Beatles Traveling: Benton, Illinois

For today's Wednesday Review, I am not reviewing a book or album or event.    I am reviewing a town!   My boyfriend, Shawn and I drove the 2 hours south of where I live and spent Saturday in Benton, Illinois.    I wanted to take a few photos for my book.   This is the first time I had ever been there when a Beatles event was not taking place.   

When you get to the small town of Benton, Illinois you need to just park your car in the Benton square and walk everywhere.   It is much easier that way.  Just be aware that the parking on the square is 2 hour parking.   

There is a small museum in Benton called the Franklin County Jail Museum.   It is open Monday-Saturday 10:00am-3:00pm.   The cost is $4.00 a person.  It isn't located exactly on the square, but two blocks west.  Things are really well marked in Benton, so you can find it.   Most of this museum is dedicated to the last public hanging in Illinois for a bootlegging gangster.    You can see the gallows where he was hung, and go into the jail cells and read all about the 1920's and gangsters and the law in Illinois.    This museum is of interest to Beatle fans because on the second floor is the "George Harrison room."  This room is set up to look just like the radio station where Marcia Schaffer interviewed George Harrison in September 1963.    There is also the coca-cola soda machine that George used to buy drinks from on display.    While it isn't anything earth shattering, it is still neat to see vintage items from 1963 and think about what Benton was like when George Harrison was visiting.   Just about everything in the room is vintage and unfortunately is behind a large, black metal gate, so photos were hard to take.   But I did my best!

The next thing you want to make sure you see is the historical marker for George Harrison that was unveiled in 2013.    It is located outside near a bandstand.   The locals call it a "park" but it isn't what I think of when I think of a park.    It is right off of the square and very easy to find.

While you are in the square and have time, there are a bunch of little antique shops all around the square.   It is fun to go in them and look for Beatles treasures and other fun things.    I found some vintage Beatles items (out of my budget).  I also talked to a nice woman that ran one of the shops that told me that she helped clean out Louise Harrison's house and found some guitar pics, which she got to keep.   She has no way of knowing, but she is going to assume that they belonged to George.   If you are getting hungry, I highly recommend the Chinese restaurant that is located on the square.

If you have never been to Benton, then you will want to see the house where Louise Harrison once lived.   It is now a private residence and you cannot go inside.   If you want to find the house, look for the signs for the Benton High School, because it is directly across the street from the high school.  It is at 113 McCann Street.   

The last thing you might want to do is try to re-create the photo of George, Louise and Pete (along with Lousie's daughter).   The location of that photo was off the square a little bit on East Main.

Benton is a nice little town and going down there was a fun way to spend a sunny Saturday during my spring break.    If you happen to be traveling through southern Illinois, it is worth a stop.   It doesn't have the rich Beatles history that a lot of places might have, but it sure has more than anywhere else in the mid-west!   

Beatles at the Ridge -- Festival Review

On September 19-20, 2014 my  mom and I drove down to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas for a Beatles festival called "Beatles at the Ridge."    Those of you who follow this blog and know the history of the Beatles 1964 are familiar with the reason why Walnut Ridge, Arkansas is part of Beatles history as it was the Walnut Ridge airport that the Beatles stopped at in 1964 on their way to and from Reed Pigman's ranch.   It is really just a blip in Beatles history, but the town of Walnut Ridge has decided to make the most of their small Beatles connection for the sake of improving tourism to the region.  A large metal sculpture of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road can be found in the town as well as a cute shop called "Imagine" that sells Beatles items.   There is a 115-ft-long by 40-ft-wide guitar on the ground that is a replica of John Lennon's guitar in an area called the "Guitar Walk."    All of this is well worth seeing if you are in the area.   Once a year the town throws a big city-wide festival called "Beatles at the Ridge."

Beatles at the Ridge is not completely a Beatles convention.   It is very Beatles centered and there are a lot of Beatles activities and things going on, but it is also a carnival-type fest for the town.  There are booths and tents from area groups and organizations as well as activities that have nothing at all to do with the Fab 4 (such as a duck calling contest).

