Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan King

We traveled down to the south of England to Guildford for Jon King and Sophia Crocombe's wedding. It was a wonderful wedding and a perfect day for all the festivities that followed. On Friday Ruth threw a Bridal and Lingerie shower for Sophia and invited about 15 ladies. It was a wonderful event, and all who attended had so much fun. The men meanwhile were busy picking up suit hire and a helium tank. Later that afternoon we all went to the church for the rehearsal and later to the reception venue to get an idea of what decorating needed to be done.

The wedding party all met at the Crocombe's house for dinner, deserts, and mingling that same evening. First thing on the morning of the wedding David, Margaret, Ruth, and I were up and off to the reception venue to blow up all the balloons, and to decorate the space. The band was there as well to get all of their equipment set up and do sound checks. Jon and his mates formed this band years ago and have basically grown up together and been connected for a

number of years. The wedding day was quite a rushed day, as soon as we finished the decorations we had to boogie back to the lodge to get dressed and back for the 2:00 wedding.

The wedding was a wonderful mix of British tradition with a bit more of a modern flair. We congregated in the front of the church for pictures immediately following the service. Pimm's and finger foods were served to all the waiting guests. There are typically 3 parts to a British wedding; the service, the reception and meal, and the “evening do”. Following the pictures we headed to the reception for the speeches and the meal. After the reception everyone goes

outside and mingles for a bit as some of the tables are moved to make room for

the dancing at the “evening do”. Jon and Sophia had set up a Facebook group to take requests ahead of time for the band to play. The band was fantastic, really kept the evening hopping late into the night, they even called Jon on stage at

one point to play a song with them. Can you guess... yes, “Johnny be good”.

Ah... how much fun it was.

So Jon and Sophia King got their grand send off as husband and wife, to a Greek island (the honeymoon location was kept a secret from Sophia).We now have the proper security clearances to discolse the general location. We all got cleared up, back to the lodge, and in bed around 2-ish in the morning. All and all it was a hectic, but glorious day for all involved. Be sure to stay tuned for more adventures in the south of England in the upcoming blogs.

Until next time...

The Lake District

On Tuesday morning the David and Margaret King took us up to the Lake District, aka "The Lakes" England's largest National Park. It is located in the north of England, a several hour drive north from Southport where we are staying. The King's are avid hikers and have hiked some daunting mountains and braved some pretty extreme conditions in the last few years. They wanted to take us for what they consider a mild hike up Helm Crag, sometimes known as "The Lion and The Lamb" nicknamed for a rock formation at the top that appears to be a lion holding a lamb. We climbed over all 1,300 feet and then descended that same distance back to the bottom. Helm Crag is located in the town of Grasmere in the Lakes. Grasmere is a quaint little old world village, where you literally feel like you stepped back in time.

After walking through the town you eventually reach the foot of the mountain where it's all up from there. There are no steady slopes or slowly rising trails, it's a straight up rocky path that at times is like climbing stairs. The views are incredible no matter where you are along the trail, because there are very few trees to obscure

your view and mostly grass covered mountains. At times it gives the illusion of rolling hills rather than the steep mountain walls that climb high into the sky.

As we reached the crest of Helm Crag we found a relatively flat and wide summit ridge with 2

significant rock formations. One know as "The

Howitzer" sits on the northwest side of the summit and the other previously discussed is

"The Lion and The Lamb" located on the Southeast side looking out over Grasmere.

Standing atop "The Lion and The Lamb" with the strong wind in your face felt quite majestic over looking now a mere speck of a town. What a magnificent day to hike, lots of sun but at times slightly overcast just to keep you from boiling, because there are no trees to protect you from the sun. The way back down was no picnic either, it was tough on the ole' knees and your footing had to be secure or you would end up on yr' bum.

As the grand reward for the completion of our journey, David and Margaret so graciously treated us to a cream tea at a quaint little spot in Grasmere. For all the non-Brits; a cream tea includes a scone with butter, jam, and cream to spread on top with a cup of tea. Yummy how delicious, a nice time to sit and reflect on the recently completed yet still arduous journey up and down Helm Crag, that still loomed high over head.

As we will be traveling for the next week for Jon and Sophia's wedding I will be blogging, but you may not be reading until I can get to an Internet connection. Stay tuned for the next posting!

Until next time...

