Driving to Scotland, Wed Aug 21

Embrace change. 

That's my take away from our ancestrial adventures. 

Not my natural tendency. 

Watch how each day evoles from the one prior. 

Embrace it. 

So much better than the alternative....

Woke up to high tide, amd this gorgeous view from our room. A cacaphony of seagulls. 

This is the long drive day. Other days we drove 2 1/2 hours max all day, some days no driving. Today makes up for it. Here's a British thing, Farm Shops. Along the road, fresh meats, vegs, fruits, baked goods from the farm, and quick food as tea, scones, sandwiches, homemade soups. Love them. 

Suzanne, remember the Lyle's Golden Syrup you left us, and how I tried to make Anzac cookies. Well, these are excellent. The caramelized sugar of Lyle's with a zing of baking soda at the end. 

Leaving the Fens and the Midlands, now at edge of Lake District. Stone walls, green, rolling hills. Bucolic. 

Entering Scotland. I didnt get a photo of the dramatic rugged mountains. The Clyde Valley has HUNDREDS of windmills. Each 2 1/2 MW, thats a lot of power!

Made it. Anstruther.

10 miles from St Andrews on the Firth of Forth. 

View from room. 

Nine nights living out of carry on suitcase. Makes it so easy to travel, settle into new rooms, etc. Like middle aged backpacking through Great Britain. 

I admit it, I need the bed, the shower, indoor plumbing. And driving in the little Mercedes. So not quite backpacking...

We settle in for four nights, and a wedding. Out comes the bigger suitcase.

King's Lynn, Boston ... Tues Aug 20

Mike's 9th gg Samuel Whiting was curate here, St Margarets in Kings Lynn, in 1621-1624. Near Sandringham, his is an adorable bustling town on the Grand Ouse River. Church is from 1300's. 

They have a clock on the church showing the next high tide. 

They had a prayer walk around the church. 10 stations. Here lighting a candle for peace world wide. 

Worn down steps near altar.  Seven hundred years of people approaching. 

Walked to river. 

Depiction of Kings Lynn Life, with the boats, the church, wool, and could they be benzene rings? Dow has a plant in Kings Lynn...

Everyone is friendly here. Delicious Turkish lunch, served by a Russian waitress who loves yoga. This guy has been to Florida, like everyone else over here.

Lots of wind mills. Landscape looks like Michigan farmland. Great Yarmouth looked like South Carolina lowlands. Wales and Wiltshire was definitely New England, maybe county of mid Atlantic states. 

So when Samuel Whiting was kicked out of Kings Lynn for preaching heresy, in 1624, he came to Skirbeck's Church of St Nicholas. He was kicked out of here  in 1636, and came to America, to be minister at Lynn Massachusetts. 

We have learned that one trait dominant in the Whiting genes is strong willed. Which, Mike points out, is positive. I amicably agree. 

:)

To Boston England, Lincolnshire. 

Our Inn looks across The Haven river at St Botolph's, which the town Boston is named for. St. Botolph's town. In 1630's 250 people sailed from this congregation to Massachusetts to start Boston MA. Cool.

View from our room. Low tide I hope. 

Mikes 10gg John Whiting, Mayor Of Boston, is buried in this churchyard, at St. Botolphs. 

Mike if he had to listen to those 2 hour sermons.

Saucy coat of arms for front of pews.

They were having tea and cakes for anyone who wanted to stop.  They also were selling watercolors, and used books, to raise money for different charities. Quite a lively place, right inside this church. 

The baptismal font, where Samuel Whiting was baptised, and a whole lot of other Whitings. 

And here ends our ancestry chapter of this trip.

I will post photos on ancestry.com, as we have enjoyed other's photos there. 

Fascinating to see a glimpse of our ancestor's steps. Honestly, we had fun interacting with the towns and people, villages and churches and foot paths. We have eaten some incredibly good food, and one or two meals of truly representational food ( we imagine.) 

The ancestry trail is an excellent excuse/ way to connect. 

Now, as is our habit, a bit of rest time, clean up, and off to dinner. 

Market square, but today's not market day. Boston is charming. 

Runham, Dowe Hill, Ormesby ... Mon Aug 19

Runham's Church of Sts Peter and Paul, built in the 1200's, home parish of Mike's 9th great grandfather Henry Dow (early 1600's) and of his parents, grandparents. He and his kids were baptised here. He was married in St Margaret Ormesby, perhaps because his wife Joan Nudd was from there?  They sailed to America on the Rose of Yarmouth in April 1637.

Summer kids program hid 'space suit parts' amongst headstones. 

Made of flint 'potatoes' cut in half and cemented with flat side out. 

Original door and doorstep.

Kids are gone for the day.

Original baptismal font.

Weathered gargoyle to right of door.

Very tall. 

Runham is town of say 20 families. Which is why church still has no electricity running to it ( portable generator for lights) and no bathrooms ( portable outside.) Still church is active, has services every Sunday. 

Lunch by a caravan park in Caister called Abagail's Tea Room. I had a Cream Tea, which is a pot of tea served with mouth wateringly good raisin scone, clotted cream (really heavy cream so it's like whipped cream no sugar almost buttery), fresh strawberry jam. Mike had a ham and cheese toastie, which was cheddar cheese and slice of ham toasted not grilled on farmhouse white bread. And a Pepsi. Oh man what a lunch. Seriously.  

 Saw people nearby eating fried chicken nuggets, chips (french fries), and baked beans all covered in vinegar, then salt, then ketchup. For variety, ham nuggets breaded and fried. 

Where Henry Dow (9th gg) and Joan Nudd were married in 1630, at St Margaret's in St Margaret Ormesby. 

The arch, from Norman church here, 11th century. 

Sitting as if witnessing their marriage.

We lit three, for our three kids... love you guys!

Prayers written out for our use, scattered around the church. 

Walked a bit next to wheat fields. That's Dowe Hill up ahead. Five houses/ farms doth a town make. 

Nearby. This place was packed with families. 

At Furzedown Hotel, Great Yarmouth. On the beach. Lovely hotel. 

Some cute blocks. 

But most of Great Yarmouth, well, it made International Drive Orlando look classy.