Once I realized I would have a hard time getting to the Manchester airport from Sheffield on Jan 16 for a 9:55 flight, my adventure travel juices kicked in and I came up with an overnight trip to Liverpool on my way to the airport.
I left on a comfy bus from Sheffield by 7:15 (the ONLY day during my entire visit that I got up before sunrise). After an hour ride through the Peaks district, charming villages and open countryside, I transferred to a standing room only train at Manchester Picadilly Station for another hour ride (while I sat on one of my roller bags in the aisle - I had a reserved seat in coach A, but could not get there due to so many people, and I was just happy to be on board.) to Liverpool Lime Street Station.
I could tell by the city map I got at the train station information booth, AND by GoogleMaps that my hotel was walking distance. So off I went, clueless ( since I was not yet oriented and none of the streets are straight - this is true in every village and city I've visited, so I should have known better) about how to get to the hotel. So after 45 minutes of walking circles around my hotel but not finding it, pulling two roller bags and needing a pit stop, I got a stroke of good luck by asking a kind local gal for directions. Instead, and at my request, she called me a cab and waited for it arrive. She got a knitted bag from me in grateful thanks and 5 minutes later I was checking in to The Z Hotel. Yeah!!!!!
My first destination was to the waterfront area. I walked along the Mersey River
to Albert Dock where I had only my second plate of fish and chips since arrival in England. The first one was good - at a local pub with Dave and Judy on Nov. 30. In Sheffield we did a lot of cooking at home which was great, but I was ready for one more go of fish and chips and this plate from the chippy on Albert Dock was worth waiting for!
I skipped the Beatles Story museum ( knowing I would get more of that at the Cavern Club)
In favor of spending the rest of the afternoon at the Merseyside Maritime Museum building
where I toured:
- the Titanic and Lusitania exhibits ( I have a creepy facination about shipwrecks in general and an unreasonable love of the movie Titanic)
- and the International Slavery Museum where I learned how the Liverpool shipyards were heavily involved in the circle of transport of
- European goods to Africa to trade for
- human cargo taken by force (despicable practice) to the Western Hemisphere for cheap labor
- and the taking of new world goods and resources back to Europe to start the cycle all over again.
In all, over 10 million people were transported by ship from Europe, a large percentage from Liverpool, between the late 1600's and 1867 when the practice stopped. Coincidental timing to the US Civil War?
After a complimentary wine and cheese offering at my hotel, I went out to discover lots of live music in the Cavern quarter very near my hotel. I found the door to the original Cavern Club
with an informational plaque describing it's heyday, closure, redesign and new entrance nearby. I learned that daytime hours are cover charge free with live music after 11 AM, so I put this place on hold and walked into a few others on Mathew Street. All places had Beatles and 1960's memorabilia or references. I spent some time at Rubber Soul
enjoying the music offered up by a one man band guitarist/singer with strong instrumental sound track backing. Very nice!
Next morning, at the suggestion of Heather, I did, in fact, take a "ferry 'cross the Mersey" guided 50 minute boat tour which was great, if not warm.
Finally, I returned to the Cavern Club where the Beatles performed from March 1961 through Oct 1963. The one man band was similar to the one I heard the night before, but this guy looked like Paul McCartney.
It was noon, but there were lots of people inside. I strolled up to a standing spot adjacent to stage left to listen and get a good look. When the artist started trolling the crowd for long distance travelers to heckle, I stayed quiet while he got shouts out from Argentina, Mexico and mainland Europe. Eventually he looked over at me and asked where I was from. I replied "California" which prompted a not too nice question about RedCoats and a reference to the weather. But he redeemed himself shortly after by abandoning his attempt to get the crowd involved in a sing-along to the Beatles "Help" and launched intend into an awesome version of the Mamas and the Papa's "California Dreamin'. I curtsied to him in appreciation when he was done and got knowing smiles from the other patrons in the stage left seating area. Excellent experience.
I would be remiss not to close with this story, however, an equally excellent experience about another close encounter I had with Mike while in the Cavern Club.
Long time readers might recall (see may 2015 entries for a description of our first trip to England for Curt and Sarah's wedding party) that we were planning an overnight trip to Liverpool in May 2015 but it got cancelled when Mike took a serious fall and ended up in the hospital with fractured vertebrae in his neck. Now, here I am alone descending the stairs to the famous Cavern Club, hearing music below. When I got to the bottom and entered the bar and stage area, I was overwhelmed with the musical history significance and with sadness that Mike was not here to enjoy this cool place with me. I stepped out of the way to lean against a support beam and started to cry. Then I realized the artist was singing "Don't let the Sun Catch you Crying" by local band Gerry and the Pacemakers". I got that familiar full body sensation that starts in the pit of my stomach and results in unashamed tears of joy that I had as many years as I did with Mike, my love. He and I will always be connected through music and travel, and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed my trip to the Cavern Club today. The music tells me so.
