Off for a father-son vacation!

When Kathy and I were in England in May of 2015 with LeAnn, we attended an Aston Villa football match. Our English family, John and Marianne, were insistent that Andrew come back to share this experience - especially since he's such a footie fan (and player!) himself.

So, I spent the next few months organizing, getting flights, sorting schedules, etc., so that during his teaching Spring Break we could enjoy what would turn out to be a memorable vacation for the two of us -- with MANY lifetime memories to come!

When I first asked Andrew if there were any specific things he wanted to do, his answer was a rather vague "no, just soccer, hanging out and doing 'normal' English things ... and pubs". Since he and Melanie had been here with us in 2006, and we had spent a few days in London, he didn't really want to spend a lot of touristy time in the city. I was *just fine* with this! I passed that along to John, who was off and running with his own planning.

A couple of weeks later, Andrew texted me about a store in north central London, sax.co.uk, billed as the largest saxophone store in London. He asked if that would be a possible target to visit before we headed off to the Cotswolds... OF COURSE we're going to do this!

Andrew had contacted them about a visit, and since he's a degreed music educator himself, he would be able to try out some of the large inventory of some very nice instruments. That sounds like a too-awesome-to-pass-up opportunity, so we definitely plan on it!

With planning sorted, and a farewell lunch with Liz, we board our BA 747 for the hop across the pond! Having a driver pick us up from Heathrow, as opposed to lugging our bags across the city during rush hour on a Monday morning using public transportation, was an absolute luxury ... which bode well for the rest of the week!

Arriving easily at the store, after some amusing conversation with our driver, we hop out and Andrew begins his Pavlovian drool over the walls of instruments on display. He immediately passes by the "lesser" horns and hones in on the really expensive ones!

Touching base with one of the store employees, he is able to select a few horns at a time to step into a private practice room, strap up and attach his mouthpiece, and play on some really nice instruments.

I enjoy getting to hear him not only play some quick etudes on these horns, but also describe some of the differences to me that, as an admitted sax novice, I would not have noticed! It was a good time for both of us...

A stop-over at a posh scotch shop a couple of blocks over for a "grand entrance" gift for John, and we're ready to depart London and head to our "home" for the next week - Charingworth Manor.

In what turns out to be the nicest sunsets of our trip, the views are every bit as spectacular as I remember. Andrew's really impressed and a bit quiet as we check in and walk across to the slightly newer section of the Manor where our room is located.

When Kathy and I were here, we were in the main (original) Manor, which was spectacular, but honestly - since Andrew and I were going to have our own beds to sleep in, we needed a slightly different configuration - and this worked PERFECTLY! A quick nap to recover from the jet lag does wonders.

While Andrew fully recovers, I pop around to the front of Charingworth and get my requisite photos of the grounds with a brilliant blue sky, a lovely sunset filtering through the trees, and a couple of great views across the Cotswolds.

It almost feels like a second home. 🙂

Given that the sunlight and sky were so much nicer today than when I was here last year, I just *had* to re-do the Charingworth PhotoSphere -- use your mouse to drag it around a bit:

Popping back to the room, Andrew's up and ready to head over to Oakleigh House, where John and Marianne have organized a lovely "welcome dinner" with steaks, mushrooms, and a great tiramasu! Andrew gets to learn, first-hand, that when John offers wine or other drinks, "not saying no" is actually saying "yes". Ha! 🙂

Even though it's only been about 9-10 months since I've seen them, it's been many years since Andrew's been with John and Marianne - so, lots of catching up, laughter, delivering some presents from the US, and some initial planning for the week keeps up going well into the evening!

It's with some reluctance we head back to Charingworth for the night, but we need to rest up for the rest of the week ... as we have a LOT to do!