Sights and Sounds Ninety-Seven

Day One. CHS-Buxton-Hebden-Hebdon Bridge-Knaresborough.

It’s 5:45am in Knaresborough. The sun is blasting through the white blinds and i have only had 5 hours of sleep. I actually feel pretty awake considering the monster first day we just had. 

We left Charleston on Friday. The weather was hot but overcast with a good chance of storms but we managed to leave the gate without any delay. The United flight was a little crowded and small so thankfully it only took an hour to get to Dulles (Washington, DC). Having drank three pints of Guinness in the airport (as you do) i was a little concerned that we got held up for 20 minutes on the runway as i felt the urge to go to bathroom creep up on me. The Guinness was going to get it’s revenge. In the spirit of going back to the motherland for the first time in two years i blasted Great Northern’s “Home” through my headphones as we sped down the runway to take my mind off it. I knew i had another 15-20 minutes before i would be allowed to get up and move about the cabin. When chime of the “seat belt no loner required” finally met my ears i bolted in true Johnny Bolt fashion down the back of the little plane only to be met by the meanest United Airlines flight attendant who was walking in my direction. “Sir, go to the exit row” not catching what she said i replied “Sorry?” to which she snarky repeated herself “Sir, go to the exit row”. At this point my bladder was close to springing a leak all over Row 22. I backed up so she could walk by and i smiled and let her by (she did not smile nor did i see her smile once on the flight. Anyways, i finally got to the loo and wow that was a relief in every aspect of the word.



We landed in Washington and had a two hour layover. This is short for us as we usually plan 4 hours or so just in case there are delays so we barely had time to grab some food before we were boarding again. We ate at some restaurant burger joint and talked to some young guy who was coming home after a military tour. He had been to all those countries in the middle east you see on the news. He named off about 8 of them. What was really cool is as he went to pay the waiter told him the lady that was sitting opposite him moments earlier paid for his tab. I thought that was a really cool gesture. 

After devouring a cheeseburger we went to gate to board our flight to Manchester. It was a smaller plane than most that go to Europe only have three seats on each side with one aisle but it was pretty comfy and with the tail winds the caption announced we would be Manchester well before our scheduled arrival time. We didn't check any luggage this trip due mainly to our schedule leaving Scotland in two weeks. So the flight was great pretty smooth and fast. Dusti slept for about four of the 6.5 hours and i got a couple of hours in after a couple of drinks to help me doze off.



We landed in Manchester at 6:15am which for our bodies was 1:15am but we both felt remarkably good. We zipped through Immigration super fast and were out through customs into the arrivals lounge in no time. In fact, we were 10 minutes ahead of my brother since we had arrived ahead of schedule. But sure enough Julian was there and we were in the car on a beautiful sunny day in Manchester heading to Buxton for the day.

 It’s really cool being in England in the Summer. When we walked out of the airport we were met with really refreshing cool air. Such a contrast to the heavy humidity of Charleston. We drove out of Manchester towards Macclesfield and up into the Peak District. It was really beautiful. The sun was low in the sky and the colors were magnificent. Just outside Buxton we saw a policeman flagging us down or i guess just warning us to beware. As we drove around the corner were met by another copper who was “shooing” a cow and calf off the road! They had obviously broken out of their walled field and were going for a stroll down the country road. Without any further delays we arrived at Julian and Sarah’s and had a cup of tea and chilled….well I did anyway. Dusti thought she would feel better if she went off for a jog. The sun was out the temp was pleasant so Dusti and the family border collie Mak hit the streets of Buxton for a 5 mile run!

The rest of the day we chilled and did take afternoon naps to help us be prepared for our evening trip to Hebden Bridge to see Kate and her boyfriend Frankie and ultimately see Julian’s good friend Steve play with his band Klammer opening for the old punk band The Membranes. The drive over took about 1.5 hours. The road system in the UK is so baffling. The sat nav says it’s like miles but the roads are so twisty it takes ages to get anywhere. It was a great drive though with some super cool views. I set up my GoPro on the windshield to shoot a time-lapse of the trip. Check it out below.

This video is about Buxton_hebden


Once in Hebden we got a quick tour of Kate’s flat which was located right on the canal. It was a really cute little town. Dusti really enjoyed looking at all the old buildings and floral decorations that dawned them.

 We met up with Steve outside the club and all walked in together and had a pre-gig pint. The first band started and it was very loud. I would say i felt old but i think since the headliner of the gig was a punk band from the 70’s a majority of the clientele were actually older than me many of which were still trying to grasp on to their punk roots. 

Steve’s band Klammer



were really quite good. I had listened to them on SoundCloud so i was familiar with them some. It was about 9:30 when they finished up their set and we ha arranged to meet Frankie and Kate at another pub for quick pint before heading to Knaresborough. Of course my good brother had a Pepsi whilst Dusti, Sarah and i all drank one more beverage including a Strongbow Berry Cider which was rather tasty but perhaps a little too sweet (me thinks Judi McCabe would have enjoyed this drink). We also got a few packets of crisps (potato chips) including Ox flavor and Strong Cheese and Onion.

We finally headed out about 10:30 but unfortunately the drive to Knaresborough seemed to take quite some time due to a few road works and the complicated directions the sat nav gave us. I swear we drove in circles for about 30 minutes. I kept looking out the window a seeing the moon in one direction then it would be on the other side of the car moments later then back again. It was bizarre. We did finally make it to mum and dads arriving here a 12:05am about 31 hours after leaving our house in Mount Pleasant. 

So we are here and ready for the adventures that await us over the next 15 days. I’ll keep posting on the blog for the trip as much as i can if you wish to follow along with us.
 It’s time for a cup of tea and perhaps some eggs and english sausage!