Day Trip to Southampton

Sunday, May 29

I had an open day and kind of felt like I had seen enough of Salisbury, so I made a day trip to Southampton. Southampton is on the coast, pretty much right below Salisbury on this map.

Thirty minutes on a direct train got me there swiftly!

I'll say that Southampton doesn't have much of a claim to fame or any noteworthy landmarks (that I know of, at least). But there were a few things that I wanted to see there.

The first was the SeaCity Museum, which has a pretty elaborate Titanic exhibit. The Titanic set sail from Southampton and 75% of its crew was from there. You can imagine how devastating a loss that would've been for the city.

I have seen a couple Titanic exhibits and, of course, the thing that always gets me is seeing real life evidence of the people lost. They all had mothers and fathers and siblings and lovers and friends, likes and dislikes and personality quirks. And so many of them were poor and this was a good opportunity for them. It's just tragic. I believe the photo above is specifically crew members.

The whole museum was very Southampton based, as you'd imagine, and also a lot of maritime information since it's a port. I liked this wall of travel posters.

There was a small exhibit about COVID in Southampton. It was pretty wild to see artifacts from the pandemic in a museum and I'm sure as time goes on we'll see more of that. We did just live through history. The photo above is from that exhibit; it's some of the PPE that local workers wore at the beginning of the pandemy.

The museum had a café, so I ate a little meal there in between exhibits.

Next I headed to the Tudor House & Gardens. Here's the outside of that building. Classic Tudor!

The Tudor period began in the year 1485 (the start of Henry VII's reign) and ended in the year 1603 (the end of Elizabeth I's reign). This home actually dates back to this period, but the exterior style is also "Tudor architecture." The two-tone timbers are very iconic!

The only reason I took this video was so that I could remember how delightfully creaky the floors were.

I like the idea of a witch mark.

The gardens were real cute here!

Next, I headed over to the Medieval Merchant's House. This was a private home, but also a place of business.

I was a little disappointed that this building didn't offer more information, like an audio tour or even a pamphlet about what I was seeing. It was a quick walk-through, done in less than 15 minutes.

Outside of the Medieval Merchant's Home, I was taking photos and planning my next move when a guy came up to me and asked if I was a tourist and took it upon himself to tell me exactly what I should visit in Southampton and why! I even learned his name was Kip. Thanks, Kip!

I headed towards the port, just to see the water. I saw a big cruise ship in port! I had heard of cruises leaving Southampton, so it's nice for me to know now exactly where they leave from. It would be an easy trip from London.

Anywho, this little section of gate (below) is a stone's throw from the port. It doesn't look like much, but it is significant to America because this is where the sailors and passengers of the Mayflower passed through on their way to the New World.

After this, I headed to the train station to get back to Salisbury. Once there, I was ready for dinner. I always do a lot of research on restaurants before I go and had picked out a pub called The George & Dragon. It was Sunday and I wanted a roast. I know that sometimes they run out, so I asked before I took a seat and the barmaid said that they had just closed the kitchen. Bollocks.

I decided to try Haunch of Venison next, which is perhaps the oldest pub in Salisbury. It dates back nearly 700 years. Look at how English this place looks!

They were done serving Sunday roast, but I had looked at the menu so I knew they had something else I was interested in -- venison sausages and mash.

I was seated on the upper level, which was really neat. You go up these really narrow stairs to get there. In the photo above, I was seated near the bay windows on the third floor (above the British flags).

Fun fact -- what we call the first floor is called the ground floor in the UK. So the second floor is called the first floor there. Those silly Brits.

Now, with such an old building you're bound to get some quirks. But I don't think I've ever stepped foot into a building that felt so structurally unsound. I wish you could tell from the photo below how uneven this floor is.

At least from my drink you can see how uneven it was.

While I was waiting for my food, the church bells nearby started ringing. And they didn't stop ringing for about 30 minutes! It was really great. I asked the couple near me if it was after the service and they said actually they ring the bells to call people in for the service.

So very charming. I loved being there. It was so cozy and unique. In the winter I bet the vibe is just so... wintery.

Here's my meal! It was delicious. You can tell how wonky the room is a little better in this photo.

Have you ever had a parsnip before? I hadn't until several years ago in England. It's tasty and I always look forward to having them. I feel they aren't common in America.

Belly was full, so I headed back to my AirBnB to get myself sorted for my journey the next day to Bath.

I found myself walking over the River Avon, looking flower petaly -- a nice end to my time in Salisbury.