George Washington's revenge, Yanks coming to the UK..

[Burnaby49]

Seriously, I want to maybe get up north for a day in liddypool or drop by and scope out the repossessed home of Tom Crawford before he gets it back. I also am keen to really go to Windsor Castle, even if the Queen doesn't want to come offer me the run of the place, I'm sure there are tours. The Tower of London would be nice to see again, and if you want to go there I'll pay your admission, because I need someone to go with me for that, I'm not good at steps.
What else? Oh yes, I have never seen the HMS Victory, another place with lots of steps.

First, Liverpool. I've a long and extensive history of pubbing in Liverpool. Need some recommendations for great pubs, I'm your man. The Philharmonic is an absolute must-see. The most spectacular, entirely authentic, Victorian pub in England. If you include all of the UK it is rivaled only by the Crown Liquor Saloon in Belfast. I've been to both and can't decide which is best. My favorite pub in Liverpool (and a top-ranked heritage classic) is The Vines.

I've been to Tom's castle, not worth the trip unless you also want to have a beer in a cave in a cliff under Nottingham castle. If so slate in a pint at the Olde Trip to Jerusalem. However the claim regarding the age of the pub is just PR bullshit. But it is very old.

I've been to the Victory at least half a dozen times starting in 1968. Problem is, while it's impressive, it has been repaired, restored, and renovated so many times almost nothing is original. So, essentially, a very accurate reproduction. However if you go to Portsmouth, make sure to make time to tour the Warrior;

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warrior_(1860)[/url]

Just a short walk from the Victory.

[AnOwlCalledSage]

Problem is, while it's impressive, it has been repaired, restored, and renovated so many times almost nothing is original. So, essentially, a very accurate reproduction. However if you go to Portsmouth, make sure to make time to tour the Warrior;

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warrior_(1860)[/url]

Just a short walk from the Victory.

I'd bloody hope it's renovated and repaired. It's still a commissioned ship! By the time it was first commissioned, one third had already been replaced after it had lain in reserve for 13 years. By the time of Trafalgar that figure was probably up to two thirds. It's the ultimate eco-friendly bio-degradable warship.

There is, of course, the apocryphal story that went around the Royal Navy at the start of the Falklands Conflict that the then captain put in a requisition order for cannon balls.

I'd pop across the water to see HMS Alliance which, as any one knows, is also an autobot who became an ally to the Order of the Witwiccans in Transformers 5.

Tip: If you want that ship experience and can't be bothered heading down to Pompey, HMS Belfast is terrific. Try to avoid Scratchwood Services if travelling up the M1 "just in case there's an accident on board."

[grixit]

I definitely couldn't go. Also, i don't drink, so would not be able to play Burnaby for you. I do have one suggestion though. If you want to look at ships, i auggest you check out the Mary Rose. For those who haven't heard of it, the Mary Rose was the flagship of Henry VIII and often credited with being the world's first battleship. Despite rumors about it sinking in an oopsy when too many sailors ran to one side, the truth seems to be that after a successful career it finally lost a battle. Sneaky french had the world's first destroyer. Anyway, it's in Portsmouth.

[longdog]

There will always be a welcome for you at...

Illuminati (UK) Top Secret Headquarters.
Bay Tree Lane
Polegate
East Sussex
BN26 6QN

Signposted from the A22 or ask for directions.

[Burnaby49]

I've visited the Mary Rose, it's in the same dockyard as the Victory. But there's really not much left, at least when I went way back, just part of a side of the ship. Essentially some Tudor lumber in the semblance of a ship's hull.

[AnOwlCalledSage]

I've visited the Mary Rose, it's in the same dockyard as the Victory. But there's really not much left, at least when I went way back, just part of a side of the ship. Essentially some Tudor lumber in the semblance of a ship's hull.

There was a Portsmouth Football Club fanzine called "More Dead Wood Than The Mary Rose" in the early 90s.

They've done a good job with the storytelling and artefacts part of the exhibition, but I was a little underwhelmed by the actuality of the ship. I guess because my Dad was in the Navy and a good school friend was first officer on a submarine I prefer my museum ships to look like ships!

If I were to get the 3 attraction ticket, it would be Victory, Warrior and Alliance.

[hucknallred]

I've been to Tom's castle, not worth the trip unless you also want to have a beer in a cave in a cliff under Nottingham castle. If so slate in a pint at the Olde Trip to Jerusalem. However the claim regarding the age of the pub is just PR bullshit. But it is very old.

There's also The Salutation across the road. If not too busy the bar staff will happily take tourists for a quick tour of the caves beneath it (Well, last time my mate from Austria was over they did).

[Burnaby49]

I've had that tour too. Interesting but not particularly unusual for Nottingham. The city has a maze of man-made caves underneath.

