World Cities Tour 2014 Summer Edition - Day 7

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Day 7 - A Down Day

Today we slept in, by a lot. It's nice to not have any plans. After checking out the welcome meeting we headed into the local village of Alrewas. Before leaving the US we watched a video on Amazon about the Canal Boats of England. They seem to be a lot like motorhomes or houseboats but they move along the old canals that were once used to transport materials. There are many locks on the canals and that seems to be the main challenge of traveling this way. As we were driving around Alrewas looking for a place to eat we came across a lock with a boat travelling through. Everything was very old and hand cranked. It was pretty neat to watch. The people we watched going through the lock suggested a spot a little further up the canal for lunch. It was by a holiday park and seemed to be very well liked by the boaters. We even got to take a tour of one of the canal boats. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, doing laundry, playing in the pool, planning side trips and checking out the resort. We headed to the Barton Marina for dinner where "children are welcome if they are quiet and well behaved". Anne had the largest serving of Fish 'n Chips ever seen and even tried the mushy peas. When we got back to the cabin Michelle had a chance to Skype with her best friend, Alex. They had a great time after a bit of delay due to technology. Tomorrow we'll be up early and headed to Poole's Cavern and the Fens.

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Photos

Another great view
The view from our back porch

A little Laundry
It took a bit for it to dry though

Opening the gates
The gates are all hand operated. Tony gave the people passing through a hand.

Up it goes
After closing the back gate, the front gate gets openeda bit so the lock can fill

Off you go
After the lock fills it's another manual task to open the gate and away the boat goes.

Pretty outflow
Here's the overflow channel for the canal. It was really pretty.

'Cause I'm Happy!
Most people on the Canal seem very happy but this boat is especially happy.