But if you are a Beatles fan (and I know that you are), there is plenty of Beatles fun.   My wonderful author-friend, Jude Southerland Kessler was the chair of the first ever Beatles author symposium at this festival.   She put together some of the BEST authors and speakers to talk about their books.   There also was a Beatles photo display that was extremely good, an art display by Enoch Doyle Jeeter who drew pictures for each of the songs on the Meet the Beatles album and a display called "Meet the Covers" which showed album covers that were parodies of Beatles album.   It was really fun to see!

When I arrived on Friday afternoon, the first thing I noticed was that the entire town of decked out in 1960's and Beatles theme.   Every store-front window had things like peace signs or cartoon Beatles in the windows.   There was a large cut out of the Yellow Submarine and the Cartoon Beatles and it made for a fun photo opportunity.   It was really festive and put us in the mood for the weekend!

My mom with the cartoon Beatles cut outs

After looking around for a bit and getting our bearings, we made our way into the author's room and found our friends.   Even though I had just seen everyone just a month earlier, it was great to see Chuck Gunderson, Lanea Staggs, Kit O'Tool, Jude and Rande Kessler and  Anthony Robustelli again!

My mom and I with Jude Southerland Kessler (I know I look terrible here!  I had been driving all day and just blah!)

On Friday night we heard a GREAT talk about the events of 1964 by Jude and Chuck.   This multi-media presentation was just amazing.   Both of these two authors are amazing speakers and they know their Beatles stuff!  We stuck around and listened to a band perform for awhile, but we were super tired and decided to try to get some sleep.

The Beatles statue looked REALLY cool at night!

On Saturday, we were up bright and early for a full day of Beatles fun.   At first we walked around outside and looked at the booths and venders.    We saw that Danny Donuts, who we recognize from all of our years going to the Chicago Fest for Beatle Fans (even though he doesn't know us) was running a fun children's section.   He had a bubble machine going and kids were jumping around to Beatles music.   He had a parade later in the day, but we missed that.   It looked like fun for the kids.

We had a full day of listening to the authors in the symposium because---well that is what I like to do.  But before that, we went back into the Imagine shop and talked to Carrie Mae Snapp, who as you might recall was the girl who's father took the photos of the Beatles at the Walnut Ridge airport and she touched George's elbow.   Well, she said to us, "do you want to see the pictures?" and she proceeded to pull out all of her photos from that day and tell the story to just my mom and I with more details than what I have heard before.   It was so great!  

Lanea Stagg did a brunch based on some of the recipes in her Recipe Records Cookbook that were really tasty.  I recommend "Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey bread."  Then we heard Kit O'Tool give two talks--one about the Abbey Road medley and another about the top Beatles sounds.   Both of these were really fascinating and help me listen to Beatles music that I  have heard forever in a new way.   We also heard Anthony Robustelli's presentation where he stripped down Beatles music so that you just heard the harmonies or just the guitar.   It was really some amazing stuff.  If you like that sort of thing, I highly recommend listening to Anthony's radio program on Beatles a rama radio online on Sunday nights.

Then for something silly---we needed to eat, right?  So mom and I went to a local diner that was serving Beatle burgers and Onion Ring-o's.    We were laughing about that through the entire meal.

We came back to the site and got ready for the concert by Liverpool Legends (Louise Harrison's Beatles tribute band from Branson).   But before that we had to listen to this country band that was really boring.   I think they were called Rockabilly.   I do not like country music.  At all.    I especially do not like country music about food.   Yeah...these guys were tolerable for the first 20 minutes but then they went on and on.  And they didn't even sing one single Beatles song or even Carl Perkins or someone like that.   I was so bored!

Finally Liverpool Legends came on.  They sounded great.   As I have said before on this blog, I am not a big fan of Beatles tribute bands who like to act like they are really the Beatles.   The whole dressing up in costumes  with wigs and saying things like "this is a song from our first movie...."  it just irritates me.   So I disliked these guys trying to look and act like them, because let's face it---none of these tribute bands are guys in their 20's.  They are not the Beatles.   But I really enjoyed the music.  They sounded really good and I was there to have a good time and enjoy some Beatles music.  I do have to admit, the last costume the "George" guy wore was great!  

