, we visited the nearby town of  Lavenham. It's an old wool town with half-timbered houses that over time have moved and are now crooked.

 

You may remember the nursery rhyme:

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile

He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

 

Some say this rhyme is about this town and we were lucky enough to see the crooked street, and house.

 

 

I love seeing red phone booths.

 

The house directly behind that older British couple, has the entire second floor leaning forward and slightly to the right.

We saw so many beautiful gardens these roses smelled so good.

 

This house was used in the Harry Potter film, it's Harry's parents home.  It's actually called De Vere House and was built in the 14th century and then extended in the 15th, then partially demolished in the early 1920's and rebuilt.

 

Here's a picture of the house in movie Deathly Hallows

 

We were lucky enough to go inside, a family friend was selling her art that day, so we stopped in and bought a couple of her postcards.

This was the narrow entry,  I was surprised that there were wood beams everywhere.

Even though the pictures were hung straight, they looked odd because the walls were crooked. It started to rain when we walked in and they were nice enough to let us hang out, until the rain to stopped. The artist explained she was from one of  the smallest villages in England, and grew up in a 400 year old house, which is why old houses seem normal to her. I guess being American, she understood why we were in awe of this house.

Check out the beautiful door and wood carvings.

 

 

If you've ever wanted to experience a real medieval home, you can contact them here and spend the night.

 

This is Guildhall, it's in the middle of market square. Some of the square and this building were also used in the Harry Potter films.

 

 

I love the salmon color of this home. Can you imagine growing up here?

A lady was having a garden sale instead of a yard sale, as I would call it. And she had all this cute bunting, leading you into her back garden. I didn't want to seem like a freak talking pictures of her flowers, so I didn't. Micky had to drag me out of there because I was asking her all about them and I kept saying "your garden is just so beautiful."

I wanted to take all these flowers home but the car was just too far away.

 At least, that's what I told myself.  

This is the main road into the town, and just seeing all these crooked little homes would make anyone want to stop and visit for a while.

 

Well we had a great day, in Lavenham. If you are ever in Suffolk, I would recommend coming for the day, have some tea or just talk to the people, especially at the tourist information office, they were so nice and welcoming here.