Our England itinerary has been changed a bunch and we were forced to change it again the day before we arrived and then again the day after we arrived, because of my cold. We were supposed to spend a night in a hotel and then drive down to Cornwall to stay with Paul's Aunt and Uncle, but decided it was smartest to not bring our germs to his aunt and uncle's house. Even though it wasn't Covid (I tested again on Saturday), I was still coughing a lot. We found a Marriott in Portsmouth for 2 nights, and decided to check out the Harbor area. They have a really nice area with some old Navy ships that you can tour, plus a big ship building and restoring warehouse that we were able to walk through, a museum of the history of Portsmouth and lots of restaurants and shops. They also have this huge Spinnaker Tower that we went up and saw great views over to the Isle of Wight. We decided then that maybe we should find an Airbnb over on the island instead of just staying there in Portsmouth. We were very lucky and found an apartment right on the marina. It's so nice sitting out on the balcony watching all the sailboats and ferry boats coming in and out of the channel. 

Paul's grandfather grew up on this island and apparently other Newnham's as well, because there's a Newnham Lane, Newnham Road and Newnham Farm! We had to drive around to find them all and take pictures in front of each sign. Unfortunately, before we even made it to the island Paul started to have a sore throat, so our stay on the Isle of Wight was a very low-key one, just walking around the little town of Cowes and we took a drive to the other side of the island and did a short walk up on a hill, just to see the views. We spent a lot of time watching the boats right outside our windows!

We took the big car ferry back across the river on Wednesday and had to switch out our rental car in Southampton, the electrics in the car were not working correctly. Then started the drive northwest. The boys wanted to see Stonehenge, but they have turned the historic site into a big money making endeavor and closed all the roads around Stonehenge, so you can no longer just drive by it and see it from your car, you have to pay to get in with the crowds of people. Luckily, I did a little research and found a way to see it for free, all we had to do was park on a side road named Willoughby Road in Larkhill, Salisbury (in case anyone else wants to try it). You drive down to the end of this road, where a sign ahead says Stonehenge and No Access. Well the no access sign is for cars, you can walk it. So we walked about 3/4 of a mile down this pathway with fields on either side of us. Towards the end, we cut through one of the fields containing sheep to get up real close to the fence surrounding Stonehenge. There were hoards of people who paid to see Stonehenge on the other side of the wire fence. It was great to be away from all the people but have the exact same view! We continued our drive to Frome, where are Airbnb is located in a pedestrian only zone, so we had to stop a bit away, unload the suitcases and walk from there, while Paul attempted to find parking. This apartment is not my favorite but it is fine for the 2 nights we will be here. We overlook a wine bar, which is what I was most looking forward to (pretty much the entire reason I booked this place!), but with Paul sick and me still coughing up a storm, we won't be going to the wine bar. We can sit in the living room looking out the window at all the people happily drinking wine. :(

Paul's sister, Elizabeth and family arrived in Frome Wednesday as well. We were all so excited to see them, but knew we had to keep our germs to ourselves. The boys and I walked over to their Airbnb that evening and we all sat outside chatting and Sara gave me a glass of wine, so I was very happy! I guess I've missed seeing people we know and being social, because when we walked away both boys told me I talked way too much! My extroverted self has had a lot of alone time on this trip, I needed to feed my social energy levels. ;)

So things to took a turn when Paul tested positive for Covid. I'm assuming that's what I had, since we had the same symptoms and I was sick first, but I still tested negative. We had to scramble a bit and find alternate lodging once again, since we couldn't stay with Paul's mum and sister at the big party house Mum rented in the Warminster area. Luckily we were able to find a cottage nearby that is between some fields. Thursday we really didn't do much, I think we walked to a park and then got ice cream, but Paul wasn't feeling well and obviously we had to stay away from people.

Friday we had 4 plus hours in between check out and check in times that we had to fill without going inside anywhere. So we ended up driving to the towns of Wells, which is the smallest city in England, and Cheddar Gorge, the home of Cheddar cheese! We parked right outside the Wells cathedral and then walked around the little town, checking out the outside of the Bishop's palace and had cream tea. Cream tea is a pot of tea served with scones, clotted cream and jam. I was so excited because they had gluten free scones, we all thoroughly enjoyed our cream tea and vowed to get as many as possible for the next week here in England. So the funny part of our day came when we were leaving, Paul somehow drove us down this little road and right up to the front of Wells Cathedral, where we got stuck. The road ended, and a pole came up from the ground and blocked the way we had just driven. A wedding party started walking by our car, along with other tourists, we couldn't move-had no where to go. I got out of the car and found a Wells Ambassador and showed him our predicament. He was astonished we had made it to where we did, and ended up walking next to our car down the sidewalk in front of the cathedral to get us out of there! At the end we had to drive off the curb and then back down the main street. We had plenty of people staring at us and wondering what in the world we were doing. I'm not sure we will be welcome back to Wells anytime soon.

We continued on to Cheddar Gorge, where the boys and I sampled some different varieties of cheddar cheese, we were hoping to watch them making it, but they weren't in production when we arrived. Cheddar gorge is a really cute little town with a crystal clear river running through it. You can either hike up the gorge, rock climb up it, walk through it, over on the cliff walk, or you can drive through it. We did the latter. It was a pretty drive. Then drove back to check into our little cottage.

We were able to hang out at Mum's party house, staying outside or in the corner of a well-ventilated huge dining room so we could visit with Mum and Paul's sister and family. The kids went swimming and used the hot tub, played pool and table tennis. They enjoyed some time with their cousins. So even though we couldn't stay there, we still got in a good visit, which we were grateful for.