Check this out!  George totally wore an outfit just like that!

Next year is set to be even better than this years festival and there is hope for more Beatle fans to travel to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas  for this event.    So make plans now to be there!   Here are some tips for you if you plan to go---

1.  This is a FREE event.   People were asking how much it cost and the answer is nothing! 

2.   Bring a lawn chair with you if you plan on staying for the concerts.  

3.   Walnut Ridge is located in a dry county.   Yeah....that is a real thing in the United States in 2014.  There are places were you cannot buy alcohol and this is one of them.   So plan accordingly (whatever that means to you).

4.  There are not really any hotels in Walnut Ridge.  The closest town with hotels is Jonesboro, Arkansas.  I stayed at a place called the Fairview inn and suits.   It was cheap and clean, but old and little run down.  

George Harrison in Benton celebration

Many people have heard about the George Harrison historical marker dedication in Benton, Illinois that took place yesterday.  I was able to attend the event and thought that the Beatle fans around the world would like to know what took place.

In case you don't recall, 50 years ago this month the Beatles actually had some time off from their very busy year of 1963.   John and Cynthia went off to Paris for a very belated honeymoon, Paul and Jane along with Ringo and Maureen went off for a holiday in Greece, and George along with his brother Peter, came to the United States to visit their sister, Louise.    Louise had moved a few month before to the small town in southern Illinois that is about 2 hours south of St. Louis, Missouri, Benton, Illinois.

Louise had been working on getting her little brother's band known in the United States.  She was in constant contact with Brian Epstein in England letting him know how things were coming along.  She went around to radio station and pushed The Beatles singles to be played on the air.  She truly worked on getting The Beatles name and music known in the United States.   George spent three weeks in Benton with his sister.   While he was there he made a friend, Gabe McCathy who had a band called the 4 Vests.   George played with the 4 Vests on several occasions.   George also went to the drive in movies, bought a guitar in a music shop, bought American records, ate at the a diner that had car hops on roller skates, and spent a lot of time playing his guitar and hanging around with local people.  

This is a small thing, but yet historically in the story of the Beatles, it is an important first step to the Beatles becoming popular in America.   And so the state of Illinois decided to place a marker in Benton, Illinois to commemorate the time George spent in their town in 1963.

It was a beautiful day to have this outside event.    About 100 people showed up for the ceremony.  Several people spoke including Bob Bartel, who saved Louise Harrison's former home from being demolished and Jim Kirkpatrick who wrote the book, Before he was Fab.    Marcia Schafer told how she was the first person to play a Beatles song on the radio in the United States and George's very own sister, Louise Harrison spoke about her brother's visit and how she ended up living in Benton.   There were some local musicians who played some George Harrison music and also some representatives from Springfield who read the declarations and certificates aloud.    Then they took the cover off the historical marker and revealed it.

photo of the event

with Louise Harrison

Afterwards the 4 Vests sang and a few other musicians performed while Louise Harrison signed autographs and posed for photos.    Overall it was a very nice day and a good time honoring George.

The house where George stayed while he was in Benton is no longer a Bed and Breakfast.  However it is not just sitting vacant.   As far as I could tell from the trash cans sitting outside and the mail  boxes mounted in the front, it is now an apartment complex.    I found it strange, however that the people who were there who were so proud of how they saved the house from being torn down didn't seem to care much that it is no longer the Hard Day's Night Bed and Breakfast.    As a matter of fact, there was no mention that it was once THE house.   I wouldn't have thought much of it, except for the fact that this group of people kept saying how in 1995 they wanted to save the house because of its historical importance in the history of the Beatles.   If they felt like it was such a big deal, why haven't they done anything to have some type of marker near the house?

