Yes Virginia, There are More Pictures of the Midlands

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Our holiday in the midlands was planned by some overly-enthusiastic tourist who somehow thought we could cram in everything there was to see in the area in approximately four days.

Our first full day was spent in such a joy-filled frenzy, we actually looked forward to spending our second day in one place.
I booked the Think Tank at Millenium Point in Birmingham. I had had to choose between the Sea Life Centre and this, so I researched everything. I knew the hands-on science stop would be a big hit with my nerdy family and was excited to see the kids interact with the future, present and past technology.

After seeing the Rushton Triangular Lodge, Warwick Castle, and Shakespeare's Stratford Upon Avon, this was entirely for the children's enjoyment.

Within in the first hour we were all ready to leave.

What a disappointment! It was less hands-on (although they did have things the kids could participate in, several of them weren't working properly-- poor planning for half-term break).
We stayed long enough to view the 3-D Imax film we had pre-purchased tickets to see (when did Imax stop being about entertainment and start being all tree-hugging?) and then decided to make a break for Stratford Upon Avon again. The day before we had rushed through it and were unable to see Anne Hathaway's cottage, so we decided to make the 45 minute drive again.

Birmingham traffic... yuck, but we managed to get out with only a few delays. Then just as we started seeing signs for Anne Hathaway's cottage, we discovered our exit was blocked. One man in a highway police vehicle was parked next to traffic cones blocking the exit.

Remember, exits here are roundabouts. As you go whizzing around in a circle, it's always abruptly surprising to find you're not getting off where you thought and nerve-racking to make a split decision which exit you're now going to veer towards.

Undaunted, we quickly re-programmed the Sat Nav and headed off on a country road. It popped us back out on the highway we had originally attempted and we joked about British police throwing random road blocks up for giggles.
As we approached our next round about and tail lights twinkled in all hues of red, we realized why this highway was closed. A lorrie (truck) had spilled his very heavy load in the roundabout,
exactly on the exit we needed that proudly displayed the sign "Anne Hathaway's Cottage 1 3/4 miles".

We again re-set the Sat Nav as the entire population of England got off at the same exit.

We crept away from the roundabout... for approximately 2 hours.

People in oncoming traffic began chatting with our queue. I told one lady what was ahead of her and she told us why we were stopped. No road rage, just people being courteous in an otherwise un-fun situation.

I did get a picture of the cottage. Just before the sun went down.

This is it. This is as close as we got to Shakespeare's Wife's home. It's beautiful, don't you think?