We met another friend at Covent Garden today. I met him through my wife some forty years ago. A lot has happened to the three of us over those many years.

He has usually worked in the auto industry and at Rolls Royce for a time. He is now a grandfather and near retirement age. We sat, drank some tea and ate a few pastries while we had a visit to “catch up.”

My wife and I then went out to Bermondsey to visit the bride and groom who will be married this week. We had lunch at The Mayflower Pub.

Bermondsey was the site of the second tunnel under the Thames created in 1869.

The River was showing her strength with a high tide brought on by a “Super Moon.” This Pub is very old and was mentioned in the Doomsday Book.

The Mayflower Pub in Rotherhithe, a suburb of London, was originally called the Shippe. It was built in 1550. The building was destroyed by fire in 1780 and then rebuilt. It is owned by the Black Dog Pub Company. It also claims to be the oldest pub on the Thames.

I had several descendants on the Mayflower among the 102 passengers when it came over to America.

We had to move inside as the river water was splashing up through the gaps in the planks of the outside deck. The Mayflower was moored off this part of the river before her journey to America.

We finished lunch, said good by to the wedding couple and walked the 7.5 miles back to our hotel along the Thames.

We stopped at a riverside book sale and I found a book filled with true sailor’s stories from the past edited by Sir Francis Chichster. Does that name ring a bell?

I was looking for a book on King George lll. I need to do some research for my third book of my trilogy about the Smith Family.

My first novel, “The Adventures of the Smith Family” starts along this river not far from this spot. The second is about a grand ocean voyage. The third novel may be about a murder in the palace.

This town is very old and many wealthy Londoners came out here to start over after the fire in London on September 2, 1666.

There is a good deal of high rise building going on along the river the moment.

The economy in England seems to be suffering from the same issues that we have in America at the moment. Rising interest rates have killed the real estate market as few people wish to sell their flats and move to a more expensive home with a higher interest rate mortgage. Sound familiar?

The few short videos of my trip to London are on Instagram at R.C. Hand along with some photos. I’l put more photos up here soon.