Thursday, July 19

We strolled through Kensington Gardens this morning and past Kensington Palace.


We were on our way to the
Queensway tube station to travel the Central, Hammersmith and finally the East London lines to Rotherhithe.

Michael consulting the tube map.

Rotherhithe is the location that Michael wanted to see because of its ties to the Mayflower launch near here.


We found a statue that depicts the Mayflower’s captain bridging the past and the future with a boy who is reading a comic book. There also was a much forgotten, dilapidated commemorative table but we couldn’t make out much of it.



Luckily for us, Michael shared the facts and descriptions of the site & history. After asking for directions from a few helpful residents, we found the Mayflower Inn and settled in for a lovely lunch overlooking the Thames.





This place was established in 1721 but it is near where a pub called Shippe used to sit. This is where the Mayflower set sail for America in the spring of 1620. The Mayflower returned to Rotherhithe in 1621 and it’s captain, Christopher Jones, is even buried at the St. Mary’s Churchyard just blocks away. A century later, the pub was rebuilt and named the Spread Eagle & Crown, but it was restored in 1957 and renamed the Mayflower Inn. See it for yourself at www.themayflowerpub.co.uk

Michael had the Bangers & Mash which I had to photograph, along with my beautiful, art-like salad.










We took another tube ride to Tower Hill station and came out to look upon the Tower of London. Our walk-through took us into and around the grounds. We learned about the people who had lived there, defended it and carried out the King’s demands.









We sat on benches along the Thames walk to appreciate the Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast and surrounding buildings. We’re not sure what the egg-shaped one is but we’re researching the guidebooks to find out.