John Kidde Writes

Continuing with my series of travels through the United Kingdom, I will highlight a couple of points of interest this time to keep the story moving forward.

Now, our continued adventures in Liverpool.

If you didn’t know, Liverpool is the home of The Beatles. The Fab Four got their start in this smaller city, and the rest is history. There are Beatles-related things all over the city. We drove around to each member’s respective childhood home (all of which are publicly marked on Google Maps), and, for the most part, they were fairly nondescript homes. The other part featured homes with placards out front indicating who lived there. In other words, Paul and John had the most popular houses to visit, so they had placards out front. George and Ringo, not so much.

These homes also looked like regular everyday people currently lived there, or in the homes neighbouring them. It felt weird taking a photo of their homes, given that it was a typical neighbourhood. So I didn’t. Also, I know I’m going to get some flak from my partner for this, but I’m not the biggest Beatles fan. Ducks from a thrown object. I understand their importance in music history, but they do not move the needle for me when it comes to music.

Next up was something a bit more photogenic and also Beatles-related. This leads us to Strawberry Field.

As you can see, it was wet. Also known as a typical English winter’s day. This limited our ability to enjoy the grounds. A walking tour of the grounds was possible, but we opted to take a selfie and peruse the gift shop instead. My future father-in-law is a Beatles fanatic, so we bought him a Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album shirt and a metal placard for ourselves (I’ve used that word a lot today, and it’s probably thanks to my job, where I have to say “posted placards” during opening announcements). It was a really well-maintained space and a must-see for Beatles fans and music lovers alike.

Driving around the city, we started to notice crowds of people lining the streets. We were so confused. What were they waiting for? Sure enough, we stop at a light and see a literal parade of decorated tractors.

I mean, what fun! This was so unexpected that we couldn’t help but be amazed and smile at the same time. The pictures are a bit blurry because we weren’t expecting to see anything photoworthy while driving the random roads. After snapping some quick photos, we discovered that it was the Liverpool Christmas Tractor Convoy. Here’s a link to a video with better quality views of the tractors.

Our final bit of Liverpool comes in the form of a Yellow Submarine. Thankfully, we do not all live in one. Although my brother-in-law does at times because he is in the Navy. But his sub is not yellow. Anyway, enough about him. Let me show you the cute light display of the Yellow Submarine.

This fun light display was, appropriately, at the Royal Albert Dock. There were several restaurants and shops in the area that made for decent window shopping and dining. We closed out our last night in Liverpool by having a steak. Why? Because the other places in the area were full up, and we were hungry. Miller & Carter did not disappoint.

I only have a photo of the beer because I feel weird taking pictures of my food. But let me tell you that the sharing platter is more than enough for two adults. After getting a proper buzz (and not driving), it was time to head back to our accommodations and get some actual sleep because the next day would take us into Wales.