Piers, Penny Arcades and Piles of People

Day Twenty-three – Liverpool

What a day! I doubt we could have fitted more in if we tried. We visited Southport, changed accommodation, said some family goodbyes and met up with a pile more family as well.

Today was our last day staying in Formby with Wyn, Gareth and Rebecca. It has been absolutely wonderful, not just because they looked after us so well but because it was great to be with people who were not complete strangers again!

Unfortunately as the day before, both Gareth and Rebecca had work and school committments, plus Wyn needed to do some work around the house. As a consequence, with the weather looking half decent, we decided to go down to Southport to see the pier, amusement arcades and seaside. Initally there was some discussion on whether Blackpool would be better being much bigger but it was a lot further away and didn't have much we wanted to see that wasn't already in Southport.

After a quick trip in the car we were parked up on the seafront in Southport close to the pier. Even though it was 10:00am in the morning just about everything was still closed. To kill some time we walked back down the landward side of the pier into the coastal facing side of Southport. If nothing else it enabled us to buy a detailed street map of Liverpool which we'd need later in the day.

Back at the pier and things were starting to open up. We tried out the inevitable hall of mirrors and then wandered into a penny arcade. I'd not mentioned these to the family as I was interested in their reaction. They were hooked. I got almost as much entertainment out of watching them with the 2p arcade games and the tickets as I did playing myself. Nobody won anything (does anybody ever?) but it wasn't the point.

Outside again and the weather had improved to the level that we had an iceream. 99s haven't been 99p in living memory but are still so typically English seaside that you can't go there without having one. The lady in the shop called me "luv" so many times the icecreams were almost melting by the time we were done. Suitably refreshed we decided on a game of mini-golf, a pursuit that is inevitably extremely competitive when Jenni and I play. I was appalling on the first couple of holes but finished up with a healthy 10 shot lead by the end thanks to a couple of cracking holes in one, both celebrated in Leighton Hewitt fashion. To complete the seaside eating experience we had fish and chips for lunch. While we were eating Wyn called so say she was on her way to meet us for the afternoon.

The sun was still shining so we walked down the pier to the end. The tide was well out by now and all sorts of stuff was going on down on the sand. Blackpool Tower was just barely visible in the haze to the North. As we walked back we met Wyn coming down the pier towards us which was lucky as she had left our number at home. By the time we'd walked all way back and killed a few more minutes in the penny arcades again Garerth had also appeared. While he ate a quick bite James and Anna took a ride on a really lovely carousel and I snapped a few pics.

Not satisfied with the quality of opposition at my first attempt at golf we had another go. Gareth proved much sterner opposition, the pair of us going head-to-head until the last 3 holes, whereupon I choked and ended up losing by 2.

Things were getting on and we had plenty to do so we rushed back to Formby. Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to the family and it was a sad few moments. We've been very fortunate to stay with them and it has been a wonderful few days. If you are reading this guys we love you dearly, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking us in and will miss you more than you know. ;-)

For the rest of the week we're back to looking after ourselves so we headed off to our new home in Wavertree down in Liverpool proper. One last drive past the (in)famous Gerrard Gym and we were on our way. The traffic and closed roads proved a nightmare and by the time we arrived it was close to 6:30pm. We were due with family at 7:00pm in Garston so apart from a quick shower the only thing we managed was throwing all the luggage inside what appears to be a fabulous house!

Navigation to Garston was a bit hairy but in the end we were only 2 minutes away when we finally needed to call for help. My cousin Julie had done an amazing job in short time and with little notice. She had managed to collect in one place my Uncle Edwin, Autie Eadie, herself and partner John, cousin John, cousin Carol and partner Ron plus their kids (another) James and Sarah. And Casper the dog. Woof! Woof! We had an AMAZING evening with everyone, especially our James, talking non-stop, looking through photos and catching up. They had put on a great spread as well and the kettle is probably never going to be the same again. I've almost forgiven Julie for trying to kill me leaving a teabag in one of my cuppas – maybe she just wanted me to shut up ;-) I haven't seen my cousins for 30 years but it felt like last week. The jokes, wind-ups and laughter were great and I wish we saw one another so much more.

Nearly two and a half hours disappeared in about 5 minutes it seemed. It was sad not to spend longer with people but with just about everyone apart from us having daily committments it was time to go. We'd have been away faster but Uncle Edwin managed to stretch a farewell into about 30 minutes of beinf chased round the front yard by Julie until he finally relented and went home. Dad, if you're reading this James asked him for a message and he said "Tell him he's still a scally". There seems to be a theme going here! I can't imagine what you did to your brothers to deserve such a reputation. <snort>

On the way home we stopped at a 24 hour Tesco and bought some supplies for the next few days. Were all absolutely shagged and I have no idea really if we bought what we need. It was after midnight when I got to bed and the fact I'm writing this the next morning is testament to how rushed things were. Honestly though, I can't think of a better reason to be behind. ;-)

Cheers,

Millsy