Louise Harrison's former home where George stayed for 3 weeks in 1963

Before I left Benton to go back home, my mom and I spotted a sign on an antique shop window that said to come inside and see where George bought records.   Since you all know what Beatle geeks we are, and that we are quite the suckers for stuff like this, we HAD to check it out. So here we are at the very counter that George bought the record of "I got my  mind set on you."  Funny enough my mom found a "Meet the Beatles" record in this shop. 

If you ever find yourself traveling through southern Illinois, it is worth your time to check out Benton and see the new marker and just see the little town where George got his first taste of America.   It isn't worth making a special trip just to see, but if you are already in the area it is well worth a short visit. 

Beatles Pilgrimage tour part 3: Hamburg, Germany

My Beatles Pilgrimage tour – Part 3:  Hamburg, Germany

The tour of Hamburg, Germany was not included as part of the The Beatles Pilgrimage Tour.   It was part of the “add on” that was a little extra.   Tony worked with Peter from the Hamburg Tours so that we could get a great tour!

I have to admit that I do not know German.   Going to a country and not knowing the language can be a challenge.   I have to say thank you to the people of Hamburg for putting up with two Americans who did not know what they were doing.   Most people spoke a little English, which was very nice.    

It seems to me that the Beatle fans that I know will go on a trip to Liverpool and London, but many of them skip Hamburg.   I am not sure why (besides the language issue), but I do want to encourage all of the fans to consider adding Hamburg to their travel places to go.    It is just really neat to see where the Beatles got their start as a serious band.

Day 8- Hamburg, Germany

We flew from Gatwick Airport in London to The Hamburg Airport.   It took only one hour and 10 minutes (but you do lose an hour between England and Germany).    From the airport we got a taxi and went to our hotel, The Hotel Hafen Hamburg.    The hotel is very big and older.  The rooms are a bit small, but they are nice and acceptable.   The location of the hotel is very nice.  It is within walking distance of the Reeperbaun area, but it isn’t in a place where you would feel like you were in danger.

After we got into our room, we decided to set off and find the Hamburg Hard Rock Café.    I had heard that the Hard Rock in Hamburg had some great Beatles stuff.     Also being the geek that I am, I wanted to eat a hamburger in Hamburg.      We got a little turned around on our way to the Hard Rock, but we managed to locate it and enjoyed our meal.

The neatest thing inside the Hamburg Hard Rock is some sketches that Stu did while in Hamburg in 1960.  But just a little advice if you are ever in the Hamburg and go to the Hard Rock, most of the Beatles stuff is in the gift shop.   There is a jacket that John supplely wore,  a postcard Ringo sent to his Grandma, a letter that George wrote to someone while in Hamburg, and a few other neat items.

After the Hard Rock, we walked along the waterfront for a bit and went into the souvenir shops.    I was amazed that I could not find a soda machine anywhere, but there were cigarette machines all over the place.   You just never see ciggie machines in the States anymore.   I haven’t seen one since I was a very little girl. 

Sketches by Stu

  

Day  9:  Hamburg, Germany

Today was the day of our tour of the Beatles sight of Hamburg; however the tour did not begin until 3:00pm.  So we had quite a bit of time to explore on our own.    We walked around the Reeperbahn  area.   We really got a good feel for how things were when the Beatles came to Hamburg in the early 1960’s.   We saw many sex shops, strip clubs, homeless people sleeping, mixed among fast food restaurants, souvenir shops and families with small children walking.   My mom says that it was a “seedy” place.    We were obviously there during the daytime, so nothing was really going on and it is interesting to note that both my mom and I never felt like we were in danger in Hamburg.   Although we were curious, we made sure not be to out after dark, just to be on the safe side.

We met up with our wonderful tour guide, Peter, from theHamburg Tours.   Peter is a wonderful tour guide.   He is someone who has lived in Hamburg and is a Beatles fan.   He even met John Lennon at the western-wear shop in the Reeperbahn when John went there for a brief break in film of “How I won the War” in 1966.   Peter knows his stuff!   And bless him for giving to the tour to everyone in German and then giving it again to my mom and I in English.   

