My Travel Adventures, Cars , and Motorcycles: A Day of Naval Adventure , Cricket, Tea, and BBQ.

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Making our arrival at the Goodwood Estate. That LARGE home in the background is Lord March's private home. It has to be at least 50,000 sq feet or more.

Thursday Sept. 8th

Dear Family & Friends,

Another great day!! Yesterday I got some comments about my blog content saying is this just going to be one big car trip report? (as if there is something wrong with that??)

Well today was no car activities. First we went to the Historic Harbor district of Portsmouth. So much history has started from this harbor. From great British naval battles to voyages of discovery all over the globe, and to the sailing of the Pilgrims to settle the new world.

We decided to tour the HMS Victory, the war ship commanded by Admiral Nelson into many battles including the decisive victory of Trafalgar. It was a very famous battle Admiral Nelson won even though it cost him his life. In the battle he was shot and eventually died. It was such a long journey back to England that they stuffed his body into a barrel of rum to preserve him until the ship returned to England.. Kind of a sad ending for a great man although he is honored with a large statue in Trafalgar Sq. today.

The ship we toured was built in 1765. In many ways a marvel of British Naval engineering but still a very crude and difficult life on board the ship. The sailors of that era were made of much sterner stuff than me.. I would have never survived it. Still it has some great stories. To see and learn more about the ship go to my blog. I have lots of photos and details there.

From Portsmouth we rode about 30 minutes to the private estate of Lord March. It is good to be royalty. His front yard around his home could just about hold all of the county I live in! There we attended a private tea and watched a cricket match between retired famous race car drivers. All very British…

For the 40+ years I have been visiting England NO ONE there has been able to explain cricket to me. They just tell me you have to be born into it… All I could do is pretend to be excited when people around me cheered or groaned because I had no idea what was happening……

From there we rode about another half hour to a remote village where we are staying at B&B run by a charming woman in a house built around 1750. Have I told you this is an old country??? This is considered the “New” neighbor hood.

One of the best benefits of my business has been all the wonderful people I have met through all the car people I know. We instantly become friends by sharing a common passion. We were invited to a woman’s home right on the water in southern England. She is a serious car person who actually competed and finished the Peking to Paris rally in a classic car! One of the most difficult events in the world. Her home was a beautiful and charming home overlooking the bay built in about 1610.. I told you it is old here. That evening I saw many old car friends form England and many new ones.. I got to talking with a doctor there and I got my first full blast of “Are you Americans nuts for voting for Donald Trump!!!!????” All I could say was I do not support him but unfortunately there are a large number of crazy American who seem to be enamored with an obvious conman… :(

I ran into another old friend from England there. One of the leading experts in restoring pre war racing Alfa Romeos. Talk about a specialty, but he really is an expert in these cars so they come to him from all over the world. While talking to him I met his daughter. All I can say is some people win the genetic jackpot. Not only was she beautiful but she could have easily passed for 30 and had just turned 51! Some people have all the luck.

Well after a delightful evening of seeing old friends, making new friends, drinking some great wine, and eating some terrific British BBQ we rode our motorcycles back to th B&B in the cold dark night for about half an hour. A warm bed never felt so go.

Tomorrow it is off to the Goodwood Revival so expect some more car stories and photos tomorrow.

For lots of photos of todays adventures make you you go to my blog address below.

Good night all!

Jason

The historic district of the Portsmouth Harbor. Still a very active and modern harbor. We sail from there Sunday to France. In the modern section..

A sad sign of the times we live in.. :(

Love the site of a tall wooden ship..

The HMS Victory. We were able to tour it even though it is undergoing a restoration. That is why the large mast and rigging are missing.

Duane is not terribly tall and even he had to duck to get in. I think he hit is head more than me once we were inside. I am used to ducking but is not and was constantly banging his head.. :) the guise explained to us that the sailors of that era where not particularly short, the floors just had to be close together to maintain the structure of the ship.

You have heard the saying "Beating the drums of war"? Well this is a war drum.. Called the sailors to battle.

Admiral Leib...

The Captains quarters. Quite nice compared to where the sailors lived.

A rather luxurious bed, for one of the officers.

The stairs are definitely not designed for a size 13 foot!

One of the nicer toilets on board.

Still much better than the crew's beds.

The Chart room.

The Captains toilet.. At least it has a view.

This was Admiral Nelson's bed. Very tiny. I made the comment that "Not much could go on in there", when an elderly British women standing behind me answered , "Where there is a will there is a way!". Who said the British don't have a sense of humor??? ;)

These racks hold cannon balls and are called "The Monkey"..

My foot barely fit the on the stairs SIDEWAYS!!

The Galley or kitchen on board. I bet some yummy meals came out of there...;)

This is where the crew slept. literally packed in side by side..

I stooped for an hour and half.. I was tired by the time we go off the ship.!!

Standing up right between the beams..

Really???? I would have never thought of that...

The medical quarter and this is the "Operating Table and tools"... :(

Rope is the life blood of a sailing ship. It is used everywhere and critical to keeping it moving. On this ship was over 20 MILES of rope on an average voyage!

An antique British arcade game. Even centuries ago they thought we were rather a brutal lot.

I told you its old here..

Arriving at Goodwood for tea and cricket.

This photographer was so excited to see us. He remembered us for three years ago when we visited here.

Goodwood is about vintage airplanes too.

Cricket, right up there in excitement with watching submarine races.

It's nice to be a Lord.

Goodwood is also about vintage clothing. I really am starting to love this style...

Proper English gentlemen everywhere ..

Even the parking lot is exciting! For car lovers at least.

I met this lovely woman at Goodwood. She is one of the only female driving teams to ever finish the Peking to Paris rally! Later she invited us to her house for a party and BBQ.