Took a Boat Trip Sunday…..

and spent most of the morning today walking along the beach line and walked up the hill into the old part of the city. Around noon I took a boat trip around the harbor and some of the islands between here and Wales.
The boat was a 1938 Royal Navy boat named Bristol Queen and carried soldiers across the channel from Southampton on D-Day to Normandy. I know the British summoned every boat they could find for the Normandy Invasion but I really can’t imagine crossing the English Channel on this thing. The sickest I think I’ve ever been was when I was crossing from Dover to Oostende in 1972 during 12-14 foot waves. I don’t know what the ocean was like on D-Day but I think it was very rough and I can’t imagine the trip on this ship in heavy waves and full combat gear. It looked and sounded like the African Queen with Bogart.
Other than the boat trip, I haven’t found much of interest here. When you get past the putt-putt golf courses, the inflatable cartoon characters and the other typical tourist money pits, there just doesn’t seem a lot to see. I think it will be a good town for training purposes but I’m really looking forward to next Saturday when I drive north to Lancaster where I have a room booked at the university. I’m really anxious to see what the campus looks like since I was there 35 years ago. The university has several suites that are rented out to the public—mostly alumni like me—and I got a room in the building I stayed in as a student. Should be interesting…..