We saw all of the clubs from when the Beatles were in Hamburg:   The Indra, the Kaiserkeller, the Star Club, where the Top Ten club once was and we also saw where the Bambi Kino was located.    I know I have said this about so many of the Beatles places that I have visited, but when you are in one of those locations that you have read about in books, it really does make the Beatles story come to life.    Sure I knew that the Beatles had played at the Indra, but to see where it was located and to see the elephant sign that I had only seen in photos, just really brought everything from black and white into color.   

The best location spot of this tour is the doorway where John Lennon stood on the cover of the Rock n Roll album.    Today it is just the entrance to an apartment,  but it was awesome to stand in that doorway.    Peter also took my mom and I around to  few other spots in the car.   We saw where Astrid lived in Hamburg.   She lived in a much nicer area than where the Beatles performed!   Her home was very nice.   And we also saw where Astrid took some famous photos of her and Stu .  

 

After the tour we went into a pub and Peter arranged for us to talk to Horst Faucher, whom you will recall was the man who brought the Beatles to the Star Club.   Horst told us about how on New Year’s Eve of 1962 Paul McCartney asked him to come on stage and sing “Hallelujah I love her so” and how it is on the Star club tapes record.     He told us a few other stories and was so kind and friendly.   Horst has a book called “Let the Good Times Roll” about his time as the manager of the Star Club.  It currently is only available in the German language, but Horst tells me that it will be available in English within the next year.   He has my email and will let me know when it is out.   So I will keep you all informed.    His stories were so great that he told, that I am anxious to read his whole book!    What a great way to end a great Beatles Pilgrimage tour!

Day 10:  Hamburg Germany to Alton, Illinois

Well my time abroad came to an end.    It was up at 5:00a.m. and a long flight from Hamburg to New Jersey.    Then a long layover and a three hour flight from New Jersey to St. Louis and a van ride that took 30 minutes to my home in Alton, Illinois.

I hope you all enjoyed hearing about my trip.    And I sincerely hope that you all get the opportunity to go on a similar trip of your own.   It is well worth it!

Beatles Pilgrimage tour: Part 2 London

My Beatles Pilgrimage tour Part 2 – London

From July 9-12, 2013, my mom and I were in London as part of the Beatles Pilgrimage Tour.    There is so much to see and do in London!  There is a lot of great Beatles things as well as non-Beatles things.   I really like London.   I think it is the easiest “big city” to travel around in and the people just seem really nice.  

Day 4:  London

The majority of this day was spent traveling by train from Liverpool to London.   It is a pretty easy 2 hour train ride.   The Virgin Trains are similar to the Amtrack Trains here in the United States, but this one make less stops than the Amtrack does.  

We arrived at Euston (rhymes with Houston) Station and walked to our hotel, The Premiere Inn.   Our tour group got check into their rooms except for (no surprise here) our room was not ready.  Seriously!   This is just how it goes for us.     We got to check into the room about 45 minutes later.   The room was pretty nice.   It was a big upgrade from the hotel we stayed at in London in 2010!    We found it strange that there was a big bed and then one small bed.   But whatever….we just go with the flow.

We met our tour hostess, Lucy.   Lucy is a great guide!   She is a fan just like you or I.   She had just seen Paul in concert two weeks earlier and had a lot to share about that.   I am just so glad that I met Lucy.  I think we will be Beatle pals for a long time.     She took us over to the British Library (it was near the hotel) where they have a section of Beatles handwritten lyrics (recently some were donated by Hunter Davies).   You can’t take photos in there, so I don’t have any to share.  But it was very neat.   John wrote the lyrics out to “A Hard Day’s Night” on a birthday card Julian had laying around.    

Then we traveled to Buckingham Palace and saw the insanity about the baby-to-be that was going on around there.   News trucks just camp out there all day and all night just in case the baby comes.   We walked around Hyde Park and Green Park.     Then we had dinner at the Hard Rock Café in London and took a tour of the vault.    The London Hard Rock Café has Stu’s original bass guitar.    They also have one of John’s army jackets.   What was missing that I saw last time was the shirt John wore at the Troubadour Club.    I looked online and noticed that it is now part of a traveling exhibit that the Hard Rock is doing.   I wonder if they learned what shirt it was from this blog?

