wait to throw on my clothes and get outside for a walk in the grounds. As you can see from the pictures the Manor's private la
ke was radiant as the sun peeked through the trees. 
We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast in the formal dining room and the older lady who stopped off at our table last night joined us for a bit to chat but first she made a detour to the group of older men who were sitting at the table next to ours. The men were each wearing interesting socks with colorful garters (some included tassels) so you know I was totally intrigued by this. When the lady, and sadly I never got her
name, came over to us I had to ask what the men were up to. Well, it turns out they meet up regularly at the Manor where they also have an extensive member base of current and prior UK postal workers and their families. These members meet for breakfast/lunch/high tea/dinner and then sit in the Manor library and play cards, just chat, walk the ground
s or, in the case of these men, going hunting pheasant. Although I have a hard time with hunting at least these men do eat what they catch and I bet the pheasant aren't so easy to get. In the picture with mom holding the
Timmys in the dining room you'll see one of the men with his garters in the background near the window.
name, came over to us I had to ask what the men were up to. Well, it turns out they meet up regularly at the Manor where they also have an extensive member base of current and prior UK postal workers and their families. These members meet for breakfast/lunch/high tea/dinner and then sit in the Manor library and play cards, just chat, walk the ground
s or, in the case of these men, going hunting pheasant. Although I have a hard time with hunting at least these men do eat what they catch and I bet the pheasant aren't so easy to get. In the picture with mom holding the
Timmys in the dining room you'll see one of the men with his garters in the background near the window.This women whose name I don't know made us laugh though because she left to go and get ready to leave for a visit to her sick sister when she came bounding back and said "your little demon just ran up the stairs in case you wanted to know." Well I wasn't sure at first what she was talking about then I realized she thought those stuffed Timmys where in the dining room with us because the little blonde 4 year old girl who was terrorizing the Manor belonged with us. I had to inform her that the little terror belonged to the table behind us and that the Timmys were actually my moms. Craziness!
We got ready to check out and had a nice chat with the lovely staff and also the mother and father of the litt
le terror. They also have a 1 year old son who was too cute. It turns out they were at the Manor for the night to celebrate the man's grandmother's 90th Birthday. I had seen the grandmother the night before and she was so lovely and impeccably dressed. I would never have guessed she was 90. When we got outside the grandmother was packing up her car. Yes, she still drives and she said that her car was now 6 years old and she was buying herself a new one for her birthday. He grand-daughter-in-law informed us that up until recently she was still going on vacation to Italy each year and renting cars then driving around the country side. She's a real spitfire and the only reason she can't drive in Italy during their vacation this year is because the rent-a-car agencies have an age limit for rentals. In the picture of the front of the Manor you'll see a group of people near the silver car at the front door and the women in the light color clothes is the 90 year old speed demon.
le terror. They also have a 1 year old son who was too cute. It turns out they were at the Manor for the night to celebrate the man's grandmother's 90th Birthday. I had seen the grandmother the night before and she was so lovely and impeccably dressed. I would never have guessed she was 90. When we got outside the grandmother was packing up her car. Yes, she still drives and she said that her car was now 6 years old and she was buying herself a new one for her birthday. He grand-daughter-in-law informed us that up until recently she was still going on vacation to Italy each year and renting cars then driving around the country side. She's a real spitfire and the only reason she can't drive in Italy during their vacation this year is because the rent-a-car agencies have an age limit for rentals. In the picture of the front of the Manor you'll see a group of people near the silver car at the front door and the women in the light color clothes is the 90 year old speed demon.I left this beautiful place hoping that some day I'll have the pleasure of returning 
and mom even thinks it's a good place to celebrate her 80th b-day and 90th for that matter. Her is a picture of the entrance to the Manor drive. Originally when we first arrived yesterday, mom had thought that the little house to the left was where we were staying. It's cute but I think the Manor house was a better choice.
and mom even thinks it's a good place to celebrate her 80th b-day and 90th for that matter. Her is a picture of the entrance to the Manor drive. Originally when we first arrived yesterday, mom had thought that the little house to the left was where we were staying. It's cute but I think the Manor house was a better choice.We drove for several hours and sadly our sun had left it rained most of the drive up North. We stopped briefly in Stoke-on-Trent just for a quick stretch of the legs and a pee break. It's a nice enough city with a large cathedral and some nice shopping streets but not necessarily a place I'd need to visit again.
We made it to Liverpool pretty quickly and checked into the Dolby Hotel on the waterfront near the Prince A
lbert Docks (which by the way are pretty incredible with lots of great new buildings, a beautiful Ferris wheel and great new shops and apartments.) Our hotel is actual nice for a budget place and although our room is small it is cute and
I get to sleep on a top bunk which is something I haven't done since camp many, many years ago. The hotel is very clean and actually resembles a ship with little porthole windows and tiny, tiny bathrooms like on a cruise ship. Anyway, it's close to where we have to board the ferry boat tomorrow morning so we're happy and also the view from the restaurant in the lobby is great. We see the marina to our left and the Ferris wheel and other nice buildings to our right. As you can see from the pictures the sun made another appearance and again mom and I were happy.
lbert Docks (which by the way are pretty incredible with lots of great new buildings, a beautiful Ferris wheel and great new shops and apartments.) Our hotel is actual nice for a budget place and although our room is small it is cute and
I get to sleep on a top bunk which is something I haven't done since camp many, many years ago. The hotel is very clean and actually resembles a ship with little porthole windows and tiny, tiny bathrooms like on a cruise ship. Anyway, it's close to where we have to board the ferry boat tomorrow morning so we're happy and also the view from the restaurant in the lobby is great. We see the marina to our left and the Ferris wheel and other nice buildings to our right. As you can see from the pictures the sun made another appearance and again mom and I were happy.We took a dry run to the ferry port to be sure we knew where we were going and then took a quick trip to Northern Wales and the t
own of Chester. I'd been looking forward to going there but wasn't sure it was going to be possible. It's a really charming old town with lots of beautiful black and white buildings dating back several hundred years. Apparently this town, like the Welsh towns in Southern Wales have Ancient Roman ruins as well. I didn't see any of them but I got some great pictures of
the town center and if you want to vi
sit a place where t
here's great old architecture, wonderful churches as well as great shopping this would be a perfect place.
own of Chester. I'd been looking forward to going there but wasn't sure it was going to be possible. It's a really charming old town with lots of beautiful black and white buildings dating back several hundred years. Apparently this town, like the Welsh towns in Southern Wales have Ancient Roman ruins as well. I didn't see any of them but I got some great pictures of
the town center and if you want to vi
sit a place where t
here's great old architecture, wonderful churches as well as great shopping this would be a perfect place.I also got a cute picture of mom and Jean Marie in one of those quintessentially British pho
ne booths.
ne booths.On the way back we stopped off a discount outlet center about 5 miles out of Chester and 20 miles from Liverpool. We had a nice dinner at Franky & Benny's (a chain restaurant in England) and Jean Marie picked up a few things at the shopping center.
By the time we made 
it back to the Dolby Hotel it was dark but the lights in the Marina were beautiful and for a budget hotel it's really very nice.
it back to the Dolby Hotel it was dark but the lights in the Marina were beautiful and for a budget hotel it's really very nice.
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