[TheRambler]

Should you pass through the East Midlands I would suggest giving Nottingham a miss and heading for Lincoln instead. The uphill area around the cathedral and castle has improved over the last few years and is worth a visit. Whilst there you might wish to stand before the RAF Memorial in the cathedral which includes a simple plaque dedicated to the 55,000 members of Bomber Command who lost their lives.

On the south side of the city is the more recently constructed International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC):

https://internationalbcc.co.uk/

It's impressive but I confess to having reservations about it. I applaud remembering the sacrifices made, but this just seems a little OTT to me. I am not sure what my English master at school would have made of it, a self-effacing man who talked of finding traces of a Roman road as he waited at his aircraft one night. I spent a fair part of the cold war flying from those Lincolnshire airfield so maybe I have a slight different perspective on things.

From Lincoln head south towards Cambridge and visit the Cambridge American Cemetary:

https://www.abmc.gov/Cambridge

It's another poignant and thought provoking place. The "corner of a foreign field" so to speak.

One may then continue on a lighter note and visit the nearby 3 Horseshoes for lunch:

https://threehorseshoesmadingley.co.uk/

Before making your way to Duxford and the Imperial War Museum:


https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford

If you have time for nothing else go straight to the American Air Museum, it's breathtaking:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/american-air-museum

TheRambler

[noblepa]

I've been to the Victory at least half a dozen times starting in 1968. Problem is, while it's impressive, it has been repaired, restored, and renovated so many times almost nothing is original. So, essentially, a very accurate reproduction. However if you go to Portsmouth, make sure to make time to tour the Warrior;

The USS Constitution, aka "Old Ironsides" is the oldest commissioned ship in the US Navy and is on display in Boston Harbor.

I toured it years ago, and the guide said that the only part of the original ship that still remained was about 8 feet of the keel. The rest had been replaced many times over the years.

Its like the old joke "That's my grandfather's knife. The blade has been replaced twice and the handle three times, but its my grandfather's knife".

[Burnaby49]

That's what I liked about visiting the Yorktown in Charleston Harbour, it was totally authentic and original. The Yorktown was a WWII Essex class American aircraft carrier that saw hard service in the war and then soldiered on through Korea and Vietnam until it was completely worn out. After it's last Vietnam tour it steamed to its berth in Charleston and became a museum ship, entirely unrestored from its last days in service. So it looks exactly as it would have looked in the early 1970's while still in service, worn out linoleum, chipped tired paint, original furniture. The hangar deck, the huge empty deck inside the ship where the aircraft were stored has been left untouched so you can see it as it was when in operation. It was vastly more interesting to tour than the Hornet, a sister Essex class carrier in New York which has been turned into an interactive bells and whistles tourist experience.

[The Observer]

It was vastly more interesting to tour than the Hornet, a sister Essex class carrier in New York which has been turned into an interactive bells and whistles tourist experience.

Strange, the USS Hornet is based in Alameda, California. Are you confusing it with the USS Intrepid? I found the tour of the Wasp to be enjoyable and educational, but it certainly was not an interactive bells and whistle tour.

Another carrier museum is the USS Midway in San Diego. Our friends from Victoria were visiting us, so I took the husband with me to go see it while the wives went shopping. We both enjoyed the experience and got some photos of sitting in a cockpit of the exhibit aircraft on the flight deck.

[rogfulton]

USS Lexington in Corpus Christi holds a special place in my heart, even with the bells & whistles that had been added, including a movie theater.

When my grandfather visited many years ago, we took him on a road trip and ended up touring the ship. As a welder who helped build T-6's, he noticed one just inside the entrance. He asked the guide if he could check the plane for a mark he put on every plane he worked on. Amazingly, he was allowed.

To our surprise, he found it. I wish we had taken a picture of him pointing out his 'signature'.

[Burnaby49]

Yes, I meant the Intrepid. All interactive bells and whistles. What I much prefer is what I got on the Yorktown, nothing. The entire ship was pretty much wide open to wander around in but little spent on making it a US Navy historical experience rather than just an old ship. I never got the feeling of what being on a carrier was like fifty years ago from being on the Intrepid, the hangar deck for one was broken up into essentially separate rooms with no feel for the whole, but touring the Yorktown was like being at the dock in June 1975 when it steamed into port for the last time.

I toured the Midway too a few years back. Interesting, but it only served post-war. The Yorktown launched its first attack against the Japanese in August 1943 and was at the center of Pacific carrier combat for the next two years.

[Gregg]

Okay, I am sitting here over the "pay now" button, and the warning about COVID Travel Restrictions to the UK.

Your government's official guides and highlights and bullet points and FAQs are just as phucked up as you'd expect Borris Johnson's minions would make it.

Can I come to the UK and not spend the entire week locked in my hotel room?
(the US is on the "amber list, as near as I can tell)
If I have to quarantine for 10 days does that mean stay in my room? If it does, is there gonna be a guy waiting in the hall to make sure I do?
Is anything open for business?

