Day 16 – July 5, 2024 – Southampton, England
We packed up everything last night except for the essentials and we had a great last breakfast with the parents. We had a scheduled departure time, so everything went smoothly. John had arranged for a car to pick us up at the port and drive us to London, which is 1 hour 45 minutes away, so we had some chill time. Dad had booked us into the RAF (Royal Air Force) Club, and we were looking forward to seeing where he had spent time when he was in the military.
Some info on the RAF Club:
- Founded in 1918
- For officers of the Royal Air Force
- John’s dad was invited to be member when he was squadron commander at RAF Alconbury in the early 1980’s
- There is a lot of historical memorabilia and paintings related to the RAF
- The Queen visited there for their 100th anniversary in 2018
- It is located on Piccadilly, in between Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park
After dropping our bags off at the club, we walked across the street and had lunch at the Hard Rock Café. The one in London is the very first Hard Rock Café and I was surprised that John had never been in one before. I loved seeing all the old memorabilia of the legends of rock!
John and I then took off and walked up and down Knight’s Bridge, window shopped, walked through parts of Harrods, around Buckingham Palace and then had dinner in the pub at the RAF club (The Running Horse Tavern).
It had been a long day, so we turned in early. Tomorrow we are meeting our friends, Catherine and Scott Summers, to spend the day sightseeing and dinner. Looking forward to that! Hoping the weather cooperates, lol! Nite all 😊
The sailing distance of our trip taken from the daily newsletter:
- Reykjavik, Iceland to Eskifjordur, Iceland – 415 Nautical Miles
- Eskifjordur, Iceland to Torshavn (Faroe Islands), Denmark – 293 NM
- Torshavn (Faroe Islands), Denmark to Kirkwall (Orkney Islands), Scotland – 240 NM
- Kirkwall (Orkney Islands), Scotland to Stornoway (Hebrides), Scotland – 151 NM
- Stornoway (Hebrides), Scotland to Douglas, Isle of Man – 474 NM
- Douglas, Isle of Man to Dublin, Ireland – 74 NM
- Dublin, Ireland to Liverpool, England – 104 NM
- Liverpool, England to Holyhead, Wales – 68 NM
- Holyhead, Wales to Waterford, Ireland – 131 NM
- Waterford, Ireland to Portland, England – 310 NM
- Portland, England to Saint-Malo, France – 147 NM
- Saint-Malo, France to London (Southampton), England – 180 NM
- Total Distance – 2587 Nautical Miles
