4th of July weekend!

Friday, July 2nd

I worked at a Guy Fox History Project workshop during the day, and hurried home to get the house ready for our guests, Bethany & Sam Webster! They came up from Southwest England to celebrate the 4th! We chilled tonight, ordered a curry ;) my favorite, and just relaxed!

Saturday, July 3rd

This was our big celebration day! Amy planned and organized every little detail! Had maps printed out, the whole works:) It was spectacular!

We got the train into town to our first stop, Dollar Bills, Grills & Martinis! It is a restaurant that has an American inspired menu, and martinis... What more could an American girl in London ask for?? Naturally, we all started with Martinis...Neil had an apple martini in honor of my Daddy-O! I chose the real thing, Grey Goose martini, straight up with olives...yummy! We ate amazing burgers & drank fancy cocktails, and it was on to our next stop. We decided to do a bit of a bar crawl. Pop-up Pirates was our next natural stop. It had the feel of an 80's bar mixed with art. It was wild. Come to find out, the bar invites artists to create installations inside! Sooo cool! And, they did have a wicked play list! Warren-G, Regulators, California Love (which Dana Chiulli & I do have a choreographed dance to) CR-AA-ZZY jams:) Hehe! From there, we stopped in a bar featuring an American Beer Festival! They were serving Sierra Nevada, Flying Dog, Dixie (some beer from New Orleans)! I felt at home:)

So, we were trying to be responsible, and get the last train home. We left it in PLENTY of time, so we stopped for some previsions for the train (more cider & chocolate), stopped for a rest room break...you get the picture, we were dallying...and yes, you guessed it, we missed the last train home. Blasted! We decided to get as close to Uxbridge as possible...Heathrow airport. Now, that is one place I would never have guessed the night ending up. 7 miles later & a £26 taxi ride, we were home! Whew!

Sunday, July 4th!!!!! Independence DAY!!!

Sam & Bethany left around noon, and Neil & I were feeling a bit adventurous. We hopped in the car and headed South! It was a gorgeous day in London, about 80F, so we assumed, beautiful weather at the beach. We ended up in a tiny, locals beach town called Avon Beach. There were tons of wind surfers, kite surfers. It was a bit chillier than London, probably only 60F, but it was lovely. We had a nice stroll along the beach :) Very spontaneous. We looked on the map for cities near by, and we picked Chirstchurch. Driving into the little village was breathtaking. Seriously, the whole day I had my mouth wide open like a little kid at Disney World :) Randomly, the town was having a festival today! HA! Lucky us! It was in the local park, and they had food & drink stalls, bouncy castles, live bands & a Yankee American Pancake stand! Hehehe! It was sooo cool! We stayed for awhile, had some eats & enjoyed to live music! What a wonderful 4th!