Mudflats, Beatles and more

Posted 11.June, back dated to 4.June to be in chronological order.

Southport was the location of the nearest campground to accommodate a visit to Liverpool. A quite lovely little town, it is filled with Victorian touches and tons of shopping galleries. Sadly, like many seafront towns, it is a bit rough around the edges – salt water can wreak havoc on the buildings. The town is targeted to tourists, and many attractions are quite overpriced or were not open as school was back in session for this area. We’re not shopping for much, so the vast galleries of stores didn’t hold a ton of interest this time.

The campground is short distance from the beach – we took a walk over the sand dunes and found only mud flats. I’ve never walked in mud flats before, so shrugged and said, “How bad could it be?” It was squishy to say the least. When the tide is out in this town, it is OUT. We were not even remotely near ocean water – in fact, could barely see it. Shoes properly caked with mud, we headed back to enjoy a beautiful evening at our campground, where while tackling laundry, I managed to ruin a pair of Megan’s jeans in the spinner. Long story, suffice it to say, I think the individuals camping around the laundry block thought I was doing something crazy in there with all the racket it caused.


Our attempts to find family fun failed – with bowling costing over £14 per game for the family rate or £5 per person per game. The movie theater was only open on certain nights, with no family-friendly flicks. The amusement park looked quite run down and not well maintained. Add to it the lack of other visitors to the amusement area, we didn’t even try. We next tried the water slides and found they are open only some Thursdays then Friday afternoons and Saturdays during school term (which this area’s schools were just back in session after a week off).



Victorian styling


Fish!


Best Western - they have some really nice looking properties in Europe!

Liverpool Day Trip
Biking to the train station was a breeze - flat and only about 1/2 a mile away. We easily found our way to Liverpool with an all-day family travel pass for just £16, covering bus, trains and the ferry to Merseyside. Liverpool is the European Culture City for 2008 and is celebrating with fantastic colorful banners among the shopping district and tons of events.


Blick of Liverpool shopping district

Our best find was the free Maritime Museum. This museum is huge and well organized. We saw model ships, including the Titanic, and learned more about the city’s history. This is one tough city, surviving large-scale ups and downs throughout the ages, bouncing back each time. I left with a greater appreciation for the seemingly distorted mix of new and old buildings.

Light boat, anyone?


Maritime History - free for all & worth the time!


Cool! (Too bad it wasn't working)

We declined the Beatles Experience (£30) – just couldn’t stomach a museum at such a high rate. That’s almost $60 USD! Instead, we sought out Mathew Street and visited some the Beatles haunts, humming “Yellow Submarine” along the way. Tired and satisfied with our day of wandering, we made our way back to the train, back to Southport, and a brief bike ride home.


The Official Beatles Experience - ££££


Then, there's the free Beatles Experience - open to all city wanderers:

Entrance to Mathew Street


Original entrance to the Cavern


Wall of fame

Couldn't resist...