Our last real day, and it was an ambitious one.
As usual, we opened with coffee, this time in Salisbury at the Old George Inn, now called The Boston Tea Party. The building dates back to the early 1300’s and entertained the likes of William Shakespeare, Samuel Pepys, and Oliver Cromwell...and us!
Never far from compelling ghost-company in these parts.
Strolling over to the medieval masterpiece Salisbury Cathedral, we stood in awe of Britain’s tallest spire, largest cloisters, and biggest Close.
We popped in the first tour group led by John, one of 600 volunteers and a proper chap with a slick sense of humor...one of those where you don’t want to make eye contact for fear of being singled out and asked a question.
Reluctantly, we had to ditch proper-John early, wanting to see the one more thing before we moved on.
Salisbury Cathedral is home to the original Magna Carta, issued in 1215. It was the first document to put into writing the principle that no one, not even the king, was not above the law and it provided the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American jurisprudence.
In ‘Murica, the Founding Fathers found inspiration in this document’s principles when they wrote the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Upon entering the room in which the Magna Carta is kept, the volunteer excitedly asked, “Is this the contingency from Los Angeles?!” I guess we’re not blending as well as we think...probably because proper-John made David take his hat off.
The scribes who physically wrote out this one page, 3500-word piece had even smaller handwriting than myself and though it is beautiful, it hardly compares to my notebook from Good Burger 2...
After a quick 20-minute drive, we found ourselves gazing at the world’s most famous prehistoric monument...Stonehenge.
Now, I’m not certain of the validity of this next bit, but we may be the only people to ever visit Stonehenge AND Carhenge in the same year. Could be a record.
We pulled into the parking lot and Steven swimmingly ran over a curb with more gusto than anyone since the late Neolithic period! 12-11.
The place was pretty packed, but so cool to see in person.
And while Stonehenge is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world, the nearby and lesser-known Avebury is the largest, covering nearly nine square miles.
I made a mess of the parking lot and while Steven guided me inches away from utilizing our car insurance; he then got trapped in an absolute downpour at the pay station. Poor guy, but at least his sneaks are spotless!
We all got drenched taking the footpath to town where we found a homey respite in The Red Lion. Centered in Avebury and surrounded by the stones, the thatched-roof pub provided warmth, ale, and an incredible lunch in locally sourced wild-boar bangers and mash.
Back on the road, we wound the countryside kissed by more rainbows and dotted with more sheep.
Our final destination was Highclere Castle or...Downton Abbey. Knowing we would arrive far too late to tour the private residence, we at least got close enough to catch a glimpse of the place before getting kicked out of the gates. Worth the effort.
The Last Loop Supper was had, appropriately, in the small nearby village of Downton in a pub called The Goat.
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