Mom and I outside of Buckingham Palace

Stu's bass guitar

Day 5:  Henely-on Thames

We traveled by train to the town that George Harrison and the Harrison family called home, Henely-on-Thames.   Henley is a very quaint little river town.    I can see why George liked Henley so much.   I can honestly say that I enjoyed my time there. 

We went to Friar Park, which was a highlight of the trip to me.     I have typed out countless stories for this blog of fans who met George at the gates of Friar Park.   What I had in my mind while typing those stories is not what the place actually looked like.   It is so neat to see that you were wrong about what you pictured in your head.     The front gates are actually right by the road.  I thought they were set back a ways and there was a road that lead up to them, but nope…they are right there off a main road.    Of course you aren’t allowed to go any farther than the front gates and you can’t even see the main house from the gates (I thought maybe you could), but it still was just so neat to be standing outside of George’s home!   

We had lunch at George’s favorite Henley pub, the Row Barge.   The Row Barge is a great little pub!   The people in there were so friendly and kind to us.   The food was good and the atmosphere was great.    They said that Dhani had been in there just the previous night and they were expecting him that very night!    They only had good things to say about George.   If you ever find yourself in Henely, the Row Barge is a must!

We walked to the church and saw Dusty Springfield’s grave and then down by the river and had ice creams.  

The evening was free to do whatever you’d like in London.    My mom and (with Lucy’s help) went to see Jersey Boys at the theater.    Since I am a big theater geek, I wanted to experience the theater in London.  It was different than in the States and was a great experience.

the gates of Friar Park

Day 6:  London –Beatles driving tour

On this day we drove all around London and surrounding areas and saw a lot of Beatles sights.    We saw many of the places that were used in the movies, A Hard Day’s night and Help! (Marylebone Station,  the Turk’s Head, the pub where the Beatles jumped out the windows in Help, the river where Ringo walked etc etc etc).   We went to Abbey Road (always exciting!) and saw so many houses that I can’t even remember them all.   I know we saw the flat Ringo owned and let John and Yoko live there, Brian’s home on Chapel Street,  the apartment the Beatles shared on Green Street, The Asher’s house, Cavendish Avenue…and more.  

My favorite part of the day (and possible the whole trip) was going to Chiswick and seeing where the guys recorded “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.”    The tree was still there and so were all of the statues that you see in the film.      It has changed at all.    Pretty amazing!

Brian's Chapel Street House

The tree where the Beatles sat for the Rain promo

Day 7:  London – Beatles Walking tour

In the morning we completed our tour with a walking tour to see the sights that were easier to see on foot.     Most of the things I saw on the walking tour were repeats for me.      We saw the Bag o’ Nails (where Paul and Linda met), the Apple rooftop (the front had scaffolding over it), the Palladium, Paul’s MPL offices, the loo from “Not only but also” and several clubs.   

Then we stopped by the Beatles store to shop and I bought several books and things that I have never seen in the United States.     Our next stop was Notting Hill for a little shopping and onto the Sticky Fingers restaurant for our last dinner.   

I am ready to barge into the MPL office!

Overall we had a great trip to London!    But I still have Hamburg to report about. 

Sara's Beatles Pilgrimage Tour: Part 1 Liverpool

My Beatles pilgrimage tour

Part 1:  Liverpool, England

If you have been a visitor here for a while, you might remember that my mom and I went on a Beatles trip to Liverpool and London in 2010.   I planned the trip out myself and I did a pretty good job of finding great Beatles things to see and do.  However, when I returned from my trip I realized that there was so much more that I missed out on.    I decided that someday I would go back and take a more individualized tour.   

