We've landed in Worthing

Hello all. We just completed our away weekend in Portsmouth. It was a chance to see the sites and bond more as a group. We saw a bunch of sites, went to a comedy club (the comedians were OK, but the conversation between the group was good), wandered the streets and took buses just to see the sites.

Here's me getting cozy with Henry VIII outside the museum for his favorite ship, the Mary Rose. I figured it would be best to appeal to his taste for the ladies, so he wouldn't have me beheaded. :-) Remember the old rhyme: "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived"? I wasn't taking any chances.

Anyway, we also saw the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship — HMS Warrior 1860 — and Lord Horatio Nelson's ship, HMS Victory. Rotarian David Shannon not only gave us an amazing history lesson about the ship and Nelson, but he gave each of us a signed copy of a book he wrote about Nelson. We're so grateful he took time out of Easter Sunday to spend time with three Americans and two Canadians.

Anyway, here's a shot of Victory in all its restored glory. On board we saw the approximate place where Nelson was shot during the Battle of Trafalgar, and the place where he died below deck. After many viewings of "That Hamilton Woman" over the years, it was all very exciting to me.

At the Battle of Trafalgar, the British Navy, under the command of Nelson, defeated the French and Spanish in 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. The ship has been restored to how it was at the time of the battle.

This morning we left Portsmouth and Southsea and headed to Worthing. We met Ian, David and Barbara there and then went to Parham House in Storrington.

Speaking earlier of Henry VIII, Parham was built in Henry's daughter Elizabeth I's reign, in 1577. The house has amazing gardens, and the day was perfect to view them. The inside of the house is filled with amazing needlework and antiques, and lots of paintings of British royalty and those who have owned the house and their relatives. It was absolutely breathtaking, so of course I had to buy a guidebook. Ask the guys — I ALWAYS buy a guidebook. :-)

Tomorrow and Wednesday will be busy with vocational visits, a meeting with a local mayor, some Rotary club meetings, and even some bowling, so we probably won't be able to update the blog much. But as soon as we can, we will.