An All-England trip

Mellissia Christensen

Our desire to travel to England began in July two years ago while

vacationing in Newport Beach. We had decided to spend one last family

vacation here before sending our oldest son back to college in

Washington state and our youngest to Navy basic training.

While staying at the Little Inn by the Bay, we met a young English

couple, Nigel and Debbie Clarke, and their son, Ben, who were

visiting the United States for the first time.

Each evening and morning, we would all gather on the patio and

visit, with the topic of weather as a frequent topic of discussion.

At the time, our family lived in Tacoma, Wash., so rainy weather was

one thing we had in common with our new British friends. Another

topic was Nigel’s love for the United States, our culture and

history. He has been an avid fan of the Beach Boys since the age of

11 and knows more about this group than anyone we know.

When it was time for them to return home, we said we hoped to see

each other again someday.

After the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, we received a letter

from Debbie and Nigel and were touched by their heartfelt and

emotional expressions of sympathy and support. They described how

they and their friends had been glued to their TV sets for days and

how devastated they felt by the attacks. Their letter strengthened

our friendship even more.

The next summer, I accepted the position as principal at Harbor

View School in Corona del Mar, and our family realized our dream of

moving to the Newport Beach area. We could hardly wait to call Debbie

and Nigel with our exciting news and to invite them to come to see us

on their next visit to the States. At the time, we didn’t know that

we would be visiting them first at their home in Derby (pronounced

Darby), England.

This past July, my husband, Curt, and I flew to England to see the

Clarke family. As we only had a week for the trip, we were looking

forward to staying in their home and experiencing any similarities

and differences of everyday life. We were also hoping to visit a few

historical sites, specifically castles and pubs.

In one short week, we were able to experience all we had hoped and

more.

Derby (nicknamed the Ghost Capital of England) was not what we

thought would be the most typical destination for American tourists;

however, we would highly recommend it as one.

We flew directly into Birmingham, a major city 40 miles southwest

of Derby, thus avoiding the traffic snarls of London.

Derby is in the beautiful rolling countryside of Derbyshire County

near the Peak District National Park, the first national park in

England. It is the home of Royal Crown Derby, manufacturing fine

English porcelain china since 1750. We visited the factory and found

some great bargains in the factory store.

Derby Cathedral has the second highest medieval church tower in

England and has the distinction of having the “oldest ring of 10

bells in the world.”

Known as an industrial city, Derby also houses the huge

manufacturing plants for Rolls Royce aircraft engines.

As for the ghosts, the Dolphin Pub, more than 500 years old,

claims to have more spirits than the ones behind the bar.

Thousands of paranormal sightings and events have been reported in

various places throughout Derby, including the Derby Jail. I’m

relieved to report that we did not experience any such events during

our trip.

During the week, we were delighted with our visits to nearby

ruins, castles and treasure houses.

Warwick Castle is more than 1,000 years old and is known as

“Britain’s greatest medieval experience.” Located 40 minutes from

Birmingham and eight miles from Stratford-upon-Avon, it is more

beautiful and grand than anything I had expected. It is enormous with

its impressive ramparts and fortifications, great hall, staterooms

with treasures from around the world, spooky ghost tower, dungeon and

beautiful grounds.

Medieval festivals take place throughout the year at Warwick.

Warwick Castle has a great Web site with beautiful photos and

descriptions of events. This is a “must see” for travelers to the

area.

Chatsworth House, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, is

also something to see. It is a private home, one of England’s

“Treasure Houses” and is open daily to the public. It contains one of

Europe’s finest private collections of treasures, including

magnificent displays of works by Rembrandt, Van Dyck and

Gainesborough; furniture; silver; tapestries; porcelain; and a

gallery of neo-classical sculptures. The grounds include 105 acres of

maze, rose, cottage and kitchen gardens.

After Chatsworth, we visited a beautiful little walled village

called Edensor. Here, in the churchyard of St. Peter’s, is where

Kathleen Kennedy, sister of the late President John F. Kennedy, is

buried. President Kennedy visited her grave in June 1963, just months

before his own death.

Another highlight of our visit was watching a football (soccer)

match between the Derby Rams and the Amsterdam team, Ajax. The Derby

football stadium, home to the premiere-league Rams, is a beautiful

sports facility. While we are familiar with soccer, our friends

confessed that they find American football difficult to understand.

They also find our baseball as difficult to follow as it is for us to

understand cricket. One thing for sure, we all love our sports.

Some of our favorite memories of our trip include the food. Our

favorite dining experience was at an East Indian restaurant called

Gulshin. In our opinion, this place rates five stars for cuisine and

service.

We did find some unusual differences in breakfast and fast foods.

One of the most fascinating tastes was “mushy peas” that are eaten

with French fries. They are mashed green peas that, at first glance,

look like guacamole.

Also, bacon is not what we are used to here in the States. It is

more like salty ham (delicious!). What we eat here is referred to as

“streaky bacon,” and is not considered quality breakfast meat.

Another difference is that they like to eat beans on toast (like

our pork and beans) in place of hash browns. Poached halves of tomato

are also common with breakfast. We found the different

British/American terms for food are chips for French fries, biscuits

for cookies and crisps for potato chips.

Other terms that we enjoyed were for cars: boot for trunk, bonnet

for hood and hooter for horn.

Also, we learned that we don’t use the term “pants,” for clothing

unless we mean underwear. When I mentioned that I liked Nigel’s

pants, it was embarrassing to learn that it sounded like I was

admiring his briefs. The proper term is “trousers.”

As I write this, Nigel has returned to Newport Beach with a

friend, Gary Proom. The best part about this visit will be seeing his

beloved Beach Boys at the Taste of Newport.

From that first meeting two years ago, we have found lifelong

friends from “across the pond” who love America and Americans. I

highly recommend travel to Derby, England, where Americans are

welcomed warmly. There are so many things to see and do, I also would

recommend staying much longer than a week.

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Mellissia Christensen is a Costa Mesa resident.