Weekend trip to Isle of Wight

We had a fun little overnight trip with Brian's parents this weekend. It was good to get out and see something new. Brian and I had been wanting to go down to the Isle of Wight for awhile, so that's where we went.

First, we stopped in Winchester, and toured the Winchester Cathedral, quite spectacular! Spencer slept in the carrier on Brian's chest, and Sammie ran wild inside -- testing her echo and trying hard to out-manuevre Grandma and Daddy. Brian got some nice shots of the building...

Its claim to fame is that Jane Austen was buried there in 1817. Actually, she was the last person buried in the cathedral, as they stopped the practice right around then, due to "health and safety" reasons.

Then we drove down to Portsmouth to see the famous dockyard and Spinnaker tower. We were a little late arriving, so we didn't get to tour the old ships that are supposedly quite famous. But we did make it up the Spinnaker tower for some great views of the harbour and surrounding area.

They have a glass floor on the viewing deck -- 100 metres (328 feet) -- where you can "walk on air." Samantha thought that was pretty fun, though she was quite cautious walking across it.

We stayed in a hotel in Southampton, near the harbour. Southampton's claim to fame is that the Mayflower left from there way back when. However, apparently there were some problems with the ship and it redocked in Plymouth (further down the coast) and set sail for the second time from there. So, both towns claim that the Mayflower set sail from there. Funny.

Here's Sam and Spencer in our hotel room... Spencer had quite the stylish bed, but actually preferred sleeping with Brian and me. (sigh)

Saturday morning we took the ferry over to the Isle of Wight, just barely off the coast from Portsmouth. Samantha and Brian went on the veeerrrry cold top deck to see some of the boats and get some views of the water. (Spencer and I stayed in with Grandma and Grandpa, where we could keep warm and eat snacks from the cafe.)

We toured the famous Osborne House -- home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, for nearly 50 years (up until 1901, when Victoria died). It was quite spectacular, with great sea views and hundreds of great paintings and statues. We couldn't take pictures inside, but here we are standing at the back of the house, below the gardens...
(Aside: Sammie was not so impressed with the Osborne House. They wouldn't let us take her stroller on the tour, and all she wanted to do is lay down on those royal hallway floors and sleep. So, just after half the tour was over, she and I took a shortcut to the end and waited with the stroller for our group to finish.)

We had lunch at a nice little cafe, then drove around the island for awhile before catching the ferry back. Here's Spencer, enjoying the drive in his car seat...
And here's a cold, blustery picture of the coast...
It was nice to be out of the house for a few days and get a change of scenery!