About a year ago I was looking at the secrets posted on one of my favorite sights, postsecret.com.    The secret said something like “I wish I had taken another trip to Europe with my mom.”     That really got me thinking about going back to England.    I wanted to go back with my mom for another Beatles tour,  and not trying to be mean, but my mom is currently in her early 60’s and in good health.   However, I do not know how much longer that will be the case.      I really did not want to be that person that had the regret of never going back to England after my mom passes away.    It isn’t really a pleasant thing to think about, but it is a reality of life.   We all get older and can’t do the things we used to do.     So I started to look into a more individualized Beatles tour of Liverpool, London and Hamburg.    I hadn’t planned on going back in just three years, but what the heck!   Why not!

I looked at a lot of tours online.   There are several Beatle tours available to book from.   I went with the Beatlespilgrimage tour.   Let me honestly tell you that I feel like if you are a die-hard Beatles fan like me, then theBeatles pilgrimage tour is the way to go.    You work with a fellow fan named Tony who sets you up with everything you need for the tour.   He does all of the little detailed work and all you have to do is enjoy your trip.    You could book all of the things yourself, but as I found out in 2010, it is more difficult than it sounds and you end up missing things.   When you go with the Beatles Pilgrimagetour, you get the best Beatles tour guides plus you get the things like train tickets and such all set for you.   I am not trying to do a commercial for this company, but I really can’t recommend them enough.    I would recommend going on one of the group tours because it is fun to meet fellow Beatle fans and travel around with them.    If you do book a tour and are asked,  let Tony know that you read about it on Meet the Beatles for Real.   (But seriously this is a travel report and not a commercial, so on with the trip!)

Liverpool, England

Day 1:

We flew over night and landed in Manchester, England.    From Manchester we had to get on a train that took us to Lime Street Station in Liverpool.     From there we got in a taxi that took us to the Hard Day’s Night Hotel.    Since it was still morning there (I never did get use to the time difference), our room was not ready.     So my mom and I took the time to explore a little bit of Liverpool.   Having been there three years ago, we remembered the basics and took a walk down Mathew Street and the Beatles shops and down to Albert Dock (or as my mom calls it ‘Uncle Albert Dock’) to have a look around.   We were told that our room was going to be available at noon.   When we got back, our room was not ready and we were told to come back at two.    So back out we went.  We had asked the hotel where the ugly Beatles statue of the four guys standing in a circle was located, and they had no clue what we were talking about.   They said there was not a statue of the four Beatles in Liverpool.   Low and behold I located it inside #8 Mathew Street.  They made me feel like a fool, but I knew what I was talking about.   We had fish and chips at a local café and walked around some more.    By 2:00, we had been awake for 24 hours and were tired of walking around and just wanted to get into our rooms and freshen up.    We saw other people getting room keys.   But low and behold, our room was not ready.     I have to give the Hard Day’s Night props for giving us free drinks while we waited for another 45 minutes, but still I was a bit peeved.      Plus the hotel still smelled funny from that fire they had in February and it was making me feel sick to my stomach.

Yes this ugly Beatles statue really does exist. 

After we got all of that settled, we got a second wind and we were ready to meet our tour guide, Jackie.   Jackie Spencer is the best tour guide in Liverpool.    Even if you don’t go through the Beatles Pilgrimage Tour, you have to go on Jackie’s tour!    What I liked about her is that she wasn’t just a tour guide, she was a true Beatles fan (George is her favorite).    When she was telling us things around Liverpool, she had such passion and love for the Beatles.    And the more time we spent with her, I began to feel like she was a friend and not just a hired tour guide.     I know that was her job, but I also felt like she loved the opportunity of meeting Beatle fans from around the world and showing them her hometown.   

Jackie took us on a brief walking tour of Liverpool.  It was Saturday night and Liverpool was CRAZY!   Come to find out, guys and gals who are having bachelor and bachelorette (or stag and hen) parties like to come to Liverpool dressed in crazy costumes and they party hard!    Mathew Street was full blown insanity with people dressed as everything from nuns to Where’s Waldo.   So we sort of avoided that part of town and did some more quite Beatles sights. 

