Day two of our 15 day British/European vacation starts off like any other day, especially on the second day after traveling over 4,000 miles by plane. Yes, with a cup of coffee. Technically, this was cup #2 as I had my first cup before ever leaving the cottage. But this one came in handy for the short train ride between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge.
Day two actually tried to begin at 4 AM. Both my wife and I woke up, but managed to fall back to sleep and finally rise just before 9 AM. I think we both needed this late sleep (about 10 hours according to my Fitbit tracker). Day three is scheduled to start at 3:30 AM as we need to be in Ashford to catch the Eurostar. But I’ll save this for another report.
After arriving in Tonbridge, we had a short 2 mile hike along a public footpath which went through a few parks and a nice wooded area. The wife had made our reservations (many weeks ago) for 12 noon which also happened to be the time they opened for business. While clouds were in the sky, we opted for a table outside and that gave me time to pack and smoke a half-bowl of MacBaren Vanilla Cream Flake.
The Sunday Roast was one of the best I’ve had (and I’ve enjoyed many over the years). This was (I believe) my 12th trip to England since I made the first trip in 2001. Doesn’t that just look delicious?
After lunch I finished smoking the bowl of MacBaren and it just complimented the entire experience. Below is the exterior of The Plough Pub. We may actually have to return next Sunday.
Another hobby I enjoy is Geocaching. I maintain a separate blog site for my Geocaching adventures which you can see here. The geocache I found was just down from the pub next to some Oast Houses. The cache is actually named Kent Oast Houses #14. For those who may not know, an Oast House is a type of barn/silo building which was used for drying of hops. Are there other pipe smoking geocachers out there? Leave me a comment and let me know.
On the walk back to Tonbridge, we found a curious little sheep. He wanted to become famous and I told him I’d help make it so and place his picture on my blog site.
We made it back to the cottage in Tunbridge Wells with just enough time to watch some of the Men’s final action from Wimbledon. I’m a fan of Roger Federer. Regardless of the outcome, this has been a great match.
Well, I better get this closed out and posted online. The alarm will go off early tomorrow (3:30 AM) and we’re scheduled to depart our cottage by taxi to Ashford at 4:30. We are headed to Antwerp, Belgium to visit my wife’s father, sister and other family members. I’m hoping to enjoy at least one pipe with my father-in-law.
Until next time…
Happy Piping
Jerry