For better or worse, in the US we're acting like COVID is over, the only people getting it now are the phucksticks who refuse to get a vaccine. I'm vaguely aware that England isn't there yet, but do you think any of this is going to be an issue come December?

If anyone knows anyone in Customs or the travel industry I'd appreciate it if you'd ask should I bother coming?

[The Observer]

What I much prefer is what I got on the Yorktown, nothing. The entire ship was pretty much wide open to wander around in but little spent on making it a US Navy historical experience rather than just an old ship.

The Wasp is then another one you should visit for that kind of experience - at least at the time I toured it it was pretty much in the original state as the Yorktown. But I suspect that some changes were made to the ship since it served up through the Viet Nam war and recovered Apollo astronauts.

[The Observer]

Okay, I am sitting here over the "pay now" button, and the warning about COVID Travel Restrictions to the UK.

This is what has stopped me from considering traveling outside the continental US. Nobody (including Hawaii) seems to have a coherent and coordinated set of rules that will allow you to understand and plan a trip. Right now Europe and other parts of the world seemed to be coming to a standstill over the Delta variant spreading (despite the fact that the variant has the same lethality as the common cold if the infected patient has gotten vaccinated). I would think that if a traveler has been vaccinated, they should be permitted the complete freedom to enter and travel throughout the country. But I am sure you can't find that proviso anywhere in the information at which you are looking.

[Burnaby49]

I faced a similar problem in planning a trip to Britain in 2001 but at that time it was foot and mouth. Britain had essentially been shut down apart from city cores. What we wanted to do was hike in eastern Lancashire and western Yorkshire. Climb Pendle Hill, hike the Yorkshire Dales, use the public right of ways to amble around the countryside, all of which had been banned due to foot and mouth. However restrictions were being lifted but, like the current covid rules, so hit and miss and confusing that I couldn't make any sense out of it. In the end I called the British consulate in Vancouver and asked for clarification. They couldn't give me any either, they were as confused as I was, and advised me not to go. So we canceled and did an 8,000 mile road trip to Pensacola Florida to see the U.S. Navy Aviation Museum instead. In the end Pendle Hill and the surrounding areas were the absolute last place in Britain to be reopened to hiking.

[TheRambler]

Okay, I am sitting here over the "pay now" button, and the warning about COVID Travel Restrictions to the UK...........

Is anything open for business?

For better or worse, in the US we're acting like COVID is over, the only people getting it now are the phucksticks who refuse to get a vaccine. I'm vaguely aware that England isn't there yet, but do you think any of this is going to be an issue come December?

If anyone knows anyone in Customs or the travel industry I'd appreciate it if you'd ask should I bother coming?

Regret that crystal balls are in short supply at present, I have one on order but no hint of a delivery date! In fact I think that the situation in UK is in many respects similar to the US, for the majority the Covid rules only have limited impact. Approx 66% of the population has had at least one vaccination versus 54% in the US. However population density and distribution come into play when you try to estimate effectiveness.

Their will be some significant relaxation of UK rules in a couple of weeks time but it is expected that infection rates will rise as a result. However as the Observer says:

This is what has stopped me from considering traveling outside the continental US. Nobody (including Hawaii) seems to have a coherent and coordinated set of rules that will allow you to understand and plan a trip. Right now Europe and other parts of the world seemed to be coming to a standstill over the Delta variant spreading (despite the fact that the variant has the same lethality as the common cold if the infected patient has gotten vaccinated). I would think that if a traveler has been vaccinated, they should be permitted the complete freedom to enter and travel throughout the country. But I am sure you can't find that proviso anywhere in the information at which you are looking.

Paranoia and a dash of politics; there's a lot of that in Europe; comes into play, along with an expected seasonal rise in the hospitalisation rate and I can't really imagine things will settle down until mid 2022.

TheRambler

[Burnaby49]

What I much prefer is what I got on the Yorktown, nothing. The entire ship was pretty much wide open to wander around in but little spent on making it a US Navy historical experience rather than just an old ship.

The Wasp is then another one you should visit for that kind of experience - at least at the time I toured it it was pretty much in the original state as the Yorktown. But I suspect that some changes were made to the ship since it served up through the Viet Nam war and recovered Apollo astronauts.

Now you've got the wrong ship name, you are referring to the Hornet, not the Wasp. I'll concede that it's confusing. The Wasp and Hornet that survived the war were Essex Class carriers like the Yorktown. The Essex Class Wasp was scrapped in 1975 and the Hornet is in California. The American navy started the war with two entirely different aircraft carriers called the Wasp and Hornet but both were sunk in 1942 in the ferocious naval battles around Guadalcanal. The Essex Class ships were named after them. The Yorktown in Charleston Harbor was named after a previous Yorktown also sunk in 1942 in the Battle of Midway. It was a hard year for the U.S. navy.