Highlights of this walking tour were seeing the maternity hospital where John Lennon was born,  going into the Philharmonic and having a drink and then getting to see the men’s loo, and most of all having a drink at the Ye Cracke in the War Room.     The only disappointment was that the Jacaranda is no longer open.   It is left abandoned with Beatles photos still up on the wall (I know from looking in the window).   I really hope someone opens it back up soon.   That mural that Stu painted is hidden away in there.  What a shame!

The plaque at the Ye Cracke

Day 2:

On this day we were basically on our own.   The first thing we did was tour John’s home at Mendips.  Even though I had done this tour once before, I was still amazed at being inside of John’s childhood home.   It was emotionally packed for me to stand in his bedroom and look out the window.     Then we went onto Paul’s childhood home on Forthlin Avenue.    The new custodian was much better than the previous one I had (the one that was drinking on the job and told me outright lies).    One of the best parts of that tour for me was hearing Paul’s personal message to the visitors.   It was neat to hear Paul’s voice while in the house.

Your emotional but happy MTBFR blogger, Sara leaving Mendips

Next was time to explore the museums and things at the Albert Dock.   Our first stop was the Beatles Story Exhibit.   I did without the headphones this time, which baffled the workers there.   While the exhibit is meant for those who only have a basic knowledge of Beatles information, I still find it very worthwhile if not just to see the actual guitars and clothing.   I think the recreations of places like the Cavern club are a bit silly since the real deal is just down the road.      The Elvis and Me exhibit is a bit boring for me since I am not much of an Elvis fan.    There are a lot of Elvis artifacts, but not a whole lot of Beatles things.    They try to show how the Beatles and Elvis are tied together, but I thought it was a bit of a stretch with how they were really pushing the 1965 meeting.     There is a side exhibit of “hidden photos” that was very nice and well worth seeing.   

Hi everyone!   I am just here at the Beatles Story with the Fab 4.

Next we went into the Liverpool Museum.   This is a free museum and seems to be very big and have a lot of things in it.   However, we didn’t have time to dilly dally around looking at the history of Liverpool.   So we went straight up to the music section and found the Beatles part.   They had there the “All you need is love” Yellow Submarine quilt that John and Yoko used during the Bed-in.   I was planning on writing a blog entry about this very quilt (still am) and so to see it in person was awesome!    After the museum, we took the “Ferry Across the Mersey” and yes they did play the Gerry and the Pacemakers song.

Then we went back to Mathew Street and went into the Grapes.   We had a drink at the booth where the Beatles sat and then I sang karaoke .  I thought I was pretty cool stuff singing at the pub where the Beatles hung out.   The last stop for the night was the Cavern Club where we heard the Mersey-Beatles perform.   They were awesome!

The Mersey-Beatles perform at the Cavern.  After a few drinks they start to look like the real thing! (They sounded great!)

Day 3:

This last day in Liverpool was also our most action packed.   We went with our tour guide, Jackie in a van (driven by a great guy named Phil) where she would tell us about the sights and then we would stop and get out for photos and a look around.   Some of the places we went were:   The Casbah club (where Roag gave us a tour…I love him!),  Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Arnold Grove,  The Clubmoor Club,  Stu’s grave, St. Peter’s church,  and lastly we went into the Dingle and into Ringo’s childhood home where we were met by the wonderful woman that currently lives there, Margaret.     She had cupcakes and Coke for us to celebrate Ringo’s birthday.   She was such a sweet woman.   She lived a few houses down when Ringo was a teenager and knew Ringo.    She doesn’t allow all of the tour groups inside of her home, but allows Jackie’s tour in for Ringo’s birthday celebration every year.    She would not accept any money, but was taking up a collection for the Linda McCartney breast cancer charity.     Going into Ringo’s home and meeting Margaret was truly one of the highlights of Liverpool.

Just me acting like I in the band at the Clubmoor Club

My mom and I in the Spider Room of the Casbah with Roag Best.  

 

 

 

This was in a a Beatles park in Penny Lane.  

Margaret standing outside her home, 10 Admiral Grove, where Ringo lived from 1945-1963

I hope I didn’t bore you all too much because the trip into London and Hamburg reports are soon to follow.