England 1996

After arising with only a slight case of “jet-lag hangover”, John picks me up and shows me a little of the countryside on the way to visiting his dealership. John owns “Edwards of Stratford”, the largest (and best, right John?) MG-Rover dealership in England!

He gets to show off his very impressive computer setup that allows customers to view, order, and sign for their new cars in a very efficient and visually pleasing manner!

We pick up Marianne next door at her office (she works at the body shop next door to Edwards of Stratford) and drive out to pick up a beautiful brand-new Range Rover that John uses for the balance of our stay.

We then head out to the British Motor Heritage Centre for lunch and a tour around the site.

The Heritage Centre houses many, many historic cars and other items important to the development of the automobile in England. We see a car that John’s father actually used to own housed in the exhibits!

The director of the Centre (Fred Coultas) is a friend of John’s and invites us up to his office afterwards for tea and coffee. Fred takes our jackets up to the office for safekeeping. When we arrive, he’s placed a sticky note on the back of my leather jacket asking for “£3000 or best offer”.

I offer to split whatever offer Fred’s received!

We enjoy our coffee and tea, and then mosey down to the gift shop to buy some Christmas presents!

A local radio station in Stratford has asked John if they could interview me for a “local interest” segment. Given my job with NASA, they’re quite enthusiastic and ask some really great questions.

Fortunately, I don’t make a complete fool of myself… (grin)

After a wonderful tour, we go back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner.

After getting Mark from home, John takes us to a huge hotel in Stratford for another in a series of wonderful dinners. We exchange some more stories, plan for the next day, and wrap up the evening.