Eastbourne, Sussex on the coast

Mostly travelled today - most of our sightseeing was done while in the car. Pam and Roger drove us here today. I don't even have any pictures to put in today because all we did was drive. We did stop in Royal Tundridge Wells and walked around the center of town and had lunch. It was interesting - it reminded me a lot of downtown Boise because the center of town has all these buildings where the tops of the buildings are the old part, and the bottom part has been renovated and remodeled to modern looking shops. The drive from there to here was beautiful - lots of big, old houses tucked back away from the road among the trees. The trees were so thick you could sometime just see flashes of the buildings as we drove past. There was one whole area where the trees were so thick and tall on both sides of the road that the trees met over the top of the road. They keep the trees trimmed so they're out of the way of the road, but you're driving through this beautiful, dark green tunnel of trees.

Eastbourne is where Sue lives, who is the one who originally called Mom and made contact. She and her husband have 2 dogs who both have decided that they love me - probably because I know how to scratch their ears. Eastbourne is by the coast, and I think tomorrow we're going to get to see it. We can sit here in their apartment and listen to the seagulls. While we're in this area is when we're going to have REAL fish and chips - can't wait!

This area, Sussex, is where the Hopes come from - here we'll be looking for Hopes, Colemans, Hooks, Wenhams (Wen'ams, I've learned) Goldsmiths, Everests, and even a Smith. We have lots of little areas to explore here: Waldron, Mayfield, East Hoathly, Laughton, Uckfield, Framfield, Withyham, Chiddingly, Hartfield. Lots of cool sounding places.

Pam and Sue are related on the Goldsmith part of the family tree. On Saturday Sue has organized a family gathering where she's hoping to get some of the older family members together and get information from them and maybe identify some people in pictures. Which reminds me - somehow, it doesn't seem fair that I spend a whole day traipsing through tall, wet grass, tripping on uneven ground, stumps, and holes, and getting excited to see a name I recognize on a gravestone, and Heidi just casually goes to the internet and tells me there are actually MORE Barbers in the graveyard! Sheesh! That's ok, Heidi - you just keep on looking!

I've decided I want to name my house when I get home - I love the tradition of naming houses around here - I'm looking for just the perfect name. I love to say Ipswich - sounds cool when I say it - so I was thinking of Ipswich Cottage. But Doug told me not to use that one - it's not a classy place. Just sounds good, I guess. He suggested something like Ickworth, because it's a place that's very upscale and classy, lots of art and culture stuff. Somehow, that name just doesn't do it for me. sigh. Guess I'll keep on looking.

Well, there's a yucky movie on TV and I can tell Mom wants an excuse to go to bed. Guess I'll finish up. More tomorrow, and more pictures. It's really fun to read your comments - Mom likes that more than knowing what I write in here! This stay here is going to be an interesting one - 2 big dogs, 1 very small apartment, and Sue's husband smokes - goes to the back door every hour or so, but the wind just blows the smell in. And he's got a cockney accent - harder for Mom to understand than the others were! hee hee hee gonna be fun!