Southport, England

We have been staying in Southport with Ruth's Mum and Dad, David and Margaret King, it's been lovely catching up with them. Yesterday morning we got up and went out for a half hour run, trying to burn off some of the lovely British food we've had since arriving. One thing I have found quite difficult is to remember to look to the right first before crossing an intersection. A lesson learned the hard way and rather quickly if you're not careful! I have been careful and mostly lucky, so no major accidents only a few horns and hand gestures that I'm sure mean "Welcome to England". I've been getting around well, I've brushed up a lot on my English so people seem to understand what I am saying to them much better. The Rosetta Stone program is paying off, but by far the most helpful has been watching the Austin Powers movie marathons. 8-)

We went into town to meet up with a friend of Ruth's from University, Emma. We met up in Starbucks for a bit of catching up. Jon asked me the other day, does it feel different being in England? I told him "Yes it constantly feels different, I never forget and think I'm in America again". The only exception is when I walk in to a Starbucks and it feels, looks, and smells exactly the same as in America, until the baritsta says “You alright mate” or “You want CREAM in your coffee?” then I snap back into reality. I have been busy introducing the Brits in Starbucks to an Iced Americano, four shots over a cup of ice. They all seem to respond the same way... You want what? Sometimes I feel like the Secretary of State with all this international diplomacy, but its worth it because I feel coffee will eventually bring the world together in perfect harmony. Until then, cuppa tea anyone?

Stay tuned for more from “The Hutchins European Vacation.”

Until next time...

Nottingham, England

We spent the day Saturday walking around Nottingham town centre. What a "fab" town, it is

now my favorite town in England I've been to thus far. It's not a huge town but has a really vibrant town centre with nice high streets (streets lined with shops.) On Saturday the town

was "absolutely heaving," the streets were packed with people, street vendors, and a large vegetable market. The streets were full of the sounds of people bustling about with the wonderful smells of freshly cooked food floating through the air.

Nottingham is a neat mix of old and new, it has old buildings that appear to be from very

different time periods. Yet sandwiched between

two very old buildings is a very modern Tesco's (large chain grocery store) with an all glass front. Nottingham has trolley tracks throughout the town centre, and you quite expect to see an old trolley working the streets of this old town when this sleek modern tram quietly slips right by.

Jon and Sophia so kindly took us to visit the legendary Sherwood Forest. The forest once covered most of the Nottingshire area, but due to the development of over 500 acres the landmarks are now located spread across the county. We decided to go and visit the Major Oak. The Major Oak was portrayed as the very tree that Robin Hood and the Merrie Men used as their meeting spot. The Oak has been taken great care of since early 1900's as an ancient tree and a landmark. It is a very old oak at approximately

1200 years old and has had a lot of help over the years with cables and metal supports to extend it life as long as possible. After arriving at the Oak's location we read that Robin Hood is believed to have walked those woods in the 1190's and therefore the Major Oak would have only been 300 years at that time. There is a bit of uncertainty as to if it is the true oak. Anyway, we were there that have the picture to prove it.

Stay tuned more good stuff to come.

Until next time...

Welcome to London, England

Welcome to the doug blog (the UK edition) We are traveling to England for (Ruth's brother) Jon's wedding. I will be blogging periodically through out the trip about our journey and adventures abroad. We will start with our travel day, and I really hope you will enjoy reading and check back often.




The word of the day... Delay! 

A delay in the Charlotte airport and another delay sitting on the tarmac in Newark made for a rather late arrival in to London. We planned to take a coach three and a half hours up to Nottingham to meet Ruth's brother Jon. Due to the delays we were running really close to missing the coach we were meant to take. Realizing there would be a two and a half hour wait until the next coach departed for Nottingham, our sense of urgency increased. What a sight to see us legging it through the Heathrow airport equipped with 3 large suitcases, 2 medium sized carry-ons, 2 personal shoulder bags, and a handbag. We arrived at the coach station and jumped in line with 5 minutes until departure. I grabbed us each a sandwich and water whilst Ruth bought the tickets. We literally ran out to the platform, with our luggage now more conveniently on trolleys, waving our tickets at the coach driver who began to back out. He gave us a quick glance as to say sorry, and Ruth immediately abandoned her trolley to plead our case using her waving arm gestures to no avail. As she abandoned her trolley it rolled toward the curb piled high with our luggage. I let go of my trolley to save hers but was a split second too late, as hers toppled over off of the curb spilling the luggage into the parking space, and then mine abruptly followed suite. What a sight, what a scene, what a grand entrance! Watch out England the Hutchins are back!