While the world is going to hell in a hand basket…
I’m headed to the UK for a couple of weeks and will be hanging with some of the buddies I made when I lived there (mumbles) years ago. There will be visits to bases at Plymouth and Credenhill in Herefordshire as part of a 40th Anniversary for a motley crew of seconded American officers. I may post the odd blog or I may not. I have no plans either way.
The weather report calls for rain and I’m hoping that my command presence will cause the clouds to roll back and the sun to shine. However, being less prone to hubris (having had my butt kicked by it too many times), I am bringing an umbrella, a rain coat, Wellington boots…and warm clothes. I have no plans to wear the kilt, though I’m sure that I’d look ‘fabulous’ wearing one.
Speaking of kilts…
One must-do during the visit is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I see that they’re practicing for my arrival. That’s decent of them. There are pipe bands that parade on the Royal Mile during the Edinburgh City Festival. This is the Black Watch, and the last time that I was there I recall the Gordons. By this point you should be thinking to yourself – LL likes bagpipes. That is the case. I also like Edinburgh. The Scots often look down their noses at Edinburgh because tourists congregate there. I get it. It’s still fun. And while nobody ruins good food like the British, the Islands are still the only place to get proper fish and chips and a few other personal LL favorites.
Getting there is said to be half the fun, so I’m flying “upper class” on Virgin Atlantic to get in the mood.
In a telephone call to the widow of a good friend this morning I was informed that a pie shop that I liked in Carlisle was replace by — A SANDWICH BAR. Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot? Have they gone mad in my absence? I may need to go to Keswick to get a steak pie in the Lake District.
After all of these years, it must be possible to get a proper root beer float in the UK? I asked around and the ‘answer is still no’. It’s the litmus test for culture. I recall making sloppy joes and serving them to my British friends and forcing them to eat them with their hands (not with a knife and fork). The comment ran that “they’re so sloppy”. Yes, that’s the genius isn’t it?
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| LL, training with the DLC |
Cuisine aside and culture notwithstanding, I’m sure that it will be fun.
LSP – And I will explain that the Dallas Light Cavalry (DLC) unit is a mixed Anglo-American outfit. So I’m still not completely divorced from the ‘old country’. No it’s not the SAS or 62 Commando, but it’s still comprised of a worthy bunch of cut-throats who know precisely where to fish for striped bass.
The barracks in Hillsboro, TX is run with an iron fist, and as with The Irish Guards, it has its own blue mascot that accompanies troops on parade.
Meanwhile, Back at Work
Note to John D. – Randy said we should be up and running in Texas by the time I get back. If true, we’re going to have to strong-arm LSP into showing us where that fishing hole is.
I leave you all with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYgnXePZb2o (Jacobites vs Redcoats)
Have fun, LL. Oh, wait – you always do.
Sloppy joes. Heh, well played, sir. Right up there with Viktor Belenko and his catfood pâté on crackers, although he was serving it to Russians, not Brits. My maternal great grandfather was full blooded Scot, born in Detroit. His parents emigrated from Scotland. The pipes call to me as well.
Wait: something in this post reminds me of one of my favorite photos: rarehistoricalphotos.com/winston-churchill-tommy-gun-1940/
But you forgot the stogie.
So, how do Scots sea stories start?
Enjoy your trip, LL.
May it be safe, fun, and profitable!
Safe journey.
DLC: A motley crew of cutthroats for sure!
a Padre, an ol'SEAL, a shield maiden/cowgirl, the blue avenger, and assorted others…
Have fun LL, and take a barbecue and some steaks and show them how men were meant to eat.
Enjoy the rain! And please pay my respects to our brothers in arms.
A safe trip. God bless.
Wish I was going too, but duty calls here at the Compound.
Have big fun!
PS. I recognize that rifle…
That's a foregone conclusion.
The land is like mother's milk.
Next time, a stogie.
"Twas a braugh, bricht, munlicht nicht…"
(It was a bonnie, bright, moonlight night)
This is all for fun, DRJ.
Nare-do-wells, all.
And now a bright faced cadet in the mix (LSP's son).
NOBODY ruins good food like the British. I'll have a wee haggis in yer honor.
Will do on both counts.
It does rain a lot in the UK. It surely does.
Thank you LindaG
I expect that the cadet will be up to speed against the quatrain in his mounted saber drills by the time that I next inspect.
Oi! What yer mouth, sunshine. Or they'll be filled with mushy peas, pal.
Be careful. People are easily found and made to comply in our land…:)
There has to be a knife bin somewhere so I can dump my mushy peas…
While you are in the neighborhood…
youtu.be/jyEjuyE4utY
Yes. We're working on that.
And when you return, let's go for a shoot.
The food. The horror. The horror…
A primary reason I can't bring myself to go back to the U.K., especially when there's France just accros the channel!
That said, have a beastly good time mate!
Just because of that, I shall travel to Arran and report. I'll tell Mr. Thorborn that you sent me.
Well, yes, the food it living up to its well-deserved reputation. However, there is no haggis in France…maybe for good reason.
The word on the Street here is that the DLC are a bunch of modern Comanches, now that I've set everyone straight.
Ahhh but there is Boudin!!!!
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