Pulled Into the Docks in Southhampton- Ballad of Roberta & Michael (and Auggie)

Journey to the Isle of Wight

In case some of you don't get the title, it is a clever reference to " The Ballad of John and Yoko", of which the first line goes, "Pulled into the docks of Southampton". I know this because Michael kept singing it over and over (it was the only line he knew) as we were, in fact, pulling into the docks in Southampton to catch the ferry to the beautiful Isle of Wight.

It was a gorgeous late October day as we motored though the south of England on our way to Southampton. Autumnal foliage framed our route of "A" roads (two lanes) in full fall glory, with trees and hedges awash in blazes of deep golds, candy apple reds and firey oranges brilliantly highlighted with sprinkles of verdant greens from leaves that had yet to turn.

Our new GPS carefully guided us on a route that took us through centuries of English towns, rich in history and architecture. We passed through the heart Warminster, Bristol, Bath and Salisbury (and no John Foote, unfortunately we didn't have a bath in Bath or a steak in Salisbury).

The GPS (affectionately referred to as "Sat -Nav") has been a godsend in many ways. In addition to effortlessly guiding our clueless selves through the British countryside, it seems to have replaced the hole that was left in Michael's life when we had to make the gut wrenching decision to leave the cappuccino maker in Chicago. He doesn't talk a lot about it but I can tell there is a quiet sadness to him in the morning when he looks longingly at the empty counter tops. I realize that deep-rooted relationships like these are hard to replace. However, the GPS has proven to be a happy substitute and has put a spring back in his step.

I know this because he talks about it incessantly. He is in the throes of deep infatuation, utterly mezmorized by its design and enthusiastically ( and constantly) offers copious amount of insightful discussion on the wonder of its various features and capabilities. In fact, during the four hour ride to Southampton it featured in about 70% of our discussion. Every topic, seemed, somehow, to come back to the GPS

For example:

Me - "I wonder how large the Isle of Wight is?"

Michael - "Sat-Nav can calculate any dimensions based on mileage points!"

Me - " Did the Isle of Wight have a native tongue before it was annexed to  Great Britian"

"Michael - " Sat-Nav is actually programmable in 16 different languages!"

Me - " Do you think monkeys could actually fly out of my ass?"

Michael - " I think Sat-Nav can track flight patterns."

After 50 minutes of a most civilized ride on the ferry (it even has a special pet reception room where travel-weary animals can relax with a cold bowl of water, and if they are lucky, a beef jerky treat) we crossed the Solent Channel and arrived at Cowes, Isle of Wight.

The island is 140 sq miles and has a population of 144,000. It was the home of Alfred Lord Tennyson and served as the summer and final home of Queen Victoria. It was posh resort area for the Victorians, in fact, Charles Dickenson wrote the majority of David Copperfield during his holiday on the island.

Isle of Wight also has a rich industrial and maritime history including boat building, sail making, hovercrafts and space rockets. In 1970 the island hosted the "Isle of Wight Festival", one of the biggest rock music events ever. It is also one of the best dinosaur fossil locations in Europe.

The island is a virtual botanical garden place, filled with magnificent flora. We stayed at a lovely B&B that dates back to the early 18th century, longer than the US has been an official nation. Auggie and I spent several happy hours walking the many footpaths through the woods and along the coast line.

As a bonus, we found a pub that allows dogs (all hours) about 100 yards from our B&B. We happily settled into the "Horse and Groom" and made many friends, who were very interested in what the hell Americans were doing on the Isle of Wight, odder still, in late October. 


We had a great time and I will accompany Michael when he has to return. FYI, for anyone who is curious, the rest of the first verse is as follows below.  I found it necessary to look it up (although I didn't bother with the rest) so he would stop singing the same line over and over.  Thankfully, our experience was significantly better than John and Yoko's. 


First verse 
     Pulled into the docks of Southampton
     Trying to get to Holland or France
     The man in mac said you have to back
     Man, they didn't even give us chance
      
Refrain
      Christ you know it ain't easy
      It's as hard as can be
      The way things are going
      They're going to crucify me