Everythings better with Cheddar!

May 15-16, 2010

We had TWO birthdays to celebrate over this weekend!

Bryce turned 15 on Saturday and Sarah Rodman, a fellow ISE wife from Peoria and good friend of ours turned (something) on Sunday!  So since our families get along so well we had been trying to do some trip together while we were both here in the UK.  But up until now it just wasn't meant to be.

Actually, we HAD even bought plane tickets to go to Iceland on April 16-19 but the airline cancelled our outbound flight.  Funny thing was that the infamous volcano actually ended up erupting on the day that we would have been touring around the volcano... but we weren't there!

So trip after trip slipped away.

We then decided to plan a birthday weekend to a place we all had been wanting to visit... CHEDDAR!


It was a long drive past Bristol for a Friday night but we checked in on Friday night after the guys got back from work.

Cheddar Caves

We rode the open topped bus up Cheddar gorge






And then the famous CHEDDAR Cave!  But it wasn't just full of cheese... it had prehistoric bones and a beautiful waterfall cave at the end.  

The person who excavated the cave worked was a retired sea captain by the name of Richard Gough.  He worked 8 long years digging and hauling sediment to reveal the amazing caves.  And when it was opened the newly married J.R.R Tolkien came on his honeymoon to visit.  It is thought that he used Cheddar caves as his inspiration for Helm's Deep (Lord of the Rings).

So exciting!

After lunch the boys and Madison broke off for their spelunking adventure while the remaining girls went through Cox's cave and climbed the Cheddar Gorge ridge.

When the cavers came out they were muddy and smiling from their underground adventure.  They all had a gleam in their eyes when they described their crawling through tight places and balancing on a narrow edge of an underground cliff.  YIKES!

Not a bad adventure for Bryce's 16th birthday!

Glastonbury

We ended the day with a relaxing walk through the Chalice well where legend has the holy grail placed in the well.





It seemed that several people actually believed it by the somber reverent atmosphere.  Hmmm.

We did enjoy the manicured gardens within view of the Glaston- bury Tor.

Fun Day!

Laycock Abbey

It was a rainy day.  But when we arrived at Laycock we actually got a break in the weather.  Hooray!  The entrance housed a museum dedicated to the discoveries of Fox Talbot who discovered the positive and negative photographic processes back in the 1830's.  Thank you Mr. Talbot! 

Actually, the first negative photograph was taken of a stained glass window of the Abbey.  It was so cool to see WHERE this historic event took place.







We then walked over to the converted abbey.  Actually, the abbey was truly fascinating!  Of course Several scenes from Harry Potter were filmed here and we thoroughly enjoyed documenting our visit there with our own photographs!

This large cauldron reminded us of Shake- speare's Macbeth with the witches and their "boil, boil, toil and trouble!"

Outside the Abbey house they had an curious shed on wheels.  We entered and shut the door and peered through a small peephole.  Nothing out of the ordinary...  Confused we stepped back and discovered that the shed was a replica of a camera, the peephole- the camera lens, and the back wall was the inverted image.  We were standing INSIDE a "camera"!  So Cool!

TGI FRIDAYS

We couldn't celebrate TWO birthdays without finding a TGI to celebrate it at!  It is such a good restaurant for celebrations!  We actually had an American waiter who made the afternoon extra fun.




Bryce loves his double burger (the size of his head!)... and yes!  He ate it all!

Gloucester Cathedral

We arrived with just enough time to see the Cathedral.  And it was an amazing Cathedral!  It was yet another site of filming for Harry Potter.

And the detailed archways of the cloisters made for a mesmerizing photograph!

Outside- oblivious to the time- we had the kids make a fun pyramid.  We had so much fun with the Rodman family!

On our way out we were surprised by an American Flag!  We then read that John Stafford Smith (a choirboy at the Cathedral) wrote the tune that later became the Star Spangled Banner.  So interesting!





It truly was an amazing FUN weekend!

Happy Birthday Bryce and Sarah!